Chapter 72: Chapter 72: Each to Their Own Devices
After Potato finished sensing the last rock wall, it flopped right onto Andre’s body. Blinking its eyes, it looked up at him with a pitiful, wronged expression.
"You’re acting pitiful now? If you hadn’t run off and left the nest in the first place, would I be going to all this trouble to find the way home for you?"
Andre patted Potato’s head, and its expression instantly became even more wronged.
But when Andre smiled and placed the piece of Honeycomb in his hand into its mouth, Potato instantly became happy again.
But that wasn’t all. Andre took out another piece and placed it between Potato’s front paws.
When Potato saw that Andre had given it another piece of Honeycomb, the wronged little expression on its face vanished instantly.
If the Honeycomb hadn’t been blocking its mouth, Potato might have even chirped with joy.
"Alright, back you go!"
Andre returned Potato, who was clutching the Honeycomb, to his Servant Bag. He then took a book from his Storage Ring and started to read.
Just as Andre entered the underground space, unbeknownst to him, Selena and the others were staring blankly at the devices in their hands, momentarily at a loss for words.
All of a sudden, Andre’s trail had vanished from the tracking devices in their hands.
This left Selena and the others unsure of how to find any trace of him.
’Could he have returned to the academy?’
Selena looked at the device in her hand and tapped it twice, half-suspecting it was broken.
Selena even glanced up at the sky.
If Andre had returned to the academy, there would surely be signs of a portal appearing in the sky.
But there were no such signs, which meant Andre was still somewhere in the Secret Realm.
’If Andre didn’t return to the academy, how did he manage to evade their Witchcraft Tools?’
’These Witchcraft Tools they were using for tracking were all personally crafted by the elders in their clans.’
’To evade them, one would need Power greater than that of their elders.’
’But among Andre’s associates, only three people possessed such Power: Radak, Krell, and Farrete.’
’Radak and Farrete both had their own matters to attend to and weren’t with Andre.’
’And as for their ancestor, Krell, he was still in a meeting in the White Sea Wizard World and hadn’t returned.’
’So how did Andre manage to block the tracking devices?’
’Could it be that Andre already guessed why we’re trying to contact him, so he cast some kind of aura-hiding Witchcraft on himself ahead of time?’
’But that’s not right either. Unless Andre becomes an Official Wizard, it should be impossible for him to escape the tracking disc!’
Selena frowned, deeply perplexed.
Given the fundamental difference in their levels of Power, it should have been impossible for Andre to escape the tracking from their devices.
Yet, he had somehow managed to do just that. Selena was completely baffled, and for a moment, she had no idea which way to go.
Not far from Selena, Jesse was tapping the device in her own hands. She had assumed its Magic Power had simply been depleted.
But even after she took out a new device and activated it, she still couldn’t find any trace of Andre.
’This is strange. Where could he have gone? What did he do to evade the tracking disc? Or... has someone else already found him?’
Countless thoughts flashed through Jesse’s mind, each one more disadvantageous to her than the last.
’If someone else has already found Andre and obtained the Divine Blood from him, then my clan will be at a disadvantage in this exploration of the Secret Realm.’
’No, I have to pick up the pace!’
Jesse’s expression shifted rapidly until a look of determination settled in her eyes. Reaching into her robes, she pulled out a Servant Bag identical to Andre’s.
After a moment’s hesitation, Jesse opened the Servant Bag.
With a rush of wind, Jesse released a Wind-Chasing Giant Wolf from the Servant Bag.
This Wind-Chasing Giant Wolf was a Level 1 Magical Beast, but its combat power was comparable to that of a Level 1 Official Wizard.
Jesse was still a High Level Wizard Apprentice. She had not yet forged her own Ladder of Truth or become an Official Wizard. The price to command such a powerful Wind-Chasing Giant Wolf was extremely high for someone at her level.
Fortunately, this Wind-Chasing Giant Wolf had been with her since it was a pup. After she embarked on the path of a Wizard, her clan elders had even helped raise it for a time to serve as her protector.
That was how the Wind-Chasing Giant Wolf had managed to become a Level 1 Magical Beast.
"Storm, help me find the scent of the person who concocted this Potion."
Jesse took a Potion from her Storage Ring, uncorked it, and poured the contents into the Wind-Chasing Giant Wolf’s mouth.
The Wind-Chasing Giant Wolf held the Potion in its mouth, savoring it for a moment before swallowing. It then nodded at Jesse, indicating it could now track Andre, the one who had made the Potion.
"Excellent! Storm, go after him! If you complete this task, I’ll give you a High Level Magic Stone."
A smile spread across Jesse’s face as Storm nodded. She leaped onto the wolf’s back and patted its head.
Storm let out a howl and began to follow Andre’s scent, tracing the path he had taken.
As Storm’s howl echoed through the jungle night, Ferguson, who was in a location opposite to Jesse, naturally heard it as well.
’So you’re finally using your helpers, are you, Jesse?’
As a fellow member of the Four Great Clans who had come to the academy with her, Ferguson knew exactly what tricks Jesse had up her sleeve.
He gritted his teeth, pulled a Servant Bag from his robes, and released a Gale Eagle.
Ferguson hadn’t wanted to release the Gale Eagle, as it was notoriously bad at tracking.
A Gale Eagle could rely on its speed to find an obvious target, but otherwise, its tracking Ability was far inferior to that of a Wind-Chasing Giant Wolf.
Its sense of smell was much weaker than the wolf’s.
However, the Gale Eagle had one advantage: its flight speed was second to none in the Secret Realm. It could potentially spot Andre by flying in continuous, wide circles.
Ferguson communicated with his Gale Eagle for a moment. After promising it thirty kilograms of barbarian beef, he climbed onto the eagle’s back and gripped its feathers tightly.
The Gale Eagle spread its wings and rose silently into the sky, using the power of the wind to begin its patrol across the Secret Realm.
"Sigh... One by one, they’re all calling on their helpers. As if I don’t have one myself!"
After hearing the wolf’s howl, Rite also pulled a Servant Bag from his robes and released a Lightning Leopard.
The Lightning Leopard emerged and immediately began to rub affectionately against Rite.
Rite’s method was the same as Jesse’s. He poured a Potion made by Andre into the Lightning Leopard’s mouth, instructing it to follow the scent within the Potion—the one that wasn’t part of the Potion itself—and find Andre’s trail.
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