Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 27

Chapter 27

“Are you sure our target is here?” Bat’la’hera asked shortly, looking at the busy gate leading into the city of Teglir.  She was in a terrible mood after the last day filled with confusion and more than a few excuses.

Narden was equally frustrated, as he blamed himself for the unfortunate detours that they had taken without any clear result.  “Not 100%, but I’m detecting at least a hint of his energy signature.”

Bat shook her head, knowing that it wasn’t Narden’s fault for losing the trail, as their quarry was apparently quite adept at avoiding pursuit – something that she wouldn’t have thought was possible for someone only Level 3.  The incongruity of his Level and his adept ability to flee from them only made her anticipation of getting her hands on the Human grow even stronger. 

She had originally figured that they would catch up to their target within hours, despite the fact that he had a headstart on his escape.  Tracking him along the road had been laughably easy, as even Zarin – who wasn’t very adept at following even physical signs of passage – was able to determine where the Human had gone.  Following him when he left the road and entered the forest had also been easy enough that Bat and Loc could detect his Mana signature through the trees, and the tracks that he left behind were also easy enough to notice. 

That was when their pursuit of their target became… odd.  First, the Human’s footprints had suddenly disappeared, only to be replaced by much larger paws, which Loc identified as a large wolf’s.  Either he had somehow transformed into a wolf, which wasn’t necessarily impossible but highly improbable, or he’d tamed one to use as a mount.  Either possibility seemed unlikely, but given that Narden had been able to track his energy signature still, it was obvious that something had happened.

The second odd occurrence was the appearance of extra tracks that seemed to come from a large group of monsters – Forest Beavers, if Loc was to be believed – that either fled before the wolf or were following it.  Based on the placement of tracks, it was eventually determined that the wolf came after the Beavers had passed, which meant that it was chasing them – which made absolutely no sense, whatsoever.  Evidence of various confrontations with other monsters appeared throughout the forest, though it was impossible to tell exactly what happened; all that Narden had been able to determine was that the fights were over quickly, even when there seemed to be a large number of participants.

None of it had made sense, but at the time Bat hadn’t let it bother her – because she was sure they would be getting their answers from the source in no time at all.  Unfortunately, when they eventually reached the Fane River, that was when they ran into a problem.

At first, it had been obvious from the extensive energy residue in the area – which all of them could detect – that something significant had occurred, but it took them a few minutes of investigating before Loc noticed that there were absolutely no monsters in the river for as far as he could detect.  It was almost as if they had all been directed somewhere else – or they had been killed; the latter wasn’t possible, as unless the Human they were hunting had met up with some other people – which they’d had no evidence of up to that point – then there was no way a Level 3 could kill more than a handful of the aquatic monsters, and certainly not the Tentacled Stranglers that she remembered typically infested the depths of the waterway. 

With no obvious explanation, they had looked for signs of where he had gone, and Narden thought he saw evidence that their quarry had made it to the other side.  Getting to the other side, themselves, was quite easy as Bat was able to lift them over with her spells, and they spent the next few hours following one trail after another that turned out to be nothing.  Unfortunately, the saturation of energy near the river crossing had been so concentrated that it bled into the nearby area, making following him any further nearly impossible.  When they eventually decided that they were chasing shadows, especially since it was getting dark, they resolved to check out the first place that seemed likely to be the Human’s destination: Fanebridge.

Needless to say, they found no evidence of him ever being there, both from a lack of his energy signature being anywhere near the area, and from no one they questioned in the riverside town having seen him.  In the morning they traveled in the opposite direction, heading toward Teglin, only to be distracted by fading energy signatures found along the river, leading them to believe that their target had actually gone that way.  Unfortunately, after the forest opened up along the river’s path, there was basically no sign of any energy signatures to follow; instead of backtracking, they decided to continue on until they got to Teglir in the hopes that they would find some more information about him in the city.

And now that they had arrived, Narden seemed as if he had actually found a sign of the Human.  Bat wasn’t sure how he was able to detect his energy signature in between the millions of individuals inside the city, but he claimed that it was unique enough that it stood out.

“Well then, let’s go see if we can sniff him out,” she said. 

Entering the city from the northern gate, Narden looked around, including back behind them, shaking his head.  “He’s definitely been through this gate, but I can’t tell if he was coming or going.”

They managed to get into the city with no major issues, with only the guards at the gate taking particular interest in their being Local Legion members, and they started walking down Glory’s Passage, the massive thoroughfare that the city was well-known for throughout the Aroxis Empire.  Bat had seen it on a few occasions in the past, but she barely looked at its majesty as she followed their Charee Party member as he quickly led them to enormous building at the end of the Passage. 

Adventurer’s Coalition; of course it would be there that he went.

They received countless looks as they walked through the opening into the Coalition building, some of the hostile, while most of them appeared simply confused by their presence.  Without wasting any time, Bat went up to the nearest counter, cut through the line of Adventurers waiting there, and demanded to see the Coalition Branch Leader of the Netherine behind the barrier.

“I’m sorry, the Coalition Leader is unavailable—”

“It’s fine, Wyrdla, I’ll take it from here,” a voice cut off the Coalition member before she could say anything else.  Bat looked up and recognized the speaker immediately, despite it being years since they’d last met. 

“Eleria.  I wasn’t aware that they transferred you here.”

The mature Netherine snorted in amusement, before beckoning Bat and her Party to follow her.  “There’s obviously a lot that you aren’t aware of, Bat’la’hera.  Come with me, and you can tell me about why you decided to cause such a stir by coming to my city.”

Her city?  She still thinks too highly of herself, that much is obvious.

It only took a few minutes for them to reach what appeared to be Eleria’s private office, but to Bat, it felt like hours since she was impatient to start asking questions. 

After taking a seat, the Coalition Branch Leader sat across from Bat and stared at her for a few seconds in silence, before asking, “So, what brings you to Teglir?”

“Why do I get the feeling that you already know what I’m going to ask about?  Or more specifically, who I’m going to ask about?”

“Oh?  I’m sure you’re mistaken,” the elder Netherine answered in an even tone, not displaying any sign of knowing what the Local Legion was doing there one way or another.  “Why don’t you tell me, and perhaps I can help?”

Glancing at Narden, she didn’t need his facial expression to know that Eleria was hiding something.  “Fine.  If we’re going to play it that way, then let’s play.”  She took a deep breath before continuing.  “I’m looking for a Human that goes by the name of Thaden.  Level 3, perhaps Level 4 or even Level 5 if he managed to Level-up on his journey here.”

“And what makes this ‘Thaden’ who’s a Human, a race that is virtually nonexistent in the Aroxis Empire, so special that the Local Legion is looking for him.  A Level 3, or 4, or even 5, shouldn’t be a threat to anyone.”

Bat smiled.  “Supposedly, this weak Human is a Platinum+ Rank.  I don’t know for sure, but I heard it from Coalition sources that say that it is true.

The look of surprise wasn’t done well, but the effort was still undertaken by Eleria to feign the shock of hearing someone at such a low Level was a Platinum+ Ranked Coalition member.  “What?!  That’s highly improbable!  Are you sure your information is correct?”

Bat noticed the Coalition Leader didn’t say that it was “impossible,” just “improbable”.  She must be figuring that we’re testing her for lies.  So far, she hasn’t told one outright.

“Oh, yes, the information we were given is quite accurate.  Based on how he was able to evade us, it might even be true.”  As Eleria said, that’s highly improbable, but not impossible.

“I see.  That’s quite the revelation.  If it was true, then they must be a very important member of the Coalition.  Perhaps even important enough that it behooves me to ask: Why you are looking for this Thaden individual?  Do you mean them harm?”

She shook her head.  “Not necessarily.  We are seeking him for more information about the destruction of the town of Felith.  Did you hear about the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the deaths of every town member and the obliteration of the town’s structures?  We suspect that the Human, Thaden, may have more information about its demise… or might possibly be involved.”

“Oh, my!” the Coalition Leader said with genuine surprise that made Bat believe that she either hadn’t heard of Felith’s destruction or that Thaden had been involved.  It was obvious to everyone in the room, even those with less-than-stellar Mentality like Zarin, that Eleria was aware of the Human’s existence – and might even be actively hiding his location.  “That’s a serious accusation.  Do you have proof that he was involved.”

She grit her teeth.  “No,” she practically spat out, as she knew it would be a mistake to deliberately lie to the other woman.  “Only a hunch at this point.”

“Well, in that case, I’m not sure that I can help you.”

Frustrated, Bat locked eyes with the Coalition Leader, who didn’t back down from the stare.  “Surely you can at least us meet with him to ask some questions.  It is important that we fulfill our mission to locate and eliminate whatever destroyed Felith, and we are 100% sure that Thaden has the information needed to complete our directive.”

Eleria froze for a few seconds, and her expression appeared conflicted.  She eventually sighed and began manipulating something in front of her.  “Fine.  I’m searching for an Adventurer named Thaden or any Humans currently inside the city.”  It didn’t take long for her to close out whatever she was looking at, before continuing.  “Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear as if there are any Adventurers named Thaden or any Human Adventurers inside the city at this time.  I hope that satisfies you, because I don’t believe I can help you any further.”

As much as what she was told was disappointing, Bat still nodded in response.  “Thank you for searching for him.  I appreciate your assistance in this matter.”

It wasn’t too long after exchanging goodbyes that they found themselves along Glory’s Passage once again.

“I believe she did actually search for him,” Narden said after a few seconds of them looking over the passersby along the wide thoroughfare.

“I know.  I’m fairly sure she knows who he is, perhaps even met with him, but she didn’t know anything about him and Felith.  That’s making her doubt him, as she is probably also suspicious of his Badge Rank.”

“Who wouldn’t be?” Loc asked, and she had to admit that was true.

Darvo, who had been largely silent up to that point, cleared his throat.  “So, if he’s not in the city, where did he go?”

Bat didn’t have to glance at Narden to know that he thought the same thing as she did.  “He might not be here now, but he was here within the last 24 hours.  And I bet he’s going to be back.  And when he returns, we’ll be able to find him then.”

                   *

As soon as they exited the dungeon, ending up in the same small cave that had held the entrance—which no longer existed now that it had been cleared—Thaden heard relieved exhalations from his Party members.  Glancing at them, he was somehow unsurprised to see that each of them were already rapidly increasing their Levels until they stopped at Level 21.  Creepily identical smiles lit their faces as the sudden increase in their Level, which was likely the highest bump all in one go that any of them had seen up to that point.

“This is amazing!” Blinky practically shouted to break the charged silence.  “I’ve made more progress today than I have in the last few years!”

The others nodded, agreeing with the Grome.  Seeing that they had all reached the Level needed to evolve their Class, Thaden suddenly had a thought.  “Are you all ready to evolve?”  When they all nodded again, he asked them a few questions.  “A couple of quick questions, if you would.  First, where exactly do you go to evolve your Class?”  He asked the question because, on Tarth, that responsibility had been assigned to the Class Representatives inside the Adventurer’s Coalition.  The Class Representatives in the developmental world were Assimilators, which seemed to be the System’s personal servants or employees or partners (he never really found out what relationship they had), but he hadn’t seen any Assimilators since he'd arrived on Plangea.

And he was personally happy with that, as the last one he’d met tried to kill him.

“You don’t know—?” Flarenia asked, shock clear in her voice before Blinky cut her off with a raised hand.  Miraculously, that worked.

“After what we all witnessed in that dungeon, I think we can cut Thaden some slack,” the diminutive Adventurer said with a serious tone to his voice.  “Even if it’s strange, it’s obvious that our new friend here is, well, special.”  The way he said it nearly had Thaden refuting that term, as to him it meant something entirely different, but he realized that Blinky probably wouldn’t get the context of his complaint.

“Very well,” the Fledgling Flameweaver said after a few seconds, which was again quite surprising to hear from one of the Netherines.  Turning back to Thaden, she answered his original question.  “Evolving your Class is quite simple.  For combat Classes, once you reach the appropriate Level, you simply need to be inside any city or town across all of Plangea, and you will be prompted to choose an available Class Evolution.  You can delay the selection until you’re in a safe place, which is recommended, so that you can spend an adequate amount of time considering your choices.  For your Secondary Profession Class, there is a separate process that involves demonstrating your skills in your chosen Profession, but they are all different depending on your Class.”

That’s a relief to hear.  “Sounds easy enough, I guess.  Second question: Are there any Evolution Assignments that need to be completed in order to evolve?”  There were Evolution Assignments on Tarth, which had been a pain because they had forced him to do things he hadn’t wanted to do; he hoped that there weren’t any on Plangea.

At the question, they all looked at him like he’d been dropped on his head.  “No, there’s nothing like that,” Rel’ba’shet eventually responded.  Again, Thaden was relieved. 

Glancing at Sadia, who was looking at him in exasperation, he realized that she probably knew all of this and would’ve told him if he’d asked.  Oops.  

“Thanks.  I assume that you all want to head back now?”      

The question was probably unneeded, as the Party mutually decided to head back to Teglir immediately.  Thaden still hadn’t checked his own messages, as he was waiting until he was back at the Coalition, but he was also eager to look at what he could evolve his Novice Enthraller into.  Before they left the area, Sadia returned to the CAMP, as walking around with a giant squirrel was still probably a bad idea until people were used to seeing such a sight – or she could defend herself properly.

When they eventually left the underground tunnel system, Thaden was momentarily surprised to see that it was already dark outside.  It was only when he remembered how long they had been in the dungeon practically walking around in circles that it made sense to him.

Thankfully, their trip back was uneventful, as even late in the evening, there were still Adventurers coming and going from the Spawning Reserve, as the “fun” never really stopped.  As a result, there were no random monster attacks, as anything that might’ve homed-in on Thaden was killed by the multitude of people all around the Reserve before they could even make their presence known to the Party.

Getting into the city required nothing more than to flash his Adventurer’s Badge at the Gate Guard, and with his new Faction Label, if not the actual connection to the Faction, he wasn’t pulled aside by anyone.  That’s something I still need to talk to Sadia about – at some point.  Receiving answers about Factions and how they seemed to influence or control its members, similar to the System’s abuse of power, was important – but looking at his messages and Leveling himself up was more of a priority to him at the moment.

Walking down Glory’s Passage, Thaden had a strange feeling he was being watched, but he ignored it as just people looking at a Human that they had either never seen or heard of before.  Or it could be because his Party was exuberant, all smiles as they led the way toward the Coalition building, each of them eager to peruse their Class Evolution options as soon as possible.  For Thaden, he was excited about that, as well, but he was also looking forward to seeing Eleria’s reaction to seeing her family members rising in Level so quickly.

He wasn’t sure if he’d actually see it, as it would probably be in private, but he could still imagine it.

Other than that strange feeling of being watched, nothing else prevented them from reaching the Coalition, and even that sensation faded once they were inside.  “Shall we all meet up again tomorrow morning?” he asked his Party once they were inside and appeared ready to break apart to go their separate ways.  “We still have some Quests to finish, I believe.”

“Absolutely!” Lovinia gushed, her excitement over the results of the dungeon and safely getting back to the city really showing itself in her actions.  She wasn’t alone, either, as his entire Party was acting similar; Rel’ba’shet and the twins had been even friendlier than they were before, which was a great sign – and also confusing.

It wasn’t until he returned to his room, collapsed on his bed, and kicked off his boots that Sadia returned to her normal form – and provided him with some potential answers as to what was happening.

“Thaden, do you know the difference between Psychic and Spiritual spells?”

After a few seconds of thought, he shook his head.

“Well, they’re very similar, but the main difference is that Psychic spells only affect the mind of a target, while Spiritual spells affect the entire spirit of the target – which also covers the mind, as well.  Normally, when someone casts a Psychic spell that affects something’s mind, whether it is something simple as confusing to full-on mind control, the victim is usually aware of the intrusion afterwards and won’t react too kindly to whatever was done to them.

“On the other hand, when someone like you casts a Spiritual spell on a target, you affect their entire spirit, or their entire being.  It’s very similar to Psychic spells in how you can affect their mind, but Psychic spells are only a small part of what Spiritual spells can accomplish.  As I said, instead of only affecting their mind, you affect them as a whole.  While this might not seem like this is a big difference, it’s bigger than you think – especially when you cast something like Befriend Spirit.

“I wasn’t exactly aware of it before, as you’ve only really used Spiritual spells on monsters that typically died shortly thereafter, or who were mindless enough not to show any aftereffects, but I believe that what you did to your Party members lingered.  You fundamentally changed their entire being into believing that they’re your friend, and that belief was only solidified when you didn’t take advantage of them or even ordered them around.  And since you cast that spell in order to save their lives, that further strengthened that ‘friendship,’ as artificial as it was at first.”

Thaden was speechless for a few seconds.  “What are you saying?  That I essentially forced them to be my friends permanently?”

“Maybe?  I don’t really know, honestly.  I have no concrete evidence from the System itself, as if it either doesn’t know or is unwilling to share that information.  It could be permanent… or it might fade over time.”

While Thaden wasn’t going to lament his use of the spell, as it was beneficial to be friends with his Party, he couldn’t help but think this situation was like some sort of love potion or love spell being used on someone, removing their free will.  From all that he’d experience on Tarth with the System essentially convincing everyone to believe that it was infallible and perfect, he didn’t like it.  If he could get rid of it without damaging his relationship with his Party, he would; at the moment, though, he wasn’t going to try and do anything as drastic as that, because he wasn’t sure what would happen.

I wonder if it this whole thing would’ve been worse if I used Dominate Spirit on them.  He shivered at the thought, and resolved never to use that spell on any person.  Befriending someone was much more preferable than dominating someone’s spirit, especially as that sounded more like slavery than anything else.  Of course, it was slightly hypocritical considering that he was more than willing to use the spell on monsters, but he wasn’t going to concern himself with the psychological ramifications of trying to justify that it was alright because they didn’t count. 

Instead, he just ignored it altogether.  In fact, he ignored pretty much everything else as he finally felt safe enough to check the messages that had piled up during his stay in the Wild Flower dungeon. 

With a deep breath, as he was expecting a sudden surge of energy to flow into him, he opened them up.