"Your family must be loaded!" He ran behind the crates to change . Red didn't want to be the one slowing down the team .
"With the two of you, we can give the stealth approach a try . Change into something less conspicuous, so you can scout the building without drawing the attention . "
A few minutes later, Lith was wearing his hunter clothes and studying the front door while pretending to be interested in the merchandise of a food vendor .
"Don't try to be a hero . If you are not certain of your findings or don't feel up to the task just say it . " Captain Yerna's voice sounded in his ear .
'Solus?' Lith couldn't use Life Vision without scaring the cr*p out of the vendor . He still had to find a way to activate it without his eye glowing like small suns . Solus's mana sense was much more discreet .
'The front door is clean . No magic at all, if there is anything it's mechanical in nature . There are no arrays active, but I can sense something magical and powerful on the third floor . '
Lith bought some of the food, going into an alley to circle around the building . It was his first time in a slum of a big city . The alley was full of trash, forcing him to dodge rats eating rotten food while he walked .
Now that he could use Life Vision, Lith detected that aside from the animals the alley was empty . He could see the people inside the building through the wall, and no one seemed to be alert .
Lith used darkness magic to extend the shadows of the alley . It provided him a cover while he studied the back door from a safe distance . It also masked his glowing eyes, preventing onlookers to notice him .
"The front entrance is just a regular door . " He reported via the communication earpiece .
"The back door, not so much . It's reinforced by some kind of earth spell, making it as hard as stone . The lock is booby trapped to turn into a skewer of ice whoever tries to pick it . "
"Damn!" The Captain sounded really worried . "Not as easy as our intel told us . The front door is probably barred, if not even walled . Can you do something about those protections or do we need to abort the mission and request for reinforcements?"
"Didn't you read my file, Captain? I'm the reinforcements . " Lith grinned .
After months spent studying the boxes and the countless attempts in breaking their locks without meeting a fiery death, the enchantments in front of him were barely more difficult than beating a monkey at a tic tac toe game .
"I already finished disarming them while I was talking with you . I counted not less than three people from the windows on the ground floor . " With the channel open, Lith could speak but not listen, missing all the gasps and swearing that filled the control room at those words .
Lith could see several life forces down in the basement . They were too many and too weak to be guards, making him wonder what kind of mess he was walking into .
'Either there is a Warp Gate in the basement and they are moving a small army or these guys do not smuggle just drugs . '
On his way back he kept looking for windows, grates, anything that could give him an excuse to share the knowledge acquired with Life Vision . Lady Luck didn't smile at him .
When he made it back to the warehouse, Red had done his part . He was filling the blueprint on the board with red dots according to his readings .
"Your intel was completely off the mark . " After listening to Lith's report he had given his best to impress his teammates as well .
"The first three floors are almost empty . There are only three people on the first floor, five on the second, and four on the third…" Red stopped abruptly, wiping off a red dot from the board .
"Three on the third floor . Someone just died . There are also at least twenty people on the underground floor . Are you sure this is really a drug depot?"
At that point, the Captain was the first to question her superiors' judgment .
"Not anymore . I need to call the Headquarters . No matter if the mission gets aborted or not . You both did great and I'll make sure to write it down in my report . "
'I can't believe they flunked this so bad . We could have all died in there . ' Yerna thought while conjuring a silence spell to prevent the following conversation to be heard .
After a quick call with her commanding officer, she was pinching her nose with her eyes closed, trying to contain her anger .
"I have good news and bad news . The good news is that the HQ agrees with us . This could be too big for a small squad, so they are sending reinforcements from the Association in case something goes wrong . They'll be here in a few minutes .
"The bad news is that since the hostiles are so few and there is such a high number of potential hostages, prisoners, slaves, whatever those people in the basement are, we have been ordered to continue the mission .
"They say our new objective is to prevent the hostiles from running away or get rid of the prisoners once they found out to be surrounded . The even worst news is that since the two of you have been so useful, you have to come with us . "
'Still, not a big deal . ' He inwardly sighed . 'The ones on the ground floor were just humans, right Solus?'
'Positive . Red cored humans with slightly above average life force . Easy to catch, easy to kill . ' After spending so many years with Lith, Solus had little regard for human life . The only exceptions were those who she believed to be innocent or those she grew fond of .
"I have two more questions, Captain . " Lith raised his hand again .
"Granted . "
"Red, can you detect arrays? I don't mean to sound paranoid, but I'd prefer to avoid any more surprises . " Lith was cautious of the content of the third floor, from which Solus perceived a powerful force .
It wasn't a problem for him since he was already on guard and his partner could warn him on time . What worried Lith was being the sole survivor of whatever threat they could find . It would raise too many questions .
"Yes . It's one of the easiest and fastest spells of a Warden . " Red nodded .
"It's unlikely we'll find any . A temporary one would imply the presence of a Warden and I can't imagine a mage wasting their talent with these dregs . A permanent one would cost far more the whole building is worth . "
"The same could be said for the back door . " Lith pointed out . "I think…"
"Wait!" Red cut him short .
"Another person on the third floor just died and one of the two remaining life forces is fading quickly . What in the gods' name are they doing there?"
"Weapons at hand, everyone . " Captain Yerna took out a sword and a wand from her dimensional ring .
"We are about to find out . "
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