--- Nixilei ---

Nixilei was currently experiencing what could charitably be called, mixed blessings. On the one hand, the bombs had vanished. Either all used up, or mostly gone. One much more ideal then the other, but Nixilei had no way to know what was more likely. She just had to hope. The problem with this boon is it came with a major downside. The injuries she’d sustained over the long run.

While her eyes had initially cleared up somewhat, a bomb filled with metal filings had exploded too close to her, cutting a long line across her forehead, completely blinding her in one eye from the dripping blood and making it hard to see through the other. That same bomb had also massively damaged her arm. It had been an acceptable trade, if an annoying one. Nixilei hadn’t seen even a hint of something like this for at least thirty minutes of running, but more likely closer to an hour... and she’d messed up by not being fully prepared.

Taking as many bits of shrapnel with her arm meant that she didn’t take real damage to her more sensitive organs... but apparently at some point her armour had been worn down. Perhaps by one of the other mist bombs she’d thought a simple poison. In this case, one of the shards had slammed right into the join of her arm, making it nearly useless and hard to move.

This had a knock-on effect of making running harder and dodging any follow up attacks a bigger issue. Nixilei would love to be able to heal herself but the metal shards sticking into her arm was making that difficult and pulling them out was a challenge when you needed to keep running and couldn’t move one of your arms. Still... she might have been willing to attempt it...

If not for the previously mentioned blood leaving her mostly blind. Healing spells weren’t always the most reliable, and healing spells cast on yourself were particularly bad. Even worse, healing spells that could work while the patient was running were even harder to cast. Most spells really liked it when the caster and the patient were both still. Having the caster and the patient running, and being the same person was a recipe for disaster... and Nixilei wouldn’t even be able to see the sigil to make sure everything was correct. The chance for a miscast in such a situation was high.

So the metal had to remain in her arm to prevent more bleeding and she had to keep running while she could manage it. A while back she’d tried and failed to work out who was following her and that had just lead to more injuries. Luckily ones that could be healed, but that was more mana that she was down. It had been... a long time since then. It had also been quite some time since the bombs had gone off... and she couldn’t hear anyone following her.

But I haven’t ever been able to hear them. I’m also a lot further from the ocean then I thought because I was under the impression I was heading towards it. Not that I thought I was close but an hour of full running should’ve at least brought it into earshot right? I can still hear the rest of my environment so my hearing should be intact... so what to do?

There are three paths I see, though really only two of them are worth considering. The one easily discarded is waiting for a fight. I can’t seem to force one, whoever is following me is able to track me too well and hide from me. They might just be fast enough, or perhaps there’s some sort of illusion at work.

The first of my two real options is forfeiting now to save myself in the long run. I’ve got the orbs for it... even if I’ll be tight on them when I return. It would put me in a bad position, but I don’t have anything too nice in my storage. It might be worth placing everything I have on my body into storage and force her to work out what’s the most precious. I have spare armour if she takes my main set of robes.

The other thing I could do is try to make a big loop. Assuming I’m still being followed I should be able to make a sufficiently large loop to keep them chasing behind me without realising what I’m doing. If done properly and I end up back at the same spot, I can take another crack at looking for their tracks. If they exist, I might be able to use that the fight them...

Of course the problem with that is that I don’t even know if I’m still being followed. I’m not sure where Timmy is either... Timmy vanished amongst all of the early explosions. I can only assume the enemy’s Timmy took mine out, and is keeping them confined... or perhaps managed to properly take mine out and now I have two pursuers. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Hmmm... the more I think about it the more that forfeiting is looking to be good for me. It’s a risk, but it might be the best long term. Though that’s assuming I’m still being chased. Perhaps it’s worth trying to get some confirmation of that? Though am I willing to risk the danger when I return?

It’s been proven, well and truly, that they can track me. I have no clue how far that range extends out. Even if Thyme is willing to summon me at the furthest edge of the revival range, or perhaps even just as far as allowed from my opponent... depending on what they’re using to track me they might be able to do so immediately upon my return.

I guess that’s the question then. Is it more likely that I’m still being followed, or that I can be followed afterwards? The countless bombs used against me was far too many for them to have been created before the tournament. The person throwing them has to know how to make them, or have some sort of shortcut for doing so. I’m not sure how they managed to get so many materials though.

Regardless... can they make more bombs in a three hour window? I fear that the answer is yes... and if they can set up a nasty trap for me I might be done for. Dammit do I just have to keep running then? My healing means I can run more than most... but not more than all. If I’m running without being followed, I just need to make more distance. Hmmm... I could turn around and head for the mist? I’m not that close though... especially not after running away from it for an hour and the travel I did before that.

Still, closer to Spring then Winter... might be doable. If I book it that way and I get a good roll on the mist compared to my attacker I can get to the other side and make time. If I CAN’T though then I might be fucked because I’d be turning around and getting back in range. Again.

Dammit. I just don’t know. Someone is managing to use my tactics against me. I wish I knew if it was those dwarves or if someone got lucky. My money is on the dwarves though. I doubt Thyme would simply give away such a good stealth tool. I suppose it’s possible... but something that is so useful and lasts for potentially over an hour? I just can’t imagine it.

Nixilei’s ears had been straining this entire time. Ready for any sound worth noting when something slightly ahead of her stepped on a twig. Before she could even think about responding a dagger was already halfway to the sound, and the screech that turned into a gurgle afterwards meant she hit her mark. Annoyingly, it also meant she needed to detour for the knife. It wasn’t one that could return automatically. Still, it wasn’t much of a time loss to go over.

Nixilei pivoted her trajectory and went to reach down for the knife... when she realised that there was a chance of wasting time. A chance she wasn’t willing to take so instead the entire corpse, knife included were all shoved into her storage bracelet and another clean knife was slotted into her hand. The motion took barely a second and soon Nixilei was running at her full speed again, or as close as she could get without completely exhausting herself anyway.

*Hmmm... I think it might be worth risking things a bit to start healing. If I get jumped? I get jumped. I’m ready to forfeit if necessary and I probably should’ve done this earlier.* Nixilei first took a swig of water from her flask and then waited for the next open area. It was only about a minute later that she ended up standing halfway across a swampy marsh that had dreams of being a river. Nixilei knelt down to make her profile smaller and started to get to work ripping away the metal. Ears still alert for any signs of trouble, but not relying on them alone.