Chapter 47: Using my Bloodline to Track (2)

The area was massive, and since it was basically wilderness, finding the creature’s tracks was pretty damn hard.

We each searched a different area to cover more ground. If we stayed together, finding anything would take a lot longer.

I wasn’t looking for normal tracks like footprints, but rather a mana flow or trace left behind by the creature while it ran away with Maison.

I thought I would find one inside Maison’s house, but I hadn’t. There was nothing inside.

How could that be? Did the creature knock Maison out without using any powers? Even if it just used its physical strength, it still didn’t have a ’normal’ body. All beasts were enhanced by mana, so it should have left some kind of trail behind.

That was exactly what had been bothering me since the moment I stepped inside Maison’s house.

I didn’t say a word to Tom or Ethan. My bloodline powers had to stay a secret, obviously. I wouldn’t have been able to explain how I could spot mana flows in the environment.

That was something not even some high-ranking hunters could do.

For that reason, I was starting to believe something else had happened. At first, I thought that maybe Maison just ran away alone and faked his own kidnapping.

It would explain why there were no mana traces inside his house. However, the little boy had seen something carry Maison away.

That piece of information gave me a new idea of what might have happened.

Maison had a partner in crime. It made sense. Someone ’kidnapped’ him and ran away.

The first person who came to mind was Mary, since she was missing too. Maybe both of them were up to something.

But running away like that was weird. Both of them were single, so there was no need for an elaborate escape if they were just having a romantic relationship.

There had to be more to it. Anyway, just like back at the house, I didn’t find any mana traces in the area around the North Fork Viewpoint.

The only mana traces I could see were the ones near the dimensional rift. I walked over to speak with the police to see if they knew anything.

I instantly showed them my hunter ID to speed things up.

"Did you see anything in the area? We’re investigating the kidnappings that happened in the city."

"Why look here?" one of the officers asked.

"I believe whatever kidnapped them might have run toward here," I said. "It’s just a hunch at this point, but we are following all the leads we have."

"Uh, well, nothing happened around here. The rift is quiet, and no monsters appear to have escaped from it. We didn’t see any weird movements, either."

Things were so weird, honestly. Everything looked normal, with the exception of the two kidnappings that happened in the last week.

"Are you sure? Sometimes it’s hard to see things in the dark, but what about hearing something? Did you hear anything weird while you were sleeping, perhaps sounds that aren’t common for these parts?"

The officers didn’t speak up, but I noticed one in the back who looked like he had something to say. I didn’t know why they would keep information from me, though.

Was it the same thing that happened with the forensics specialist? Did they just dislike hunters or some shit?

"You," I said, pointing at the officer. "You heard something, right? Tell me. This is an investigation conducted by the Hunter Society. I don’t think you want to withhold information."

Every officer looked at the guy I had just pointed at. He was quite young and didn’t have that authoritative look to him.

"Uh, yeah, I heard something like six days ago."

Six days ago was right around the time Maison got kidnapped.

"Go on."

"I really can’t explain the sound. It was, like, really fucking weird. It happened at around one or two in the morning, during my shift keeping watch over the rift."

"Were they footsteps, like those of a humanoid creature, maybe? Or perhaps something else?"

I was trying my best to get more information out of him, even though the officer was clearly reluctant to say anything.

"Yeah, it could have been footsteps, but they didn’t sound human. It was like the sound of ink hitting the floor. I don’t really know how to describe it."

"Ink?"

The creature the little boy saw... well, he said he didn’t see exactly what it was, just that it had a humanoid form.

But could it be made of ink? Or was it just completely dark? That would explain why the kid couldn’t make out any details. He thought it was just the darkness of the night, but there were streetlights near Maison’s house, so it had to be something else.

"Did you hear it speak or make any other sounds? Or just this weird ink sound?"

"Just the ink sound, sir," the officer replied. "It passed right by us, and I believe it headed directly toward the forest. Like, deep into the forest."

"Did anyone else hear something like this?" I asked the other officers.

One person hearing it was already enough for me, but having more would have made things even better.

However, no one else heard it. Or they weren’t saying anything, at least.

I thanked them and left, really hoping that those older officers weren’t going to make the young guy’s life a living hell for telling me that.

I pulled out my phone and texted Tom and Ethan to share what I had found. They texted me back almost immediately.

"We found black ink near one of the rocks. Come check it out. This adds up with what you found."

That was the message Ethan sent me. I met up with them near the river. They had explored a trail through the woods, and at the end of it, they found an ink mark on a rock.

"This is good news," I said, crouching next to the ink mark on the stone. "We are finally finding useful clues. What do you think it is, though? The officers said no creatures have left the rift lately."

There was a chance a creature did escape the rift and they just didn’t see it, or they were pretending that they didn’t.

But if nothing came out of the rift, then it all pointed to one possibility: a villain.

If that was the case, then this would be my first time facing a villain. I had no idea what to expect.

I was sure that ink creature was something magical. My serpent senses were telling me that.

There was a clear mana trace on the ink itself. It was basically pure mana. I didn’t share that information, but Ethan and Tom weren’t stupid.

"This might be someone’s ability," Ethan said. "Maybe they can create these types of creatures."

I was thinking the same thing.

"Should we keep going?" Tom asked.

Of course we had to keep going. That was our mission.

They were scared, since the chance of us facing a villain instead of a creature was pretty high now.

"Stop chickening out and let’s go. It’s three versus one, damn it."

I took the lead, heading down the trail that led deep into the forest.