Chương 39: The Search Begins

[Worker Status] Name: Brog Designation: Tracker. Specialist: Trail Detection. Professional Status: Beginner. Monthly Maintenance Cost: 1500 Credits. [More Details…] Arthur read the confirmation of the contract and opened Brog's innate abilities. It currently had three abilities: [Footprint Analysis], [Disturbed Terrain], and [Predict Movement]. All the innate abilities seemed good. They would definitely help him immensely.

While he was checking the details of the contract, the others also gathered after parking the vehicle.

"So, what now? Should we follow the dirt path?" Susanne said, looking at the trail where it led to the valley. Here, there were no gates protected by the Union Government or its officers. So, there were no checking.

"Don't you guys think it's already too late to enter the valley? Can't we come back tomorrow morning so that we could have the whole day to search? If we were to enter now, it would take at least an hour to reach the target location, and then we might have to find those people. It would take at least half a day's time since the valley is so big," Finola said with agitation.

"If you guys feel uncomfortable, please wait here until sunset. If I don't return, you can go back and come tomorrow morning. I will take care of the Quest until then," Arthur suggested. He could feel their hesitation. However, this Quest was about human lives, money, and finally, time—which he lacked immensely. In two weeks' time, he would go blind if the quest was not completed. If he went blind, then he wouldn't have the means to earn, eventually failing another quest and dying by being eaten by the parasite.

He could try his best today itself. With his Skeleton's help, he felt he could find them easily. He wouldn't need these guys; having them around would be more of a burden than an aid.

"Finola, don't worry. We will do a quick search, and if it takes time, we can come back here and wait for sunrise. Then we will do the search again tomorrow. What do you say, Arthur?" Susanne said.

"Yeah, we can do that," Arthur agreed with Susanne after thinking for a second. That seemed like a good plan; they could search until the sun went down. If they didn't find those people by then, they could come back here and sleep in the vehicle, and then in the morning, they could continue the search.

"Let's go, we don't want to waste any more time." Nickolas started walking down the dirt path. Soon, the others followed him, including Arthur. As soon as they walked 10 meters into the forest, Arthur felt an oppressive feeling; dense vegetation grew on tree trunks, and vines were everywhere, even dominating the trees' height. As far as he could see, tall trees were very scarce; only vines and weeds dominated the land.

If it were not for the dirt path, they would have severely suffered just trying to reach the targeted destination. Solomon Valley was famous for herbs; most insignificant-class Awakeners, or rather Utility-class Awakeners, walked into the valley to try to gather herbs to earn a living. Since there were no dangerous predators living here, a large number of people visited every day. However, currently, the path was empty, devoid of people. That put a small, nagging feeling in Arthur's mind.

Did he miss any details about the place? The group walked on the dirt path without any discussion. Arthur himself was thinking about the possibilities of the disappearance of the researchers. When he read through the quest details at the Quest Hall, he felt they must have lost their path circling the valley to find a correct exit. So, with the Tracker Skeleton, he thought he would find them easily, completing the half-million Commission quest.

However, when he heard Nickolas mention a rival firm and that there might be a fight to find new plants and patent them for their company's usage, this speculation created one more possible reason for the researchers' disappearance, rather than them simply losing their way. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Either way, Arthur felt he could complete the quest easily, unless the rival battle was brutal and the researchers were slaughtered.

Even then, he could simply find their bodies and hand them over as evidence of a clear rival struggle and get paid either way. Arthur was confident about finishing the quest. After walking for half an hour, the dirt path split into three forks. As per general knowledge, they had to take the left side of the path to reach the Literal Cascade hill location. The dirt path looked neat, meaning these roads were used frequently.

Though currently they hadn't met anyone, it was not like the dirt path he had walked in Luck Forest, which people had slowly stopped using, and as a consequence, weeds had grown. The more they walked on that path, the more the vegetation started to reduce; its dominance was less in these parts, where they could see at least a few meters ahead. Soon, they saw a small hill where water was cascading. This was the location where the research team had come to find a new plant.

"I guess this is the location. We may need to start by looking around this hill for any disturbance or footsteps, to see where those people went," Susanne said once they reached the hill.

"Should we climb the hill?" Nickolas tilted his head up. It was a climbable hill they could try to climb and look around to see any activities, but it was doubtful one could clearly see any activity in the densely grown valley.

"No need to do any extra unnecessary work," Arthur said as he willed the Brog Skeleton. Soon, strange symbols materialized out of nowhere, forming a diagram on the ground. When the diagram finished, a white bony figure came out of it, stepping onto the ground. Everyone's eyes were glued to the diagram and the bony figure. Though they had already witnessed his Skeletons from yesterday, this was the first time they saw how it was summoned. Their faces were in disbelief, fascinated by the skeleton's summoning.

The Skeleton Brog looked small in stature; a belt was wrapped around its empty hip. On its right side, something like a spyglass artifact hung, and on its left side hung a pouch with a small notebook kept in it. Arthur also inspected Brog, since he was also seeing it for the first time as well. After seeing the Skeleton, his mind tried to recognize a pattern. Every combat-related Skeleton was tall and imposing, and every utility-job Skeleton was small in stature.

That was understandable, since these utility workers do nothing but analyze the situation.

"Guys, meet Brog, the Tracker Skeleton. It will help us to track those people. So, we don't need to do unnecessary things, wasting our time and stamina," Arthur said.

"Hahaha, cool! A Tracker Skeleton, that is awesome." Nickolas came towards Brog to inspect it with great interest. Strangely to Arthur, even though these people knew he could summon Skeletons, they hadn't asked or discussed it since they met. But now, seeing their eyes sparkle, they were suppressing their urge to ask about the Skeletons that had saved their lives. Even Finola showed great interest in the Skeleton. The party scanned every part of Brog's bones and even asked questions.

"Hello, Brog. My name is Nickolas. What is your name?" Nickolas blabbered.

"You idiot, its name is Brog. Why are you asking its name again?" Susanne mocked Nickolas.

"Guys, it's not communicative; it won't reply to your questions. Let's start the search then," Arthur said. It was time to put Brog to work. Looking at the sky, Arthur guessed it was almost 3 PM. They had to start as soon as possible before the darkness surrounded them, which would happen in an hour or so in the forest.

"Yes, let's do it," Nickolas said.

"Brog, scan the terrain for any footprints or any struggle that happened around here, and for any trail that is leading away from this area." Arthur gave his command. With that, Brog followed the command; it immediately unbuttoned the pouch on its left and took out a small notebook and a wooden pencil. Then it started to move, searching for any evidence. The party also started to follow the Skeleton closely.