Life 48, Day 150

  Raging Lake. Still marching east along the coast. Forest transitioning from oaks trees to birch trees.

  Life 48, Day 168

  Another raid survived. And potential new friends met.

  24th raid week composition

  -5 crimson paladins

  -20 crimson knights

  -3 crimson clerics

  -50 crimson cultists.

  The raid would have gone badly if not for a couple of eeveelutions joining the fray. Two jolteons, one sylveon and a glaceon came to our aid, alleviating some of the pressure from the numerous cultists and allowing for Knight and kirlia to quickly dispatch the clerics. Then a collective attack was enough to finish the remaining knights and paladins.

  We have been allowed to rest close to the eevee colony. The sylveon appears to be the matriarch of the nest, she also exude the most pressure out of all the others.

  We will be resting for a day or two before we resume our journey.

  I close the journal, and store it quickly, letting Mewtwo remove the small barrier he made. Today was a rainy day, and as the sun sets beyond the clouds, the rain does not abates.

  We are planning to rest on the shores of Raging Lake one final time. The gentle slosh of the water is soothing to Mewtwo, and having monsters only come from one direction makes defending rather trivial. A single half-circle wall with a single entrance allows for an efficient funnel.

  He might have passed here. We are following his footsteps in so many different lives. Mewtwo muses, looking around with a sad smile.

  We have been travelling along the shore of Raging Lake like Aster Stradivii once did. And from the map I am slowly making with my Automated Mapping System, I feel awed at the sheer magnitude of Raging lake. A week and a half. A week and a half of travel, and still Icen Sky Peak is as far away as ever, yet still imposing in the distance.

  Our travels have been rather peaceful, if you discount the raid in the middle. Said raid was another short one, with only a single cultist attacking us. Neither Mewtwo nor I understand why Eziakophael has stopped sending massive attacks our way, and it is starting to worry us. The last gap in danger he did resulted in an an army of human-sized spiders being sent after us. Who knows what we will have to face once he decide to send a real raid our way once more?

  But we try not to worry too much about it. We have tools to prepare for an army, and with some imagination and rational thinking, we should be able to overcome almost anything.

  Right now we are at a crossroad of sort. The terrain is slowly starting to become too steep for us to continue to travel along the lake's shores. So we have to make a choice. Either I test out if I can swim, or we go inland and through the birch forest that borders the shore, hoping the residents are still friendly as they were in Aster's journal.

  Meeting Lil' Bee and even the gyaradoses made me realize something. Aster's team was composed of the strongest tamed pokemons. But that does not accounts for all the wild pokemons having to survive in the wild by themselves. If they have survived this long, it means they have the ability to do so. And whether they are benevolent or malevolent to humans may depends on how their encounters with humans went.

  Sadly, I have little hope humans have been as kind to pokemons as Aster or Lena. On one side, the Hunters have decided to make it their goal to use pokemons as both a source of materials and food for themselves, causing untold deaths each times they return. And on the other side, the League does not seems too benevolent to their own companions. I still remember the pain on the face of dragonite I battled against before Princess' forest.

  Once more, we may have been lucky with our encounters, but it is only a matter of time before we meet truly hostile pokemons, either naturally so, like the slugma in the nether, or due to their experiences with humans.

  So we debate. From Aster's journal, we know there is an eevee colony inside this birch forest, and that the matriarch once helped Aster. What we do not know, is whether said matriarch is still alive, and if so, actually still agreeable to human presence. I am not a human, but an angry pokemon will not take the time to verify that, and will most certainly attack first and ask questions later.

  There is also something else. We still have yet to meet our pursuers. We know they exist thanks to Lil' Bee confirming Mewtwo's findings, but they still remain at the edge of his senses. The only thing we know is that there may be at least four of them, and that there is no pokemon with them.

  Mewtwo thinks they might be Hunters, and I kinda want to agree. There is no way four random humans would be able to survive this far into the wilderness of the Ezian plane without some sort of power-up, let alone keep tracking us. So that also keeps us on edge. And makes us consider going through the lake rather than continue on land.

  Yet at the same time, we know not the full scale of Raging Lake, and there is also the risk of underwater monsters or pokemons targeting us, well more specifically me, while I am swimming. Because yes, I somehow can swim even with my weight. I can also sink. We tried. I have good underwater vision, and can remains beneath the water for about two minutes before water gets into whatever passes for my lungs and start doing some internal damages. I also need to be mindful about not drowning my bio-reactor, as water seems to have ill-adverse effects on its functions.

  If we are to continue on land, that means we will need to go through the forest, and possibly meet with more dangers.

  There is also a third option, which is to forego the Ezian plane entirely and open another portal to the nether. With the recent reward from the achievement, I have had enough to get the Internal Temperature Regulator System. My body is now able to resist both extreme heat and cold at the steep price of triple the energy consumption as well as double the coolant consumption, something that was definitely NOT in the system description before I purchased it.

  As much as the price for activating this system makes sense in hindsight, I would still have liked to be aware about it from the start.

  The nether is something we are considering for two reasons. First, we are becoming stagnant. Well, I am. Mewtwo is still able to grow thanks to his own training, and the realization he can gain experience through it, but the quests are still locked behind materials only found in the nether, and the more we complete quests, the more we can unlock new tools and abilities. The second is that there seems to be some sort of special mechanic in the nether.

  Supposedly, traveling through the nether would allow one to travel eight time the distance one would travel on the Ezian plane. Using this property of the dimension would allow us to drastically hasten our travels, it might even allow us to leave our pursuers behind. But it would also mean leaving behind a portal frame, even if we were to break the portal netherside. I am unsure if I want to reveal something like that to our pursuers.

  There would also be the problem of the exit. Where will we return? How is the portal location determined? We could open a portal to the nether in the middle of a village, or deep underground.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  So we are still divided on it.

  If we want to advance through the quests, we will need to return there at some point anyway.

  The safest route would be to got through the forest, and prepare for the worst.

  We might as well. We know what we may potentially find if we follow Aster's steps. We could use the forest to lay a trap. The Hunters must have some ways to track us, they are still on our tail even though they gave Lil' Bee's domain a rather large berth. I could no longer sense them while we stayed there. Mewtwo cuts into my thoughs. Let us continue on land. As for the quests, whenever I need to rest you can always make a portal, get in, gather resources, and get out.

  I raise an eyebrow at that. "You would trust me to get into the most dangerous place we have explored to date and not get hurt?"

  No, but I can believe you will manage to return. You trusted me going into the caves back in the magical forest, I would be a hypocrite not to let you try things alone. He explains.

  I wince at his lack of confidence in me, but I understand it. Still, one day I will be equally as strong as him.

  I smirk at that though. Sure you will. Mewtwo laugh, I am going to catch some sleep. Wake me up if something happens.

  I groan at his remark, and let my friend float in the air. This is something he has recently figured, passive telekinesis, allowing him to both sleep and float at the same time. This new methods seems to allow him more refreshing resting periods.

  I quickly erect a small floating platform to protect him from the still falling rain, and let him sleep.

  And thus the night passes. I slay monsters, and soon enough, morning comes. Well at least the sky turns from black to shades of gray. The rain has kept up through the night and shows no sign of stopping. I hope I don't rust.

  As Mewtwo comes to, he find me dismantling the barricades. Monsters still come in a trickle, but with my friend now awake, they are no longer a concern. Still, the sun is up, so why are they still coming?

  Slow night? He asks me while crushing a pair of zombie effortlessly.

  "Mostly wet." I answer, shattering a skeleton skull with a single punch.

  These monsters are no longer a threat to us, as long as they do not come in too large a number.

  So, the forest?

  I nod, "The forest."

  With the both of us being in agreement, we enter the birch forest, leaving behind the shores of Raging Lake.

  The pitter-patter of the rain of the leaves soon fills our ears, along with distant calls from awakening critters. The black-striped white trees give the forest a luminous aura in the faint light of the day.

  We are unsure what path Aster followed, and so, unsure as to where the eevee colony may be. Not that we want to see it, but if the colony is now hostile to humans, knowing where it is would allow us to give it a wide berth.

  We travel for about half a day into the forest without interruption. At midday, we are still on deep enough in it that my mapping system has trouble mapping the shores.

  It is while I am looking at the full map that I notice a strange landmark. There seems to be a clearing a couple hundred meters south of us, partially hidden by the forest canopy. The moment I turn toward is, a chill runs down my spine, and Mewtwo yanks me backward.

  Blue-tipped white ribbons crash where, a second ago, I had been standing, sending dirt flying around. And from the top of a tree, an elegant mix of a cat and a fox lands before us.

  Its elegance sadly only last for a cursory glance however. The sylveon fur, once maybe white, is marred brown from dry blood around multiple cuts. One of her leg is held above the ground, clearly hurt. The pair of ribbons coming from the bowtie on her neck are partially shredded, while of the pair coming from the bowtie on one of her ear, only one is still there.

  Her glowing blue eyes have a wild gleam on them, and she hisses at us, revealing pointy canine teeth.

  Before we can do anything, the sylveon hisses turn into screams, and waves of pink crash upon us. The move rattles me, causing my vision to glitch with pink artifacts, while Mewtwo is forced back from the force.

  I try to open my mouth, but two ribbons strike me, sending me flying back. I crash on the ground, holding my now open stomach, my armor once more broken through.

  Another crash has me get up quickly. Mewtwo has just been sent flying as well. "Mewtwo, you good?"

  I am. She strikes hard, I am not sure how much I can take. Comes the distant reply.

  I turn where he landed, some meters away into a tree. "Me neither, go east, do not look south. I'm right behind you." I shout at him, and start running.

  This sylveon clearly does not want us here, and who are we to intrude?

  And so we run. And the sylveon gives chase. Her ribbons crash all around us, sending soil and splinters flying. I realize too late what triggered her. "Did you sense her presence?" I ask my friend as we run.

  No, she appeared out of nowhere. He answers me.

  "She must have been trailing us since we entered the forest. I think I accidentally found the colony, and when I looked its way, she instantly attacked." I explain.

  Well, good job then. How do we explain to her that we mean her and her colony no harm? Mewtwo retorts sarcastically.

  "We don't. I don't think she will listen to anything we say. You saw her eyes."

  I saw her mind more. She is hurting, and grieving. She sees you as something to vent her anger and sadness upon.

  "Yeah I figured." I comment, barely dodging a ribbon aimed at my head.

  The sylveon is deftly following us from the trees, jumping from branches to branches with ease.

  "Okay we need a plan. Do you think you can take her down?"

  Not a chance. She overcame my protect with her moonblast. I am not winning in a fair fight. He groans.

  "Alright, then we-" Something tackles me and I go through almost a dozen trees before we come to a stop.

  Astra! We have company! Mewtwo sends me from a distance.

  Something goes pling against my armor, and I finally get a good look at what just ran into me. A human in armor. He raises a sword, and attempts to strike me again, yet the blade rebound against my armor, surprising him and me both.

  "Harder than you look machine." He comments, before attempting a third strike, but this one imbuing his sword with a strange aura.

  Finally recovering enough of my senses to move again, I roll out of the blade, and get back up.

  The man aborts his strike, and swiftly turns it into a rush aimed at me.

  "But sloppy." Another voice sounds behind me, and a battleaxe buries itself into my back.

  I fall back on the ground, my legs giving out almost instantly. Shit this is bad. The second attacker plant a boot on my back and yank his axe out. I already know my back is stitching itself closed as I can feel my legs being able to move again.

  "Well, one down, only the legend to go." The second man comes into my vision, readying his axe to split my head open.

  Some time earlier.

  Rosie stands alone on the beach of Raging Lake. As much as the last few weeks of tracking have been stressful, nothing gets more stressful than the first day of each week since her arrival, or return, or whatever is happening in this cursed world.

  She swallows, trying to calm herself. Her hands are trembling, sweat is getting mixed with the rain. It will happen soon. If there is one thing they all keep track of, it is when a raid will happen.

  As always, she wishes her subordinates could help, but she has heard enough horror stories to have them stand back. A raid is personal, and anyone trying to interfere will only make it worse.

  The first bell sounds, and she tenses. Raids have always been stressful, but since the spider wave crashed on their preys, they have changed, and this makes Rosie even more afraid. The second bell tolls, and the portal opens.

  She freezes at what comes through. Five praetors, two hundred paladins, thousands of warriors... A impressive army, one she had yet to face. And yet, just like it happened to her subordinates, they do not rush her, they do not send waves of magic at her. No, they simply walk out, and exit.

  Once the army is through, the portal closes, and one of the praetor approaches her. She gulp, ready to accept her fate should it play differently than the last two. She knows she has only a slim chance of victory here. Defeating a praetor is always a challenge. One first need to overcome its defensive wards, and then best the highly trained warrior in combat.

  Yet once the monster of a man reaches her, he simply look at her. The maddened glare she spots through the man's visor makes us shudder.

  He speaks, as the previous one did, in his impossible tongue. He then draws his sword, and decapitates himself. Once he does so, the entire army follows. And Rosie shakes in fear. Her raid is over. Just like the two precedents. Just like her subordinates own.

  What is happening? Why are they simply offering themselves? How long will that last?

  Still shaking she slowly gathers every soul coins the 'battle' has awarded her. With this, she is now stronger than any twelve year abductees has any right to be. They all are.

  She joins back with her team, trying to calm the shaking of her body. Once she reaches them. Joan, the axeman looks at her with a knowing look.

  "They have entered the eevee forest. The local guardian has recently suffered loss, and will attack anyone that dare even look in the direction of her colony. It could happen at any times, so let us get ready." Achilles goes over the plan they prepared the moment Rosie arrives. "I presume it went like it did for us?"

  Rosie nods, still partially sick. "What the fuck is happening, man?" Joan cannot help but mutter.

  "It matters not." Rosie finally finds back her voice. "The Lord Hunter gave us two preys, and we shall deliver."

  She suddenly feel the shift in the distance, and her eyes narrow. "They've done it. Let's move."

  The Hunter team all nod, and rush further into the forest. Time to hunt.