Chapter 30: 30. Mudslide

When I woke up it was raining. Droplets of water, smaller than they'd ever looked before, fell upon my scales. They watered my trees and fed my puppets. It washed away an ache I hadn't realized I had, and reminded me of something that I'd forgotten. 

There was more than just the forest. 

And if I could escape, then it might just be enough to get out of the mess I'd gotten myself into. No more assassins or contestants would be able to come after me, I'd be free. But first I would need information. Fortunately there was a library right behind me with an oddly helpful custodian inside. 

Again, I possessed one of my puppets and sent it down into the ruins. Within a minute of searching it had found the custodian and convinced him to follow it up. When they resurfaced, the custodian's eyes locked on to my belly. It was so large that they couldn't not stare. But eventually he tore his gaze away and looked up and up and up. 

"Hello?" He coughed out. 

"HI." My voice boomed back. "I'm Anita. Also I'm not Naga royalty." 

"Yes. I see. Though, you are without doubt the largest Naga specimen I've seen in all my long and storied life. What is it that brought you to summon me?" 

"I'm looking for a way off world, or at least off the contest grounds. And I was hoping that you might know a way to help me." 

The custodian didn't answer me and started pacing around my puppet, a hand on his chin. He took five steps to completely circle the puppet. Each step was light and soundless, a perfect display of control that even the scythe wielding assassin lacked. Essence rippled around the man in the form of a shield as he walked, his peaceful bearing belying his lethality. I copied his essence shield and made one of my own. 

I studied him. Watched him, and learned several things just by doing so. The first of which was that layering essence was a thing: the barrier around him was thin in appearance but it was layered and durable. The second thing was that he wasted nothing in his movements. He strode with perfect purpose, like a lion stalking prey. 

Thirdly, he took a while to think. A concerning amount of time, as if he was weighing telling me against something else. I wasn't sure if that was the actual reason it took him so long to answer or not, but when he did he did so hesitantly. 

"There's a castle in this forest." The old man sighed. "In it lies a gate. If you can reach the gate you should be able to use it to transport yourself off world. That won't stop ol' Ferguson from chasing you however. But it'll buy you some time." 

"Thanks. But do you know why this Ferguson guy is after me?" 

The old man started pacing again, but this time he walked on the surface of my belly like it was a flat floor and not a horizontal and very curved wall of fat. It made for an interesting sight, though. One that made me wonder why everyone seemed to think I was okay with them standing on me. 

"Nope. I can't think of a single reason why Ferguson's out to get you. But I suggest you get strong enough to deter him from wanting to draw your ire." 

"Are you offering to teach m-" 

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"Nah." He interrupted, turning my joy at the possibility of having a teacher into slight disappointment. "A teacher like me wouldn't do you any good. Unlike most cultivators your too big for skill and fancy footwork to be of much use. In my opinion your better off focusing on magic and whatever you did to get so strong in the first place."

I beamed with joy. "So your saying I should eat with reckless abandon?" 

The custodian said nothing in response. He, rather abruptly, jumped down and walked back into the ruins. Our conversation over, I tried making an essence shield of my own. Much like the old man's it created an invisible barrier that covered my entire body. Though, it took quite a bit of effort to maintain. Too much for me to keep it up constantly without serious practice. So I tried my best to keep it going as I turned and looked at the castle in the distance. 

It stuck out like an extremely sore thumb. Four towers stuck high into the air with a swirling purple something atop each one. The walls stood as tall as my belly button and even from this distance I could tell they were heavily manned. Behind those walls and within the castle courtyards an army of defenders, that looked like ants to me, waited for an attack. They also - no doubt - had machines and special weapons to deter attackers of any size. 

Hesitantly, I slithered towards the castle. All my senses screamed at me all at once, telling me that what I was about to do was stupid. Which it was. Getting hit by a ballista bolt would probably kill me if it hit the right spot. Not to mention all the other giant killing armaments I could see sitting around, ready to be used. There was also the incredibly likely presence of strong cultivators manning them and guarding the castle. Some of which would probably be strong enough to fight me and maybe win. 

And the only real advantage I had was being big enough to flatten the entire courtyard. Which wouldn't matter much if a ballista bolt hit me in the head before I even reached the wall. 

Despite the incredibly high likelihood of such an event occurring, I slithered onward as silently as I could manage. The sound of rocks being crushed and splintered wood followed me. Earthquakes spread out with every movement of my tail. Worst of all, my curves made the loudest clapping sounds.

It was enough to get the castles attention. I faintly heard the sound of a horn being blown. Then a ballista bolt tore through the air at the speed of a bullet straight towards my head. At the last moment I managed to move my head out of the way. The bolt whizzed by me, passing straight through my hair. 

The next one came just as close to hitting me. 

I turned around before they fired a forth and slithered away, back to the ruins. Bolts landed behind me, and one managed to hit my tail. It went straight through my scales as if they were made of butter and I almost stopped to check the damage. Instead I kept slithering away and picked up the pace.

Two more hit me before I got out of range. Half a mile past the ruins, where the bolts couldn't reach me. They fell and hit the ground a good fifty meters away from where I stood. Sometimes, when they were lucky, they landed almost 40 meters away. Closer, but still far and inconsistent enough that I felt safe. 

I watched as another bolt sailed through the air. It fell around 49 meters away from me. The ballista that shot out was hidden behind thick castle walls. Out of my reach for now, but vulnerable if I could get close. 

Which was the problem. I couldn't get close. Not unless I got strong and durable enough to shrug off a ballista bolt hitting me. Or if I could somehow sneak up on the castle. Which definitely wasn't happening unless I got smaller or found a way to silence the earthquakes I caused. Both of which seemed distinctively impossible. 

So I got to thinking. 

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