41 A Rat and Running

Silence. This was all that surrounded the trio as they sat in the endless, lawless, lifeless void. The three have been stuck here waiting for Gnos knows how long. There was the occasional attempt at small talk, but there isn't much to talk about. How are you supposed to bring up the weather when there is no weather!?

Every now and again, Eodum would stick its head out to check the area. When it did, it still just saw the party Dleihs camping there. From what Eodum could tell with its occasional visit to reality, Dleihs had been camped there for three days. Do these people have nothing better to do!? Couldn't they at least abandon this spot and look around!? Damn, these humans were determined!

With the constant hanging around that spot, the three couldn't just appear there, they'd probably get killed! Eodum also couldn't form an entrance somewhere else; it could only form a portal at the spot it came from or was. As long as Dleihs was there, Eodum couldn't run anywhere else! Luckily because of Henry's [Storage], they had food for now, but it wouldn't last forever. Henry had told them that he only had enough food for another day.

At least only Henry and Eodum had to eat, Sheila was an undead. After an hour since Eodum last checked, Sheila said, "Okay, we're gonna need to run."

"Agreed." Henry and Eodum said at the same time.

"Though, we're gonna need a plan. I say we wait for another day, and if they haven't left by then, then we run."

"Sure." Eodum agreed.

Henry however, had a suggestion to make, "Wait, I think that only Eodum should go out."

"What why!?" Sheila and Eodum asked.

Henry replied, "Eodum would only need to worry about himself, we wouldn't be in the way. I know we're all about even when it comes to speed, but Eodum wouldn't have to worry about anyone else if he was alone. Eodum can just open a portal at any time if he needs help."

"… Fine." Sheila said reluctantly. She couldn't help but worry for her new comrade. They hadn't known each other long, but during the short time they did know each other, they've been through a lot.

Eodum thought for a second and agreed, "Sure." With their plans settled, Henry and Eodum ate a meal, and the group sat there. The next morning… or night… The next day, Eodum popped its head out of the portal, and it saw Dleihs still camped there. Shit. Eodum went and told the rest of the party of the situation. After one last run down, Eodum emerged from the portal and quickly hid in a shadow.

Eodum activated all its stealth related skills except [Stealth Attack]. Eodum creeped along the shadows, actually manipulating its body to stay as close to the ground as possible. It slowly hopped from shadow to shadow, creeping its way away from the camp. It got a solid ten meters from the camp, thinking it was going to make a clean getaway. It shifted its body back into rat form, and that's when something knocked into it.

"What the fuck was that!? The hell did I trip on!?" Someone asked. Eodum looked behind it, and saw a fallen over skinny man. The man's foot had got caught on Eodum's body. Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! SHIT!!! The man looked down on the creature he tripped on, and saw a dark, almost impossible to see rat. Standing there, still. The man stared at the rat, "… AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Then the man screamed.

"It's the fucking rat!!!" The man yelled, attempting to warn his companions. They quickly rushed over, and had come just in time to see Eodum legging it. They helped their friend to his feet, and chased after Eodum. It ran across the ground using all of the strength, agility, and speed buffing skills it could. The rat had an idea on how it might be able to get out of its current predicament.

Eodum got smaller, slowing it down, but then its tail got much longer. It stretched its tail out and had it wrap around a tree. It shortened its tail, increasing its mass, and started swinging through the forest. It then cast its brand new spell [Gravity Anchor Move], forcing it to keep its brain constantly changing the position of its moveable [Gravity Anchor]. It returned its body to normal and just started focusing on falling. Eodum then cast [Gravity Up Move], keeping the two spells' areas around Eodum.

Eodum was falling at high speeds, but its pursuers were still trailing behind. Eodum was forced to really push its brain heavily and opened a portal on its body, so the portal would fall with it. Eodum said into the portal, "Henry! Fire! Now!"

Henry needed a second to understand Eodum's words, and see the situation Eodum was in. Once Henry understood the situation, he said, "Okay!" Then he quickly created many small, wooden marbles, and threw them out of the portal. Luckily, the part of Eodum that the portal was on left the magical area, so the marbles could fly out and land on the ground. Right after, that part of Eodum was pulled back into the area.

When the marbles landed on the ground, they burst out into flames. The pursuers came to a halt to avoid being burned; the rogue said, "Fuck! Where did these flames come from!? Damnit, Alfred, use some wind magic!" The sorcerer of the group, Alfred, chanted an odd set of words; right after a strong blast of wind came from his staff. The marbles were blown away into a nearby cave, and the fire went with them.

Eodum had just gained a large gap between itself and the Dleihs. Eodum dispelled its spells because of how mentally taxing it was and the Mp cost, and continued sprinting forward. Dleihs however, continued their pursuit. Shit! They were catching up now because of Eodum's lack of magic usage, but it was too afraid of using up all of its Mp. Eodum opened a portal once more and said, "Sheila, [Holy Magic]!"

Sheila reacted hastily and casted [Divine Blessing]. The physical stats of Eodum were now buffed, and Hp and St regeneration was boosted. Eodum was sprinting along the ground once more, but Dleihs were still hot on Eodum's trail. Suddenly Eodum remembered its new tool. Eodum's body began shifting, and the shadowy flesh of Eodum moved away to reveal an eye. The eye stared out behind Eodum, and Eodum began pouring mana into the eye.

At a certain point, the eye's pupil began to widen. It suddenly shrunk, and in that moment, the terrain began to turn to stone. Dleihs clearly weren't expecting that when they scrambled behind their shieldsman. The large muscular man fumbled around trying to get his shield, but when he did, it was too late. The front of the man started turning to stone, and it eventually spread to his back. The rogue's eyes went wide in shock and terror and she said, "ADRIAN!!!"

Tears welled up in the eyes of the members of Dleihs. The rogue shifted her head to the side, wiping the tears away with her shoulder, and said, "Damnit, Adrian! We'll get that FUCKING rat for you! Listen up people, we won't let Adrian's life go to waste, we'll get our revenge. Time to get serious." The members silently nodded their heads and wiped the tears in their eyes. They turned their heads to see the rat, glared, and then ran after it in a rage.

The rogue jumped into the trees, planning to corner the rat from above. The swordsman sprinted as hard as he could, and Alfred supported him with his magic. The archer slowed down, but shot arrows at the rat from behind. Many missed, but as one soared through the air, it struck the rat in the back.

[You have suffered piercing damage -20 Hp]

Fuck! These humans were persistent. Eodum started charging up the eye again; that was when Eodum realized that you could put in more Mp than just 15. Most likely, the more mana you put in, the stronger the effect. Eodum knew that if things kept going like this it would be fucked, it needed to change something. Eodum put more and more Mp into the eye, and finally it consumed 60 Mp. Eodum only had 5 Mp left, it was all or nothing.

The eye's pupil grew and grew, and then shut just as quickly as before. The area turned to stone much quicker than before. The range increased as well, covering the swordsman, Alfred, and the archer. They halted and turned to stone. The rogue seeing this said, "NOOOOOOOO!!! DAMNIT, YOU! I'LL FUCKING GET YOU!" As she said that, a bird flew into her foot. She tripped, hit the ground, and snapped her neck. Don't forget Eodum had a luck stats of 96, fate bends to its will.