Kaden was somewhat annoyed. He had planned to scatter the godless mana system a bit more across the land. Yet, with people hunting him, even if he had managed to get rid of the group after him, his presence was known. There could be more.

The cultists would have to be enough. Elves likely wouldn't do anything. Perhaps some people would run into the ones he had left behind.

"Right now I'm more interested in having it spread among beasts", Kaden thought. "That will disrupt the balance. Even if I had not given it to a single human and only give it to beasts, it would cause a great effect. It would eventually spread across human lands through dead beasts."

It would be a slow process and churches could likely pay attention to beast hunts, but it would be possible.

Kaden decided not to worry much. His plans had not reached optimum state, but it was good enough.

"I'll have to get to Frika and quickly", Kaden thought as he examined his wounds. "The fight opened up half healed ones and I received quite a few extra too."

Kaden was even somewhat tired. He had not had a proper rest after Marwen. He had merely stopped to heal most immediate wounds that prevented him from moving properly. Then he ran into the trap and the hunters. The chase had not been too long, but it all had been extremely costly.

Moving his wings hurt. There was a bleeding gash right next to them. His leg was still bleeding, but with his endurance, even such a large wound would close before it would become a problem. That, unfortunately, didn't reduce pain.

Still, he had to keep moving. Kaden knew he had to get out of human territories as soon as possible. There was no time to rest. If he rested, it only meant more traps could be placed on his way. More hunters would come out to try their luck.

During the next day, Kaden did not run into anymore hunters, but larger number of patrols and in general greater activity suggested that people were looking for him. He had to only incinerate one group before they could announce his location.

At the shoreline he had to also avoid a few watch towers, but that wasn't a problem.

Kaden looked behind as he flew over the sea towards Frika.

"Frika is complete beast territory", Kaden thought to himself. "Perhaps the trip back from Murika was going across the sea beast territory, but that was basically floating on a ship rather than being in the depths. I'm curious to see how different beasts are to humans."

Last remaining signs of humans were a few islands with some watch towers. If anyone was paying attention, they would be seeing him pass over the sea. Kaden only hoped there wasn't some bored True Magus who would bother him. Anyone below that would have problems following. It wasn't a very likely event and, as it happens, that was true. There were no problems.

It was a rather lengthy flight for Kaden with his injuries. At the end, his endurance still triumphed over exhaustion. There was no little amount of joy when Kaden saw shoreline at the horizon.

To his knowledge and assuming his path was what he expected it to be, he would enter a large desert. The true Cari territory would be beyond it. Actual cities and civilization they had built. That didn't mean there weren't anyone living outside. The desert was apparently a death trap. At least for beings who dwelled on land.

The desert was inhabited by a lot of smaller weaker beasts, many of them reptiles. Also large number of birds. If they could live there, then Kaden would be able to pass by easily.

There was a thing humans knew not to do in the desert, if a hunting expedition was arranged. Do not sleep on sand. Find or arrange a solid ground for yourself. If you could only see sand, you were in danger. There were actually even several species of sand worms living in the area. They, despite that they could grow powerful, often weren't as intelligent as other species at their level. They would eat anything they found. They shared quite a few similarities with sea beasts. Including being aggressive.

Kaden mused on this matter a bit. It was likely that beasts would develop this behavior, if they didn't, for some reason, have the need to work together.

Kaden flew a bit further away from the shore and found a good hiding place, a small rocky area. He planned to eat whatever he had left of humans he had killed recently. He needed the rest.

"Afterwards I will cross the desert", Kaden decided. "I want to learn about the Cari life style and then spread the godless mana system. I may need to live in Cari territory for a while at least. Perhaps I should go find where phoenixes live. Understand my ... own kind?"

Kaden wasn't sure of what he was, but he could surely pass as phoenix.

There was a volcanic area deep in Frika. Apparently this was the place where one could find phoenixes. Very few humans could ever see it since one had to pass through central regions of Cari lands to reach it. Deep and vast jungles filled with beasts from the lowest levels to Cari levels. Possibly even Higher Cari that were equivalent to Archmagi.

It was simply a suicide.

Kaden wasn't planning on staying in the desert for long. He figured it was still too low level area for him to gain much. It was probably considered a fringe area of Cari territories. Only weaker beasts and untalented Lower Cari would hang around.

There was much more to be gained in deeper in Frika. Other direction that many Cari would follow would be to go to human territories and hunt humans, if they wanted to gain power. Yet, Kaden had just escaped so that was not something he would consider.

Kaden took out whatever last scraps of meat he had left from Marwen. He had eaten nearly all of it before, but he still had enough just to try something. He burned the flesh and ate it. He tested his idea of devouring it inside his stomach. It worked, but it felt odd to feel yourself suddenly feel so empty.

"I can enjoy the taste and even be efficient, but it leaves me feeling empty, even if all of the mana and materials were absorbed with great efficiency", Kaden muttered to himself. "Its not perfect, but far better option."

There was a solution to feeling empty. It was to go hunt and eat more. Yet, that had to wait until Kaden had a proper rest.

--------

The high inquisitor was sipping tea and looking over latest reports when his door was knocked. Unusually quickly too. People often entered his office with greatest decorum possible.

"Enter", he said without looking away from the reports.

There were three people entering from the door. Each of them seemed to be in a serious mood. Two being the office's security guards and one church's enforcer. The one in the middle, the church's enforcer, was even slightly dirty. The high inquisitor frowned about that. Appearing in front of him being dirty and it was rare for someone such low rank to even meet him personally. Something was wrong.

The two guards merely nodded at the enforcer to speak.

"Lord high inquisitor!" The enforcer was shaking. "We have discovered something! The latest purge of cultists proceeded normally, but something was discovered from their bodies! Several of them at least."

The enforcer extended his hands that had been holding a crystal.

The high inquisitor frowned and motioned his hand and the crystal floated to him. He inspected the contents.

"This...", the high inqusitor felt a shock as it dawned on him what he was looking at. He stood up, still staring at the crystal. To confirm this terrible thing, he needed to test it. He muttered some prayers before following the heretical instructions as he needed to confirm it was truly authentic. It worked. He felt disgusted. "This ... mana system. Such blasphemy!" He then calmed himself. "Who looked into this?" He demanded to know.

"Several people of our group. Multiple crystals with roughly same information were found", the enforcer replied. He was shaking even more. "The rest were told to not look at any of the information crystals once we realized what it was. I was ordered to act as messenger while he stayed at the site to look for all clues and exterminate all the cultists."

The high inquisitor was quiet for a moment. "It is likely this has already spread across the cultists worhipping God of Lies", the high inquisitor realized as he though the matter for a moment. "Short of annihilating them entirely, nothing can be done. Even then it is unlikely all traces of this ... thing, can be erased. This is beyond me. I must take this forward!"

There was no need to annihilate the enforcer and send him to well deserved trip to gods and the afterlife. At least not yet. It wouldn't serve to hide the existence of the mana system that could be considered a high heresy.

"Send commands to destroy everything related to the cultist site", the high inquisitor then commanded the guards. "They must not speak of it. Get rid of everything. Explore surroundings to ensure it has not spread. Anyone found with must be executed immediately. Anyone opposing must be considered a heretic. As for myself, I will take this to my superiors. They will be the ones to decide how to truly proceed." Then he looked at the enforcer. "And you, return to barracks. Rest, you have done well. Do not speak of this. You were never here."

The shaking enforcer bowed deeply several times and then basically ran out. The guards followed soon after.

"This is bad", the high inquisitor muttered to himself as he took out some marks from a sealed contained in a hidden safe behind some loose parts of the wall.

They were crafted for a single purpose. They were to be used when something significant had happened. To show his actions should not be hindered by anyone. To skip the chain of command and go directly at top. Those marks would not be used lightly. The high inquisitor had never had to use them. Even his several predecessors had never used them. Misuse would be punished harshly.

He left his office with great haste towards deeper levels the Corand's main temple of the true path. He might even need to see the pope himself.

With what he had, there was no room for mistakes. A godless mana system would erode all that churches, even those on the wrong path at Sacronan, held dear. It was nearly directly spitting at gods faces! The blasphemy must not be allowed to spread! It must be snuffed out entirely!

Yet, the high inquisitor knew the truth. It was likely already far too late. Far far too late.