She stood before everyone, shouting out directions and forming people into teams. Joe listened in for a few moments but soon found his thoughts uncontainable, his mind whirled once again and he once again found himself on the balls of his feet, knees bent and his body thrumming with energy. He was looking for a fight. He needed a fight. There’s nothing I can do, though… is there? Maybe... His thoughts turned to options. What can I do… what is something…
His breath grew shallower but faster and he couldn’t contain himself anymore, once again beginning to walk. His stuttering meandering turned to pacing and he walked back and forth, the energy building, radiating from his heart in waves that rebounded from his skin and back again, his body like a human shaped pond with waves bounding and rebounding. His pacing took on a controlled determination and his thoughts settled in a singular focus. Something… to find Kilniara. What can I do … Tension ratcheted up, and Joe fired off a monster locate without thought. He stopped, frozen. OK. That was dumb. I have actual quantified listing of magical skills. Look over your skills. That’s something you can do!
He flipped open his skills list and began going through it, even wasting time looking over skills in the common jobs. He didn’t find anything until he saw the hunter job. Find trails! Find trails, that would… Help, what does Find Trails do?
Find Trails: Seek out and easily find animal trails.
Well, that doesn’t… Joe frowned. Help. Can I use it to find the trails of people walking through the city?
Find Trails: Seek out and easily find animal trails.
Joe frowned. Well… that’s not going to work. What about… Joe continued on his list and then stopped, eyes widening! Party location! That… Party… Help! What does Party Location do? Please… please be what I remember!
Party Location: Sense where your party is.
Synergistic Gain: Magic Map – show your party locations on the magic map.
Joe quickly looked at the two jobs and found party-ographer and navigator, the two jobs listed as synergistic. He immediately swapped out his second job for party-ographer and when he looked at his status realized that he already had navigator. With the jobs set, he immediately pinged out a party location and a strong heat or energy radiated off to his left, pointing at Garnedell. Joe frowned. Where’s Kilniara? Joe turned and fired it off again. The energy that radiated against him from Garnedell shifted, but he still felt nothing from his other party member, Kilniara. He growled in frustration and began firing it off rapidly, several times every second or so while turning back and forth slightly.
Wait! Map! He immediately initiated the map and a blue screen with a map came up, his wanderings through the city already laid out with empty greyed out fog of war spots covering a vast portion of the city. He then initiated his party locate once again, avidly staring at his map while also attempting to feel for another source than Garnedell. He glanced at where Garnedell was on the map and immediately noticed the giant round green dot on the map. Right. Green dot for parties. So… his eye’s flickered around the map, searching everywhere as he returned to his attempts. In the middle of it all, without his even being aware, he began to interweave monster locate. Nothing came back, but his thoughts were too focused, his intellect taking back seat to action.
With the three skills running, Joe found himself slowly running out of mana, but did not care. It felt like he was accomplishing something, and that gave him hope and impetus. He continued firing off another party locate with a monster locate every once and awhile. The energy wave pressing against him from Garendell rolled across his skin and after several minutes, he finally noticed a faint heat hitting him from another direction, deeper into the inner city. Not the clan city!? She didn’t even make it inside?
Joe paused then returned to firing off party locate again even more frantically and making sure he felt that energy. He then followed along the line of where he felt the energy pulse come from, searching the map. It took two or three times before he finally noticed the incredibly faint blip of green that vanished even as he looked at it. My imagination? Or… what… Party locate fired again and he stared avidly, quickly noticing a slight green tint forming before it vanished and Joe’s eyes widened. So… not my imagination…but… then… Why is it so… Fear spiked and Joe growled, low and angry in his frustration.
He immediately began running down the road, his eyes pinned on the location of the map while he ran down it. For all that it was a festival, these streets proved to be remarkably empty, and Joe ran. He kept his map up, while also firing off party locate every couple of seconds, now no longer needing to do so continually, but still fired it off every dozen seconds or so.
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He tried to stop it, thinking it wasn’t necessary and while he noticed he didn’t really need to, his focus on the map enough to show the location of Kilniara’s lost green dot now faded to nothing, his concern and worry she might be moved or taken somewhere else had him regularly firing it off. The faded barely hint of returning green from each party locate skill use a soft promise enough to calm him.
“Joe! Joe!”
“Master!”
The cries of Garnedell, Gwenvair, and Zilnek mixed and the thundering of feet after him echoed in the back of his mind in a surreal echo that never really penetrated his thoughts. Somehow, his focus was purely on moving without thought. He still pinged party locate, the subtle heat coming from in front of him helping him make choices when turning corners. And he ran.
Buildings glided past. Shadows slipped in and out of his vision while he continued racing down the streets. Magic map glowed before him and party location erupted outward from him every dozen feet while monster locate found its way interspersed between it all. His feet thumped regularly as he moved, only slowing if he had to weave around a small crowd or turn a sharp corner. Behind him, the thunder of feet followed after, but Joe noticed nothing of it. Only the passing buildings, people, and lamp posts registered as a way to count progress. Even then, his entire focus was the map with the barely there green dot and the soft subtle heat bathing the front of him and the empty hollow feeling from the return of monster locate reporting absence. Turn passed turn and building replaced building. Joe ran on.
* * *
Garnedell ran after Joe, only some confusion at why Joe began running which was quickly replaced by trust. He must have grown annoyed with how slowly the Seekers were working. Garnedell glanced over at Gwenvair and saw a soft smile, only relief evident. Garnedell couldn’t help but add his own to it. Master leading and in charge was certainly a much better option than trusting Seekers, as famed as they were.
Truly, Garnedell could not understand why Master had waited so long, but now that he was taking action, Garnedell could only follow. Master ran, expending stamina as if it was never ending, and the people behind had long strung out in a long line as some lost stamina and had to slow to a walk before beginning to run again. Master’s training, however, had brought a second, invisible, pool of stamina Garnedell never knew existed. It was tiring to run, tiring in a way that was permanent and full, but somehow deeper and could be pushed, unlike the normal stamina most had.
Sweat began to form on his face as Zilnek and Gwenvair continued to run beside him, all three of them beading from the effort. The first time Garnedell had experienced sweat, he’d been a bit terrified, fearing an attack by some form of water mage. But when Master explained the source and purpose, he’d felt greatly relieved, although it was still a strange … even unsettling experience.
Master took a corner and then another. Garnedell found rounding the corners difficult and lost a bit of time to Master. Somehow, Master was able to take corners at a speed that Garnedell found quite shocking. Despite that, a straight path opened up before them and allowed Garnedell a bit of time to push himself in an attempt to catch up. It failed. Spectacularly. Still, he pushed himself then suddenly slowed.
Joe had come to a stop rapidly before looking to his right wildly. A few moments passed and Joe suddenly began running again, sprinting down a dirty back alley. They continued for another few moments, passing about halfway down the alley before taking another rapid turn to the left. Joe was now running then stopping in spurts.
Master ran down an alley then suddenly skidded to a halt, tension immediately seen rolling through his entire body from shoulders to calves. Joe glanced to his right, looking.
“There are monsters in here,” he spoke calmly, pointing to his right.
Garnedell blinked. That’s… no!
Gwenvair quickly replied, shaking her head, “There cannot be?!”
Joe glanced at Gwenvair before pausing and spending some time obviously using some form of skill. Somehow, Joe was able to employ the Skill without any noticeable outward sign, but Garnedell knew enough what he was seeing. There was a difference between when Master used his own skills and when he used the skills typical of the people of this plane. Still, Garnedell felt himself grow content.
Master finished his skill and turned to Gwenvair, confirming his first observation, “Monsters of some kind. Fifteen… maybe more. They’re kind of stacked on top of each other. Not sure.”
Gwenvair seemed taken aback, uncertain of how to respond, “I… how… That’s impossi…”
Gwenvair was interrupted by a man sprinting up behind them, calling out to her, “First in Line for Matriarch! The Seekers have found her, they say…”
He cut off when a half a dozen Seekers tromped up, one of the oldest ones stopping and enacting his skill with an exaggerated sniff and a wave of his hand. He then pointed towards the same building Master had pointed at.
“She’s in there.”
Master stopped, looking at the Seeker, “You are sure?”
The Seeker looked at Master and bowed, “I am certain, eccentric.”
Gwenvair saw Master’s confusion and quickly turned to the Seeker, “Verify.”
The Seeker bowed and another four Seekers also enacted their skill, smelling the air before all turned to point at the same building as Master’s monster building. Everyone watching had fallen silent and Master turned to look at the building. He glanced back and forth between the Seekers and the building before staring at the building closely.
Master then enacted a skill but did something different, somehow. Master’s working was more intense with greater focus. There was a power to it, some kind of greatness that was more than the simple workings he offered before. Master sat back up with a soft gasp and shook his head.
“I sense nothing.”
The Seeker bowed his head, “We are certain, eccentric.”
“Absolutely certain?”
“Completely, eccent…” the Seeker paused then turned and looked back at the house before once again enacting his skill, very carefully ensuring it’s use. Once done, he looked back at Master.
“It still shows the house.”
Joe bounced on his feet, staring further down the alley then back to the house. He grimaced and once again put effort into his skill.
* * *
<Chapter 88 Continued>