Mikhail leapt down the steps, skipping a hundred of them before landing. And he repeated that process a few more times before finding himself at the foot of the plateau, with the expansive clearing in front of him.
And then he shot forward, sprinting towards the opening of the South Path.
He felt each and every step reverberate through his body, and within minutes he was already approaching the South Path's cobbled sandstone roads.
The crowd had grown thicker on the streets in the time it took him to share that lengthy conversation with Grand Elder Maya, so he quickly decided to take his run to the rooftops.
As such, he hopped once before letting his weight pull him down into a crouch. And then he leaped upwards, landing with a thud on the overpass going over the street.
He ignored the funny feeling in his legs and leapt again, this time at an angle so that he'd arrive on the western side of the South Path.
And after that, he resumed his sprint, rushing past a plethora of different groups and even jumping high over a few that he would've hit otherwise.
It was a reckless run, and as the close calls added up, he was eventually made aware of that fact…
BANG!
Mikhail bounced off the wall of rock that appeared on his way, falling back onto his ass with a bloody nose.
"What the hell is your deal, Scourgeborn?! I've been contacted about more than twenty infractions in the last minute alone!"
The rock wall receded into the building, revealing a tall white man with nappy black hair.
He was wearing a complete set of simple leather armor, including the grieves and arm guards. And beneath that leather armor was a white gambeson, complete with gambeson grieves as well.
It looked incredibly stuffy, and Mikhail began feeling sweaty just by looking at that getup.
"The orcs are leaving, dude! I can't just let them leave without saying goodbye! And for fucks sake, my name is Mikhail!"
The man looked at him oddly. Despite the intense sound of his voice, Mikhail's face didn't match it… However, the man sighed, not giving the matter too much thought.
"Great, another weirdo like Azalea… Fine, I'll let you off with that bloody nose for today. Be more careful though, or our next interaction won't be so short and sweet!" the man said, before seemingly vanishing from where he stood.
Mikhail narrowed his eyes.
Did that guy just tele-
WOOSH!
Mikhail was knocked back into that building's Wind Tower moments after the man disappeared.
'Alright… Not teleportation. Just… Very, stupidly fast. Got it.'
He got up while rubbing his back, feeling a little sore from the impact. But he didn't let that stop him!
Mikhail quickly resumed his run, this time being a great deal more mindful of his fellow humans.
He eventually saw a familiar intersection up ahead as he fell back down from a high jump, and immediately changed his trajectory, moving southwest at a harsh angle that leaned more heavily towards west.
Due to the new angle he was traveling at, he often found himself on the edge where the wind towers rose up from, only able to catch his foot for a brief instant before needing to jump again to the next edge.
Occasionally, a house would be situated slightly differently, giving him some time to run without guesstimating a potentially time wasting jump…
'Heh… Now that I think about it, this is kind of like my speedrunning days…'
He failed to angle his foot properly for the ensuing landing, slipping and falling back onto his head with a loud thud.
"Ow, fuck," he said to himself in English quietly.
The impact his stray thought caused had stung a great deal, but he found himself getting up with no problem, and continuing like he didn't just suffer a bone breaking fall.
And now, he was being even more careful than before.
It felt as if he was wasting a great deal of time.
Like the time he was taking to reach his destination seemed to stretch.
But it was only an illusion caused by his heightened focus. In reality, he slowed down by a nearly negligible fraction.
And in seemingly no time at all, he began seeing the stables in the distance when he was in the middle of his high jumps. And as he drew closer and closer, he could see the Chasmosaurs being led to their carriages.
He was going to make it, but only just barely…
And in seemingly the blink of an eye, Mikhail found himself on the last building, looking at the empty area. Everyone had just boarded, and the carriages were beginning to move.
"UNCLE YAGNAR!"
"YATUR!"
"YARGOL!"
"GLASHA!"
"MOG!"
He heaved, having used up all his air in his lungs to shout their names. And as he took a deep, deep breath, a handful of familiar figures shot out from the holes on the tops of the carriages.
The damage from that one fateful night couldn't be repaired until they returned home, or so he was told… And while they were traveling, the holes had supposedly been covered by some tarps.
To prevent rain and detritus from flooding those carriages.
But, since they were bordering a desert right now, there was obviously no reason for those tarps. And there wouldn't be a reason for them for at least a good day's worth of travel.
Mikhail jumped down and gave chase, looking up to the departing figures as they watched on with a variety of expressions.
Uncle Yagnar's expression seemed bittersweet. Yatur's was solemn. Yargol was rolling his eyes. Glasha was revealing a sweet smile…
And Mog was crying like a bitch.
"GOODBYE, EVERYONE!"
He shouted, doing his best to overpower the sounds of the Chasmosaur's heavy foot steps as they began turning their slow trot into a full speed charge ahead.
"We'll see each other again one day, runt! Just keep up the good work!"
"I better see you soon, fool!"
"Later, Mickey!"
Yargol said something after Glasha, but Mikhail couldn't hear it as the gap between them began growing. The Chasmosaurs were outpacing him.
However, he did see how Glasha socked him in the arm with a glare.
And he also saw how Yatur simply waved.
With the distance between them having become insurmountable, Mikhail's sprint slowed to a jog before turning to a fast walk, and then slowed further to a complete stop.
With a bittersweet smile, he returned the wave goodbye.