Around an hour later…
Rocks, boulders, and other various things of sorts get thrown closely behind us as a group of 5 people give chase. Some are throwing things with their bare hands while others are utilizing strength enchantments and their own main enchantment.
I knew this would happen, so why did I do it?
I urge Windy to fly faster, but he turns his head to stare back at me in disappointment like he knows what I'm thinking.
"We can't exactly have them following us. Do you think we can take them on?" I ask my flying car. His eyes light up in excitement as he transforms mid flight into his moderate form, throwing me off of him and sending me spiraling downward. I hit the ground with a soft thud and roll slightly as Windborne lands beside me. The group eventually catches up to us.
They all seem like men in their thirties. How on earth did they get enchanted? That's when I remembered it was randomized.
Thankfully, I already charged my boots beforehand, so I got some voltage to spend. I take off into a sprint and conduct my charge through my clothes to make them slippery. Lunging forward into a slide, I catch them off guard with my speed and trip two of them by grabbing their ankle and slamming them into the snow.
Letting them use their enchantments is dangerous. I need to finish this quickly
Windborne gets the two to my right. That leaves the one on my left. He summons a third, ghost-like hand that hovers just above his right hand and mimics its movement. It's basically just an extension. He tries to grab me with it but I jump back and shoot a small but concentrated bolt of electricity directly at his chest. I made sure it wasn't lethal, but it should at least knock him out. Just before it connects, I feel my control slip and the bolt branches outward at the end. Most of them connect, knocking him out, but that's odd for that to happen. Quickly knocking out the two that I slammed in the snow that were pretending to be knocked out, I pushed my hand out and replicated that same shot and sent it flying out of my hand. Around 3-ish meters, it gets out of my control and starts to dissipate and branch. I thought it had gotten longer but I suppose I haven't worked on my powers themselves a lot, only how to use them among other miscellaneous things.
"Anyways, why don't we just walk?" I say while scratching Windy's chin. He begins trotting alongside me as we begin walking towards our destination.
The next few days passed by without any problems, even the weird thing that showed up the first night didn't appear. We did have to take a few detours as I kept spotting groups of people passing by with scary looking weapons or groups of people fighting other groups of people. Just a straight up brawl. As we were getting close, a familiar figure appeared in the distance. That same big backpack and hood as before. It's that trader that gave me the map!
I quickly close the distance between us before slowing down just in front of him. He had already noticed me and had his hand on the hilt of his katana.
"Remember me? The guy who bought your map?" I ask him with a monotone voice. Well, I'm sure it sounds the same through a mask anyway.
"Yea, I remember you. How could I not?" He lets out a small chuckle as his dark blue eyes meet my gaze. "How've you been?"
"I've been fine… kind of. Anyways, I need your help."
I explain the situation to him as he listens closely, seriously considering what I have to say. Shortly after, he gives his answer.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure if I can travel with you and save your friend…" he says with a grim look.
"I understand, I apologize for-"
"…however, I'll lend you this device." He cuts me off and hands me a small grey box with a red button in the middle. "Since you're my first and only customer in this desolate place, I should lend you a helping hand. Press it if you're ever in trouble. I'll be over there in a flash."
"But how would you even get there? Is it a teleportation device?" I ask cautiously hoping it's not some kind of trap.
"Again, it's a traders secret. You're just gonna have to trust me one more time."
I hesitate for a moment and reach my hand out.
"Very well, but I expect you to be there in an instant, got it?"
He smirks and grabs it firmly.
"Count on it. If I don't save you from whatever you're facing, maybe I'll just teach you a few things when we get out of here."
I scoff slightly.
"Yeah, right. Who are you to be teaching me something? You're not some kind of big shot are you?"
"I suppose you'll just have to see. Safe travels my friend."
I nod in affirmation and we both part ways. Surprisingly, he didn't seem to mind the large lizard trotting alongside me. Perhaps he's used to it. Then again, if he is, that means he is a hot shot and I just treated him casually, but that can't be true… right?
A little more than a day later and we have finally arrived at the second city. I can already tell something terrible is going to happen to me here, but I don't really have a choice. The mechs those guys are traveling in are so much faster than me on foot, and taking Windborne on flight isn't an option. This city as a whole appears to be the most misplaced in time out of all of the places I've seen so far. The previous places all looked like they were around the same time period, maybe a little before, but this seemed too futuristic. Although it was powered down and gathering dust, I can tell how much of a vibrant city it used to be. It may just be from other memories, but it feels familiar. Actually, a lot of things feel familiar to me. I mean, I basically have 100 people in my brain.
I continue my journey onwards. Decades ago, this city must have been a beacon of tomorrow, but now it sits buried in ice and choked by frozen, overgrown vines.
High above, massive metal structures swerve between skyscraper roofs like a web of frozen rollercoasters. These branching rails were clearly highways for a society that seemed to have conquered gravity.
Scattered around me are the wheelless hulls of ancient vehicles. I pause by one that is flipped upside down and brush away the snow. Peering underneath, I find exactly what I suspected: a smooth undercarriage built for a kind of magnetic suspension. These machines once glided along the overhead tracks, but now they are just iron tombs. Stepping away, my boot crunches against shattered neon tubes half-buried in the snow, their vibrant colors long drained. The city is a silent, freezing maze, and the worsening storm is already erasing my tracks, not that I plan on going back anyway.
The only way left to go is forward.