Chapter 198 - Day DLXIV

We started the day with a quick breakfast, then started heading deeper into the bear's territory. The goal was clear. Ki'rai turned into Tam, and jumped on the cart, as my shadows kept pulling.

- Hey… What did you do when we were separated? Did you come back to your masters – I asked suddenly.

She transformed back into her original form to answer me.

- There was no time. I just send them a report, and sneaked my way into the city, to observe you.

- How?

- I was made to be like this. I'm good at hiding, and can transform, don't you remember? - she seemed confused a bit.

- I do remember. It's just… It's just hard to believe that nobody managed to spot you up to this point.

- I'm very good at it.

- I guess…

She transformed back, and I kept walking. Eventually, we reached the destination, and set up a temporary camp, as I proceeded to clear the vicinity out of bears. I took few shadows with me, to collect the crystals, and returned after few hours. Ki'rai seemed to be asleep in her chicken form, but as I came closer she opened her eyes.

- I finished clearing the neighborhood – I said.

- Bawk! - was her response.

- I wish I knew what the hell you just said…

- Bawk! Bawk!

- Yeah… - I sighed. - I'm heading to the cave. You can stay here if you want, and eat something. Just don't eat all of those dried fruits, ok?

- Bawk!

- I hope that's a yes.

- Bawk!

I just shook my head and left. Those small interactions were bringing me a lot of joy. I found them funny. I felt much better in the woods than in the city, with people. Mainly because there were so many problems out there to deal with, and also so many painful memories that just blasted me from everywhere.

I, subconsciously, was doing my best to stay away, and forget. To avoid the pain. I wrapped it up in this nice paper of wanting to get stronger so the mistakes from before won't ever repeat themselves. If you asked me back then why I'm out there, hunting, I would answer that I need to be strong to protect those I care about, my friends. I didn't want to lose anybody ever again because I was too weak to deal with an enemy. Although there was a lot of truth to the second sentence, there was still a different reason behind it all. Ultimately I was refusing to deal with the pain of losing Nadia.

I ended up infusing my weapon with Ki, and using shadow fusion to clear up the bears roaming outside. Then I created a flame in my hand and went down. I had Rishi's words in my head. He once said that he would use fire to get rid of those animals, and I really wanted to try it.

At first, I was using it as a light source, but when I found myself between all of those beasts, I threw few bolts of fire at a bunch of them. Their fur caught fire easily, and then I did my best to make them gather closely, so it would spread.

The burning made those few got crazy, and the rest tried to get to me avoiding them as best as possible, but ultimately I managed to make them get closer, and the flames spread among them. The more of them caught it, the easier it was to proceed with Rishi's tactic. Ultimately I ended up setting them all up in flames and getting enough light to for the first time see how gigantic the cavern was, but there still was something deeper. I noticed a tunnel, slowly descending into the darkness.

My greed whispered mo my ears to try to at least see what's hidden out there, but common sense invoked Will's words, and I decided to not take a risk. If I was right then in orcs cave, then I would probably end up descending into that dark. Looking for more enemies to kill, but here my blood lust was tempered down by a lot.

I returned to the camp, took few shadows and a cart with me, and went back to pick up the score. As my minions worked I ended up contemplating the idea of checking what's hidden down below. I still had plenty of strength, and Rishi's tactic seemed to be working rather well. I had a lot of confidence about succeeding even if the enemies are stronger.

Etching in the nose stopped me. It made me remember the punch that hit me in that corridor, and how upset Will was. There is no rush – I told myself. The greed didn't stop though, but I did my best to ignore it, even when I descended underground to make my shadows pick the rest of the crystals.

Then I returned to the camp. Ki'rei was gone. I looked around for her, but there was nobody.

- I'm here – I heard from above.

I looked up. She was crouching down high on a tree branch. She climbed down the trunk using her sharp little claws and incredible agility. I was actually a bit surprised by her speed.

- Were you watching me? - I asked her.

- Yes. I was worried you might do something stupid again.

This statement made me raise my eyebrows. She caught that.

- I like you, even if you are a bit stupid – she stated.

- A bit stupid?

She nodded with confidence.

- Fuck you.

- Fuck me? - she seemed a bit confused by my words.

I immediately realized what I just said, and it felt so damn wrong.

- Forget it. Forget that I said anything. I was just angry, forget it… Let's just leave it on that I'm stupid, ok?

She twisted her head to the side, even more confused.

- You are a strange individual, even among your species – she said. - I observed many of you, and you are just… peculiar?

- Yeah. I'm peculiar. Let's eat...

That finally made her switch her attention. Sweets seemed to almost always work on her. I was glad it did because I felt embarrassed and partially disgusted by the situation I created. To me, she seemed like a kid. I needed to watch my language more when I was with her.

We ate, and there was nothing to do, so I found myself sitting under a tree and thinking. About the bear cave, and about how to get stronger as fast as it's possible. My thoughts reached the wolf den pretty quickly. The chances Blue is going after boss with such low numbers were actually pretty slim, at least to me. Which meant there was a way for me to snatch it.

With the new tactic, I had enough time to clear both spots. Soon I decided to try tomorrow, and maybe make some kind of agreement with Blue.

That day came to an end with 5 062 920 points remaining on my account, three class points, and 278 bear crystals on one of my carts.