The Desperate Marathon.
Almost a month and a half had passed since Ray and Lina entered the Calm Plains.
And they weren't even halfway there.
Far from it.
Ray was getting desperate. He did not know what to do.
So as always, he decided to do something stupid again.
Ray sat on the ground with his legs crossed.
He focused so hard he didn't even realize Lina has been calling him.
"Pa-"
"Papa!'
"Papa!"
He finally heard it.
Ray opened his eyes and looked around. He saw Lina standing to his right, her face covered in food crumbs.
The food he made for her after luckily finding some birds a while ago.
"Papa." Lina said as Ray wiped off the food crumbs from her mouth. "You shouldn't sleep while sitting straight. You will hurt your back."
"I wasn't sleeping." Ray replied while patting her head. "But oh, I'm going to hurt by back alright."
He stood up and started stretching.
"Finish up. We gotta move."
Lina went back to eating immediately. Glutton.
Meanwhile, Ray looked down at his hand.
"Should I... really be doing this?" he asked himself, unsure of what to do.
Apparently, Ray had decided to do something reckless again.
He had created some sleeping drugs using his mana. Each dose lasting three days.
His plan was to make Lina fall asleep and run while carrying her.
This way, they will get out of this place quicker.
At least, if his body doesn't give out till then, that is.
After Lina finished eating, Ray walked towards her, slowly.
Before she could even turn around, he created a small needle using mana and injected some of the drug into her through the back of her neck.
"Please work. Please work. Please work. Please work. Please work." he repeated in his mind as his whole body shook.
After a second, Lina dropped to the side.
Ray turned her upwards and found her asleep.
"YES!!!" he shouted with excitement.
But realized he was being loud so he covered his own mouth.
She wouldn't wake up by him being loud but it was now just a habit of him being quiet while she's asleep.
"Old habits die hard, huh." he said to himself as he picked Lina up and hugged her close to his chest.
"Now, without wasting any time..."
He took a stance and stayed like that for a few seconds.
He immediately ran off at high speed.
He did not fully go max speed from the get-go.
Lina might get hurt from the instant acceleration.
She's a kid.
He did accelerate though. Running faster and faster until he reached the speed of about three hundred and fifty kilometers per hour.
With that speed, he kept running non-stop.
After running for about six hours, he noticed some mountains in the way.
"Plains? Explain this then, mother fuckers."
But he did not stop.
He kept running.
When he reached the mountains, he navigated through the narrow ways while keeping all his momentum.
He jumped into the air and started running along the walls of the mountain.
He saw a pathway down there with some small animals such as a few bunnies and a few moles digging into the ground.
He jumped down and while running, picked up two moles and one bunny.
He immediately tied Lina to his chest with a thick sheet of his mana covering both of them.
He then made a small knife and killed the little animals.
There was a dead end in the way so he simply jumped over it, all while skinning the animals.
After he finished, instead of putting them back, he ate them.
The raw meat.
He ate it all.
"Not the worst thing I've eaten all my life." he said while spitting away the bones.
(That sentence was not really reassuring.)
Ray kept running. Without rest. For full three days.
After three days, Lina woke up.
Ray immediately noticed her waking up and came to a stop.
At that time, he was back in the plain area, the mountains nowhere to be see which was normal consider how fast he was going and how long he was running for.
"You up now?" Ray asked her with a forced smile, as always.
He placed her down on the ground and immediately went back to creating some food with the nutrients from his own body.
He had a good amount of them as he has been eating every animal and fruits he came across, all for this moment.
Lina sat on the ground, feeling drowsy.
Normal considering she's been asleep for three whole days.
When she managed to open her eyes properly, she was presented with a feast. Hamburger, vegies(finish 'em), cookies for snacks, etc.
She immediately started reaching for the food but immediately got picked up by Ray. He created some water and washed her face.
He helped her brush her teeth as well.
(He can create tooth brush and paste. For hygiene purposes.)
After all of that, he finally let her go.
Lina, who hadn't eaten anything for three days(and didn't know) finished the entire meal and even drank two liters of water.
"The food was good~" she immediately started feeling sleepy after eating.
Because Ray had mixed the drug in it.
He picked her back up and started running again.
Ray repeated the process.
Give Lina the drug, make her sleep, run for three days, give her food and drinks after she wakes up, then rinse and repeat.
He himself suffered. But as we all know, he did not mind as long as Lina was not the one suffering even the least bit.
He repeated the process, did all that, for so long.
For Two Whole Months.
...
...
...
And some change.
Two months and 5 days to be specific.
And he was finally-
To Be Continued...