167 Declaration of War (1/2)

”Do you guys want any?” Ray asked, his hand out with the plate of microwaved chicken nuggets.

What followed was the most awkward 2 hours Moby and Alex had ever experienced as they all just sat down and watched TV with small talk every now and then as they were waiting for Ray to make a move. It was almost like he was stalling for time in a way that would seem ordinary.

All 3 of them were acting extremely fake as they needed to fool the person spying on them, so they did what they had to do to make it seem as natural as possible even though in their hearts they knew that it was not at all the case.

Moby was almost certain that Ray also knew that he and Alex had gotten his message but he had no real way of confirming it other than picking up on what seemed like subtle hints in their conversation.

At times like these, he really wished that he had already turned Ray into a demon just so he could communicate with him using mind-link which would have avoided such a problem in the first place. But sadly, even if he wanted to turn him in secret, he did not have any open slots at the time so he was not able to do it.

Suddenly, Ray turned off the TV before casually looking at him.

”Hey, Moby would it be possible if I just talked with you in private? I have noticed a problem in my ability, I can't seem to get it any stronger than it already is, can you help me out?” Ray nervously asked.

”Huh? Why me? I just got my ability very recently and I'm super inexperienced in using it, wouldn't asking Alex be a better idea?” Moby replied in confusion.

”Well, you are like the fastest-growing student I have ever seen, you went from F rank to nearly A rank in the span of a few weeks. You must have some sort of secret to getting strong right? Can you please share it with me?” Ray said, bowing deeply.

”Well, I think it was just due to the nature of my ability that it grows fast at the start, not because of anything special I am doing. But, I would be glad to give you some pointers, we are friends after all,” Moby said with a smile.

Moby knew that what Ray said was a trap but he had to go along with it for his sake.

”Really! That's great! You're the best!” Ray said in excitement.

If Moby did not know Ray for so long, he would have thought of him as a traitor and just simply abandoned him to his fate. But, it was the fact that he knew him for so long that he understood that he was doing this against his will and had no other choice.

He also knew that Ray was the type to have a plan in such situations, just like what he did with the SOS message. So, he decided to put his trust in him for now until proven otherwise.

Now Moby knew everything, there was going to be some sort of ambush somewhere in the forest. If he did not know any better and if Ray did not show him any signs or hints, he would have thought of it as nothing but a simple request. But now, Moby was heavily on guard.

Even though he was nearly 100% certain of his deduction, he still needed to confirm it with his own eyes and gauge the strength and numbers of his enemies.

'Abby! Can you hear me?' Moby asked, opening up a mind-link.

'Yes, my lord! I can hear you loud and clear!' Abby replied as she stopped swinging her scythe, wiping the sweat off her forehead.

'I have an update on the situation, my friend is completely safe but it seems like he is being manipulated into luring me into an ambush in the forest, I need you to send a wisp or 2 to scout the area around the forest and report your findings to me as soon as possible,' Moby said in a firm voice.

'WHAT! Luring my lord into a trap! Unforgivable! That is a sin! No! That is far beyond any sin! If you allow me to speak my opinion, he should be either abandoned or executed for such actions, in his place I would have gladly sacrificed my self for your sake! My lord, my life belongs to you,' Abby replied in a stern voice.

'Calm down Abby, there must be some sort of reason for this, that is why I have decided to follow along with this trap and take them head-on. Ray is a very important person to me and I also feel like his skills and talents would serve me well in the future so please take that into consideration as well. For now, just search the forest and report your findings so I can formulate my thoughts,' Moby replied, trying his best to calm her down as he was slightly taken aback at how fanatic she was growing before deciding to ignore it for now as there were more urgent things to worry about.

'Understood, it shall be done. I was just trying to provide my opinions and suggestions like you had previously asked my lord. I will of course trust your judgement as you are more knowledgeable than me,' Abby said, bowing from the other end before sending out her wisps to spy.

Moby then thanked her for sharing her opinion, and her good memory and listening before he closed the mind link and waited for her to respond.

He told Alex everything he and Abby talked about. In the meantime, he still had to stall for time and get more information out of Ray while trying to fool the people spying on them into thinking that they were clueless. Seeing that nothing had yet to happen, it seemed like they were doing a good job so they just had to continue what they were doing to make everything seem as natural as they possibly could.

The person spying on Ray was sitting beside a computer, his hands hovering over the abduct button with bored yet keen eyes as he had yet to notice anything wrong or out of place in what was happening. Moby and Alex did not voice their true thoughts or whisper secretly between each other, and they did not push anything on Ray or disagree with him in any way which would have urged him to press the button.

Plus, the hologram censor of Ray was not completely perfect. It was able to pick up on all the movements of his naked body but complex facial expressions were not completely replicated. This meant that a slightly shaky smile from Ray seemed completely natural from his perspective and he found no evidence of Moby and Alex reacting badly to it or finding it suspicious so he did not think much of it. If they did, then they would voice their concerns and observations like normal people, however, the problem was that they were not normal people.

He was actually fooled into thinking that everything was as it was supposed to be. From his perspective, it seemed like everything was going according to plan as he had absolutely no idea of the existence of mind-link.