It has been months since Emery last heard of anything regarding sightings of Maeve. The last time he heard anything, the witch was seen skulking around at the north barbarians' territory, across the border.
At that moment, Arthur sent him the letter to ask for his presence in Camelot.
The letter came right on time, as this could be a good time for Emery to start helping Arthur progress on his spirit force training as well.
"You are going to Camelot then, it seems?" The red-haired girl next to him asked. "Can I come?"
Surely, Emery had no plans to bring her with him.
This girl clearly had no persuasion-related talents, but on the contrary, her gaze was enough for him to reconsider his decision. It reminded him of the fact he did not dedicate much time to train her in the last six months.
Unfortunately, if he brought her along, he would waste too much time on the road. Besides, he couldn't bring her through the [Spatial Gate]…
Or could he?
With his improvement in the darkness element, plus his stage 5 dark core advancement, perhaps he would be strong enough to take someone else with him this time??
"Alright," Emery nodded, while Morgana stared at him in confusion. "Let's give it a try."
First, Emery concentrated and opened a gate somewhere close.
If he was traveling by himself, it would be easier to interact with the gate, as his dark core and the gate would channel together. This time, he would need more energy and concentration to maintain the stability of the gate for someone else to get through.
He asked Morgana to follow him and the girl entered without hesitation. They arrived in the middle of the woods, a few meters away from the village.
As he thought, this time he really was able to. He smiled and cast another gate further away, connecting to the stone formation he set near the edge of Camelot Forest.
"Let's go!"
Again, it was a successful cast, and both of them arrived in the Camelot Forest together.
The first time Emery tried it, Morgana had already looked at him in amazement, but the second time, she took in her surroundings with wide eyes full of wonder, still unable to believe she had arrived in Camelot.
Emery and Morgana went to the hall of the Divine Order Knights, as written in the letter.
He knocked the door, peeked in and walked inside along with Morgana, to the shock of Gaious and Arthur.
"I just sent the message this morning! Damn, you must be using some sort of magic spell, aren't you?"
Emery merely shrugged. He had no obligation to explain. Instead, he changed the topic and quickly inquired about Maeve.
Arthur and Gaious looked at each other, nodded, and brought Emery to another room. The room was small, in the middle there was a table with three things covered in white sheets. The foul smell from them made Emery scrunch his nose and made Morgana turn away from the sight.
Gaious uncovered the white sheet and showed three corpses and, as suspected, all three of them had the mark of the witch's attack. Their body had turned into a pile of skin and bone.
"This is Sir Robert, Logress' golden knight and these two are his silver knights."
There was no doubt, their deaths were the work of the witch. Emery asked for the place where they were found. It was on the border between Logress and Norgales.
As of now, it was a long shot and there was no reason to believe the witch would linger around there. Nonetheless, Emery still decided to check on that place.
This time, he decided to take Morgana with him. Leaving her in Logress would probably be safer, but on the other hand, it also brought back a lot of bad memories.
Besides, Morgana had improved a lot ever since Emery kept giving her the Gaia serum.
Just like their trip here, Emery took Morgana using his [Spatial Gate]. Due to the distance, it will take multiple casts, but Emery could feel that, since he reached rank 8, his spirit sense range jumped three times further than before.
In three jumps, they arrived at the place marked on their map.
As the corpses were found four days ago, there was probably nothing else left for him to find.
With the help of his spirit sense, he could pinpoint the location of the fight. Though it has largely faded, he could still smell the light iron from blood in the place.
After finding the exact spot of the fight, Emery had another way to track her.
[Fey Transformation]
Morgana looked at him transform and followed suit.
With the innate skill [Wild Hunt], Emery was able to track the witch. The scent trail looked similar to a glowing smoke-like aura in his vision, and the distinct scent felt sharper than ever due to his enhanced nose.
The two started running through the woods following the smell. It was supposed to be impossible to track a 4-days old smell, especially one that has been washed with mud, leaves and animals, but to his surprise it seemed his recent bloodline purification really helped to make it possible. Beside Maeve was also a fey and those of the fey race carried a distinct scent, hence, it was much easier to follow.
The two raced through the woods for around half a day, crossed the border, and arrived at the Norgales capital city of Sterlingard, right as the sun started to set.
Unfortunately, the track was lost around here, as it was mixed with hundreds to thousands of Norgales citizens wandering around. The capital city was just beginning to stop their activities for the day, with shops preparing to close down and citizens walking home carrying their tools. Guards had started their night patrol and some people started lighting their torches.
Emery and Morgana returned to their human form and quietly entered the city.