Chapter 96: Chapter 95 – Barrier

One hour later, Yuki was watching the backs of his team as they ran in the general direction of where their intended drop location was. It was a slow pace, really only a jog. Yuki estimated that it would take them about another hour in order to reach their destination.

‘And I can’t really take the lead here since I’ve already garnered too much attention.’

Yuki decided to formulate a general plan for what he would do once they arrived at their drop point. He knew that he had to track down where the trolls were living and that he only had about half a day to do so. Then once they found the troll encampment, he needed to create a plan to defeat the trolls using mainly the power of his team.

‘I’m not even sure what kind of skills my team has. I can rely on Yuna since she knows how to fight but the others I’m not quite so certain.’

He continued to mull over this situation until they arrived at the intended drop location. The moment they got there, Yuki immediately began to examine the area as he searched for clues as to the whereabouts of the trolls. He found what he needed and glanced over at Yuna.

“I see it,” she said to him quietly when she noticed his gaze. “Trolls don’t exactly try to hide their tracks.”

“They don’t. It’s because of their lack of intelligence,” Yuki nodded. “But I can’t say anything. I want the others to find it for themselves.”

“I was going to do the same thing.”

“So, we’re here,” Jared announced. “I guess we should start searching for some signs. Do you guys want to split into groups and search around this entire area?”

“Sure,” Joseph replied. “What are the groups going to be?”

“Well, um,” Jared started, his eyes flickering over to where Yuna was standing. “I’ll let you guys decide.”

“Oh, I see what you want brother.”

“Wh-what do you mean by that?”

“Yuna, you’ll be paired up with Jared if you’re okay with that,” Joseph said loudly. He was rewarded with a panicked look on his brother’s face.

“I don’t have a problem with it,” Yuna replied. “What will the other groups be?”

“I’ll stay here,” Yuki said. “The rest of you can break off into whatever groups you want.”

“Then I’ll go with Natalie,” Joseph announced. “Ben, you can stay here with Yuki.”

Ben nodded.

“We’ll be back within the hour,” Joseph continued. “Is that alright, Jared? Or do you need some more time, hmm?”

“Shut up and let’s get on with this,” Jared muttered.

They split into their respective groups and went off in different directions. Jared looked extremely uncomfortable as he walked beside Yuna, keeping a wide gap between them as he glanced over occasionally.

‘I hope his feelings don’t get in the way of the mission,’ Yuki thought. ‘That would be unfortunate.’

When everyone left, only Yuki and Ben remained at the drop site. Yuki sat down and leaned against a tree. Ben sat as well and began to pick at the ground with a stick.

‘Let’s analyze everything I know so far.’

From what Yuki had seen, the troll encampment was much closer than he had expected. There were many signs around the drop site that indicated that many large bipedal creatures had been walking about. The most obvious were the footprints on the ground but they were seemingly random and without direction. If you only glanced at them, they would only tell you that there were trolls around.

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‘There are also broken branches and fur everywhere, but I didn’t need more proof that there are trolls. The amount of proof and the frequency they appear does tell me that this place is very close to where these trolls are living as well as a decent amount of them.’

Finding the trolls was a much different task than just confirming their existence. By himself, Yuki would be able to locate them within a couple minutes by just scanning the surrounding area. But since he was being monitored, he needed to find physical proof as to the direction of the trolls.

‘I hope the others find the trolls before I have to say anything. Or maybe I can get Yuna to do the talking.’

Yuki decided that he should locate where the trolls were and create a logical train of thought as to how he found their location. He flattened his hands on the ground and melded his mind with the earth. Little by little, he became aware of every little detail around him. Anything that touched the earth, he could sense. He felt the journey of a multitude of insects as they scuttled across the ground. He felt the vibrations of animals as they ran about in their everyday lives.

‘Let me test something.’

Yuki reached upward and the air answered his calls. Suddenly, the world seemed to come into focus. He couldn’t just feel the presence of creatures anymore. He could almost see them moving about. The ripples of the air along with the vibrations along the ground gave Yuki more information than any radar could. Shaking his head a bit, he refocused on the main objective. He scanned the area around him, expanding the radius every scan until he found something. And then he hit a wall.

‘What’s this?’

Yuki began to lightly probe at this wall that he could feel but knew wasn’t there. It wasn’t a physical barrier since he could quite clearly see animals crossing back and forth between the wall with no problem. Gently, he tried to gauge just how long the wall went on. He discovered that it formed a globe around an area that was about two acres.

‘Magic. This was not what I was expecting.’

This was the only conclusion that Yuki could come too. It was the only explanation as to why there didn’t seem to be a physical barrier but there was a mental one. There was some sort of anti-magic field surrounding this area that was preventing Yuki from magically scouting it.

‘I really don’t think it would be a good idea to explore that area without proper backup. But that’s probably where the troll encampment is.’

Yuki retracted his awareness back to himself and let out a soft sigh. Things were getting progressively more bothersome as time went by.

‘And I can’t tell anyone that there is a magic barrier because then questions will be asked as to why I know there is one.’

He rubbed his temples as he considered his next course of action. This wasn’t something that he could direct discreetly behind the scenes any more. If he did, people might die and question would be raised.

‘Wait, would all forms of magic not be allowed within that barrier?’

With what little experimenting he did, Yuki knew for a fact that unless a magical blast akin to the power of a nuke was set off that barrier wouldn’t break. It stopped any magic from entering it.

‘But would it stop magic from being used once someone was within the barrier?’

Yuki knew that he was being watched by the Academy in some way. They even said as much when they were explaining the assignment. Yuki didn’t know how they were being tracked though. He wasn’t sure whether it was through technology or if it was by magical means.

‘If it is by technology, then there’s nothing that I can do about it. But if it’s magical, then it should be destroyed or stopped by the barrier once we cross it. If it is magical, then that would give me free reign to do whatever I need to do to control this situation. And I’m almost certain that the way I’m being watched is magical.’

In order for a complete view of what Yuki and everyone on his team was doing, it would require multiple cameras that were smaller than Yuki could see. That is, if it was being done with technology. But in a world where magic exists, it would be much easier for the proctors of this assignment to cast a spell over every person and watch from there.

‘I really hope that they are using magical means. Because if the time arises where I have to act, I won’t be able to unless I know that I’m not being monitored anymore.’

Yuki let out another sigh.

‘This is getting much more complicated than it needs to be.’