Chapter 304: Pawns (2/2)
She shot him a dark glare for a few seconds, opening her mouth as if to yell something at him, but apparently thought better of it. Finally, she grumbled. ”Alright…”
Standing, she walked over to one of the empty corners of the large room. He followed after while downing a couple of the mana potions. While he was fairly certain his mana had regenerated enough to allow him to make use of the enhancement method again, he wanted to be on the safe side. It didn't seem wise to be running on fumes before meeting a bunch of ancient and powerful beings.
Once they'd gotten a bit of distance from the others, she turned and stared at him with her arms crossed. They remained like that for a few seconds until she finally said, ”Well? What are you waiting for?”
Sighing, Mike nodded and placed one hand on her shoulder. ”Give me a second. This isn't exactly easy.”
He tried to follow the same steps that he used with Morris, but quickly found that there were some pretty large differences between the two. For one, Sera had a lot less bodily tissue to reinforce, so he would need to balance the amount of mana he used to accomplish the same level of enhancement.
Secondly, he noticed some rather unusual energy fluctuations that seemed to be stemming from something near the base of her spine. He couldn't tell exactly what it was, but it seemed to be releasing pulses at regular intervals.
[What the hell?]
He moved around to stand behind her and lifted up her shirt to get a better look at the spot in question. This, of course, made her squirm.
”What are you doing?!” She yelled while trying to step away from him.
”Hold still.” He commanded, the firmness in his voice causing her to freeze.
Scanning the area just above her tailbone, he noticed a thin scar, barely a few centimeters in width just to the left of her spine. It could have been a small cut that had healed years ago, but something about it reminded him of a surgical incision.
[When could this have happened? During the kidnapping? Earlier?]
He channelled a bit of mana into the strange location, using the energy as a makeshift ultrasound to try and get a better picture of the item in question. Unfortunately, he'd never really practiced this technique, so the best he was able to determine was that it was an oblong and irregularly shaped object that was embedded a little past the muscles of her lower back.
”Shit, I'm going to have to go in…” He muttered under his breath.
”Ha?! What do you mean, go in?! What's going on?!” Sera yowled and started struggling again.
Realizing that he would need to calm her down before doing anything else, he spoke quietly while channeling his mana. ”There's something in your lower back. I don't know what it is, but it's emitting energy pulses on a regular basis. I will need to make an incision in order to determine anything further.”
”There is something...in me?”
Mike couldn't see her face, but he could practically feel her working through the implications of his statement. ”Do you think…” She started before trailing off again.
Mike detected a particularly large pulse from the object, which sent a spike of alarm through him.
”Look, I know you have a problem with me at the moment, but this is serious. I don't have time to explain everything right now, so I'll need you to trust me.”
She was silent for a few seconds before responding. ”...It's not you I have a problem with...Whatever, do what you need to do.”
Without any further prompting, he created several small blades of darkness while simultaneously sending a wave of healing through her. As quickly as he could manage, he stabbed into her lower back with the blades at an angle until they'd gone past the object, before having them wrap around it. With a flick of his wrist, he pulled the item free.
By the time she'd staggered from the initial bout of pain, the injury had already healed, this time leaving no scar. To be on the safe side, though he held her in place until she'd regain her balance, while simultaneously sending another wave of Life Magic through her, checking for any other abnormalities that might have cropped up. Fortunately, none were apparent.
Glancing down at the strange object he'd removed from her back, he was surprised that it looked a lot like a chess piece carved from some kind of white stone. It resembled a squat and broad shouldered soldier clad in leather armor. Under the base, where the piece would rest against the game board was a single arcane rune which his Communication Magic translated as 'knowledge.'
”What is it?” Morris asked, nearly surprising him with how close the bard had gotten while he'd been distracted. Apparently, all of his party members, with the exception of Lily who was still staring blankly into space, had come over to see what was going on.
”I'm still working on that.” He replied before using Appraise.
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Scout of the Alabaster Legion
Magic Item (Tier 2, Rank 3)
This carved game piece is part of a magically enhanced set based on the Conquest board game. Created by the talented and eccentric artificer, Keldon of Anji, each individual component of this set has its own unique function and abilities.
This particular piece belongs to the Alabaster Legion, one of the four Conquest factions, and is meant to represent a scouting force. It allows the holder of the piece to send information to the holder of the Alabaster Legion's general piece. Ordinarily, this would have consisted of a limited amount of verbal communication over any conceivable distance, however it has been modified to instead send a consistent signal indicating its location. As a byproduct of this modification, the range has been reduced to a little over twenty kilometers.
Additionally, it includes a failsafe that will trigger upon meeting certain conditions.
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”It's a tracking device…” Mike muttered before quickly dropping the piece as it began to smoke and melt. Within a few seconds, it had been reduced into a pile of foul-smelling goo.