I waited until nightfall for my next outing, and this time, I had left only after going to my bedroom, using a secret tunnel to slip away rather than using the excuse of visiting the hunting outpost.
There were two reasons for my sudden change of pattern. First, Concealment gave me confidence that, even with the observers, I could come in and get out of the outer town without the risk of getting spotted. But, more importantly, I planned for a longer trip this time, which was not just for shopping.
No, I wanted to check the border region as well, and if I got spotted, I wanted my identity to be safely in the town.
For that reason, this time I had paid greater attention to my disguise, including a thick layer of makeup, even a blonde wig, using the combination to look much younger. It was not something that could trick someone with Perception from close quarters, but it should be enough to trick any distant observer.
Especially I also wore a hooded cloak as another layer of concealment.
Soon, I was out of the town, and running toward the border, relatively slowly at first, with several sharp turns so that anyone that checked my route wouldn't immediately guess my starting point, then, with a sharp cut, I ran toward the river.
My previous practice had shown that, while messy and dirty, the river gave me a good path to escape if needed. The combination of Concealment and Speed would give me an even better visibility; and to top it off, Charisma was there to keep out the pesky monsters away.
My own liquid highway.
Luckily, even as I run without a break for four hours, there had been no interruption, stopping only when I noticed a convenient hill I could use a vantage point, near enough to the border between the forest and the plain … and immediately discarded my decision to try and enter the forest.
I had expected the military to reinforce the area, but I expected that to happen in the form of several floating castles and some more carts. A wall that would make the Great Wall of China like a primary school project was not what I expected.
Even from a distance, I could see that the wall was at least a hundred feet tall and fifty feet thick, made of some grey stone, and from where it ended, a blue shield appeared, rising high enough to reach the clouds.
Even for a magical world, an impressive progress, considering it took only a few weeks. And, here I was, impressed with our little dingy town.
It was best not to forget that I was essentially in the wilderness, working in a wild-west town…
The wall itself was filled with soldiers, and not for no reason. Even from a great distance, their frequent battling was clear, telling me the presence of constant attacks. I didn't know what attacked from the ground, as the wall blocked the view, but the battle going on in the sky gave me an idea.
Occasionally, great flocks of beasts attacking in an attempt to breach the defenses, crackling with mana I could identify as destruction mana even from a distance, the red hue hard to miss.
Some of them were familiar-looking birds, though corrupted with the presence of the red mana, while some of the creatures were a weird of beings that looked like they had no business flying — or even, being alive. Interestingly, those creatures had a much higher density of red energy.
As I watched, I decided that there was indeed a difference between them, as whenever I watched them dive against the walls, the arrows always struck them first, leaving the birds to the second wave.
"Okay, I have seen all I needed to see," I muttered, sending one last glance to the river that I had used to escape. While the river still flew under the walls — a particularly thick section — the gap water was flowing had another magical layer that would likely prevent me to use the trick to get in.
Then, I dashed back, Concealment still active. I needed to find a way to get into the forest, but only after I had managed to collect enough mana to trigger the Promotion, which I had no idea when to be completed.
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Of course, that was not exactly necessary. At worst, I would promote near the river, and jump in to escape any potential followers, but with everyone searching for me, I didn't expect my promotion to stay hidden … and it would be for the best if they searched me in the forest rather than the plains.
They thought that I was there … it was for the best to make them continue to think that way.
With that done, I changed my destination, and once again followed the river to go back, looking around. I had been planning to go back, when, suddenly, I felt a presence in the river, one that felt quite familiar.
One that was calling me to jump into the river and embrace it.
An old … friend.
I jumped into the water, my blade already in hand, and rushed forward. This time, the smaller fish didn't approach me, a flex of Charisma was enough to push them away.
That also alerted my target. The tentacled beast once again burst out of the riverbed, alerted by my move, and jumped out of the riverbed with a burst of mud, trying to block my view as it tried to rush to me.
Without the blade to constantly damage it, the damage I had delivered had long cured, so I didn't expect it to recognize me, but the cry it let out suggested too much anger for me to think that it didn't recognize me. How, I had no idea. Maybe it recognized the sword that made him feel pain for such a long time, or maybe it recognized my presence by an aspect I didn't hide.
Or maybe, it was simpler. With the raging waters washing my makeup and my hair dye, I was far more recognizable, which allowed it to recognize me.
Unfortunately for it, recognizing me didn't mean much. I slid to the side to avoid his assault easily, the Speed helping me to move faster even underwater. And, unlike Strength, I didn't need to rely on long, choppy strokes. I easily dodged its attack to the side, a slash of my magical blade enough to cost it one tentacle.
It drifted away even as its wound healed rapidly, a new tentacle already starting to grow.
The beast tried to twist and capture me, but that didn't work too well with its limited lateral speed. Its forward rush and the luring aura were its best weapons, and with both were invalidated by the current circumstances.
Its other tentacle rushed forward, only to end up the same way.
And, just like that, it suddenly turned and swam away, ready to leave me alone. That didn't surprise me. I had seen the flickers of self-preservation the previous time, both with it and the huge tiger that escaped from the soldiers, showing that they were capable of resisting whatever that was driving the other beasts to constantly attack people.
It swam away rapidly, the wild flux of the river helping him to escape even faster. Pity I was the one chasing it. Anyone else, its speed and the turbulent nature of the river would have allowed it to escape … but I stayed at the chase, staying its back to constantly attack it, only to pull back whenever it turned to retaliate.
I was like a wolf, chasing a deer, ceaselessly attacking without giving a chance to counterattack … I needed to do it. Even with my Strength and my magical blade, depleting its Health seemed to be a lengthy affair.
However, just as the battle seemed hopeless for it, I felt a subtle presence growing. Mana, I recognized, the repeated practice after my meeting with Zolast allowing me to recognize the subtle tingling. I retreated back immediately, just in time as the blue energy crackled around it and eight ethereal tentacles appeared, attacking me.
I could have rushed forward, delivering the death blow as it struggled, but the amount of time it waited to use that ability suggested only one thing. It was not something that could be used easily. It rushed me, but I just swam away, easily dodging its attacks … and soon, those magical tentacles disappeared, leaving it even more listless.
I continued attacking. Its tentacles regrow several times, only to be cut down again and again … a non-stop battle that took almost ten minutes, which left my arms aching with exhaustion despite all my stats.
Yet, ultimately, it lost its ability to resist, and I still continued to slash, waiting for the notification to appear.
[+324,190 Experience]
"Wow, not a shabby number," I murmured even as I grabbed the body and dragged it to shore, taking a deep breath. "Just not enough to explain why the nobles reached that aggressively to the presence of that tiger."
Unless, there was another benefit, of course, I thought as I put my hand on it, spreading my mana, feeling the intensity of the vitality.
I could sense that the various parts of the beast had different intensities of vitality, with great variance, even the weakest energy enough to match the most intense parts of the common large monsters. And, the most intense parts easily eclipsed the weaker parts more than ten times. I could easily imagine Zolast making some incredibly effective food and healing pellets of it.
"Pity I couldn't just drag you back to the town, buddy," I said. Ironically, even though it easily weighed several tons, the problem was not the weight. My magical Strength was enough to carry it. But the size was much harder to explain.
Luckily, after weeks I spent hunting beasts, I had a good idea of how to process them, and my new mana sense was only making it easier. Using the magical dagger, I rapidly butchered the beast, taking only the most valuable parts to a size of a rough crate.
Yet, as I cut slowly, I continued to use my detection trick … until I found what I had been searching for, the thing that tempted the nobles to hunt the truly giant beasts.
[Ability Spark Detected: Enticing Ambush
Absorb / Ignore]
Excellent, I thought even as I chose to ignore. I didn't bother accepting it.
Why would I, when I had the key to truly unlock my black market access.