Chapter 60 The Wilds

Meira’s scent led Evernya toward the northeast edge of Meira’s territory, past Meira’s expansive garden, which threatened Evernya’s vow of no distractions. She picked up her running speed as she shot past the garden before she could give in to the delicious scents. Upon reaching the barrier, she skidded to a stop, kicking up dirt. Evernya swiveled her head as her nose twitched, filtering through the countless smells of her surroundings, trying to reacquire her big sister’s scent

Desperate, Evernya stepped through the barrier, ignoring Meira’s message not to follow her. While stepping over the spot, she found the kidnapping Elven bitch. Her nose caught a fading trail of Meira’s scent. Scared to lose the fading scent, Evernya dashed off, following it, disregarding the dangers ahead.

She blurred through the thickening forest for several kilometers until the trail led her to the shore of the Great Northern Lake. Despite burning lungs and throbbing legs, Evernya pushed forward, nimbly flying over the rocky shore, leaping over the occasional large washed-up log.

If the map I saw in the textbook is accurate, there should be nothing but wilderness for over eight hundred kilometers. Somehow, I doubt the kidnapping Elven bitch will take my big sister to the next city on the southeast coast. So where are they heading? Evernya thought as the scent continued to lead her along the shore.

A half-hour of constant running later, her exhausted mana-depleted body failed her as she tripped on some driftwood. Fortunately, her feline reflexes saved her from a rather painful crash, but her trembling legs refused to run any longer. Forced to take a break, she stumbled over to a nearby petrified log. Grateful for the storage ring, Evernya materialized four random smoothies chugging each.

While her body recovered, Evernya stared toward the seemingly endless lake, deep in thought. I should have caught up by now. Even with their head start, I doubt they are moving as fast as I am, though I didn’t enter turbo because of the terrain. I could be wrong though if they are anything like many Elven races in fiction, they could be stupid fast.

The panting girl focused her sensitive nose on the scent trail. After a few seconds of observation, realization dawned on her. They are flying! That’s why they left the forest! The trees are too dense and tall to fly! I don’t know much about the wilds, but I doubt it would be safe to fly over the treetops or the lake, leaving the shore as the best option. You never know what could fly up and eat you, though I bet Meira could handle anything thrown at her this close to the edge of the wilds.

With increased haste, Evernya stored away the empty smoothie jugs before forcing her abused legs to move. She pumped as much mana as she could into her trembling legs before taking off into a sprint, entering turbo mode. Running on fumes, Evernya chugged a smoothie every five minutes to maintain her insane mana expenditure.

Despite dimming vision, she continued to push forward, knowing time was of the essence if she had any chance of catching up to the flying elves. To avoid tripping, she veered closer to the lake, where only small pebbles remain from the battering of the lake. This decision turned out to be a mistake because a few minutes later, as the sun rose, her bare feet slipped on the wet polished smooth pebbles. This time her overworked body was sluggish to respond. Carried by her considerable momentum, she flew forward headfirst as the shore veered northward, causing her to shoot into the forest, impacting a massive oak tree, knocking her unconscious. Her unconscious body skipped along the ground for ten more meters until she came to rest at the roots of another massive oak.

Over five hours later, she came to, only to scream in agony as her mind became aware of her shattered body. She tried to push more mana to expedite the healing, only to find all her spare mana was already working tirelessly to heal her extensive injuries.

Attracted by her screams, several nearby mana beasts wandered closer. Evernya watched in horror as two giant mana beasts emerged from behind trees from opposite directions. She clenched her jaw shut, holding her breath as her terror and pain-filled eyes stared at the new arrivals.

The dark brown four meters tall bear made the first move as it lunged forward, thirty centimeters long claws extended forward. Aided by its superior reach, the bear left several deep gouges along the back of the seven-meter long Moss-covered horned lizard near its head before the lizard’s tail flashed out, knocking the bear back.

Undeterred, the bear lunged forward again, right into the open mouth of the lizard, which clamped down onto the bear’s left front leg. The bear roared in agony as it slashed at the lizard’s head with its free paw, taking out the lizard’s right eye. In retaliation, the lizard barrel-rolled, shredding the trapped limb.

After a full rotation, the bear’s arm ripped off with a grotesque snap, spraying blood everywhere, including on the girl lying silently watching through terrified, pain-filled eyes.

Overcome with fury, the now three limbed bear lunged forward yet again.

The lizard twisted its head to the left, trying to keep track of the approaching bear with its remaining eye, leaving an opening on its soft right underside. The bear’s right paw filled with five razor-sharp claws raked down the lizard’s right underside, forming five nasty gashes along the length of the lizard’s belly.

Desperate and profusely bleeding, the lizard clamped down on the bear’s right shoulder with its powerful jaws. The bear roared in pain and rage as it lashed out with its right paw again. Weakened by the clamping lizard, the bear’s slash lacked the devastation of its previous attack, but the damage still left three nasty gashes down the center of the lizard’s soft underbelly.

Weakened from bleeding and internal damage, the lizard desperately swung its head back and forth, exacerbating the damage to the bear’s right shoulder. Rage giving in to desperation, the bear tried to yank itself free, but the lizard’s long, razor-sharp teeth anchored the weakening lizard. Soon the bear weakened as well from blood loss. With one last attack, the lizard stabbed its short right leg with sharp claws toward the bear’s unprotected chest, scoring a direct hit.

The bear fell forward, heart pierced on top of the lizard, leaving the dying lizard trapped. The lizard gave a few pitiful struggles before it too expired from blood loss and internal damage.

Driven by instinct, Evernya dragged her broken body toward the freshly deceased mana beasts only ten meters away. With only one functional arm, her journey took over five minutes.

Past the point of rational thought, she entered an animalistic survival mode as her right arm buried itself deep into the lizard’s chest. She yanked out a glowing green orb before doing the same with the bear, getting a similarly glowing brown orb.

Momentary clarity dawned on the blood-soaked, broken girl, prompting her to roll under the roots of a nearby tree, clutching her prizes to her chest. The proximity of two mana cores eroded any remaining thoughts as she stretched her jaw impossibly wide to squeeze in both cores, absorbing both cores simultaneously. The heavily injured cat girl mewed in both pain and pleasure as she absorbed both cores within a minute. After the mana cores depleted, Evernya passed out as her mana bloated body mended its many injuries.

Evernya’s eyes flickered open as the morning sun shined through the trees into her root shelter. Her nose scrunched up as her sensitive sense of smell took in the surrounding decay. After knocking the depleted mana cores off her chest, Evernya crawled out from her shelter.

Overwhelmed by the scent of decay from the half-eaten corpses, Evernya escaped from the bloody scene. She followed the familiar smell of the lake to guide her out of the forest. Upon reaching the shore, she dashed to the lake and jumped in. After scrubbing all the dried blood off her training suit, her mind caught up with her body.

What the fuck just happened!? Did I watch mana beasts fight over me? If they could find me, why didn’t others eat me while I was unconscious? Dammit, how much time did I lose?

Evernya glanced down at her somehow undamaged training suit, catching the date and time on her suit computer. Fuck, I wasted an entire day. I need to go now!

She took off in a dead sprint, following the faint scent trail, leaving the decayed murder scene behind. Bolstered by the mana cores, Evernya shot off like a rocket faster than she ever had before. She continued to push more and more mana into her legs, pushing herself ever faster until her surroundings blurred past, even to her enhanced sight.

After a few minutes, she slowed down, afraid of slipping again. Still, at her slightly slower pace, she flew over the pebbles of the shore faster than any earthen speed limit.

Two hours of nonstop running later, she decelerated to a stop, panting but otherwise feeling great. She scanned her new surroundings with curiosity. Just ahead of her, the heavily wooded shore opened up to a clear-cut field. Off in the distance, several kilometers away, she spotted the familiar imposing walls of a city.

How did I reach Venduva already? Evernya asked herself before glancing down at her suit computer, displaying her average movement speed. Holy Shit, three hundred kilometers per hour!? Well, that explains how I made it to Venduva in less than four hours of travel.

Evernya plopped her butt on a nearby stump while downing two smoothies to recharge. A few minutes later, Evernya was back on her feet, ready to continue. A few sniffs later, she required the trail. She took off in a sprint along the edge of the clearing, following the scent.

Now on solid ground, her already ridiculous pace picked up. As if shot out of a cannon, her petite body flew over the level grass field, crossing half a dozen kilometers in less than a minute. A smile bloomed on her somehow unaffected face as she reveled in the rush of sprinting as fast as she could go.

Out of nowhere, a fireball flew in front of her, forcing her to skid to a stop. She spotted a vehicle speeding toward her from her left, originating from Venduva. As the vehicle neared, she made out flashing red and blue lights with Venduva border guard printed in a big, bold blueprint on the sides and hood of the white SUV.

“On your knees, hands behind your head!” The loudspeaker boomed as the vehicle slows to a stop.

What the hell? I did nothing wrong! Should I make a run for it? Evernya thought, eyes shifting between the distant tree line and the SUV.

Unfortunately, the vehicle stopped in front of her before she had a chance to decide. The moment the vehicle stopped, five officers spilled out, surrounding her. Evernya stood still, ready to defend herself or bolt at a moment’s notice. She scanned through the surrounding officers, finding all but one around awakened grade six to seven with an older middle-aged man, upper eight or low nine.

“On your knees, hands behind her back!” The middle-aged officer commanded.

“What did I do wrong, sir?” Evernya asked, keeping her voice polite and calm despite her inner panic.

“On your knees, hands behind her back!” The middle-aged officer repeated, ignoring Evernya’s question.

Evernya sensed a buildup of mana from the surrounding officers, but remained still, refusing to put herself in a compromised position. With a relaxed, non-threatening posture keeping her hands at her sides, making no sudden movements, Evernya turned her full attention to the middle-aged officer who appeared to be the leader.

“Will an ID help? As far as I know, I’m allowed to enter most Sespina Federation cities. I wasn’t even planning on entering this time though, as I’m just passing through. Hence why I stayed on the outskirts.” Evernya explained.

“Present ID.” the middle-aged officer ordered.

Evernya retrieved her ID from Meira’s storage ring, then telekinetic floated it toward the middle-aged officer. This display of magic prompted the surrounding officers to gather more mana, ready to attack at a moment’s notice. She kept her fear hidden as she watched him examine her ID.

“Your ID does not match our readings. We clocked you at almost four hundred kilometers per hour. Speeds of that caliber are impossible for an awakened grade five.” spoke the middle-aged officer in a cautious tone.

Evernya shrugged while responding, “I recently achieved grade six, and as far as speed goes, my big sister told me I am abnormally fast. So is it a crime to be fast?”

“Outside of city walls, no, it is not.” Replied the middle-aged officer.

“So I’m free to go then?” Questioned Evernya with barely concealed hope.

“Keep your speed under fifty kilometers per hour within city walls.” The middle-aged officer warned before flicking her ID back, which Evernya nimbly caught between her fingers.

Without saying another word, the officer turned back to the SUV, waving for the surrounding officers to follow. As the middle-aged officer climbed into the front passenger seat, Evernya heard him grumbling about shifters and their unfair physical capabilities.

Afraid of the officers changing their minds, Evernya shot off into a sprint before the officers drove away.

Five minutes later, Evernya reached the other end of the clear-cut grass field. She stopped for a moment to reacquire the scent trail leading her back toward the shore as the lakeshore curved northward.