“Master, I will be sure to stay safe so please focus on your task at hand,” Grace replied with a smile. I nodded and stepped forward to hug her before turning to Thurul.

“Alright, let’s head down. Hold on tight.” I said as I motioned for Thurul to hold on to me. I was going to be flying down and Thurul was not able to fly so he had to hold on to me.

“Take care, Master!” Grace yelled out as I jumped off the airship.“Lass, if you drop me, this old man will haunt you!” Thurul cried out as we fell towards the ground at a high speed. Only when we broke through the cloud bank did I spread my wings to slow our descent.

“If that happens, I will welcome you to haunt me,” I replied with a chuckle. I looked down at the mountain range we were headed to and pursed my lips when I saw a factory hidden deep in one of the valleys. “Thurul that?”

“Looks like a refinery. It seems the power source or whatever needs to be refined in order to be used. And it seems this small kingdom has a means of refining it. My guess is they probably sell it to the neighboring kingdoms as well, otherwise, they would have already been wiped out by the larger kingdoms. Although, I can understand why after all if you have such a power source it is best to use it to profit from it. ” Thurul answered.

“Or they are not selling it and have such a strong military that uses this new energy that can ignore barriers that no one dares to attack.” I was unsure which one of us was right, but I can say I do not plan to go and ask either.

“That is true as well. Anyway, let’s take a look. But Lass, don’t make any snap judgments. If they are enslaving demi humans it will not be pretty. But we need to keep ourselves from reacting too much.” Thurul warned. I knew what he was saying, but if I see anything that goes beyond manual labor, I will not even think before acting.

“I will do my best. I mean, I could just wipe the whole kingdom out with a single phrase.” My lips curled up into a sinister smile, causing Thurul’s body to tremble.

“Well, anyway, let’s land somewhere out of the way. We don’t want to be noticed just yet.” Thurul suggested. I nodded and flew over to a dense area filled with trees and landed in a small clearing on the back side of it.“It’s quiet…. A little too quiet….” I mumbled as I looked around. The wind was blowing, so all I could hear was the rustling of the trees, but that was it. I could not hear any birds or monsters at all. There wasn’t even an insect in sight.

“It might have something to do with this new energy. If there is an abundance of it in the area, monsters and other animals which use mana as a means to sustain themselves might not want to get near it.” Thurul suggested. But this suggestion did seem quite sound. But something came to mind.

“Thurul, if you knew of such energy before, why didn’t you mention it until we got onto the airship?” I asked.

“It was not like I was trying to hide it, but I saw no need if you were just going to jump in without understanding what we were up against. Plus, would you spend two years flying out here just to investigate something that might not be sound? Yes, you might have been able to talk to His Majesty and ask him to send people, but what good is that if you do not have someone who is at least knowledgeable in magitech? I wouldn’t have even suggested coming here if you were not here. This is the only safe way to inspect another kingdom’s source of power. And that is to have a power stronger than the kingdom itself.” I see, so Thurul was worried something would have happened, and then it would have caused a bigger issue.

“That does make sense, but you could have still told me,” I replied as I let out a sigh. “Thurul, I am going to put a few barriers around your body. And tether you to my mana. “

“Oh? Why so cautious?” Thurul looked up at me with a questioning gaze.

“Because the area is too quiet. As you said, the other monsters and animals might have fled from this place, but why? Why would they flee when there is still mana in the air? I think this special kind of energy might be toxic. If that is the case, we need to be sure that we are keeping ourselves safe. From what I know from the energy in the weapons I found, they were contained in a blanket of mana and also mixed with mana itself, which caused the energy to be stable. But….. if the energy, if it is the same, is in its natural environment, then it could be very toxic to living beings.” I explained. I did not want to cause either of us to get sick from an unknown energy.

“Ah! This is something I did not think of.” Thurul scratched his head, looking slightly embarrassed.

“Well, I am usually one to be more cautious when it comes to the unknown.” If I did not set myself up in the dungeon to be able to be pulled back from that house when the Wraith attacked me, then I might have been killed then and there without being able to defend myself. Which reminds me, I still need to ask my father what skill he learned to kill wraiths and ghosts with. “For now, let’s move slowly. And watch our surroundings carefully just in case something else is here that we should worry about. Because it could be more than just the strange energy that has caused this place to be free of life except for the trees and plants.”

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