A few hours earlier Tepo and his friends arrived in the vicinity of Rocky Cloud City, not daring to approach too closely.
He immediately took out his com, trying to contact Parton.
After a while he put it away with a frown.
"No connection."
"Did they shield the city?"
"I fear that's not it…"
Everyone had solemn faces. Some guesses appeared in their minds as they remembered the information Tepo had given them.
Varei looked at Tepo's worried face, asking carefully:
"What should we do now?"
"Let's ask around."
The group turned around, chasing after a few refugees they had seen earlier.
It wasn't difficult to get information from them. The Hurricane Army had caused such a large commotion, which couldn't be hidden even from commoners.
After getting the confirmation, Lao Ru was the first to voice his confusion:
"So they actually planed a frontal assault? But why?"
"Because they are warriors!", stated Lao De.
At the same time Tepo and Yerive looked at each other with furrowed brows.
"Do you also think something is odd?"
"Yes. The direction doesn't match. The Tamed Storms Kingdom is in the west. Why would the army march towards the east?"
"Guys. Does it really matter? Let's just follow the same direction."
"Droa'va is right. We can ask a few more people on the way!"
After the short discussion the group chased after the Hurricane Army. On the way they questioned a few more refugees and independent warriors, allowing them to stay on track.
They even witnessed clashes between small scout groups, doing their best to stay far away.
Soon, the unmistakable sound of war came from the front. The wind carried chaotic voices and the rumble of weapons.
Tepo and Yerive grew increasingly solemn, imagining Parton caught in a war between thousands of people.
But just as they were about to get closer to the war, a few ships blocked their way.
Soldiers belonging to the Hurricane Army ordered them to turn around, not letting unrelated warriors approach the battlefield.
The group reluctantly complied.
However, they only kept some distance before trying to approach the battlefield from another direction.
In a world like the Carrying Winds World, where large clouds floated freely within the storms, it is difficult to defend a place from all directions.
Thus, Tepo and his friends soon approached from behind the mountain.
"What now? How do we find Parton?"
Yerive had a distressed expression as he asked through the com. Even his girlfriend's attempts to calm him down were useless.
"Me and Varei have spells which allow us to observe large areas. But we need to get above the battlefield."
"And how should we do this? They will immediately shoot if we get closer!"
"But this is our o…"
"Guys!"
Suddenly Lao Ru interrupted the discussion. He had his eyes on the fort when an explosion suddenly went off on the cliffs below.
He instinctively took a look at the commotion.
As an ascendant his vision was naturally a lot sharper than Tepo's. Thus, he stared at the cliff in disbelief as he spotted someone matching Parton's description.
The others turned quiet waiting for Lao Ru to explain himself.
"Look towards the cliff! Tepo, Yerive, is this your friend?"
"Hmm?"
Tepo had a faint smile on his face.
How could we be so lucky? Lao Ru must have made a mistake. It seems even he can get anxious.
But as Tepo looked towards the cliff, his expression froze, staring at a group climbing up.
It can't be, right…
The young man squinted his eyes but couldn't be sure.
But this back looks so familiar…
"Guys? Is this him?"
"I don't know. I can't see him."
"Same for me…"
Tepo and Yerive answered with uncertainty. However, this matter was too important. Tepo knew he had to come up with something.
"Give me a few seconds!"
Fortunately, Tepo had a spell related to observation. Thus, he closed his eyes, concentrating on the 360° vision [God's Soul] showed him.
He carefully began to influence the spell. His vision grew more and more narrow.
Eventually he could only see a small corridor, similar to the image provided by a telescope.
But at about fifty meters it was suddenly cut off.
Tepo took a deep breath as he moved his force, guiding it towards the spell.
With the infusion of energy his range gradually expanded. As if zooming in on the mountain, Tepo soon managed to observe the cliff.
He moved his head carefully until finally spotted his target.
A familiar figure appeared in his vision. A tall man, with a broad back and short black hair.
Tepo opened his eyes in shock, but a bright smile formed on his face.
"It's really him!"
"What?"
"Are you sure?"
"Parton…"
Tepo's friends expressed their surprise as they looked at the mountain below them.
"What now?"
"Let's go after him!"
While Tepo and Yerive were eager to go, Droa'va watched the fort with worried eyes.
"Do you think this is a good idea? It won't be easy to reach the mountain! And with Parton not being in the heat of battle…"
Tepo didn't immediately refute Droa'va's opinion. It was indeed difficult to gauge the risk Parton was in. But if they tried to reach the mountain, the fort would definitely fire at them.
But as the young man was hesitating, Lao De's voice sounded out:
"I can see warriors of both sides entering a tunnel! Time to go, guys!"
With the strong warrior's reminder, Tepo instantly came to a decision. His eyes grew determined as he spoke up:
"Ok! We will go!
Varei and I will take the lead, serving as distraction! Lao De, Lao Ru, block any attacks aiming at the ships!"
With those words Tepo didn't wait for an answer, directly putting his ship in the storage bag.
Varei didn't expect to enter the storms abruptly. He was thrown up and down as he angrily yelled at his partner:
"Tepo! What are you doing?!"
"Just copy me!"
Tepo directly activated [Spirit Form] using the technique he figured out yesterday.
Varei watched him for a few seconds. As a spirit and the original owner of the spell, he didn't find it difficult to follow Tepo's example.
Soon the two partners stably raced through the storms, aiming straight for the large cloud in front of them.
Tepo cancelled his spell from time to time, hoping to attract the fort's attention.
Fortunately, his idea worked as massive spears soon shot towards his body.
The young man felt himself reminded of the time he escaped from the Lirane Minerals Group as he evaded the attacks with a mix of agility and the [Spirit Form] spell.
However, the sensation of having a massive spear phasing through one's body wasn't pleasant. Even with the spell Tepo still suffered some pain.
Varei understood Tepo's plan, soon drawing attacks as well. The little spirit was an airborne creature, moving with considerable ease.
"Ha! Those lowly humans will never hit me!"
Tepo shook his head as the spirit even had time to taunt their enemies. Although it was not like those could hear him.
The rest of the group watched Tepo and Varei's risky maneuvers from their ships.
"F*ck! This looks great!"
Lao De exclaimed in excitement. The burly warrior almost wanted to jump out and compete with Tepo and Varei on who could draw more attacks.
Luckily his brother held him back, soon controlling the ship to descend.
Yerive and Droa'va followed behind, staying close to the brothers.
With new ships entering its attack range, the fort diverted some attention towards them.
But Tepo and Varei still bore the brunt of it, skillfully maneuvering the storms as they raced towards the ground.
Suddenly a spear shot passed Tepo. It was in a perfect trajectory to hit Yerive and Droa'va.
The little ship would be shattered into thousands of pieces from the weapon able to threaten warships.
"Hahaha!"
Excited laughter could be heard through the comms as a bolt of lightning suddenly shot out of Lau Ru's ship.
It collided heavily with the spear, revealing Lao De's body, which was throwen back chaotically.
But the spear also lost all its momentum. Gripped by the storms it missed its target by a large margin.
"Great!"
Lao De let out an enthusiastic loud shout as he returned to the ship.
"Come on! Shoot again! Let me see what you got!"
While Lao De tried to provoke more attacks, Tepo also did the same. The situation just now was too risky. So far it was obvious that the fort had enormous difficulties aiming for Tepo and Varei.
Thus, the young man decided to deactivate his [Spirit Form] more often, hoping that it would prompt the soldiers to shoot at him.
But unfortunately, his tactic didn't work.
The fort obviously decided to concentrate on the easier targets. Suddenly a wave of spears shot towards the ships, with four of them highly likely to hit.
"No!"
Tepo let out a shout as he looked over his shoulder with an anxious heart.