17.2 Sylethanas
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Saul took a seat on the log and closed his eyes for a few moments. When he opened them again, he began to scan the area for Ishan. He didn’t see any signs of the wizard. ‘Pretty good so far. Let’s see if I can hear him.’ Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of sounds were playing in Saul’s ears. Somewhere high above, a bird was singing. On the ground behind him a soft rustle of the ferns let him know a creature was moving by. He didn’t hear steps. ‘Must be small.’ The breeze blew past and gently kissed his body. Thus far he heard no sign of the man.

He scanned the area intently, his eyes and ears working together to try and locate Ishan. The wizard was good. ‘He must be moving when he hears other sounds. That lets him blend into the background noise. I’m not sure what he’s done to make himself invisible. Must be magic.’ He still didn’t see the man. ‘Alright, let’s see where you are. I doubt elves can do this but…’ Saul flared his Qi, a white dome invisible to all but him surrounding him in a 20 meter radius. He nodded and withdrew his Qi back into his dantians then turned to the space beside him on the log. “Hello, Ishan.”

The man’s features were suddenly visible again. His eyes twinkled merrily, crows feet beside them fully displayed as his lips turned upward to illustrate his mirth. “Okay, maybe I’m pretty good at sneaking. How’d you spot me, anyways? I was going to try and scare you.” Saul grinned in response. “It’s a trick I’ve picked up recently. I don’t think you’ll have trouble getting into the town. Does that thing you did work on more than one person?”

Ishan shook his head, “I can’t maintain it if I cast it on more than one person. Low mana and all. I’m sure you’ll be fine though. Let’s do this.”

Saul rose. “Let me go ahead of you. Just stay quiet for now. Don’t worry about going stealth mode until we get to the town. Basi and I will keep an eye out for patrols.” Crouching down, he began to creep through the forest. He didn’t worry about picking his steps too carefully thanks to the Boots of Silence he’d purchased from Gundrin back on level II. Quiet steps didn’t equal stealth, though. He stuck to the darker shadows when possible, and he kept a close eye out for anything that would brush against his legs and make noise.

He stopped every few minutes to flare his Qi and check his surroundings. Progress was slow but that was to be expected. ‘I’ve heard stories about snipers in Vietnam who took days to crawl across a mile. I’m not going to go that slow, but… Slow and steady wins the race.’ His pace was slow enough that night fell before he reached the edge of the forest.

The canopy of the forest made it so that the forest was close to pitch black at night. Despite how big and bright the moon was in the Dungeon, none of that light could reach the under story. When Saul laid eyes on Sylethanas, he realized the elf town didn’t have the same issue. It was dark - It was night, after all, but compared to the forest itself the place was practically illuminated by floodlights. It was bright enough for him to see noticeable shadows cast across the ground by the massive trees the elves lived in. Luckily for him, one of those shadows fell close to where he’d arrived.

He stayed still for a while, leaning against one of those massive trees. A patrol approached his area. They were walking along the town’s perimeter. Three elves. He could hear the cloth rubbing together as one moved past. Another’s footsteps fell loud and heavy. The warrior. The final elf was dressed similarly to himself. Lightly armored, with a bow across his back. The hunter. Saul shrunk back when this elf came near. They passed without incident. Saul let out a deep breath he hadn’t even known he was holding.

‘That’s one patrol… Let’s see if there are any others.’ He waited. Then, he waited some more. Finally a patrol walked past again - The same one. When they were far in the distance he called back to Ishan as quietly as he could manage. “Time to go.”

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