Drip-Fed Pt. 07

Remaining still was, therefore, the smartest decision.

At least that was what Apexus thought until he was ejected from the fountain to the greeting of an arrow barely missing him. 'Oooooh nooooo...' the slime thought, immediately having all alarm fluids rippling. Didn't take more than a second for him to find the source of the arrow too. It was a man with a hat the shape of a triangle. That was about all the slime needed to know.

Reysha was laughing when she was ejected from the water stream, she was laughing less when Apexus quickly caught her by swooping by underneath her. Heavily, she landed on the ragged surface of his wooden back, knocking the air out of her lungs. The impact almost ruined Apexus' balance, slanting him dangerously. Between Reysha's first reflex in this situation, being to hold onto the slime's back and evenly distribute her weight, and him flapping desperately, they somehow stabilized.

"What's your proble- FUCKING DEEP ROOTS!" her question became moot when her left arm was suddenly penetrated by another arrow. The tri-forked tip burrowed down to the base into her flesh. Hurting like absolute hell, she had just unwittingly saved Apexus himself from getting skewered. "THAT'S THAT FUCKER!"

Moment's after that shout, Aclysia was on the surface as well, spreading her wings in a shower of drops that would have been impressive to behold normally. Hovering over the endless fountain, she looked around, to find Apexus and Reysha storming away.

Reacting nowhere as quick as the two more spontaneous members of the group, she hung in the air confused for more than a few seconds, analysing the situation and only slowly formulating an intricate response that in the end had to be tossed for the thing that Apexus was already doing. Simply getting away without looking back.

On the ground, the hunter was nocking a third arrow, but only kept aiming at Apexus as the slime tried to stay in the air as best he could. Flying with someone more than the weight of a feather on his back was still difficult, much more so when the start had been to barely fish the tiger girl out of the air.

It had been the correct thing to do, at least as far as Apexus' consciousness was concerned. From a raw survival instinct, it would have been wiser to ditch the earthbound Reysha and flap away as quickly as he could. Finally, Aclysia managed to combine her darling's erratic flight with the person on the ground and the arrow sticking from Reysha's arm, the redhead pressing her body tightly onto Apexus, hoping that this time they wouldn't enter a terrible dive.

They might have, if the metal fairy didn't catch up to them as quickly as she could and added what little strength she had to carrying Reysha. As her flight was more akin to hovering and immensely stable, syncing it up to Apexus pace was surprisingly easy.

The hunter quickly stowed his weaponry and began running after them. Granted, Apexus wasn't flying as fast as he possibly could, but to see a human storm over the rocky landscape after them at a speed that more than kept up with them was dangerous nonetheless. The question rose why he never stopped to take another shot, but the slime really wasn't about to question that blessing.

"What are we doing, awakener?" Aclysia asked, falling back into her old titling from the panic she felt. All she could do was follow his lead, she needed time to formulate a proper response, time she didn't have in on-going situations like this.

"Water!" Apexus answered a single word as they kept heading south. As quick as that human was, there was no way he could cross the ocean after them, not without losing his equipment. Unless that immense speed somehow allowed him to run on water. The slime sure hoped not.

It was a straining chase, not because of any more arrows, but because the hunter simply remained present and kept throwing up the same question: How was he here? The Inquisition was nowhere to be seen, how did he already know where they were and managed to get here?

Once the open sea came close, the man suddenly stopped running under them and turned west, towards the port city. The good news being that he could not follow them over the water, the bad that he knew exactly what Apexus was planning. Not daring to turn around, risking to open himself to another attack, the slime only concentrated on reaching the other shore as quickly as possible.

They landed on the first beach they came across. Not out of any immense necessity. Stamina wasn't the problem, it was a hot day and as a cold-liquided being, as long as the environment was hot, Apexus' only limit was the food supply. He may very well have been able to go until nightfall and sometime beyond that. In that, it was rather lucky that they had been ejected from the dungeon midday.

No, the reason why they landed was that Reysha desperately needed the break. "Tigers aren't meant for the sky," she declared as she rolled off Apexus and onto the sands, where she sprawled out her arms and dug her claws into the ground. It was as if she wanted to claw onto the world itself and never let go.

"You flew before," Aclysia pointed out.

"That was a fucking skydive and kind of awesome!" Reysha shouted back way too loudly. "Not an hours-long flight across the ocean with a gods damn arrow in... my... ARM!" she ripped the projectile out with a quick yank and then tossed it into the salty waters. Aclysia quickly moved in and began healing.

When it took longer than she thought, the metal fairy blinked and inspected the wound more closely. Rolling back the sleeve, Aclysia saw the thee impact pints around a heavy bruise. "Your ulna is broken."

"Yes, thank you, I noticed," Reysha drily returned. "I am just going to assume that's the name of the bone."

"Affirmative," Aclysia mumbled and quickly went back.

Apexus looked back across the water. "How did he find us? The Inquisition wasn't with him... even if they were, they shouldn't have gotten there that fast."

"You saw the fucker run," Reysha stated. "He could have definitely chased us in that time."

"That would have meant he knew exactly where we were," Aclysia added.

The tiger girl gave her a deadpan stare. "Yeah, because that's exactly what the fuck is going on," she returned. When the metal fairy opened her mouth to retort, Reysha was already continuing. "I know it sounds impossible, but if your maid-ass has a better theory how a hunter with that," she waved around her half-healed arm, "kind of power found us than him having an ART then I am going to listen with all four of my ears!"

"...You wouldn't still have an arm if he was level 50," Aclysia suggested.

"Maybe this bodysuit is actually that sturdy or maybe I am or maybe he is out of fucking practice," Reysha countered and rolled her blue eyes. "Use whatever metal-brain is in that pretty skull of yours, there is literally no other way that he has found us this quickly than Hunter's Mark and Hunter's Mark doesn't track for that distance on its own. Unless you know something about that spell that I don't, he has a fucking Art."

"I... yes," Aclysia had to concede. "This spells dire for our situation."

"So," Apexus tried to get back into the conversation. "We have to assume we can be tracked wherever now?"

"Well, you and me, yes, since we got hit," Reysha confirmed and snickered. "Kind of exciting, isn't it?"

Her mad antics were ignored as Apexus and Aclysia brooded over the situation. "We can't face that man," the metal fairy mumbled.

"Neither can we stay," her slime lover stated the obvious. "This leaf isn't big enough. Our best bet would be to hide in the dungeon again, but he can find us even there. We also can't get stronger than him here, if understand... if I understand levelling correctly."

Although even the beating of challenges far below one's own power feeds into the divine spark of adventurers, that eventually became such a miniscule addition that it was akin to trying to fill a barrel drop by drop. Apexus worked in a similar way, despite not having a divine spark.

"We can't run here and even if we could, there would be no hope in sight," Apexus finished his thought. "We have to leave."

Aclysia thought about this for a little bit longer, only speaking up when the golden light around her hands ebbed away and Reysha rolled her sleeve back over her now healed arm. "Yes," she agreed with the assessment. "We can't stay here. I am not sure if fleeing from this leaf will solve this problem, but it is definitely more likely than staying. If we assume, he is an adventurer in retirement here, then I can't imagine he is after more than money for this mission. He may just drop the chase if it becomes too much of a hassle."

They were banking on a lot of maybes there, but they didn't have another idea. "Question is how we get off the leaf, then," Apexus stated, remembering what he had been told about the stem and the rules of this world.

This was a flat world and as such it had an edge. Unlike most worlds of that kind, this one had a barrier surrounding it, making it impossible to just fall off. Similarly, it was impossible to fly over the edge and approach the stem from the side. No, they had to go through the city of Haralry. The border fortress, to be more exact. Getting through the gates would be the problem. If they got caught, they were as good as dead. If they didn't try, their time, or Apexus' at least, was also limited.

"You said you knew smugglers?" Aclysia asked the redhead.

"Comes with the profession," Reysha answered with a nod. "It's a bunch of short-term relationships, but I have someone in mind who could help us. Hates authority, the church and loves to smugly laugh about all the things he's pulled that nobody knows about."

"Could we trust him?" Aclysia didn't like that description.

"Trust?" Reysha laughed in a truly amused fashion. "You're asking whether or not we can trust a criminal whose job it is to get things through under people's nose?" She weighed the adventurer's bag on her hips. "I would trust him exactly as far as I can throw this."

"Well, I trust you as tall as Birchia," Apexus chimed in and got two semi-confused glances. "I am sorry, did I misunderstand and trust isn't measured in distance?"

"It's a metaphor with negative connotations to say you trust someone as far as you can throw something," Aclysia told her beloved awakener. "It doesn't quite work in the reverse."

"But why though?"

"You wouldn't say something is untasty either. Unless you wanted to try and be oddly poetic."

"You really wouldn't?"

"No, you would say it tastes awful," Reysha giggled.

"But that's way longer!"

"Yes but..." Aclysia stopped herself. "This certainly isn't the time for this. We have to hurry while we still have an ocean between us and that Hunter."

Mehily was feeling ashamed. Not because she had any particularly good reason too. Indeed, she had every reason to feel relieved instead. Yet it was that shame that stuck.

After sighting the chimeric abomination and letting it escape, the trio had returned all the way to Haralry. Although they could have followed Inquisitor Evmeria's lead, the Cardinal had to be informed about the happenings. Especially about the involvement of Gabrame, whose true reasons for getting involved in this were still unknown to them.

They may have chosen to instead follow the Sharpshooter, trusting that he may have the Can't Hide Art. As far as level 50 Arts went, the ones shared amongst people of the same classes, Can't Hide was fairly typical for Sharpshooters, particularly those that went for dirtier jobs. It had a certain level of infamy, although not so high that Mehily had heard of it before Evmeria had told her about it.

One hit, be it a strafe or a shot right on the money, and a Hunter with that Art could keep his Hunter's Mark up for any conceivable distance for any amount of time. It wasn't the most useful thing for dungeon crawling parties, who had more interest in skirmishing strength, but for those after hunting rare game, be it legendary animals or things of a more ethically dubious description, it was perfect. Not every first arrow could kill. Many of the higher level animals that were worth the effort could turn invisible or fly. In those situations, the Hunter's Mark was as much a necessity as a Scout was to extended dungeon crawling.

If there was a numerical limit to this ability, Mehily did not know and she hadn't dared to ask. Evmeria had been pissed enough, as Gabrame had first spent the rest of that night drinking like any other, seemingly not bothered whatsoever by his missed shot, and then vanished long before any of them had gotten up.

There was no way for them to catch up and thus the decision to make the report had been made. It had been Mehily who carefully suggested it, Evmeria had agreed, although clearly bothered by her failings, while Berholdth had just grunted in agreement, not bothered to make any decisions outside of combat.

A few days ago, they had arrived in Haralry. The Cardinal had listened to the entire report with a gracious smile on his lips, only interrupted by concerned wrinkles on his forehead once or twice. Then he had dismissed them without any repercussion, telling them to prepare to continue their mission tomorrow.

No punishment had come to her or Berholdth. Evmeria had been punished -- by herself. For her failure to capture the slime at first sight, as inaccurate as that saying may have been for the blind Inquisitor, she had retreated to the chamber of Jersoja. Mehily hadn't seen her since. She presumed she was locked in a similarly fervent prayer as the Priest herself had been before being appointed to the Inquisition.

Since then, Mehily was patrolling the temple, walking past the 33 chambers dedicated to the original gods and sorting her thoughts. Witnesses had said that a naked girl with the wings of a moth had risen from the well amongst the golden light that night. Undoubtedly the angel Aclysia, grown once again. The Cardinal Remezan had guessed that this meant the Divine Quest had been concluded and, after holding conference with the messengers of the gods, had come back to them to confirm it. No Divine Quest of any god was currently active or waiting for someone to take them on, on the leaf of Ctania.

It was a message he was intent on spreading as soon as possible. Between the death of the instructor who originally had put out the bounty for the creature and with this new development, few adventurers would be interested in pursuing this path further. It worked well for the servants of the church, who were interested in capturing the beast for noble reasons, whose fulfilment were their own reward. Giving them less competition with their own goals would only work for their benefit.

Hopefully Gabrame himself would retreat back into obscurity once he heard that money was out of the equation. 'Unless he is being paid by someone else?' Mehily wondered, the Sharpshooter had not gotten involved earlier, there had to be some reason for that. Well, nothing she had to worry about.

Indeed, the thing she found much more horrendous was the idea that this slime thing had completed a divine quest. That was downright blasphemy on the good name of the gods. 'Would you approve of this, venerated one?' she thought, finishing her path up the sheer endless corridor that connected all entrances to the individual gods' chambers.

There was no door to enter the tower dedicated to the Progenitor God. Only a barrier in the shape of a rectangle. Much like his name was unheard by all but the most enlightened priests, it seemed that the original divine of might and magic was barred to be prayed to by mere beginners. She was barely beyond an acolyte.

The first god was one of the greatest mysteries to Mehily. They called them the 33 original gods, yet one of them was called the Progenitor. What made the other 32 original, why were they separated along the seasons while only this nameless god was a god of the rare season of Sorcia. If was somehow even older than the other 32... then what was he that made him so different?

Mehily had a lot of questions like this and they were part of why she decided to follow the path of priesthood. With how hands-off the gods were in guiding them, only giving their followers principles to abide by, seeking answers to the theological mysteries of the world was actually encouraged. Higher levels of the church knew more about things pertaining to what happened in the trunk of the Omniverse. As did some renegades, but Mehily had only disdain for those.

She knew she shouldn't have, but as she stood before that barrier, her hand began to move towards it. It had an indescribable colour. In one moment, it seemed purple, in another green, then yellow, not actually shifting but simply something her eyes couldn't properly interpret. People in the church were warned not to mess with things that went beyond their current understanding. Yet, Mehily couldn't resist. Like the dark hole between the branches, her attention was just sucked in, the world dulled until all she felt was her hand.

Her extended fingers came in contact with the barrier. It was... cold? Was that the right word? Hot may have been just as right. It was something beyond.

Before she could think about it any further there was a whipping sound, a door opening with such force that it smacked against the wall. Mehily turned towards the source of the sound. What came out was Evmeria. Wearing an icy blue robe, the woman's only sign of her special class were her eyes. Normally hidden by a veil of cloth, two orbs of shining glass met Mehily's gaze.

Only after a few moments, did it dawn on the Priest to pull her hand away from the barrier. "I-I am sorry," she hastily stated as the Inquisitor rushed towards her.

Evmeria furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Sorry for what?" Mehily was about to answer truthfully, when she realized that the Inquisitor was genuine.

It wasn't Mehily's breaking of the rules that had caused the Inquisitor to suddenly break out of her prayer. Although that left the blonde Priest herself confounded, she was saved this time by the blindness of the black-haired woman. Despite sensing the other person around, Evmeria hadn't been able to see or perceive that she had touched the barrier.

"Never mind that," the Inquisitor clearly had enough of waiting for an answer. "Get ready, something just changed. The creature has entered the city."

They travelled as fast as they could and with minimal pause. Only once during the entire trip did they stop to sleep and rest, as Apexus himself needed to get some shut eye, at all other times, they were moving. Either with Aclysia and Apexus flying low to the ground, with Reysha running underneath, or with the two of them carrying the tiger girl as she slept as best she could while moving.

Not more than two days, then the Hunter would have come over the sea and be able to chase them with his own ridiculous speed. If they escaped off the leaf, it would be on a hairs-width. Nevertheless, they managed to enter the city unseen through a sewer vent that Reysha showed them.

It was clearly some sort of thief's hideout, judging by the lock that Reysha first had to pick open and that then magically locked itself behind them again. "We don't have the luxury of fucking around with our choices, do we?" Reysha mumbled as they moved on the thin walkway that ran parallel to the stream of gunky water. The floors lack of cleanliness made Apexus wish for legs. Thankfully he couldn't taste with his membrane.

"Once we reveal ourselves to whoever smuggler we pick, we best stick to them," Aclysia agreed quietly, unsure who could be listening in the dimly lit tunnels. "And we don't have the time to scout for the best candidate. Didn't you allude to having someone in mind?"