It was so brief that Ben wasn’t even sure what he’d felt. In one moment, something had either been touching his thoughts or his soul but the instant he’d turned his attention towards it, trying to peer back, he felt the link break under the weight of his mind, whatever it was completely unprepared for the power it found with only the smallest bit of feeling being read before it was cut.

That was enough though, telling him exactly what had just tried to make contact from the hunger and bloodlust that had slipped through.

“Hey, any of you feel that?”

“Feel what?”

“Okay, I guess I really broke that way too fast. A demon just tried to do something to us. Not really sure what but since I usually consider having my mind or soul attacked in some way a bad thing we’re going to assume we’re in constant danger here. Chimera group, is there anything nearby?”

“Not that we can tell.”

“Okay, I’m officially marking us down as being in extreme danger so start moving and stick close to me. We need to find the others as fast as possible.”

“Ben, if the chimeras couldn’t feel anything, what makes you so sure we’ve just been attacked?” Azeezol asked him, even if she followed along with him as he rushed to find Thera through their shared skill. “Their senses seem exceptional, are you sure you’re not just on edge?”

“I didn’t bring it up because it didn’t seem relevant but I have a pretty handy mastery of some mind and soul skills too. Trust me here, something just tried something on us in a way I was not expecting to deal with. Now, Myriad Myriad Myriad, answer me, would you?”

“...”

Silence, with the rest of his group wondering what he was going on about until he tried again, wanting his god’s attention.

“Myriad, you really can be unavailable in the most inconvenient times, you know that? You’re precious apostle seems to have stumbled into an issue and could use some eyes in the sky. If this isn’t a code red then I’d at least say it's yellow, maybe even orange. It’s at a place where I could use some backup.”

More silence, only with eyes drawn to him now that he’d named himself as an apostle, with the others he was with looking at him with questions he had no intention of answering as he kept trying.

“Nare, Helori, Anailia, anyone? Come on, I don’t really need your guys’ attention, just tell my angular buddy I could use a hand. God damn, if nobody is answering does that mean you’re all in some stupid meeting again? Very inconvenient that all the world’s gods can just become unreachable at random times. We’re seriously going to have to talk about that eventually.”

He devoted a large portion of the thoughts in his head to trying to get the attention of whatever god he could and kept it up as he kept moving, hoping it would be annoying enough that at least one would stop to check what the problem was as he rushed them all through the woods, eventually making it back to where they’d started.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“Alright, now that we’re here, what do you guys think about the prospect of meeting up with another group?” He asked, more worry forming in him by the second. He was still flickering bind and there was no way it hadn’t gotten Thera’s attention, the fact that she hadn’t met them yet spoke of a problem on her end. Either she was being held up by something that didn’t leave her feeling the need to alert him about or she was unconscious and couldn’t react which only made him want to go to her sooner, even if he needed to play it smart. If she of all people was in trouble and one of the other groups was close enough then it would make more sense to go together.

That wasn’t the answer he got though as a few shook their heads. “We can follow the paths they took but there’s no sign they’re on their way back yet. At least not close enough to notice, we are rather early.”

“Okay, that’s the opposite of ideal but for now follow me, I have reason to believe Thera’s group is in danger so be prepared for the worst. And before any of you ask, I have a skill I share with her that she’s not reacting to but the fact I can still use it tells me she’s alive which is a good sign for the rest of them too,” He answered the questions forming in some minds before it could be spoken while he moved them along, trying not to make them outright run in those unfamiliar woods but keeping a quick enough pace that Azeezol, with her unmodified body and lower attributes, was beginning to sweat.

He had his priorities though and they weren't going to change for anyone's comfort when he was so lacking in his own. While he knew whatever had been attempted on them had to do with either their minds or souls based on what he had felt, the fact that demons were natural soul users made which option he viewed as more likely obvious while also creating a range as to what could have been attempted on them or done to Thera, even if he didn't know what the limits of it were.

It wasn't like he couldn't have guessed but to the average people of the world, soul magic was a third-tier skill. Before the birth of the demidemons, no other groups had weaker variants of it, meaning most of the study on how it could be used was restricted to the few that had been created in the past. Add in the fact that its main means of use at that point beyond the life or death it would grow from was to help grow others and that meant there was plenty of room for spells to exist that he wasn't aware of.

At the very least, the safest and most efficient spell for dealing with enemies hadn't been employed for the simple fact that Thera was alive. Usually, if a soul mage needed to, they could practically erase a target or group of targets’ vitality without breaking a sweat. As long as they weren't dealing with the worst result then he had to try and be optimistic, with that feeling getting easier once he finally got a response.

Ages! Are you able to mute me or something up there?

<...>

You absolute bitch! Okay, we're talking about this later. For now, something's gone wrong with our third hunt and I'm honestly not super clear as to what but some hidden demon tried to use either a mind or soul effect on us and Thera hasn't been responding to me since I've been trying to alert her. I can still feel bind though so she should be straight ahead in the direction I'm running, can you please do me a favour and check her condition so I can see what I'm running into?

His god gave no argument, lifting a weight from Ben's mind as he and the others kept going, trying to close the distance as much as he could before his god spoke once more.

He didn't get to hear whatever else Myriad was going to say but he was able to make a rough guess easily enough. Before he knew it they were in a small break in the woods, just large enough to give him a clear view of the chimeras standing lined up with Galda as if ready to greet them while Thera floated gently in the air in waiting, a nearly serene look on her face that left only a single thought going through his head.

“Oh, fuck me. We're all going to die.”