Chapter 401 The Golden Pond
One more week went by while all three of them were relentlessly searching for the place or cave that Asher described.
It had been two weeks since they entered this place, but there were no clues about it.
"We have covered around 26% of the area of this place," Kai mentioned as he looked ahead.
He jumped down from the tree branch he was standing on as Dane and Asher walked upon the dried leaves that were present on the ground.
The aroma of the tree leaves was filling this whole area, and Dane didn't like it too much.
It had a very strong aroma that was making him restless.
"Don't worry, it's not poison," Asher replied as he crushed one of the dried leaves on the ground with his hand.
Listening to Asher's words, Dane relaxed a bit, but the aroma was still bothering his sense of smell.
And it was because of the fact that the leaves of these trees were used to cover the scent of human bodies from any monster.
It was a must thing for any assassin or spy because if processed carefully, they could even fool the senses of a high-ranking hunter.
Although they could still detect your mana, if you could hide your mana's presence well, this sort of thing was essential to cover other tracks.
"Our speed is slow because we are being careful not to damage this place," Kai spoke out.
The reason why all of them barely covered 1/3 of the total area was that their speed was considerably slow.
This wasn't a normal forest that they could move as they wanted.
Asher wanted to remove all traces that could make anyone suspicious. As this place was opened to a select few, noticing irregularities was much easier.
And leaving any evidence could spoil the entire plan that Asher had in his mind.
"But I think we will find that place in that direction," Kai pointed at the northern part of this massive 'garden. '
"And why?" Dane asked as he furrowed his brows due to the smell.
"The terrain around there is very denser, and it's closer to the edge of the garden, so we might find what we are looking for around that place," Kai explained,
Asher listened to all this as he turned towards the Northern Direction. The time they had was very limited, and choosing the northern direction now would make it impossible for them to reach the other parts in time.
They could pace around this place, but that would result in them damaging this place and leaving evidence of their presence or activating one of the security runes.
Although removing their artifacts removed the risk of getting detected by the complex rune that covered the sky of this place, there were hidden runes as well that were placed to make sure that any kind of irregularity inside could be spotted in time.
"Are you sure that place might not be the one," Dane said with a serious look on his face.
Kai got silent as he only answered with his intuition, but he knew that if his guess was wrong, it could lead to the failure of this mission.
"Let's go in that direction," Asher spoke out of nowhere, making both of them look at him.
Dane and Kai nodded as Asher took Kai's suggestion and started moving towards the northern part.
The more they went towards that area, the denser the forest became, and it could be seen that this area wasn't maintained well.
Everything around them looked ordinary, and there were no extraordinary herbs or plants to be spotted in this place.
And it was obvious that they were moving away from the center of this garden and were exploring the outer part where the mana veins in the ground weren't that potent.
'Did I make a mistake?' Kai thought in his head.
He only gave this suggestion because the place that Asher described sounded like a place that was away and well hidden.
But knowing that must be of incredible value, Kai was doubting whether his decision was correct or not.
If they didn't find the cave Asher mentioned in this direction, this mission would be a failure.
One day went by, and then a second went by as well, where the three of them were even moving in the direction using their mana sense.
Asher was not stopping at all, and he was keeping check of his surroundings with his mana sense to detect any cave-like structure hidden in the ground.
'Where would that place be?' Asher thought in his head.
All he remembered was that only the previous Allister Head had found that place despite numerous others going there to collect herbs and explore it.
'It should be somewhere where people would ignore it,' Asher thought.
It was also the reason why Asher agreed to go with Kai's suggestion, as the northern part of this garden was looking even more ordinary.
As all the important herbs, plants, and flowers were present in the center area, the outer edges were often ignored.
So, it was highly possible that the northern part of this garden was the place where he would find the cave that held the secret of this garden.
"Follow me," Asher spoke out of nowhere as he jumped on top of a tree, and Dane and Kai followed him.
Although it was dark, the moonlight was illuminating the forest, and they could see the path ahead of them.
But it looked almost like a wild forest, which was a stark contrast from the scenery they had seen in this place till now.
"We will spread out and meet there in 10 hours," Asher said as his crimson-red eyes gazed at the tallest tree that was present there.
"Look around this place, and use your senses to find a cave-like structure hidden around," Asher explained.
"Ok Boss!" Kai and Dane spoke simultaneously.
Dane and Kai went in opposite directions while Asher jumped down and started running forward.
His mana spread even further, covering more ground as Asher closed his eyes, solely focusing on his senses.
Mana was present everywhere, and with the help of his mana control skills, Asher could sense the space around him just like any other high-ranking hunter.
Although it wasn't perfect, like using space elements, it was enough to spot the environment around him.
'It would be better if I could find it without using that plan,' Asher thought in his head.
Although Kai and Dane thought that they needed to find the cave here in the time left, Asher had one more plan if this place didn't have that cave either.
It was something he wanted to avoid if he could because he was unsure what would happen after he did it.
And that plan was nothing else but to use a teleportation spell multiple times, going to all the places that were left and using his mana sense to locate that cave.
Although it sounded like a good idea, Asher didn't know what the safe limit was for him while using such spells.
And even with Rune of Eirdin and his intelligence stat, Asher was still experiencing headaches and mental fatigue after using that leap spell to teleport him and Dane and Kai.
Slowly, the night got brighter as dawn arrived. The sky was turning blue, and the sun was about to shine.
It had been 9 hours, but Asher had already reached the tree, and the cave was nowhere to be found.
And right now, Asher was sitting under the tree, meditating while recovering his mana.
Dane and Kai had yet to return as there was still an hour left, but Asher didn't believe that they had found the cave yet.
If they did, they would have come to this spot much earlier.
"Come out," Asher said as he opened his eyes.
Rifir appeared around Asher's arms and moved to the ground, turning his head to look at Asher.
"Can you sense it?" Asher asked.
If the place was what Asher remembered it was, Rifir had the best chance of spotting it.
"It's not around here," Rifir replied, tilting his head.
"Hmm," Asher didn't speak as Rifir looked around.
Rifir could understand what Asher was thinking, so it could reply honestly to Asher without getting confused.
But suddenly, Rifir turned his head as its irises focused in a direction further up north.
"Something there," Rifir spoke, tilting his head on the other side.
Rifir's response made Asher stand up and look in that direction, but it was all a forest.
"Let's wait for them," Asher said as Rifir disappeared.
Forty minutes later, Dane and Kai arrived at the spot and saw Asher mediating and recovering his mana.
Asher opened his eyes and looked at Dane and Kai, who both shook their heads, expressing their failures.
"You can rest here. I will go further for now," Asher spoke.
"We can still go on," Dane said.
"No need, keep guarding him while he recovers," Asher pointed at Kai, who was visibly exhausted.
He hadn't recovered from using his bloodline ability. Still, using his mana continuously repeatedly while also using his mana to enhance his senses to find the cave, Kai wasn't in his best shape.
"Ok," Dane replied.
Leaving Dane and Kai to rest, Asher went ahead in the direction Rifir had previously looked at.
The search for the cave was on, and Asher hoped to find it soon as it was a crucial piece in his plans going forward.
Although it didn't seem like he would succeed at first, in a few hours, Asher was staring at a cave-like place at the opening of one of the tree trunks hidden with an illusion spell rune.
"This is the place," Asher muttered as his eyes stared at the cave.
He didn't even go inside, but just looking at the rune and the preparation to keep it hidden, Asher was sure this was where he was looking for what was present.
"So this was the source of the Golden Fountain that the Allister had," Asher muttered as he stepped inside.
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