I felt every single raindrop within a thirty-foot area. Felt as it fell through the air, felt as it landed on something, the droplet flattening out and a tiny splash bouncing up. But more than ‘felt,’ I could 'see' it all happening. It wasn't with my eyes, but with a sixth magical sense, the same one that helped me know instinctively where water was and how it flowed. And every time a droplet landed on something, I could see the definition of that object as the water splashed and spread across it. Almost like echolocation. A black and white map of my surroundings opened up in my brain, while my eyes willed in the color of things that I could see.

I pressed a hand to my head, a little taken aback. As cool as it was, it was a little disorienting, as my view of the world shifted.

Levi stopped mid-tantrum. He could feel and see what I was seeing through our bond, so he knew what I was experiencing. It puzzled him, since he never knew something like that could happen.

Hell, I didn't know this was possible either, but I certainly wasn't going to object. Anything that gave me a leg up was a valuable ability. But did this only work in the rain? If so, that was a bummer. I was in the arid, mid-west, not a rainy coast. I wasn't going to use this awesome cheat very much.

Unfortunately, it did have its limitations — and which had everything to do with me. My spatial awareness was only thirty feet, so I could only see with rain for thirty feet. And the chasm holding the rolling cloud was a lot deeper than thirty feet, and spread nearly the length of the mountain, all the way to the valley. If something was in there, like a very powerful monster that hounded my every step, I couldn't see it. Honestly, the monster could be standing in the cloud just thirty-five feet away in front of me, watching, and I'd never know.

Unnerved by my wild train of thoughts, I took half a step back into the cave. But I didn't let myself fully retreat. I needed to get home, and I couldn't do that if I hid in a cave forever. Not to mention, I'd be cornered in said cave. Sure, there was a way out on the other side, but the tunnel was very long and the odds of me making it that far weren't high. Resolved, I walked all the way out of the tunnel, leaving the cold stone walls behind.

The platform in front of the cave cut off a short distance to the east, giving a spectacular view of the valley below. The golden morning sun danced across the tree tops and cast a golden lining on the cloud that spread across the mountain slopes before it and spilled into the chasm. But it didn't change the fact that it was a sudden drop into nothing but a cloud. To the west, the platform followed the curve of the mountain, heading up a far distance before a ledge jutted out halfway across the chasm. I could get across there. The cloud was also thinner and lower at that point, so I should be able to avoid going in it while crossing to the other side. Then, I could just take the path down the mountain and hopefully everything just fell into place from there.

I hiked over to the ledge and stopped before stepping onto it. Okay, it seemed like a good idea when I was planning out, but now that I was here, ready to put my plan into motion, I started to lose my nerve. Instead of letting my mind run wild, I took a breath and got ready. Levi wrapped around my neck and bit the rim of my armor so that he didn't fall off.

I shook my body, psyching myself up. Come on, I didn't hesitate at all to jump yesterday. Then again, yesterday the monster was behind me, not below. Then I sprinted forward ... and jumped. With no training, just my improved stats, I sailed fifteen feet before I tipped into the chasm. I shot several water whips out and wrapped them around a thick pine tree on the other side. With a jerk, the water whip restricted and brought me to the other side. The tips of my toes ghosted over the top of the cloud, but didn't actually dip in. The entire process nearly jerked my arms out of their sockets, but I made it to the other side in one piece. My brain still rattling in my skull, I sat on the ridge and shook the ache out of my arms.

Levi jumped off my shoulder, glad to be on the ground again. He gave me a stink eye. Eeee! That single vowel clearly stated his discontent.

"It was my first time doing anything like that," I argued back. "Did you think I'm a master chasm jumper?" Actually, it was a useful trick, specifically since I was currently stuck on a mountain.

Ding! [GPS directions have been updated.]

I paused, surprised when the Guide's map showed up. It showed two dotted paths on the picture, a blue one for my original mapped out course along the edge of the plains and mountain, and a new green one that cut through the mountain peaks and brought me to Mist Haven from the back. Interestingly enough, part of the path actually took me through the foggy area that the map didn't show clearly. So I'd be the first Hunter to enter that area?

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I noticed as I peered closer to the map that everywhere I'd been the last couple days were now on the map in detail, not just a vague summary. The cliff with the slot canyon with the eel hound nest, the abandoned building in the middle of the turf war — although it didn't record who owned the territory now, just marked that it was a monster nest — and even the tunnel I spend the night in last night was detailed in shape and marked with a yeti warning. That tunnel ended up being a shortcut to get from the front to the back of the mountain range.

Curious, I touched the yeti's tunnel to zoom in. I never got to see what was down the dark tunnel. Was that information filled in too? All that showed was a short dead-end before a teal screen popped up.

Ding! [Hunters that discover and add to the Guide map have the option to name the features they find. Profane or vulgar names are prohibited. Please note, after one week, the offer to name features will be receded and the Hunter's Association will assign names as they see fit.]

Levi slithered up to my shoulder and leaned forward, asking me to read the message. Eeee...

I blinked out of my shock and did so. Afterwards, I paused. "I'm glad I have a week to think about it," I said, still absent minded. "Everyone's going to see the name I pick. What if I pick a stupid one and everyone mocks it?" I hummed under my breath. "Then again, I think the names are submitted anonymously. But still..."

I didn't have the energy to worry about naming something right now. Although I was getting used to always being in danger, that didn't mean I could slack off. I was still in the wilds.

Levi wasn't concerned at all. Instead, he pointed to a new letter.

"H," I read, then exaggerated the sound it made. "Hhhh." Seriously, I never thought I'd be teaching a leviathan turned snake to read.

Levi's face screwed up as he tried to make the sound. Eee ... Eeeh ... Heeee ...

I left him to figure that out by himself. According to the new GPS directions, I was a hundred and five miles away from Mist Haven. So five miles from contacting Uncle Maveric — as long as he was in Mist Haven. If he was currently in Boulder, since I was now going the back way now, I had another twenty miles to go before I could contact him. Either way, as long as the System didn't give me any more weird tasks, I should finally be able to contact my family by nightfall. As for finding a place to sleep, I'd have to play that ear, just like before.

With a plan in mind, I started walking down the path.

*****

I was starting to think the 'walk a couple miles and finally contact Uncle' plan was cursed. It should be easy. It was just walking! Well, hiking. But nothing was easy in the wilds.

Now that I was on top of a mountain, it wasn't just monsters that I had to deal with — and there were those — but also the terrain. Mountains were, after all, made of cliffs, slopes and any number of other random features that bad luck could throw at me. I'd be stuck high and, well, wet because it hadn't stopped raining yet, if it wasn't for my water whips to use as climbing tools. I could jump some gaps, but others rocky divides were too big and my water whips were used to climb instead. I felt like a mountainous female Tarzan. Was it sad that I was getting used to throwing myself off a cliff?

But the climbing and random goat and bird monsters I came across took a lot of time. In the scheme of things, I traveled at least ten miles, going up and down the cliffs, but on the map I didn't go that far. Still, I religiously counted the miles as they ambled by.

How was Uncle going to react when I finally contacted him? Would he be mad that I was gone so long? Or too excited to form a complete sentence? I hope he didn't feel guilty for not sending a search party. He didn't know I was still alive. Hell, for all I knew, the Association might not have released the file of my disappearance yet. He could still be waiting for it in the Association's building. Or interrogating Star and her team. I hope that he didn't hurt them in the process.

I wanted to do that myself.

Still, I didn't dwell on that thought for long. Instead, I focused on the miles that I covered. Another one hundred feet and I'd be within a hundred miles of Mist Haven. Was that close enough to access Uncle? His shop was in the middle of the town. So would I be a hundred miles from the city border, or him? Which did the System consider? Giddy bubbles fizzed in my stomach and I couldn't resist the skip in my step as I hurried along a path across the smooth saddle-back ridge. Just on the other side of this high-rise valley, and I should be there. Sparse pine trees spread across the slightly bowled stretch, with random tufts of bushes and long grass. And to either side, a steep plunge to sharp rocks.

Levi wiggled around my shoulder, affected by my excitement. He didn't understand what a family was, but he did know there were other humans I was dying to see. Eee... Hhh... He whispered in my mind, finally about to control the sounds enough to separate them.

I gently touched his tail as I focused on my destination. I was so close. Faster. I wanted to get there fast. I wanted to—

The rocky dirty path under my boots suddenly gave out.

I gasped as I was caught in a rock slide. What happened? I wasn't even near the edge! But it didn't matter when the entire shelf collapsed. Quickly, I threw up my hand and created a spherical water shield around us before the rocks could roll over. The pebbles and dirt pinging against the shield and pushed it along like a beach ball, rolling me and Levi right down the mountain.

*****