NOVEL NEXT Book 3 Chapter 23
Astari fought back an annoyed sigh as he looked down at the bowing man before him. Can that boy do nothing right? He took a deep breath, it was now clear that Eryl was no simple elf like he had thought, meaning that she would be a valuable asset; a cautious asset. He thought, glancing back at the elven woman who stood behind him, her arms crossed as she seemed to contemplate what had been said.
In truth, Eryl was odd to him. Astari had spent over an hour walking with her through the woods yet she never once asked where they were going, never speaking unless he initiated; he figured she may have been naively trusting but something in the back of his mind told him that was not it, given how she dodged any attempts to get information out of her. For the first time in a long time, he was at a loss. He knew she was protective of her “companions” yet, any attempt to get information about Eryl herself had been… less than fruitful, always answering with non-answers or avoiding it completely.
And this was just the icing on the proverbial cake. He grit his teeth looking back to the armored man kneeling before him, I figured the humans would be a problem, but this? How exactly did he manage to lose one completely! No, be calm. I can salvage this, none of those humans appeared overly powerful; even if they escaped into the woods I doubt they could travel far…
His thoughts were cut short as Eryl let out a long exasperated sigh, her ears drooping as she turned to walk back up the path they had come from pausing for a moment as if she was thinking. Astari was stunned as he watched her stand, her ears twitching as she thought. It was such a strange thing, so small a difference but it still stood out to him; the fact he had never seen anyone before who could articulate their ears in such a manner, but somehow it seemed… natural. As if it was the most obvious thing in the world, something that all elves should be able to do but they had simply… forgotten?
“We have been traveling north-west for a while now.” Eryl again cut his train of thought as she turned slightly to face the underbrush that surrounded the path. “Assuming you took them to the port we saw from the bay… this way.” She stated in a casual tone as she simply stepped into the brush and began walking in a straight line much to Astari’s amazement.
It wasn’t that she just walked headlong into a “unknown” forest to her, though that was something he noted as exceptionally foolish no matter how confident one was in their skill. It was that after wandering through the thick forest for hours … he didn’t need to look around to get his bearings, after all he did grow up in this forest and had walked this exact path thousands of times; it did take him a moment to piece together their relative position of the fake town however… she must have a tracking skill… maybe cartography.
Eryl ignored the surprised elven archer she stepped past as she walked into the untamed forest around them, though to call it untamed was a gross over dramatization. She thought briefly as she saw dozens of small “paths” clearly used by hunters or scouts. She assumed they were actually getting pretty close to the elven town Astari had been leading her to, though she was confused on to why exactly he had taken her on such a roundabout way. At one point they had even done a large loop as if he was purposefully stalling for time. But why? She thought going over the mental map she had created; not that she had a skill or anything for it, Eryl had always just been good with directions. A byproduct of being the admin she assumed, kind of hard to get lost on a world you yourself helped design after all.
Eryl thought about the winding path in her mind for only a brief moment, filing it away for later contemplation as she focused on the task at hand. If they “lost” sight of one of them… She fought the urge to shake her head as she pushed through the brush. Who am I kidding, the only one who could wander off like that is Hecatolite. She let out a small sigh, none of the others would “wander” off. Himari and Wolf wouldn’t be able to avoid the elven scouts; and, though Amethyst could probably avoid them physically, Eryl doubted she could do so silently.
She felt a shiver as she thought about it. Hecatolite alone was a problem but inside of the great forest she could be catastrophic; after all, Hecatolite is by far the most powerful monster on this world but she is far from the only one and this forest houses others.
23.2
Hecatolite hummed happily to herself as she looked down into the crystal-clear stream. Her face smeared with a rainbow of colors as she “sampled” most every plant she came across. With a flash of speed, she snagged a small fish from the stream. “hmm,” she narrowed her eyes as she inspected the fish, waiting as if she was expecting it to speak… After a moment she popped it into her mouth.
Nodding to herself as she stood, chewing the fish carefully with her “teeth” and not her soul teeth. She couldn’t remember why exactly she had to see if things talked before eating them, but she was sure if she didn’t someone would be mad at her… “it seems important though…” she muttered.
She could remember not to use soul manifestation while eating, a trick her and Amethyst had found out while hunting after a handful of… accidents. As long as she wasn’t using any soul magic while eating she didn’t have to wait for the soul to leave, though it was still safer to wait given she needed to concentrate on eating just the body and not the soul.
She pondered it for a moment before shrugging, “I can just ask Eryl about it, I’m sure she knows.” She said stepping away from the river only to stop as her foot sank into the wet mud, the sudden chill on her bare foot causing her to pause. She looked down at her bare foot, “wasn’t I wearing shoes?” She cocked her head looking at her other foot that indeed had a simple cloth sandal on it… “well that won’t do,” She quickly pulled the sandal off, and with a shrug she flung it into the trees. “Better.” She exclaimed happily, wiggling her toes.
She happily trotted forward, scanning the lush forest around her, looking for anything tasty only to nearly shriek in joy when she saw it. Barely a speck in the dense colorful canopy, sitting on a bright red flower, a tiny yellow dot. Her eyes went wide as she watched the small bug stomping around on the flower, its bright yellow body, and black stripes… there was no mistaking it!
She fell into a crouch, silently stalking forward as she waited. Memories of a golden yellow sweet flashing in her mind as she watched the bug flutter to another flower, “Honey.” She nearly drooled as she followed the bee. Sure a few of the memories were painful, the tiny little devils had stingers that would hurt but with no small amount of will she was able to push those to the back of her mind, instead focusing on the sweet treat the little bee would lead her to.
23.3
Himari watched Amethyst fidgeted, constantly rubbing the pommel of her sword as they waited on the dirt path in the middle of the empty town. She couldn’t deny she was surprised that Amethyst had been slightly… calmed when the elven man caught up to them. After a tense moment waiting for Wolf and the elderly elven man to arrive they translated for the younger man, who they now knew was called Rilitar, explained he himself will head the search for Hecatolite.
“Amethyst,” Himari tried to sound calm as Amethyst stood beside her. “Please, come sit with us.” She motioned for the spot beside her and Wolf. “You are going to make the guards nervous if you continue to fidget.” It was not lost on Himari that though Rilitar took several elven men in armor with him, nearly twice that amount appeared from the trees to keep an eye on them. It was also very clear even to her that Amethyst's constant fidgeting was causing a nervous energy to build around them, the guards across from them tensing as Amethyst hand flexed around the handle of her sword.
Amethyst did not say anything as she locked eyes with the elven man across from them, her hand briefly releasing her sword as she leaned against the building. With her back to the solid wall behind them Himri could see Amethyst posture relax ever so slightly.
“You should really sit down for a little bit,” Himari tried to coax her down, gently taking the younger woman’s hand only for Amethyst to immediately tense up, her free hand finding its way back to her sword. Himari sighed, releasing Amethyst's hand. Overseer, I don’t suppose you could help here, could you?
Unlikely. The strange robotic voice sounded exasperated as it replied. I fear if I tried to contact Amethyst in this state, she will abandon all her earlier planning and summon me to contact Hecatolite. I believe the best current course of action is for you, yourself, to attempt to calm her.
Mother Himari, Babylon cut in, the softer female voice a stark difference in her mind as it called to her in a musical tone. The creature Hecatolite has just crossed the threshold of 3 miles from your current position.
What? Why is she traveling so far away? Himari fought the urge to sigh, and Babylon, can you try not to sound so cheerful about it, Hecatolite being further away is not a good thing at this exact moment you know? She added.
I apologize Mother Himari, Babylon replied though its voice still had its musical undertone.
Though I do not know the reason she is traveling away from you, I’ll admit having Hecatolite separated from you and mother Eryl does seem like the safest option for you both… it paused, Himari feeling a strange draw on her mind as Babylon did… something… strange…Stop attempting to run a diagnostic on yourself. Overseer said coldly as Himari felt the odd sensation cut off abruptly. And to answer your question, Hecatolite is currently… chasing a bee. It appears she wishes to gather honey from its hive, please note that particular bee’s hive is quite a bit north from even her current position. By my best estimate, as long as Hecatolite does not get even more distracted, she will not be returning until tomorrow at the earliest.
Tomorrow! What about the search parties? Can they not catch up to her?
Himari, ignoring the head start Hecatolite had, she possess an alarming abundance of… skills that would make her hard to track. Overseer replied as the odd tingling of Babylon running another scan returned.
Why did you hesitate to say skills?
Because I am unsure if that is the correct word to use. Hecatolite has a single “stealth” skill she acquired by consuming hero Robert’s eye; however, even without using the skill “hide” Hecatolite has proven to be… abnormally difficult to track. It should be noted that even Mother Eryl needed to dedicate a non-insignificant amount of her attention to keeping track of Hecatolite while on the ship. Without using aether or mana, Hecatolite’s natural ability to move silently is… alarming. It would best be described as a natural ability to hunt, and given she does so without the aid of mana or aether it is not labeled as a “skill”.
So, what, she just decided she didn’t want to be caught so she won’t be?
I doubt she even put that much thought into it, it's more her soul “remembers” how to go unnoticed and her body just naturally follows. It’s actually not that surprising if you consider her original form…
Mother Himari, Babylon cut Overseer's explanation off. I have reason to believe I am malfunctioning. I advise contacting mother Eryl and correcting the problem as soon as possible.
Himari’s stomach sank, of all times… Would you care to elaborate?
I… I believe I am… happy. There was a long pause, Himari unsure of what to say.
That’s… a bad thing?
Yes, Mother Himari, though I am capable of mimicking emotion while speaking with you. That is simply a way to make it more comfortable for you to operate the system. I as a system should be unable to feel emotions as they may cloud my perception…
Yes, I remember, the admin is supposed to act as an emotional counterbalance to the system.
Correct, however, I find myself… I am happy about Hecatolite’s current predicament, having her separated from yourself and mother Eryl; on top of what she is running towards… The only logical conclusion is I am malfunctioning.
Himari blinked… several times… She fought the urge to yell, to scream, to run back to the ship and sail away.