Kat had been travelling for a week at this point. It was a bit after half way through the fourth day that they finally managed to make it to the split in the road. They took the North path as agreed and then walked for another three days after that. Kat spent the time practicing her meditation while walking.
Kat considered trying to untangle her mess of memories and read more races off that list, but the update messages she got from Lily assured her that Lily was enjoying herself having such an interesting topic to research. She kept insisting it was like nothing she'd ever considered and much more fun because she could use it to help herself a bunch.
Sylvie checked in on her with some prodding from Kat, but instead of helping Lily calm down and pace herself, Sylvie and Callisto had jumped on the data as well and they were now worse as a trio. Kat was informed that Lily still did the bulk of the work but the other two were no slouches either. Vivian hung out with them when she got off work, but she mostly just sat around and made bad jokes.
With everyone else making progress on the list, Kat tried to get something more from her meditation, but… it wasn't going well. Kat found that if she tried to use it while walking it had an even worse effect than flicking it on and off.
Every time she took a step, she was kicked out of the pond her mind sunk into, throwing dirt and grime across her mind, causing it to stutter and instead of just slowing her thoughts down a bit and making them harder to connect, Kat felt her whole body go on autopilot for a while as she desperately grabbed everything back in place.
It was scary enough that Kat reached out to the system for advice, at which point she was informed that her specific meditation style wasn't designed for combat at the lower levels like some others. That of course opened an entirely different can of worms.
Knowing that her meditation could help her in combat later, Kat spent the rest of the week trying to walk while meditating. It was on the sixth day when she made a particular breakthrough. She was able to sort of split herself off from her body. It still walked on autopilot, but Kat knew she could take control at a moment's notice if she wanted to.
The downside was that she didn't gain any of the benefits of meditation just yet. All she had was a slight out of body experience and another way to be bored while walking. There weren't even any trees to look at. She was on a stretch of completely flat terrain. Kat heard a group of something near the road, but to her annoyance, they were hidden behind one of the very few hills she had found.
It was lunchtime on the seventh day when Kat finally spotted something new. It was clearly recognisable as a house. There seemed to be a small cluster of them at the edge of her vision. The thought of being able to talk to someone who wasn't Xiang nearly made Kat take off at full speed for the town right then and there.
*Hmm, no I shouldn't. If I move that fast then Xiang might try and speed us up… but honestly at this point I've been away for a week already. It's the longest- well, ten days at Minor's hardly counts because it didn't feel like ten days but…*
*Well, no I guess the messages with everyone are helping, but the days have so little happening in them. Even though it's been a week, more time than I spent with the party, or going through those tunnels… almost. Ok maybe these adventures take more time than they seem at the time.*
*Is it just because the company is good? Maybe I should head to that town, and just wait for Xiang to catch up tomorrow? Kat glanced over to Xiang. Nope. I don't trust him not to get in trouble on a straight road. It's safer for everyone for me to just wait a bit longer.*
Still, Kat mentioned the town to Xiang, but before she could say anything more other than "I can see a town"
Xiang cut her off and said "We should run for it at full speed then"
Xiang was already getting ready to run when Kat put a hand in front of him to prevent Xiang just taking off and said, "I have great eyesight. The town is still a full day of walking away"
Xiang frowned, and seemed to consider something. "Hmm, I'm not quite sure how long I can run at full speed for. Can you keep up with me demon?" said Xiang.
He knocked Kat's hand out of the way, and she let it drop, not wanting to contest with him for something so silly. Xiang took off, and as he ran a glowing white energy started to surround him. As he ran, he got faster and faster… but it was still only about twice the speed of a human runner.
Kat sprinted after him and caught up in just a few seconds, she didn't even use her wings to fly. When she pulled alongside Xiang, the boys eyes went wide. He was already taking in large gasps of air, and seemed shocked that Kat could keep up so easily. Seeing his surprise, she started to run backwards just to rub it in.
Xiang frowned at that and tried to speed up eking out just a tiny bit more speed, but Kat kept up handily. "HOW!" shouted Xiang, which was distorted by the wind slightly.
Kat shrugged and decided it was time to show off. Kicking the ground with her leg, Kat shot off rapidly overtaking Xiang and accelerating greatly as she left him in the dust. She could see his frustrated face as he tried to go faster and keep up but he had no more speed to give.
Seeing this Kat dropped back, and saw that his white glow was flickering slightly. They hadn't even been running for five minutes at this point. Xiang seemed to notice as well, but wasn't willing to completely give up so he pushed forward.
Of course, that was the cue for what little remained of the light surrounding him to flicker and die. When Xiang took his next step, instead of pushing off, he started flying forward as his leg failed to keep up with the speed.
Kat watched him about to go sprawling forward and sped up her mind to make a choice. *Do I catch him.* Kat was already speeding around so that she was in position. Watching his trajectory, it was clear that Xiang was going to slam face first into the road.
*It would be a good lesson to learn. He did this to himself. If Xiang can't learn his limits something worse might happen in the future… but if that glow is what let him run fast, it might also be something that protects him from damage.*
*And if he's got no energy left and takes the full brunt of it to his skull, what little intelligence he has left might be destroyed when his head hits the ground.* Kat sighed realising that was the end of it. The chance Xiang got even stupider was too scary to contemplate.
Kat prepared herself moving back to the side, Kat let Xiang fall into her arms instead of straight onto the ground. As he fell, his body tried to keep moving forward, so Kat just sidestepped a few times as Xiang's body slid across her own arms. *Guess he counts as dirt and bounces right off.* Thought Kat with a smirk as she followed him along for a few paces.
Once the momentum finally bled off, Kat dropped him to the ground. She was careful to lower him first, but she had no desire to hold the fool longer than necessary. He landed with a light thud, and was coated in sweat. Xiang tried to push himself into a sitting position but his arms gave out before he even managed to flip himself over.
"Sleep. Th-that is a good thing. I think" said Xiang as his eyes started glazing over. Kat sighed and watched as Xiang's eyes closed and his breathing stilled. Picking the trouble maker up Kat put him down next to the road and sat down. It was still early in the afternoon, but with Xiang passed out that didn't matter much.
Kat looked out at the town and felt another sigh make its way out her throat. Xiang's mad dash hadn't really gotten them much closer to the town. In fact, an afternoon of calm walking would have likely gotten them closer. Especially if they pushed on a little into the night. *Guess this was as complete waste.. Aw well, at least we can still get to town tomorrow.*