---The largest port city on the west coast. A few days after the group hunting Germal discovered the cave---
Inside the rough, plain castle four figures sat around a war table. The table depicted the entire western coast, and contain various clay pieces of ships, walls and castles.
Of the four figures two were the tall lanky man and the muscular woman. The other two were an old man with a scar across his right eye, and a younger man who looked like the old man.
The old man was teaching the young man about coastal defense and the types of ships and how to use them. The other two were staring at him, getting agitated that he has yet to reply to their questions.
The old man sighed and said to the two.
"Look, I already mustered the fleet, they are checking each any every ship going out to sea. We haven't found him. I doubt that any of my sailors would be able to recognize him even if they did. He isn't know for his illusions for no reason."
They just frowned at his words. They didn't find Germal on the way here, in fact they couldn't find any trail of him. It was like he was just an illusion after leaving that cave. "Hounding me isn't going to find him, I doubt he's even on the continent anymore."
The old man then turned to the young man. "Don't be like them. They lost all traces of their target and now are running around like headless chickens harassing anything nearby. Learn to let go of your current point of view. If your spear can't catch the fish, then use a net."
Needless to say, his words offended the two. He didn't care though. For one, he is a general directly under Lord Tang, not to mention he is stronger than the two combined.
"Sir, your words are very rude. We may not have served with Lord Tang during his conquest but that doesn't change the fact that we are the elites serving under him." complained the lanky man. To which the old general just laughed.
The laughter caused the muscular woman to frown. She knew she wasn't as experienced as the general, which is why she didn't say anything back. But now he was laughing at her strength, the one thing she prided herself on. Even then, she knew she wasn't his match.
"Grandfather, how would you go about finding lord Germal? I have thought about it, without knowing the time he left, we can never know when he will arrive or if he arrived before we were notified. Aside from Lord Tang himself, the only people that should be able to find him are you and the other old generals that fought along side him." Despite being raised in luxury and power, the young man was taught to be humble and talk things out before resorting to violence. So he tried to defuse the situation by asking what both sides wanted to know or give.
The question made the old man smile, glad that his grandson is able to think things out. It also clearly indicate that he tried to solve it himself. As for the other two, they regained their calm and opened their ears to listen.
"Good observation and judgment. Indeed, without knowing the time frame it makes things harder but not impossible. Normally it would take a week to get from Germal's city to this harbor. But as you know, there are movement skills and techniques that let you cross great distances in an instant. That was how that monk popped out of thin air." The old man took a breath and a sip of tea as he let his grandson digest the information.
"Now that is where time frame doesn't matter. All of us old generals have movement skills and techniques, some that can move multiple people. And to make matters worse, Germal is one of those that can move multiple people. He could have already left. Or if he had to wait for a boat, and with his skill level of illusions, we might not be able to find him. I am afraid to say that only Lord Tang is able to see through his illusions."
At this point the lanky man interrupted. "But the monk you met earlier was able to dispell the illusions he created on a map. It was this map that lead us here."
To this the old man just laughed. "Haha, if he truly wanted to hide his tracks only Lord Tang could find them. My guess is that he just forgot the map in his rush. Since it would have been with him, he wouldn't have used high level illusions. That or your monk friend could only see through the surface level illusions meant to trick you. The map itself could have been completely blank. After all, Germal was the scout and spy during the crusade."
This information caused both the lanky man and muscular woman's faces to pale with shock. They just realized that compared to the old generals, they are no different from the grandson in front of them.
At this moment the doors burst open, and in walked a figure cloaked in mist followed by a small child. "What is the situation? Why haven't I gotten any news from any of you?"