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TOSDAG Chapter 21: Search
🕑 Added 2025-02-20 01:02:21 +0000 UTCLeek P.O.V
Disappointment is a fundamental part of life, I'm sure I've said this before, but it's worth noting that along with disappointments and failures, opportunities can also arise.
Of course, I'm not going to be an extremely optimistic idiot who says that when you fail, you should always face it with a smile and look on the bright side, that would be the height of foolishness, but, in my opinion, when one fails, they should work to overcome it and learn from it, wallowing in self-pity and/or depression for too long is a move I personally don't believe suits me.
That said, I was… a bit stubborn, whether this was because I was now a Saiyan or something I had carried over from my past life, I didn't know, but, why was I even talking about all this?
Well, it was because after spending a little over an hour searching for where I had set up my temporary camp, we finally found it, and to my unpleasant surprise, my precious giant flying hamster ball was gone.
And as one might expect, this didn't sit well with me, and as I said before, I was quite stubborn, so my reaction was… a bit obvious.
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Third Person P.O.V
Leek looked around, completely focused on finding some sign or trace of where those who had taken his capsule might have gone, and although he seemed relatively calm, anyone who looked closely would notice his frustration and a hint of desire for revenge.
Huyan Xiong rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a bit uncomfortable, while Ye Shuo seemed to be thinking about his next words.
"This seems a bit unfortunate, but if I had to speculate, I'd say it was an expedition or an individual from Glory City who found your ship." Said the elder of the Ye family.
"Huh? How are you so sure?" After taking a deep breath to calm down, Leek asked curiously, after all, as far as he knew, besides the people in Glory City, there was also the Dark Guild, a criminal organization full of spiritists who were dedicated to what all criminals gangs do: theft, kidnapping, extortion, murder, etc.
"We've tracked the Dark Guild multiple times in hopes of finding their secret hideout, but although they're slippery enough that we haven't been able to locate them yet, we know the general direction of where they hide, southwest of Glory City, and we are currently east of the city, so it's unlikely they passed through here, plus, look at that." The older man pointed to the campfire, drawing everyone's attention.
"Ah, I see what you mean." Huyan Xiong commented, and the two explorers beside him also seemed to notice what Ye Shuo was pointing out.
Leek, on the other hand, squinted for several seconds, trying to see something, but his efforts seemed futile, and after 10 seconds, he finally sighed in defeat. "I don't get it." He admitted, slightly embarrassed.
"It's the marks around the campfire." Said one of the explorers, pointing to the ground.
"The marks?" Leek looked at the ground again, seeing some traces but not knowing how to interpret them.
"These marks show that there was a relatively small group around this campfire, I'd say between 8 and 10 people." The explorer continued, pointing to each of the spots where there were marks.
"There are no signs of an attempt to cover up the marks." Said the other explorer.
"That, combined with the fact that they didn't destroy the evidence of a camp being here, shows that staying unnoticed wasn't a priority." Ye Shuo concluded.
"I see, so the people of the Dark Guild are the sneaky type, huh? Staying as unnoticed as possible and striking before retreating into the shadows." Leek nodded, understanding why they believed the ones who took his ship were from Glory City.
"Exactly." Ye Shuo confirmed.
"Then we have two options." Huyan Xiong said, catching Leek's attention. "We could return right now, based on what you said, your transport doesn't use soul force, so no matter how flashy it looks, it won't attract the attention of any strong demonic spiritists, and it will likely be sold at an auction, so we could notify the major auction houses to alert us when that happens"
Leek grimaced at this idea. "The problem with that is I'd need to wait for a while, and I'd also have to gather as much money as possible to buy back my own ship." He said, looking at Huyan Xiong and Ye Shuo.
"The second option is to track down the people who took your transport, that way, we could reach a significantly better deal compared to if they put it up for sale in Glory City." Ye Shuo said.
Leek didn't need to think too hard about it, it might seem a bit shameless, but he really wanted his ship back, and if he needed to ask for a favor to do so, then he'd do it and repay those who helped him once he recovered his ship.
"I'd like to ask for your help, as you've seen, I'm not very skilled at tracking, so I probably won't be able to find the people who have my ship, and based on how much it might cost to recover it later, if it even shows up, I'd prefer to try to get it back now." The young man said, bowing his head slightly as he made his request.
"Very well." Ye Shuo responded with a nod. "Since I came as a representative of the city lord and our families will be allies in the future, I'll support you in recovering your transport"
"No problem, kid, I'll return the favor for supporting my daughter up to now." Huyan Xiong added, referring to the cultivation boost Lanruo had experienced shortly after the meeting between Leek and Ye Zong.
"I appreciate it." The Saiyan replied to both.
"Alright, men!" Huyan Xiong spoke in a loud voice, catching the attention of everyone who had dispersed to search for more traces. "We move out immediately, we'll follow the trail left by those who were here, let's go!"
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Third Person P.O.V
Finding the trail of those who had been at Leek's camp was relatively easy, after all, according to the explorers, the camp had been occupied, at most, four days ago, so, taking into account factors like average movement speed, if there were no issues, they should catch up to them in a day and a half or two at most.
So, there was nothing more to say, since everyone was more than capable of moving at a considerable speed, it would have been a trivial task to find the group.
The problem was that as they continued advancing, Leek noticed a slight nervousness growing among those accompanying him, and this reached the point where Huyan Xiong and Ye Shuo decided to talk to him that same night while they were camping.
"Is that place really that dangerous?" The young Saiyan asked, his expression was serious after hearing the warnings from both men.
"Yes." Ye Shuo nodded.
"The St. Ancestral Mountain Range is a very complicated place, not only is it covered in snow even during summer, but there are also tens or even hundreds of thousands of different species of snow-wind demonic beasts that have made it their home, anyone who wants to enter that place and return alive must be at least a peak Gold-rank spiritist." Huyan Xiong explained.
"I see." Leek seemed thoughtful, if it was really as dangerous as both men described, then things could get a bit complicated for him.
It was true that he was now even stronger than when he fought Huyan Xiong, and thanks to his constant energy training with Lanruo and Ning'er, as well as when he was alone, his energy control was much more refined, giving him more options in combat, but he wasn't sure if that would be enough to guarantee his safety.
But, would that be enough to stop him?
Of course not!
His ship was still a priority for him, of course, he would never force the Gold-rank spiritists and fighters Huyan Xiong had brought to follow him into such a dangerous place, but in the worst-case scenario, maybe he could ask for a map and go alone to find those who had taken his ship.
And if he encountered a particularly strong demonic beast? Well, then it would be time to put his now-improved skills and new tricks to the test.
But there was still something that could help him, after all, it wasn't like he had to walk blindly to find the people he was looking for.
"Actually, there's something else I wanted to tell you." The Saiyan decided it was time to reveal a small secret. "Since the meeting with the city lord, I've been putting particular emphasis on my energy control training, especially in ki detection, it hasn't been easy, and if I'm honest, I've had headaches because I'm still not completely used to it, but I've managed to expand my detection range quite a bit, especially if all I'm doing is detecting energy sources that are strong enough." Leek explained.
Both men looked quite surprised, especially since during the meeting, Leek had never revealed how far his range was.
In fact, Ye Shuo had spoken with the city lord about this specific topic, but after discussing it for a while, they had concluded that it would be best to find out more about these details when Leek returned to the city lord's mansion to present Ye Zong with the method he had devised to strengthen the cultivation of spiritists, after all, with the agreement already made, it might seem a bit shameless to insist further, especially since they were the ones taking the initiative, and even more so if one took into consideration that the future Leek family and the Snow Wind family would-be allies.
But since Leek himself had brought up the topic now, Ye Shuo didn't think it would be inappropriate to ask for details. "And what would be the maximum range you could reach?"
"It's a bit complicated to define, if I do it relaxed and without putting in real effort, I can sense the presence of people or demonic beasts within a radius of about 300 meters. Now, if I focus all my energy in one direction, my ki sense could reach several kilometers." Leek explained, gesturing with his arm to emphasize that he could only "see" in that direction.
"I haven't marked an exact distance, but I'd say it's between eight and ten kilometers at most, now, keep in mind that the stronger or weaker the person, the easier or harder it will be to sense their presence the farther away they are, and for now, I can only maintain this range for about an hour before I need to rest, after that time limit, I'll start getting headaches, so I prefer to rest for at least 20 minutes before doing it again. Oh, and if I focus on everything around me, I can sense everything within a radius of two or maybe three kilometers at most"
"And how strong would a person have to be for you to detect them easily?" Ye Shuo pressed further to gather more information.
"Based on what I know so far, I think a peak Silver rank would be relatively easy to sense, whether they're hiding a few meters away or at the edge of my perception range, regardless of whether they're fighting or just sleeping, anyone lower than that would be more complicated, and if we're talking about someone at Bronze-rank, I'd need them to be closer, about a kilometer if I'm focusing on my surroundings and about four if I'm focusing in one direction"
This was surprising for both spiritists, as while they could also detect other spiritists, it was mostly when they were ignited and fighting because their bodies would release a wave of soul force that could travel several kilometers.
"Using this, I think we could get as close as possible to the safe zone of the St. Ancestral Mountain Range, there I can use my ki sense to check if I can feel anyone's presence, that way, we can not only confirm if the people we're looking for are nearby but also potentially avoid encountering a particularly strong demonic beast, personally, I refuse to abandon my ship, there are some things there that would really be helpful for me." Leek said in a determined tone, seeming sure he wanted to continue.
Ye Shuo and Huyan Xiong considered this suggestion, the main problem with going to the St. Ancestral Mountain Range was that they could be attacked by a large group of demonic beasts, if that happened, it wouldn't matter if this group was only made up of people with strength equivalent to Gold-rank and above, the numbers would overwhelm them, but with Leek's presence detection, most of the dangers could be easily avoided.
"Very well." Both spiritists, after considering it for a while, decided to accept the proposal, though they added a condition:
If they reached the limit of what was considered "safe" and Leek did not detect any presence, they would immediately return to Glory City.
And although Leek wasn't very happy with this condition at first, in the end, he decided to accept it because, even if he chose to continue searching for his ship alone, he had to accept that doing so would be an incredibly risky move.
He could end up in the same situation as when he fought the pack of giant apes, but this time, he probably wouldn't be as lucky to find a group that would heal and care for him until he reached safety.
Knowing all this, Leek felt a bit frustrated, in his opinion, he was strong, and his strength was growing at a good pace, but it wasn't enough, his strength wasn't even enough to be the strongest in Glory City, in the grand scheme of things, he still wasn't someone to be reckoned with, and as a Saiyan, that was unacceptable.
So, Leek decided that once he returned to Glory City, he would redouble his efforts, his goal was a simple and classic one for any self-respecting Saiyan, but no less ambitious: to grow in power as much as possible, defeat the strongests, and then go even further, as far as he could.
But for now, all he could do was cross his fingers and hope he was lucky enough that the people who had his ship were within his detection range before Huyan Xiong and Ye Shuo decided the search had become more dangerous than it was worth.
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Third Person P.O.V
"Here we are." said Huyan Xiong to Leek when the group stopped.
A layer of snow about eight centimeters thick covered the ground, the weather was considerably colder than the day before, and a light blizzard made it difficult to see beyond several dozen meters, a sign that they had entered the St. Ancestral Mountain Range some time ago.
"Alright, boy, it's your turn." Said the patriarch, giving Leek a pat on the shoulder.
"Right." the Saiyan nodded before looking at the two explorers in the group. "Which direction did you say was the most likely for these people to have gone?" He asked to confirm.
"The most likely direction is that way." Both pointed north.
"Thanks, and now…" Leek took a couple of steps forward before closing his eyes and concentrating, a second later, his ki sense expanded in the direction the explorers had pointed, and after a few seconds of search, what his senses picked up was… nothing.
No trace, no human energy signature, nor that of a demonic beast, Leek's teeth clenched slightly in frustration, and he did something he would have considered foolish a week ago: he pushed his perception even further.
As a consequence, a sharp pain shot through his skull, it was like getting an injection, but directly in the brain.
Something not at all pleasant.
But that wasn't enough to make the young Saiyan back down, his ki sense still didn't pick up any presence, so Leek pushed his limit even further.
It was like stretching a rubber band, feeling the pressure and the sensation that something would snap if he kept pulling, the headache continued to grow in intensity until, just as Leek was about to give up, his senses picked up something.
Eight human ki signatures, all roughly as strong as the Gold-rank spiritists accompanying them.
Leek didn't need anything more, so he immediately turned off his ki sense, his eyes opened, and he felt a bit dizzy, similar to how he would feel if he had flexed his muscles for too long while holding his breath.
The edges of his vision were slightly blurry, and he barely avoided taking a few steps back.
"I found them." He said, wiping his nose and noticing a bit of red liquid falling from it, and wanting to prevent anyone else from seeing this, he quickly wiped the back of his hand on his clothes.
'Well, I definitely need to avoid doing that again in the future.' He thought as he pointed in the same direction the explorers had earlier.
"I could sense eight human presences standing still in that direction, they seem to be camping, and all of them are roughly the same rank as our escorts." Leek said, turning to look at Huyan Xiong and Ye Shuo, who had stepped forward.
"How far away are they?" Asked the elder of the Ye family.
"They are a little beyond the normal limits of what my senses can perceive, I could barely detect their presence, and it was only because I forced my technique a little, I honestly don't want to do it again, the sensation was quite uncomfortable." Leek complained a little while he strengthened his temples with his fingers.
"So at least ten kilometers, huh? Are you absolutely sure they're there?" Huyan Xiong asked for confirmation.
Leek simply nodded a couple of times. "One hundred percent." He said without a hint of doubt in his voice.
"I see, in that case, we need to move quickly, if they move from where they are, it'll be problematic to follow them, did you sense the presence of any demonic beasts?"
"No, so if we go in a straight line, we shouldn't run into any"
"That's good, then everyone, prepare yourselves! We'll move at full speed in a straight line from here!" Huyan Xiong raised his voice, pointing his arm in the same direction Leek and the explorers had earlier.
Leek took a couple of deep breaths, and he finally regained his balance, though the headache would probably take a bit longer to disappear.
"Let's go!"
And with that last word, everyone rushed at top speed in the indicated direction.
X-X-X-X-X
Well, another chapter, maybe some of you will realize what this part of the story is about knowing where Leek is going and taking into account at what point in the story he is doing it, and if you still don't know, don't worry, he will reveal himself in the next chapter in about 10 days.
Besides that, I wanted to ask you the same thing I did with my other story, if you could please go to webnovel, which is the page where I publish this story, and leave a positive review about this story, that way it will reach more people, thank you very much!
That's all, see you in the next chapter.
