Chapter 400: Hunting the Manticore
The Western Wilds spread around them. As they traveled further north to hunt down the manticore, the rocky outcroppings lost their bizarre twisting shapes and became lower and flatter. Far more foliage began growing on them, until they were traveling through a diffuse forest. Strangest of all, the plants changed wildly by elevation, so a sea of green might have an island of bright gold trees, with spots of other colors spread across the crags.
Supposedly this region was considered low quality because the powers were so mixed and muddy, but it seemed intense to Kai in comparison to Deadwaste. There was a lot of chakra, which no doubt interfered with their pristine qi traditions. That chakra couldn't compare to Rosemount, however, with various mixed forces that he couldn't identify.
Kai realized that he had only been patriarch for about two weeks and he was already sick of it and glad to be back in the wilderness. He could never be a Goralian hunter, but he was definitely better suited to hunting than sect or tribe politics.
Of course, unlike so much of his early life, he wasn't alone anymore. Omilaena moved along behind him, sitting cross-legged on a flying sword so she could continue her experiments. These days they seemed to involve using her chakra to filter liquids, ranging from ink to ice.
"We're actually getting close to the area where the manticore was sighted," Kai told her. "Do you want to put those away so they don't get broken?"
"You're assuming that it actually finds and attacks us quickly." Omilaena shrugged without looking up. "I'll keep working until we run into trouble."
"You remember what they t-"
"Had it all memorized as soon as they told us. Don't worry, I'll leave things to you and only jump in if it seems necessary."
Omilaena might feel completely confident, but Kai still ran through the information in his head. Manticores were said to be taller than the height of a man, which meant they would weigh far more. Their claws and teeth were dangerous, but what made them truly deadly was their tail, which could allegedly launch poisoned quills.