Bitter Creek was southeast of Obsidian Wood. I wouldn’t need to go there. I will head to the town called Steel Gorge, which is southwest of Obsidian Woods. I think one of the access points to the Astral Space was close to there. It was the place I was most interested in when I saw the map. The next nearest gate is south of the city of Boko, which is on the edge of a desert. Boko is an independent city between Kekie and Greenstone. The huge desert extends south, and then there is a river delta before Greenstone. Nobody considers Greenstone to be anywhere, so that is my backup plan if I can’t get access to the Astral Space. Even if I can get access to the Astral Space, there are exits that come out into Greenstone territory via waterfalls. The plan is still in development right now.

I have two new bronze-rank axes. They are not special, just good, solid axes. I brought two spears and some spear poles so I could mount the chitin spearheads. I avoided selling too much ant stuff and sold my Venom Knife and Troll Knife instead. I kept the two chitin knives. I sold some chitin sheets to a craftsman, as well as Monkey Essence and miscellaneous other things. I stocked up on travel equipment and potions. I then bought some war hammers when I discovered what the Obsidian Woods actually were. I was out of the city before nightfall.

Going by the name, I was expecting a forest like Ironwood. That was a beginner's mistake. Obsidian is glass formed in the heart of volcanic eruptions. The Obsidian Woods was a volcanic wasteland with huge pillars of rock with obsidian streaked through them. Some of the volcanoes I could see were smoking. This was an active volcanic area.

Obsidian Woods was a mining city. Minerals and gems were the main exports. The monsters that spawned were a lot of rock and molten rock types. Air and fire elementals sometimes appeared and a Griffon colony was located to the west.

I left the city on the road to Bitter Creek, but I left the road as soon as I got out of sight of the city and headed overland at a steady jog. Speed was important as it wouldn’t take much for them to realise I was not in Venomflats. I kept up the pace all night.

The smell of magic had a lot of fire and rock. Obsidian is essentially a type of rock. I picked up quintessence for various types of rock as I came across them, including obsidian, but moving was the key. To get as far away from everyone as possible.

My brindle fur didn’t stand out like the tan fur would, so my Blend was not working as hard and, therefore, using less mana, although I was moving faster than it could keep up with. Speed was more important than complete stealth. I found a river and bathed to get rid of my scent, and I smeared rock dust in my fur to change my scent.

I rested and catnapped for a couple of hours and then continued throughout the next night. It was difficult when clouds covered the moon, but I persevered. When the sun rose, I stopped for a longer period and made a bed in a shallow cave.

The place was riddled with caves. The Stalking part of my Savage Stalker was rapt with so many choices. The terrain was easy, as well, as I stuck to the gullies. When I had to cross higher areas, I slowed down into full stealth, still making the most of the terrain.

I did see a Griffon fly overhead, but it didn’t see me. The wild Griffons will feed on people if they think they can. They will prey on bears.

The magic in the air was all rock and fire. I was careful to monitor the magic, so I knew when it changed.

There were small plants growing in cracks, with associated insects, and small birds and rodents. The rock concentration in the smell of the magic grew. There was a manifestation around. I was far enough away, and I felt I could detour slightly. Essences and Awakening stones are valuable.

Of course, it wasn’t anything like that. Kai found it for me: a small nest of Stone Cutter Rats. They could chew through stone, as the name says. They were a real menace in town as they chew through stone to get into storerooms, and they often lived in sewers and travelled. There was nothing for them to get into here, and I could leave them if I wanted.

I was a small nest, probably less than twenty and bronze rank. The nest was in a shallow depression, and there was a rock overhang, but it wasn't really a cave. Kai was there to get any runners, and I cast Hunters Tether and then planted Ardisia in the overhang where her vines would reach and poison and hinder. Predictably, the rats chewed through the testers fast, and I recast it.

Some tried to attack me, and I felt Kai chasing a couple who tried to get away. I was going to recast Hunters Tether a lot. I saw Ardisia’s vines swing down and stab and try to gra some rats. The rats were fast, and she only found success if she got them by surprise. I saw one rat chew through one of Ardisia’s vines.

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I recast Hunters Tether to give Ardisia more options. Then I tried some Sticky Fire. I needed to test what it would do, and this was as controlled a fight as I would ever get. The Sticky Fire caught two rats and just kept burning through them and then into the rock. It was potent stuff.

I splashed Liquid Fire around and set it aflame, and multiple rats started burning. It burned through my tethers as well, but that eas expected. Liquid Fire was effective as well. The main thing with both Liquid Fire and Sticky Fire was setting it alight. I would need to work on a solution, but for now, I used the Kai with the Liquid Fire as he had inherited the ability to light his liquid. He was happily spreading his flames, and the only rats that dared go in were the two chitin-covered rats.

I recast Hunter's tether and went in to try my Fire Knives. They cut, but there was no blood. It was like the cauterised the wound and stopped the bleeding. That was interesting, but the bleeding was a good drain on health that I was missing out on. They might be good for cutting the heads off hydras, but I would need something bigger than a knife for that. The heat helped the cutting, but the lack of bleeding was a negative. Actually, a lack of blood is sometimes a good thing if you don’t want to leave evidence, but I need to think about this later.

Ardisia had trapped several rats and lifted them so they couldn’t bite through her vines. She kept stabbing them with thorns until they died, and it looked like a painful way to go.

The ones that were left were drugged from Ardisia or wounded or burned, so I let all the Kais loose on them to finish them off. He devoured the Stone Cutter Rats. I didn’t get any bonuses for Kai, but the main thing was to test some of these new things and the test went well with little danger.

The fight didn’t take us long, and I reaped some stone-cutting teeth. I was thinking if I added them to the edge of the pickaxe I had, it would chew through the rock. I didn’t have time now, but I will see what I can do later. I might need the help of a blacksmith.

That night, I had a nightmare, and I was awake at the time. I was hiding because the smell of the magic had changed slightly. I saw a vision of translucent moth wings flying across the sky. Moon girl. They must have some sort of tracking ability, possibly active at night, from Moon Girl? That is speculation, but they have located me somehow. Where Moon Girl is, the others won’t be far behind. I remembered the shadow jumping Black did. He could pop out anywhere.

How did they find me? Was it because of the fight I just had? Are they tracking me somehow? I know my diversion would not stand up to much scrutiny, and it was only to give me a head start. I think they are tracking me.

I moved in full stealth with everything tight Stalking the best I could do. My aura was especially tight and Blend going full on my aura as well as on my body. I kept moving all night and well after the sun rose. I didn’t see anything except Moon Girls wings in the distance.

I changed direction after full light on the off chance it was something from Moon Girl skills and related to the moon or night, but it could easily be the Mage or Black. There was no way I could take on one of them, let alone all three. They are silver Rank and trained and experienced. They know how to use all their skills and have fought people, not just monsters. People are harder as they have twenty skills to draw on, just like me. People are intelligent. Well, most of them are more intelligent than monsters.

All I could do was run. If they are tracking me, they will lose track if I leave this world and enter astral space. I think this is why they couldn’t find me before. After I removed my collar, I spent most of my time in the astral space with the Smelly A’s. The collar blocked their tracking as it suppressed my magic. Astral spaces block the tracking as well, which indicates it is not Moon Girl doing the tracking as she came into the astral space looking for me and left without finding me.

Is this all wild speculation on my part? Who knows.

Keep going.

I was moving slower now, but I kept moving. I never stopped for more than about an hour. I was going day after day, and my mind was getting hazy. Hour-long catnaps are not enough. Then, I smelled a concentration of magic. Maybe it is a concentration of magic that blocks or confuses their tracking spell. That would explain the proximity to the Smelly A’s and the fact I was not found even when I was not in the Astral space.

I headed toward the concentration of magic, hoping it was not a monster.

Of course, it was a monster. I crept close as the heat rose. Lava was seeping out of the ground in a number of places here and pooling in something between the size of a large pond and a small lake. Fumes rose with the heat that poured off the lake. Something large and silver rank swam in the lava lake.

I was not going to assume it was confined to the lake; in fact, I would assume it wasn’t. I crept as close as I dared and found a small hollow to hide in. I was exhausted, so I was hoping the magic pouring from the lava monster would cover me while I napped for a couple of hours. It was all guesswork that the magic would hide me, but I needed a rest. I hope I am not visible to the monster, or I probably won’t wake up. Death by a monster is probably preferable to recapture—the Chitin Kai’s stood watch.