The Way Ahead

Chapter 65: Running Into Trouble

Chapter 65: Running Into Trouble

Edwin jogged alongside Inion, who casually floated through the air at approximately eye level. Well, jogged was perhaps something of a misnomer. While prior to Joriah he might have classified his pace as just shy of a sprint, these days the effort didnt even wind him.

and, of course, she decided to finally trust fall just then and totally caught me off-guard. I technically caught her, but that was mainly in the my body acted as a shield to make sure she didnt hit the ground way. She subsequently proceeded to pretend to not trust me for the next six months.

Inion shook her head, chuckling, That was entirely self-inflicted. Did you ever get the chance to redeem yourself?

Edwin shrugged, a motion lost in the bobbing of his torso as he twisted his way through a tangle of branches, The last time I saw her, yeah. She was heading out and finally, finally let me have another chance to catch her. I succeeded. He smiled sadly.

That must have been recently, then?

No No. It was what, four, five years ago? Emotions, get back into your box. Not right now.

Inion seemed to pick up on how he was feeling, though, and incredibly didnt ask any further questions, the two falling into silence save for Edwins footfalls across the dry leaves.

Edwin dodged around another tree. While at first his daily runs had been around the clearing, that soon proved to not be enough of a challenge. Jogging through the unexplored parts of the Verdant kept him much more on his toes and helped him also improve some of his other Skills.

Plus, this way they could cover more ground in search of talsanenris berries and other magical plants. While shed remained cagey about her limitations, from what Edwin could figure out Inion could leave water more or less freely, but suffered from a fatigue similar to how Edwin felt when sustaining Firestarting over long periods of time. However, being near him helped alleviate some of that pressure thanks to their Bargain.

On a spur of the moment, Edwin decided to pick up the pace and started to full-on run, pushing himself to a full sprint for short bursts of time. He didnt go at full speed, though. If he exercised too hard, hed want more food before long, which he tried to generally avoid. Still, he was getting close to the point where he could run at nearly full pace indefinitely. At worst, he had to drop from a sprint into a run to catch his breath. Beyond that, he didnt seem to have any limits beyond purely how much energy he had in his body.

Survival, he found, didnt provide him with extra energy from food- which was what Inion claimed Eating did- so much as it allowed him to go longer without it. It was a subtle difference, and not even one which actually was apparent all that often, but it resulted in Edwin only needing to eat once a day at most, usually once every two to three. After that, hed start to get hungry and stay hungry, but with no impact to his actual energy levels. It was a similar story with water, though he still got thirsty fairly regularly.

As he waved Inion to slow down, Edwin pulled out his canteen and downed its contents, gratefully chugging the cold water within.

Water break?

Well. He cut himself off with another swig from the bottle, Yes, but thats not it. I think I felt a twinge from my mana sense a short way back.

Oh?

Yeah. Not sure what it was, but.

Youre still hopeful.

He shrugged, Basically.

Well, fair enough. How far back was it?

Oh, not that far

Even with both of them keeping their metaphorical mana eyes out, it still took quite a bit of time to actually pin down the location of what Edwin had spotted. Once they did, though, it was quickly apparent why it had been so tricky to find it.

So does this mean theres a magical oak tree nearby somewhere? Edwin stared at the tiny object hed dug up.

It must. Ive never seen a magical acorn before, but I dont know what else might have produced it.

The squirrel that buried it?

Couldnt have done it, as Im sure youve surmised. The mana within it is far more complex than anything even you could do, let alone a forest creature.

Any clue how to track it back to where it came from, then?

Inion just made vaguely noncommittal noises in response.

Mature Deepwoods Panther

Well, that was just great. What were you supposed to do in a big cat attack again? He didnt have his stick with him- he left it back at camp, but he did have a hunting knife with him. It was easy enough to keep it with him, and with a flourish, he withdrew the shining blade from where he had it holstered.

Just in time, too, as the big cat lunged at him, whatever camouflage it had wearing off just as its claws tore through his haphazard defense and his shirt, lacerating his shoulders while its jaws opened and tried to go for his throat. Edwin was barely able to fend off getting his throat torn out by tucking his head in and bending forward, Flexibility helping him get his entire head beneath the panthers jaws as they snapped closed on empty air.

He felt the cats rear claws dig into his legs as it tried to knock him off-balance, but Edwin just laughed. The cat had to weigh some two hundred pounds, which would have absolutely pinned Edwin once upon a time, but now? Compared to the sorts of weights he easily hefted in a single hand these days, two hundred pounds was nothing. Sure, it was on giant meathook-like claws instead of carried in his arms, but the weight was the same, allowing him to easily avoid falling.

The jaguar was clearly not anticipating him to resist, and Edwin was able to use the opportunity that presented to twist his arm at what would normally be an unnatural angle and stab at the cats chest.

The tip of the knife dug in slightly, but nowhere near enough for a sizeable blow. The cat yowled in pain and tried to disengage, but Edwin wasnt letting it get away that easily. As its claws were pulled out of his flesh, he grabbed it by a limb and threw it into the air. As it slammed into the tree trunk behind him, Edwin took a moment to ensure that he wouldnt be attacked by a second one. Other than Inion warily trying to get close to him, it looked clear.

When he cast his gaze back towards the panther, he had a double-take as the beast seemed to have utterly vanished. Could it turn outright invisible? Shoot. He thought its Stealth skill had worn off. Perhaps it was more effective against the tree bark?

Well, no matter. He had practice dealing with foes he couldnt see. A barrage of Infused Identifies later, he had the blasted cat tagged with a persistent Identify box letting him know where it was.

So far as he could tell, it had grabbed onto the bark of the giant oak tree and was preparing to pounce back onto him. A split second later, the panther was mid-pounce trying to take Edwin by surprise once more.

Now that he was prepared, though, Edwin was far more capable of avoiding the attack. Not that he actually managed to do so, but this time he was capable of properly defending himself, and the panther recoiled a single paw as Edwin managed to leverage the cats weight against it, piercing the pad of its foot with his dagger.

He nearly lashed out with Firestarting as the cat withdrew, trying to burn his assailant to a crisp, but stopped himself. If he accidentally burned the talsenris bush, then this would be for nothing. Perhaps more crucially, he wouldnt be able to use it to help heal himself afterwards. Hed keep Firestarting as a backup, but without a way to truly control where the Skill affected, he couldnt use it as a ranged attack.

A melee attack, though. That he could control. Edwin threw his dagger at the circling cat, who tried to dodge. The result was just that instead of striking the panther in the throat, it took out an eye, and it roared in frustration. It wouldnt survive with only a single eye, and Edwin could tell the moment it decided to not flee, but instead try to kill him for the pain hed inflicted upon it.

It was an oddly cognizant decision for an animal, but he didnt have time to ponder that as he needed to deal with a two-hundred pound predator lunging at him one last time.

Edwin straightened his back and reached out with his hand. The moment he felt fur touch him, his skin tear under the claws and teeth of the cat, he unleashed everything he had.

Mana Infusion.

Firestarting.

He felt as the flames blew back onto him, his magic not protecting him from fire meant to harm, to kill. Edwin screamed in pain as his hand began to burn and fangs closed around his wrist. The teeth pierced effortlessly into skin, tearing through muscle, cracking bones. All the while his hand was literally on fire, and the excruciating pain drove all other thoughts from his mind other than one.

BURN.

BURN WITH ME.

He started to feel faint, and the headache of pushing Firestarting to its limits set in, though it was minor compared to the agony of his arm.

Then, as suddenly as it started, he felt the pressure let up, and the supernatural strength behind the cats body faded away.

He still took the full momentum of an adult mostly-apex predator directly onto his torso, though, and while Packing helped him not be crushed or have any bones break, it didnt keep him from being knocked off-balance before he could avoid it.

He unsteadily took to his feet, heart pounding as adrenaline flooded his system. A faint grin crossed his face as he looked at the lifeless body of his attacker, smoking as the corpse tried to burn up from the inside out. He canceled his Skill and kicked the corpse, Thats what you get for messing with me.

His thoughts were sluggish, mind clouding over. But at least he had talsanenris berries now! The bush hadnt been crushed. It wasnt a complete loss, and he could use them for healing potions to fix himself right up. He was slick with sweat from exertion, and he wiped his forehead as he retrieved his blade from the panthers skull. He spared a glance at his arm and-

Oh. That wasnt sweat, was it? Was that really all his? Surely at least some of it had to have been the panthers blood, right? Ooh. That didnt look good.

...Wait, was it nighttime already? He didnt think hed been gone that long from Obairlann, but why else would it be getting dark?

Inions voice barely pierced through the murk to reach his mind, but as his consciousness slipped away, he couldnt understand a word she said.