Chương 9: Chapter 9: Plan.

[[Map]!] Rick thought of the command and quickly looked at the map that had appeared in front of him. Rick had remembered what Chumina had told him before, that he could have used the [Map] command for a strategic withdrawal.

[I see you are getting better at this, huh?] Chumina told Rick. [You might not be strong right now, but you can at least use the abilities you have at your disposal right now. The [Map] function is very useful, even more so in situations such as this when you are trying to run away…]

[Yeah, almost dying once was enough for me not to forget about the [Map] thing you told me about. Now get out of my head and let me think!]

Chumina said no more and disappeared. Rick started looking at the map. He was not able to see the river Chumina had talked about, they had been running opposite to the river and also to Benttotopotzki's hideout. There was nothing in there that could be used as a hiding place.

[Ummm… Chumina?] Rick sounded like he would ask for help.

[I thought you had asked for me to "get out of your head"…? So that's what I did! And now you want my help, don't you? I already helped you enough, opening my big mouth back when you were about to die before! That's the only reason you thought of this plan with the [Map] function, isn't it?] Chumina replied, it didn't seem angry, he had more of a "told you so" vibe.

[But…!] Rick sounded even more desperate.

[Bye! Figure this one by yourself!] And Chumina disappeared again.

Rick looked at the map the way a person who had been in a desert for days would look at a droplet of water, intensively. Still running with all his might, he was distributing all his physical strength in his legs, and all his mental fortitude in the search of a place he and his friends could use for refuge.

He was looking, and kept looking, and continued looking, but there was nothing. There were just trees, and trees and more trees, and land of nothingness but grass. It was so much grass that Rick had almost gotten sick of all that green in the map. He couldn't see too far away, according to Chumina a limitation imposed due to his low level, so everything in his view was trees and grass, nothing that could be of use to lose the mauloos. It was until Rick had analyzed the map for some seconds that he noticed he could change the sky view to an isometric view, so he did in hopes of finding something. And then, as if a struck of lightning had hit him, Rick saw it, their savior. It was a huge tree located less than a mile from their location. He had not noticed it due to the map's sky view, which didn't allow him to see how tall each individual tree was, but it was a breeze to notice this enormous tree with the isometric view. And flying near that tree was a huge bird-looking creature. And that's when Rick concocted the plan, they could go towards that tree, and just climb it, hopefully, the mauloos would not be able to continue their pursuit. That was plan a. Plan b was for them to, somehow, make that enormous bird join the fight, and then they could escape while the mauloos and the bird continued fighting. In case of plan A and B failing, there was also plan C, for the party to fight the mauloos, which was their last resort, but Rick hoped not to depend on their strength alone. And this was the moment Rick replied to Shila, struggling to breathe due to all the running.

"D-Don't worry! I have a plan now, and five minutes is all I need, so cast that spell on me!"

Neither Benttotopotzki nor Shila had talked in their run, they knew they had to entirely give their all in their escape if they wanted to survive. There was not a second or breath to spare, speaking would be futile, and truth be told, even though they were a trio with an enemy in common, neither of them had contemplated battle as an option.

And then there was Rick, the one suggesting a plan, also the one that had no death or life battle experience, this might have played a role in him suggesting opposing the mauloos instead of running since he didn't know just how strong mauloos could be.

"A plan? What kind of plan would help us in this situation!? The one thing we can do is run away, and pray to Maratrustra we don't get killed!" Shila replied not too amused with the idea.

"Just trust me! It's not a plan to fight them, but to escape from them! Five minutes from here there's a huge tree that these mauloos won't be able to climb, that's our only hope… But I just need that boost you told me about, otherwise… I won't be able to get there!"

Shila hesitated at first, she had just met Rick, and had already saved him once. Surely Maratrustra would understand if she didn't use some of her magic energy, a very important resource, to cast the spell that would help Rick. A single bit of magic could be the difference between life and death. But her merciful side ended up winning this moral argument.

"Remember, you will only have five minutes and after that, you will be on your own!" Shila turned her head so she could see Rick, who would receive her spell, "I… I already saved you once!" It was as if Shila was trying to convince herself that she had already done enough for Rick, and that, if it ended up happening, having to leave him to his death would be justified, "I already cast multiple spells just to save you that one time! I can't spare the mana I have left! But… I will cast [Energizia] on you this one time!"

"T-Thank you!" Rick responded.

Shila made some hand gestures, and a small, shining ball of energy began to form in the palm of her hand, "When I yell the [Energizia] command this ball of energy will leave my hand and slowly go towards you, and you will just have to accept it… Just think of happy thoughts or something! It will take a little bit of time for the boost to take effect, so just do your best and keep running while it happens!"

"Oh… Ok, so I just have to think of happy thoughts!" Rick didn't know what to think about, his head was empty, having no memories at all. [Happy thoughts… Think of happy thoughts, dammit! "Dammit", did I just think dammit!? No, don't think negatively! Think of happy thoughts! But what happy thoughts should I think of if I don't have any…?!]

And just as Rick was having a mini panic attack Shila screamed [Energizia], Rick just stopped thinking and felt the little ball of energy entering his body, and as it did he felt calm and just thought of the dinner he had shared with Shila and Benttotopotzki. This was perhaps his most precious memory, at least the only one he could think of at the moment.

Rick immediately felt a bit better, it wasn't an enormous energy increment, but his legs were moving faster, and the improvement became more apparent as he continued his race for life.

"I feel better now! It's working!" Rick screamed.

"Well, you already know what will happen in five minutes… So you better make good use of that energy I gave you!" Shila responded.

"I don't fear for me, Rick…" Benttotopotzki, who was in front of Rick continuing his run at a very fast pace, said. "I know I can make it to that three, or to any other place I can run to… I have done this too many times to count. But you better make it too! I won't forgive you if you die!" The little critter ended his message, turning his head towards Rick with a comforting smile.

"Don't worry, Benito! I don't plan on dying any time soon!"