When Rhodes and Kana landed at their destination on the Crimson Beak Birds, the notice board at the foot of the mountain already had the names of Mest and Wang Qiangji written on it.
"Spatial magic sure is convenient," Rhodes remarked, picking up a pen and writing his and Kana's names alongside the others.
He even briefly considered erasing Mest's name.
But after all, they were from the same guild, and there was no need to be that underhanded.
"Alright, let's begin!" Kana took out a deck of cards and immediately started divination on the spot.
Rhodes summoned a group of Shadow Wolves to spread out, with them and the two Crimson Beak Birds searching for paths and keys.
He also summoned two River Crabs and instructed them to find an inconspicuous spot near the starting point to hide.
In games, this is called warding or creating vision.
The main force for finding the keys was the Shadow Wolves. Rhodes had them sniff the scents of the guild master and Erza — after all, they were the ones who hid the keys.
Too bad he couldn't find scent sources for Laxus and Mystogan, otherwise, it would have been even more secure.
Kana did some flashy card drawing that Rhodes couldn't make sense of, and finally held up a card: "Heading northwest will bring us good fortune."
Rhodes nodded. "Alright, let's go."
The two of them identified the direction and chose a path to the northwest.
He didn't summon more creatures because he needed to control his magic consumption, in case he'd need it for a fight.
Because of the many tall and peculiar stone pillars in the canyon, a lot of places rarely saw sunlight.
Vegetation was sparse, but the rock walls were covered with ferns and moss, which looked rather slippery.
Walking here felt cold and damp, certainly not a pleasant experience.
Rhodes glanced at Kana — if it were Mira beside him instead, it might feel a bit better.
Kana noticed his gaze, "Did you spot something?"
Rhodes shook his head, "Not yet, it's a big place, it'll take some time."
The maze itself wasn't very difficult; the real challenge was finding the keys. Searching for a few plaques in a canyon this big was indeed a hassle.
A figure flashed through the air. Kana looked up, "Was that Mest just now?"
"Yeah, he must be scouting from above," Rhodes speculated. "Using spatial magic this continuously — can he sustain it?"
"If he can't, it works in our favor," Kana figured. Everyone was just trying to find the keys as quickly as possible.
No one was managing their magic as meticulously as Rhodes.
The two of them continued walking and searching carefully, taking turns according to Kana's divination whenever they reached a junction.
It wasn't because they were superstitious — Kana's divination was accurate most of the time.
"Miki and Joey have written their names," Rhodes said. One of the River Crabs left at the starting point had spotted them.
One of the crabs quietly followed them when they were about to move out of its line of sight.
This was one of Rhodes's plans — to have the River Crabs track two groups. If he and Kana couldn't find a key while others did, they could intercept them.
"Miki, huh... I have a feeling your tracking won't go smoothly," Kana said. "She might just keep heading north and clear a path for herself."
Rhodes paused, then replied, "That's possible. She and Joey have started climbing."
"Hahaha!" Kana laughed, "That's just like her!"
Rhodes had had enough of the guild's reckless bunch — everyone, regardless of gender, was just so brash.
Fortunately, Miki didn't plan on climbing indefinitely. She stood on top to scout, and even let Little Bee out to help find the right path.
Her plan was to find the exit first, and if she came across the key along the way, great. If not, she would wait by the exit to fight for it.
Rhodes and Kana discussed Miki's intentions and then expressed their disdain for this kind of strategy.
"If she doesn't work hard to find the key, who are we supposed to take it from?"
After a while, Worren and Marcus finally reached the starting point, signed their names, and hurried into the maze. The other River Crab followed them, and Rhodes saw Worren place his index and middle fingers together at his temple, before setting off quickly with Marcus.
"They're heading... towards Miki's group," Rhodes concluded. "So they're also planning to not look for the key themselves?"
Kana said, "Worren's magic can indeed locate everyone's position. It's possible we're under his surveillance as well."
Rhodes felt a bit dejected. He was only monitoring two groups, and yet both seemed intent on slacking off.
As for Mest, teleporting all over the place made tracking him impossible. They were on their own for that.
After a while, there was some movement on Worren's end.
He suddenly pulled Marcus aside, veering into a different path.
The River Crab lost sight of them and quickly tried to catch up.
Just as it got near the junction, a large pile of sand erupted from the ground like whips, flipping the River Crab over.
"Sand Zone! Huh? Isn't that Rhodes's Canyon Swift Crab?" Marcus recognized the creature. "Are Rhodes's summons from this canyon?"
Worren replied, "No, I'd rather believe that Rhodes is having it follow us."
The River Crab that was attacked immediately returned to the summoner's canyon — that was Rhodes's prior command, to preserve his forces as much as possible.
"Just as I thought, this guy's plan is just like ours," Marcus said, watching the River Crab disappear. "Hey, Worren..."
...
"Yo, Rhodes! Sorry about that!"
A smug voice rang in Rhodes's mind — it sounded like Marcus.
"Marcus? Is Worren using telepathy?" Rhodes wondered.
Kana paused, "Worren is talking to you?"
Rhodes nodded to her and then heard Worren's voice as well:
"Yes, it's me. When you talk like that, I can hear you. How's your progress?"
Rhodes responded, "If we had progress, we wouldn't need to track you guys. I told it to stay hidden, and you still noticed it — impressive."
"Tracking doesn't work on me."
After all, Worren was an experienced wizard, the same age as Laxus, and his magic was unique. If he wanted, almost no one could track him without being detected.
Rhodes couldn't help but sigh — there were indeed some real experts in the guild.
Kana asked, "What's he saying?"
"Just asking about our progress. Hold on," Rhodes said. "Could you add Kana in too? It's exhausting for me to keep relaying."
"No problem. Kana, can you hear me?"
Kana gave a mocking laugh, "Ha! I'm actually curious how you got down from that cliff."
"Haha, I know that one! Worren, he..."
They hadn't had so much to talk about even when they were on the train together, but now that they couldn't see each other, things were getting lively.
Rhodes was reminded of the fun he used to have with his friends when they weren't in the same place, but were gaming together in a group voice chat.
Unfortunately, just when Marcus was about to reveal something crucial, the communication was suddenly cut off.
Authority power at work.
Still, it confirmed that Worren didn't get down in the conventional way — it made Rhodes a bit curious.