Chapter 917

Chapter 917: Chapter 917 Is it All Downhill?

Eight hours later and night was starting to fall. Kat was wondering if she’d made enough progress for the horrible sleep she was inflicting on her companions. Super speed was great, and came alongside a general increase in physique. It was great for fights, great for moving from one place to another... and frankly horrible when it came to carrying passengers. Lily was one thing, she was small, easily slotted into the crook of her arm, and Kat personally suspected that whatever metaphysical nonsense helped her reduce the damage she did with every step and ignore a lot of wind resistance was more willing to help when it came to Lily. She was priority number one in Kat’s mind, so it made sense she subconsciously helped out more than normal for Lily.

The same cannot be said for the cultivators. The snake was a pain, and Kat wouldn’t say it was easier to carry then her current burdens... but her speed was certainly worse off. See, the problem was. With the snake Kat didn’t need to worry so much about jostling people around. The people were either running beside her, or in the snake. Here, they were in her arms and it was causing a new set of problems.

The first, was that she really shouldn’t have been petty and put Xiang and Yang on the same side. Xuena was easily the lightest of the three cultivators and as such putting the two heavier ones on the same shoulder was just asking for trouble. Sure there was no perfect way to balance them, Yang also being a good deal heavier then Xuena, but it certainly would have been better. Really, Kat was singing her tails praising. There was no way she could get up to any decent speed at all without it.

The next problem was the jostling. In the first hour after they set off Kat was constantly waking the cultivators, either partially or completely. Yang never once complained, Xuena tried to mirror that attitude but couldn’t help but grumble somewhat. Xiang made his sleepy displeasure known a few times but ultimately accepted his fate. Horrendously inconvenient? Certainly. Worth messing up the rescue operation for? No he had too much pride to compromise the mission like that.

Still, Kat was regularly waking them up even with the care she was taking, which defeated the whole point of carrying them through the day. They needed sleep and at least some proper rest. So Kat slowed herself down further. Her wings got a workout as well, pushing, pulling, stabilising. Kat made sure that she didn’t so much walk as she did glide over the terrain. It seemed like a great technique to perfect in the future. The extra weight actually helped a bit in this regard. All the changes her wings made were muted by the fact she was carrying three people.

The thing that was causing Kat the most concern though, was that they had only just managed to crest the top of the mountain using their odd route. That’s right, they were angling, if somewhat obliquely, towards crossing over the top of the mountain. Well, they were more specifically using the valley between two peaks to cross over because these mountains were rather tall in many places, but it was the thought that counted. Still, because of this choice, Kat knew they weren’t all that far from the inner sect as the crow flies. Kat estimated she could make it here, if travelling at full speed, in about five hours if she really pushed it.

Now, that estimation was starting not at the lower Outer Sect area but from where she estimated the Inner Sect to be. It also didn’t account for trees or the terrain. This was Kat’s best estimate if she was to just fly here or run along some magically straight path. Now, five hour was a good deal of time... but on the other hand. Kat wasn’t the fastest thing out there. All the trackers had been on foot. If the local horse equivalent could fly or perhaps trot over air... well Kat didn’t really want to think about it.

.....

Kat managed to make it over the hill and then glanced down the side of the cliff. *Hmm... I could probably float with three people. Not well... but if I froze a surfboard perhaps? That could work...*

Kat started working on her idea. She quickly got the basic shape down and then froze it over her shoes. Kat sucked in a deep breath as she looked at the valley they were heading into. It was clear why the ice sect set up shop nearby. Instead of getting warmer as you went down, it looked like it got colder. The ground wasn’t covered in snow it was covered in ice. The trees looked more like chunks of stone then organic matter. As interesting as it was to look at though... Kat didn’t have time to just enjoy the view.

With a strong kick, Kat left the ground and started to glide over the trees... only to realise she had been kidding herself a bit. The ground dipped sharply here near the mountain top but even that wasn’t sharp enough to offset all the extra weight she had on her. Kat hit the ground and praised the foresight behind making a snowboard. She didn’t really have practice but she’d used a skateboard before and had supernaturally good reflexes.

Her technique was poor, but all things considered, balancing herself with three people on her shoulder was much easier when she was sliding across the packed ice and didn’t need to worry about her footing. She had the heavier of her burdens on back side and was able to turn. This meant she was able to get up to a good clip. It wasn’t her max speed, and her gliding technique had been pretty good... but she was moving faster then she had all day.

504

Eventually, Xuena started to stir. She didn’t complain this time, and was clearly trying to go to sleep... but five minutes later Yang started to wake as well. It wasn’t long before Yang’s attempts at shifting woke Xiang and at that point Kat decided it was worth pulling to a stop. Her descent had been slowing down recently anyway. The ground had been levelling out somewhat and it was a good enough time to ditch the board.

Kat waited till she saw a fallen stump and slid up to it, retracting her ice and intentionally cracking it over the edge of the stone-like wood and kicking her feet free of the contraption. With a bit of shuffling Kat managed to get everyone off her arms and onto their own two feet... well except Lily. She was still slumbering away but that wasn’t really a surprise or an issue. “So how is everyone?” asked Kat.

“While I am... very thankful to be free... I feel rather horrid after that rest. I got better sleep while I was still trapped underground,” grumbled Xuena.

“The fact I’m waking up at night is a disgrace against the natural order!” hissed Yang.

“Was it really necessary to have Yang’s weight crushing me the ent-” Yang’s glare silenced whatever complaint Xiang wanted to make. He simply raised his hands in resignation and even took a step back. Apparently he didn’t want any arguments right now.

Best

“Look, I understand it wasn’t a great experience but I’ve just spent the day running with three weights on my shoulders. I tried my best to make sure it was as comfortable as I could make it for everyone. What I need to know, is what the plan is now. Are you all in good enough shape to do your own running? Do we have a place in mind to aim for? Should I carry you one at a time so that someone can still rest while we travel? I’m fast but not all that fast when I need to worry about three people remaining comfortable enough to sleep,” said Kat in a rapid-fire no-nonsense way.

Yang bit down hard on her lip and looked up at the sky. “While I am fine now... I think I’d like to request you carry my body starting around midnight... perhaps a bit earlier. If I can wake we with sun and take in that extra energy I’ll be much more useful to everyone,”

Xiang looked at Yang with surprise. The fact that she was accepting the offer was a surprise. Even if she had a logical reason for it... it was an admission of weakness he didn’t really expect from the angry woman.

While that was happening Xuena was frowning. “I... I’m not sure when it would be best I rest. I’m awake for most of the night working on my research and slept during the day much of the time. It was easier to just ignore my captors taunts that way, and they were unwilling to be so blatantly torturous to disrupt my sleep. I can run through the night and with all this ice qi in the air... even if I’m no combatant I will likely have the best mobility for twelve or so hours.”

Everyone turned to Xiang. “Nope. Not doing it. Just because it makes sense doesn’t mean I will!”