As soon as Emery's feet stepped out of the gate, he opened up his spatial space and took out a dozen familiar blue-colored rocks before starting to create a stone formation in this place.
This was a safety measure Emery decided to set up after thoughtful consideration. The stone formation would serve as an anchor point to instantly whisk 200 miles away from his location at the time in case he needed to retreat.
After making sure the stone formation would work fine, Emery continued his journey in the direction which Annara pointed at before. Two more trips through the [Spatial Gate], and he should only be about 80 miles from where Magus Leon and the others stopped.
Knowing that another travel with [Spatial Gate] would become a risk, Emery started to run toward the destination while channeling his spirit force into the bracelet that cloaked his presence with its ability. After all, he couldn't afford to fail at the last leg of the race because of a seemingly inconsequential mistake.
In the end, after a few minutes of treading through the deep forest in fast yet careful manner, Emery's spirit reading perceived two signatures of saint level warriors among other different signatures, possibly Graboids or other hostile creatures of the forest currently battling the group.
The closer he got, the more Emery was sure that the two signatures he detected were the half-blood warriors of the group.
"They must be separated into groups of two and tasked with guarding the perimeter," Emery thought as he considered the possible reasons for their presence here.
Confident with what he just deduced, a faint smile appeared on Emery's face. This is actually a perfect situation for him, as this is a good chance for an assessment to check if his current proficiency of utilizing Klea's bracelet would be enough to hide his presence from saint level individuals.
Another token of assurance that his stealth was working as intended would certainly boost Emery's confidence, as he was about to tail after a group of much more perceptive magus.
Visibility was lowered to a minimum at night, and this was especially the case in the forest where Emery was at the moment thanks to the presence of towering trees and dense foliage that obscured most of the dim moonlight. Therefore, Emery also proceeded to use his [Hide in Shadow] as his figure dashed toward the destination, steadily approaching near the location where the two half-blood warriors were.
20 miles
10 miles
5 miles
Eventually, Emery's figure passed through the area where the half-blood warriors were just a few kilometers away. But he didn't stop, he still went and continued until he reached several miles away from the two.
Afterwards, Emery stopped to take a deep breath while waiting to see if those saint level warriors were actually leaving their area and moving toward him. A minute passed by and there was still no sign of the two coming. They didn't even look in the direction he went.
It was clear that he was successful, or rather his proficiency didn't fail him. After taking a glance at the bracelet and being grateful to Klea again, Emery continued as his destination was near.
This time, he proceeded at a much slower pace, especially after Magus Leon and the others had already been spotted within a 50 mile radius of his spirit reading. In order to be sure again, Emery concentrated on his spirit once again, increasing the shroud effect imposed upon him before moving forward.
Slowly but surely, Emery approached Magus Leon's group until he finally sensed another group – a dozen of them – coming from the opposite direction and closing in on the former.
There were still dozens of miles between them. Understanding that he might miss the meeting and would arrive too late to do anything, Emery started to hasten his pace.
As his figure flickered through the dense flock of trees, not only was he increasing the mental block enveloping his body and strengthening the [Hide in Shadow] spell, Emery also tried his best to not break any twigs or shift anything in his way that could potentially create a sound that would get him caught.
Gradually, the presence of the two groups became clearer in Emery's mind.
The group of dozen people had a minimum of saint level aura while three of them emanated magus level presence. One particular signature stood out for Emery as it was one of the strongest magus levels he could sense in the area.
As soon as Emery reached the 5 miles distance to the group, he started to hear glimpses of their conversation. He stopped for a moment, contemplating whether he should go further or stay here. Eventually, he decided to take another 2 mile which allowed them to see their figure and stopped there.
Emery couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic as he saw the dozen familiar figures. They were definitely the White Fang Clan, led by the one and only Chief Beowulf.
Through the gaps of the woods, Emery could see the chief was accompanied by two female pack leaders and their teams, and he recognized both people. The one with short black hair was Beatrice, while the one with red flaming hair was Anna; he had met them before and they even extended an invitation to join their squad to him during the Rave.
Making sure that his mental block was working in full capacity, Emery slowly and carefully laid his body on a tree and started to pay his utmost attention to the other party's conversation.
"I specifically asked for Headmaster Delbrand or King Aduin himself to come," Chief Beowulf echoed in the air, backed by apparent dissatisfaction. The man then suddenly roared, "So where are they?!"
Magus Leon, the victim of sudden roar, calmly responded. "The headmaster is occupied right now, hence I was sent here instead. Let me introduce myself, I am Leon, the captain of the 6th Division Magus Alliance enforcer"
It was obvious that the answer Magus Leon provided wasn't able to pacify Chief Beowulf.
"I don't care who you are, don't speak unless you have a higher position than Delbrand!"
The man then turned to the large, dark-fur half-blood goat magus and said, "Jigow! We both are the members of the Twelve Flag Bearers of Zodiac City, so tell me, why did the king not come himself? Is he really unavailable or has another agenda?"
Emery have heard about this title before, The twelve flag bearers are the 12 bloodlines that was assigned as the 12 protectors of the Zodiac city; just under the 4 guardians and Lord Esbern the overseer.
Jigow was apparently one of them, just as Chief Bewolf was.
The dark-fur half-blood who was being asked just kept his silence. Instead, it was Magus Nameria who responded with a shout of her own
"The king has no time for your wolves quarrel. Stop making trouble and follow us for your punishment!"
For a moment, Chief Beowulf looked hesitant. However, it quickly went away as he said, "No! As I said before, I will only talk to Headmaster Delbrand or the king himself, if none are here i will take my leave now!"
Seeing this spectacle, Emery thought that this was his cue to enter and help Magus Leon convince the chief. He considered his decision for a few more seconds before he made up his mind.
He was about to come out of his hiding and say a word when a powerful energy came flying in his direction, or rather, the group's direction. Thanks to that, his steps were stalled and he slowly crept back to the position he was at before.
A grand magus figure had arrived, and surprisingly Emery know the figure well.