Chpt. 30) Unknown Causes
The next morning we packed our bags and set out in separate directions. The hovercrafts dropped us off at the edge of Nexus, and we walked from there. Or rather, we ran from there. The moment we got out of the hovercraft, she told us to run. When I asked why, she made a compelling argument. Run, or she’ll beat the crap out of us. If I know one thing about my master is that she meant it, and so Cami, Xiao, and I ran like a hellhound was biting at our heels. Even Yuki was scared by Haze, as the temperature around my neck and shoulders was freezing.
After one whole day of running without stopping for lunch or even second breakfast, we finally stopped in a clearing on the side of the road. The road was a warn trail of dirt and mud, while the grass around the road was still obscured by ice and snow. Yuki was having a blast in the snow when we stopped, running around and jumping into snow mounds. She would occasionally pop out of the snow out of nowhere with a mouse or similar rodent in her mouth and look very proud of herself.
Meanwhile, we had to hunt for our own food. This wasn’t a big problem since we went on weekly hunting trips back home. The only difference is doing it in a different forest. But it felt tedious since we had spent the entire day running without breaks. At least we brought water and could make water with spells whenever needed. So, that’s good.
The first night was uneventful since we still had another seven hundred kilometers. Once we reached the six-hundred-kilometer mark, monsters began appearing here and there. They were also pretty weak, such as the familiar light stalkers, and a few new ones, like the cleverly named night stalkers. They’re essentially just like light stalkers but during the night. Very clever indeed. I now have night stalker DNA since my tails ate pretty much everything. I’m currently keeping three tails and my wings out at all times.
Now, we’re at day three and going slowly through the mountains and forests. And I am currently standing on a cliff face looking down at a horde of waring monsters. Each one is unique, and each one is trying to kill the other and climb the walls of the mountains. I looked at Haze and the others and asked, “So, what do we do, master?”
Haze looked down the cliff and squinted, “How far down is that?”
I looked back down, “I don’t knOOWW!!” I yelled as Haze pushed me over the cliff.
“We’ll be down in a minute! Kill as many as you can!” Haze yelled back as I fell.
I shook my head in annoyance and spread my wings to slow my fall. The hordes of monsters did nothing to acknowledge my existence and kept focused on getting up the sheer cliff. I clicked my tongue and said, “You foolish monsters, your sacrifice will be quickly forgotten and in vain.”
Tucking my wings close to my body, I dove for the center of the horde, and with a thunderclap, I swung my tails full of Storm chakra at the first monster smashing it into green past and sending the surrounding monsters stumbling back a few meters. The horde froze and slowly turned toward me. I stared back and examined them. There scorpion looking monsters, giant spider monsters, and some centipede monsters.
I raised my fists and readied myself for a fight. I took one deep breath and charged forward, attacking the closest monsters. I crushed a scorpion the size of Jax under my foot. Its chitin exoskeleton cracked loudly as I stomped on its head and sprayed green blood everywhere. One of the giant spiders rubbed a couple of brain cells together and charged me from behind. My tail quickly snapped at the monster and tore it to shreds before eating it.
Cycling my Ice-claymore chakra through my body, I formed my armor around my body and created a long double-bladed sword staff with it. The monsters finally acknowledge me as a threat and charge at me. I spin, the ice stars on my skirt shredding the legs out from under the closest monsters as I swiftly cut them apart with my sword. As the monsters fell, I jumped over the next group of monsters attacking at a random spot in the horde.
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As I landed, I spun again and shredded another group of monsters before letting my tails eat a few pieces of the corpses. The horde quickly stopped and charged at me again, some tripping over each other and slowing the horde down. I swung my blade with deadly accuracy before jumping away again and clearing another patch of monsters. But at the same time, the horde was ready, and once I stopped spinning, several spiders lept at me while the scorpions jabbed their stingers at my back. Suddenly a blast of ice struck the spiders that lept at me, and I spun my sword to cut the stingers off the scorpion’s tails. The monsters screeched in agony, a vile high-pitched squeal that made me recoil and cover my sensitive fox ears.
Another ice blast struck the screeching scorpions, and I uncovered my ears. Looking up, I saw Xiao in his wyvern form swooping down and blasting the monsters with ice. Cami stood at the top of the cliff, crafting a massive spell, and I didn’t want to be anywhere near the horde when that went off. I quickly skated across the ground, killing monsters as I approached the cliff face. Once there, I jumped and spread my wings wide as I flapped furiously to get to the top of the cliff.
I landed a second later and dispelled my armor as Cami yelled, “GET CLEAR!!” And activated the spell. A tower of spell circles extended up to the sky and began to glow ominously before creating a flash of light that darkened the sky, turning the day into night. The flash of light shot down to the center of the horde with no sound then expanded with a defining boom. The light beam continued for several seconds before finally subsiding and disappearing.
Cami collapsed, exhausted, and I quickly caught her before she hit the ground. She blearily said something that I couldn’t hear. I blinked, uncomprehending. Then I felt something trickle down the side of my face. I reached up and touched a trickle of blood that escaped my ears. I cycled my Healing chakra through my body, healed my ears, and sent some to her to help her hearing.
“What did you say?” I asked, once my hearing returned with a soft pop, “I didn’t hear you.”
Cami coughed and said weakly, “Come closer.” I leaned in closer, bringing my ear to her mouth as I listened intently. She coughed again, “T-tell Xiao that—that he has nice abs.” Then she went limp.
Xiao landed a few meters away and returned to his human form before approaching us. “What happened to her?” he asked, non-plussed.
“Oh, she’s dying, and her last wish was to suck you off. So have fun with that,” I answered, dropping Cami like a sack of potatoes.
Shrugging, Xiao unzipped his pants, and Cami jumped back up, her face a bright red, saying, “Hey, look! I’m alive! What a miracle I am. Okay, you can put that away now. Let’s go!”
Xiao chuckled and zipped his pants back up before going to the clothes bags and putting on his shirt, completing his gi. Haze smiled happily while stroking Yuki’s back. “Well, done,” she said, “Now we should keep moving and keep an eye out for more monsters.”
Yuki jumped from Haze’s arms, and I picked her up, putting her on my shoulders. “Hey, master, why were the monsters acting like that?” I asked.
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“Well, why were they trying so desperately to climb the wall? Were they running from something?” I hedged.
Haze shrugged, “Maybe. Maybe not. Monsters act strangely sometimes.”
“What would cause that?”
Thinking momentarily, Haze began counting off reasons with her fingers as she began walking up the road, “Could be a spiritual surge coming, could be a stronger monster in the area, could be a spirit beast is close by, could be food shortages, could be they just had gas. I don’t know, and I probably won’t care.”
I hefted my pack on my back and began to follow. I looked around for any signs more monsters were near, and as I did, I saw a small flash of orange and red light on the top of a cliff in the distance. I squinted at the spot and shook my head after a moment. I then asked, “What’s a spirit beast?”
“For fucks sake, you have one living in your core, dumbass,” Haze berated.
“Agreed, dumbass,” Fengbao agreed.
“Oh, I just thought he was a spirit. Not specifically a spirit beast.”
“Technically, all spirits are spirit beasts, but some don’t take a beast form and choose to look human rather than animal, so we have the distinction. It’s a worthless distinction, but a distinction nonetheless,” Haze explained.
“Oh, okay,” I said, now understanding.
“Good, now let’s pick up the pace. I want to find a safe place to sleep by nightfall,” Haze said as she began to run. The rest of us groaned and followed her example as we ran for the rest of the day, killing any monster we encountered.
***