When I arrived, I met with Christian, who explained everything that had happened. He began by telling me that he sent Chris and some other kids along with some alchemists to buy certain ingredients they needed. During the shopping, they lost sight of him.
At first they thought they had only been separated temporarily, so they didn't worry and went back, hoping Chris would return on his own. However, after a while, they received an anonymous message saying that, if they wanted their son back, they had to hand over the recipes for the new potions.
Analyzing the situation, it did not seem to be the work of black market traders, but rather someone from a competitor who was unhappy with our growth and wanted to obtain our production methods. The situation was complicated obviously they got rid of their holographic watch to avoid being tracked or communicating. We also couldn't call the guards because we didn't know how they would react.
I knew this situation could happen at some point, so I had already made each of the awakened boys, as well as Christian and Chris, special bracelets. Normally, these bracelets only had the ability to clear the mind and boost a person's will and courage, similar to the shields I gave the boys, made with light spell runes that had that effect imprinted on them.
What makes these bracelets different is that I also fused a kind of will of mine into the runes, giving them a unique ability of the will trait. It was not a tracking spell, but as long as it was close, I could sense if the wearer was in danger, as well as roughly sense where the bracelet was.
With this in mind, I wasted no time. I began to concentrate on finding that trail of will I left and, understanding the general direction, I headed that way. When I arrived, as I imagined, it was a potions store. It looked bigger than ours, but it didn't have as many customers as we did. I hid; this time I didn't want any chance of being discovered, so I asked Lili to help me.
"Lili, help me summon the Mantle of the Abyss."
[Are you crazy, why do you keep wanting to summon 6-star spells every chance you get?]
"wait... think a little . I have a higher rank now and I put most of the free stats into intelligence, so I have 30 intelligence. Besides, if you help me, I don't even need to spend half my mana."
[Still, isn't that too much of a stretch, why don't you use a 5-star one?]
"I don't want to take unnecessary risks by holding back. Besides, this spell is the one that can bypass the detection spells they normally place in these places as security."
[Okay...I understand, but I honestly don't like chanting high-level spells..... sounds ridiculous when you understand what it means].
"I share your annoyance...but that is the price we must pay due to our current capabilities."
Agreeing, Lili and I began to sing:
[In the moonless night, in the deepest darkness,
That shrouds my footsteps and makes me invisible to daylight.]
"Beneath the cloak of the abyss, I am a formless ghost,
A whisper in the night, a secret in the storm."
[In the gloom, I find my power, my refuge in shadow,
Where the eyes of light cannot reach me,
Like a specter of the night, a guardian in the mist."]
"Beneath the cloak of the abyss, I am the hidden, the undetectable,
A whisper among the shadows, a shadow among the stars,
Until the dawn dissipates the veil and I become an echo in memory."
["Mantle of the Abyss."]
When we finished singing, Lili and I disappeared from all existence. Few people in the capital could detect us, unless they were looking for us on purpose. It was a higher level arcane elemental concealment spell.
Without hesitation, I walked into the place. Sensing Chris's location, I knew I was on the upper floors. Still concealed, I rode up in the elevator. There were several detection barriers and sense blocks, but I wasn't using senses or search spells, but a trace of will, something abstract and hard to block, nothing stopped me. No spell detected me.
When I found it, I was in an empty room with a camera in the corner. Without hesitation, I destroyed it. I grabbed Chris like a sack of potatoes. At first he panicked and resisted, but when he saw it was me, he calmed down.
I teleported outside, left him in a place where he wouldn't attract attention and came back. I didn't want this situation to repeat itself, so I climbed up to the highest floor. As I climbed, I went through several detection spells, but none noticed me. The security here was suspicious for a simple potion merchant.
When the elevator opened, there was a table with what I believe to be the boss's secretary who was surprised by the sudden use of the elevator, but seeing that no one came out, although suspicious in the end she paid no attention to it and continued with her work. I was already inside the barriers, so my senses could know what was going on inside the door beyond the secretary so I ignored her and teleported into the room while remaining hidden.
In the highly decorated room, I saw a middle-aged man handling some papers. Suddenly, he received a call.
"That the hostage escaped? How the hell could a child escape from this place under our watch?" The man yelled into the phone, and from what he said, I assumed they had already discovered Chris' disappearance.
I looked around with my senses and didn't notice any cameras. The guy was just a three star desperado, he presented no risk to me.
"look for him someone can't just disappear into thin air You better find him or losing your job will be the least of your worries..." the guy was still yelling into the phone when I positioned myself behind his seat and, along with some suppression and sealing spells, grabbed him by the collar before he knew it spoke to him in a deep voice.
"You don't need to look for it,"
YOU ARE READING
Dawn Architect
Fantasy"Why struggle, you ask? What drives people forward, what is valuable enough for one's will to prevail? Have you ever stopped to reflect on the weight of your decisions, on the exact moment when things began to fall apart? You may never know where yo...
