Small, brown furried creatures ran out of the tree line and to the clear water river.

One of them looked up, it was one of the few places Hadrian had come across that his view of the sky wasn't obstructed.

The azure sky was nearly cloudless and Hadrian could only assume it was noon.

Dipping their heads into the river, the small furried creatures drank greedily.

They drank for themselves and the Hadrian and Alia vessels whose thirst, accompanied by the headache and buzz, had left them in a dire state.

The creatures were easy for him to find and trap.

With his spatial sense and rock manipulation, he trapped them in their underground tunnels, brought them to the surface so he could see and call their essence, and turned them into vessels.

Ever since he used the rock moulding to trap those Baruch brutes in that poor family's house, it was a technique he was getting used to.

Remove a vessel's mobility, and he had all the time in the world to turn it into a vessel.

Pinching his nose bridge with his eyes closed, Hadrian not only observed through the creature's eyes, but also channeled space path essence through them so they could use the spatial sense ability.

He needed to make sure that at the moment, the open space was safe.

He needed to do more than simply drinking water.

At the river bed, one of the small creatures raised its paws and a small portion of earth rose, blocking off some of the river water, such that a pool was created.

Next, the creature dipped its paws in the water and heated it up.

Getting off of the tree he'd been leaning on, Hadrian's eyes fluttered open and he and Alia staggered to the pool.

Taking off their clothes they fell into the water.

Closing his eyes once more, they both floated facing the sky.

If he had only needed to bathe, he could have simply done that in the relative safety of the tree line.

The small furry creatures would have used the "carry" ability on portions of water, and he would have summoned the water on top of himself and Alia hiding in the distance.

However, remembering the warm baths he paid for in the middle districts, he felt this would help with his now mild headache.

Even without the box's lingering effect, he felt he would have still done this, because he wanted to.

I wonder when elemental path mages are able to manipulate water.

With his hands and legs moving about in the water, Hadrian thought.

Leaves shuffled behind him and Hadrian turned slowly. Since he had spatial sense, he'd already sensed them coming.

With heavy steps, a nearly seven metre tall creature walked. It dwarfed the current Hadrian and Alia, who were a little over one and a half metres.

The creature's feet were thick, leaving wide footprints wherever it stepped. Its skin was a dusty grey and you could see its muscles moving beneath that skin.

It wasn't alone, there were about twelve of them. None reached the height of the first one, but they were still tall.

The only grown adults seemed to be three, while the rest were younger

Wildlings.

Hadrian thought.

They'd seen him and had not shown any irrational malice towards him.

They, too, had come for a dip in the clear water river. With loud splashing sounds and snorts, they rubbed themselves against each other.

Peering into their essence seas, Hadrian saw their rank one cores.

With them around, he didn't feel quite so alone, and resumed his meditation bath.

Hadrian's eyes opened. It hadn't been long when one of the smaller ones approached him and Alia.

Alia's right hand dipped into the opposite side of the wall where the little creature was, and she heated it up.

After a while, the baby giant creature snorted and shook its head splashing the water.

It got closer to Alia where the water was warmer.

Hesitatingly, the baby approached and Alia's now stretched out hand touched its large wet snout.

The baby's eyes were large pools of black.

Looking deep into them, Hadrian let out a sigh. There was a low vibrating sound coming out of the baby giant.

Behind it, its family was heading out the river, and into the opposite treeline. Hearing the loud snorts and splashing of water, the baby giant turned and ran back.

Shortly after they'd left, Hadrian and Alia got out of their pool too, and after drying themselves, put on their clothes.

Sigh, those were rank one cores I let walk away from me.

As he thought this, he looked up and down the river.

The books he'd stolen from the schools back then, since he'd been looking for information on the paths of magic, only had general maps.

I had not anticipated being in such a situation.

Biting his lip, he walked up river.

He imagined that just like a falling leaf, the river flowed from high to low.

Back then, I had truly been terrified of that corrupted monkey. I hope to run into him.

Now that I'm back here, it should pay for slicing horse Hadrian in half.

Because of the lingering effects of the box, Hadrian had not yet started hunting. Of course, now four days later, they had subsided to manageable levels.

As he walked, one of his furry creatures stopped, and like it was being dissolved in air, it slowly disappeared.

Hadrian had substituted it for a meal.

Sorry little guy, I'm still a hypocrite.

Listening to the pristine sounds of the jungle, Hadrian left the open space of the river bed, returning to the tree line.

Finding a secluded place, he sat down with his legs crossed and summoned layers of rock to surround him.

It was next to one of the surface roots of a large tree.

Leaving space for airway, his eyes closed as he sunk into his centre, entering that space.

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