I woke up from a long and quite restful sleep. I hadn't slept that well since the last night I had spent with Lashina. I chuckled at that thought, especially since we hadn't slept very much. I looked around and no bugs or other creepy crawlies had managed to find their way into my solid Presence covering, so I absorbed it and sat up, grabbed some of the jerky and bread from the backpack, then ate while I packed the bedroll up and tied it to the backpack.

I was tempted to have a full meal so I wouldn't have to stop later, then changed my mind because having a full stomach sometimes has the opposite effect and it makes you tired instead of giving you energy. I finished the piece of jerky and bread, absorbed the solid Presence I had put on the branch to stop myself from rolling off, then started to climb down. I barely had to watch what I was doing, since each time I stepped lower, there was always a branch or a thick knot for me to step on or hold on to.

I didn't question it, since that wasn't what you were supposed to do when things with their own energy help you of their own accord. I did silently thank the tree as I descended to an appropriate height to start running across the branches again. I had almost reached the branch where I needed to go when I felt four people and four animals enter my detection range. I shifted over to a different branch and covered myself in Presence while I used some of my Presence and mana to coax the energy of the tree to flow over me.

I then used Mask Presence and Stealth techniques to hide my energy. They were unmodified by mana and that made me realize that I should come up with a way to modify the technique to include mana as well. Just including mana in the techniques wouldn't work, because then I would glow slightly green and completely defeat the purpose of using the techniques in the first place. I was going to need a lot more time and practice to learn how to hide the new energy inside of me.

As the four people approached my position, I used Presence to enhance my hearing and funnelled their words to my ears so I could hear what they were saying.

“The last locate spell said he was near here.” One of the guards said and brought her large horse to a stop and dismounted. “Search around.”

“That's kind of pointless.” Maylia said and slid off of her horse. “Have you seen any of his tracks yet?”

“Just because he knows how to hide his tracks doesn't mean he hasn't left anything to track.”

I actually didn't think of that. I thought to myself. I was only concerned about damaging the trees and not about leaving tracks for them to follow.

I watched them search around for signs that I had been around there. They didn't find anything, since I had used the trees for running and they didn't try to climb the trees or look there for movement, either.

Okay, either they are really short-sighted or they don't believe anyone but them can run through the trees. I thought as my opinion of them dropped even lower.

“Let's perform the locate spell again.” One of the guards said and took out a bloody boot.

Dammit. I thought as I recognized the princess' boot and it had my blood on it.

One of the others put her hands over it and chanted. “We are the strong in search of the weak. Show us the man in which we seek.” Her green glowing hands hovered over the boot and the blood glowed as well. I watched as a bubble formed above it and showed the nearby area, then inside it a white pulse appeared.

“He's right here!” One of them said and ran over to the tree I was in and walked all around it. “He should be right here.” She said and reached out and touched the tree. Her hand glowed and she chanted. “Something is here, something is wrong. Show me something that doesn't belong.”

I stood still and hoped that the tree's energy would conceal me, and her eyes went up to look at me. I was about to dismiss my techniques and attack, then her eyes kept going up. I looked up as well, and to my surprise, a slightly glowing box appeared where I had used a solid Presence box to sleep on and it had touched the tree. It even showed my bedroll.

“He slept here last night.” The elf said and sighed. “Maybe the location spell is only picking that up.”

“No, the pulse is still right there.” The one casting the spell said. “Look, it's even on this side of the tree.”

“Use the spore spell.” The one holding the boot said. The elf beside my tree nodded and closed her eyes. She started chanting and I couldn't make out what she was saying. I thought that was odd, since I was funnelling her words to my ears. All of a sudden, the entire tree grew small pustules that burst and little green spores floated out and covered the tree from top to bottom.

Except where I stood.

The green spores covered my entire back and all four of the women looked right at me and the empty spot, then the three of them drew their weapons. Two bows and one sword. I was only about twenty feet up, so I knew that I could safely land if I jumped, even with the armor unpowered like it was. I dismissed my techniques and jumped out and down towards the one that had cast the spell.

“AHH!” She yelled and let her arrow go and shot at me. I easily caught the arrow with a Presence Hand, since I was used to catching laser pistol bolts, and landed practically on top of her.

“Surprise!” I said and slapped one of the wrist shackles on her wrist, then turned her around to face the one with the sword. She couldn't swing without endangering the one in front of me, so she changed her stance and lunged at me. I chuckled and turned away from the strike and grabbed the sword, pulled on it and knocked her off-balance. She didn't let the sword go, as I assumed she wouldn't, so I used the other side of the wrist shackle to put it on her wrist.

The first elf woman's arm was locked in one direction with her hand out the bottom and the second was locked in the other direction with her hand out the top, which meant they had to stand facing each other instead of side by side. I pushed them aside as I felt the other elf shoot her bow behind me. I caught the arrow with a Presence Hand without turning around, then turned around and looked at her.

“Are you a better fighter than the princess?” I asked her, and she tried to load another arrow into her bow. I used a Presence Hand to take the bow out of her hand and she stared at me with a useless arrow in her other hand. “This is a really nice bow.” I said and examined it with Presence. “Would you mind if I borrowed it for a while?”

“Yes!” She exclaimed.

“Oh, right. I forgot that was an insult.” I said and tossed the bow into the underbrush ten feet away. “Sorry.”

“Attack him, Maylia!” She said and pointed at me with the arrow.

“She's not stupid enough to break the princess' word for safe passage like you three did.” I said and used a Presence Hand to grab the elf by her collar and dragged her over to me. “Don't even think about stabbing me with that arrow.” I said and took it from her hand when she was close enough. I unhooked her quiver from her back, put both arrows in it, and hung the quiver over my own shoulder. “I'm tempted to break all of your arrows and leave them; but, I have to assume as elves that you can just magically make more or repair them.”

The three elves exchanged looks and I knew that my guess was right, so I took the other elf's quiver as well and tossed her bow into the underbrush with the other one. I held the third elf with the Presence Hand and hooked the ankle shackle on her leg, then lifted one of the other elf's legs and hooked it in the opposite direction. One foot was out the bottom of the shackle and the other was out the top, which meant that they weren't going to be walking anywhere until they removed it. The third elf sat down to make it easier for the both of them to stay comfortable and not strain either of their legs.

“You can't do this!” The one with the princess' bloody boot said.

“Are your eyes working?” I asked, pretended to be confused, then I smiled. “Because I just did.”

“Maylia! Let us out!” She said.

“She can't.” I said with another smile. “She didn't put them on you.”

“Guards can open all shackles applied within...” She stopped talking when she realized what she said.

“So I guessed right again.” I said and crouched in front of them. “I'm getting good at that.” I looked at their faces. “Who feels like telling me why you're following me?”

“You won't get anything from us.” The three of them said defiantly and I didn't feel the Presence waver.

“It seems you're telling the truth.” I said and stood up. “That's a shame, really.” I said and reached up to untie my hair. I shook my hair out and used Presence to fluff it out into its normal shape, like a lion's mane, and all four elves stared at me with open mouths. “Turn around.” I said to Maylia.

Maylia didn't ask what I was doing as she turned around and stood still. I used Presence to comb her hair and gathered it together, then I quickly tied her hair up neatly using my hands and her hair tie. I put a hand on her shoulder and she turned back around and looked at my face.

“Thank you for loaning that to me.” I said. Maylia didn't say anything, probably because she had told me before that she didn't want it back, so I gave her a crooked smile and used a Presence Hand to pick up the princess' boot with my blood on it.

“Hey!” The one who had it exclaimed.

“I can't have you using a locate spell on me again.” I said and used Presence to lift the blood off of the boot. The four elves stared at the floating blood and I compressed it down into a small speck that was too small for them to see, which made it look like it had disappeared, then I floated it into the tear on my uniform's elbow to hide it. “I'm tempted to do that to the boot as well.” I said, looked at the boot for a moment, then dropped it to the ground. “Do you have anything else of mine?”

They didn't say anything, and I sighed.

“Don't make me search you.” I said. “One of you might enjoy it, maybe; but, the rest of you will just hate me more for touching you without your permission.” I looked into the faces of the three elves. “Believe me, it will be a thorough search.”

Two of them had instant anger on their faces and the third had some anger and a slight blush. My target acquired, I knelt down in front of her and she didn't flinch as I reached out with a hand. I took her hand, and since I still wore a glove, she wasn't angered by it. I sent a pulse of Presence and mana over her and the other two, and they shivered at the energy. I couldn't tell if it was a good shiver or a bad shiver, though. I felt something of mine was tucked inside the belt of the elf whose hand I held, so I smiled at her as I let her hand go and reached for her belt.

“No.” She said and caught my hand. “Search me more.”

The other two gasped and started to berate her, so I covered their mouths with Presence. She looked at the other two when they were silenced, then she looked back at me.

“How much do you want me to search before I find it?” I asked.

Her eyes flicked around a little as she thought about it. “J-just... just enough to...”

“Say no more.” I said and slipped one of my gloves off and folded it over to keep the cloth on the outside and gently put it in her mouth. She moaned a little just from that and I felt her mana fluctuate slightly. Okay, some people have weird fetishes. I thought and slipped off my other glove and tucked it into a pocket, then I started at her hands and worked my way up her arms. I was a little rough as I 'checked' her with my hands covered in a tiny amount of mana, and she started to pant slightly. I passed her shoulders and reached her metal bustier and I could see the anticipation in her eyes. I put my palms right on top of the metal breast covers and put my fingers on the cloth top underneath.

“HmmMM!” She protested and moaned at the same time, and I fondled her a little and gave her a bit more mana. Her face flushed red from that and I moved down to her waist. Her eyes showed disappointment for a moment, then they widened when I skipped over her belt and checked her thighs and her calves. I did a cursory check of her boots and then slid my hands under her legs and all the way back up to the top of her thighs.

She was panting a lot by this point and I lifted her off of the ground slightly and gripped one of her ass cheeks with my bare hand and added more mana. It mixed with hers and her body shook for a moment as she closed her eyes, then her whole body relaxed and she became really passive. I let her ass go and slid my hand around to the front as I put her back on the ground. I stopped using mana and tucked my hand inside her belt. I pulled out a rock that had a few drops of my blood on it, and I realized that they had dug up the ground where I had bled in the town square.

“Sneaky.” I said and took the glove out of her mouth before I stood up. I removed the blood from the rock and tucked the compressed blood into the tear on my uniform's elbow with the rest, then tossed the rock aside. I also used the same technique to remove the saliva from my glove. She drooled a lot from that. I thought with amusement, then I looked at the other two elves. They tensed up and stared daggers at me. “Relax.” I said and put my gloves on. “I sincerely doubt that dirt would hold together enough for you to carry it while chasing me.”

Both of the elves relaxed and I turned to Maylia.

“Why are you following me?” I asked her.

“We were ordered by the princess to bring you back. She can't let you leave after you insulted her.”

I chuckled. “I like her twisted world view. I can be hurt and held captive; but, heaven forbid someone insults her.”

“You could just apologize.” Maylia said.

“For what? Telling the truth?” I asked, and she couldn't answer me.

Maylia spoke after a moment of silence. “Now what?”

“I'm tempted to kill these three for breaking the safe passage promise; but, I'm pretty sure if I did that, I'd lose the safe passage completely. Since you didn't attack me, I can pretend to tie you up and run away.” I said, and she smiled at me. “Or maybe we can have a play fight and you can let me win when you're exhausted and I can run away then?”

Maylia's smile turned into a chuckle. “It's not funny. You angered a member of the royal family.”

“Hey, I got it!” I said and stepped close to her. “I can overwhelm you with my forbidden manly charm and you will have no choice but to let me go.”

The laughter died on her face. “N-no... you... you can't...”

I put my arms around her and leaned in. “Oh, but I can.” I said and kissed her.

Maylia fought me a little at first and mumbled as she tried to turn her head away; but, I had her arms pinned at her sides and she couldn't get away. She stopped mumbling and relaxed after a few moments, then she put her hands on my hips and kissed me back. We stayed that way for several minutes, to everyone's surprise, including my own. I broke the kiss when I thought I might have taken things a little too far and I saw that her face was completely red.

Neither of us said anything as I let her go and absorbed the Presence I had covered the elves mouths with, then I turned around and ran. When I was far enough away, I started to jump at long and random intervals to break up my trail, then I climbed a tree and activated Mana Presence Run before I took off at my best speed.

I probably should have asked for a horse. I thought with a laugh. They didn't even flinch during that whole scuffle!

*

“Maylia!” One of the elves exclaimed when their prey escaped.

“Hm? What?” Maylia turned and looked at them. Her eyes were unfocused and she blinked them a few times. “Commander, I'm sorry!” She said and walked over to them. “He actually did it.”

“Did what?” The commander asked.

“Overwhelmed me with... with his...” Maylia's face flushed red again and she examined the shackles. “It's going to take a few minutes to remove the lock spell and get them off.”

“Stop talking and just do it.” The commander said, a little disgusted at Maylia's behavior. “Release my foot first.”

Maylia nodded and started to chant the removal spell. She didn't have anywhere near the amount of mana needed for a complete disenchant or even a partial dispel. It took her almost six full minutes to remove the lock spell from the ankle shackle and they popped off. She wasn't exhausted; but, she would have to wait a few minutes before using up the rest of her mana to open the arm shackle.

“It's about time.” The commander said and stood up. “Let's go.”

“Where?” Maylia asked.

“After him.” The commander said and walked over to her larger than average horse with the other elf still shackled to her arm.

“Are you serious?” Maylia asked. “You saw what he just did!”

“Yes, and now that we know what to look for, he won't get away this time.”

“I meant about him stopping us all from fighting against him.” Maylia said.

“Was his tongue that distracting?” One of the other elves asked and laughed.

“Yes.” Maylia said, her face red again. “Only not for the reasons you think.”

“We were ordered to retrieve him and we know where he's going.” The commander said and she motioned for them all to mount up.

Maylia didn't want to be left alone in the forest, since that was a sure way to invite danger and catastrophe, so she climbed onto her horse as well.

“He's going to have to stop when he reaches the barrier and we will catch him there.” The commander said and had the woman she was hooked to sit in front of her and duck her head. It would be harder to ride with the extra weight throwing off her balance, so she held the reins into her shackled hand with enough slack to control the horse properly and left her other hand free for any corrections it might need.

“We should take the other horse with us.” The woman shackled to her said. “Even with the mana boost, this horse will tire twice as fast with both of us on it.”

“Good idea.” The commander said and let out a quick whistle. The spare horse trotted over to her and she handed the reins to the woman in front of her. “Move out!” She said and slapped her horse's backside with her free hand and they took off through the forest after their prey. They were covered in a slight green glow a few moments later and ran at a normally unbelievable speed for such a large horse.