Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Searching
"They’re all using their Battle Pets to help?"
Selena’s expression shifted constantly when she heard the wolf’s howl.
She hadn’t brought her Battle Pet with her on this trip into Secret Realm No. 1.
As a result, she was at a disadvantage in the search for Andre.
’Where could he have gone?’ Selena frowned. Then, steeling herself, she began to cast the most peculiar Witchcraft she knew.
"Destiny Enlightenment!" Selena took a large quantity of materials from her Storage Ring and placed them on the ground. She then ground a Magic Stone into powder and mixed it with water.
But that alone wasn’t enough. Selena added a special liquid, mixed the three components thoroughly, and then poured the resulting concoction on the ground, linking all the materials together.
When the last drop fell, the liquid began to absorb a massive amount of Magic Power. In the process, it solidified, forming a complete Witchcraft Array that pulsed with a grayish-white light.
Selena stood at the center of the Witch Array. Seeing it complete, the corner of her mouth twitched uncontrollably.
The materials used for this Witch Array, called Destiny Enlightenment, were far too valuable. Even she only had enough on hand to cast it three times.
But when she thought of the Secret Realm discovered jointly by the Four Great Clans, she gritted her teeth and went through with it.
After setting up the Witch Array, Selena took out a strand of hair from her Storage Ring.
It was a strand she had secretly taken from Andre’s bed when she had sat on it earlier.
’It’s worth it to open the Secret Realm!’
Selena took a deep breath. She rubbed her hands together, and the stolen strand of hair turned to ash, falling onto the Witch Array.
When the ash landed on the Witch Array, it erupted with a pillar of light that shot into the sky. It then began to shift continuously, finally resolving into a series of images.
Soon, the place where Andre was located appeared within the Witch Array.
’Found him... but where is this?’
Selena blinked, looking at the image displayed by the Witch Array.
From the looks of it, Andre was in a cave. But there weren’t many caves in the Secret Realm. There weren’t even any mountain ranges, just a few scattered hills dotted across the landscape.
Selena watched the image reflected in the Witch Array, continuously channeling her Magic Power to adjust the Power within it.
Just as Selena was about to pinpoint Andre’s exact location, a strange roar suddenly blasted out from the image, instantly blowing the entire Witch Array to smithereens.
’Although I didn’t get the exact location, a hint like this is enough. But what was that beast’s roar, capable of crossing space?’
Selena was sent flying by the explosion, only stopping when she slammed into the trunk of a large tree.
Selena staggered to her feet and took a bottle of Healing Potion from her Storage Ring, downing it in one gulp.
As the potion took effect, the injuries she sustained from the explosion began to disappear.
"BLEGH!" Selena spat out a mouthful of congealed blood. She looked at the site of the explosion, a strange glint in her eyes.
’That beast’s roar... could it be the Power contained within the Divine Blood?’
’But Angelson was human, or at least a humanoid race if not. How could the Divine Blood he left behind produce a strange beast’s roar!’
Selena dusted herself off, her eyes darting back and forth as she pondered the connection between the roar and Andre.
But no matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t figure out what Angelson had to do with that roar.
Resigned, she could only set the matter aside for now.
Finding Andre’s whereabouts was the most important thing right now!
’He’s in a cave. There are very few peaks in this Secret Realm, so I’ll just check them one by one.’
After her injuries healed, Selena took out a Recovery Potion from her Storage Ring and drank it to restore the Magic Power she had expended on the Witch Array.
Once her Magic Power was mostly restored, Selena took a pair of wing-shaped Witchcraft Tools from her Storage Ring, attached them to her back, and flew toward the nearby peaks under the moonlight.
While Selena and the other three were using their various methods to search for Andre, he was in his underground space, reading a book. He only closed it when he grew drowsy, using it as a pillow.
And so, he slept the night away in the underground space.
On the surface, Ferguson and Rite were still using their Battle Pets to track Andre.
Their efforts were not in vain. As the sun rose in the Secret Realm...
...the location of Andre’s underground space was found.
Jesse’s Battle Pet, the Wind-Chasing Giant Wolf, was the first to find Andre’s location.
After finding it, the Wind-Chasing Giant Wolf began sniffing the air around it.
But no matter how much the wolf sniffed, it couldn’t find a trace of Andre.
Andre’s scent was strongest here, yet it was also here that it vanished completely.
Seeing the Wind-Chasing Giant Wolf circling in place, Jesse dismounted and let it search for Andre on its own.
Yet even after she got off, the Wind-Chasing Giant Wolf just kept circling, occasionally glancing up at the surrounding trees.
’Is Andre in the trees?’
Watching her Battle Pet’s actions, Jesse took out a Witchcraft Tool, attached it to her back, and flew up into the woods to search for any sign of Andre.
She thought Andre might be hiding in a tree hollow, but she searched every hollow within a hundred-meter radius and still found no trace of him!
"Find anything?"
Just then, Ferguson descended from the sky on his Gale Eagle and looked at Jesse, who had just landed.
Jesse shook her head, her expression grim.
The four of them had teamed up to find a rookie who had been at the Wizard Academy for less than a year, yet they’d spent a whole day and still hadn’t found him.
If word got out, the four of them would become a laughingstock among the Wizard Clans.
"Still nothing? Where could he have gone? Did he leave the area?"
Ferguson jumped off the Gale Eagle’s back. Looking at the towering trees all around, he felt a headache coming on.
These ancient, sealed Secret Realms usually had one thing in common: exceptionally dense forests.
Unless it was one of the more peculiar Secret Realms, these tall trees were always a considerable nuisance.
Some of the more unique Secret Realms even gave rise to creatures of the Tree-man Race.
"You didn’t find him?"
Just then, Rite also rode up on his Lightning Leopard. He looked at the gloomy faces of Jesse and Ferguson and asked,
The two of them, faces grim, shook their heads at the same time.
"If he’s not in the trees and he’s not here, then where could he be?"
Seeing them shake their heads, Rite’s expression also turned sour.
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