She's on the right track, but isn't there yet.

I composed myself carefully, preparing to respond in any situation. Her voice had had a tone of concern, but not the type one would have when they are about to accuse someone. Regardless, I had to be prepared to act in the event this took a bad turn. "What of?" I kept my tone serious but not aggressive or concerned.

She looked to the rest of the party quickly, seemingly gauging that we were far enough away, before responding. "The situation with the mana isn't as simple as it sounds." She seemed very weary, though not of me, which made me let my guard down slightly.

I glanced to her before returning my eyes ahead, "How so?"

She bit her lip in thought, "I am afraid to say that I think it is infectious." I raised my eyebrow at her, and she quickly responded. "The mana that is flowing through the forest, I was able to get a decent feel of it. The thing I'm worried about, is that after I woke up..." She seemed to go back and forth on telling me, before deciding to. "Some of my mana seems to have been replaced with it."

I was surprised, I had not expected her to be able to figure it out, at least not that quickly. Still, there was a major question in my mind, "Why did you pull me aside to speak about this?"

She let out a concerned sigh, "I feel that if I told the others, they would **** me to rest or something. And right now, we all need to work together to handle this monster before it gets to the time after it has grown." As I was about to speak, she continued, "I also think you of any of them have the best grasp of how mana works."

I gave a slightly sad chuckle, "I know how I use it, not much else. I don't need to understand theories, my god gave me this power after I had been a common man before."

She gave a chuckle in return, "Somebody's lucky, I had to study for a few years to be able to apply mana."

I decided to use her greater understanding of mana to my advantage, "So, your mana being replaced, is it dangerous?"

She did a so-so gesture and shrugged, "Eeh? I don't know, I've never heard of it before. By all logic it could be a good thing, just as much as a bad. It is simply the context that makes it concerning. We don't know what this mana is doing to the forest, and now I have it in me."

I put my hand on her shoulder, "I am here for whatever you may need. I may not be able to purify this power due to it sharing an affinity with myself, however I should be able to figure it out somewhat quickly."

She somewhat fidgeted under my hand, I couldn't quite tell why. She responded while looking at the ground, "Yeah... Thanks, I'll hold you to that."

The conversation apparently concluded, we sped up to regroup with the party. All seemed normal at first, and we quietly retook our positions in the line. It had not seemed like anyone had noticed our temporary slow down.

Or at least, it hadn't seemed that way until Grutrod called back to us from the front, "You two kiddos done with yer make out session then?"

Natalia pulled her hat down over her face, muffling her voice, "We didn't make out! We just talked!"

Grutrod gave a hearty laugh before he responded with another line, "Ah, just exchangin' love poetry then?"

It seemed like this would be a back and forth before Oliver spoke up, "That's enough. You don't need to antagonize her so much."

Grutrod gave an annoyed mumble in return, but ceased his teasing. We continued through the forest for about ten more minutes before anything happened. Natalia was still walking with her hat pulled down over her face, seemingly not yet over the embarrassment. This meant that when the others stopped, she walked into Oliver.

She stumbled backwards, letting her hat up, "Hey, why did you-" She stopped talking as she saw what was in front of them.

Silvia held a closed hand beside her head, letting out a quiet whisper, "We're here."