Sorcerer… Cyborg???

Chapter 70: Hitching a Ride

The ground continued to shake, and the air shook with the thunder of the beast passing by. Kothar looked up, leaning back to get a good look at the creature that had almost buried him in an avalanche.

It was a dark brown deer, speckled with white spots, with a pair of small antlers. The kind of animal he wouldn't have given a second look in any other situation, had almost cost him his life.

The deer looked around, scanning the shore of the lake for danger, finding none, it walked toward the water, cautiously stepping to the water to drink. Finding no threats, it leaned down to the clear water, rippling with small waves, and began to drink.

Kothar began to run the massive distance, for him, to the deer.

[You can't be thinking of-] Silane protested.

[That's exactly what I'm going to do, otherwise there's no way we'll see any more of this world other than the shores of this lake, or else I'll grow old trying to explore this place.] Kothar laughed aloud, exhilarated, as he ran at full tilt toward the drinking deer.

He cast Lightning Aura to increase his speed, and shot through the air, his increased speed from the prior week of meditation showing its effect.

Kothar headed straight for one of the deer's back legs, which stood like enormous pillars, planted into the ground. As he neared the leg, he took a massive leap, sailing right into the fur at the rear of the hoof, grabbing on to one of the deer's to stop himself from falling back off.

It was as if Kothar had found himself in an absolutely alien landscape, the deer's fur surrounded him like some sort of peculiar forest, and the pink skin of the deer stretched out all around him.

The terrain was precarious, the deer's skin and the individual hairs, which Kothar clung onto as he climbed up the leg of the deer, were greasy and Kothar had to grip tight to prevent himself from falling off.

As the deer rose from its drink and began to trot away from the lake, Kothar was swung wildly through the air, clutching on for dear life as he swung back and forth from a hair midway up the deer's leg, like some kind of odd circus performer.

Soon enough, the deer settled into a steady gait, and Kothar was able to continue his climb, aiming for the relatively more stable region of the deer's back.

When Kothar could see the curve of the deer's leg where it joined the body, he heard an odd rustling noise, he looked to the source of the noise and found himself uncomfortably close to a tick-like creature.

It had anchored itself to the deer with eight legs that ended in pointed claws, and was currently feasting on the blood of the deer with an elongated proboscis with a serrated edge that it had stabbed deep into the deer's hide.

The tick's beady eyes flickered toward Kothar, assessing whether or not he was a threat, but as Kothar slowly climbed away from it. It returned to slurping down the deer's blood, much happier with the meal it already had.

[That, was nothing like seeing something under a microscope.] Kothar exclaimed to Silane, as he finally climbed to the flatter ground of the deer's back, wiping his now greasy palms off on his cloak and walking along the gentle slope of the deer's back.

[Yes, I don't think I enjoyed my face to face science experience.] Silane replied.

[I thought I'd seen a lot fighting for the alliance, but travelling to other planes, seeing things like this, it's absolutely amazing, I could never have imagined I'd end up somewhere like this.] Kothar looked about in awe, looking up as the sky sped by, the deer's gentle trot magnified by his microscopic size in comparison.

[I think we should do out utmost to make the most of the ridiculous availability of resources on this plane, think about it Kothar, all we would need to do to find sufficient material for anything would be to find trace amounts in the soil, which is ridiculously easy.] Silane observed, displayed schematics for new devices that Kothar could make, such as infrared goggles, a customized spacecraft, laser weapons, autonomous robots and on and on.

[Looks like you have big plans for this place, Silane.] Kothar said, a hint of surprise in his voice. He knew that Silane had retained all of her knowledge from their previous life, but many of the designs were also customized to be powered by mana, and some of the laser weapons would fit directly onto Kothar, powered purely by his reserves of lightning mana, evidently she had been hard at work to create them.

[Not at all Kothar, I just think you need to be adequately prepared for the next time a slimeball like Krieg decides to send you flying into a spatial rift, or worse.] Silane said fiercely, since coming to Eclat and regaining consciousness, her new emotions that she was passionately protective of Kothar, and Krieg's betrayal had only attenuated that.

[You're right.] Kothar sighed and thought back to his first impressions of Krieg, the kindly Spatial Mage who had only been concerned for his students.

[I just hope this plane isn't inhabited, dealing with sentient life the size it would be on this plane would be a nightmare. If they're unhappy with anything we do, they could snuff us out with barely the flick of a finger.] Kothar mused, now located in between the deer's shoulders, which made for the most stable place to be as the deer trotted about.

[All the more reason for us to manufacture some weapons.] Silane exclaimed, obviously eager to outfit Kothar so that he would be prepared against all manner of threats.

As Kothar looked over the designs Silane had proposed, the rushing of water filled the air, and he jumped as Silane yelled.

[Running water! Get off this deer as soon as you can, this is exactly what we need.]