Chapter 974: Finer Hands

“Hm,” Modred said, his gaze lingering on the dirt between his fingers. He rubbed them together, then rose back to his feet and brushed his hand off on the side of his leg. “Interesting.”

“How?” Elania asked. Her head tilted to the side. “Did Spider and his people come through here?”

“You can tell something like that just from rubbing dirt?” Seleth asked with wide eyes. “Is that earth magic? I’ve heard of some trackers using abilities like this but, I’ve never seen it before.”

“Huh?” Mordred asked. His brow furrowed. “What are you talking about? What magic?”

“…was that not magic?” Seleth asked. “What you just did? With the dirt?”

“No,” Mordred said, squinting at her. “It was not. I was rubbing dirt.”

“You can sense where Spider is without even using magic?” Seleth asked. “That has to be impossible, right? There’s no way anyone could be that sensitive.”

“It does seem rather improbable,” Elania agreed, sounding rather impressed. “I’m far from a tracker, but sensitivity like that is beyond the reaches of anything I’ve heard. Spider isn’t anywhere near us. I don’t even think he passed through this area. He would have had to use Spatial magic of some sort to escape Aqua Terra. Is it possible to pick up traces of magic in the surroundings he passed through from natural sensitivity alone?”

There was a long second of silence as Mordred stared at them without a word, basking in their awe.

Then, finally, he spoke.

“No,” Mordred said again. “I don’t imagine such a thing would be even close to possible. Not for a human, at least. Maybe for some very specified monster. You never know what abilities they can have. Fascinating creatures. Take Lee, for example. I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if she were capable of such a feat. But, alas, I am nothing but a human. It would be entirely impossible for me to track somebody without magic.”

“But you just said you weren’t using magic,” Seleth said, a frown slowly crawling across her features.

“That would be correct,” Mordred said with a nod. “I was not.”

“Then what were you doing?” she asked, even more confused than she had been before the conversation had started.

“I was examining the dirt,” Mordred replied.

“Why?” Seleth asked.

Mordred squinted at her as if the question was the dumbest thing he’d heard in a long time. “Who would need a reason to examine dirt?”

This time, it was the womens’ turn to stare at him.

Elania let out a long-suffering sigh. “My apologies, Seleth. I myself was slightly caught up in fascinating. Mordred may be an incredibly capable tracker, but he is also a complete and utter fool.”

“There’s absolutely nothing foolish about understanding your surroundings,” Mordred snapped. “You never know when the information will save you. For example, if you were to get stranded in a field with no resources, wouldn’t you want to know what manner of crops would grow best in it?”

“…are you carrying around a bunch of random crops for that scenario?” Seleth asked slowly.

“No,” Modred replied with a snort. “What, you think I just keep a bunch of random seeds on me? Of course not. But wouldn’t you want to know regardless?”

“No,” Elania said. “I don’t believe we would.”

“Oh,” Modred said. He frowned. That clearly hadn’t been the answer he’d been expecting. “Well. I suppose there’s nothing to be done about a lack of imagination. I’m afraid it isn’t something that can be taught. You may just have to content yourselves with being incapable of foresight.”

“I’ve been called a lot of things in my life,” Elaina said, her eyes narrowing. “But unimaginative is not one of them, Mordred. Do not make me demonstrate why.”

Mordred paused for a moment. He coughed into his fist, then straightened out his clothes. “A figure of speech, Seamstress. Nothing more.”

“Good,” Elania said. “Then I would suggest we get a move on and stop wasting time staring at dirt. I would prefer to locate Spider at some point in the near future. Have you ever considered the possibility that you have the interest in learning the horticultural facts of a field because you are prone to getting lost in them while slacking off on your original task?”

This reproduction was lifted from the NovelPhoenix site without permission; the author's own chapter there supports them.

“I am not slacking off,” Mordred said in a huff. “I am simply preparing for potential—”

“I can assure you that there are very few potential issues that I cannot prevent,” Elania said. “Unless you have somehow forgotten who I am?”

“Trust me,” Mordred said through a sigh. “That would be quite difficult. You are very good at making an impression. I doubt anybody who has had the pleasure of interacting with you would ever be able to forget who you were no matter how much they may have wanted to.”

“Do… you two know each other?” Seleth asked.

“No,” Modred said.

“Yes,” Elania said.

The two glanced each other.

“I believe my definition of know is different than yours,” Mordred said. “I am aware of Elania. I have been for quite some time. We have had interactions. But I would not go so far as to claim familiarity.”

“That’s a very pedantic way to say that he is scared of me,” Elania said dryly, a faint smile pulling at the corners of her lips. “But not nearly scared enough to control his tendencies.”

“For good reason,” Mordred said. “I know what you are, Seamstress.”

“And that’s quite enough,” Elania said. All the amusement evaporated from her tone. “I brought you along because I know that you are a far better tracker than I, Mordred. Not to engage in idle conversation, and most certainly not to fill the mind of our young companion with drivel.”

“She’s got a point,” Ace said from behind Mordred, where he’d been leaning against a large boulder for the majority of the conversation.

Mordred turned to glare at him. “And now you speak up? Couldn’t have decided to kick in at any other point in the conversation? I’m starting to wonder whose team you’re on.”

“Fist’s,” Ace replied. “And I trust you haven’t forgotten that we aren’t merely tracing Spider for fun. He’s got our teammate.”

“Forgotten?” Mordred coughed and shook his head firmly. “Of course not. I would never get distracted from something like this. This is very important business. Very important. You know what I’d like to know? Why is it that we’re bringing a random combatant along with us?”

They all turned to look at Seleth. To her credit, she didn’t even flinch. She just stared back at them.

“I’m not actually so sure as to that answer myself,” Seleth said. “I kind of got kidnapped—”

“Because this woman is associated with Spider,” Elania replied, cutting the other woman off effortlessly. “And she came in search for something she already had. There was no need for her to remain in that den of snakes any longer.”

Mordred squinted at Seleth. It didn’t quite seem like the woman had come to that particular conclusion on her own. Then again, she wasn’t exactly complaining. She seemed perfectly fine to come along with them. It probably didn’t matter much.

He was only after the research that he’d been promised. Spider had a deal to fulfill and Lee had questions to answer. After all the effort Mordred had gone through to secure those, he wasn’t about to give them up. And he had Fist to save as well, of course. That was probably a priority.

“Well then,” Mordred said. He looked to the sky and pursed his lips. Tracking Spider was considerably harder than he’d expected. There were nearly no traces of his passing. Whatever magic the man had used wasn’t something Mordred had seen before. That excited him nearly as much as the prospect of getting his questions answered by Lee.

Finding someone who could evade him was a rare treat. It might have been nearly impossible to find Spider under normal circumstances. But, fortunately, Spider had brought Fist along with him. And so long as Fist was there… Mordred knew exactly what direction to go.

“What?” Elania asked. “You can’t just say ‘well then’, and then stop talking. That phrase leads into something else. I do hope that it means you’ve figured out the direction we need to go.”

“I already knew the direction we need to go,” Mordred replied. “I was just testing the dirt. Spider is that way. Far. Probably somewhere toward the edges of the Coral Empire.”

“The edges?” Seleth exclaimed, her eyes going wide. “Seriously? But we were just at Aqua Terra! He’s powerful enough to teleport across such vast distances?”

That was a good question.

If Mordred was honest, the traces of Spider’s magic led right here, to this orange dirt field. They were then replaced by what he could only surmise to be some very well hidden magic. Mordred was still able to read its signature… but it didn’t lead anywhere he wanted to follow.

“It wasn’t Spider,” Mordred said. “He met with someone here. And they were powerful. Very powerful.”

“Who?” Elania asked. “Was it voluntary?”

“Given there are no signs of a fight?” Mordred nodded. “Almost certainly. It seems Spider had at least a fair bit of his escape planned out. Someone must have been waiting for him.”

“And you don’t know who?” Elania asked suspiciously. “That’s not much like you, Mordred. Can you not tell who is helping him based off the signature?”

Mordred let his senses brush across the final traces of the magic. As hidden as it was, it was impossible to completely wipe magic like this away so soon after it had been used.

His efforts rewarded him with a cold chill down his back. His hair stood on end as a prickling sensation enveloped his thoughts.

“No,” Mordred said, yanking his thoughts back. “I do not. There are some roads that are best not walked.”

“What do we do, then?” Seleth asked. “Can we really track someone if we can’t follow their path?”

“Of course. It’ll just be a bit slower than I’d prefer,” Elania said. “You said it was the edges of the empire, Mordred?”

“Yes.” Mordred pointed. “That direction. Just far. Very far.”

“Simple,” Elania said. “Gather yourself, Seleth. You might want to brace for this.”

“You’re strong enough to teleport across the empire?” Seleth asked in disbelief. “Seriously? Isn’t the amount of magical energy needed to do that astronomical?”

“I just cut our way out of Aqua Terra,” Elania said with a smirk. “Do you really think distance is that much harder? You’re just used to incompetent Space Mages who use their power as a cudgel. I prefer a… finer hand.”

She flicked her fingers. A shimmer of power danced through the air, carving down before her with a faint rip, almost like the sound of scissors slicing through cloth.

A rippling field yawned open before Elania. It shimmered with faint motes of light strewn across a sea of darkness like stars in the night.

Mordred’s domain prickled.

“That isn’t Spatial magic,” Mordred said.

Elania’s eyes narrowed. “I hate how perceptive you can be. If you want you answers and your teammate back, I suggest you stop asking questions and get in the portal.”

Mordred and Seleth exchanged a glance.

Then the two of them shrugged.

And, as one, all three stepped into the rend in reality and vanished.