After spending a peaceful night under the stars, all of us were quite a bit more upbeat than we had been underground. Living underground might be suitable for some beings, but none of us was one of those beings. Even I, who arguably was more suited to Darkness, craved the open skies and fresh air, not the silent, oppressive weight of a mountain above me, pressing me down. It made me wonder, how would I feel within a mountain of Ice? Would it be similar to the feeling within the mountains or would I feel more like a fish in water, in total control of my surroundings and at ease? Maybe, in the future, I would be able to find out, to find myself an Iceberg and make my lair within. The thought brought a smile to my face, as I looked at the distant, snow-capped peaks, wondering just how much Ice was up there.

But we had spent almost two weeks moving across the White Mountains to get to this side, there was no way I would be willing to turn around and climb up those mountains, just to sate my curiosity. Not while being on a clock and certainly not with the Manticores ruling the skies.

In the morning, we continued on our path down the valley, keeping close to the slopes, trying to stay within the shadows as much as possible in order to hide from airborne predators. Even Lenore was back within her Hallow, unwilling to risk being spotted in the sky and giving our position away. It made me wonder just how aggressive the Manticores were, if they literally hunted down everything that flew within their territory. If so, the local biosphere would be quite devastated, with a lot of natural predators suddenly displaced or killed. What would happen once the Manticores were hunted down, by us or by anyone? Would the herbivore-population explode, with no airborne threats that thinned their number, to the point that the sparse vegetation would be wiped out, in turn leading to increased erosion?

How did biospheres on Mundus work in general, and how would that change with an influx of essentially immortal beings, many of whom would be hell-bent on gaining Experience to raise their level? For now, the impact of Beta-Testers would be negligible, simply due to the low numbers but once the final wave of testers, those who had bought a limited preorder, arrived, that might change. That final wave had about as many people as all previous groups combined but even those numbers would likely be dwarfed by the number of people joining the live-release. I had seen a few estimates, ranging from a million players on the conservative side, to twenty-million players on the high-end, which was quite daunting. Sure, there was a whole world, but how many natives did Mundus have? It would be interesting, especially once the different philosophies amongst players started to clash, both amongst the players but also with the natives.

As I was considering those questions, a shrill shriek cut through my thoughts, bringing the Manticore circling high above us to my attention. I had no doubt that it wasn’t about to attack us, not when it’s loud cries would get the attention of everyone not completely deaf, and maybe even of some deaf people. No, unless I was completely off the mark, it was more akin to a wolf, calling in the rest of their pack to hunt down a dangerous prey. It was a new tactic from the Manticores, possibly caused by the death of a mature Manticore the previous day, maybe simply due to the earlier losses, before we had moved into the tunnels.

Whatever the reason for the change, it meant that we had to move, and quickly at that. While there were some twisted trees and low shrubs around us, those wouldn’t be enough cover if the Manticores came in numbers, allowing them to fight on their terms, which wouldn’t bode well for us.

After a quick glance upwards, Adra obviously came to the same understanding, speeding up her steps, turning our comfortable, fast walk into a loping jog, forcing me to push my physical body to the limit. I would be able to push further, by increasing my abilities with Blood Magic, but that would leave me slightly weaker for a later battle. No, if the Manticores came, I wanted to have all my Astral Power available to show them the error of their ways.

The Manticore kept pace with us, circling above and occasionally letting out its shrill cries. If nothing else, the constant presence caused us to run just a little faster, though a part of me was scared that it might be herding us. But when thinking about it, where would they want to herd us? It wasn’t like they needed us to be in some specific spot to swoop down and tear us to pieces, every part of the mountainside was similarly dangerous in that regard. Maybe herding us into a deadend, so we couldn’t escape further, but given that they were faster than us, with better mobility, that didn’t seem to fit either. Or maybe it was just constantly calling out our position to other Manticores, so they could assemble a large enough group to strike.

Whatever the actual reason, Adra kept leading us forward, with each of us occasionally glancing up to the sky, as the single Manticore turned into two, then three. When there were five of them, the cries changed just a little and when looking up, I could see them swooping down, not quite in a dive, but obviously aiming for us.

“Close your eyes!” Olivia called out a warning and without question, I heeded her call. Moments later, the world around me went white as blazing light burned through my closed eyelids, causing me to stumble for a moment. My eyes snapped back open, spots swimming in my vision and I felt Lenore emerge from her Hallow and pushed myself into my Hallow, as trying to run mostly blind was a recipe for disaster.

The others weren’t as affected, my sensitivity having screwed me over despite the warning, but the Manticores had been forced to abort their attack and retreated somewhat higher. maybe a little more cautious now.

With Lenore’s higher view-point, I was able to see that we were almost out of the woods, or rather almost in the forest, as the sparse mountainside gave way to a forest of low pines, mixed with shrubs. While the forest wasn’t as dense as I would have liked, I had some hope that the trees would limit the Manticores’ ability to fly and swoop down, forcing them to work more akin to lions. They’d still be dangerous, but compared to trying to fight a number of them while they could attack from the air, it was a lot less dangerous.

Previously, we had been able to deal with individual Manticores by forcing them to the ground with powerful ranged attacks from Adra and myself, but that only worked against low numbers, as soon as multiple targets attacked at the same time, we’d get torn apart.

Lenore and I switched places again as we closed in on the forest, allowing me to let my Frozen Shuttles soar out, giving me a way to respond instantly to another attack of the Manticores. The shuttles lacked the weight to discourage a serious attack, but I could simply cause them to shatter if needed.

Above us, the cries intensified once more and we all put on a burst of speed, seeking to get between the trees. It wouldn’t be salvation, but compared to getting torn to shreds out in the open it would give us a fighting chance. The Manticores, seeing that we were almost there, dove down, forcing me to act. My shuttles soared up, in the grip of my Ice-Magic and with a heavy heart, I focused on the Shatter-rune within my mind, channelling Astral Power into the shuttles, causing them to disintegrate.

For once, I didn’t try to turn them into frozen shrapnell, even that wouldn’t actually stop the dive of a massive, flying lion. Instead, I used the Astral Power the shuttles had been made from, all the way back in Neyto, and turned them into floating mist, glittering with Diamond Dust and robbing the Manticores of their sight. On the other hand, by using the shuttles, I had been able to create the mist half a dozen meters above us, covering most of the space to the forest as the ice slowly floated to the ground.

We couldn’t see the Manticores any longer, but I highly doubted they’d try to dive down on us, if they couldn’t see the ground to estimate when to stop their dive. Though it would make for a pleasant surprise if they decided to risk it, crashing into the mountain in the attempt. It would somewhat soothe the pain of having to destroy a tool I had used for over half a year.