52: Pressure
Hari didn’t put me down until we reached the bottom of the stairs. He had run so fast that what had taken us hours to climb only took minutes to descend. Crisplet had become an orb in my hand, and I honestly don’t know how I managed to keep a grip.
Another roar came from the mountain as a bolt of lightning struck closer to Mount Divinus itself, though still away from us. I collected myself as Hari grabbed me by the shoulders, looking me straight in the eye.
“We run. Follow me,” he said sternly, the tone of a group leader cutting through the chaos.
I just nodded, and we took off.
Keeping up was nearly impossible. Even at what I knew wasn’t his full pace, everything around me was a whirlwind of streets and buildings.
We hadn’t gone far—maybe several streets—when someone appeared running alongside me. Liane.
“Liane?!” I exclaimed, nearly stumbling, but I caught myself just in time.
“I heard trouble and came to check—” she started, but Hari, noticing her, took over.
“We need the others. Right now. I’m taking Trevor to the stables. Meet us there—quickly. We need to move,” he said firmly. Liane nodded at the seriousness in his voice, and a moment later, she was gone.
To the stables? Were we leaving town?
I didn’t have time or breath to question anything. The pace was set, and I ran as fast as I could.
When we finally arrived, Jen, Milo, and Liane were already there, preparing the horses. Had I really been that slow?
Out of breath, I glanced at my stamina—dangerously low. Stamina 22/290.
“Low… stamina,” I wheezed.
I wasn’t sure if anyone heard over the barrage of questions aimed at Hari, but I was a little relieved—even he didn’t seem to have a full answer for everyone, his eyes constantly darting towards the direction of lightning hitting the ground in the distance.
“I’ll explain once we’re out of the city. I think… the Cat and Dragon are fighting? I don’t know,” Hari said, helping to saddle up Sable for the journey.
Before I knew it, my armour was being thrown over my head.
“Focus up, Trev. We gotta move. Get your arm in there—let’s get this on,” Jen said, clearly having grabbed the armour from Hari. I spotted Crisplet on the ground, his flame volatile and erratic, clearly reacting to the surrounding chaos.
“Need… stamina,” I wheezed, sliding my arms through the armour as Jen began strapping it securely.
“Trev needs a stamina potion! Hari, you got one?” she called.
A small yellow vial was tossed to Jen, who caught it with ease, giving it to me, relief flooding through me as I swallowed it, finally able to take in a deep breath.
I was helped onto Sable’s back, Crisplet settling on Jen’s shoulder. We didn’t ride at a full sprint, but the trot was steady and purposeful. The city fell away behind us. No one slowed us down; all eyes—and attention—were still fixed on Mount Divinus. The storm had only intensified, its deafening roars echoing across the valley, lightning striking both near the base and the peak of the mountain.
Once we were outside the city and heading back toward Divinmere, Hari seemed comfortable enough to speak as he eased into a slower pace.
“Alright, sorry for rushing everyone. We’d best take a break from the city—I expect some uproar will happen soon,” he said.
“Oh, that sounds exciting! How do you cause an uproar just by visiting a temple?” Liane laughed, breaking the tense mood that had weighed on us all.
“It wasn’t me! But, Trev’s Cat may have just started a war with the God of Storm,” Hari said, smirking as the words left his lips.
“Wait?! My cat? What do you mean—MY cat?!” I exclaimed, finally processing what Hari had just said.
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” Hari said with a laugh.
“The Ancient Dragon shot lightning at us—or maybe it was the cat. Not sure. The cat seemed to take offence, so after batting a bolt away like it was nothing, it went and cut the god’s statue in half, then raced toward the mountain. And judging by the lightning still striking, I’d bet the Cat is there… doing something.” Hari said it all as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“It cut the statue in half? And swatted away the lightning?” Milo repeated, wide-eyed.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Yep. So I figured now would be a great time for us to go do that nest job. Let everyone calm down a bit before we return—both beasts and people,” Hari added with a nervous chuckle.
“Honestly, I thought we were about to die. I burned through so many escape skills running down those stairs,” he said more seriously this time.
“The whole city is freaking out,” Liane said, laughing again. “That’s why I came looking for you. Although I didn’t expect you to be the cause,” she added with mirth.
“I didn’t even get food supplies!” I groaned, exasperated.
“We have enough for a couple of days, right?” Liane asked, her tone carrying genuine worry.
“Oh yeah, absolutely enough for a couple of days,” I replied, though in my mind I knew variety was lacking.
It was past lunchtime by the time we left the city, and the storm still raged. Lightning crashed into the mountain with relentless intensity. My stomach knotted thinking about anyone caught in the crossfire. The temple area had taken direct hits—I couldn’t see if anyone had been hurt. Parts of the city seemed to have been struck as well.
“Do you think everyone will be okay?” I asked, staring at Mount Divinus as we rode alongside it. The bolts now seemed to strike even higher, closer to the peak.
“Hopefully,” Jen replied, following my gaze. “It’s a little scary, isn’t it? That the cat is that powerful… it’s not even backing down from what’s supposed to be a continent-destroyer level beast,” she mused.
“Or stupid,” Hari added dryly.
We travelled for several hours along the path. Without the wagons slowing us down, the journey felt much faster. I hadn’t realised just how slow we’d been until now.
“So, this mission?” I asked partly to make conversation and partly genuinely curious.
“Ah, yes, you’ve missed some details,” Hari said, clearly pleased to explain. “We’re heading back to the mountain-pass village that was under attack. From there, we’ll climb the mountain. Galvonson would have chosen a spot that’s somewhat protected from the elements, but also gives a good vantage. It shouldn’t be too difficult to find, especially with their size.”
“Do you think Arcane Foraging will find anything up the mountain?” I asked.
“Honestly, I don’t know. It gets very dangerous the higher you go, so I doubt many people forage up there, aside from adventurer teams,” Jen said.
I pulled out the leftover roasted Grumfel I’d saved from the guild. After a single bite, a chill ran down my spine. Glancing around, I spotted Liane staring at me.
“Want to share?” I asked, leaning over to offer the stick—though amusingly, it had already vanished from my hand the moment I spoke. Clearly, I needed to stockpile snacks.
I realised then I wasn’t getting it back.
I pulled out a stone plate from my storage, along with the piece of Thunar I’d set aside. I took a single bite. To my right was Jen, to my left Liane—still clutching the roast meat stick.
“Can I have some?” Jen asked, her eyes never leaving the plate. Liane tried to protest, but her mouth was full, muffling any words.
I sighed. “Fine. We can share—but no taking it all.” I glanced at Liane, who just nodded, still stubbornly holding the stick.
It took several hours before the storm on the mountainside finally subsided. The clouds still lingered, heavy and dark, but there were no more lightning bolts or deafening roars. Part of me couldn’t help but wonder… was the Cat okay?
Silly thought, right? Part of me hoped it had overreached and left, but at the same time… it had saved my life. There was no doubt about it—the Galvonson would have ended me in a single blow.
So, yes, I hoped the Cat was okay. My thoughts were all over the place.
We rode until sunset, and this time, without wagons slowing us down, we could pull off the road fairly easily. While Milo got to work setting up camp, I decided to start preparing food.
Since there were only five of us, I kept it simple. I pulled out five rabbits, quickly skinned them, and stuffed them with basic garlic grass and onion. I skewered them on metal spikes and placed them around Crisplet’s metal basket, which had become our makeshift campfire at the centre of Milo’s structure.
Knowing that alone wouldn’t be enough to keep Liane at bay, I pulled out five of the eight leaf-bladed spiders I had saved. Using the stone spikes I originally had—I skewered the spiders. Before roasting them, I slipped a single Blood Tear into each one, curious to see what would happen. I added a pinch of salt and placed them around Crisplet’s fire as well.
There was now a small feast before us, and with the little flame elemental’s help, it would all cook perfectly.
Even before I’d infused the spiders, I had to practically fight Liane off to stop her from devouring them all. Crisplet gave me the usual signal with a burst of sparks, and I quickly infused the five spiders.
Would you like to Infuse [Uncommon] Roast Leaf-Bladed Blood Spider for 50 mana? Yes/No
Selecting “Yes,” I was careful to store three of them, and to be generous, I handed Liane two of the spiders before the rabbits were ready, under the promise she’d tell me all the buffs for my notes—much to Milo’s approval.
Once the rabbits were done, I infused them as well, mostly for the experience points. I doubted the +1 Dexterity would make much difference, though they tasted absolutely amazing. We all dug in happily until a loud thud shook the ground outside the structure.
Every face fell into concern. Hari stood, ready to investigate, followed by the others. I stayed behind, knowing I’d only get in the way.
It didn’t take long before Hari’s voice called from the entrance.
“Uh, Trevor… you better come here,” he said, nervous.
I got to my feet, Crisplet at my side, and stepped outside. A massive dark shape loomed before us. Only when Crisplet cast its light did I catch glimpses of its features—dark obsidian scales, spikes, claws…
“Is that the dragon?!” I shouted, stumbling back.
Hari laughed. “No, it’s not the dragon. But it is a Drake… well, a headless one, anyway.”
“Was it the…” I began, but Liane cut me off.
“Yeah, definitely the Cat. That thing looks like an adult drake. We wouldn’t touch one of them in a fight.”
“Why is it here?” I asked, dumbfounded, scanning the massive creature.
“I think it’s pretty obvious,” Milo said with a laugh. “The Cat’s letting you know what it wants to eat next.”
Wait… it wanted me to cook that?! My mind whirled. Ridiculous… but also, I didn’t want to anger the Cat. If Crisplet could understand us, surely the Cat could too, right?
“Uh… I’ll cook it,” I said out loud, feeling absurd. “But we’ll need to wait a few days until we finish our mission before I can prepare it properly.”
To my surprise, a tangible pressure lifted and vanished. I wasn’t the only one who noticed it.
“Well,” Milo said with a chuckle, “looks like we’ve got a few days to finish this mission, get back to the city, and skin enough to let Trev cook!”
“And if we fail,” he added, unhelpfully, “we piss off a cat that fought a continent-destroyer beast and killed its kin for dinner. No pressure.”
I approached the beast, marvelling at how it had gotten down here. It was literally the size of Milo’s structure—which was also housing all the horses. This thing was enormous.
Would you like to store [Rare] Ancient Drake (Partial) x1 for 5 mana? Yes/No
Selecting “Yes,” I was startled by a giant head lying there. Massive horns, rows of sharp teeth, eyes that—even in death—sent a chill down my spine. This was not something I wanted to face, and the Cat had brought it here.
“How…” I whispered.
Would you like to store [Rare] Ancient Drake (Head) x1 for 5 mana? Yes/No
Selecting “Yes” again, I exhaled, trying to calm my racing heart.
“It’s a rare Ancient Drake, by the way,” I muttered, shaking my head.