Chapter 272 Truth Seeker (Part One)

Chapter 272 Truth Seeker (Part One)

"Any sign of Nar'Kozz yet?" Exile asked as he placed his hand on Noslin's shoulder. The mountain had been silent for over an hour already.

"No," Noslin replied with a shake of her head as she gazed over the forest. "There's been no more Stalkers since the Vanguard failed. Our people are on edge. They're tense and anxious. Should we give the order for them to stand down?"

Exile rubbed his beard as he cocked an eyebrow in thought. 'Leaving them on standby will eat away at their concentration. However, standing them down may cause them to fail to react quickly to another attack.' Exile sighed as he nodded slowly.

"Let them rest. I'll take over surveillance for a while."

Noslin smiled slightly as she passed the message on. Her mind wandered to Mikari as she studied Exile. 'Would it be rude to ask him about his brother? If things go wrong, this could be my only chance to start building a friendship with Mikari.' Her mind swiftly went beyond friendship, causing her to cough to get her emotions in check.

"Is something wrong?" Exile asked when he noticed her strange expression. "No, I'm fine, thanks." She spluttered as she regained her cool. "Will Mikari be back soon?"

Noslin silently cheered when Exile failed to notice her question was more for personal reasons. The latter appeared thoughtful as he worked out the timing of what Mikari had to do.

"He should be back any minute now. I think." Exile replied with a smile. "I'll be sure to tell him you asked for him."

His aura flared more frequently now. Merlin's pulse quickened as he correctly assumed he had to be closing on the proper entrance. The fog ahead suddenly parted, revealing a pitch-black pit that dropped out of sight deep into the earth.

"That's more like it." Merlin chuckled as he studied the darkness with a crazed expression. Spells flew non-stop from his fingertips as he cast every spell meant to reveal hidden secrets and analyse things in his arsenal. His expression grew frustrated as one after another, they failed to find anything. His spells faded from existence as the last one returned negative.

It took some willpower to prevent himself from stomping his foot like a petulant child as he studied the pit with his own eyes. Perhaps anything worth finding was concealed in a more mundane way. Merlin nodded to himself after coming to that conclusion.

After all, magical residue was easier to find than something made to look like it belonged. It would be the best way to hide a secret from those with magic at their disposal. With some luck, they would ignore the entrance altogether.

Merlin frowned as he got down on his hands and knees to peer over the edge. An overwhelming sense of vertigo washed over him as he closed his eyes for several seconds. He slowed his breathing and calmly told himself there was nothing to fear. It was only a game.

He swallowed the saliva building in his mouth as he forced his eyes open. At first, he scanned the areas near the top of the pit before slowly working his way further down the walls. Hours passed as silence reigned in the forest while Merlin's concentration never faltered. 'Nothing.' Merlin groaned as he raised himself to his feet. 'Any symbols must be hidden in the dark or at the bottom.'

He sighed as he cast several balls of light and manipulated them to light up the pit's walls as they descended. Merlin was careful to study every inch as they floated down. All he saw was dirt and the odd root poking out of the packed dirt. 'Come on... Come on!' He hissed to himself as his lights were almost too far for him to see anything. Suddenly, they all went out! As if they were swallowed by the darkness itself! Merlin cursed as he realised what that meant.

'This test won't allow me to circumvent how it's meant to be done.' He groaned as he began casting and holding spells to be used as needed. 'I was hoping to avoid doing this part.'

Merlin gazed deep into the darkness. Then, he swung his foot over the edge... and fell...

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