Begin the hunt___1
In Ether, the search for the Atticus family had been launched only twenty minutes after they left.
The Adama guild was after the three thousand coins Dex had on him and they wanted to teach him a lesson as well for daring to lay a hand on their member.
It was not enough that they looted his family for it's small possessions, they would only be satisfied when they had that gold and drew some blood from him.
The news of Dex's return with life in his body had reached the ears of the second in command of the guild quickly.
He was a brutal man named Emphis, who was also a fire mage that had a predilection for burning others alive. Half of the burn marks on the bodies of the citizens of Ether were attributed to him.
Emphis, on receiving this news, sent out other members of the guild to look for him.
The Atticus house, however was found empty.
Not one to give up, Emphis ordered them to question the neighbors, the beggars on the streets, those who were drinking in taverns. They were to question them using any means they deemed necessary.
It was a rough night for so many, especially the non magic users who could barely fight back when they were met with brutal physical assault if they had no answers.
The leader of the Adama guild was a fire mage, for this reason most of the guild members wielded fire magic as well.
After questioning the locals, they would set fire to something to create fear.
In the midst of all this, a certain gentleman with a gold tooth, sat outside the only transportation guild in town and sipped his wine, uncaring about the ruckus which was going on around him.
Whether he had the answers or not, they would get nothing out of him.
Two members of the guild approached him, riding on the backs of scaly salamanders.
"Hey," One of them snapped his fingers and rudely called. "Have you sent anyone out of town tonight?"
The transporter breathed out slowly and closed his eyes.
"Hey, old man, are you deaf?" the other asked.
Gold tooth opened his eyes widely, a burning flame dancing slowly within them. "Watch the way you talk to me, or else.." he warned.
"Let's go." a third member of the guild came and said to them.
"But...." one, was determined to whine.
The third shook his head, he then looked at gold tooth and bowed politely.
"I apologize, some of our new members do not know how to behave."
Gold tooth grabbed the jar of wine and took a swig but he did not swallow it. Instead, he spat it on the ground with a frown on his face.
"Dammit, which bastard made this wine?" he complained. He looked at the third mage whose head was still lowered, and said, "I am available to teach your unruly brats a lesson at anytime. Just come with good wine when you ask for my help.
Now leave before I forget that guilds do not interfere in each other's business and burn those amateur mages alive."
The third, looked at the other two and said quickly, "Let's go."
The search for the Atticus family was fruitless and it was determined that they had either left town, or they had run into the Black forest to hide.
"Our people must be dead then, they would not run unless the boy killed them and he was afraid of retribution." Emphis, standing outside his hall in the guild quarters addressed the rest of the members who returned empty handed.
"I will reach out to our guilds in other cities, everyone can turn in now." he ordered.
Dex, who they were searching for was not very far, he was hiding on the roof of the highest building in the headquarters of the guild in Ether.
By his calculation, it would be three hours until the sun came up and he needed to complete his business in the darkness.
Clad in his old robe with a hood pulled low over his eyes, Dex crouched on the rooftop and swept his senses over every inch of the place vigilantly.
He could detect an array around the guild, it was probably the reason for their confidence and what made the members so relaxed that turned to drink, fooling around or going to bed.
Ding! Minor hunting mission detected. Fifty five members of the Adama guild participated in the search for you.
1. Hunt all fifty five people and get one thousand points but also level up your space magic immediately.
2. Hunt thirty people and get instant level two astral magic.
3. Hunt ten people and get one thousand points.
He had been expecting the system to give him a mission related to this. Dex was a greedy man, he wanted both options one and two.
"Two, I want astral magic."
He had an astral clone, it would function better if he had astral magic.
He teleported quickly, finding a part of the array, this one too was made with energy stones of fire elements.
"Hmph, such amateur work." he sneered and then smirked.
With a few adjustments, the array would not keep others from coming in, it would keep those whose were inside from getting out.
The moment he touched it, an old man sleeping inside the deepest chambers in the guild opened his eyes.
"You dare!!" he projected his voice and it was heard, coming from everywhere.
Guild members who were awake were alarmed and even others who were sleeping were forced to wake up.
"Come and get me." Dex projected his voice and taunted whoever it was, that spoke.
"Intruder." someone gasped.
Immediately, Dex sprinkled oil everywhere teleporting from one point to another crazily, and he set a fire in his path. He was well aware that these were fire mages, and they would put the fire out quickly but that was a part of his plan.
While they had been busy hunting for him, he had been pouring oil everywhere.
They had been too busy and distracted to smell it, or perhaps it's stench did not bother them as it was the kind oil used for cooking.
Rushing out of his chambers bare chested, Emphis bellowed at the top of lungs.
"Find him, now."
Back on the roof, Dex watched them with the eyes of a predator while his fingers tightened around the recurve bow.
"System, I want my astral clone." he said.
He felt one shar pain in his body that disappeared quickly, and something appeared next to him.
When he looked at the something, he noticed that it was another-him, or just himself.
No, my identical twin, Dex, thought.
"Your clones will only wield a part of your power, the choices are eighty percent, fifty percent or twenty percent. What level of power do you want to give him?" the system asked.
Dex calculated the number of prey he was hunting and he decided.
"Eighty percent."
"Done." the system answered.
Dex had been looking at the clone of himself and he noticed no difference.
One thing even troubled him more than anything.
"But, system, why is he naked?"