The return trip to Piori wasn't anything special. They just backtracked the route they had taken before, though Reivyn was cognizant enough to keep his senses expanded all around in case there was an unexpected enemy intrusion during their mission. There was no telling if the enemy forces would take notice of the skeleton crews manning the outposts and use that to their advantage or not, but it was better safe than sorry.
They had contemplated taking an alternate route on the way back, but aside from some of the larger obstacles they had to pass through, Kefira had put forth the idea to use her knowledge of the previous teleports coupled with the map to practice being able to teleport that way. It wasn't as precise when she first attempted it. She opened a door several feet underground the first time, creating a doorway to a wall of dirt. After the brief hiccup and a couple of portals opened a bit too high in the air, she got the hang of it, though.
She was still not confident enough to just look at a spot on the map she had never been to before and open a new portal there, but it would come with practice and repetition.
The trio walked through the gates of Piori as the sun sat low on the horizon. It had taken them most of the day to travel a little over half the distance they would need to cover next and back. Reivyn flashed the badge issued to him by Prince Allik and got through the inspection quickly. The level of detail the gate guards gave to everyone coming and going had increased substantially after the spy incident. Not all of the soldiers knew about the incident or understood the orders, but they followed them to the letter. The badge just let them move through the gate at the regular pace they were accustomed to.
"Well, you two can head back to the barracks and get some rest," Reivyn said to Kefira. "I'll go ahead and report to the prince now and get our schedule for tomorrow. It'll be a little bit different as we're going to have to time when we arrive and handle the inspection of the camps."
"I know," Kefira said, nodding her head. "We'll see you in a little while, then."
The two girls gave a short wave as they parted ways from Reivyn. They peeled off to the side to head back to their barracks, and Reivyn continued straight into the center of the city.
The guards at the headquarters building were expecting him, so they waved him in right away after sending someone to notify the prince of his arrival. None of them had known how long exactly their first trip would take, but they had guessed anywhere from a full day to a day and a half at most. Kefira's ability to shoot them long distances across the terrain had been an amazing utility for the mission.
Reivyn kept his focus on his Divine Sense as active as he could. If he didn't particularly pay attention these days, a lot of the things that entered his perception, though they were in perfect clarity, blurred past his awareness. He had worked so hard to filter out all of the information when he had first unlocked the Skill. Now he had to focus his attention to get everything he could in the much-expanded range. It was the difference between subconsciously noticing something and actively seeing it in his mind's eye.
Reivyn strolled through the halls and up the stairs. The enemy had yet to send a new spy into the depths of the headquarters for the prince, but that didn't mean they wouldn't try. They might have had no idea how their spies had been discovered, so it might be some time before something new was tried.
Reivyn was escorted to the prince's office, and the door was open for him. He knocked on the open door to announce himself, and the prince simply waved him in without looking up.
"I gather you had success?" Prince Allik asked.
"Yes, sir," Reivyn said, standing at attention in front of the desk.
Prince Allik glanced up and then motioned to one of the seats.
"Have a seat."
"Thank you, sir," Reivyn said as he sat down. He maintained a rigid posture without relaxing into the seat. Even though he was sitting, he gave off the impression that he was still at attention in front of the commanding officer.
"What was the damage?" Prince Allik asked, setting aside the documents he had been perusing.
"In the minor camps, there was only one spy per camp," Reivyn said. "Every single one of them was a civilian staff member. The major camps, however, were like here. There was a spy in each of the individual barracks' and the headquarters building.
"None of them slipped through that I'm aware of," he concluded.
"Good. It seems they haven't been able to convey the danger to their spies yet. You'll set out immediately after morning breakfast tomorrow. I'll contact Prince Endrew and let him know."
Prince Allik's retainer appeared and laid a map across the desk.
"Ok, now we'll need to figure out the timing for when you'll be able to arrive at each of these locations."
Reivyn and Prince Allik pored over the map for the next hour or so. Reivyn studied the terrain and approximated the time it would take for them to traverse the obstacles they couldn't bypass with Kefira's teleporting, and they came up with a schedule. It wasn't perfectly precise, but they would hopefully reduce the amount of time the outposts weren't fully manned to as much of a minimum as they could without having made the journey before.
Prince Allik dismissed Reivyn as he pulled out his long-distance communication device, and Reivyn quickly left the headquarters. He wasn't all that tired from the excursion earlier. Even though they had run through all of the forests and up and down hills all day long, it was nothing compared to the training sessions he participated in with his father. They never even pushed themselves to the point of exhaustion they would feel on a regular basis just to practice their combat Skills.
After a quick sparring session with his father and a quick round of Mana exercises with Kefira, Reivyn retired to his room to rest before they completed their mission on the other leg of the front lines.
---
Reivyn sighed in annoyance as he drummed his fingers on the tabletop. The atmosphere in the tavern wasn't as lively as it would have been during normal times, but there were still plenty of patrons. The low murmur of conversation penetrated the room, but it wasn't distracting. Reivyn sighed once more as leaned back in his chair, throwing his hands over his face.
"Gah! It's so annoying!" He muttered.
"These things happen," Kefira said with a shrug. "There was nothing we could have done about it. My skills with using the map aren't good enough yet to avoid this situation."
"I know, and I'm not blaming you," Reivyn said, peeking at Kefira through his fingers. "It's just rotten luck. Have you heard the saying, 'if something can go wrong, it will go wrong,' before?"
"I can't say that I have, but it makes perfect sense," Kefira said with a chuckle.
The day had started off as a disaster. The trio had emerged from the barracks bright-eyed and ready to go. They would get a quick breakfast, stock up on their field rations, and then repeat the previous day's lightning-quick expedition across the lines. Their hopes for a repeat performance were immediately dashed as they walked outside into a wall of fog.
The weather had turned on them, and they had no prior warning. The humidity had increased tremendously overnight, and with the cool temperatures of the morning, the entire world was a white haze. It was no problem for them with their high Perception Stats in close-range, but Kefira was unable to pierce through the fog with her vision for any kind of teleport to be practical.
They had to run the entire first couple of hours of the morning. They didn't make any teleports or jumps, and to not completely screw up the schedule, they couldn't take it as easy as they had the day before. Reivyn had gloated to himself that they hadn't even expended the same amount of energy as they did for regular training sessions the day before, but that was no longer the case.
The three of them were huffing and puffing before long, Kefira having it the worst of the three. She had advanced to Tier 4 before making the journey to Vairo as her mother had demanded, but she was still a Caster Class. No amount of Stat bonuses through her Bloodline was going to make up for the differences between her and Serilla and Reivyn.
She set the pace they had to run, but she wasn't a delicate flower. She allowed herself to push her limits, and considering the situation, they made good time for how they had to travel. They were still off their mark by nearly two hours to arrive at the first minor camp, though.
Luckily, there had still been no communication to the spies entrenched in the camps about their impending doom, and they had quickly dispatched the hidden enemy. They wasted even less time explaining themselves this time around, and Reivyn simply flashed his badge and shouted, "Official business of the Imperial Family." They made their escape during the slight hesitation that was caused.
Their luck seemed to have turned around after reaching the first camp, and the fog cleared up enough for Kefira to once more ferry them along with her teleportations. It wasn't to last, though, and as they were hunting the spies down in the first major camp along the lines, lightning streaked across the sky, followed by the boom of thunder.
A torrential downpour took the place of the morning fog for the obstruction of their visibility. They once more had to move ahead on foot, but this time it was in the pouring rain. The thunderstorm was ferocious, and it didn't let up for the entire day.
Running through the rain wasn't that much of a chore. All four of them had access to their Mana, and they created little bubbles of air for themselves to block the water. There was nothing they could do about the sopping wet ground and the mud, though. Some places were so drenched, they had to run dozens of additional miles to avoid the sucking mud that threatened to pull them down by their boots. Their enhanced Strength Stat had little to do with the physics of the mud clutching at them, and if they didn't want to have to run barefoot the rest of the way, they had to avoid those areas as much as possible to keep a decent time.
In all, they had traveled only a third of the front line before it got too dark to continue. Even if there was no rain, which there still was judging by the pitter-patter sounds coming from the window of the tavern, they wouldn't have been able to make the necessary teleports and would have had to continue on foot once more. Reivyn had had enough of that for one day, and they had decided to get a room at a tavern in the last major camp they had visited.
Because they were staying the night, they had taken an hour of their time to explain the situation to the camp commander and the other senior officers on the scene. They had already told the lower-ranking lieutenants while they had performed the hunts in the barracks, but there was no escaping giving a detailed explanation to those in charge if they wanted to stay.
"This whole day has been extremely annoying!" Reivyn once more exclaimed.
"I can't argue with that," Kefira replied. "On the other hand, we have been just as successful locating the targets, so that's a silver lining."
"Yeah, yeah," Reivyn said. He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Let's just hope that the weather doesn't last, and we can make a quick journey of it tomorrow."
"Well, now it's not going to happen," Kefira said, rolling her eyes. "If you say it out loud, you're just begging for the worst situation to occur."
"Maybe," Reivyn said.
Reivyn suddenly shot his hand out behind him and grabbed a passing man by the forearm. He turned and looked up at the man. He scrutinized him with his Divine Sense, but he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
"Can I help you?" Reivyn asked the man. The man was taken aback. Reivyn had been the one to accost him, and he had the gall to ask if he could help him? Reivyn saw the thoughts plain as day on the young man's face. "You've been staring at us. I want to know why."
The man's expression turned from a frown into one of revelation.
"Oh, that," the man said. "I apologize if I was being rude. I was just trying to place your faces." The man shrugged his shoulders. He used the motion to try and wrest his arm away from Reivyn's grip, but Reivyn's Stats were higher, and he didn't manage to budge Reivyn's arm.
"Our faces are here," Reivyn said with a small smile, pointing at his own nose. "Do you know everyone that comes into this tavern?"
"Mostly," the man admitted. He took a half-step back to get out of easy range for Reivyn after he had released his hand on the man's forearm. "It's usually the same people that come in here night after night. Most people have their own routine, and we don't get too much variation."
"Ahh, I see," Reivyn said. "Sorry to have bothered you."
"It's fine," the man said, shaking his head. He hesitated for a second as he turned to leave and addressed Reivyn one more time. "If you don't mind, what unit are you with?"
Reivyn looked the man up and down before answering.
"Actually, I do mind," he said.
Reivyn turned back to the table, a clear indication that he was done with the conversation. He noticed the shock on the other man's face with his Divine Sense, but he didn't press the issue. He simply shrugged and continued to his table. It was likely that he had never had someone actually reply that they did mind answering a question before. It was more of a figure of speech than an actual query for most people.
"What was that about?" Kefira asked.
"He had been staring at us since the moment we walked into the tavern," Reivyn answered. "He's not a spy, though. There was no skin-mask or anything. Maybe he couldn't keep his eyes off of your beauty."
"Hmph," Kefira snorted. "Hunting these spies might have you paranoid."
"Hey, it's perfectly reasonable to ward off anyone not knowing their place who wants to approach you," Reivyn said. "I'm actually more surprised there haven't been more people trying their luck, honestly."
"Well, you do put off a certain amount of intimidation even just sitting there."
"What? Intimidation? Me?" Reivyn once more pointed at his own nose. "I'm a big puppy. You won't find anyone more agreeable than me!"
"Says the man who just ran another man off for looking at us," Kefira said, rolling her eyes.
"He had it coming."
"Sure, sure."
The little interlude didn't interrupt their evening. There wasn't much to do other than sit and talk over a drink. Reivyn had never been one to visit such establishments regularly, and other than the conversation with Kefira, he didn't really see the appeal.
The hours dragged on, and it was eventually time to call it a night. They had booked two rooms, and Reivyn bid Kefira and Serilla a good night before heading to his own room. None of them were in the mood for additional Mana exercises or training, and they all three simply went straight to sleep.
---
Reivyn's mouth formed a line as he stepped out of the tavern. The thunderstorm and fog were gone, but the weather wasn't cleared yet. There was an ever-present misting of light rain still falling, and judging by the clouds in the sky, it wasn't going to be gone any time soon. He sighed as he stepped out into the muddy street.
"I told you," Kefira smirked.
"I don't know why you're happy about it," Reivyn said, glancing at her. "You're in the same boat as us."
"Oh, I'm definitely not happy about the weather," Kefira retorted. "Just a little smug at being right."
"Alright, no reason to dilly dally."
The trio once more set off on their journey. They were departing at the crack of dawn, and the clouds in the sky made it so that there was no beautiful sunrise in the distance. The darkness of the early morning persisted as they made their way out of the town.
The misting from the drizzle was just enough to have the same effect as the fog and the rain. The visibility was too poor for Kefira to see far enough to make any kind of meaningful teleport possible.
"Fun," Reivyn said as he started to jog into the rain.
---
Reivyn stumbled through the gates of the city, supporting an exhausted Kefira with his arm. She had given it her all, but the distance was too great for her to keep up with the two combat Classers. Reivyn had been required to carry her some of the ways when she had just been too tired to keep going.
Mud caked the bottom half of all three of their clothes. The added weight wasn't anything to their Strength Stats, but it just added to the overall annoyance. The rain continued to pelt them from above, not letting up for the journey.
The expected one-day journey had turned into a three-day-long slog, and all three of them were mentally exhausted. Reivyn and Serilla might have been able to endure the physical aspect of the journey much easier than Kefira, but that didn't mean it wasn't an ordeal.
The passing soldiers and pedestrians gave them strange looks as they walked through the city. It was the last major stop on their journey. Only a couple of minor camps existed beyond this point. Prince Endrew was the commanding officer of the city of Pallowealth they found themselves in, but they had no intention of meeting with the man. Even if it were necessary, they wouldn't have been in the mood to do so, and it wasn't necessary.
"I think I'm fine," Kefira said, extracting herself from Reivyn's arm to stand on her own. She stopped and stared into space for a moment before a wide smile took over her face.
"What?" Reivyn asked.
"Well, it wasn't all bad. I somehow managed to gain a point in Vitality through all that."
Reivyn stared at her in wonder for a moment.
"That's truly amazing," he said after recovering his composure. "It's almost impossible to train Stat points at our stage."
"Yeah, I never would have guessed it."
"This bears further investigation," Reivyn said.
Kefira eyed him sideways.
"I can see the wheels turning in your head. You're already trying to figure out a way to incorporate this into your training somehow, but let me ask you this: Are one or two points in your physical Stats really worth it?"
Reivyn stopped at that and truly considered the issue. He shook his head after a brief moment of self-reflection.
"No, it's not. This is probably the one time I'll admit that the training necessary just isn't worth it. I have nearly a thousand Vitality. One point isn't going to make or break a situation."
"Glad to finally see some common sense out of you."
"Hey!"
Reivyn put on an expression of hurt, but Kefira simply grinned at him and leaned her shoulder into him.
"When talking about training, that is."
"That's better," Reivyn said, nodding his head. He paused for a second and looked off into space. "Wait... is it?"
Kefira laughed at him, and even Serilla joined in with a chuckle.
The three made their way into the city to finish the last bit of hunting for the spies. The second leg of their mission had been completely upended by the weather, but they had still rooted out a spy in every place they expected to find one. This last city was larger than Piori, though, and they didn't think they would be able to find them all just like last time. Speed was the key, and so they immediately got to work.