Kaden knew he had to get far away. Even so he would still attract more pursuers. The group that went after him should have been enough for a single person. It was their bad luck that they ran into someone as abnormal as him. They would not make that mistake again. They would look him everywhere and this time they would send strong enough people to deal with him.

Even worse, he was injured again and his previous wounds had not been completely healed yet. The positive side was that he surely had enough flesh to Devour, but he would need to stop and and allow himself time to absorb it. He wasn’t even sure, if the next Devouring would get him to perfect health, but it should be most.

If he had to fight repeatedly, he might find himself being always more or less injured. Kaden decided he should avoid fights as much as possible.

He continued roughly towards north. Over time he did pass over some roads that were going through the mountainous area. People would be using them and he did not want to be seen so he avoided them. Having to go through the wilderness was slower, but much safer. Kaden estimated, unless he was heavily delayed, getting back to Saint Empire would likely take at most a week.

During that night he no longer encountered any other pursuers. By sunrise he could see the sea. He pondered for a moment, if there was a way to get over it by himself, but it was likely not possible. People didn’t generally go over the sea for a long time. Any larger boats with weaponry and armor to deal with sea beasts were not going to be something he could just take. Not that he saw even any.

Kaden felt annoyed he could not fly over it. Without being able to use water mana, trying to swim over it would be crazy.

He didn’t dwell on the matter for long and continued on his way.

There were problems, though. He noticed some people searching the area.

“Shit, they are already here”, Kaden cursed as he went to hiding and suppressed his mana as much as possible.

He watched as a small group of Channel Opening weaklings passed by. They had some tools with which they scanned the area for mana. Just like usual any usual detection formation, but a small one. Such tools could easily be mass produced and given to common soldiers and spread them around for larger coverage.

Even saints used this method, if necessary, so he was familiar. As long as he supressed his mana and didn’t move, there was only a small chance that he would be detected. It would be far more difficult, if he encountered more advanced versions of the tool.

Kaden could have easily killed the small group, but once they died, it would be noticed. He instead listened.

“I heard what we are looking for is a mutant!” Said one of the soldiers. “I have never seen a mutant.”

“Freaks that messed with mana in ways that they shouldn’t have”, another said and spit. “I’m more afraid we run into that high beast that was sighted! Some boar they say.”

“I heard it left the area when some hunters went after it?” Said another soldier. “They say it was probably driven from its territory by an even stronger beast and only passed through and caused a mess. Why else would a beast like that wander in human territory?”

“Who knows what those monsters do!” Cursed the soldier.

The group soon passed by, but that didn’t increase Kaden’s mood.

“That crazed boar is still after me”, Kaden lamented. “Hopefully these losers were right and its gone. I’d rather not be caught by it.”

Kaden was starting to get a headache. He had enough problems as it was and he didn’t need any extra.

As he continued along his way, Kaden ran into more of those small groups searching the area. He even had to quickly kill one group. With speed far beyond the Channel Opening weaklings, he ripped apart the group before they could send an alarm. Still, the fact that they would be missing and not sending regular ‘ok’ sign, would soon alert everyone.

Kaden even assumed there were more advanced detectors activated somewhere nearby. Passing through undetected was unlikely prospect.

He spent some time looking for likely places. The area was relatively mountainous so he expected them to be placed somewhere high. Kaden didn’t find them, but he did find greater concentration of Sacronan’s soldiers so he expected those locations to be what he was looking for.

Still, its not like there were no solutions to passing through. Specially for Kaden who was good with formations and was familiar with the detection systems.

It was relatively complex, but Kaden could build a jammer formation. Whatever detection systems Sacronan was using, if they didn’t specifically have counter systems, a jammer would give them fake detections and mess up any real detections.

This would mean they knew someone in the area built the formation, but that was fine to Kaden, since they already knew he was around.

Perhaps it would also tie some personel to go and find where he had built the jammer. He could also make a few of them. Kaden had some mana crystals to keep them powered up, but it was not like he needed to keep them around for more than some hours at best. They might be discovered within that time too. It would still be enough for him to pass through the area.

Kaden spent some time constructing the jammers, but as soon as he was done he directly left towards the area he expected to be well guarded. The jammers had caused some chaos in the area. Everyone with detectors were moving about randomly chasing fake signals and sending out false reports.

While all this brought some new problems to move undetected, it solved the biggest ones. As long as he was not directly seen, he could go without having to hide all the time.

“If they have more of these later, this might not work”, Kaden thought to himself as he charged through the forest. “I may need to think of another solution. For now, they will be distracted.”

Kaden didn’t actually know all that much of Sacronan’s geography. He only knew it roughly. He wondered, if there was an area with more beasts. Beasts would stay out of his way, but they would attack any soldiers following him. Only one he knew was probably the area near Dashire and that was, if no one had culled the beasts in there yet.

“In fact, I must check that place at some point”, Kaden thought. “That high beasts in there needs to die.”

Kaden had been slightly on the edge regarding that particular matter. The beasts in there did kill a lot of people from Dashire. It could have even killed him and his parents! Then again the beasts had not done any of that because of some degeneracy or cruelty… just for prey as everyone passed by. Was that something he could forgive? Was something natural forgiveable?

Originally Kaden had been planning on ignoring the matter, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt someone had to die. It repeatedly came back to his mind. Finally he had decided the high beast there had to die. If not for any other reason than being involved somehow.

In fact, Kaden was thinking quite a few more people who should die. Those who stood in his way. Those who made things difficult. Those who supported higher targets. What of their higher ups? Who is at the top? There had to be the original cause somewhere. Why should people live who negatively affect his plans of revenge or were the underlying cause? They should all die.

“Perhaps I should go check home”, Kaden thought to himself as his mind was brought to Dashire’s destruction and its causes. “Its not exactly out of my way, but I think I’ll need to go hiding before that for a moment until Sacronan gives up.”

Going to hiding was easier said than done. While Kaden was aware of formations that could hide his presence completely, not just jam any detectors, he was pretty sure he would not be able to construct one. It required certain overlapping structures that Kaden lacked the ability to do. At least so far. Perhaps, if he had several days and time to extensively trial and error it, he might be able, but he had no such time available.

“I’ll have to find some place to hide”, Kaden thought. “They won’t keep looking forever.”

This meant he would have to find a place to stay still for a while and not be found. It would also allow him to restore himself to perfect condition and allow him to adjust his internal formation to his needs.

Kaden had a chance right there and then. He had just managed to pass through the heavily monitored area. He didn’t know how he had been noticed to be escaping in the first place, but he had been found after his advancement. That had been a risky move, but luckily he managed it. Had he failed and been injured, he would likely be dead by now.

To make things more difficult for Sacronan, Kaden altered his escape direction a bit and went out of the way he would be thought to be going. It would give him a little time, but not too much.

Kaden started to use his movement technique to move as carefully and leave as few signs of his passing as possible. Step so lightly that little to no footprints are left. Avoid all objects along the way. Nothing is pushed aside, no twig snapped, nothing. Only thing that might point to his direction was the used mana, but he had already went beyond range of any detectors and there was no signs of any more of them in use.

In truth, if Sacronan really wanted to find him, they probably could, but it would be an overkill. They could simply ask some higher stage tracker, Condensation or more, to exceed his methods, but they wouldn’t do that. Things like divination existed, but that required someone with ability to use some predictive mana type or even mana related to fate and other more ephemeral concepts. Kaden only knew about such matters were possible, but perhaps even True Magus would have problems with it. Kaden was not a spy with critical information or something. He was just an enemy soldier who had got stuck behind enemy lines. They would not go to such lengths to find him.

Still, Kaden remained extra careful the following days. He did meet some passing search groups, but their number suggested he was at the edges of the search area. This was good. Yet, the fact that he found them meant they probably were still roughly aware of his movements.

The next night Kaden reached some hill and noticed something in the distance. A village?

This sort of villages were relatively common. Dashire had been one of them. A small group of people living at the areas that could be called edges of human territory. While technically part of, in this case, Sacronan, these villages were mostly on their own and minded their own business.

“I think I’ll go have a look”, Kaden muttered to himself.

He then sneaked towards the village with a slight grinn on his face. To think he was now the big potential disaster intruding into their lives. At least he didn’t plan to do anything to them. Lucky them.