Chapter 36: Run, Rhos, Run!

The girl was gone.

Red Deer Rhos stared through the shattered window at the city below, still struggling to comprehend what had just happened. One moment she had been standing in front of him growling like a cornered animal and the next she had vanished completely, leaving only broken glass.

He slowly touched his cheek, his fingertips coming away with a smear of blood. He stared at it for a moment before his expression hardened.

That was close. Far too close for comfort.

If her claws had been a few centimeters more accurate, they would have opened his throat instead of merely grazing him. Even with the two months of waking up every day and putting his body through hell, there was a massive gap between his capabilities and Predators.

Two months of rebuilding his body from the ground up, strengthening his muscles, tendons, bones and reflexes until they had reached a level far beyond what they had been before. Yet a child had nearly killed him before he could properly react.

Rhos bit down on his lower lip.

’Am I still this weak?’

Despite surviving multiple near-death encounters in the wilderness, one encounter with his own supposed Spirit had been enough to make him realize just how fragile he still was.

[Human]

[You should retrieve her before she attracts unwanted attention. This area is densely populated, and the Spirit’s appearance is unlikely to go unnoticed]

Neth’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He turned his head to face what was floating beside him.

"Retrieve her?"

Rhos was on edge so he was glaring at the creature and spoke in a slightly edgy tone.

[Yes. Though giving her a name would have avoided this predicament]

[Now, there is no established connection between you. Until that bond is realized, you cannot simply will her to return. You must locate her yourself]

Having calmed himself down by inhaling and exhaling deep breaths, he looked back outside.

This section of the lower ring was already alive despite the relatively early hour. He saw people moving along the streets, large animals hauling carts through designated lanes, and civilians going about their day.

"Fine. Where did she go then?"

[I cannot distinguish her current location from the surrounding spiritual signatures. To me, all of you are the same]

Well, it was useless. But after hearing what it just said, something bothered him.

"Neth, what is she?"

The creature said nothing, continuing to hover beside him. Rhos glanced at it.

"I’m serious. What exactly is that girl?"

When she was on all fours with her hair acting bizarrely, she reminded him of that horror from the wilderness.

The creature that had slaughtered his entire Ranger Division.

The silver furred monster with crimson horns and terrible six eyes.

The same monster that had torn through his body, swallowed him alive and left him moments away from death.

’That Wrath’

Even though he was within the safety of the World Shell barrier, he could still remember its frightening presence. For some strange reason, that little girl had reminded him of it.

However, Neth didn’t confirm his suspicions. It just kept quiet, prompting him to look at it with suspicion. Clearly it had no intention of telling him anything.

"Hide. I don’t need you drawing even more attention"

The creature’s body dissolved into a golden shimmer before disappearing completely. At the same time, Rhos climbed through the shattered frame and jumped without hesitation.

Normally, jumping from this height would have been suicidal in the old world. It was nothing in the modern world.

He landed with both feet bent beneath him, absorbing the impact through his legs before using it to push himself forward into a sprint while looking around.

’I’ll deal with Koa later’

He had no idea what her reaction would be when she returned from work and discovered that her window had been destroyed, and her houseguest had disappeared without permission.

That problem could wait. Right now, he needed to find the girl.

There was no indication of where she had gone. There were no broken objects marking her path or lingering shock from people who had witnessed something strange.

So, he was left with no choice but to pick a direction and hope it was the right one.

His heightened senses should have helped. His hearing was capable of distinguishing individual sounds from considerable distances, and his sense of smell was even better.

Finding a specific person in a crowded area would have been difficult but not impossible.

"Then why?"

Why couldn’t he find her scent then?

All sorts of smells of the city assaulted his nose at once. He smelled the pungent scent of cooked meat, freshly cut plants, animal dung, smoke and perfume.

It didn’t help that more people kept moving in and out of his expanded range, leaving their own traces behind.

No matter how hard he tried, the girl’s scent was nowhere among them.

’Why can’t I sense her?!’

His red deer Patron Spirit senses were failing him when he needed them the most. That wasn’t the only problem.

Mutants already attracted attention with their abnormalities. Now a little girl with an otherworldly appearance and aggressive feral temperament? Down here in the lower ring?

That was practically an invitation for trouble.

Every ring had its own share of criminals, but the lower one was the worst. It wasn’t exactly known for being kind to those who looked different. It was full of criminals, scavengers, bandits and people willing to exploit anything for money.

’If someone finds her before I do..!’

Or if she attacked anyone, things would become even worse.

Rhos stopped in the middle of the street and looked around. When he still couldn’t find her, his frustration began to boil over.

"Where the hell did you run off to?!"

His sudden shouts caused the nearby people to give him strange looks. He ignored them, closed his eyes and expanded his perception again. But he still couldn’t find anything.

His fingers curled into fists.

"Damn it!"

He ran past a couple more blocks before stopping once he rounded a corner. The instant he did, his expression changed into shock.

There was no doubt about it. This was a familiar spiritual signature. And it was very close.

"Can’t be... here of all places?!"