City of Desire-Chapter 862: Scout and Information

General Axseer

I moved through the dark forest, with thousands of people around me, with the weight of their spirits falling on me like a mountain.

It is so much that if I lose focus for even a moment, the connection will break, and the backlash will render me unconscious.

It had happened many times, and I don't want to experience it again. I didn't wake up all day and remained tired for a few more hours.

Still, I have to do it to advance my knowledge.

I am very close to reaching my target. I got close to it a couple of times, but never succeeded on my own.

I have to succeed; the danger this time coming is the greatest the north has ever borne. If I achieve my goal, I will be able to fight monsters more effectively and keep more of my people alive.

A second passed after another as I moved through the forest, keeping the magic burning in me and the immense pressure it was bringing.

There are twenty thousand people under me; more than any Major General. It is a massive number. The load they put on me is colossal.

Enough to break my soul and kill me.

My tribe didn't even have a thousand people, and here I am controlling the twenty thousand.

Fifteen was my limit, and I have worked hard to achieve it, but now I have to do it with twenty thousand. It is the least I have to do with the massive trust the leaders have placed in me.

"General, I think. This is enough! Don't push yourself too hard, so that you won't be able to fight in the battle," cautioned Colonel Yard.

He is right. If I injure myself and can't fight against the upcoming monster, there will be consequences, but I need to do this.

I need to focus, understand my magic.

Shamanic magic isn't dependent on classes and level. It was present before the great sky, and it will be present after it. For this power, I am not as dependent on classes as most others.

I looked at the tiny sanguine lioness on my staff; it was hard for me to summon it before the first blood.

Now, I could do this, and it makes a world of difference.

No one in our tribe had ever achieved anything like this; there were legends and stories, but they were just that.

For a small tribe, even reaching Lv. 30 is a huge thing. I am the only one in the past hundred years to achieve it.

In these past few months, I have been focusing more on my shamanic magic. The dominion had provided me with everything that I might need to deepen my knowledge about it.

I had made good progress, but I need to make more. If I genuinely want to contribute to the safety of my new home.

Here, my tribe sleeps with full bellies, and no child dies. Nearly every adult has a job and a house of their own. My girls love the city, their school, and their friends.

I love this life for them and will do anything to protect it.

Finally, the fifteen minutes are over, and I let go of the magic as gently as possible, but it still shook me.

If not for Colonel Yard's support for my movement. I would have fallen down.

It took nearly a minute before I let go of all the shamanic magic, and a few more minutes before I could walk on my own with Colonel Yard's support.

"Command: March back to the fortress," I commanded and marched back toward the fortress through the dark forest.

We are close to the fortress, but it will still take us around fifty minutes to march back to the fortress at this speed. I could ride, but I like to march with my men.

Soon, we marched out of the forest and could see the long fortress, standing guard against the monsters that wished to harm the dominion.

"The commander asked me to inform you that Lord Silver will be coming by ten and your presence will be required there," Sarad informed me, and I could see that many officers looked relieved.

The full news had not been shared with them, but we did share a few details.

Three monster tides are converging; this means a massive number of monsters and Class A monsters that could kill them as easily as ants.

It made me very much relieved, and I hope Lord Blackwell will come here as well.

We will need all the help we can to defend against the monsters coming for us. If they came in the numbers and power that the information suggests, then it's going to be a tough battle.

I pushed those thoughts away and moved toward the fortress with my men.

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Soon, we reached the gate and passed through it. After dealing with a few things, I left the barracks for my quarters to rest a little.

I am still exhausted, and I don't want to be like this in the meeting.

It will be attended by both commanders and high-level officers, not to mention Lord Silver. I need to be at my best, not only for the meeting, but also to face the monsters.

Because they might attack us this very night.

…

Eli Gest

I moved through the forest, avoiding the monsters that were getting denser.

Low Trace Movement, Blank Smell, and Scout's Camouflage are helping me evade the monsters. These skills are good, but I have to be careful.

There are many powerful monsters.

Until this morning, I was at my new academy, which I opened two weeks ago, but I was quickly called back here to assist, and what I have seen so far has made me wish they had called me sooner.

In the heart of some, there is still hope.

That there will be infighting between monsters and the tide would collapse, but after what I am seeing through my eyes, that did not seem like the case.

Yes, there is fighting among them, which is natural. They are monsters; they fight and eat each other.

It is still at a normal level and does not appear to be moving toward abnormal levels.

A few minutes passed, and I stopped beside a tree. There is nothing special aside from the markers left behind by the other scouts.

I bring the hidden box out of the tree and read the latest information it has, which is barely two and a half hours old.

After that, I write down what I notice before putting the box back and moving on. In a place dense with monsters, using spells is very dangerous.

The monsters are sensitive to it and quickly track and hunt the caster.

It is why spells are only cast through the safe spots, or unless one has cloaking skill or cloaked message spells. That is why message skills are preferable; they are silent in the magical signature.

I moved ahead, avoiding monsters and leaving no trail they could detect.

Before the war, I was trained in one such place like this. We used to live near the extreme magic region, where we were taught within it.

Even without concentrating, I could feel the increasing density of mana as I moved forward and recognised most of the plants and footprints that I saw.

I went deeper into the extreme magic region. I am very near its outer edges.

I need to reach its outer edges, which will let my birds go far enough without losing contact. Usually, I let my birds move beyond the range of the skills, but it is different against the monsters.

They are more sensitive, and I need to be in constant contact to use some of my skills, in case they are in danger or the information is time-sensitive, which it is this time.

I have three of my birds active; I have more birds, but three are ones I could use without straining my skills.

Two are looking at three monster groups that are gathering together, while my most capable Charlie is flying ahead, deeper into the extreme magic region.

A little over an hour passed, and I had finally reached the edge of the extreme magic region.

I am currently at a tribe's abandoned compound. I had passed by many such compounds, but when the extreme magic region expanded, they had abandoned it.

It happens and is not that rare.

The extreme magic regions expand and shrink. Sometimes it is for a reason, sometimes it is not.

I sat down against the wall, beside a flowering tree, with low-hanging flowers. At the edge of the extreme magic region, the mana is quite thick.

I have come across many such plants, and a lot of them are quite useful.

It is why many of the scouts that come so deep are pretty rich. Such magic-rich plants are quite expensive. However, harvesting and taking them back have their own risks.

This place is good, it is hidden enough, but it gives me enough freedom to run away if something is discovered.

After one last look around, I focused on Charlie. She is flying through the clouds toward her destination. She is not the fastest or the strongest bird I have, but she is the best.

Her greatest strength is her intelligence and experience.

It is why I always chose her for such a mission, and she never disappointed me.

Over forty minutes passed, and she finally seemed to have reached her destination. I saw a cluster of monsters, both aerial and on the ground.

Monsters are never gathered so densely, unless they are forming the tide.

I activated Enhanced Resolution, and immediately things became much clearer. It had a skill that upgraded from Enhanced Clarity after reaching Lv. 30.

I activated Observing Eye to look at the horde; to search for its leader.

We have noticed the horde, but we have not found the leader. That is my mission: to find the leader. If we know the leader, we will be able to prepare better.

Minutes passed as I looked, but I couldn't see the leader.

'Fly into lower clouds,' I relayed my intention. It's not an easy decision, but I need to get a better view to see the leader.

It is perilous; there are monsters in the sky. She will have to avoid them. She is very tiny and not the fastest of the birds; getting discovered would be terrible. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

She didn't immediately descend. She flew through the clouds, taking advantage of them. She is a cloud-surfing sparrow; clouds provide natural camouflage for her.

I also have her covered in Shroud of Limitless Sky; my inheritance skill, which makes her very hard to detect.

The skill had become even more powerful after reaching Lv. 30, but I know very well that no skill is perfect. The monsters could discover us if I am not careful.

Finally, Charlie reached the lower cloud and settled there, providing a view of the ground.

I looked, and within seconds, my eyes fell on the yellow monster moving through the thick group of monsters. These monsters would separate as it moved.

I am sure it has become the leader, and now, I have to see what it is.

I could it is feline; a big cat, but what type? I focused on it, and soon, I got a better view and realized what a monster it is. It made my heart skip.

At the exact moment, it stopped and looked up.

Roar!

The next moment, the earthshaking roar rang out from the monster's mouth.

The roar is not of sound, but of the power that I had only heard about and read about in the books. The power broke the skills for several seconds.

When it was restored, I saw the monster in front of Charlie. It had crossed such a significant distance so quickly.

It is more powerful than I had imagined.

I saw it in front of me, with large lightning wings and a mouth with sharp teeth open.

I didn't have to think, even for a fraction of a second, why he has his mouth open. There is barely a meter distance. If I didn't do anything in a fraction of a second, Charlie would become his next meal.

Seeing that, horror filled my heart, but I remained calm and activated the second Inheritance Skill, which I had received after breaking through Lv. 30.

Blink of Mile.

Immediately, Charlie blurred and appeared in the cloud over a mile away, inside it.

It's not teleportation, but really high-speed movement.

'Stay there and wait,' I commanded her. It is only a mile, which is not much. Its monster horde spread for miles. So, it is better that she remains where she is in the cloud.

It is the best hiding spot for her, given how the monsters around her become alert within seconds as the earthshaking roar rang out.

To be more certain, I cut the skills, including Share Vision and others.

I am blind to where Charlie is, and I don't like it, but this will keep her safe. She will move when she thinks it is safe and come to a safe spot.

Knowing that, I didn't remain in my spot for even a second and began to retreat.

I have got what I was sent here to get, and now it's time for me to return and inform them of what I found out. I know they are not going to like it.