Chương 34: Stalking

They made camp near sunset beside a cluster of old olive trees. Mirbek's guards had set the carriages in a shallow half-circle. The horses went inside first, then the ward stones were placed around them. The third carriage stayed in the center. Its driver did not leave the bench even when another guard brought him food. Ivan watched the routine from the corner of his eyes while helping Ren set up their bedrolls near the outer fire. By now, even Ren realized that the third carriage mattered.

Mirbek was still not telling them why. After eating, Ren fell asleep with one hand still curled around the paper he had been practicing on. Rys took first watch near the road, and Ivan sat beside her with his notebook open on his knees. The pages contained rough spell circuits, copied formulas, and notes he had made for emergencies, for whenever a fight might become too risky. Sure he could draw spells in the air, but it was always better to have alternatives.

Ivan looked back and realized he'd made a lot of good decisions. Some had taken very uncertain turns at times, but the result had been positive by the end. He gave himself a pat on the back, mentally, for being as cautious as he was. He wasn't the only one behind his success, the System had also given him some lucky picks. Mainly, the [The Living Vellum]. He'd only installed one spell inside it, and yet it had helped him out so many times already. [Lattice Guard] had not failed him so far.

As recently as the manticore fight, it had saved him from being crushed when the creature landed on him. The problem was that he still had to trigger it himself. Now, he had two more slots left for the Living Vellum. Given the success rate of Lattice Guard, he was eager to move into the next one. He had a few choices. He drew a small circle and wrote three possible answers around it. First of all was [Frost Nova]. A skin-bound variant of this spell would give him space if something grabbed him.

It was simple, and he already knew the spell well. The problem was that it would hit his allies, too since he wouldn't have that level of control over it. Ren had been close during the recent fight. If Ivan had released a full Frost Nova with the boy beside him, he might have frozen Ren's hands around the bow and given him a frostbite. What else? He wondered what a reflexive [Glyph Suspension] could do. The trigger made more sense in theory.

He could bind a simple force burst under his skin and set it to fire when a hostile body entered a certain range. The problem was teaching the trigger what counted as hostile. Properly setting up was a simple solution, but then what was the point of it being instantaneous? Mana did not know intent on its own. If Rys came close while teasing him, the spell might throw her into a tree. He hesitated before drawing another spell. [Blood Bolt].

An anchor of that could give him an easy answer against something too strong for his normal spells. He imagined how it'd look. Right, I can easily bind the circuit, use my own blood as the conduit, and maybe strike an internal mana point if I get the chance. He tapped his finger against the circle. He had done it to the Wyvern, so… The problem was, he also remembered his arm going numb afterward and his hand locking up badly enough that he could barely move his fingers. Rys looked down at the notebook.

"You're planning to carve another spell into yourself, Ivan?" She asked, and she didn't sound as shocked as the first time.

"I'm considering it."

"After all that pain…? Such a brave young man you are, to try it again."

"You can't deny how useful it is."

"True, that I can't." Rys stared at him. Ivan looked back at the paper.

"I need something for close range."

"You have me." The answer came so quickly that Ivan looked at her. Rys met his eyes. She did not take it back.

"... That is not a defense plan," he said.

"It is a very good defense plan."

"Is it really when it fails whenever you are busy with your own battle?" The amusement left her face. She looked toward Ren's sleeping shape beside the fire, then out at the dark road.

"Are you talking about the manticore?"

"I was talking about all of it." Rys did not answer right away. Ivan had spent days wondering about what he had seen during the Sea King fight. Every time he considered asking, he found a reason to wait. Sitting beside her in the dark with both of them already thinking about the things that could kill them was probably as good a chance as he was going to get. He closed the notebook.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You always can." Rys tilted her head.

"Whether I answer is another issue."

"It's about the tails." Her ears moved once. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Ivan watched her face, but Rys kept looking down the road. For a second, he considered leaving it there. She had answered enough questions about herself for one journey, and his own status was mostly a lie. Still, he had already started.

"On the ship..." Ivan glanced at her.

"You had three tails. I didn't see any against the manticores. Was that because the manticores were too weak, or...?" Rys rested both hands on the pommel of one scimitar.

"Well, you took your time asking, Ivan."

"I was trying to be polite."

"Mm. Is that what you were doing?" Ivan rubbed his thumb along the edge of the notebook.

"Mostly? I kept thinking about it. It was getting annoying." She smiled a little, but it disappeared before she looked at him.

"Three is as far as I can safely go," she said.

"There are more." What does that even mean?

"I am a little confused."

"I am the priestess of a Nine Tailed Fox Goddess, Ivan. Did you forget?"

"Oh, right. Nine tails." That made her smile a little at how stupid it was.

"Anyhow… Bringing them out isn't what hurts me." Rys looked at him then.

"The problem is the implications. Like who might notice. Collectors, hunters... There are priests who think a rare bloodline belongs in a temple vault, whereas slavers only ask how much a foxkin woman would sell for." Ivan suddenly had a realization.

"So that is why they hunted your people? For you? Ah, sorry, I didn't mean it like that." Rys' eyes fell, and an expression of profound sadness came across it. Ivan suddenly felt guilty. But he couldn't think of anything else to say. After a moment, she sighed.

"Yes… ever since Yueko vanished, everyone else who could access the transformation lost the ability. But I somehow maintained it. That information was supposed to be top secret. But… in the end, someone who was once very dear to me had sold that news to the slavers," Rys went quiet.

"Then things happened. They came for me, as if I were from an extinct species. I suppose that is why someone like Victor Hargraves, the Champion of Earth, was interested in me." Rys's fingers tightened around the scimitar pommel as she finished speaking. Ivan simply remained quiet. This time it wasn't because he couldn't think of anything to say. He simply felt she'd appreciate silence the most right now. Rys continued staring at the road. Then pulling one knee up, she rested her arm across it.

"There are… theories from the previous Head Priestesses that I might be somehow related to Yueko. That is why while everyone lost their transformation ability because of the lack of divinity, I could still access it. Because it's in my bloodline… they say I might be her daughter or something, but I don't know." Ivan's eyes widened. Was she… a Demi-Goddess? She looked into his eyes, "Don't give me that look, I don't think I'm some child of god.

Yueko probably just blessed me with a drop of her blood during my birth or something… whatever," she heaved out a soft breath." Anywayyyy… That is the problem. If I use my transformation all the time, anyone with the right senses will know there is something unusual in my bloodline." Her thumb rubbed slowly over the pommel.

"Then they might start asking questions. I already learned the hard way what happens then."

"That you did. So you keep them hidden as much as you can?"

"Wouldn't you?" Ivan surely would. He was already doing the same thing with his Class and Title, only without the tails. But that still left the ship. Half the crew had watched her tear into the Sea King with three tails behind her.

"Then why show them there? Everyone saw you. Also, why didn't you use it during your capture? I'm certain such a power boost would have been helpful." Rys gave him a dry look.

"When I was captured by the slavers, the cuffs had kept my mana sealed. How could I transform? Ivan clarified.

"I'm not accusing you of lying or anything. I just don't understand why the Sea King was different." She looked back down the road.

"My shrine served Yueko, the Ninefold Moon. We have had old stories about her fighting things from the sea, from before people had proper names for half of what lived out there." Rys adjusted her grip on the scimitar.

"Some dragged ships down. Others were supposed to be gods beneath the water who wanted the shore." She added, as her mouth twisted.

"The moment it rose beside the ship, I felt my old bond with Yueko respond. Foxfire came easier, and an incredible urge to butcher that thing surfaced in my heart. While my transformation power comes from my bloodline, yes, it's also affected by divinity. Divinity that I haven't felt in a long time. It was telling me to engage. So I did, uncaring of the eyes watching me." Ivan remembered her running along the tentacles with blue fire around her. He had thought she'd finally stopped holding back.

It hadn't occurred to him that something else might have been lending her power.

"So if another manticore comes tomorrow, you can't just do that again?" Rys turned toward him fully.

"I can, but it wouldn't be as strong. So why risk it? Why risk a random passerby seeing it? Plus it leaves quite the toll on my body, usually. Although that was not the case during the octopus fight." Ivan lowered his eyes to the notebook. He wanted to ask how much power boost each tail gave and so on, but that felt too greedy to ask. She'd given him so much already. Especially when her misfortune right now came from betrayal using this same information.

He wanted to ask her about Veyshore too, though he knew even less about what had happened there. That reminded him… his own status was fake. He had a Unique Class and a Title that could make powerful people take him apart to learn how they worked. He couldn't ask Rys to tell him everything while he kept all of that to himself. He already felt quite guilty hiding it all.

"... Thank you for answering me properly. Especially given your last circumstances. But you know I'm hiding things too, right?" he asked.

"Oh, I know."

"And that doesn't bother you?"

"Of course it bothers me." Rys turned her head to look at him.

"I was giving you time." Ivan paused.

"How much?"

"I haven't decided yet, Ivan." Rys stared into his eyes. When he didn't reply, she sighed and turned to look at the notebook beside him. Her finger stopped beside [Blood Bolt].

"Anyways, this one, no. Cross it out."

"Sure?"

"Yes. Lattice Guard is a lovely next, it's saving your life. So what's the point of installing a suicide spell next?" Ivan looked at the circle he'd drawn around the spell. The numbness had lasted long enough to scare him, even if he'd joked about it afterward. He picked up his charcoal and crossed through [Blood Bolt]. Rys watched the lines go down, and her lips widened a little.

"That one only, priestess?" he asked. She considered for a moment, then nodded.

"It should be fine."

"I'm delighted to hear the priestess' approval." Rys stared at him until Ivan looked back down at the notebook. Standing, she adjusted the belt around her waist.

"Your watch starts soon. Keep those two in the notebook tonight."

"No worries, I'm not carving anything tonight."

"Good. I'd like to sleep without wondering whether I need to check your hands." Then she turned to leave.

"Rys," Ivan called as she grabbed her by the wrist.

"....?" She turned to look at him. He yanked her down, causing her to crash onto him, making him fall on his back. She was above him, and he held her down by the waist. Rather than surprise, only amusement crossed her face.

"Since when did Ivan become such a forward young man?"

"Been a while," he said, looking up at her, into her eyes. His hand slid to the back of her head, gently, but he didn't have to pull anymore. She leaned over herself, planting her lips on top of his. It was terribly irresponsible of them to make out in the wild, abandoning their watch duty, but what could a man and a woman do about their boiling blood? So, even as they had fun, Ivan tried to be a little bit more responsible by activating [Mana Sense]. Then he aligned it with [Architecture of Mana].

Crickets buzzed, gentle wind blew, as the horses slept inside the ward circle while a guard woke up to go for a piss. Ren's mana signature stayed small and steady. When his senses passed the third carriage, he had to stop kissing for a moment. The mana did not have the slow, uneven rhythm of someone asleep. It pulsed twice, paused, then did it again. And there was a distinct feeling that their attention was right on Ivan, as we as Rys who was kissing and grinding against him. Ah fuck, we've got a creep problem.