Chapter 255
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Chapter 255
Complex plans were for the pack leaders. Fuzz didnt get any of that. They tried to explain, and ultimately settled on something he understood. He was to follow someone from a certain distance behind, as sneakily as possible.
Fuzz understood stealth. That was what the dagger lady Velvet did. He wasnt as good as her, because he was big and probably not suited for it to begin with, but he understood the basics. Breathe quiet, walk quiet, smell quiet, and stay out of sight.
The man he was following did three of those things, but as most humans he forgot the part about the smell. And a noisy smell it was, foreign stones tinged with blood and all the normal smells of a human.
Fuzz stopped. Distance was difficult with smell, but he could assess the way the thickness of the smell changed. He was still up ahead, but not as far as he should be. If Fuzz was smelling it right, he was on a long straight road that would make it easy to see Fuzz if the man just turned around. So he had to wait.
Then he moved, passing by a butchers shop and carts full of food alongside the road. When he was a pup they might have distracted him, but Fuzz was focused and full of purpose now. He was also smart enough to recognize that he would just have those tasty foods later. The pack leaders were good about making sure he got extra tasty food when he did good, though he was always fed well regardless. Ñøv€lRapture marked the initial hosting of this chapter on Ñôv€lß¡n.
The scents of hundreds of people lingered in the packed streets. Seeing him coming, most people moved aside. Those who didnt could be stepped over if they were short enough, or nudged to the side. Some people were quite surprised when he did so, but the cultivators of Sarton were familiar with Fuzz. They would not panic to see him in the streets without anyone around.
Fuzz sniffed. It was strange, actually. He didnt smell anyone recent but the man he was following and Alva. Usually someone else would be with him. Perhaps they were somewhere else, or better at hiding. Velvet probably didnt need to hide from scent, since humans were bad at detecting it, but she had been practicing. Fuzz sniffed. Did he need to improve himself? Was he not good enough?
He picked his way through the city, occasionally stopping or increasing his speed as he felt appropriate. The changing wind made things difficult sometimes, as when it was blowing towards him he could detect more, and when it blew away he couldnt be certain if his target had stopped too close. He focused a small amount of his energy to his nose to enhance it. Too much and he wouldnt be stealthy, but he wanted to make sure he didnt miss anything.
They were getting near the edge of the city. The number of people was decreasing, as well as the distance between Alva and the man following her. Fuzz began to approach a bit closer. No mission of stealth was prioritized over a member of the pack.
The wind shifted, and he caught a new scent. It smelled like fire. Not smoke, but fire. The difference was, one produced the other. Fire smelled like natural energy, when it smelled like anything. Or rather, it only smelled like anything when it was natural energy. He smelled fire up ahead, a familiar scent. Though he couldnt place any individuals.
Were they allies? They had not been in the city previously. They had been friendly in the past, but he did not know for certain if they were now. He increased his pace. Now that they were outside the city, the sneaky man could at any moment attack Alva. Fuzz needed to be able to catch him before he got to her. Other pack members or allies should be around, but Fuzz wasnt sure.
He closed the difference enough to be in visual range. The trees parted just enough to catch sight of his quarry. The man was also speeding up, and Fuzz more than matched his pace. The scent of fire was off to the side, perhaps not intending to participate in the upcoming battle. All Fuzz knew was they were luring the enemy out of his territory to somewhere he would have no allies, and this should be good enough.
-----
Rhys plowed ahead through the fire. Any direction he went would take just as long to get out, so he might as well get away from one threat. There were a handful of fire cultivator around he could sense spread out around him. He saw the youngest and lowest cultivation was directly ahead and in early Essence Collection, not far from himself. So he broke away to his right. No way was he going to fight some genius. Besides the fact that it would allow everyone to collapse on him, he wasnt going to bet he could even take out the guy.
His skin blistered as the heat built up around him, the branches of the trees around him and all the leaves having been instantly incinerated. He could see the trunks starting to fall apart into charred piles, like he would be if he didnt break through. He held his fist up high, feinting a punch while instead he kicked a ball of dirt into the face of the man he was trying to push past. It almost worked, except the dirt combusted before reaching the man, who moved to block his sudden sidestep.
How was he going to survive? Well, Rhys knew one thing about these people. I surrender, he stopped holding up his hands. Theyd taken prisoners before, even gotten some of them to testify. Now that things had come to this, he had to take advantage of that fact.
Then he felt a smoldering where his heart had been a moment before. It hardly even hurt, his chest burned so fast. He even managed to look down to see that his senses werent lying to him before the fire expanded and covered him.
-----
Was that necessary? Anish folded his arms across his chest.
Elder Sarka raised an eyebrow at him. What, you wanted to wait? It was going to happen anyway. Getting this guy to testify or whatever wouldnt do much of anything. And thats not what were here for. Were here to take some people out. She gestured to the smoldering corpse. And heres what we needed, evidence.
It would have worked better if he was alive.
Would it? Then wed have to do a bunch of talking and stuff, Elder Sarta cracked her knuckles. But since were just going to melt that marble gang into a puddle, it doesnt really matter. We saw him with our own eyes. Nobody else matters. Or do you think theres an innocent reason for this guy to follow a young woman out into the woods?
I wasnt saying that, I just thought it would look better for Glorious Flame Palace if we had someone alive for a bit. Anish shook his head. But whatever. Lets go melt a rock gang. Though I have to point out, Elder Sarka, that we dont want to completely obliterate their buildings.
Yeah yeah, documents and crap. Dont worry, Elder Sarka waved her hand, spewing fire at a tree but somehow not catching it on fire. I can handle it. Thats why we brought more than just you five. Some overwhelming force to make up for having to control ourselves. Elder Sarka looked over at Alva and Fuzz. You two alright?
Were fine, Alva said. Is he alone?
Should be, Elder Sarka said. But well escort you back to the city before we go pay these pebble guys a visit. Dont want your family getting mad at me.
I can take care of myself, Alva said. But Ill admit Im not completely sure about opponents of this level. Lets go.
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Chapter 255
Complex plans were for the pack leaders. Fuzz didnt get any of that. They tried to explain, and ultimately settled on something he understood. He was to follow someone from a certain distance behind, as sneakily as possible.
Fuzz understood stealth. That was what the dagger lady Velvet did. He wasnt as good as her, because he was big and probably not suited for it to begin with, but he understood the basics. Breathe quiet, walk quiet, smell quiet, and stay out of sight.
The man he was following did three of those things, but as most humans he forgot the part about the smell. And a noisy smell it was, foreign stones tinged with blood and all the normal smells of a human.
Fuzz stopped. Distance was difficult with smell, but he could assess the way the thickness of the smell changed. He was still up ahead, but not as far as he should be. If Fuzz was smelling it right, he was on a long straight road that would make it easy to see Fuzz if the man just turned around. So he had to wait.
Then he moved, passing by a butchers shop and carts full of food alongside the road. When he was a pup they might have distracted him, but Fuzz was focused and full of purpose now. He was also smart enough to recognize that he would just have those tasty foods later. The pack leaders were good about making sure he got extra tasty food when he did good, though he was always fed well regardless. Ñøv€lRapture marked the initial hosting of this chapter on Ñôv€lß¡n.
The scents of hundreds of people lingered in the packed streets. Seeing him coming, most people moved aside. Those who didnt could be stepped over if they were short enough, or nudged to the side. Some people were quite surprised when he did so, but the cultivators of Sarton were familiar with Fuzz. They would not panic to see him in the streets without anyone around.
Fuzz sniffed. It was strange, actually. He didnt smell anyone recent but the man he was following and Alva. Usually someone else would be with him. Perhaps they were somewhere else, or better at hiding. Velvet probably didnt need to hide from scent, since humans were bad at detecting it, but she had been practicing. Fuzz sniffed. Did he need to improve himself? Was he not good enough?
He picked his way through the city, occasionally stopping or increasing his speed as he felt appropriate. The changing wind made things difficult sometimes, as when it was blowing towards him he could detect more, and when it blew away he couldnt be certain if his target had stopped too close. He focused a small amount of his energy to his nose to enhance it. Too much and he wouldnt be stealthy, but he wanted to make sure he didnt miss anything.
They were getting near the edge of the city. The number of people was decreasing, as well as the distance between Alva and the man following her. Fuzz began to approach a bit closer. No mission of stealth was prioritized over a member of the pack.
The wind shifted, and he caught a new scent. It smelled like fire. Not smoke, but fire. The difference was, one produced the other. Fire smelled like natural energy, when it smelled like anything. Or rather, it only smelled like anything when it was natural energy. He smelled fire up ahead, a familiar scent. Though he couldnt place any individuals.
Were they allies? They had not been in the city previously. They had been friendly in the past, but he did not know for certain if they were now. He increased his pace. Now that they were outside the city, the sneaky man could at any moment attack Alva. Fuzz needed to be able to catch him before he got to her. Other pack members or allies should be around, but Fuzz wasnt sure.
He closed the difference enough to be in visual range. The trees parted just enough to catch sight of his quarry. The man was also speeding up, and Fuzz more than matched his pace. The scent of fire was off to the side, perhaps not intending to participate in the upcoming battle. All Fuzz knew was they were luring the enemy out of his territory to somewhere he would have no allies, and this should be good enough.
-----
Rhys plowed ahead through the fire. Any direction he went would take just as long to get out, so he might as well get away from one threat. There were a handful of fire cultivator around he could sense spread out around him. He saw the youngest and lowest cultivation was directly ahead and in early Essence Collection, not far from himself. So he broke away to his right. No way was he going to fight some genius. Besides the fact that it would allow everyone to collapse on him, he wasnt going to bet he could even take out the guy.
His skin blistered as the heat built up around him, the branches of the trees around him and all the leaves having been instantly incinerated. He could see the trunks starting to fall apart into charred piles, like he would be if he didnt break through. He held his fist up high, feinting a punch while instead he kicked a ball of dirt into the face of the man he was trying to push past. It almost worked, except the dirt combusted before reaching the man, who moved to block his sudden sidestep.
How was he going to survive? Well, Rhys knew one thing about these people. I surrender, he stopped holding up his hands. Theyd taken prisoners before, even gotten some of them to testify. Now that things had come to this, he had to take advantage of that fact.
Then he felt a smoldering where his heart had been a moment before. It hardly even hurt, his chest burned so fast. He even managed to look down to see that his senses werent lying to him before the fire expanded and covered him.
-----
Was that necessary? Anish folded his arms across his chest.
Elder Sarka raised an eyebrow at him. What, you wanted to wait? It was going to happen anyway. Getting this guy to testify or whatever wouldnt do much of anything. And thats not what were here for. Were here to take some people out. She gestured to the smoldering corpse. And heres what we needed, evidence.
It would have worked better if he was alive.
Would it? Then wed have to do a bunch of talking and stuff, Elder Sarta cracked her knuckles. But since were just going to melt that marble gang into a puddle, it doesnt really matter. We saw him with our own eyes. Nobody else matters. Or do you think theres an innocent reason for this guy to follow a young woman out into the woods?
I wasnt saying that, I just thought it would look better for Glorious Flame Palace if we had someone alive for a bit. Anish shook his head. But whatever. Lets go melt a rock gang. Though I have to point out, Elder Sarka, that we dont want to completely obliterate their buildings.
Yeah yeah, documents and crap. Dont worry, Elder Sarka waved her hand, spewing fire at a tree but somehow not catching it on fire. I can handle it. Thats why we brought more than just you five. Some overwhelming force to make up for having to control ourselves. Elder Sarka looked over at Alva and Fuzz. You two alright?
Were fine, Alva said. Is he alone?
Should be, Elder Sarka said. But well escort you back to the city before we go pay these pebble guys a visit. Dont want your family getting mad at me.
I can take care of myself, Alva said. But Ill admit Im not completely sure about opponents of this level. Lets go.
Chapter 255Complex plans were for the pack leaders. Fuzz didnt get any of that. They tried to explain, and ultimately settled on something he understood. He was to follow someone from a certain distance behind, as sneakily as possible. Fuzz understood stealth. That was what the dagger lady Velvet did. He wasnt as good as her, because he was big and probably not suited for it to begin with, but he understood the basics. Breathe quiet, walk quiet, smell quiet, and stay out of sight.The man he was following did three of those things, but as most humans he forgot the part about the smell. And a noisy smell it was, foreign stones tinged with blood and all the normal smells of a human. Fuzz stopped. Distance was difficult with smell, but he could assess the way the thickness of the smell changed. He was still up ahead, but not as far as he should be. If Fuzz was smelling it right, he was on a long straight road that would make it easy to see Fuzz if the man just turned around. So he had to wait.Then he moved, passing by a butchers shop and carts full of food alongside the road. When he was a pup they might have distracted him, but Fuzz was focused and full of purpose now. He was also smart enough to recognize that he would just have those tasty foods later. The pack leaders were good about making sure he got extra tasty food when he did good, though he was always fed well regardless. NvlRapture marked the initial hosting of this chapter on Novln.The scents of hundreds of people lingered in the packed streets. Seeing him coming, most people moved aside. Those who didnt could be stepped over if they were short enough, or nudged to the side. Some people were quite surprised when he did so, but the cultivators of Sarton were familiar with Fuzz. They would not panic to see him in the streets without anyone around.Fuzz sniffed. It was strange, actually. He didnt smell anyone recent but the man he was following and Alva. Usually someone else would be with him. Perhaps they were somewhere else, or better at hiding. Velvet probably didnt need to hide from scent, since humans were bad at detecting it, but she had been practicing. Fuzz sniffed. Did he need to improve himself? Was he not good enough?He picked his way through the city, occasionally stopping or increasing his speed as he felt appropriate. The changing wind made things difficult sometimes, as when it was blowing towards him he could detect more, and when it blew away he couldnt be certain if his target had stopped too close. He focused a small amount of his energy to his nose to enhance it. Too much and he wouldnt be stealthy, but he wanted to make sure he didnt miss anything.They were getting near the edge of the city. The number of people was decreasing, as well as the distance between Alva and the man following her. Fuzz began to approach a bit closer. No mission of stealth was prioritized over a member of the pack. The wind shifted, and he caught a new scent. It smelled like fire. Not smoke, but fire. The difference was, one produced the other. Fire smelled like natural energy, when it smelled like anything. Or rather, it only smelled like anything when it was natural energy. He smelled fire up ahead, a familiar scent. Though he couldnt place any individuals. Were they allies? They had not been in the city previously. They had been friendly in the past, but he did not know for certain if they were now. He increased his pace. Now that they were outside the city, the sneaky man could at any moment attack Alva. Fuzz needed to be able to catch him before he got to her. Other pack members or allies should be around, but Fuzz wasnt sure.He closed the difference enough to be in visual range. The trees parted just enough to catch sight of his quarry. The man was also speeding up, and Fuzz more than matched his pace. The scent of fire was off to the side, perhaps not intending to participate in the upcoming battle. All Fuzz knew was they were luring the enemy out of his territory to somewhere he would have no allies, and this should be good enough.-----Rhys plowed ahead through the fire. Any direction he went would take just as long to get out, so he might as well get away from one threat. There were a handful of fire cultivator around he could sense spread out around him. He saw the youngest and lowest cultivation was directly ahead and in early Essence Collection, not far from himself. So he broke away to his right. No way was he going to fight some genius. Besides the fact that it would allow everyone to collapse on him, he wasnt going to bet he could even take out the guy.His skin blistered as the heat built up around him, the branches of the trees around him and all the leaves having been instantly incinerated. He could see the trunks starting to fall apart into charred piles, like he would be if he didnt break through. He held his fist up high, feinting a punch while instead he kicked a ball of dirt into the face of the man he was trying to push past. It almost worked, except the dirt combusted before reaching the man, who moved to block his sudden sidestep.How was he going to survive? Well, Rhys knew one thing about these people. I surrender, he stopped holding up his hands. Theyd taken prisoners before, even gotten some of them to testify. Now that things had come to this, he had to take advantage of that fact.Then he felt a smoldering where his heart had been a moment before. It hardly even hurt, his chest burned so fast. He even managed to look down to see that his senses werent lying to him before the fire expanded and covered him.-----Was that necessary? Anish folded his arms across his chest.Elder Sarka raised an eyebrow at him. What, you wanted to wait? It was going to happen anyway. Getting this guy to testify or whatever wouldnt do much of anything. And thats not what were here for. Were here to take some people out. She gestured to the smoldering corpse. And heres what we needed, evidence.It would have worked better if he was alive.Would it? Then wed have to do a bunch of talking and stuff, Elder Sarta cracked her knuckles. But since were just going to melt that marble gang into a puddle, it doesnt really matter. We saw him with our own eyes. Nobody else matters. Or do you think theres an innocent reason for this guy to follow a young woman out into the woods?I wasnt saying that, I just thought it would look better for Glorious Flame Palace if we had someone alive for a bit. Anish shook his head. But whatever. Lets go melt a rock gang. Though I have to point out, Elder Sarka, that we dont want to completely obliterate their buildings.Yeah yeah, documents and crap. Dont worry, Elder Sarka waved her hand, spewing fire at a tree but somehow not catching it on fire. I can handle it. Thats why we brought more than just you five. Some overwhelming force to make up for having to control ourselves. Elder Sarka looked over at Alva and Fuzz. You two alright?Were fine, Alva said. Is he alone?Should be, Elder Sarka said. But well escort you back to the city before we go pay these pebble guys a visit. Dont want your family getting mad at me.I can take care of myself, Alva said. But Ill admit Im not completely sure about opponents of this level. Lets go.
