Runic Magic

Kiro was about to release his Arrow Shock, halted his movement when he noticed the odd behavior of the intruder.

However, Missa, who heard the familiar voice of the man, said in alarm. "Stop! He's not an enemy." She stated when she saw her group was about preparing for a battle.

Only after the group heard her voice, they finally relaxed their guard down. Still, the wariness was there.

Missa stepped closer and saw the familiar figure of the middle-aged man. "Uncle Lori, what happened?" Staring at the man was about to go madness at any moment.

"Gill... Meg... Where are they! Did the two children came here?" Lori shouted out of agitation.

Alyva, who first recovered from the shock, voiced out. "Please calm down and tell us what happened?"

When Lori heard her voice, he tried his best to calm his chaotic mind as he narrated what happened. "Just this morning, I took the two to scroll around the plaza, and have a light breakfast there. After that, we returned to our accommodation place." Taking a deep breath, Lori continued.

"However, because I knew they would be safe here inside the guild, I didn't bother to guard them here..." Fiercely gripping his fist to the point of bleeding, Lori added.

"When I returned to the cabin, there wasn't any mess around the area or destruction to the place... At first, I thought they only went outside the perimeter to play."

"However, as time went by, I became worried and searched for them. But it was a fruitless effort. Then I recalled the two were close to Missa, and so I came with a hope I could find them here..."

After hearing his explanation, the group was disturbed from the news, especially Kiro who knew a guy was tailing them that night. Due to the sudden chain of events, he completely forgot to warn the two kids.

Kiro furrowed his eyebrows in perplex. Eventually, he voiced out his thoughts. "If there's no sign of forceful approach, only means the two of them knew the person who abducted them, but are you completely sure that they aren't here inside the training lodge?"

"I am sure! I've searched all over the place. Yet, I couldn't find a single trace of them. Also, with our race characteristics, I can easily locate them with my smell! Unless... unless..." Thinking until this point, Lori sealed his mouth shut.

"Unless what?" Kiro urged him to continue.

"Unless someone used an expensive medicine and erased their smell..." After he said that, Lori couldn't take it any longer and was about to dash out of the place. But when he heard Kiro's voice, he halted his footstep.

"I think I knew the one who abducted them, but I cannot guarantee anything..." Kiro thought for a bit. He knew if he disclosed this information, it wouldn't end well for him. Still, it did not stop him to tell what he knew. Particularly, he felt responsible for why they disappeared. If he warned the two children beforehand, those two may not end up missing.

With that thought in mind, Kiro said. "I don't have proof to support my claim, but do you know a guy named Daren?"

"... Daren? That guy from one of the infamous newbie crusher union? That Daren?" Aldin who was listening in silence voiced out.

"I don't know. But if you tell me more about that union, I may narrow some possibilities." Putting his right hand on his chin, Kiro said in deep thought.

Despite his information, it did not calm Lori, rather he became more worried about the two children.

Seeing Lori's reaction, Alyva concluded. "How about this? Missa and Mirabell, please accompany Mr. Lori to the Guild and report what happened." Glancing at Aldin, she said. "Then Aldin please start explaining to Kiro what the newbie crusher union is."

Glancing at the quiet Alina, she said. "Then, I and Alina would search the two children here in the neighboring lodge."

The group looked at each other's eyes and then nodded in agreement as they spread out.

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Somewhere inside the outer wall of Elmore, ruined and abandoned stone shelter align in differing structure, and broken bricks scattered throughout the place, at the deepest part of the abandoned ruined shelter. In duskiness, a minuscule light dipped between the two silhouettes as their silvery hair shimmered to the surrounding space.

However, the odd thing about those two shadows was not their hair characteristic. Rather, it was their eyes that dimmed with blankness upon the closer look. There was a miniature runic syllable circulating underneath the silhouette's eyes.

"Hehehe, to think such convenient runic magic exists..." Suddenly within the shadow, the voice of a man resounded to the place. "Too bad, that monster lady only gave me a minuscule portion, and I already handed the rest to Rex."

Staring at the two figures, the man said. "Well, I accomplished my task. The rest is up to him now."

Shortly thereafter, another figure of a man showed. "Sorry for the wait." The man said. "So you succeeded, Daren." Smiling maliciously, the man said.

"What took you so long Rex? Do you know they may report the incident to the Guild by now?" Daren, who was cautious in nature, said in concern.

"You don't have to worry about that, do you know how wide my network is? Before they could catch our tail, my underling's warning would reach me first." Staring at the two figures, Rex asked.

"So what happened to those two?" Seeing them like that, Rex couldn't help to voice out his curiosity.

"It was the runic magic that the old monster gave to me. See how effective it is, that two beast-kin are done for, watch." Saying that, Rex commanded the two children. "Step forward."

Surprisingly, the two children obeyed his command. Watching them in the silence, Rex exclaimed his amazement.

"Excellent! Hahaha, with this I runic magic, our odds in winning the fight to Gellis party would drastically increase!" Laughing like a fiend, Rex's eyes flickered with excitement.

"But before you can get your revenge, how's the plan?" Staring at him, Daren asked what was bothering him.

"It's going well, surprisingly, it seems like they took the bait..." Rex said with a wicked smile hung on his face.

"We'll just have to wait patiently, and we will get what we wanted." He said. "After all these years, Gellis seems to become senile... I guess being in comfort for too long dulled his sharp senses."

"But, it works better this way. Let's move the goods before the effects of medicine go away." Staring at the two children, Rex said.

"Mm, you two, let's move out," Daren commanded two.

With that said, their group moved forward to the deepest part of the ruined place until they reached a secret passage that leads to a sewer channel.