Jen called out to the group, "We've got to get running again. No time to waste."
Everyone was mentally and physically exhausted from feverishly preparing the traps and the battle with Lord Deathless, but Jen was glad to see that they were getting up and starting to move before interrogating her for her orders.
Tamako started leading the way, following Jen's Tweety Claw as it scouted overhead. Pudding and Sam were slowing them down, but they were still moving faster than Olympic runners back on Earth.
Sam panted out as ran, "What's going on, why can't we take a few minutes to relax and recover?"
Jen replied, "Don't know, but I received a strong feeling from Slim that we needed to get our asses moving. He's heading our way, I'll let you know more when I know more. For now, save your breath for running."
*****
As Jen felt Slim get closer, his presence reminded her of the notice of experience points she’d received, but ignored during their battle with Lord Deathless, and asked Slim, “You weren’t far behind us when we fled from the rental house. What happened, and how did you earn so many experience points?”
Jen patiently watched Slim as he was trying to be dramatic and draw out his explanation by prancing past them and looking for a place to lay down up ahead. However, Tamako didn’t have Jen’s patience when she said, “so what happened to you? What's going on? Out with it!”
Jen rolled her eyes inwardly as Slim soaked up Tamako’s frustration, by making another dramatic pause and licking his paws before explaining, “I went back to the teleportation pad the Acid Guild used and watched as three other deck droppers were recovering from their drop. The second one to get up also didn’t wait for the rest of his party to recover before leaving. He just got up, beat up the Acid Guild’s Deck Director, took all his money, and started heading out of the city.”
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Jen asked, “How did he know which direction to go?”
“He was just getting to the City’s gate when he spotted the Elf tracking mage. The Elf must hate these guys because he charged the dropper a fortune, and he just needed to lead him back here again. The dropper must’ve been a mage since he raised a ridiculously powerful mana shield when he left the city gate. He was so confident of his shield, and arrogant of his power, he didn’t even pay attention to anything going on around him. He just followed the Elf as though he were on a paradise deck.”
Tamako blew out an impatient breath as they continued to run past where Slim was relaxing, and said, “So what happened to him?”
“I snuck up on him and killed him from behind.” Slim snickered before continuing, “Even that Elf jumped in surprise.”
Jen fist-pumped the air, and replied, “kick-ass Slim!” Pudding looked curiously towards Jen, inquiring what Slim was telling them. Jen then told Pudding about Slim killing the mage.
Pudding’s eyes widened in amazement as he said, “How in da hell did you kill him though? His power make Lord Deathless look like a gentle baby!”
Slim purred with joy at everyone’s frustration after he replied, “It’s a secret technique I’m unable to disclose.”
Jen was pretty sure her connection with Slim was giving her an idea of how he killed mages that relied too much on mana, but she wouldn’t give out his secrets. Jen then asked Slim through their private mana-bond, “How close was it really Slim?”
Slim looked up at her and replied, “Let’s just say I wouldn’t try it again at my current level.” The others had no idea why Jen hollered "keep running" as she turned around, ran back to Slim, and picked Slim up, pulling him into a tight hug. Slim was also surprised at the intensity of the feeling that flowed through her connection, but decided he liked it very much, well…he would tolerate it.
Slim continued after a minute, “Just so you know, that Elf tracking mage was watching when you all killed Lord Dipshit. His type would never tell the humans what he saw, but I’m sure the Elf guild will be curious about me, Pudding, and the rest of you now. Of course, they're Elves, so that means in 1 to 2 hundred years his guild may ask him about it. Also, pick up the pace, if those other droppers hire the tracking mage to find us, you won’t have any warning with him pinging Pudding again, since he already knows where we are, and it is obvious where we're heading.”
That comment got everyone’s attention, and energized them to keep pushing hard for the wild jump pad to the Oracle Deck. They all knew they didn't stand a chance against two of these powerful deck droppers at the same time.