Rivers of the Night

Theron could feel the gazes on him as they trotted along on their horses. He was up ahead, so it was as though they were searing holes through his back. However, judging by his expression, one would never guess that there was anything wrong with him at all.

He was trying to figure out something else entirely while ignoring the young Teran trotting along by his side.

Why? Was this gathering really so important?

General Pennel was taking them along on an expedition of sorts, not as far as the northern lines, but clearly to a place that was very dangerous nonetheless. But it seemed odd to take a group of Imperial Academy students down such a road just for training.

Usually, powers would be much more protective of their children. This culture was quite pervasive, given how the top geniuses of Clans were always retained by them and not allowed to join any other powers.

Recalling what the General had said about the changes to the border, he began to mull things over.

'Is it really my fault?' Theron looked up to the faint outline of the moon in the bright day's sky. It was definitely larger than usual, and unless it was a wild coincidence amongst coincidences… it was probably related to the Luminescent Moon Sect.

But according to Sadie, or at least what she implied… the Luminescent Moon Sect's history was far shallower than the Galethunder's.

That said… Theron never believed anything Sadie had to say these days. What the truth was, it was impossible to tell.

The horses suddenly came to a stop.

Up ahead, General Pennel and what looked like a lieutenant of his came to a stop.

"Academic stream," he said calmly.

Theron looked past the General and took in the scene. There were several dirt paths ahead, and he could hear the faint trace of a stream off to the far, far right. But other than that, there didn't seem anything special about the forest trail other than the fact that this deep into the woods, it was still wide enough for two horses to move along side by side.

Still, Theron obliged, moving forward with Aliza—the name of the Teran as he had recently found out. As expected, she was the Fourth Year representative of the academic stream. Then there was Gengh and Shah, the Third and Second Year representatives, respectively.

Aliza was from the Teran Duke Clan, while Gengh and Shah were from the Gianni Duke Clan, a Soul Mancy Clan that controlled the vast majority of the Imperial Capital's herbology and alchemy.

Gengh and Shah weren't directly related and were instead part of two separate competing branches of the Clan. The former being more of an herbologist and green finger, while the latter was far more of an alchemist, and pill and elixir refiner.

The four of them hopped down from their horses and came to the front. They looked to General Pennel for instruction, but when it became clear that neither he nor his lieutenant would be speaking again, they were all smart enough to understand the intention.

They were meant to figure it out.

Before this, they had been given a briefing. Their target was an infiltration by a pack of Lightning Blood Hounds that were led by a powerful Imbued Resonance Alpha of Quasi Gold Mancy. Usually, such demonic creatures wouldn't infiltrate the empire's territory so deeply, but this one had managed to slip through the crevices.

Theron swept his gaze over the region and then fell into silence.

It was Gengh, the Third Year, who spoke first.

"Should be this way."

He pointed toward the path right down the middle. There were three of them, and they all looked pretty much identical. There were no tracks to follow, nor was there any lingering Mana in the air. Gengh also didn't seem to care to explain himself, as though they should just all understand his thinking.

Theron could tell what he was seeing immediately.

Lightning Blood Hounds weren't what they sounded like at all. They were actually a species of wolves, and their so-called Lightning Blood was actually not lightning at all.

They had a very rare and mutated form of Flux Mana that caused their blood to spark as though it was lightning, giving them exceptional fast-twitch reactions and superior speed and agility. The tallest of them would only grow to about two meters in height or so, quite small for a creature capable of reaching Gold Mancy, but that only made them faster.

But because of the volatility of their blood, the Lightning Blood Hounds not only shed and overturned quite a number of blood cells every moment, but most of their habits were surrounding the idea of countering that loss.

To put things into perspective, the Lightning Blood Hounds even breathed sparking crimson fog because their blood so naturally and spontaneously vaporized.

As such, they needed two things: water and nutrition. Constantly.

By all rights, then, the most logical path for them to be on would be the far right path, that was the one closest to the river that Theron could sense.

But, the soil on the right path, while moist, was lacking in a great deal of nutrients. The soil seemed to have been stripped of its vitality. This wasn't obvious at first glance, but anyone who had knowledge of Third Year Botany could pick it out.

The most logical explanations for this were twofold: the speed of the river's flow and the ecosystem of the river itself.

Usually, soil by rivers was almost always more fertile than soil elsewhere. For it to be the opposite, it had to be the case that the river's flow was beyond normal means, not allowing the usual sediment to settle, or there was a species of Mana Beast that lived inside of the river that made it impossible for the soil to be nutrient-rich.

In the former case, the wolves wouldn't be able to get the sustenance they needed. In the latter, they would be clashing with an enemy in their territory while at a severe disadvantage.

Neither seemed likely.

By comparison, the middle road seemed like the most obvious response because there were some subtle signs of Blood Weed by the side. Not the plant itself, but its symbiotes, a special fungus that spread far beneath the ground.

It was quite sharp of Gengh to pick this out.

But…

"It's the far right path. Let's go." Aliza said calmly.

Without waiting for Gengh and Shah, she hopped back onto her steed and dug her heel into its side.