When the others returned from their scouting mission, Yuki was still sitting in the same spot that he was on when they left. Ben was still picking at the ground but it seemed that his previous stick broke and now he was using a rock. Yuki looked up when he felt their arrival and gave Yuna an inquisitive look. She replied with a shrug which gave Yuki no answer.

“So what did you guys find?” Jared asked, looking around at everyone.

“Nothing much. How about you?” Joseph replied.

“Yuna found the general direction of where the trolls are living. We can start heading over there now.”

‘Oh, Yuna just went ahead and told them. That makes my life easier.’

Yuki glanced over at Yuna again and gave her a nod of approval and thanks. She replied with a confused expression that Yuki ignored.

“Before we go, tell us what you found,” Yuki said. “I want to know.”

“Well, okay. But, if I’m being totally honest, I didn’t do much,” Jared said as he sat down. “Yuna did most of the information gathering and came up with the conclusion.”

“Were you distracted?” Joseph asked with a slight smile. Jared replied with a small glare.

“Yuna, would you please tell me what you found?” Yuki asked.

“I just found the direction,” Yuna explained. “There was a lot of information available so I’m sure that the others would have been able to come to the same conclusion I did.”

“Even so, I want to know what you found.”

“Alright. This will be quick, then,” Yuna said, sitting. “There were a lot of clues as to where the trolls were that were fairly obvious. Just in this spot, there are many footprints scattered about.”

She pointed to some of these footprints.

“Those are some of them. They told me that there are trolls within this area and a lot of them by the number of prints. Once I knew that, I began to inspect the prints closely and tried to find as many of them as I could. While I was with Jared scouting, I located more footprints and noted that while the footprints wandered about everywhere, they general all headed toward one direction. When I looked more closely, I found that the fresher prints headed toward that one direction. There were some that headed away, but the majority went in one direction. From that, I gathered that the troll settlement would be to the north.”

‘That was a very well spoken report,’ Yuki noted.

“Thank you,” he said out loud. “That’s what I was thinking. Does anyone else have anything else they want to add or something interesting that they found?”

“I have something that I found interesting,” Ben replied. Yuki nodded toward him for him to continue. “Where the fuck are the other monsters? We ran into nothing. Nothing came here and I heard nothing.”

“Yes, I noticed that as well,” Yuki said. “I think it’s because the trolls killed most of them or scared them away.”

“That’s a lot of trolls then.”

“Yeah.”

“Well shit.”

‘I like Ben. He’s observant and doesn’t seem to be overconfident. And he has quite the mouth.’

“Anyone else?” Yuki asked, looking around. “Even if it seems small, it might be important.”

“Well, if you’re fine with small things then I might have something,” Natalie said slowly. “I was trying to create a fireball so that I could get some more light when we were out in the forest looking for clues. It took a bit more effort than it normally would take.”

“How much more effort?”

“Not that much more. Like just a little focus rather than just on instinct,” she clarified. “Wasn’t anything big.”

‘So the barrier’s influence covers a much larger area than I thought. And it’s much stronger than I initially guessed. I don’t know if this is a good thing.’

“Anything else?” Yuki asked.

“I feel like someone’s watching us,” Joseph said suddenly. He glanced around.

“Watching us?”

“Yeah. I had this feeling since we landed but it’s been fluctuating,” he explained. “It just got really strong right now.”

“I never asked this, but what’s your class?” Yuki said.

“I’m an archer.”

‘Marksman. They have some of the highest awareness of all the classes. It’s necessary for them in order to do their job.’

[Yuki,] Akira piped up. [I think you might be forgetting something.]

‘Hmm?’

[I can help you. You just need to ask.]

‘Ah, right. I had forgotten. I was too busy trying to solve this little situation by myself. If you wouldn’t mind, please scan me and the surrounding area to see if there are any spells being used.’

[I’m on it. Talk to your team while I do that.]

‘I know.’

“That is interesting,” Yuki said out loud. “But it’s a good thing to note. If I had to guess, that feeling is probably because the Academy is watching us in someway.”

“That makes sense,” Joseph nodded.

“Jared, do you have anything to add?” Yuki asked.

“No, I don’t think so,” he said. “At least, there was nothing that stood out to me.”

“Okay. Let’s take a little time to think and plan out our next action. I’ll give it five minutes,” Yuki announced.

‘Akira, what do you have for me?’

[You’re being watched. There are a couple of spells placed over you and the rest of the team. Those seem to be the only ones.]

‘So we are being monitored magically. That is good to know. They probably can still track our location via our watches but they won’t know any details using that. I’m pretty sure the watches are also monitoring our vital signs and things like that as well.’

[That’s what I would assume.]

‘Then this would mean that those spells should be erased when we cross that barrier.’

[That’s not a guarantee. It will probably happen, but we don’t know that for sure. What I can do is tell whether or not they are dispelled when you cross over.]

‘I would appreciate that.’

[Alright. Then what is going to be the course of action we’re going to take?]

‘Well the next step is much easier now that I’m sure that I’m not going to be watched forever,’ Yuki replied. ‘The obvious thing is to go and locate where the troll settlement is. That’s what we’re probably going to do first. Once we do that, I’m going to need sometime to gather some information before I formulate a more concrete plan.’

[What are you planning to do now that you have nothing holding you back?]

‘I might need to be a little more hands on, so to speak. I can’t do anything that would surprise Yuna since she already has a good understanding that I’m fairly strong. If I did something that would surprise her, I might have to do some explaining later. The other’s I’m not so worried about. I’ll make sure that they won’t talk. One way or another.’

[What if the spells aren’t erased? What’s the plan?]

‘If the spells aren’t erased, then I’m going to have much less freedom to do what I want. I’m going to have to play a much more passive role and rely more on my team. I have to prioritize my own survival first and foremost.’

[And that means?]

‘Some sacrifices might have to be made.’