Chương 100: Thief's Trail

"This is not the best time, Ryland," Alaric said.

"Although, this being you of all people, I suppose I have no option but to make time." Before following where Castigor clearly sought to lead him, Ryland had gone over to the Headmaster in an effort to drag him along on his investigation as well. Admittedly, he did appear to be rather busy and harried, but that was Alaric's general state of being half the time, anyway.

"I certainly am not so arrogant as to think you need to drop everything for my sake, Headmaster," Ryland said.

"But the matter does involve the stolen Vestige so I thought I'd see if you wanted to come along." Alaric sighed.

"I will admit that what keeps me busy at the moment is a mountain of busywork and paperwork. Something that I suppose Lahm should be able to take some more of the load off." The Headmaster's secretary bowed his head.

"Of course, sir. I have been asking you to do exactly that for a while now."

"Alright, then." Instead of looking relieved, Alaric merely appeared as though he had jumped from the frying pan into the fire.

"Let's get going." A quick [Translocate] had them arriving at the first stop indicated by Castigor. The Fatehound was already there, breathing in magic that made the surroundings ripple.

"This is far outside Arcoryx," the Headmaster said, looking around at the countryside with all the trees and grassy meadows.

"Your Fatehound led us here? In the middle of the country?" Ryland turned to Castigor.

"So it would seem."

"Magic—dense," the Fatehound said.

"Air—rippling. Fate—transient. Target—eventual. Location—coordinate."

"That makes a great deal of sense." Alaric sighed, then dropped the sarcasm.

"I suppose I shouldn't expect perfect clarity from a dog."

"Categorization—incorrect. Correction— Fatehound." Alaric blinked.

"You call yourselves Fatehounds?"

"Question—incorrect. Language—barrier." Ryland laughed softly.

"What Castigor means is that we are speaking in a language where his kind is known as a Fatehound, which is a term they accept as it sets them apart from mere dogs. Their own language is far more complicated."

"Is it now? More complicated than Karellockian?" The nation of Karellock was infamous for having such a hodgepodge of languages all confusingly categorized under a central tongue called Karellockian that tourism was practically dead. Not that the people of that nation cared. They had other industries and sources of wealth to rely on.

"I don't actually know," Ryland said.

"For all the times I've visited Realm 7, Karellockian is still indecipherable to me." They focused on the investigation properly. Castigor was basically saying that the Vestige would arrive at this location at some point. Sadly, at what point of time was far harder to narrow down. That was fine. Ryland simply Inscribed a spell circle to ensure that if what they sought came here, he'd receive an alert.

"So now," he told Alaric.

"I can [Translocate] here in no time at all."

"Why was the trail allowed to show here of all places?" the Headmaster asked.

"I'm not certain." They both looked to the Fatehound for answers but found none. Castigor was confused too. Which meant that Alaric's phrasing was entirely correct. The trail was being allowed to show here. In other words, they were being lured to this location. Or they would be, in the future.

"Unless they're aware that a Fatehound is involved in the investigation," Ryland muttered, deliberating the twisted tangle before them.

"Which is eminently possible. Castigor hasn't been entirely hidden."

"We should proceed assuming his presence is known," Alaric said.

"Which essentially leads to assuming we're being led on this specific trail. As a form of distraction."

"Indeed." Despite knowing that, they couldn't just abandon the trail, of course. So, they followed. Ryland didn't know of any magic that showed the future directly. The Oracle's ability was beyond him, and going by how she had been mistaken twice about something as significant as a Calamity, her method wasn't exactly reliable either.

"Ah," Alaric said, almost wistfully.

"Stepford Lake. It has been a while." Their next location had brought them to the shore of what basically felt like an inland sea. From what Ryland remembered, it was the largest body of water within Androvia. At its far edge, the metal towers of the city of Shimmerspire climbed skywards. They travelled along the shore, following Castigor as he sniffed up all the Fate in the area.

"Nothing new here," Ryland said. Alaric frowned in the distance.

"I don't like that it's this close to a city."

"Is that where you grew up, Headmaster?" Ryland asked.

"That has nothing to do with this. But you are correct, Shimmerspire was my birthplace."

"Fear not. Nothing will happen to your home. I will make sure of it, Headmaster." Alaric stared at Ryland for a while, then nodded in gratitude.

"Thank you, Ryland."

"And I've already taken care of Arcoryx City's defences too."

"You've done what now?" Ryland answered after they stepped through the next rift, appearing near some farmlands. A Farmer Mage in the far distance stopped casting his magic on his cornstalks just to stare at them. Hopefully, he wasn't debating whether to set any hounds loose on the interlopers or something. As Castigor breathed in the Fate around the cornstalks, Ryland explained about the spell circle he had Inscribed onto Arcoryx City a while back.

Alaric had clearly been concerned about what Ryland had done, but he calmed down once the full explanation was clarified.

"You managed to not only cast but Inscribe something of that nature without triggering any of the wards all over the city? A Tier [28] spell?" Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. He sounded frankly flabbergasted, and not by just any one thing. Ryland supposed he had cast magic that most others wouldn't be able to recreate very easily. The last leg of their journey took them to another shore. Though, this one wasn't at a lake.

The salty spray and endlessness of the beach confirmed they were at the precipice of the vast Karolynthine Ocean.

"Why here of all places, Ryland?" Alaric asked, now sounding quite bothered.

"Disbelief—offensive," Castigor said.

"Truth—verified. Trickery—indeterminable."

"I didn't mean to cast aspersions on your abilities, Castigor. Just that it's mystifying what could possibly have drawn them here of all places."

"It may be as you say, Headmaster," Ryland said.

"Something I've been suspecting as well. That we are being led on a wild goose chase while something more significant goes on elsewhere."

"Which was why you set down that Inscription of yours on the city."

"Indeed." They stood and watched the waves approach and recede from the shore. The breeze, though refreshing, still carried with it the scent of heavy brine. Castigor had nothing further to reveal, so it was soon time to return to the academy. Ryland still felt like the whole time they had been following the trail the Fatehound had discovered, they hadn't actually discovered anything substantial. What had they actually learned? That the Vestige would come along this path, one way or another. Fate didn't lie.

So why would the distraction itself contain the Vestige? A few days after their return, Ryland carried out another lesson on soulfulness and manasoul manifestation before it was time for the next Excursion.

"We're going on a skyship, sir!" Viren exclaimed. There was a different reason he and Acrypha were meeting Ryland, but Viren apparently couldn't contain his excitement about their method of travel. This time, the Excursion Club was taking them pretty far from Arcoryx, so they needed an appropriate form of travel.

"Admittedly," Ryland said.

"I haven't been on one in a long time now. In fact, I've never been on an Androvian skyship."

"Never, sir?" Ryland shook his head.

"So it will be rather interesting for me as well." It really was always interesting to see how much magic had evolved and progressed. One of the most direct ways of observing this was by taking a look at the current Glyphtech populating a Realm. As such, Ryland was quite intrigued to see just how Androvian skyships worked.

"We already saw the Prime Minister leaving on one," Acrypha pointed out. While she didn't quite state it, her tone made it very clear she didn't see what all the fascination with skyships was about.

"Imagine getting to ride on that," Viren said dreamily.

"That thing was an absolute flying castle." Ryland had been impressed by the Prime Minister's skyship too. It really did possess the quality of a monstrous airborne edifice, but with the grace and sheen one would expect of the foremost member of Androvia's Royal Court. They turned to the real reason for their little meeting soon enough, though. The next excursion wasn't just about giving the students more experience on handling dangerous magical phenomena, especially Living Mana.

They had also lengthened the trip because they intended to celebrate the achievement of the members of the Excursion Club. Acrypha was one such member being celebrated. She was already an accomplished mage, and she had carried on that line of accomplishment in essentially everything she had touched at the academy.

"We're celebrating her grades," Viren said, counting off his fingers. Acrypha was trying to stop him with a slight flush, but he went on anyway.

"Her duels, her spell work, her performance during the excursions, and all the records she has broken." He grinned at Acrypha.

"Anything else I forgot?"

"You forgot that I'll be celebrating your face getting punched in," she growled. Viren laughed, then choked on it when she really did try to punch him right on the nose. They went on bickering as Ryland smiled.

"Congratulations, Acrypha," he said, which finally instated some peace between his pupils.

"You've done tremendously well throughout the semester and I'm certain you will carry on with the same drive and brilliance as you've already shown." She grunted out a reluctant thanks. Ryland beamed at her. He had no clue why she had even let Viren come here to extol her accomplishments if she was this embarrassed by it. Maybe she hadn't realized how bad it would be before. Or maybe she was trying to push past it and celebrate anyway. Good for her, if that was the case.

"And you too, Viren," Ryland said.

"Oh, you don't have to mention me too, sir," he said easily. He grinned at Acrypha, who was stifling her scowl.

"We're here to celebrate her! I'm sure I'll get my own time when it comes." That was a noble outlook. These two really were going to make him keep smiling.

"Nevertheless, I hope you don't think for a moment that your efforts are being ignored or anything of the sort. You have done amazingly as well. Never forget that." Viren beamed.

"I won't, sir." The three of them held their own little celebration before the official one to be conducted by the Excursion Club. Unfortunately, they had come a little too late. Ryland couldn't take them to enjoy a meal at a restaurant or anywhere else really. Not when they were all supposed to board the skyship the academy had brought for the club before long. It was only about two hours later that Ryland had joined the rest of the club at the very top of the Arcoryx Academy's Astrum Tower to board the skyship.

"It's pretty impressive too," Viren murmured. Ryland agreed. The skyship was a sleek metal construction that made him think of two ships stuck together with their decks attached. Wings spread out on either side, Inscriptions glowing on their edges. Large Glyphtech engines were mounted at the very rear. The whole thing was painted a burnished gold that gave it an ageless shine. Ryland found himself quite fond of it.

"Don't look down," Academ Jules warned the students as they crossed the bridge onto the skyship. He was once again the Academ overseeing the excursion. And surprisingly enough, Alendra was the leading member of the club again. She was unhelpfully ignoring the Academ's advice and was now peering over the edge, so much so that one could be forgiven for assuming she'd fall over the side.

"That's really far down."

"Two hundred and nine handspans," Acrypha recited like she had memorized the fact.

"That's how high we are."

"I don't feel high at all," one of the other students muttered, which brought a round of chuckles. Acrypha glared. Alendra rolled her eyes. Ryland was just amazed at the sociological advancements that he had probably missed while he was gone. For back during his day, joking about ingesting substances that were even a smidge close to drugs would have resulted in disciplinary action. Had things changed to the point where minor recreational ingestion was now more common, especially with the aid of magic?

The interior of the skyship was no less glorious than the exterior. It felt as though Ryland had entered an expensive hotel room. Tiled pillars, glimmering chandeliers, tables bearing fruit everywhere, and each student granted their own room. Now it was starting to make sense why the whole excursion skyship was so big. Arcoryx Academy really had hired a flying hotel fit for a king for all their students. All those donations from various polities were certainly coming in handy.

Ryland was given access to not only his own room, but also another office just for all the graduate students. That included himself, Alendra, and two others he didn't know personally. Their looks confirmed the lack of recognition wasn't mutual. They knew full well who Ryland was.

"This is going to be so exciting," Alendra said, beaming at all her fellow graduate students.

"Don't you all think so too?" Ryland smiled at her enthusiasm while the other two brought out little canned drinks for them all to celebrate. It wasn't alcoholic, thankfully. Now really wasn't the time for anybody to get drunk. Which Alendra echoed.

"We need to focus on finishing up the setup for the celebrations." She glanced at the other graduate students.

"Jurow, Verne, can you give me a list of everything that isn't finished?"

"Will do," Jurow, the taller of the two graduate students, said. He dragged away the other one, Verne, and the two began working on the list immediately. Ryland was starting to see why they had been picked as the ones to lead the current excursion. They were quite devoted to their actual work. That just made him wonder what the leadership had thought when they had given Kleador a similar position.

"Do you know how long it will take us to get to Gildharbour?" Ryland asked.

"Let's see here." She looked down at the table, where touching a Glyphtech control had the glass top shimmering until a map was displayed. Then she dragged her finger in a sinuous, somewhat familiar line.

"This is the path we'll be following. So, about two days, give or take?" Alendra looked up.

"Is something wrong?" Ryland didn't hesitate to shake his head.

"Oh, no. Nothing at all." It wasn't nothing. The line that Alendra had drawn… it was almost the exact same trail that the Fatehound had indicated for the stolen Vestige.