Ray Tracing Iota

Skin that resembled the scales of a lizard, large, protruded eyes with the eyeballs rolling around in all directions, a jump in size from 160 centimetres to over 180 centimetres, and finally, a long tongue that reached her hip.

This was Nedy's appearance as a Shaman, one that had served a rather powerful Devil in the past. Of course, after that Devil was killed, she fled to Garobu City to make a living, for it was the easiest and most tame region in all of Deccan.

The Fear condensed into a sphere as a needle-like projection protruded out of it and stabbed into Norda's forehead, penetrating within as his body trembled faintly.

Ray Tracing!

This was an ability similar to the Priests' Spirit Tracing. Spirit Tracing made a map of the spirit of a person, deriving data about their weight, aura, scent, physical condition, appearance, and the time when they were at the respective location. It worked on capturing the variables—such as scent, fingerprints, etc.—that a body emitted and imprinted upon objects and places.

In contrast, Ray Tracing prodded directly into a target's body and extracted recent memory in the form of images. This consisted of what the target saw, heard, spoke, and smelled.

Of course, both abilities had limits in that they could only picture the most recent information. And the longer it takes before they get to use their ability after the target's death, the more minimal the extracted information gets.

A Merit Shaman could at most extract memories of the past one hour. It depends on the Shaman's control over their Fear, the skill and experience they had regarding the ability, and the strength of the Devil they used to serve under before.

The durations varied accordingly, but generally speaking, it was an hour for a Merit Shaman.

Thankfully for Nedy, she arrived at the scene fifteen minutes after Iota's escape, and hence, she was able to pull up some information.

As Norda was sleeping, there wasn't any valuable information other than the last moments of his life when he was showered by needles from Iota's palm.

Upon observing the memories, Nedy was shocked, 'What the heck is that ability? He didn't seem like either a Priest or a Shaman. Is he a Spirit of a powerful Deity or Devil that I couldn't see through?'

She became nervous in response, but a few moments later, she calmed down, 'Why should I risk my life to kill someone with mysterious powers like him? I can always lead the others to target him first.'

The Shamans from the Sect were all searching for Iota. And hence, all she had to do was leak the information of his whereabouts to them. While they act against Iota, she could observe from afar and only take action when victory was guaranteed.

"It seems sir Dullip isn't here. Why don't you wait until he arrives? He should be back by evening tomorrow." Yakone said, seemingly blind to Norda's plight.

"I'll be grateful…" Nedy said as she condensed a sphere and plunged its needle-like protrusion into his neck, directly performing Ray Tracing when he was alive.

Yakone unleashed painful screams in response as he stared at Nedy in fear and despair, breaking out of the effects of the pheromone moments before death.

Ahhh!

Nedy squealed in pleasure at the Fear streaming into her from Yakone, grinning upon realising that her reserve of Fear was full now. A Shaman was only capable of storing a pitiful sum of Fear in their body, but it was more than enough to perform a variety of functions, especially since they can always source it from terror-struck individuals.

There wasn't anything worth noting in Yakone's recent memories. His conversation with Iota seemed to have happened before the duration her Ray Tracing could reach, and hence, she obtained nothing of value from him.

But it didn't matter as her Nasp had picked up Iota's scent. Nedy closed her eyes and focused, extracting a drop of her blood that she infused with more than half her Fear. She looked around and stared at a large fish swimming through the canal, 'This fish variety is pretty fast and can handle a volume of Fear.'

Thinking as such, she jumped into the canal and captured the fish, plunging the Fear-induced blood into it, transforming it into a form of pheromone that was effective against the fish.

The fish immediately fell under control as Nedy tied a tiny container to its underbelly. Contained within was a scroll with the information she wished to relay to the Sect.

"Go!" At her words, the fish swam rapidly through the canal, empowered by Fear as it blazed through the route.

Once she had dispatched it, Nedy began to trail after Iota using her Nasp.

…

An hour later, in the discrete canal that arrived at a stop under a tunnel, a large fish arrived at a halt, exhausted. It crashed into the legs of an old man that were immersed in the canal water.

"A message?" The old man frowned upon sensing the Fear dissipating in the fish's body as it lay dead, overtaxed from the speedy swim. He noticed the air-tight container tied to its underbelly, taking it out as he unfurled the tiny scroll within.

"The target, a male, is fleeing at a terrifying speed. Need reinforcements to the location…" He read aloud the contents, smiling, "As expected, Nedy is the first to find the target once again."

He strung the scroll to the hook and flailed it once, causing the string to fly up the flight of stairs and drop the scroll on the desk.

The middle-aged woman seated there unfurled it and smiled, immediately creating a bunch of scrolls that she tied to the string.

The old man reclaimed them as the string flew through the air. He then tore off long strings and snapped his finger, causing dozens of fish to congregate around his legs.

"Go, transmit the message to everyone." Saying so, he dropped the strings into the water. Each of them was tied to a scroll as the strings lodged themselves in the heads of a fish each.

Following that, they seemed capable of influencing the base instincts of the fishes that spread out through the canal network that extended throughout Garobu City.

And in a matter of hours, pretty much every Shaman participating in the hitlist had been informed of Iota's location as they boarded their respective boats and rushed to the appointed region.

A group of experienced Shamans were now aiming for Iota's life.