The rolling hills and forests gradually gave way to grasslands. My Plant and Animal Lore both increased, and I learned about Grassland Camouflage.

  There were different animals and dangers here. Vast herds of bison thundered past. Grass snakes introduced new poisons. I got a lot of use from Extract Impurities, as Kevin's and my Poison Resistance was low. It was rising. I had the benefit of Purify Blood.

  The flies were the worst. They would bite. To me, they were annoying, as they couldn’t get through my Tough Hide, but to Kevin and Kiri, they left marks. Kiri’s Regeneration healed hers, and my Solar Infusion helped Kevin, but the flies still bit. Even Pānihi was annoyed. The only one who wasn’t was Kahz, and he feasted on them.

  Lions prowled the grassland, along with the fast Cheetah. There were packs of wild dogs. The most significant danger was the Griffons. I thought they were only in the north, but they hunted the vast open plains from the sky. There was a Plains Troll that the Griffons liked to hunt, but they would also feast on normal animals. You had to keep one eye on the sky.

  There were lots of scavengers. Vultures and hyenas. All animals scavenge, but these seemed specialised for it.

  The insects were also annoying, and not just the flies. Beetles, crickets, locusts, and so on. Are scorpions insects? Kevin called the place the Fields of Despair. I think he was quoting something, because it wasn’t that bad. It was monotonous and annoying.

  We were all weary. We had been travelling for about eight weeks and avoided all the villages. Beitemark was the city we were heading towards. It was a city of ranchers and provided meat and hides to the capital further south.

  We crossed a major river about three weeks ago and could have caught a boat to the capital, Kirghiz City. Kiri wanted to avoid the capital if she could, even though the grandmother of her half-brother was the Queen there. That was confusing.

  Apparently, she was too well-known, and Queen Irene had many spies. They would be on high alert, as the country was on a war footing, even if we were a long way from the fighting. Kirghiz city had a large naval base, so that the capital would be watching for spies. Pānihi would stand out.

  We had no idea how the fight over the Densium was going, either. We were moving toward the peripheries of the battle.

  Beitemark was still about three weeks away at our current pace.

  I had levelled both Hunter Scavenger, Astrologist and Explorer, and I felt Explorer was close to levelling again. I have not managed to tip my Guard Class into the Journeyman levels. I think there are more specialised classes I could learn if I get over that hump.

  Farsight had done wonders for my Navigation Skill, and I felt the Map was almost ready to tip over to the Master levels. I was interested in what benefit that would bring.

  We were all weary. Tempers were fraying. Our gear was starting to show signs of wear and tear from overuse. Gravity Filter and Light Sensing were both on the cusp of Journeyman. I had bumped Solar Flame into the Apprentice level, although the others won’t let me use it to light the campfire unless it is pouring with rain. I did get Soothe Burn into the Journeyman levels that time.

  I have a lot of skills at the tip of Apprentice Level, just needing that bump over.

  Resistances: Cold +37, Pain +19, Heat +39, Fire +31, Poison +7

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  Skills:

  Novice:

  General

  Cooking 4, Trapping 2, Spiritual Manipulation 4, Ocean Camouflage 4, Endurance Running 4, Alpine Camouflage 4, Grassland Camouflage 2,

  Fighting

  Savage Wildfang 2, Formidable Roar 3,

  Senses

  Lore

  Troglobite Lore 3, Sapient Lore 4, Alpine Lore 4,

  Astral

  Gravity Sensing 4,

  Apprentice:

  General

  Fishing 9, Identify 9, Drawing 9, Subterranean Camouflage 5, Weapon Repair 7, Dread 9, Tremor 9, Navigator 7, Mask Status 7, Purify Blood 7, Forest Camouflage 7, Butchering 7,

  Fighting

  Spear 8, Throw Weapons 9, Axe 9, Small Blades 8, Spiritually Tough 8, Seismic Smash 9, Death Strike 6, Crushing Bite 8, Damage Mitigation 9, Knife Throw 9

  Senses

  Farsight 9,

  Lore

  Arctic Lore 9, Herb Lore 7, Mineral Lore 7, Physics Lore 8,

  Astral

  Frigid Void 9, Solar Flare 6, Astral Map 6, Astral Navigator 5, Gravity Filter 9, Light Sensing 9, Light Filter 9, Solar Bloom 7, Solar Flame 5,

  Journeyman:

  General

  Common 13, Sprint 11, Arctic Camouflage 10, Transform 14, Carving 12, Stealth 11, Dwarvish 12, Mining 10, Animal Bond 11, Map 14, Tracking 12, Literacy 11, First Aid 13, Close Wound 11, Blood Clot 10, Breath Control 10, Extract Impurities 12, Skinning 10, Soothe Burn 10, Swift Hands 10,

  Fighting

  Shield 10, Unarmed Combat 11, Tough Hide 12, Quick Claws 11,

  Senses

  Olfactory 13, Spiritual Sensing 11, Clearsight 12, Hearing Aid 11,

  Lore

  Animal Lore 12, Plant Lore 11, Anatomy 12, Monster Lore 10, Physiology 10, Mathematics 12, Bone Lore 10, Organ Lore 10,

  Astral

  Cosmic Aura 13, Void Sensing 12, Solar Infusion 10,

  Master:

  Senses

  Nightsight 16,

  Affinity: Astral

  Monster Kills: 20

  It was a big, confusing list. What I hadn’t levelled were my fighting skills, as we had not done any fighting. The monsters we saw, we avoided.

  I was in the lead at the moment, and I came to the top of the rise. I looked out at the field of white grass, maybe flowers. I surveyed the landscape with my nearly Journeyman Farsight. Coming across a field of the same type of grass or flowers was not uncommon.

  I held up my hand to indicate something was not right, because something was not right. I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was yet. I searched the field carefully with farsight. I tried to see if something was lurking in the field with Clearsight.

  I sniffed. Olfactory was not picking up anything unusual. Then it clicked. My Hearing Aid was not hearing anything. Not the usual noises. Not insect noises. It was quiet, like something was stalking us.

  With the lack of noise, I realised what I wasn’t seeing with Farsight. I wasn’t seeing the plethora of insects that would be in this field. There seemed to be none.

  “What is it?” Kiri asked quietly, coming up beside me with Pānihi beside her.

  I waved my hand at the field, “No insects,” I said.

  “Isn’t that a good thing?” said Kevin as he came up.

  “No, it is not,” Kiri said, her own eyes scanning the field. “Is it something in the flowers or the flowers themselves?” she asked me.

  I had extended my Cosmic Aura over the nearest flowers. My Spiritual Sensing was telling me there was a lot of spiritual energy in the plants. “I am not sure,” I said, “The plants are high in spirituality.” I looked at Kevin, our resident scholar, “You don’t recognise these plants?”

  He shook his head, obviously looking closely at the field. “They look like Dandelion seed heads, but I would expect also to see the yellow flowers around as well, and there are none.” He moved closer to the nearest plant, squatting down to get a closer look. “Very high Spirituality,” He observed, “like Dandelion heads but definitely not them.”

  Kevin reached out to pick one of the flowers. He had his back to us, so I only sensed what happened through my Void Sensing. The “seeds,” from the head of the plant, exploded into the air, and some got in his face. Others spread around, and a couple of nearby plants also exploded seeds into the air.

  Kevin jumped back and stumbled, landing on his butt. He was brushing furiously at his face and the exposed parts of his skin. Kiri and I rushed forward and dragged him back. I heard a squawk and the flap of wings as Kahz came in from wherever he had been.

  I set Purify Blood going in him, but there didn’t seem to be any contaminants yet. I used Extract Impurities on his lungs and a few seeds, things? Came out. I gave him a shot of Solar Infusion to help kick-start his body’s healing process.

  “What is happening?” Kiri asked him.

  Kevin regained his composure, “That was unexpected,” he said.

  “And?” Kiri prompted.

  “And I am not sure if it is a monster of some sort, or just spiritually enhanced, but that was a spiritual attack, not a physical one.” Kevin looked at the remains of the seed/floaty thing. “Delivered by this, it sucks out spiritual energy. I am still being drained somehow? It is not a lot, but getting covered in those will soon add up to a lot.”

  “So we need to go around?” Kiri asked.

  Kevin nodded.

  I looked over the field. The white stems were concentrated in one large field that was maybe a kilometre or more in every direction. However, my Farsight picked out less concentrated clumps, and as I looked closer, individual stems were dotted around.

  “It is not going to be that simple,” I said. “How are your spiritual defences, because we could be on the outskirts for the rest of the day or longer.”

  “Oh, goblin shit,” Kevin swore. “I haven’t needed Spiritual defences. I know the theory, but I don’t have the skills.”

  “If you don’t learn now, this could kill you,” Kiri said. “Let's run through the exercises.”

  I tuned them out. I was mid Apprentice with my Spiritual Toughness. I moved closer to the stems and pulled one loose. The petals? Seeds? Exploded out and covered my face and arms. Setting one off must trigger the neighbouring ones, as several are added to the mix. I backed off, sensing what it was doing to me.

  There was a drain of Spiritual Energy, but it was very slight, probably due to my Spiritual Toughness. That was one or two flowers. I can see a lot being a problem, and if the drain is constant, that would wear me down. I waited to see how long it lasted. Too long was the answer. If we were walking, we would constantly be disturbing flowers.

  Kiri approached a flower and pulled it to test what it would do to her. It seemed that more flowers burst. Was there some connection letting them know a creature was close? The flowers exploded their petals in all directions, so landing on adjacent flowers might be the trigger.

  Time to experiment.

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