The appearance of this formless unknown Attribute "traces" that had appeared all over Parachenko Village had put the majority of the population on edge, especially considering none of the Elders or those in charge were talking about it.
Ever since the beast tide hit Parachenko Village, the quality of strength that the Kovacs Clan possessed was far greater than it was before. All of their members had gone through a trial by blood, and experienced what it was like to fight with their lives on the line.
But this was different.
Without warning, and without any sort of meaning or cause, these "traces" appeared.
It proved that the person who had placed them could already wander throughout the Village without worrying about getting caught. In addition to the fact that they could spy and watch everyone from wherever it was they were hiding.
Even Arthur, who knew the World and its limits even better than Niklos and Elder Vova did, couldn't fully comprehend what he was looking at.
This formless, shapeless, constantly shifting mass of spiritual essence was unlike anything he had ever seen before. For a second Arthur thought that he could make out the image of a flame, sometimes a water droplet, other times a leaf, and even once a faint waterfall of sand.
It was unlike any Attribute that Arthur had ever seen.
"I thought that this might be some sort of Time Attribute, but now I think it has to be a Chaos Attributed Fae. I've never even once seen a Chaos Attributed Fae, even after a thousand years, but I know that it is an Attribute that supposedly resembles the primal chaos at the beginning of Creation. It is a type of spiritual essence that can naturally become all things as time passes. Once the world and its Laws stabilize, it can divide itself into any number of different things.....".
In the first place, "traces" were investigative-type Fae. They were used for scouting, or for spying in an enemy territory. However, such traces always left marks behind, and usually by identifying what Attribute it was, and what Fae it had come from, did it allow investigators to find the wielder of said Fae.
Investigative type Fae Masters weren't common in the first place. Finding multiple different Fae Masters who specialized in such a field would be a surprise.
Arthur narrowed his brows.
"But in the first place Chaos Attribute shouldn't be able to form within Human Heaven. Is this another problem born from my exemption of heavenly laws?".
That was certainly possible.
In existence, there was no Sovereign Boundary Physique that characterised itself with the Chaos Attribute. Purely due to the fact that no member of the Myriad Races possessed such an Attribute.
There wasn't much research done on it anyway, and unlike most Attributes, it faded away into the annals of time....
But.... there was one thing that Arthur didn't understand. One thing that didn't make sense.
"The qualities of the Chaos Attribute are formlessness, shapelessness and being completely devoid of any distinguishable characteristics. That fact that it has nothing to identify it with, in of itself is a type of identification..... However, this "trace" right in front of me.... constantly shows signs of every single other Attribute. As if it is both is, and not everything at once.....".
Arthur rubbed the sides of his head.
He just didn't understand what this "trace" was! Even he, a reincarnated Fae Immortal had hit a blockade in regards to what this particular Attribute was!
Arthur too had come up with the idea that a newly created Attribute had suddenly formed within the area around Parachenko Village, and someone had found this particular Fae and started to use it against them.
"No. The notion that someone who isn't a Rank 9 Fae Immortal creating something from nothing is completely ludicrous. If something like that actually happened, then the possessor of the Eternal Hourglass Absurdity would've already tried to either do something about it, or take it for themselves. There aren't any Rank 9 Fae Immortals within the Thirty Three Heavens right now, so Rank 8 Fae Immortals reign supreme for the time being.....".
The only thing that Arthur had to work with right now, was that the individual whom possessed this unknown Attributed Fae currently had methods to access the entirety of the Village without having to actually presently be there, however was afraid of moving closer towards the Clan Leaders residence.
They weren't currently confident enough to take on someone like Niklos, but everyone else they were fine with spying on.
The "traces" also seemed to ignore others whenever Arthur was around, meaning that he was undoubtably the target, or at least a target.
So.... someone who either thought he was a threat, or someone who didn't like him.
That certainly narrowed it down.
Arthur smiled softly.
The Eyes Of Affection allowed him to see both everyone who had even the slightest sliver of affection for him, but in turn, also allowed him pick out those of whom did not have some sort of affection for him.
He didn't have anywhere else to start, so looking at those individuals whom didn't feel any affection for him was the best possible start.
Unless the mindset of the other party was twisted in such a fashion that their own version of "affection" had been corrupted into a contemptible form of hatred, there wasn't any way that they could fake having Affection in front of Arthur.
His Eyes Of Affection could see the different types of affection formed, as indicated by the colour of the lines of affection. Any other colour than black, would be a result of Fae....
Arthur spent the rest of his free time walking around the Village, his eyes constantly flickering between pink and black. The greatest weakness of the Eyes of Affection was that once they were activated they caused a physical change in Arthur's appearance. Such a thing would inevitably draw attention to himself if he used in in front of people without hiding it.
Arthur had no doubt that the Elders of the Kovacs Clan were also researching these mysterious, unknown Attributed "traces" and the Fae Master who placed them.
They had the advantage of numerous, and could cover much more ground than what Arthur could, however, didn't have the knowledge or the position that Arthur had in this situation.
He himself was a target, which meant that he could use himself as bait if he so wished.
Niklos and the other Elders didn't know this at the moment, so for the time being, Arthur was one step ahead of them.
The demon lifted his head and noticed the distinct lack of any lines of affection between him and a middle-aged man sitting down in a nearby tavern. Arthur gave him a once over, before shaking his head and moving on.
'He isn't a Fae Master. He's not the culprit'.
Arthur couldn't deny that he wanted to kill the perpetrator and take all of his unknown Attributed Fae for research. Finding a Fae, with an Attribute that even a former Fae Immortal had never seen before, was the absolute chance of a lifetime.
The qualities of the unknown Attribute made him think of the ancient Chaos Attribute, however it was much to unstable, constantly in flux. It was as if the natural structure of Chaos had suddenly become much more volatile. It lacked a certain level of orderliness that Chaos possessed.
To say that it was interesting was an understatement.
In fact, in comparison to his desire to research and understand Physiques, this unknown Attribute was a close second.
It was because of his presence, and his influence that this unknown Attributed Fae was born. And as such, it was an existence similar to his own.
One that more than likely, existed independently of heavenly restrictions.