The next day.
Whoosh
The portal that was located in the forest glowed as two people suddenly appeared out of thin air.
"Why did the young master even venture deep into the forest?"
A woman with long black hair wearing a pointed purple hat said as she extended her hand, and a pouch came out of her ring.
Her name was Ann, the guild master of the Hosling Guild, one of the four guilds in the city of Wind that primarily focused on research stuff.
She was fairly tall, wearing purple garments that properly hid her body and still gave her comfort.
"He shouldn't be that naive. As the city lord's son, he should be more knowledgeable about the contract between the city's lord and the ruler of the Frond Forest." A man with brown hair tied to a ponytail said as he looked around the area.
His name was Cedric, the guild master of the Blaze Guild, another guild of the city of Wind that primarily focused on trading goods with the other cities.
"Do you think some of the servants initiated the attack?" Ann asked as she took out a jade necklace from her pouch.
"No, it can't be... What happened?"
As Cedric was talking, he noticed a change in Ann's demeanor.
"The jade changed its color."
Ann said as the formerly red jade was glowing dim blue.
"…It looks like there is still hope." Ann said as she threw the jade towards Cedric.
"We should hurry," Ann said as she took out a transparent spherical crystal.
"Whats that?" Cedric asked as he looked at the crystal with curiosity.
"Don't mind it now. Contact the other team."
Ann said as she put the pouch back into her spatial ring, grabbed the crystal ball, and jumped from the platform where they were standing.
Thump
As she reached the ground, she looked around. Thankfully, there weren't any monsters here.
"…That crazy woman." Cedric looked at Ann as if she were a crazy woman.
Putting the jade necklace inside his pocket, Cedric extended his hand as a book suddenly appeared in his hand.
[Connective telepathy]
He mouthed some words as a small blue electricity suddenly emerged from his head and shot up.
…
On the far west side of the forest, there was another identical portal floating above the ground on a platform.
On that platform, two figures were already present.
"Dear lord. I especially requested not to be paired with you."
A woman with small, blue hair made a disgusted face as she looked around the area.
With her name being Chlory, she was the grand master of the Blueberry Guild.
"Yeah, as if I want to be teamed up with a weakling like you." A small man with red hair wearing a green bandana on his head said as he crossed his hands.
He was very small, nearly as small as a dwarf, but he was in fact a human and also the guild master of the Lionhot guild. Known by the name Ben.
Whoosh
As they were hitting each other with side marks, a small blue electricity appeared above them as it entered their heads.
Both of them saw what happened, but they didn't do anything as they knew what it was.
[Have you started your search?]
"We are looking around from the platform," Chlory replied.
[I see. Has any change appeared to your jade?]
Cedric asked as Chlory and Ben looked at each other.
Ben took out a similar jade from his pouch as they looked at it.
"… It looks like he is hanging onto his life." Chlory said as she extended her hand and took out a transparent crystal ball that Ann gave her from her spatial ring.
"What is that?" Just like Cedric, Ben asked about the crystal, but Chlory just shrugged her shoulders as she also didn't have any idea what it was and started approaching the corner of the platform.
[The young master initially started his journey from the west side, so be on a strict lookout.]
Cedric ordered as Chlory suddenly stopped.
"We know that; don't act like we serve you, you mongrel."
She said this as she cut off the connection with Cedric and, just like Ann, jumped off the platform.
"…"
Ben silently walked towards the corner as he also jumped from the platform.
"Hmm, should we just checkout there?" Ben asked as Chlory looked at him as if he were a lunatic.
"Why would you even suggest going to the red zone? Young master didn't enter the red zone, so we are also not going to." Chlory said as she tried not to even look at the place Ben suggested she go.
It was inside the red zone, where a ring of black fire was tormenting the greenery of the forest. A lot of trees and grasses were turned to ashes as the ground appeared dark.
"I know. It's just curiosity. There seems to have been a huge fight recently." Ben said as he could tell apart a place where a fight occurred.
"I'm not a snitch, but I'm totally snitching you." Chlory said as she rolled her eyes.
Ben remained silent, as he didn't have anything to reply to.
If the city lord knew that he was thinking of fighting instead of searching for his son, then he would certainly be punished.
"…Wasn't his son recently chosen to enroll in that prestigious academy? Why was he here instead of going there?" Ben asked, as he knew how every kid in this generation dies to get enrolled in that academy.
"How would I know?" Chlory as she landed on the ground.
"And does the city lord even love his child? He didn't show up at all. Busy at his work, they said, " Ben said, as Chlory didn't even bother to reply.
Thump
Thump
As soon as Chlory landed on the ground, she placed the crystal ball on the ground and poured a chunk of her mana into it.
Woong
"…What exactly is it?" Ben said as he frowned, looking at the crystal.
"I don't know. I'm doing what Ann asked me to do." Chlory said as she stopped pouring her mana into it after a few seconds.
"Hmmf, what has that crazy woman come up with again?" Ben scoffed as Chlory didn't reply and just walked backward towards Ben.
Srrrr
After a few moments, the crystal ball started to float on the air as a few strands of purple lighting extended from it.
Chss Chss
The purple lightning made some noises as it kept on floating.
"Lets go. Ann said this much. There's no need to dally around anymore." Chlory said as Ben nodded, and both of them entered the forest.
After both of them left, the crystal ball started to move around.
At first, it was kind of wobbly, but after a few moments of moving around, it started to move smoothly.
"Agh. Finally."
At the portal of the east, where Ann and Cedric were, Ann finally took a breath of relief when she finally succeeded.
"What did you succeed at?"
Cedric asked as he looked at Ann, who had her eyes closed.
"These are artifacts that I recently made. Currently, I have two of them. With the help of my purple lightning, they now act as my eyes." Ann explained as Cedric raised his brows.
"…I see. Whatever, let's keep on moving." Cedric said as Ann smiled and opened her eyes.
There was no longer a need to keep her eyes closed. Both of them also entered the forest.
The crystal ball that was flying above her, which also had strands of purple lighting, also entered the forest, but from a different entrance than the two of them.
Ann was confident that she could find the young master easily with the help of these.
She was happy for the opportunity to try it before the event.
…
Deep, deep, and deep inside the Frond Forest,
Huff Huff Huff
In a place surrounded by tree bark, a brown fox with a hint of white on her tail suddenly appeared as she started huffing and puffing.
"Agh. That little monster escaped." Scarlet said.
Whoosh
"You at least didn't lose any of your man." A blue wolf with a white nose spoke as it suddenly appeared beside her.
"That's not my fault. You should have protected them well, Anel." Scarlet said as both of them headed towards a huge door.
Clack
Opening the door, both of them entered the room.
"Hmm? Boss?"
Not sensing anyone, Scarlet questioned her senses as she looked around.
"…It appears she isn't here." Anel said.
"It indeed appears so." Scarlet muttered as she tried to think of what to do.
"Let's return later. She might have gone to make a visit." Scarlet said as she walked outside the room.
"…Who would she be visiting?" Anel asked as he followed her and walked outside the room.
"That's not any of our concern." Scarlet said as Anel tilted his head in confusion.
"Also. Immediately get rid of that." Scarlet said as she pointed at a small hint of black mist that was surrounding Anel's small wound.
"Oh, I wondered why it was itching. Woof-woof-woof!" Anel laughed as he brushed off the black mist.
"…I'm going; I have to give them at least a little burial." Anel said as he remembered some of his men that he lost in the battle with the anomaly.