CH726 Thera’s Perspective

Continuing their journey, Thera felt stuck on what they’d seen along the way. She knew that an untold number of ghosts had made their way into the world along with the outsider but despite the time she still tried to make for the guild on top of her current hospital work, word about sightings were slim.

Of course, compared to demons, the dead were largely ignorable no matter what power they might have wielded and far easier to deal with too. It was even possible that plenty had passed on by themselves or that the planet’s main foes who wielded a natural power over souls were putting them to rest whenever they encountered them for the bit of security that would give. There were plenty of potential explanations but still it bothered her as she couldn’t escape the question of just how many problems there really were on the planet.

A question she’d get no answer to beyond the major ones and once they arrived in the area of their next destination she wasn’t going to have time to think as her eyes turned back to the chimeras, trying to appraise them the best she could despite her conflicted feelings on the matter.

As much as it annoyed her to admit it, they were a success already. Power was in short supply and the easier it was to claim, the better the world would be. If her aunt could so simply lift people up to greater levels of strength when the world hung in the balance then there was no reason not to take it, no matter what harm Ben was seeing in their minds. Even if it left them traumatized by the time things were done, they and many others could still be alive.

It was what she was telling herself at least but it still didn’t sit right with her. Why should those sacrifices be any less villainized than Iberu who’d tried to use her own paternal race as a power source or Naloth who’d gone and opened the gate to hell to try and get stronger? In the latter case, it would have even only been using people across the universe whose gods had found worthy of hell instead of the most easily manipulated that Vividus could find to take advantage of, with the outsider it also held almost certainly coming as a surprise to all of the casters involved.

She shook the thought from her head. She hadn’t been sent to judge the morality of it, if the gods thought it was wrong then they’d step in. All she could do was the job she’d been given and stood at attention as Fone started talking.

Same as the first two times, Fone turned to the chimeras.

“Anything?”

He didn’t get an immediate response like he had previously though, with the group looking amongst themselves for a bit before one answered for them all.

“To the left,” He pointed before going on. “We think at least. They’ve been in the area for sure, their smell is all around us but that’s where it’s the strongest. We think they must have traveled that way sometime after we’d received word of where to go.”

“Any guesses as to how far then? Is this a walking distance or should we teleport?”

“I’d say teleport about two kilometers to start. We’ll get our bearings again once there.”

“Understood. Pato, you heard him.”

“Got it.”

A new hole in space opened and they shuffled through, the chimeras sniffing at the air and listening to the surroundings before directing them once more through another portal and then again from there, trying to take them ever closer with each jump and still failing by the fifth, where all of them just looked confused.

“What’s the issue?” Fone asked, seeing the looks on their faces and needing information as one answered.

“Where we’re currently at there’s signs in all directions. We can’t say where to go.”

“And we’re not just surrounded?” Fone asked, keeping a hand on his mace, even as the other shook his head.

“No. There’s signs everywhere but we can’t detect anything close either. I honestly can’t say what’s happening.”

“I see. In that case, the rest of you, can you find anything?”

He was asking the rest of the adventurers but with whatever tracking skills they had, it didn’t seem to be enough. Everyone shook their heads, with Pato speaking from the side.

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“We were told if we don’t find anything to head off to the next one, yeah? Should we just skip this place and do that?”

“We’ve only really just started and we’re still far ahead of schedule. For now, we’ll look around. Pato, open four gates about a hundred meters out in each direction, we’ll see if that can give them a better sense.”

The adventurer did as he was asked, opening holes in space for the chimeric group to stick their heads through before coming back, giving a negative.

“Again, there’s signs in all of them but nothing clear. We can only assume that if they are around, they’re hiding from us.”

That quieted their leader as he thought it over, trying to decide on the course of action to take before speaking up.