Sylver Seeker Chapter 201: One Loose End(1/2)

Sylver had been careful not to crumple up the page any more than he initially had. There were 7 creases on it, from the way it had appeared in his fist, and another crease from when he tried to fold it into 2.

He continued staring at the page, as Faust continued pacing back and forth on his left. It was the middle of the night at this point, most of the sect was asleep, two were keeping watch near the entrance, and Sylver had provided them with a light source in the form of a glowing carved-up plank of wood.

The ink with which the word TRADE had been written was a very dark blue, dark enough that it appeared black. The size of the page and the two rounded corners on the bottom left and right ant it had been ripped out of a pocket notebook.

The tracker in Sylvers pocket confird that the mana this page was emanating was the sa one that had ssed up the sword the [Jester Hero] had given Lola.

Whether that ant that the mana belonged to Edmund, Sylver couldnt say for certain.

It felt like Edmunds mana, but considering they were dealing with a [Hero], possibly a dragon, and Rose the ex-[Hero], who is to say one of them couldnt make a convincing imitation?

This could be part of Roses ploy to fuck Sylver over one last ti, it could be part of the [Jester Hero]s long term plan, it could be that the dragon is clairvoyant and knew exactly what buttons to push to make Sylver co here.

Sylver still had the [Dead Mans Last Stand] burning a hole in his pocket, if there was ever a ti to use it. A dragons corpse could do wonders for him.

Ron said the [Jester Hero] killed a dragon before he ca to Arda, Sylver mumbled, as he searched around his [Bound Bones] storage and found the report Lola had written for him.

Faust stopped mid step and turned to look at Sylver, who was carefully reading through the first couple of pages. He flipped ahead to the end, where the less concrete information was and found the killed a dragon, near the very bottom of the list. The rumor was recent, very recent, and Lola seed to believe it wasnt very likely.

The [Hero] ca from the south and traveled north. Theres a dragons nest just south of Silia, it would have been on the path he took, Faust said, as Sylver went back to the first page and reread the report.

Could be Sylver murmured, as he continued reading.

Faust returned to pacing back and forth.

There wasnt too much of a debate or conversation to be had.

He ca here to find Edmund. And soone seed to have Edmund. And they seed to want sothing from him.

If they know enough about to know to entice with Edmunds mana, surely they would ask sothing I would be able to achieve with my skillset?

Sylver reached up with his hand and scratched his bandaged-up face.

I could go, Ria offered.

Sylver turned his head towards her, as did Faust.

Im immune to magic and Ki, I could fly over there and tell you if its a trap or not. Or just pass along a ssage, Ria explained, as Sylver considered her words.

So, weve agreed the dragons nest is where the source of the barrier is, right? Faust asked.

Sylver took Edmunds tracker out of his pocket and activated it. The needle spun twice before it turned towards the middle of the Schlagen mountains.

With the mana-soaked piece of paper, Sylver had enough mana to track Edmund about 90 tis. He activated the tracker 5 tis while they walked towards Fausts sect, and Ria confird 2 things.

That Edmund was moving.

And that after suns went down, he stopped moving, and the tracker was pointing to the center of the Schlagen mountains.

He put the tracker away after Ria had recorded the exact position, just in case.

I appreciate the offer, but no. Dragons are theres a trick to talking to them. Although since this one approached , it might be a bit more lenient Sylver thought out loud, as Ria asked the question he was just about to ask.

Why did it limit itself to a scrap of paper, and only one word? Ria asked.

And why did it only contact now? Ive been here for a couple of days already, was it waiting for sothing? Is it because I was transported into that empty space? The way Izan described it, it sounded like it was empty because of , Sylver said.

I asked Xalibur, they call it a challenge field. Or challenge arena, doesnt matter, you said yours was empty? No statues, no walls, no mountains, nothing? Faust asked as Sylver shook his head.

Just black glass under my feet It tried to read my mind, but couldnt, youre thinking that was how it found , Sylver confird, as Faust shrugged his shoulders.

Aside from potential death, whats stopping us from going there right now? Ria asked.

The center is inside the White Ring, which while not strictly locked down- Sylver gestured with a tired hand for Faust to continue.

-will be a hassle to enter, especially while the whole country is on high alert, and doubly so for soone trying to get to where the source of the barrier is, Faust explained, as Sylver went back to staring at the mana-soaked piece of paper.

Why trade? Why that word? Specifically. And why use such an old dialect? Is it to check if Im old enough to know it? Sylver asked.

Are you old enough to know it? Ria asked.

Sylver tapped the first letter of the word TRADE with his finger.

Its not Eirish, not exactly, its one of the precursor languages. The only reason I know it is because most of the good grimoires were written in it. Apart from Nyx and I, there were only a couple of people who could read it, aside from those that lived long enough to have spoken it. But it doesnt make sense, Sylver complained, as Ria and Faust continued trying to speculate what Sylver now realized was irrelevant information.

Im going to try and talk to it tomorrow morning, Sylver said with a suddenly relaxed tone.

What if its a trap? Faust asked, and Sylver could do little but nod his head.

What if it is? I need to find Edmund. From all the thods currently available to , I believe Edmund is with the dragon. If I decide not to go see the dragon, what do you suggest I do instead? Sylver asked.

Faust opened his mouth for a mont as if to speak, but he knew what Sylver would say to counter his suggestions and questions before he even said them.

Rias form shivered for a mont, as she practically shouted the words out. Sylver would later want to hit himself for not thinking of sothing so obvious.

We dont have to go to the dragon, Ria exclaid, as both Sylver and Faust turned to look at her.

We can have the dragon co to us Sylver finished.

***

This high up in the air, Sylver got a birds eye view of the land that surrounded the Schlagen mountains. He had initially thought there were only 5 peaks, but now he could see there were 12 of them.

Each peak was nearly identical to the other, or it had been originally, every single one had been infested by people and looked closer to an anthill than a mountain top. The design was most definitely human, dwarves wouldnt have built such tall buildings, and wouldnt have been so wasteful with what little space they had to work with.

There were large rope bridges that connected neighboring sects, and even now Sylver could see people walking along them. Each bridge seed to be wide enough for 2 horse carts to pass each other.

But what made them stick out in Sylvers eyes, was the way they werent centered. Either the bridges had been built first, and soone built the sect buildings second, or there was a reason they made them longer than they had to be.

Sylver looked around himself one more ti before he sat down on the invisible platform his [Bracelet Of The Aurai] created for him.

How co you dont have more tools like this? Ria asked and broke the silence that could only be obtained when sitting hundreds of ters in the air.

They were high enough that so of the clouds reached low enough to wash over them.

Are you asking about enchanted tools in general? Sylver asked.

Yes. A wand or sothing, or an enchanted sword, Ria said.

The main drawback is that enchanted items leak so mana. For a competent mage, that may be enough to track , and in the case of monsters, it would make sneaking up on them nearly impossible. Then theres the possibility of soone stealing my weapon and using it against , Sylver explained.

Does that happen often? Ria asked as Sylver chuckled at the mory.

Once is enough. Its to say its embarrassing to be killed by your own weapon, is an understatent. And as you might have noticed, I try to avoid direct confrontation. If I have sothing seriously powerful with , leaking mana all over the place, I might as well walk around with a giant target on my back. My illusions, and decoy shades, work so well because there isnt that much differentiating from them, Sylver said.

Even though there wasnt any noticeable change in the air, Sylvers gut reacted to sothing. He looked around but went back to relaxing a mont later.

What about your umbrella? Ria asked.

Its a special case. I uh in my ti teleportation was rare. And limited to a very small number of mages, that straddled the line between mage and sorcerer, because of how much intuition their magic required. In hindsight, I took it more personally than I should have. The umbrella was built with mana leakage in mind. Lola used very specific, and very rare crystals and any other kind of enchantnt would require years upon years of research and developnt, Sylver explained, as he affectionately tapped the area on his back where the umbrella was hidden.

There were a couple of minutes of silence, during which Sylver and Ria just sat there, floating in the air, waiting for sothing to happen.

Do you have anything enchanted you wouldnt mind breaking? Ria finally asked, as Sylver looked through his [Bound Bones] storage and couldnt find sothing magical for her to deconstruct.

He clicked his tongue.

Theres stuff in my workshop, and Lola has more defective enchantnts than she knows what to do with. Did you figure sothing out? Sylver asked as Rias soul shrugged its shoulders.

Im missing sothing. I have a theory, but I need a magic item of so kind to experint on. I feel like sothing changed in the ribs, but I cant be sure How long are you planning to wait? Ria asked, as Sylver looked up at the sky and then just lay down on his invisible platform.

Until the sun goes down. You saw it yourself; hes being moved around; the dragon is obviously patrolling the area. If its patrolling the outside, thats a different matter Having said that, it being outside the barrier would make more sense, given the donut shape of the barrier, Sylver said, as Ria corrected him.

Not if your tracker is correct. Even allowing for a 10 percent error, its still more likely to be inside than not. If you have a sheet of paper, I can draw you the tracking lines on a map, and show you how they intersect, Ria offered, as Sylver was reminded about the paper he had been given and reached into his pocket to take it out.

It was very carefully being held between two pieces of glass. It still hurt Sylver from how dense the mana leaking out of the paper was, but the glass helped direct it, so it wasnt leaking towards his face.

Was it you who asked about seeing a real dragon? Sylver asked, as he turned the paper over and looked at the blank backside of it.

That was Chrys. Faust ntioned dragon nests, are those sothing anyone could go to? Ria asked as Sylver laughed to himself before he answered.

They are, but its like going to see a dormant volcano. You will be safe most of the ti, but soone will be the unlucky bastard that goes to it when it explodes. Im sure Lola will be able to find a dragon thats weak enough that I would be able to protect Chrys, in the unlikely event we catch it in a bad mood, Sylver explained, as he turned the glass-encased paper over again.

You said theres a trick to talking to them. Whats the trick? Ria asked, as Sylver placed the glass onto his chest and spread his arms out to let them rest on the invisible platform.

This high up even with the suns it was cold, or would be, if Sylver wasnt covered in a thick layer of his robe, and was using a spell to warm his flesh up.

You have to be polite, but keep it short and to the point, you have to be tough, but not aggressive, you need to be humble, but proud, the trick is adjusting your approach as you figure out what the dragons personality is.

Which is a lot harder than it sounds. Because if youre too aggressive, when you need to appear ek, thats it. You dont get a second chance Unless youre a lich that can make himself a new body, Sylver explained, as Ria understood his uncharacteristically somber tone.

I see What language is this anyway? Ria asked, and a small tallic tendril tapped against the piece of glass holding the page in place. Sylver lifted it to look at it again.

It doesnt have a na. Or rather, its called Eirish, but comparing this to modern Eirish is like comparing a tree to a piece of paper. There isnt even a direct translation, this language requires context, trade is just the nearest word in modern Eirish,TRADE is typically used when-

Sylver just barely managed to sit up as he felt the magic finish enveloping him.