Chapter 42: Sneak

***Author's Note***

Here's today's chapter. Sorry for the long wait.

I've git nothing much to say but I hope you like reading the story as much as I love writing it. Which is a lot.

Anyways. Enjoy!

- M3gusta

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Just waiting for time to pass by, doing nothing is boring. Who knows waiting is this tiring and after sitting here for almost 8 hours, I am about to die of boredom, not to mention I am in need for a good night sleep. Not even able to practice Ki techniques in case they have someone who can sense energy, which an Organization capable of making a wide wall of illusion of this caliber will most surely would. I calm my breathing at sat still behind a tree. Trying my best to suppress my presence.

Just imagine yourself on a hunting trip with dad. Never make sudden movements and try to meld into the surrounding. Keep calm. My father said that animals could feel intent. Well, I may not be hunting animals right now, but considering that these guys are trying to hunt me down for some unknown goal, they might as well be.

"You are just full of surprises." The silence was broken by a whisper from Kurt.

"Huh?" I don't know what he was talking about.

"You seem to be familiar with Concealment. Far from perfect. But still, you are able to hide some of your Ki." Kurt stated.

"I did, didn't I? I just did what my father told me when we were often hunting in the woods back home." I whispered. Trying to keep my presence as faint as possible.

Kurt nods in agreement. "Concealment is vital in hunting after all. No wonder you have a grasp on the technique."

"I guess." I answered.

"You really are talented. I've never seen anyone learn so much in few days what took me 3 years to learn." He stated.

"I may have learn a lot these past few days, but I am a far cry from reaching your level." Indeed, even after sparring against him and seeing him fight against two opponents like they were nothing, I have a feeling that he is hiding more of his strength.

"Learning is the easiest part. Mastering the techniques is a whole another level that even the Masters in the Monastery couldn't claim to have mastered everything Ki could offer. There is always something new. Everyone can study the same techniques but end up learning completely different special abilities." He sure is excited whenever he talks about mastering Ki. "You should come to the Monastery. The Masters will be able to guide you better than I can ever would. I assure you that within a year, with your talent, your strength will be even greater than mine."

"Why do you want me to go with you to the Monastery that much?" I asked the monk.

His face became serious before speaking. "Because I think I found the reason of my Pilgrimage. It is to meet you and bring you back to the Monastery."

"You really think that? How could you be sure? For all you know, I could just take what you taught me and do whatever I want?" I also don't want to be a monk. I don't want to be a eunuch.

"I've seen you act when we were in trouble. You never escaped even if you could've. You even saved our lives even if you could've escaped the explosion on your own. Even when we captured you and was intent to bringing you back to the Guild, you still helped us." He said before chuckling. "Don't worry, I will make sure they don't do anything bad to you. You will just need to answer some questions and you are a free man. I guarantee it."

"Why makes you so sure? I mean, I could've escaped and left you fighting the enemies alone. Hell, I could do it even now." His trust sure is making me uncomfortable. Even I wouldn't trust me like that.

"Not sure about that. I've seen your Aura." He declared.

Before I could ask further, I felt something stir in the Illusion Wall. There it is! The second time we felt a disturbance in the wall.

Pulling out a pocket watch from his pocket, Kurt checks the time. He said the clock was from Ortho. They bought it from him in case they needed to be synchronized. Hearing about the outrageous prize he charged them, I am not entirely sure if it is for the mission or just a ploy to get money out of his party. At least it is useful for a mission just like this. "That confirms it. They change shifts every 2 hours. Not surprising. A spell of this magnitude requires a lot of energy."

"There must be a large number of mages in there. If we are found out, we will be in the fight of our lives." Shit. I know I should've escaped when I had the chance. Now I don't have a choice but to see this through.

He put his pocket watch back to his pocket before speaking. "That is why we are going in stealthily." He said before starting to move back to camp. "Let's go back and report what we've found out and have some rest before we storm in."

I nodded in reply. I sure need some rest. I have worked really hard during the day, pulling the cart while practicing Shell and then I got nominated for scouting duties. Oh what would I give to switch roles with Philip, then I wouldn't have to stay up so late and just sleep back in camp.

Since we were trying to move silently, it took more time for us to return back to camp than before. When we came back, it is almost the break of dawn and I have a hard time keeping my eyes open. Arriving back at the camp, I see that Alora was already there, sleeping soundly while sitting with her back against a tree. Philip can be seen quietly tending to the fire while deep in thought while Ortho was sleeping soundly in his bedroll, snoring.

Sensing that someone was approaching the camp, Philip quickly stood with his weapons drawn. When he saw that it was us, he quickly relaxed and sat back down. "You're finally back. How was the scouting mission? Have you found out the interval of their shift?"

Kurt walks towards the camp fire and sat across the Knight. "Yes. It went well. But let us discuss about it later. We had a long day and were tired. We will rest up for a few hours and plan our next move accordingly." Kurt spoke.

"Yeah. That was what Alora also said when she came back a few hours before you guys returned. Go ahead and sleep. I will stand guard." Philip stated.

"You should sleep too." I was startled when Alora suddenly spoke. Goodness woman, I thought you were asleep! "The perimeter is secured and you haven't slept since yesterday. You need some rest."

"No. What if we are suddenly attacked by the enemies? We could get slaughtered if no one is to keep watch and warn the others. Go ahead. I don't need sleep for a few more hours. Once Ortho is awake, I will rest." Philip insisted.

"No Philip. You should rest too. As you've said earlier, we all need rest so that we are fresh for tomorrow. I assure you, the perimeter is safe so go get some sleep." Alora was adamant.

Seeing the determination in her eyes, Philip relented, which relieved me. I thought they were going to bicker some more and it is awkward if I go straight to sleep while someone is arguing with each other. After Philip went to his own bedroll, I quickly went to mine, which is technically Mark Anthony's, and let my tired body get lost in the sea of dreams.

I don't know how long I was sleeping as smell of food wafts to my nose. I lazily opened my eyes and yawned. When I got up, I saw the others already awake and milling about the camp. Judging by the position in the sun peeking in the thick trees, it must be noon already. Philip was speaking with Alora, like they always do recently. Ortho is packing equipment in his bag while Kurt is meditating at the far end of the camp.

"Hey lad. Good thing yer finally awake. We're about to head out after a few more hours. If ye slept a lil longer we would've left ye behind." He laughed while putting another one of his Mananite bombs on his bag.

"We're already attacking? Do we have a plan?" I asked the dwarf.

Pausing as he was about to put another bomb in his bandolier. "The thing is, we kinda already did." Seeing my confused expression he continued. "We already formulated a plan while ye were asleep."

"Huh?" Wow, not even letting me on the plan.

"Well, ye were deep asleep and we don't want to disturb ye. Ye were so tired that ye were snoring and all that. Don't worry. I will update ye on what we have decided to do." He stated as he puts one final item in a holster in his hip. Not being included in the planning process stinks, but if I think about it, I don't really belong to their party so it natural that they don't need to include me in their planning.

Ortho told me about what they discussed. Kurt reported what we found out earlier about how the enemy change shift every four hours. The Illusion wall then destabilize after the previous mage removes his/ her connection with it, which lasts at least 5 seconds before the Illusion wall stabilized once more. This gives us much time to rush inside the wall without getting detected. Alora was also able to map the area with her familiar. From her description, the area was covered with trees, apparently the illusion also covered the area from above. There are few key points around the camp. Towards the north, there is a mountain, which will make entry from that point almost impossible. East of the camp is a cliff and a waterfall in the north-east, so that is out too. Which leaves us the west and the south.

"Have you pinpointed where they are keeping Mark?" I asked.

Ortho shakes his head, "No, not yet. We only have his general direction. From what we know, he is somewhere here up to here." He pointed at the edge of the south west up to the eastern edge of the camp.

"That is a large area to search. Scouring all of that area will increase the odds of us getting discovered." Not to mention that the inside of the camp will be littered with members of the Organization who will most likely capture me and kill the rest at the first chance they get.

"The Tracking Orb doesn't really have a function that can pinpoint the collar. Yet." He eyes show determination. Truly an inventor who is focused on his craft. "Do ye have an idea on how we can pinpoint his location?"

Rubbing my chin, I pitched my idea. "Well, how about Alora hold the Tracking Orb and circle around the camp. After going to multiple points around the camp and mark on the map where the Orb is pointing. Then we will just find where all the points converge and we will pinpoint where the signal is coming from."

I see his face light up from realization. "Oh right! That is genius lad! Lemme speak with the Elf quick." He then rushed towards Alora who is still speaking with Philip. But as he ran, Ortho suddenly halted and turned back to me. "Ye should work with me sometimes laddie. Together, we might be able to create great things! Think about it." He said before continuing to run towards the couple.

Who knew camping in the woods with my dad will be so much useful here. Alone in the middle of the camp, I just settled near the campfire and went to eat some food. After finishing my second helping of venison stew, I see Ortho hand the Tracking Orb to Alora, who then vanishes to the forest with both the Orb and a map in hand. After she left, Ortho and Philip started speaking with each other, from what I can hear, it is about Philip's weapon and armor.

Seeing that I have no one to talk to, I just settled near Kurt and joined him in meditating. My Shell is better than ever, I could at least use it for about 30 minutes without collapsing from exhaustion. Amplification is still harder than ever. How could finding the exact amount of Ki to use and force to explode be so hard? Seeing that I am making no progress, I move on to Concealment. We are going to sneak in and hiding my energy will be useful so that we will not be detected in case there is a Sensor within the camp, which is most likely. I will my Ki back inside my body and keep it from leaking from my Ki nodes. Wow. I can feel my Ki is recovering much quicker now that I am keeping my Ki inside my body. It is dangerous to use in battle, but it will be useful post battle.

I continued to practice the 3 Ki techniques until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I opened my eyes and saw that it was already getting dark. I must've been meditating for hours.

Oh shit! I skipped lunch!

"Were about to start the mission. Go and make sure you have all that you need." Kurt told me.

Seeing that I don't own anything except the clothes on my back, I am good. So I started eating instead and filled my water skin with water. Once everyone was done preparing, we headed out to the south-eastern part of the Illusion Wall. Looking at the map, they must be keeping Mark near the cliff. Once we arrived, we still have to wait a few more minutes before they change shift and the tension was intense that I needed to pee.

As I started to relieve myself on a tree far from the eyes of the party, I can hear Peter whisper. "Really man? Of all the times you need to empty your bladder, you choose now?"

"I can't help it. This is the first time I am going on a stealth mission. We usually fight enemies head on, not sneaking around." I tried my best to hurry up finishing my business.

As soon as I put my junk back where it belong, back in my pants, I felt the energy of the Illusion Wall become unstable. Kurt quickly gave the signal to the others and we all quickly rush towards the Illusion Wall. All of them were able to enter within 2 seconds but I was farther from the illusion wall than them. If I try to enter the same location they did, I am sure that I won't make it in time, so before the disruption ends I quickly rushed towards the part of the wall nearest to me. I only have 3 more seconds and I am still 5 more meters away! Shit! I won't make it! Unless…

I activated Amplification my Ki exploded, increasing the strength of my body significantly as I ran like there was no tomorrow. Only a second left and 2 more meters to cover! I squeezed more of my Ki and this time, I focused it on my feet as I use all my strength to jump towards the wall.

Make it in time! Just another second!

As the thought enter my mind, time seem to stop as I felt more energy escape my body. As my body enter the Illusion Wall, I feel that it is not yet stabilized but as soon as soon as another second passed and my entire body is on the other side of the wall, time seem to resume once more and I felt exhausted as ever.

What was that? Oh shit. No time to think! Find cover!

It seem that I landed near a building at the edge of the enemy camp. They were right. There is like a whole village in here, complete with buildings sprawled everywhere. There are people walking around but they seem to have not noticed me. But to be safe, I quickly took cover behind a building that seems to be a tower.

Shit. I can't find the others. Where might they be? Oh I know! I will climb the tower and try to spot them. Knowing how sharp Alora's senses are, she might even see me before I could spot them. With a plan in mind, I proceeded to try and enter the tower. I close my eyes and focused my senses towards the tower. From what my senses tell me, there is one guard by the door. There are three people on the third floor and two on the top.

Damn it. So many. I need to find a way to silently sneak my way inside. There is a window but it is covered in bars. I can scale the tower, but the chances I get spotted by someone will is big. I guess, the only way inside is by the door. I crouched and started moving towards the guard's presence. I peeked out of the corner and found a man wearing a hooded black robes and a spear on his hand sitting on a stool. He looks bored out of his mind.

Why are they not alert? Haven't Rebeccah or Weylin reported that we are coming? Oh well. Best not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I started to Conceal my Ki and started to sneak up on the guard once more. Once I am out of the corner, I pushed my back against the wall as inch by inch, I slowly get nearer to my target. A few more seconds, I am already within arm's length as the guard continued to aimlessly gaze towards the village.

As I was about to attack but stopped as the man began to talk to himself. "Oh man. Guard duty sucks and after four hours I will need to change shift with the asshole up top. I really need to get the morning shift. Night shifts are hard." He put his spear down and stretched his arms. "Better eat something. I need energy if I am to supply the Dome of Illusion with Mana. Gods know I don't need to get another helping of the sergeant's long winded nagging." He took his hood off and stood.

Oh no! He will see me!

As he turned around, his gaze fell upon me. Our eyes met and his eyes grew larger with surprise.

Damn it! There goes sneaking around.