Rushing to the outer sands, I rush to the dry parts of the sand-less ground.

The Scorpion warriors are chasing us down.

We were all screaming for our lives, well… at least I was.

“Aaaaaghh~” The Scorpion warriors were extremely pissed off at us for killing their brethren.

This is all the ink clones fault, why the hell did they even pick a fight that they couldn't win.

Luckily I was faster than the clones fortunately, so I wasn’t getting mauled to death like the ones behind me.

But, man… those scorpion warriors are quick on the sand.

Even quicker than the Mole dragon. I am just glad I made it out unscathed.

With the remaining clones left we came back to the tree base and hit the floor dead upon entrance.

Lots of panting could be heard.

Lets see the remaining clones at this very moment… seven? I thought there were more than at least sixteen that made it out.

I asked the clones, “What happened to the remaining clones? I know there were more of you.”

Looking back to back at each other. They all wrote messages on a drawn whiteboard. Well this makes things easier… somewhat.

Glancing at all their messages, it seems they all have no clue. That didn't help at all.

“How about we all hit the hay, geez you all are a handful you know that… would one of you mind keeping first watch?”

They did so as instructed. How obedient they are. Too bad they can't communicate vocally with me.

After obtaining my rest I awoke to my clones making lunch. Ohh~ is that crab meat?

They all looked at me, the moment they heard me sniff the tasty aroma of meat.

One gave me my portion of the food. Eh looking at the meat, it seemed that the claws that I thought were crabs are actually the scorpions claws…

Oh~that explains how they have been keeping themselves fed up to this very point. With a creature that size, it can feed an entire tribe for weeks.

Well whatever, can’t complain if they are the ones who nursed me for eight long years.

Once we all ate, with all the mapping of the clones I formulated a plan. We would all need to scatter to different parts of the land, to search for another suitable area for a base. I can't tell, but Fall is starting soon, and I want to prepare for the day of winter.

That tree base is too cramped for all seventeen of us. I could disperse some to make room, but they have information that I might need in the future. Not to mention termites are invading the tree.

Painting one hundred ink clones of me, I ordered each half to go from west and east.

While they were exploring for me, I would need to build up my loss strength that was somewhat gone in the last eight years.

Sometime later, one ink clone interrupted my workout and handed me a note.

I screamed aloud “Ooh they found a place?! How far is it from here?”

Inviting me to the outside entrance, it begins to point to the direction of the mountain.

Staring at the mountain, I could see at the very top a crystal sitting at the top.

“Hm…?” What puzzled me the most was the crystal atop the mountain.

If the clones say to go there, I might as well give them the benefit of the doubt.

Drinking some water, we gathered what supplies the both of us could carry.

We can assume the clones will have made a base already. I'm assuming that based on the personality data that they can mimic from me.

The tree base can be left as is, someone else or I could potentially return to this base one day. Who knows.

Following the clone made navigation easier.

I mean there would be times where I would be ambushed by other creatures. But, they aren't a threat to me. Well… only the slow ones.

The fast ones I run away from them as much as possible don't want to have a prolonged unnecessary battle.

Getting to the top, I finally reached the new located base, thanks to the help of...wait…

“What happened?! There were at least one hundred of you guys?”

They began writing me messages that the ones gone either fell into a creature's trap, died fighting a creature, or just dispersed to thin air.

Counting the remaining clones, they total a number of twenty three.

Sigh, looks like it seems I would die about that many times. I should be more thankful to my ink clones.

Coming back to focus, I noticed that the crystal wasn't too far from where I was.

In fact I was too drawn to the crystal, to the point where my legs began moving towards the crystal on its own.

A clone caught me in the nick of time, before I went off making my way to the crystal.

They reminded me that I need to rest before I travel to the crystal.

Indeed the clone was correct. My senses returned to me, and I made sure to get the rest I desperately needed. The trip was exhausting on foot, especially when I just woke up from my long nap. The desert area was also far away from what I could see.

In the distance I can see skeletal hydras in that area.

Uwaah~ they are swarming the area everywhere, I'm so glad I left the area, the tree base is getting ransacked.

Chapter 16 End