Rivers of the Night - Chapter 365

Chapter 365: Where
The shadows of the forest were becoming ironically more prominent as dawn’s sun began to rise. The shifting low lights of the infantile morning pulled long streams of darkness out from the tall, ancient trees. In the monotony, the only thing that seemed to break the silence were the shifting of leaves and the light steps of a pair of speedy cultivators.

Theron followed after Scholar McIntyre, who didn’t seem to care enough to bind him or restrict him in any way. Not too far off, the Alpha followed as well, its steps even lighter and harder to register in the movement of the forest.

It had already been four days since they left the hideout, and in that time, the two had exchanged not even a single word. But the pace felt breakneck.

What shocked Scholar McIntyre the most was that Theron had been able to keep up just fine. He was outpacing most low-tier Gold Mancers in stamina and speed.

What Scholar McIntyre didn’t know was that Theron’s current speed was also a product of being weighed down heavily by a certain inner armor. If not for that, he would be even faster.

Even so, what probably shocked Scholar McIntyre the most was Theron’s patience. He didn’t ask where they were going, he never looked at Scholar McIntyre with curiosity, and his mind practically seemed to be like some sort of blank slate.

But he was also exceptionally calm in other ways.

Scholar McIntyre thought that by now Theron might show signs of sleep deprivation—maybe fatigue. That’s what one would expect from someone who had been sleeping with one eye open the entire time.

But this couldn’t have been further from the case.

Theron slept like a baby at night, curling up with the Alpha as though Scholar McIntyre wasn’t there at all.

After seeing this, the Scholar thought that it was the Alpha that would get tired and show signs of whittling away, but it was still just as light on its feet, still just as sharp and fast.

As the days passed, it was ironically Scholar McIntyre that began to notice some lag in his sharpness. He was spending so much of his mental capability paying attention to Theron that he was the one not getting the best sleep.

Mancers at this level were still very much human. Going a day or two without sleep wasn’t too much of an issue, assuming they weren’t doing anything physically grueling or mentally taxing.

But Scholar McIntyre was actually doing both—between all the running and observing.

It was finally on the fifth day that he seemed to have had enough and had his first full night’s rest.

When they awoke on the sixth day, he was finally feeling fresh, and he picked up the pace a little bit. Theron showed signs of falling behind, but he made no effort to try and keep up.

If Scholar McIntyre wanted to run himself into the ground, that was fine by him. But he wouldn’t be doing the same.

At least, this was what Scholar McIntyre interpreted Theron’s reactions as.

In reality, Theron had been pushing himself to the very limit from the start. The only reason his expression seemed the same was because even his own sweat wasn’t immune to being controlled by him.

He kept it away from his face and wicked it away before it stuck to his clothing.

The heavy inner armor was taxing to carry around everywhere, but it was also a great way to train his body more and become more in tune with wielding the Mana inside of his body.

What he had lost out on with the platform still nagged at him—those Laws that looked down on him as though he was unworthy of even sensing them….

Since then, he had been trying to grasp them again, but he was entirely unable to. All that was available to him were these lower-tier Laws.

So Theron began to wonder if it was like the shell.

If it was like the shell, then maybe he had to comprehend all of the lower-tier Laws first, then move on to the middle-tier ones, before he was finally able to comprehend the higher-tier Laws that snubbed their noses at him.

But he had only grasped three lower-tier Laws now. And if he was correct, he would need to comprehend 996 more before he could move on to the middle-tier ones.

Was that even possible? Could his Core even take on so many Laws in the first place?

It already felt so bloated, and every time he took on a new Law, it felt like he would either compress his Core further or break through.

Was there even room for him to continue?

It was just hard to fathom, honestly. Just three lower-tier Laws made him practically invincible—at the very least, at his cultivation level, he had yet to truly meet an equal that wasn’t also heavily relying on treasures.

Those Seijin geniuses were close, but Theron felt that he had left even them in his dust now after his rest.

There was something odd that had happened to his body while he slept, and right now… he felt a lot more like a Manaborn Beast than he did human.

Whatever it was that happened, it increased his strength by a significant margin again.

…

Theron looked up. It had already been over half a month of travel at breakneck speeds. They had definitely covered more distance than the journey had been between the Nightingale Empire and the Sangun by now.

The density of Water Mana in the air had increased substantially about a week or so ago, but then it began to plummet as they entered a region with particularly… bright sunlight?

It felt like there was a dome of glass above them amplifying everything. It was hard to look around without squinting.

It didn’t take Theron very much time to realize that this must be a region where Light Mana ruled.

A coincidence? The Nightingales were in the adjacent territory, and now they were in a Light Mancer haven? Theron couldn’t help but be curious.

Where had Scholar McIntyre taken him?