Chương 46: Followed

Blick woke up to a downpour. It wasn't the first time he had been rained on and it usually didn't bother him because his fur kept him fairly comfortable even in the rain. This rain came heavy with big fat drops that smacked his exposed nose. When he first woke up he was annoyed. Within a few seconds he had opened his eyes and noticed what was happening and he sat up so fast he almost tumbled out of his hanging bed. The rain had a shimmer to it.

Blick smiled, as he began focusing on pulling in as much mana from the shimmery rain as he could.

Across the river Dax yelled for a stop.

"Listen boss I get it we want to find this thing but this rain is too heavy. We won't see shit just running through this."

"He's right Carter, we should stop and try to absorb some of this. Even if we are probably at our limit with one solid layer that doesn't mean we can't try for more." Paris said turning her head towards the leader of their trio. She could tell by his frown that he absolutely didn't like when Dax was the voice of reason.

"Fuck it alright." Shouting over the river "Dax, swim your ass over here we will break for the storm and pick it up from here tomorrow." The trio grouped up, sat down on a nearby log, and began taking their shirts off to allow more mana rain to contact their skin for the best absorption.

Blick was focused on compacting the mana into a final fifth drop. It had been hours since he sat down. This was definitely slower than pulling from one of the normal grove trees. He still felt he could make the drop form with the available mana he just had to focus. Just as the rain started to lighten up he accomplished his task and with a sigh he sat back and relaxed. Now with five drops he could focus on compressing them into a solid layer like that shiny armored man had suggested.

Nobody had explained that process to him though. this would be his first time trying to break through a bottleneck alone without any kind of instruction. He knew it could be done so he laid there thinking on the how. What was the mana inside his body. He had pulled in a mist that had no color or smell. He had packed enough mist together to create a drop. Water worked like that. It's how the clouds were made according to the academy tutor. He hadn't heard of water making crystals tho. He had seen mana crystals tho.

So it wasn't too much like water. Crystals are found underground near strong sources. Lava flows, rivers, and mountains. He was taught that these things tended to collect mana either from dragging it along with them as they flowed or by the shear number of plants and animals that lived and died around them containing mana that gets deposited into the soil.

Hundreds of years of small buildup causes mana to accumulate and the pressure from either the physical world or some other unknown property of mana cause the mist to condense into drops that then become crystal. Nobody had seen the change happen. The science was best guess. So Blick sat and pondered the problem.

As the rain stopped and the world grew more active with animals that had just broken through scampering about, he considered wether to try and form a layer now or wait until he found some other civilization and ask for advice. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. He definitely couldn't do it now as he heard the voices approaching.

"I just don't understand how we are supposed to fit enough drops around the solid layer to compact another one. I hit two drops and I feel full like there is no more space. It's really pissing me off." The voice was clearly a male and hearing it had him lean up in his hanging bed to get a look at the river bank. Three individuals were running full speed down river and they would be at his location soon. They moved so fast he was sure they were reinforcing their run.

Blick wasn't sure he could match that speed though he hadn't tested his speed with the latest drop.

"Well did you form your layer with extra drops? The council suggests 12 drops as the point with the simplest compression." a female voice responded. Blicks eyes locked on to the long red hair. That's a first. He hadn't seen a person with red hair yet so that was an interesting development. Maybe she was from another land with different people than he had seen so far. Something to look for in the future. He wandered for a second if there were Groks with colors other than grey. A question for the future.

Right now he watched more closely as the three came to a stop.

"Carter hold up." The woman spoke a little softer than before as she stopped looking off toward the tree line. The two men slowed down and turned to look at her. She slowly walked over and bent over, coming back up with a bloody arrow. Blick held back his rage at himself for such a silly decision. He hadn't expected anyone this far away especially this soon. Throwing the arrow was a frustration response and he was beginning to regret not thinking that one through.

They all made eye contact and started searching the rocky bank. Soon enough they were directly below his hanging bed looking closely at the claw marks he left in the tree trunk.

"So it ripped the arrow out and went into the woods here. Is it known to mark its path?" The blonde haired man asked. It was the taller man with a sword strapped across his back that responded.

"We didn't ask about habits. Maybe it's part of whatever beast it resembles. It could be marking territory or it could have just been pissed after ripping out that arrow, I know I'd want to smack something after that." The woman butts in.

"Ok so what's the plan. The rain washed away any blood so we can't track it that way. it couldn't have been more than a day ago that it came through." While Blick slowly tucked his legs and arms into his hanging bed to hide himself in the greenery of the tree canopy the black haired man responded.

"Honestly no way to know. I don't see any signs in the brush ahead suggesting it went into the woods. It could have marked up this tree then went back into the river for all we know." Blick understood his situation immediately. These people were after him, and he could imagine it was either the map lying under him or the fact that he killed that overconfident man who threatened him. So long as they were near he couldn't do anything about it. He was literally stuck up a tree.

And the blonde one kept looking up as he searched the place.

"Take an hour. Search the area as well as you can and return here." the black haired man said before the other two nodded and sprinted off in different directions.