Zane adjusted the water bottle on the top of his pack, trying to make it so he could suck out of it without having to stop. "A hydration pack would be really nice right now."
"What's a hydration pack?"
"It's a backpack that has a water bladder in it that has a tube fixed to it that attaches to your shoulder that you can easily drink from. I'm basically trying to copy that with what I'm doing. I don't know how effective this will be."
"I don't see why you are so worried about stopping to take a drink. You're already going to be taking weeks off of our journey."
Zane shook his head. "I don't want to stop every 10 minutes to replenish my mana. I will figure out how to drink while I'm running and then we'll only have to stop when I have to refill this bottle. That will probably be every couple hours." He had it to where he could reach it with his mouth by twisting his head, but it still needed to be opened. There's no way he could do that with his lips. He may have to accept that he would have to slow down every time he took a drink, but that was still a lot better than stopping. Luckily, opening and closing the spout of the water bottle was not that difficult. He didn't think he'd have to slow down too much.
"Is there anything monsters wise then I need to worry about as we go along this river?"
"I'll be honest, I have no idea. The route I was planning us taking would only have us encountering forest beasts and possibly the occasional goblin. The straight through the mountain does put us close to some powerful mountain beasts, but they don't claim the river. There are several places in this river that have very strong Rapids, so I don't think we would run into any major water creatures. I'm just guessing here. The route you're wanting to take is completely unknown to me."
Zane nodded. "I think not being on the road for almost two months is worth it." He checked all of the straps and knots that he had made to help keep his pack in place and the water bottle where it was at. Part of him wasn't really happy with how the water bottle was sitting, but it was the best he could do with the things he had.
He looked over at Gwen. Maybe you should shrink down and get on my back. I'm ready to go."
Gwen started to suddenly shrink down. The most interesting part about this was how the face changed, the structure slowly transforming into a smaller and cuter form. It didn't take that long for her to be turned into a kitten, and she jumped back onto his pack.
Zane looked at the water of the river as it flowed past him. He was suddenly feeling very hesitant about this plan of his. He had no doubt that he could just run above the water, but if he made some mistake or didn't get his men have replenished soon enough, it would mean a very cold bath and the possibility of being stuck in the water. However, reducing the trip from two months to possibly two weeks was worth the risk. He took a deep breath and sprinted out into the water, activating his parkour skill as he reached the edge of the river.
He ran to the middle of the river and turned downstream. His running was a little different from when he went from the dungeon to the river. He wasn't running as fast. He only did that because he was racing against Gwen and wanted to see if he could beat her. He also was running with a different stride. He was lengthening out his steps as much as possible, trying to use less mana platforms. If you could space out the usage of his parkour skill, he could make his mana last longer and have to stop less frequently.
As he ran, he saw many different kinds of animals and monsters that were taking drinks from the river. All of them stopped to look at him as he sped past them. Some of them would bolt away after a moment, and others would just track him with their eyes until he was long past them. Luckily, the trees had not grown so far out over the river that they obstructed him in any way.
He had to take a drink of the water to replenish his mana every 10 minutes or so. This was at the top end of his estimations, so he was quite pleased with it. The trees started to be less dense, and the mountain was getting far closer. As he looked up ahead, he could see that the water was getting rougher and choppier. He could see where the trees pretty much stopped and decided to replenish his water bottle. He looked downriver as he pulled off his pack and noticed that the first set of rapids was in front of him. The land around this part of the river was much rockier and barren, almost as if someone had taken great chunks of the mountain and tossed them to the plain. There were many large rocks in the river, creating drop-offs and splits in the flow of the water. He couldn't help but smile as he looked it all the different ways he could run down this river.
"Meow."
Zane looked down at Gwen, who was waiting patiently for him to fill up the water bottle. "What makes you think I'm gonna do anything stupid here?"
"Meow."
"My smile?"
"Meow."
"I'm offended by that. I'm not a madman. I just happen to like a little excitement every now and then."
"Meooowwwww."
"How could you not be excited by jumping around large rocks in the river? sounds like a blast to me."
"Meowww."
Zane sighed as he put the water bag back in his inventory and put his pack back on, securing the water bottle. "Fine, I won't play on the rocks right now. I'll run along the shore at this point. Will that make you feel better?"
"Meow."
"Let's keep moving." With the kitten back on his pack, Zane ran down the shore.