Descending from the first level, Sif first noticed that the main hall of the Stags of Iron was even emptier than last time he saw it. There were only another two fighters, both shrouded in similar white plate armor.
The two armored fighters were both women. They had gray hairs, glacial blue eye and faces that could only be described as ageless. The black robed youth didn't even have to use his Willpower to tell that they were much older than what they looked like.
They felt old. It was like watching two old statues depicting young people.
They sat in silence in the center of the hall. One was taking some sips of dark ale from time to time, her mouth twitched at each time that she drank. The other simply looked ahead towards the doors of the tavern.
On the small table in front of them, next to large mugs filled with strong alcohol, there were also two closed white full-faced helmets.
Sif sent his Willpower ahead, examining them: both had large quantities of Life Energy in their bodies. It was quite possible that they were middle ranked Great Fighters. Maybe Rank 4 to 5?
He continued his analysis, checking the skin and tendons of the two women.
'Yeah, definitely rank 5… both their tendons are brimming with Life Energy… the one that's not drinking has also started working on her left arm bones… she should be half step to rank 6'
The moment he appeared in the hall, the woman that was looking at the door stopped immediately and stood up. The other put down her mug while her companion moved rapidly towards Sif. "Sir, you should be the Summoner staying in room 3, right?"
Sif's face didn't change at all. He kept a tranquil expression on, and smiled gently nodding. "Of course, how can I be of assistance?"
The woman took out a scroll from a bag and unrolled it in front of him. "Sir, do you recognize this woman?"
The young man's brow arched when he found himself looking at a drawing of Blue. He gave the drawing another rapid look to be sure and then looked at the two armored women, nodding again.
"What is your relationship with her?!" suddenly asked the Fighter that had been silent until now.
Sif gave her an annoyed look. Not only she was still sitting far away from him and had to scream at him, she also showed him no respect in how she addressed him. "Not your business…now excuse me"
He then moved his eyes towards the counter, where he could see the owner of the establishment talking to a server. She was in an outfit even more generous than the one he saw her in the last time.
The youth wasn't a person overly obsessed with women, but even he needed some fun after months of secluded cultivation in a two by two chamber.
'Damn'
The rude Fighter didn't take it lightly that Sif was completely ignoring her as he was watching with evident lust the Inn's owner.
"Despicable!"
Sif's eyes moved on the figure of the Fighter that just insulted him. "Do you really want to be beaten up so badly?" He asked in an almost surprised tone. The youth then shrugged his shoulders without waiting for anyone to answer him.
"Ok then"
A small piece of metal flew out from under his sleeves, starting to hover at the level of his head.
Seeing the small object, the two fighters changed expression. It looked like a random scrap of metal, but there were magic beast fluctuations that came out from it. Strong fluctuations! That was definitely a Menagerie!
The woman that had already come towards him, put her hands in the air. "Please excuse Fighter Xi… she isn't used to traveling outside Ivory Tower's territory… let me restart this: I'm Fei Yue. I and my companion were sent here to accompany lady Blue Yun to Ivory Tower Fort."
Sif's showed surprise: they wanted Blue? What for? He was pretty sure that the woman didn't lie when she explained to him that she was from a small branch of the Yun Clan.
Why would Ivory Tower Fort send two Great Fighters to find an enslaved bronze ranked summoner that wasn't even an heir of a big clan?
"Her Slave Marks points to this very Inn, but she is not here. The Inn owner says that she didn't come back from her usual afternoon stroll two days ago. "
"We wish to know if you have any idea of where she went. Or how did she evade the tracking of her slave mark. We also want to know how you two met. Everything that you remember of her could be useful" The woman took out a bronze beast coin. "We are willing to pay".
Sif ignored the coin that was being offered to him. A single bronze coin? Was she serious? Did he look like the kind of person that would snitch on a companion for a piece of bronze? It had to be silver at least!
However, he had to say that he was intrigued by the situation. Did someone kidnap Blue? Why for? Why so many people wanted her? How did she evade her slave mark? There were also many other questions that popped continuously in the mind of the young man.
Yet he had no time for this thing at the moment. He had a more urgent situation at hand: if Blue wasn't around, what he had to do with the Red Eyed Crow? Without her manual the spirit beast would die for sure!
Sif knew that being able to find a cultivation method to save the beast in the small time window that he had would be difficult.
His hand moved inside his pocket, checking the purse of bronze coins he had. He had still lots of bronze coins, almost 60, but even with all that currency, he wasn't sure that he would be able to buy what he needed.
The only other thing he could do was to find a place filled with Yin. However, that was even more difficult! Where would he be able to find an extreme Yin environment in Iron Gates Fort?
No, it was best if he tried his luck searching for a cultivation method in the Lower Market.
"I'm sorry, but I have some important thing to do at the moment…" he said with a smile on his face, as his Menagerie disappeared back inside his sleeve.
The Fei Yue wanted to say something back when a screaming person started coming down from the first level of the building.
"I said that I will go, so I will go! It's my money and if I want to spend it on beauties and freezing cold ponds, I will do just that!"
A tall woman busted into the hall, her eyes burned with a self-righteous fire. She looked at the people in the hall, nodding at the two Fighters in white and to the bearded man with tousled hair, before exiting the building.
Sif resisted to the urge of smiling. Not because the woman didn't recognize him. Because he had already found a solution to the problem that afflicted him.
Of course, it was something that Angry Sun said: " cold ponds". When he first entered Iron Gates Fort a guard even told him about them! A place like that would surely contain Yin energy!
He fished in his pockets, until he found a small medallion. There was an Eagle flying around a pond drawn on both sides. If he concentrated enough, he could feel some traces of Yin energy on the object.
'Yes, this place should be good enough'
The two fighters seemed to note the small token between his fingers. From the faces that they made, they also seemed to understand what it meant.
Sif laughed at their reaction. "I have been in secluded cultivation for two months, I just came out. I didn't even know that Blue was missing. I need some fun after all that work… I'm going to enjoy some good cold cold baths" he continued pointing at the medallion.
Fei Yue sighed. She didn't believe for a second that he was going there only for some cold baths. "That's ok, we can wait a couple hours until you… liberate yourself"
A strange smile appeared on Sif's lips. He started scratching his head.
"I was planning on staying there for a weak at least… I have a lot to recuperate" said the youth truthfully. Indeed, if these ponds actually contained Yin energy, it would still take at least four or five days for his Familiar to stabilize its conditions.
Naturally, that wasn't what the two Fighters understood. They thought that he wanted to have fun with the Red District's girls for an entire week.
Xi slapped her hand on the table, her face red in rage" We don't have all that time, we are leaving for the Third Level tonight! You can go back to your perverted occupations after you tell us everything you know about la-" Fei Yue interrupted her. "Calm down XI. However, Sir Sif, Fighter Xi is correct. We don't have all that time…"
Sif scoffed. It was true that the youth felt curious about the situation surrounding Blue. Maybe if he didn't have something to do at the moment he would even consider lending her a hand in this difficult moment.
"I'm not asking you to do so for free, this is a token of war from my Ivory Tower Fort. It already has 100 points." Fei Yue took out a little token and gave it to Sif.
War Token? That was a tool used to recruit external help in conflicts between big powers! It kept track of the War Contributions of people in form of points and allow them to collect rewards with them.
However, War Tokens were used only in time of war. So if the woman before him wasn't trying to trick him, during the time he passed in secluded cultivation, war had erupted between Ivory Temple Fort and someone else?
'This smells of something instigated by Leaf'
Noticing that he didn't take the token immediately, Fei Yue suddenly remembered that the Summoner had already told her that he had been cultivating in seclusion for months. "
Ivory Tower is in a war against Mysterious Light." She explained. On her side, Xi snorted. "That Golden Ghost was revealed to be a Core Disciple of Mysterious Light".
Sif's eyes narrowed. 'Of course, he's the one responsible, and of fucking course, that is already the Core Disciple of a Major Power…' He took the War Token from Fei Yue and sent his consciousness inside.
Three lists appeared in his mind.
The first was some kind of War Effort Ranking System. There were hundreds of names. Each one was preceded by their class. Sif could read many Fighters, but only a dozen or so Summoners. Yet the top 10 was almost completely composed by Summoner. The only exception was a certain Azure Knight at rank 8 that was a Fighter.
The second was a headhunting list, with the names and a picture of the most wanted experts on the other side of the war. Sif wasn't even that surprised when the first name was "Fighter Golden Ghost".
The third was a list filled with the various cultivation resources, techniques, and treasures that one could obtain in exchange of War Contribution Points.
'There is also a Soul Beast Cultivation Manual, Reward N°36, but it's for 2300 Points…'
Still, there were also a couple of things that Sif could use. Obtaining this in exchange for some information about Blue? It was worth it.
The black robed youth sat at the table with the two white armored Fighters and started narrating everything he knew about her and of their time together. During the time he also managed to extract some information from the two Fighters.
It seemed like Blue was the reward chosen by a young Array Master Hurricane Stone that had joined their side during the war the same day they put out the list of available rewards.
Reward N°211, free a level 1 or 2 slave.
The Array Master wanted to free exactly Blue and wanted her delivered to him. Seen the immense contributions that he had made to the War Effort and his potential in the Art of Arrays, Ivory Tower took the mission very seriously. They even sent two Great Fighters.
Sadly, Blue wasn't where she should have been.
When Sif left the Inn, several hours later, was sure that the disappearance of Blue wasn't a simple affair. Disappearing a couple of days before the arrival of a squad that would free her? Not even her slave code could locate her?
This Stone Hurricane guy was a famous Array Master that helped Ivory Tower win numerous battles against Mysterious Light. Sif would bet his life that it was Mysterious Light that kidnapped the woman.
'Whatever, not important at the moment. Let's go check this Eagle Paradise Pond…'