The good news was that Rui had more-or-less figured out Vranil’s location through analyzing the seismic radiation readings his Seismic mapping technique had picked up. Vranil’s location was likely in the most luxurious accommodations that the village had to offer; the village chief’s home. Rui deduced his position based on the frequent incoming and outgoing traffic of the gang members in and out the building, compared to all other buildings. That along with the fact that there was only one presence of only one Seismic signature within the building, despite its size, gave him away.
“But how can I get him to fight?” Rui wondered. “The only reason he himself would fight instead of his gang members is if they cannot handle an issue without casualties.”
Just then, Rui’s eyes widened as an interesting idea flashed through his head.
“Hehe.” He chuckled. “This might actually work.”
He immediately turned around heading back to the Kingdom of Grahal, moving swiftly through the forest. Within an hour, he had entered the Kingdom of Grahal. He quickly made his way to the closest commissions office of Kandrian Martial Union.
“Excuse me.” He addressed a staff member, having entered the building after the legitimacy of his documents were verified.
“How may I help you?” The staff member smiled at him.
“I wish to purchase information on all known Apprentice-level fauna within a hundred-kilometer radius of the Hefermaine village.”
Martial Artists could purchase information from the Martial Union not included in the Mission bill, however extra information outside the mission bill was not free and had to be paid for.
“Alright, please give me your license.”
Rui provided it to her as she verified it, returning it back to him.
“It will be prepared shortly.” She told him. “It will cost around one-hundred-and-fifteen silver coins.”
“Can it be deducted from my Martial Academy account?”
“Yes, of course. Give me a second.”
Soon the process was completed as the woman handed him a box of files. “Here you go, Apprentice Quarrier. The information you requested for.”
“Thank you.”
Rui immediately took the box over to a couch and table on the waiting room. He immediately started skimming through the files, absorbing the information at an incredible rate. Normally, even the Mind Palace technique did not allow for such speedy storage of information, but Rui’s enhanced mind as well as the extreme effort he had put into heightening his master of the technique had allowed him to reach a level with it that broke the ordinary limits of the technique.
In merely ten minutes, he had read through all the files, and had completely memorized all the data provided in it.
“Thank you. I’ll be taking my leave.” He put the box on the table.
“You’ve purchased the information, not rented it. It’s yours.” She said.
“I’ve memorized it, I don’t need it anymore, I can’t carry it around for my mission either.” Rui said, turning around and leaving in a hurry as she stared at his back, dumbfounded.
There were many more Apprentice-level beasts within the the geographic vicinity of the Hefermaine village, more than he had expected. But, in hindsight, it was to be expected. The Kingdom of Grahal was poorer and couldn’t afford the high amount of environmental and ecological control that the Ministry of Environment and Ecology of the Kandrian Empire had.
Thus, the fauna was more unadultered. Rui quickly sorted through the information in his mind palace, as he found what he was looking for.
“The Frowning Bear… Mid-grade Apprentice-level beast. Thick-headed but also has a strong sense of survival and is also easy to aggravate. Not to mention, just strong enough to force him to show a bit of his strength. Just perfect for my needs.” He murmured.
That was his plan.
If he wanted to see Vranil fight, then he merely needed to give him a reason.
A rampaging Apprentice-grade wild bear that threatened to sabotage his whole operation was just perfect.
Thankfully, the bear wasn’t too far either, merely forty-two kilometers away from the Hefermaine village. Furthermore, it was a territorial creature that spent most of its time in its cave, this made it easier for Rui to find it.
Within an hour, he reached the location of its known territory. Rui uncaringly sprinted in as he used Seismic Mapping to look for it.
Thankfully, a big bear with Apprentice-grade power was hard to miss. Its seismic radiation was loud and Rui could perceive I from quite a distance away.
Half a minute later, it was already within his field of vision.
“Intimidating.” he murmured.
The bear was quite large. Its eyes were blood-red and it had razor sharp teeth that adorned a huge jaw.
But despite this, Rui didn’t feel even a pang of fear.
The bear was too weak, Rui could kill it quite quickly if he wanted to. At his current level, anything below the highest echelons of the Apprentice Realm could not even make him feel threatened.
“ROOOOOAAAAR” The bear spotted him.
Rui wordlessly watched it as it rampaged towards him, angered at having its territory invaded
“ROAAA-” “Shut up.”
His voice was soft, but the peril he emitted was not.
The bear froze as the air grew cold and sharp, stretching taut. A maelstrom of pressure crashed onto the bear’s mind as Rui glared at it, releasing the shackles he had placed on his aura earlier to reduce his presence for the sake of stealth.
Suddenly, Rui dashed towards it at a high speed. The bear didn’t even dare to try and fight back, as it turned around, running way at top speed.
“Good.” Rui had predicted this. Its strong survival sense was one of the reasons Rui had chosen it. This way he could lead it wherever he wanted by threatening it, especially since it was slower than it. Rui slowly began forcing it to run in the direction he wanted.
He did this by barricading its path every time it ran in a direction that he didn’t want it to. This involved a lot of circling around to ensure the bear followed a path he wanted it to.
They had a long way to go, especially since Rui couldn’t just chase the bear to the village through the shortest direction, he had more or less figured out the general location of Vranil, he wanted the bear to enter the village at a location Vranil was closest to.