Chapter 256: The Climb
A few minutes after their discussion had ended someone came into the room to tell Wezz that everyone was ready. Lake was happy to hear this and said. "Alright get everyone to head towards the elevator. I'll be in the air on the lookout." After he said this he went outside and waited for the people inside to start to come out to take to the air.
Activating Mana Vision and Detector to look for threats to the people he was leading to the tunnel, Lake was ready to start moving as soon as Wezz gave the order for everyone to walk. Sadly they were moving kind of slow by his standards so it took a while for them to reach the elevator shaft but he didn't mind since they made it safely without any fights.
He had predicted this but he was happy the Demon Worshipers didn't want to fight because he was sure they would have lost at least a few people. Once they were there Lake watched from a position he could catch anyone who fell as they crossed the ledge he had carved in the wall into the tunnel.
Wezz had told them not to start climbing right away so Lake was able to assure them that he would be ready to catch anyone who slipped on the wet stone as they climbed. He didn't think this would happen but he could tell they all felt better about climbing into the completely dark tunnel after he said this.
Remembering he had one other trick that could help them climb easier, Lake Imbued a few things with Light Mana so everyone could at least see where they were putting their feet and hands. After a while they got into a rhythm and Lake was able to guess they would make it to the top in less than nine hours.
...
After waking up, Tiff was about half way into her morning routine before she remembered what had happened yesterday. It seemed a lifetime of doing the same type of things as soon as you got up trained you to the point you didn't need to think while doing it. Finishing up as fast as she could tiff headed to the Temple Head's office to tell her she was about to leave.
Seeing the door was open Tiff walked in while saying a small greeting to get the Temple Head's attention. "Good morning Tiffany. Are you about to leave?" Tiff was not surprised that the Temple Head guessed the meaning of her coming to see her and said. "Yes, I just wanted to let you know since I'll be gone so long."
"Would you mind if I send out some people to watch your back in case something happens?" Hearing the Temple Head's request Tiff wondered how much time she had slept and after seeing it had been about 9 hours since they had returned said. "That's fine." With 9 hours she wouldn't be surprised if the Demon Worshipers had something planned for her.
She knew an army of Demon Worshipers hadn't been snuck into the city in the last few hours but one or two people that were stronger than her was all it took to take care of her before she became a real problem. She wasn't new to being targeted though so she knew what she was doing when it came to hiding.
"Alright the people watching you will be sent out like a normal patrol but they will be doing their best to stay near you." Nodding Tiff said. "Thank you." And headed for the front door of the base. She activated her invisibility and waited for someone else to leave to go outside in case anyone was watching the front door for her to leave.
Once she was outside Tiff headed for the building she had talked to the three thieves last time. She was going to spend time split between watching here and the Alchemist guild on the off chance she saw Jon just walk out like the last time. She wouldn't spend too much time on this though and would eventually just attack even if she didn't get any real information on what was going on inside the thieves' base.
With a few people to help her from the Temple she was sure she would be able to force them to give her the tracker for their lives. Thieves were known to care more about living and money than anything else so she did think the threat she made to them would be successful. There probably wouldn't even be a real fight before they gave in.
Setting up across the street from the building they were in, Tiff didn't see anything for the first two hours she was there and decided to go see if there were any people going in or out of the Alchemist guild that she thought could be Jon. Seeing the carts that were leaving the guild she guessed the chances of him just walking out onto the street were pretty slim and realized she really needed the tracker if she wanted to find him.
Going back to the base Tiff walked into the Temple Head's office again and said. "I need a few strong people to go with me to raid an underground shelter that a few thieves are hiding in." The Temple Head gave her a smile and said. "Are you ok with me? If we're dealing with the thieves guild I'm sure they'll listen to you if I'm there."
"That would be great, but are you sure you have the time?" As she said this Tiff looked at all the work that had built up in just the time they were gone yesterday. "I had to go out to visit with some guild leader later anyway so we can do your thing first." Hearing the Temple Head was going to talk to people from guilds that they usually avoided made Tiff want to know why but the Temple Head didn't make her ask.
"I forgot to tell you this morning but the Demon Worshipers are attempting to do what they did in the Dark Domain again, this time the target is the Metal Domain. It took a while for the scouts to get there and back after we noticed no one came from the Metal Domain in the last few days so we didn't really know what was going on until yesterday."
Tiff wasn't surprised to hear what the Temple Head said or at least not as surprised as most people were when they first heard but she was confused. "Why are they attacking the Metal Domain?" The target didn't make sense to her, the Metal Domain was one of the more neutral Domains even though it was so close to the Holy Domain.
She wouldn't say they were completely neutral because they traded with the Light domain and not the Dark Domain but that was nothing special with lots of gods deciding to leave the Demon Lord out of the trades and deals they made for what he had done to the Dark Goddess.
"We aren't sure why but the reports of them hiding in the Metal Domain are nothing new so it isn't exactly surprising it has come to violence. One thing is clear though and that is we're about to march on the Metal Domain to help as soon as we talk to the guilds to see if they plan to help as well."
"You mean like the Blacksmiths guild right?" The Temple Head nodded and said. "They are the most likely to help but we think the Alchemist guild will send forces to rescue people. Whether they will fight as well or act more like the people from the Life Domain is to be seen." Hearing Alchemist guild Tiff asked. "Is it ok if I go to the meeting with you?"
If she was able to get a second to talk to the Alchemist guilds Leader Lucas she might be able to ask him about Jon if her first plan to get the tracker failed. "Why? It's going to be really long and I'm not sure showing you off is a good idea." Tiff was about to say she could sneak in to watch but decided to not even say it because the people there would be able to see her and she didn't want to be mistaken as an assassin.
Deciding to wait till they had raided the thieves for their tracker to make any more moves to find Jon Tiff asked. "When will you be ready to leave?" Tiff would understand if the temple Head needed time to tell people she was about to leave so they wouldn't try to find her while she was out. "It should only take me 10 or so minutes. You can come with me so we can leave as soon as I'm done."
Tiff didn't really want to go meet with the people that would be in charge while the Temple Head was gone so she said. "I'll just wait here." She didn't need to do anything before she could leave again so sitting in the Temple Head's office was a better use of her time in her opinion. "Ok, I'll try to hurry back."
Updat𝒆d fr𝑜m fr𝒆ewebnove(l).com