Chapter 131 Free Flowing
As the log jam began to crumble, Karl threw the hook again, pulling another log from the edge of the pile furthest from his reach. The extra effort helped dislodge a bit more of the blockage, and widen the gap that the water had to escape from the flooded area.
It was turning into a whole new riverbank at this point, but at least it was roughly following the original course now, and not trying to detour through a different valley.
Thor had dropped his Lightning Shield so that he could bask in the feeling of the rain on his glossy green scales, and the golems remained silent beside Karl as he stood and watched the raging floodwaters begin to diminish as the downpour turned into a more manageable light drizzle.
He had left most of the logs that were near the hill, trying to prevent the water from cutting the hill out from beneath him, and it appeared to have worked for now. Much of the sloping hillside was gone, but beside him, there was a solid barrier of logs that they could pull out later to make an improvised bridge to cross the worst of the damaged areas.
The idea had come to Karl as he watched the way that the logs held up to the force of the water and the other debris that was smashed into them. Even if they were going to pack dirt on top of it to make a proper road, putting a row of logs out would make for a much more stable base than packing deeper mud.
They even had plenty of Elites with slicing type skills that could split them lengthwise, making a flat surface for the bus and giving them more to work with.
So, instead of clearing more of the blockage, Karl set about pulling more of the largest logs from the river and up along the bank. It prevented them from piling up again further downstream, but more importantly, it left them nearby for him to work with when it came time to move the bus.
All the students wondered what Karl was doing with his huge pile of logs by the time that the rain finally ended, but the Driver understood very well. In fact, he would have asked them to go hunt for some eventually because they were going to need them to get across that flood plain.
But he wasn't going to send anyone out into that downpour and risk someone sliding down into the waters. There would be plenty of logs available once the water went down, no matter where they looked. This area had been heavily forested, and they would naturally pile up everywhere that the waters were forced to divert by a hill or other obstacle. Thi/s chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.co/m
As the rain stopped, Karl sent Hawk up to scout the area and survey a path forward for them.
[Good news. If we go from here across the spot where the blockage was, we can be on mostly flat land for at least the next ten kilometres, then the metal road comes back and there is one more crossing, but its bridge is high and it is still standing.
[Let me out, let me out.] He shouted, and Karl realized that he had actually ordered them to stay in for the night, something that he rarely did.
[Go ahead.] Karl agreed, and the Windspeed Hawk appeared on the roof of the bus, then gave a mighty flap of his wings and streaked off into the darkness. Then he dive-bombed something on the ground and returned to land on the roof with the body of a massive snake.
[Snek snek snek, chomp chomp chomp.] Hawk sang happily to himself as he began to portion it into manageable pieces.
Most of it, he took back into his space with him, but about half he left on the bus for Karl and the others.
"Hawk brought us breakfast meat. Who wants to go up on the roof to go get it?" Karl laughed as he realized what had gotten the bird so excited.
It wasn't a mouse, but Windspeed Hawks loved to hunt snakes as well. Rend easily cut off their heads, and then they were left with a long tube of food.
Sister Betty sighed as she looked upward at the metal roof. That was going to be a slippery trip, and the roof was sure to be bloody now with monster offal, which would draw even more monsters to them with its smell.
"I will. Driver, do you have a sprayer to clean the roof? Monster blood will draw more of them." She asked.
"Don't worry about it, there is a bit more rain on the way, and it will rinse us clean. There are so many dead minor monsters and animals in the area that chances are nothing will notice.
I do have a scent blocking spray, but I don't want to waste it with more rain coming tonight." The Driver explained.
"Alright. I will see you in a minute."