The Messenger of Death

A few hours later, a part of the group that was tasked with mapping out the topography of the forest returned.

"Finally, I thought we would have to search for you guys." Lenny was relieved to see that they had returned.

"How far have you guys covered?" Camron joined in on the conversation

"We crossed the 600 meters mark. We should be done with the primary objective of the mission by tomorrow evening." A redhead from Lenny's team answered and locked eyes with Camron.

She was a year ahead of Camron in school and age but since they started the journey on their way to the Agelong forest, she and Camron had been connecting well.

"We would have a lot of free time on our hands then. Maybe after we are done we can explore the forest. I heard that the deep parts of this forest are filled with mysteries and miracle fruits that are able to increase one's cultivation by a huge margin at a go, we might be lucky enough to find a treasure or rare materials that are worth a lot in the market." Amelia shrieked in excitement.

"Yeah."

"Sure."

Everyone but Alex agreed to Amelia's suggestion. He just stayed still and listened to all they were talking about with his eyes closed…

Suddenly Alex jolted and looked around.

['Did I imagine it?']

Alex felt a menacing gaze graze his body, but it only lasted for a second so he couldn't be certain of where it came from.

['Did I really imagine that?'] He asked himself once more. As an assassin, it's normal to be paranoid sometimes, but something about this paranoia felt different.

['My instincts are telling me that something is off.']

['Then stay at alert. It might have been some kind of beast that followed the scent of humans here.'] Xander advised.

['Maybe.'] Alex thought.

He laid back on the tree trunk and tried to relax but he couldn't. He was feeling too uneasy, so he decided to keep himself busy.

"Why haven't I thought of this before?" He whispered to himself and tapped the side of his head lightly.

['Thought of what?'] Al asked. Alex ignored Al's question. ['Rude much? Hmph,'] Al kept quiet after that.

Alex brought out a blue, green, and purple energy crystal from his ring.

"System, can you analyze the properties of this crystal?

-Ping!

*Affirmative, the system can analyze the properties of the crystals. But note, due to limited references and lack of sufficient information system might not be able to accurately label the properties of the crystals. Do you still wish to proceed? If yes tap your forehead once, if no ignore this notification for more than 3 seconds.

Alex tapped his forehead once.

-Ping!

*Command recognized.

*Scanning and analyzing crystals.

*Percentage completed: 12/100

Alex watched as the percentage completed increased steadily. He waited for 3 minutes.

-Ping!

*Objective complete. Would the user like to know what the results are?

"No, I can check on that later. What I want to know is if this is enough information for you to be able to track similar or denser energy radiation of this kind?

*System is able to track this sort of energy as it stands out.

"Then search for the nearest one now. No need to double confirm, do it."

*Searching…

-Ping!

*Similar energy found. Would the user like…

"Where?" Alex interrupted before the system could complete its sentence.

*Nearest location is everywhere…

Alex who was already excited was confused by that answer. "Be more specific system."

*Similar energy found in the crystals also exists in the air and many of the agriculture here.

['This freaking…'] Alex's face palmed himself. ['There's QI in the air and plants. What I want to find is those miracle fruits or treasures that Amelia was talking about.'] He finished.

['Hahaha!!'] His alters laughed at his reaction.

"System the energy you are referring to is called QI. Filter the QI energy from the air and plants out of the search and tell me where the nearest location is."

*Commencing search using an advanced modification of echolocation and wave-length recognition.

*Due to the user's current location search is limited to the distance of 187.5km. To increase the distance covered, the user will need to get to higher grounds.

"187.5km should be enough for now. Proceed with the search and notify me once you have a result." Alex said with a smile on his face, his mask had given him a new hope that was enough to make him forget about the uneasy feeling he had.

He laid back and waited for the system to notify him…

…

The morning had reached and Alex still haven't received any notification from his mask, it was still searching. He had stayed up all night waiting for the good news.

['Give it some time Alex, nothing good comes easy.'] Lex comforted.

['At least not all the time. You forgot to add that.'] Al completed the phrase.

['He didn't say that part because it's not part of it.'] Xander pointed out.

['That's because the person that made the saying was a liar.'] Al retorted.

['No, you are just too dumb to be reasoned with.'] Xander chose to stay quiet, as he knew that speaking will only turn the whole conversation into a heated argument.

Alex chuckled at his Alter's bickering.

"Someone's feeling good this morning." Alex heard from below. It was Sara, she and her teammates were standing below the tree. He jumped down from where he had spent the night and landed in front of her.

"What do you want?" He questioned Sara.

"Is that how to greet?" Amelia voiced her discomfort at his disrespect for her friend, but Alex chose to act like she didn't exist. He didn't speak nor did he look at her.

"I asked Camron last night about how you guys were able to find that much Ingredient and he insisted on saying that it was all thanks to you." Sara paused."

"And?" Alex raised a brow, waiting for her to continue.

"Well, I was wondering if you could also help us. Of course, not for free."

"What are you willing to use to buy my service?" Alex smirked, now Sara was speaking the language that he knew, trade by barter, a favor for a favor.

"I will give you 1 green HD-EC."

"That's not enough, I gave you two. Do you think one would pique my interest?"

"Okay then, what do you want?" Sara sighed.

"Hmm… How about this, you save a spot for my team on the next mission you take."

"What!? You ungrateful…"

"Deal!" Sara accepted his condition before Amelia could complete her sentence.

They shook hands. "Don't go back on your words later on, and if you do, trust me you will regret such a decision," Alex warned.

Sara giggled and put her hand over Alex's shoulders. "Don't worry, I fear you way too much for me to do anything like that." Her teammates laughed at what she said, they all thought it was very funny.

"Shall we begin?" She whispered into Alex's ears.

"As soon as you get off me, yes," Alex said with a straight face. Sara backed off and he went to call his teammates over, then they went further into the forest.

…

"There…"

"Over there…"

"Underneath the dry canopy leaves…"

Alex had been giving instructions nonstop. The speed at which he identified where the ingredients were located stunned the nior team. Now they know why Camron said that it was all thanks to Alex. The members of the nior team tried having a small talk with Alex but failed at it. they wanted to get closer to Alex.

Alex made a sudden turn and stared in a certain direction.

['I felt it again, that gaze. Like we are being watched.'] Alex said.

Since they ventured deeper into the forest Alex had been feeling uneasy, he kept on feeling like they were being watched and followed.

['I'm not imagining this.']

['If it has been happening constantly then it might just be so.'] Xander said. From their upbringing, they were taught to always trust their instincts.

"System, search for any other heat signatures apart from that of the 29 people that came here with me."

*If the user proceeds with this command, the progress made in the search of QI energy might be lost and would require the system to start again. Do you still wish to proceed with the command?

Alex was now conflicted. He didn't want to have to wait some more for the system to give him results for what he previously asked.

"No, forget the command."

*Command forgotten.

['Let's just keep going like this for a while. The rest are bound to notice something as we move.'] Alex said to himself.

-Boom!!!

A loud sound of something exploding in the air reached everybody's ears, he looked up and saw a cloud of smoke just above the tall trees of the forest. Alex saw Sara and the rest run towards that direction.

He removed his spear from his ring and followed them as quickly as he could.