CH917

He did his best to keep a careful eye on everyone as Quin opened her portals, watching them with his various senses as well as connect, stretched out as far as it could go to keep track of all they thought and felt, finding himself doing well enough so far.

None of them felt openly hostile having him as their leader, though a few were curious about him too. There were a few small flashes of recognition from a couple he’d copied skills from in the past but overall, the biggest issue any had was the fact they didn’t recognize him, something they all found odd considering their own high standings in the guild and was made all the more so when they considered the importance of their mission. They were off to search for one of the world’s third tiers, a task of unequal value, how could the role of leading them not fall on a more widely known, accomplished adventurer?

And yet, despite those few misgivings, they were all professional despite that. While not having the sort of discipline that would be forced into any member of the planet’s different militaries, they were valued members of the guild and while both first and second ranks had to do with whether they held awakened skills, getting to the third rank demanded at least a bit of professionality that Ben hadn’t always gotten to witness in anyone ranked fourth or lower. They had all been brought on for a specific job, and while there was a risk of disobedience from them, so long as he properly explained why they’d be doing certain things, he could count on them to act appropriately.

With a few even already on his side after his brief introduction. While he hadn’t outright said it, some had caught on by how he’d titled himself that he might have been a third tier, albeit, one they hadn’t heard of before, and distributing his mana and buff bracelets to all who hadn’t already been given one had been a good look as well, immediately showing the worth of the action as they went.

While not as smooth as some cohesive group used to marching in formation, they were all fast enough going from one portal to the next as their space mage opened them that they arrived at the fourth site just below the thirty-minute mark, a far better time than any of them had initially expected, even if that left the issue of how much there was still to go.

It was anywhere between there and the sixth site that Foast had been sent to track from that he’d gone missing and with no more information than that; it meant they’d need to walk it to give their trackers any hope of finding anything, with the only option being to start there.

“Alright, this is the last confirmed location of the true shifter Foast. For now, do your best to find whatever signs of him you can, but if you have any specific questions about what you might be looking for, go to Peac since he’s the one most familiar with who we’re looking for among us. Anyone who’s not specialized in tracking, for now stay in place. It’s going to be hard enough to follow the path of a shapeshifter already, we don’t need to make it even more complicated for them by disturbing the rest of the scene by looking around if we’ve got nothing to contribute, understood?”

He got agreement through both yeses and nods as their four trackers began to move, looking around the area and talking amongst themselves while Ben observed it too, both through his senses along with everyone else’s as he took it all in, seeing the destruction that was left behind.

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No bodies were present from whenever it had happened but a long enough time in the woods was always going to ensure that was the case, scavengers that had tagged along during the exodus of hundreds of different planets filling those lands ensuring there was always something to find to be to their taste but despite that and the effects of time wearing it away, signs of the battle that took place were still there. Burn marks from magic, stone shaped in ways that would never be found in nature, trees broken down, and slash marks speaking of weapons. Even if it was slowly being weathered away in whatever days or weeks it had been since it had happened, judging from the total area of damage he was seeing, it was enough to make estimates about how many had been involved.