"Do we have a visual?" Vincent asked while tightly holding the communication crystal.
[ We don't… However, the tower's Mana Fluctuations detector picked something up for a moment before vanishing… It was the same signs when your senior brothers bypassed our defenses. ]
Calidia reported.
She was planning to sound the alarm to get the soldiers ready but she decided to contact Vincent first… In any case, mobilizing troops to fight an invisible enemy isn't really going to help.
Vincent looked at his Senior Disciples and realized that they were actually smiling all this time.
"Are they here already? Isn't that a bit too fast?" Vincent muttered as he can guess that they are probably Ignacy's group.
[ Vincent? What should we do? ] Calidia asked on the other line.
"Ahh… I'll look for them personally. Wait for my instructions."
[ Got it. ]
Their conversation ended just like that as the three disciples went to find the "intruders".
They activated their perceptive abilities and scanned the whole city… It didn't take long before one of them found a result.
"Found them!"
It was Shane who first found the group. He immediately went in their direction as the two followed behind him.
"Tsk… That was too quick." Brycen grumbled as he didn't even have a chance to find any traces of the intruders before Shane found them.
The two friends seem to be competing with each other and Vincent found this quite amusing.
Well, he can't compete with them anyway. He doesn't have a good scouting ability since he didn't learn any special Mana Art aside from the skill that his system has given him, the Item Sense Ability.
He didn't use his Item Sense just now since he will just sense the presence of all magical tools in the city which is difficult to filter and find the target he was looking for. He needs a rough idea of the location he will search for before activating it.
Now that he has a good direction, Vincent swiftly activated the technique and he can now sense the presence of six people who had entered their city.
They landed near the western lake where the Mythical Beast is resting. Luckily, Krusk just ignored them even though he had probably sensed their presence the moment they arrived here.
'Are they injured? Why are they staying there?' Vincent mused as he followed his Seniors.
"Right… You're probably not seeing them, Vincent. But they set up a barrier making them invisible and untraceable to the naked eye. You have to use a few combinations of detection arts to find them… It's difficult if you're not a Grand Magus… Here, they are under the Witchhazel Tree beside the lake…" Brycen proudly explained as he pointed at the fully bloomed tree.
Now that he's near, he can already find Ignacy's location and see them with his detection skills.
Of course, Vincent can't see them as well but thanks to his Item Sense ability, he can detect the magic tools of the six people hiding in the shade under the tree.
"They should be able to see us now… They'll remove the barrier anytime soon…"
Shane guessed and he was indeed correct. As soon as he finished speaking, the barrier that was making them invisible suddenly started cracking and after a few moments, it shattered into many pieces like a piece of glass.
There, Vincent found six people inside and he can tell that they weren't in a good condition.
It seems that traveling here wasn't so easy for them...
'Even Professor Levent is here… She probably made that Barrier Formation then…' Vincent mused as he looked at the group.
Aside from Ignacy and Thyrus whom he was expecting to come here, there are three more people who had followed them. They were Magnus, Guven, Elena, and Professor Levent.
They seem to be quite exhausted as if they have just gone through a long battle…
"So we're safe now, huh…" Thyrus heaved a sigh of relief after seeing Ignacy's disciples gathered together.
"Thyrus… What happened? Why is everyone injured? Did those bastards follow you until here?" Shane asked worriedly as he pulled out a bell Magic Artifact and rang it a couple of times.
It seems like a normal brass cow bell and can be bought anywhere. However, it is actually emitting a sound that has healing properties and is capable of relieving fatigue.
Furthermore, based on Vincent's observation, the bell also provides a weak enhancement to their self-recovery. It is a good first aid measure but they still need to be treated.
"Thank you, Shane… There's indeed a group of people that ambushed us when we were jumping into the Red Valley Waterfall… If not for Magnus and Elena's help, we would've been captured…"
Thyrus then explained that when they used a secret tunnel to escape from the 30th Tower, a group of people was waiting for them and guarding their 'jump site'… They were caught in a battle against five Archmages and over a dozen of Adept Mages.
This jump site is a special place that the Tower Lord, or anyone he permitted, can use to "jump" into another predetermined site. There were only seven of these sites and the nearest to their city is the Red Valley Waterfall about 20 kilometers away from here.
This is also the first time that Vincent heard of this so he found it rather interesting. After all, this confirms that the Tower Lords really do have the ability related to the space element.
"I already called for a carriage. They will be here soon. In any case, why did you enter our city like that? That was dangerous. You could've just informed us, Archon Thyrus." Vincent said as Thyrus has been here before and the guards know him as well.
There shouldn't be any issues if they used any of the city gates. Thyrus also knows a bit about the Tower's operation so he should know what to do.
"Ahh… We were worried that there are spies here as well. We wanted to ensure that our entry wasn't known by anyone. If it was leaked, this city might get attacked as well." Professor Levent answered hinting that Vincent has to make preparations to ensure the secrecy of their arrival here.
"I see... That makes sense then..." Vincent muttered.
Thyrus then explained how the spies of the Black Magic Organization destroyed many of their preparations against them.
As expected, the Black Magic organization didn't just act after gaining some power. They have planted countless spies inside every tower and have been waiting for orders all this time.
Currently, there are only a few magicians capable of catching these spies, and unsurprisingly, Guven was one of them.