14 Hidden in Plain Sight

Orlov ran up to the small village and didn't bother to slow down at all. "Halt!" a sentry yelled from the top of the fence of the village but with one glance he went quiet. The barbarian took a casual leap and jumped right over the wooden fence. When he landed on the other side he found a group of warriors gathered in formation with shields and spears. They appeared intimidating but the slight trembling in their spears gave away their fear. "Stand down!"a voice came from the back of the gathered warriors. Hearing the voice they all reacted in unison by retracting their spears, standing at attention and stepping aside to make a path down the middle of their ranks. A well built man wearing a tiger skin robe walked down the path. This was Chief Saito and he cautiously approached Orlov. "What brings the Barbarian King and Shadow Thief to my clan?" he asked whilst giving a glance to Orlov's shadow. "It was detected, how strange." a soft voice came from the shadow as it stood up from the ground. It turned to a hooded man in a black cloak looking curiously at Chief Saito. A cold sweat broke out on Chief Saito's neck. If he had not just now heard Philip's voice in his mind that they were in fact two experts, he would have completely been off guard to the threat. He himself even though he was a strong warrior and believed in his keen perception had detected nothing. "More experts!" the sentry yelled again. At this point he was already in despair. There was no defending from such a line-up if they had ill intentions."Open the gates." Chief Saito was also resigned. A white horse trotted into the village with a man in armour and an archer with a large bow riding it. They dismounted and the archer walked up to Chief Saito.

" Hello I'm Telerin and we are the Shadow Team here for the Adventurers Guild to investigate the anomaly in the sky."

"Your fame precedes you Shadow Team. Follow me this way." Chief Saito gestured with his hand to head through the path created by the soldiers. Completely oblivious to being surrounded Sir Ainsley took his horse by the reigns and proceeded forward. Chief Saito accompanied him on the other side to lead the way and the other three adventurers followed behind. The wariors had awkward looks after the group left. It felt like a heard of mountain lions had just walked by. Instead of intimidating the enemy they were the ones in a fluster. Chief Saito led the adventurers to the clearing outside his hut. A fog had gathered where the warrior tournament had previously been. It was incredibly thick and condensed in just this small area, slowly distorting here and there. " Adventurer's Guild sure reacted quickly, it must not be a simple treasure. I should warn you though, the fog is dangerous, and it has been getting thicker with time."Chief Saito said his piece and walked away. "It cannot see through the fog." the shadow thief said once the villager had left. The other three also had sombre expressions. None of them could see through this fog, and more importantly, it sent warning signals of danger to them. It had been a long time since their perceptions had been this scared. It waved his hand and a black shadow ran out from his body and into the fog. This was his [Shadow Clone] technique which he had used to avoid many a trap whilst tomb raiding. The clone made a few steps into the fog before slowly dissipating and the connection being severed. A frown came on It's face and he waved his hand again. This time three clones ran into the fog from different directions. But three or four steps into it the same thing happened and they all faded away. "Four steps into the fog it attacks anything that approaches. It is a rapid corrosion attack on It's clones." the thief slowly reported. "Corrosion is it?" Telerin stepped up and nocked an arrow to his bow. He then shot it up into the sky and it came down in the middle of the fog from the top. Sure enough, a short distance into the fog he could no longer sense it. A deep frown came on his face, because he knew just how sturdy that arrow was. To corrode so quickly, just what was this fog? Sir Ainsley took out a coin and tossed it into the fog. It landed about five paces in and a hissing sound started coming from it. It did not corrode as quickly as the arrow and the clones but soon after it had also vanished without a trace. That coin was made of the same material as his armour, which meant that even he could not last long in this fog. And yet, waves of divine power could be felt at the centre of this fog, it was obvious this was where the treasure was. "What was that about no treasure you can't lift, Orlov?" Telerin joked in defeat. Orlov glared daggers at him but didn't say anything in return. If even Sir Ainsley's armour could corrode, it went without saying so would his skin. "We still need to reach it before the Blood Emperor gets here." Sir Ainsley pointed out. "It doesn't like it one bit." It said shaking his head. "I'll go get more details from the villagers." Sir Ainsley said before turning and walking off. "Let's see now" Telerin said before crouching down and rummaging through his bags. He took out various arrow heads made of different metals. He then started throwing them into the fog at the 5 step region one by one. They all corroded without exception, some faster than others but the result was still the same. Telerin was getting a headache at this point.

It just observed quietly before deciding this was pointless. He turned into a shadow and slid across the dark corners of the buildings before merging with Sir Ainsley's shadow. Sir Ainsley walked into the nearest hut, which was the largest. In it he found a young boy settled down with his eyes closed. Sir Ainsley was about to speak when It suddenly stood up from his shadow behind him. He walked around the boy a few times looking at him suspiciously. "What is it?" Sir Ainsley couldn't help but ask. "It sensed the whole village, but it could not sense this boy. It still can't sense him even though it is looking at him." came the reply. It was very sensitive and could even sense a hidden trap from afar, hence he was dumbfounded to not be able to sense a boy with his perception. Sir Ainsley frowned and released his perception. His eyes then immediately widened in shock, before narrowing again in suspicion. this child was hidden in plain sight.

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