I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 188

The group of us set out just as the sun disappeared over the horizon. Nine of them were part of the Lou family, and I was the odd guy out, the stranger. Of course, I had considered this as some kind of trap that was designed to get rid of me, but I didn’t believe either Abigail or Fate would act in such a manner. Furthermore, the Lou family in general seemed to be fairly upright and proper. Even if this was some kind of trap, I would have gone anyway, since I could learn something from a trap.

Fate’s uncle was the one who took the lead. His eyes darted across the landscape and his steps were quick and deliberate. Lot followed close beside him, almost like his uncle was showing him the ropes. The older man would occasionally lean towards the younger and whisper something. The younger would nod and then alter his behavior slightly. Fate ended up taking up the rear. I didn’t know if this was because it’d be the safest spot for a woman if they encountered an enemy, or if it was a show they trusted her to watch their rear.

The pace was extremely quick as they moved down this paved path. I ran in the back, just ahead of Fate. I worked on adjusting my eyes to maximize my site. Although I could mimic humans, I could also mimic creatures with a better site. I could also forcefully dilate my eyes or even change parts of their structure. I didn’t want my eyes to appear inhuman, but I was trying to improve them beyond that of a human. Technically, paragons already had better senses than mortals, but since I started with no senses and slowly developed them upon each evolution, my current senses were only a bit superior to an evolved one.

Some senses, such as hearing, I had a better grasp on. Night vision just happened to be one of those things I hadn’t worked on very long. However, I could tie my thermoreception to my eyes and get thermal vision, and I was also working on the ideal number of cones and rods, sensory receptors of the eyes, to maximize my eyesight the best. The first few miles passed by in silence, broken only by an occasional cough or grunt by one of the men, but then came a distant howl of something feral.

The road that started wide and packed was slowly growing rougher and thinner too. It seemed like the trail wouldn’t be smooth the entire way to Stormberg. The number of trees also continued to grow until we ended up entering a forest. I paused slightly as I looked up at a sign. Beware, no guards protect the road beyond this point.

“You’re not getting tired of us, are you?” One of the younger men saw me stop, saying it so quickly I’d swear he’d been waiting to toss that out the entire night.

“No, I’m just wondering if we plan to travel all night.” Although my site wasn’t affected much by the starlight, the forest canopy blocked additional light.

There was no way we could continue without light, and light would attract sage beasts and potentially other things residing in the forest. This area reminded me of the pond around the time Tanner came and settled down before the forest burned down. There had been goblins in that forest.

“Are you scared?” He grinned. “Don’t worry, we’ll protect you.”

He chuckled and a few of the other men did as well.

“Uncle plans to get as much distance from Stormberg as possible. There is a small town called Boltshade. If we push hard, we can be there in four hours. That’s where we’ll rent horses and buy supplies.”

“So, we are getting horses,” I responded in understanding.

“If ten people rode out on horses filled with supplies, it would be too obvious. We left in this manner so no one would know where we were going. Hurry up. You will be left behind, and while Sage Beast attacks are rare this close to the lymph ward, I wouldn’t bet my life on it.”

“Okay, okay…

I jogged forward to catch up with the rest of the expedition which hadn’t slowed down to wait for me. They were pressing on at a determined pace set by the uncle, which was probably the time it’d take to reach Boltshade in a reasonable amount of time. The earth darkened, and every other Lou pulled out and ignited a torch to create light to keep us all from being plunged into darkness. The smell of pine thickened, and the air itself seemed to cool with every step as we entered the deepening forest.

The path could barely be called a path anymore. It had narrowed to the point we could only move in a single line. It was more a separation of trees than a path. To either side was a dark forest, and the torchlight was enough to ruin any night vision I could develop. In short, I was blind, and I merely had to trust that the uncle knew his way.

I tried to use my other senses, particularly my hearing. That’s how I heard the low rustle, then a crack of something or someone stepping on a brittle branch. I tilted my head, trying to ignore the sounds of men and concentrate on the sounds of the forest. I heard another rustle, but it was coming from the other side of the path.

“Uncle.” Fate hissed, apparently also being able to hear it.

Her uncle stopped progressing and raised his hand. Like a well-trained unit, the Lou family froze. I did the same. We remained standing in quiet for nearly a minute. That’s when there was a distant howl. It wasn’t a wolf or a feline. This sound had an otherworldly quality to it.

“Move, now! Stay close.” The Uncle immediately barked. “Move fast!”

The group obeyed, their original march becoming nearly a jog. A few moments later, there was another howl, and this one was closer than the last. A third came, and it wasn’t just closer, but it came from another location. I listened as we ran, and I could hear the footsteps all around us closing in.

“They’re surrounding us.” I hissed.

The Uncle seemed to realize this too. “Run!”

The group broke into a sprint, but it wasn’t just any sprint. These were all paragons, and every single one of them was able to run at speeds any professional sports player would dream to have. Despite that, the creatures following us were getting closer. Branches snapped behind us, thunder paws were chasing heavy and deliberate.

“Don’t look back!” Fate cried out.

I was curious, but I didn’t want to annoy anyone or risk hurting them, so I kept running. There was a screech that tore through the canopy above, sharp and high. Whether it was a threat made for us or a command for whatever was following us, I didn’t know.

“Felix, fire left!” The Uncle shouted.

A man just behind Lot pulled out his bow and in a swift motion, fired an arrow to the left. A large creature that resembled a monkey leaped toward Lot, but it took the arrow in an eye and fell back. Lot was shocked by it, and so he stumbled over a root and hit the ground. The archer grabbed him and pulled him along.

“It’s Ape Demons!” Fate declared. “Gladius Lacerans!”

She spun, and a rapid stream of blades seemed to fly from her single blade. There was a shriek of something, or maybe several somethings, getting cut from behind.

“There are more coming.” I could see them pretty well using my thermal vision, but I couldn’t explain that to them in this short period.

We wouldn’t last much longer like this. These sage beasts seemed to have intelligence, coordination, and speed. They could climb trees and also run faster than humans. It felt unfair. If they did manage to launch an ambush in the middle of our group, it would be torn to pieces. There just wasn’t enough space for us to gather together to form a unified front. I reckon if push came to shove, I would save and bring back Fate. I’d do at least that much for Abigail. As for the rest, they would have to survive on their own.

I heard the spring of several cross bolts being fired, and although none of them hit anything, the creatures in the night immediately turned and began to run away.

“Boltshade!” Fate let out a cry of relief.

Imbedded deep in the forest, there was a tall, guard wall. Men on the wall were holding cross bolts. The men below all cried out in relief as they realized that had reached the city.

“I am Fortune Lou!” The uncle yelled out. “Open the gates!”

Someone seemed to recognize his identity because a short moment later the gate began to open. It seemed like we had reached our first checkpoint on our quest to reach the sagebeast.”

“U-uncle…” Lot said, looking rather shaken up.

“The easy part is done.” Fortune gave a dark grin and patted him on the back. “It only gets harder from here.”