Now that the danger was over, Stratos was able to relax as he headed towards the bodies. Once he got there, he expertly looted the bodies, stripping them bare. They had surprisingly little on them, having only their clothes and weapons. He was a bit disappointed, after all even if they weren't the richest, with their profession they should still have had some good things that should have been helpful to him.
With a sigh, he picked up the weapons, as those were the only things he could really use right now. It was some sort of short knife with a serrated edge, the sort of thing he would expect to see in a butcher shop but with a more barbaric edge. It looked to be the standard knife for their group, as they all carried the same model. He wrapped them up in some garments, tried on their clothes, but took them off as it was too big. He didn't know whether he was going to tell his parents about this, but with his clothes the way they where, if he couldn't sneak in it would be hard to explain his appearance.
He was just about to head off when he noticed a ring that rolled a short distance away from one of the corpses. He didn't notice it before because of the volatile nature of the Kraft here, but after looking carefully, he noticed it had a strange energy reading in the HUD. After picking it up, he asked the chip to scan it, too see if he could figure out what it was.
[Unknown energy field detected. Unknown metallic component detected. Similarities to artifacts from <
'Hmm, gonna have to find a library first thing once I settle down. Might be able to get access through my mum to the clan library once I get back. Chip, establish the Automatic Material Analysis protocol. Have to start building my database for when I figure out how transmutation works in this world.'
[Protocol Established. Physical contact required for organic material at current stage.]
'Alright, direct me back home, and divert more energy into analyzing Transmutation. The quicker I can start doing that here, the faster my strength increases'
[Checking host memory. Cross-checking with terrestrial scanning protocol. Route established]
With that, Stratos started to head home, crossing through the forest. Going deeper, it seemed to be quite the old forest. The Kraft here appeared much milder to him, and soon he began to feel more relaxed and energetic. It was quite subtle, but he deduced that the nature of the Kraft in an area was able to influence its inhabitants. He also noticed that some of the particles, aside from being milder, had a qualitative difference than others. It seemed to congregate more around the bigger trees, and the Chip was able to deduce that similar to <
He also took extra care to taste and feel the various plants that he came across on his way. With the Chips analyzing abilities and inherited memories, he was able to quickly react to and avoid the poisonous ones, as well as discovering various useful effects that he could exploit later. After a while, he didn't need to touch as many, aside from a few that were too different from the ones he already stored.
He also noticed some various beasts in the forest that seemed to be strong enough to endanger him. The stronger ones also seemed to have a different energy reading than the others, but this also exposed them on the HUD, and so was able to easily avoid them. He took the time to hunt down the smaller animals though. He wanted to add them to the database, as well as get used to his new body and skills. He also hoped a little that they would give him EXP, but ended up disappointed. In this manner, he made his way back, feeling all the more comfortable with his new situation.
........
Back at the forbidden grounds, a short time after he left, there was a slight stirring there as a strong mental wave was slowly pulled back, still following his movements. If one was to follow it, they would be surprised to feel the powerful waves radiating from someone who's featured didn't seem to be clear. Slowly, piercing red eyes seemed to appear, with an even deeper colour than Stratos. 'Seems like an interesting one has appeared among the young ones. There should be a good showing soon'. With that, he closed his eyes once more, seemingly lost in whatever thoughts he had.
Elsewhere, the Masked Leader was starting to freak out. He couldn't really be called that anymore as he had changed back to the black and red robes usually worn by attendants of the Deshar family, but that is beside the point. He had rushed back to intercept Stratos, but after failing to see him, he realized that he had been fooled. He wasn't sure how the brat was smart enough to do so, but now it was too late to start heading back. He wasn't sure which way Stratos would have gone, as he seemed to be smarter than the average kid, so the best option he had right now was to wait to intercept him at the gates. His job had already become much harder now, and the only thing he could rely on to finish it was his identity, using that to lure away Stratos and take care of him quietly.
This was already messy as someone would probably connect him to it after the brat went missing, but he didn't have many options any more. He even considered letting it go, after all there was no way it could be connected to him right now as the 4 people they hired where already dead, but once he thought about how vindictive his mistress Amoreta was, he didn't even consider it again.
Finally, he spotted the kid coming. It seemed he made the right choice waiting and started to head towards him before he got to close to the courtyard. He had already been fooled once, so was on guard.
Meanwhile, Stratos was pretty happy with his gains so far. Going through that forest was pretty beneficial to the database, and he had found a couple things that he hoped he could use as substitutes for some recipes he knew. After considering things, he had decided to enter as is, because even though his parents might be distressed, he thought it would be better to bring up the issue so his Aunt would have to rethink things before sending someone after him again. Even though he might lose some of his freedom, he planned to be in the library for the upcoming future anyway, at least until he could get a better understanding of what's going on.
He was busy musing as he headed back, until he heard a shout "Young Master, where have you been, I've been looking for you"
[Warning! Hostile detected]
Suddenly things clicked. He knew where he had heard that voice before, it was his Aunt's main attendant, Zarel. Things seemed to become more complicated all of a sudden.