Chapter 34: Mission Accomplished

It had been weeks since Noah left his home on his mission and it definitely was a unique experience

He had to use all he had learnt from the members of the town to find his way out of how and arrive at his location, all on his home

According to Ryan, he was already an adult and could no longer be babysitted, he had all he needed to survive and complete and if he failed, then he didn't deserve to be his student

Ryan said those words with a smile but his eyes weren't smiling at all, instead they carried a fire in them that was waiting to engulf him

"Noah, use everything you have learnt, you're allowed to second guess, take your time to consider all the options before you decide to act, infact take your time before you do anything 

it's better to regret taking so much to prepare for an easy fight that to regret not preparing enough when your life depends on it"

Ryan advised as gripped his shoulders with his iron grip

"Yes Ryan, but that's starting to hurt you know"

Noah smiled as he reminisced on the moments just before he left the village

He was currently on his way back to the village, already travelled most of the long journey, done with his mission, he had to take a roundabout way way he first had to report to the nearest guild centre, which was still pretty far away, before heading back home

Just a little bit more and he'll be back where he belonged, to those who loved him

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His mission was a search mission which depending on what he found at the location could result in an exterminate or rescue mission.

One of the nomadic settlements that doubled as a scout for the guild went missing a few days before Noah was assigned the mission, they weren't responding to their pages and other means of communicating were not available

They contacted Ryan as he was the closest to their last known location and asked if he could investigate, but such a mission was below his ranking so recommended Noah instead.

Pulling some strings when he was last at the guild, he had Noah registered as an adventurer and his pager issued without a prior verification or testing but he hadn't been made an official member yet so the mission would serve as his entrance test

Noah had spent one week before he found his destination, it wasn't easy, he had to make sure he was on the right track, fight of wild beasts and secure food and shelter all on his own

While it was a little challenging and took a while to get used to, it wasn't much of a problem as he was used to spending long hours in the forest in search of heaven knows what

From navigation, to finding and avoiding beasts, scouting for food and not dying from ingesting poison to finding the right shelter at the right moment, afterall it would be dumb to triumph over the obstacles of high level beasts only to succumb to a freak accident caused by the weather when he was asleep

One of Ryan's favorite games turned out having some real life application, but there was no way Noah was going to tell Ryan that, wouldn't want a new torture session designed just for him.

He eventually found the traces of the nomadic settlement and began the core of his mission.

All tracks and evidence indicated that the settlement moved away, perhaps in search of a better place to stay, it was a difficult decision, stupid to Noah as they were in the middle of winter so he checked the surrounding area trying to findout what could have caused them to do such.

It took a while but he found a den of snow bears a short distance away from the settlement, from what he could deduce, they had attacked the settlement already as he found what food supplies and remains of a human in the den.

Would be understandable if the den was the cause for their migration, Noah guessed the den wasn't discovered before winter started as the bears were hibernating, the den well protected and hidden so as to protect the inhabitants during their period of slumber.

A quick page to the guild informing them of a local hostile presence of medium level threat, he got a reply to engage if possible before continuing on his mission

(A.N The pager used by Noah is not the classic one way pager from the early 90's, it has a preset number of replies that have been configured on it, it's one of those replies he selected he chooses from wherever he sends a message from the guild)

If the guild knew what he defined a pack of high level snow bears with a peak pack leader as a medium level threat the instruction he received would have been immediate withdrawal.

It didn't take much effort for Noah to handle the pack, they were creatures that utilized snow, a subset of ice making them useless and in his presence. 

Only the pack leader posed a significant threat as Noah couldn't take away his control over his snow, but with his martial arts and weapon, it was only a matter of time before it fell.

After taking away their cores he left the area continuing on the trail of the nomads, he followed after it for two days before it abruptly vanished, there was no trace of a scuffle or fight, it was like they vanished into thin air.

Even after scouting ahead and backtracking he found nothing, so he could only report back to the guild with his findings, this time in person.

It took another week but Noah finally made it to the nearest guild around.

It functioned as the regional headquarters as they had control of the spread of information and all control of the western region down to the outlands. It was also the last defense in case of an invasion or beast tide.

Noah made his report and tendered the beast cores and other evidence he had found and completed the registration Ryan had started.

He was assigned the rank of C on account of his performance and him wiping out the whole den of ice bears with a peak level leader.

The guild however had to move out for different reasons, the presence of a peak level awakened beast that far in was a problem on its own, not to mention the disappearance of their squadron of scouts, yes the guild admitted the whole nomadic settlement was their designated scout keeping an eye on the state of the things near the outskirts.

The next day, they set out with Noah guiding the way, the trip was faster this time as they were in a hurry.

They took shorter breaks and made faster progress as Noah had other people to help out in navigation, scouting and subsequent battles.

When they finally arrived at the last known location of the settlement, they split ways.

Noah's mission had come to an end, he had already been paid back at the guild so he left after getting some rest.

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Since she recieved the call from araceli, a few weeks have passed, although she had tracked down Gamora and had freed up time from her busy schedule, which wasn't easy, she had failed in getting permission to user the world gate.

Only the world gate allowed the dragon kind to leave their isolated corner of the planet, it had the function of sending out the dragons to their select location and bring them back when done, however they would have to use one checkpoints down in the planet to do that.

The dragons had the job of the world's guardians, and Ramona the saintess, appointed by the world itself at her birth

Even her sending a projection to Araceli to communicate was something she was not allowed to do.

Dragons in the past were hunted by the other races as trophies, highly rated mystical beasts, a proof of ones valor and power, which was why the dragons had to more locations and why they were so secretive

Ramona being the saintess and the paths of fate being obscured made the situation even worse, the world was in a difficult phase and dragon men power was spread thin, the information she brought back couldn't be verified either, so she was placed under house arrest

They weren't going to allow her risk her life in such a situation, if after all their findings and efforts they still couldn't make heads or tails of the situation, perhaps then, they'd consider going to Gamora.

Ramona remained locked up in her designated quarters, they only guest she was allowed to receive, the old seer who was patiently awaiting her time

"Dear child"

The old seer started as she walked in to check on the young one she had been responsible for in recent times

"Now tell me, what is it you seek?"