11

After running for almost thirty straight minutes, Bolt had gotten tired, and begun to slow down. Dorian patted the energetic Lightning Hound's head and rubbed his chin as he slowed to a stop.

"Good job, Bolt." He praised the one meter large Lightning Hound, eliciting a happy sound from the hound.

The two of them had stopped by a running stream, and after a quick scan from Psyker, the stream was deemed to be safe enough for consumption.

Dorian and Bolt checked out the area a bit, and after making sure that the place was safe and free of anyone or thing at the moment, Dorian quickly pulled off his clothes for a proper bath. It was quick and short, but he relished in the feeling of being clean again.

"Ruff!" Bolt barked excitedly as he jumped and played around in the stream. After a few minutes, he bounded out of the water, soaking wet. Dorian had a bad premonition and immediately distanced himself from the Lightning Hound. Bolt started to shake his body, sending drops of water flying in every direction. Luckily, Dorian had distanced himself from Bolt quickly enough, so he was able to avoid getting sprayed and having to smell like wet dog.

"Good job, buddy." Dorian dryly commented as he made his way back to Bolt. Small sparks of lightning were snaking around the hound's body, drying off what remained of the water that soaked his coat.

"Ruff!" Bolt happily barked, and Dorian couldn't help laughing. He sat down on a large rock on the back of the stream and called up the mental map that Psyker had uploaded to his mind.

"Hmm, I'm still in the rank 1 zone." He said as he looked at the gray area on the map. He was still in the rank one zone, but he was currently lingering around the edge of the zone. That meant it would be more likely for him to run into rank 2 monsters if he was not careful. The blue zones that overlapped with the gray zones acted as a warning to him. He had not yet even gotten a basic control over his ability, and still had to rely on Bolt.

"Speaking of my ability, I should probably try and get a basic handle on it." With that thought, Dorian stood up and walked over to a partially crumbled wall. He tilted his head as he looked at it. Bolt wandered over to his side and also tilted his head in question. He was wondering what Dorian wanted to do.

"Stand back, Bolt." Dorian warned and raised his right arm, pointing his palm at the wall. His left hand was wrapped around his right wrist as he braced for any backlash.

From within the deepest parts of his being, Dorian called upon that ball of energy that Psyker had told him about some time ago. That ball of energy was the source of his ability, and to use his ability, he needed to draw energy from that ball of energy. The more finesse he displayed when drawing energy from it, the smoother and more refined his ability would become.

Bzzzt!

The electric current was almost tangible, and Dorian's wavy brown hair began to stand on end as tiny streaks of lightning arced all over his body. In a flash, a bolt of lightning that was as thick as half an arm shot out of is palm and struck the wall, leaving a black scorch mark.

"It didn't blow up in my face!" Dorian cheered happily. He was almost sure that something would go wrong and end up with him having burnt hair.

"Ruff!" Bolt saw that Dorian was happy, and he was also instantly happy. The Lightning Hound was a simple minded creature, and his master's happiness was his happiness.

Dorian continued to fire lightning bolts at the wall, and after about fifteen shots, he began to feel tiredness creeping on him.

"I better save my energy until we find a good place to rest." Dorian cracked his knuckles with a grin and ruffled the fur on Bolt's head.

They soon continued walking after a while of resting to regain energy. After just a couple of minutes walking, the sounds of rumbling could be heard. Heavy footfalls approached their position, and there was a limited amount of cover to hide.

"Crap, crap." Dorian muttered as he looked around. It was possible that a large group of rank 1 monsters were passing by. He found a small hole that had been formed from a collapsed building, and it was big enough to fit in both himself and Bolt. He quickly hurried Bolt inside, before squeezing in himself.

"Huff." Bolt blew out a huff of air, and Dorian quickly hushed him.

"Quiet." He whispered and focused on his hearing.

The sounds of the footfalls kept on approaching, and just when they were very close to where Dorian and Bolt were hiding, they stopped.

'Oh, crap! Can they smell us?!' Dorian thought.

"Manli, you say the person is here?" The deep voice of a man suddenly said, echoing through the clearing that Dorian had been standing in not long ago.

"Yes, I am certain. At least, he was here not too long ago." Another male's voice replied the first one.

"Everyone, spread out. Find the boy." The first man ordered. It seemed he came with a lot of people.

While the people were speaking, Dorian's mind was reeling.

'They are after a boy, and they are sure that he is here? Did Gun and Dora catch up with reinforcements? Crap! I'm screwed!' Dorian's breath began to quicken.

As Dorian panicked, the sound of a single pair of footsteps steadily approached his position. Out of fear, he held his breath to produce the least amount of sound. Bolt, who could feel Dorian's panic and fear quietly moved over Dorian and covered him with his large body. With his mentality, that was his way of protecting and reassuring Dorian in this situation. He could tell that Dorian wanted to make the least amount of sound right now, so he tried his best to avoid making any sounds.