The branch creaked softly under her weight, a sound that should have been alarming but which Cassian had learned to ignore. She was perched about five meters off the ground, wedged between the massive trunk and a fork of thick branches that formed a naturally uncomfortable seat.

  Her legs dangled in the void, swinging slightly. Her blonde hair was tangled and full of twigs. Her oversized black robe was stained with dried black blood and dirt.

  But she was alive.

  "Immortal," she murmured, staring at the horizon where she'd fought the centaur. "That piece of shit is immortal."

  Memories of the fight flashed through her like fast-forward footage. Every blow she'd landed. Every bone she'd shattered. And that feeling... that power.

  And that loss of control.

  She shivered, and it wasn't from the wind.

  I ripped its arms off. Literally ripped its arms clean off its body. And I... I loved it.

  "Fuck," she breathed, running a hand through her hair. "That was epic."

  Something shifted in her palm. A chill, then...

  A cup of ice materialized in her hand.

  Cassian stared at it, mouth agape. The ice was perfectly clear, sculpted with impossible precision. And inside, pure water.

  "I... I did that?"

  She had. Without thinking. Just wanting water, her body had responded—condensing moisture from the air, freezing it into a cup shape, filling it.

  How do I know how to do that?

  But she did. It was there, in her mind, as natural as breathing. Knowledge she hadn't possessed hours earlier.

  Mana.

  The word rang with certainty. Mana existed in this world—an underlying energy permeating everything. The air. The earth. Living beings. And she could feel it now, like a gentle pressure against her skin, an invisible current flowing around her.

  She brought the cup to her lips and drank. The water was ice-cold, pure, absolutely delicious.

  Okay. Recap.

  She set the cup—which immediately began melting—on the branch beside her.

  When I was fighting the centaur, my body... what? Directly absorbed ambient mana?

  The knowledge in her head confirmed it. Yes. It was possible. But incredibly dangerous.

  The body couldn't just use raw ambient mana. It had to be absorbed, processed, converted into something the body could safely handle. That process took time. Hours. Sometimes days for large amounts.

  But in a moment of desperation, my body said "fuck it" and sucked in everything it could.

  Result: incredible power short-term. Followed by a brutal backlash.

  I'm lucky it wasn't worse. I could've exploded from the inside. Or fallen into a coma. Or worse.

  She looked at her hands. They were still trembling slightly. Her whole body felt empty, like a completely drained battery.

  But I'm alive. And I learned something.

  She could manipulate water. In all its states—liquid, ice, vapor. And temperature too. Not fire directly, but she could cool or heat things around her.

  Specific magic. Why just that? Why not... I don't know, shoot energy balls or fly or...

  No answer came. Just the instinct that this was her magic. Tied to her in some fundamental way.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "Okay," she said aloud, testing her hoarse voice. "Priority one: recover. Two: find food. Three: figure out where the hell I am."

  She closed her eyes, focusing on the mana around her. Slowly, deliberately, she began absorbing it. Not like during the fight—no desperate, violent pull. No, gently. A thin stream entering her body, spreading, being processed and stored.

  It's like breathing. Inhale the mana. Let the body convert it. Store it.

  Hours passed. The sun crossed the sky. Cassian sat in the tree, meditating, recovering.

  At some point, she fell asleep. A deep, dreamless sleep she desperately needed.

  ---

  When she woke, the sun was rising.

  Cassian stretched, wincing at the soreness in every muscle. But she felt... better. Not a hundred percent. Maybe thirty. But better than zero.

  She climbed down the tree carefully, testing each hold before trusting her weight. Her bare feet finally touched the ground with a sigh of relief.

  Good. Now what?

  She looked around. The plain stretched in every direction, rolling gently under the morning breeze. Tall grass, dotted with strange flowers that glowed faintly. A few solitary trees here and there.

  And nothing else. No civilization. No paths. Nothing.

  Pick a direction. Any direction. And walk.

  ---

  Two days later.

  Hunger had become a constant presence, a gnawing void in her stomach that refused to be ignored. Cassian had drunk—water wasn't an issue; she could create it at will—but thirst didn't fill the belly.

  I need food. Now.

  She'd seen a few small creatures—lizard-like things, strange birds with too many wings—but they were fast and wary. And even if she caught one, she still didn't know how to prepare it.

  I'd give anything for a burger. Even one of those gross cafeteria ones.

  That's when she saw it.

  A table.

  In the middle of nowhere. Just... there. A wooden table with a pristine white tablecloth. And on it...

  "No way."

  Food. Tons of food. A full feast laid out like a king's buffet. Steaming meat—chicken, beef, pork. Grilled vegetables. Fresh bread whose smell carried to her. Shiny, juicy fruits. And on the side...

  Cans. Of soda. Her favorite brands from Earth.

  Cassian stopped dead, every instinct screaming DANGER.

  "No. No no no. This is a trap. This CAN'T be real."

  She circled the table, keeping her distance. Nothing moved. No hidden wires. No lurking creatures. Just the table, the food, and the silence of the plain.

  But why? Why would there be food from EARTH here? In this shitty world?

  Her stomach growled so loudly it was almost painful.

  "This is stupid. This is the stupidest thing you could do."

  She stepped closer. Reached out. Grabbed a strip of grilled meat, still warm to the touch.

  Brought it inches from her lips.

  What if it's poisoned? What if it's an illusion? What if...

  "Fuck it." She set the meat down. "No. Think, Cassian. Think."

  This table makes no sense. The food makes no sense. Cans of Coke make NO sense.

  It's a trap. Obviously it's a trap.

  She stepped back.

  Then her stomach growled again, so violently she doubled over.

  "Fuck..."

  She looked at the food. Then the cans. Then the steaming meat.

  Okay. New strategy. I eat now. I worry about consequences later. Because if I don't eat, I'll starve anyway.

  She grabbed the strip of meat and bit into it.

  Oh my GOD.

  It was delicious. Perfectly seasoned, juicy, exactly how she liked it. She devoured the piece in seconds, then grabbed another. Then bread. Then vegetables. She gorged like a starving animal, which she was.

  A movement caught her eye.

  A rabbit.

  Small. Snow-white. Standing on its hind legs, staring at her with big red eyes. Obscenely cute, like something from a children's cartoon.

  Next to it, a small burrow dug into the ground.

  "You're cute," Cassian mumbled between bites. "Want some food?"

  She tossed a piece of meat toward the rabbit.

  It didn't react. Didn't even blink. Just stared with that unsettling intensity.

  "No? More for me."

  Cassian went back to her feast, tearing off a chunk of bread.

  The rabbit leaped.

  Not a cute little hop. A bound—propelled by hind legs that shouldn't have been able to generate that much force. It closed the distance in a flash.

  Its head slammed into Cassian's stomach like a battering ram.

  "OOOF!"

  Cassian was hurled backward, landing hard on her ass. Pain exploded in her abdomen—not like being hit by a rabbit. Like taking a punch from a pro boxer.

  "What the..."

  The rabbit landed gracefully, already turning for another assault.

  "Oh, YOU ASSHOLE!"

  She scrambled up just in time to see it leap again. She tried to dodge. Too slow. The rabbit adjusted mid-air—how the hell?!—and hit her again, this time in the ribs.

  CRACK.

  Pain erupted. She collapsed, gasping.

  This fucking rabbit... just broke my rib. A RABBIT.

  "Are you... serious?" she spat through clenched teeth.

  The rabbit watched her, still, waiting. Then it leaped again.

  Cassian rolled aside. The rabbit landed where she'd been a second earlier, hind legs carving a small crater in the dirt.

  No logic. Each leap... it's like being charged by someone twice my size. Every hit is full force.

  She forced herself up, staggering. "Okay. OKAY. I get it."

  She turned and ran.

  The rabbit pursued.

  WHAM.

  A hit to the back. Cassian sprawled face-first, wind knocked out. She got up, kept running.

  WHAM.

  Another hit. Then another. Each impact wrenched a cry of pain from her.

  I can't outrun it. I can't dodge it. I can't...

  Wait.

  The rabbit leaped again. This time, Cassian spun, hands outstretched.

  She caught it.

  Barely. Her fingers closed around its soft, warm body just as it was about to slam into her. The force nearly tore her arms from their sockets, but she held on.

  "I GOT YOU!"

  The rabbit thrashed. Violently. Its hind legs kicked with force that made Cassian's arms vibrate. She felt muscles tearing, bones grinding under the strain.

  "Fuck... don't let go... DON'T LET GO..."

  She couldn't. The rabbit was like an engine, raw power packed into a tiny body. Her hands slipped, losing grip...

  Water!

  Instinct took over. The mana in her responded.

  Moisture in the air converged around the rabbit, forming a perfect sphere. Cassian released the creature, which dropped into the suspended water. Immediately, she froze the edges—not fully, just enough to seal the sphere.

  The rabbit floated in the center, trapped in a crystal-clear water prison.

  Cassian collapsed to her knees, panting. "Take... that... asshole."

  The rabbit tried to swim to the edges. But each time it moved, a force—Cassian's water manipulation—pushed it back to the center. Trapped. Helpless.

  It began thrashing more desperately. Seeking air. Hind legs kicking against invisible walls that wouldn't yield.

  Cassian picked up the sphere, holding it in front of her face. "See this? This is what happens when you fuck with me."

  The rabbit stared, red eyes wide with panic. Its movements grew more frantic. Weaker.

  "Yeah. Die, you little bastard." A cruel smile spread across Cassian's lips. "You asked for it."

  She set the sphere on the table and went back to the food, ignoring the struggling rabbit behind her. Her ribs screamed with every breath, but she didn't care.

  It deserves this. Completely.

  She bit into a piece of meat, chewing slowly, savoring.

  A movement caught her eye.

  The rabbit... still moving?

  She turned. Inside the sphere, the rabbit was motionless. Floating. Apparently dead.

  Then its eyes snapped open.

  It kicked frantically, one last desperate burst of energy. Trying to break the prison. Searching for any weakness.

  Cassian burst out laughing. "You were playing dead?! You thought I'd let you go if you faked it?"

  The rabbit kept struggling, movements slowing. Stopping.

  This time, for good.

  Cassian watched the tiny body float, still. "That's all you deserved."

  She turned away, grabbing a can of soda. Opened it with a satisfying hiss. Brought it to her lips.

  She took a long swig, the fizzy sensation sending a wave of nostalgia through her.

  This world is dangerous. Even the rabbits try to kill you. No room for kindness.