Ryan heaved a deep breath and stretched before turning around and looking back down the slope. Miguel was puffing along a bit further back but had stuck close to him on the ascent to the escarpment. Fury was right by his side. Originally Ryan wanted to go as a lonely two-some but better sense had prevailed. Or rather, William, who must have seen him head of in to the bush, had messaged him and requested that he take the Scout on a tour of the escarpment so that Miguel could scout the area. Apparently, at level 20, Miguel had gotten a Skill that allowed him to scan a larger area and get hints at possible points of interest. Moving along the escarpment and scanning the valley would improve their knowledge of the area and the Guild’s safety.
The reason Miguel was puffing along behind him was that Ryan had decided to make their ascent into a race. It had been a foolhardy idea but Ryan really wanted to push himself and get a feel for his body's limits again. The twisting, rocky trail up to the escarpment was basically an obstacle course at the speeds he was capable of maintaining and Ryan was pleasantly surprised that he sprinted up the slope in a few minutes. Ryan estimated that the hike would have taken him about an hour less than half a year in the past.
He hadn’t been entirely reckless and had kept Predator’s Awareness up and running. Thanks to Graviton Sphere being incorporated in the Skill it fed him a truly surprising amount of information of larger bodies moving within its range even at the speeds he was moving at. True, it wouldn’t warn him of a threat the calibre of Panzer, meaning small and lethal, but Ryan had scouted the mountain and down the trail a few days prior and had taken extreme care in identifying threats. If pressed, he’d probably admit that the only threats besides the bloody mopane flies he had identified on the mountain had been of the larger variety. It definitely didn’t mean that threats smaller in size didn’t exist but Ryan had noticed the tendency that larger animals more readily survived System Initiation to become threats.
Miguel was still making his way up the slope. The Scout wasn’t struggling, moving with a fluid grace through the challenging environment, but his pace was definitely slower than Ryan’s had been. Fury was already quartering through the surrounding bush and hunting for threats or prey so Ryan felt safe to let Predator’s Awareness drop for the moment to forestall any strain building up and give his Energy regen a rest. They had a long day ahead of them and it was always a good idea to husband your resources in potentially hostile terrain, Ryan reminded himself wryly after his earlier profligate spending of the same resources he now wanted to recover.
“Gimme three minutes to scan from here.” were the first words out of Miguel’s mouth as he stepped up on the bluff next to Ryan.
“Sure. I’ll go one further. I suggest that you’ll move along the escarpment while Fury and I cover the area plateau-side. You won’t be able to properly use your Skill in that direction if I understand the mechanism correctly and we’ll cover more ground that way. Call if you find anything interesting and we’ll do the same.”
“Sure, Mark me so you know where I’m at and then rendezvous every half hour to refresh?” Miguel accepted the plan without further thought.
Miguel’s suggestion to use Hunter’s Mark on the teen was a great idea so Ryan promptly complied before he headed off into the bush and left a “See you in half an hour.” hanging in the air as Miguel was already turning back around to start scanning the valley.
Ryan transitioned into a new world when he plunged into the tangled wall of vegetation from the path. Sounds were muted, subdued by the ever present rustle of the breeze agitating the upper branches of trees and bushes. It was immediately cooler in the shade but stuffier too, the air lying still, barely moving. Moist, it was moister in here. Scents here were pronounced. In direct contrast to the ever-shifting ephemeral scents dancing on the breeze outside here they were stale and concentrated, overlapping in places but each mostly confined to its territory. Dominant were the scents of fresh and mouldering plant matter, each its own mark of the tide of time. Here and there faint traces of mammals had left a trail in the air until Ryan’s nose was assailed by the unmistakable scent of dung. By the smell Ryan judged the perpetrator to be an herbivore which was confirmed a moment later as he found the origin of the offensive smell. A Rhino had left a message for its fellows, a large and unmistakable deposit in the middle of a crossing of tracks.
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Ryan knelt down and stuck his finger through the hardened crust. The interior was cool and retained some moisture, a bit, not a lot. The scat was thus at least a couple of hours old. Ryan refrained from following the tracks leading away from the site. They were heading directly away from the escarpment and he had no particular deathwish. Tangling with the behemoth in this thick bush was a disaster waiting to happen. Instead, moving parallel to the escarpment, he followed the game trail that the scat had inadvertently led him to.
Signs of life had been prevalent so far but Ryan had yet to spot a living animal, which, in this thicket, wasn’t too surprising. Predator’s Awareness was cranked to the max and reassured him that he wouldn’t suddenly be face to face with one of the area’s larger denizens.
Something fleshy squished beneath his boot and Ryan froze immediately. He hadn’t seen, smelled, felt or heard anything that should go squish when he stepped on it. Worryingly, there hadn’t been an experience notification either so whatever he must have stepped on must still be alive. His first instinct was to Shift away but that would ultimately be futile as he could either Shift a few metres forward or back to his Dimensional Anchor.
Whatever he had stepped on hadn’t moved in the moments he had remained stationary and Ryan neither felt nor heard any sign of movement elsewhere either. So, as he wondered how high it would rate on the scale of stupid things to do, Ryan knelt down to touch whatever he had stepped on. A cold, glassy and silky smooth surface greeted his questing fingers and as Ryan stroked along the large shape he could feel the tiniest hints of scales. And with that the picture that his brain had failed to comprehend before suddenly assembled with startling clarity. His boot was pressing down on the edge of a humungous moulted snake skin. The near see through skin patterned exactly like the surrounding area stretched across the path and disappeared into the bush on either end. The scale of the thing was mind-boggling and Ryan wouldn’t bet on Miguel and him being able to encircle its girth with their arms. Ryan traced the faint patterns and came to the conclusion that he was probably dealing with the mutated version of a rock python. The fact that the monster was probably not venomous was the only reassurance following that discovery.
When Miguel answered his call he was somewhat relieved and immediately started with: “You want the good news or the bad news first?”
“Uh-oh. Start with the good?” Miguel replied hesitantly.
“I might know why I’ve seen so little wildlife in the area.” Ryan said.
“I’m guessing the bad news is the cause.” the Scout promptly ascertained the reason for Ryan’s call.
“Yeah. I found a freshly, and I mean as in hours, maybe minutes, skin of a rock python.” Ryan told the Scout.
“And that’s bad why? They’re not venomous, move fairly slow and rest for weeks once they have eaten their fill.” Miguel aptly summarised the situation.
“You’ve ever seen that old movie ‘Anaconda’?” Ryan ventured. “I guess it might have been before your time but if I remember correctly they made several terrible sequels.”
“Can’t say I have.”
“Too bad then. We’re dealing with a constrictor that puts the subject of a horror movie to shame,” Ryan stated drily, “and from what I can deduce it can closely match its pattern to its surroundings.” he continued mercilessly. “Want to help me find it?” he asked, not certain whether he was joking or seriously contemplating following the heavy tracks of the snake.
“Nah. I’m good. Thank you but no thank you.” Miguel immediately declined to participate and rudely hung up on him.
‘Fury, my love?’ Ryan quested for the presence of the lioness in his mindscape. ‘Nope, just nope.’ his soulbond vehemently declined, well aware of what he was asking by virtue of having followed his conversation with Miguel. At times Ryan regretted not training Predator’s veil more but usually the fact that Fury could follow his thoughts at ease was more a convenience than not. This wasn’t one of those times. With an internal sigh Ryan girded himself to complete this self-assigned solo quest and called Miguel again.
“Ok, I’ll head over to you to refresh my Mark and then go see if I can find the snake. We should at least identify its type and level if possible.” Ryan informed the Scout as he headed in his direction. He wasn’t particularly looking forward to searching out the snake but neither was he particularly worried. Predator’s awareness would warn him if a body that size made any sudden movements in his vicinity and he could always Shift back to base if needed. ‘That Skill truly is a cheat’ he thought to himself as he approached the sitting Scout.