I spun around a Wraith Fish, my fist cracking against its spine, siphoning energy from it. As I had learned a short time before, the teleporting fish were apparently somewhere around the Pinnacle stage, though I had no idea how that was possible. Sure, they could bend the laws of space to do what I had been told was impossible, but when they were not doing that, they were pretty slow, by my standards. Still, the surge of dense power I got from each blow was all the proof I needed.

Though it was difficult to tell in the mostly featureless landscape, I was moving very fast, my Core and Exemplar straining slightly under the deluge as my body was sent thundering along at velocities that would make most Pinnacles green with envy; I was already further out than I had made it the first time, and even though I would just have to turn around and go back if I did make it out, at least I would know that I could leave.

I had decided to try my hand at the mist again, if only to assuage my growing ennui and the deep-seated frustration, and even if I had been... hesitant... to tell my friends that I was going to make the attempt again, I was happy that I had made it. Even if I did not actually make it out of the barrier, it felt good to be doing something.

Four Wraith Fish later and I had a hefty chunk of Sapience rolling around my energy system, and could feel it begin to seep into my body, pushing me faster, little by little. I had a brief moment of panic as I wondered whether I would need to keep draining Sapience to stay alive if my body got used to it, but if that was going to be the case, I would probably need to get used to it... and it was too late to worry.

As I dodged around fish with increasing ease, though I felt a vague warning of something from my Instincts. But I was feeling so enthused that I failed to pay it any attention until I noticed the world around me brighten slightly and I felt an upswelling of emotion, pure joy at the prospect of overcoming the unsurmountable and escaping, making me forget it entirely. And that is when things became... strange. I picked up my pace, paying less attention to the fish as they popped into existence; even if they did manage to catch me, I was moving so fast that I could escape faster than they could close their mouths, react too quickly to even risk injuring myself against their razor-like teeth. All I cared about, in that moment, was seeing the sky again, and feeling the wind on my face. But as I moved, I found myself beginning to slow, the mist around me growing dense and restrictive. It took more and more effort to keep moving, and at times it felt almost like a giant hand was attempting to hold me in place, my abilities seemingly confused and directionless. The Wraith Fish came closer and closer to taking a chunk out of me, until, with a pulse of warning from Instinctive Precognition that I could do nothing about, I felt a sharp pain in my neck, and the sensation of a warm liquid running down it.

Still able to move, but restricted to slightly saner speeds even as my perception stayed accelerated, I experienced the bites over what felt like lifetimes, the pain attenuating out in a long line and for a moment that felt like eternity, I panicked.

Loosing the grip I had on my lightning, I pushed Sapience and Praxis through my Focus and felt it burst out of me in violet-white streams that blasted out into the fog, causing it to glow with blue fire even as it arced from place to place, jolting through the fish and even back through me.

The lightning did not hurt as much as I expected; when I had been learning to use my Focus, I had shocked myself frequently, and had ended up with burns many times. But even with the additional oomph provided by my stolen energy, it was more a... discomfort than it was painful. I recalled the pill I had been given by Tang; I had taken it and forgotten, secure in my control of my chosen element. I had assumed it had made my internal system resistant to the electrical force, but if the shocks tickling their way through me were any indication, it had done significantly more.

I felt the strange grip loosen around me, even as I saw fish partially cooked, and looked around for the wherever the fog ws brightest, so that I might escape and take a breather. But my lightning was too bright, and hid the way out from me. I dared not stop, as I had no idea what had been attempting to hold me in place and knew that it would almost certainly return if I halted, and I had no idea how long I could go while bleeding.

Glancing back, I saw the trail of Wraith Fish behind me fading, those closest to me dead or injured from the coruscating arcs and already vanishing back to wherever they came from. With a rushed sigh, I turned and began to follow the meandering path of semi-frozen fish back out of the fog.

*

***

*

“You idiot, Hunter! You could have died! You went in there the last time already faster than you should be, and still had to retreat. What made you think you could do it at your idiot baseline?!”

Darina was not at all happy with my expedition back into the mist; I would have probably kept it to myself, but she saw me heading back to the inn before I had thought to clean-up, and the blood was a dead giveaway. I had accumulated a couple more wounds on my way out as whatever force had tried to hold me still had tried again and again, each time being driven back by the outpouring of electricity. At least my robe appeared to have protected me from a couple; the wounds I had were on my neck and right hand, though I had only avoided a bite to the face with a flicker of warning. It appeared that the robe DUK3 had provided me was more than tough enough to keep me safe from them, and I had considered simply wrapping it around my head and running, but given the strange way the mist had grabbed me, I was not sure how far I could get. The fish could also – from what I had been told – appear inside of things, if there was sufficient space. I imagined a dragon being caught in the mist, and being eaten from the inside out...

“You’re lucky your healing seems to be recovering, or you may have collapsed from blood loss before making it back to the inn. You seem to have left half your supply out there as it is.”

I would have rolled my eyes, but the healer was right. I had not quite known how large the wound on my neck was, but it seemed that the Wraith Fish had only just missed something vital and I had bled a lot as a result. I did not say anything though, letting her work – along with my apparently recovering Minor Regeneration – to fix it as I considered the rather concerning lack of warning from Instinctive Precognition, out in the mist.

I had received warning, but it had mostly been vague and without definition; normally, if I could not see the source of an attack, I simply acted, unless it was un avoidable. But out there, it had felt... unsure. This was certainly a novel experience for me, and I was certain it would assist in cultivation, but I had come to rely on the ability in my time on my new home, and if it was going to glitch out... that was a problem. Still, the fact that my regeneration was back was cause for celebration, though if I had to give one of them up, it would be that one. My ability to react to the future had saved my life significantly more than the regeneration, and as my time in Ouhl had indicated, while I needed a dedicated healer to stay in fighting shape, I could operate without the healing factor.

The diminutive healer continued to mutter under her breath, with the occasional pointed insult, though my lack of reply and occasional nod seemed to prevent her from really starting a tirade – or hitting me. Before too long, my neck was fine, as was my hand. The Wraith Fish had attempted to attempted to take chunks out of my artificial hand, but it had proven too tough for them.

“Your wounds are fixed, at least the ones to your body. I do not think I can fix whatever is wrong with your mind. Don’t go back out there, Hunter. If you do, I will not heal you. Stupidity should not be rewarded.”

She stood to the side of me, arms cross and her red-jade eyes staring daggers into me; with a quiet sigh, I gave one slow nod and spoke up, my voice subdued.

“I promise. Some really weird stuff happened out there, anyway. I don’t think it’s just the Wraith Fish, if it were, I think I’d have made it out this time. There’s something else out there, and whatever it was kept trying to slow me down, or hold me in place for the fish. Some sort of weird symbiosis, or shared environment? Whatever it is, it confused my...”

I looked around the inn; it was still fairly early, so only the most hardened of drinkers were in the common room, their heads hung over wooden mugs as they spoke together in low voices. Lowering my own so it would not carry, I continued.

“It confused my Instinctive Precognition. It’s never happened before. Is it possible that V’s energy has just moved on?”

With a quiet snort, Darina sat down, lowering her own voice to match mine. Relatively incautious in battle she may be, but she was not about to blurt out our business where people could hear. At least, not without being significantly angrier.

“That’s the totally fair ability that allows you to react reflexively before things happen, is it not?”

I nodded my head in confirmation, but she was already continuing.

“I don’t know how your... additional abilities work, but I don’t think V’s energy would interact with them at all. The reason it lowered your healing is because it was constantly damaging you, and the two evened out. If you had not had the healing ability, you would have simply died, though with my help it may have taken a week or more.”

“Then what could it be? Maybe an Apex, or Elder?”

“I dislike the idea of an Elder Wraith Fish running... swimming? Flying. Whatever its method of movement, I would not enjoy the idea. I also think an Elder would be able to breach the wards, unless they are significantly more powerful than any others I’ve seen. They would have to have been created by another Elder or Apex, in order to hold up again such a beast.”

“Maybe I need to ask around then, I’m sure somebody must know where the wards came from. If there is an Elder out there, maybe we can try... talking to it. It’s worked for us in the past.”

“Neither Flame Ever Dancing, or Rainmaker had habits of eating people, Hunter.”

“Right. Still, if it can’t get in, but can hear us... it can actually already hear us, because we’re within its three-mile radius. Um, hello, Elder? I don’t suppose you could... not eat us?”

“If it can hear us, fool, it can affect us. If there is an Elder out there, either it’s blocked by the wards or it is not. You’d need to speak from somewhere it can hear.”

“Maybe the from just inside the wards?”

“Fine. But you do the talking, I do not wish to look as foolish as you by talking to fog.”