Petra rolled her shoulders as she stepped through the gate to the twenty-eighth floor of Fyor. On the other side, the fortress had been remodeled with the portal in mind, a welcoming area set up to greet those who came from the lower floors. She gave a small smile towards one of the rainbow-eyed humans that met her. “I was requested for guard duty?”

When the woman acting as receptionist heard that, she blinked, checking her paperwork. “Ah, Miss Petra Carna?” She spoke up, clearly having already been using a magical effect to understand their language.

“That’s right. Can you tell me where my post is?” The adventurers of Fyor had come to an agreement with the king of the rainbow-eyes. The adventurers will be given their own land, and the ability to freely travel through the gate. However, in exchange, they would contribute some of their people to protect the border forts from the ashen dwarves.

This was a rather fair deal for the adventurers, and could even be said to be a bit of a vacation for them. While the creatures of the twenty-eighth floor were statistically as strong or stronger than any Maxer, the Maxers were highly specialized, many of them having even obtained godhood. They had trained their entire lives while dealing with creatures that had a statistical advantage over themselves, so this bit of a gap was not enough to worry them.

Granted, Petra already had the level orb of this floor in her hands, and was just waiting for her chance to use it. After their first investigation of the floor, she and Thelsa sent their people to the far reaches to try to find the obscure item. Forget a needle in a haystack, they were looking for a single grain of salt in a desert.

Thankfully, she had managed to find it after roughly a week, hidden in a dark cave far to the south. The area wasn’t part of any inhabited kingdom, and was teeming with monsters, but she quickly grabbed it and made her escape. Now, she was just waiting to be assigned to a guard position, using it as an excuse to ‘coincidentally’ locate the sphere while she was working.

The receptionist looked at her papers again, before giving a small smile. “You’ll be assigned to Fort Priven. Are you familiar with it, or should I find someone to guide you?”

Petra shook her head, her shadows already stirring beneath her feet. “I know where it is, thanks.” Each guard duty lasted only a week for the selected adventurers, and they had full permission to retreat if a battle seemed truly hopeless. Thus, most of them simply spent the time relaxing.

Petra wouldn’t do that, of course. She always did her best to leave a good impression on people. Her shadows swept up to engulf her, teleporting her to the fort that the receptionist had mentioned. Specifically, she appeared inside of the guard captain’s office, much to the surprise of the armored man.

Petra was rather curious when she learned that the guard captain here was one of the magically ‘muted’ rainbow-eyes. Those who were typically deemed as a lower class after losing their magic to the beasts from the magic realm. It was hard for them to get any positions of authority, and yet this man still held his post. Either he was incredibly talented, or simply of a higher birth. Petra wasn’t sure which.

The guard captain did a double take when he realized that Petra was suddenly sitting across from him, one hand instinctively going for his sword. However, as soon as he recognized that she was not a dwarvish assassin, he froze. “Adventurer?” He said the word, heavily accented. He was obviously not using any magic to help him speak the language, and his vocabulary was likely affected as a result of that.

“That’s right.” Petra nodded, using her body language to assure the man that he was correct. He furrowed his brow, before opening a drawer of his desk and pulling out an amulet. Petra could feel an enchantment on the item, one which activated as soon as he donned it.

“My apologies, you startled me.” The captain spoke more fluently once the enchantment was in place, causing Petra to nod her head in understanding. “I was not expecting someone so… young.”

Petra simply chuckled. “I assure you, sir, I am older than you could imagine. I only look this way due to the nature of my body. There is no need for you to question my capabilities due to my appearance.”

“I’m aware.” The captain nodded, pulling out a stack of paperwork. “You were among the security escorts for the first diplomatic meeting. At that time, it was noted that you were the only security hired that was not an ascended deity. To be able to work on the level of a god speaks of your prowess. Additionally, it was noted that you seem to have a remarkable ability to use shadows for long-distance scouting, going as far as finding a black stone slab within the ocean.”

When Petra simply nodded her head, he continued. “When I requested you for this post, it was your scouting ability that I was aiming for. I am aware that you adventurers agreed to be placed in defensive positions only, and do not wish to be used as tools to perpetuate warfare. So you need not be worried, as I won’t have you locate the enemy camp. Even if you find it, you are not required to report it lest they are within the territory of this fortress.”

“What I would like you to do is search for spies.” The captain’s tone became serious when he said that. “I have reason to believe that one of two possibilities exist. Either the Ashenborn are able to gather sensitive information through the use of covert tactics, or one of our own is sending them this information.”

“Regardless, there have been repeated attacks targeting our most sensitive weaknesses. Momentary shifts in personnel causing the guard to be lax, which would have lasted for mere minutes being taken advantage of. Whenever there is an opportunity, they seem primed and ready to take advantage. As the Ashenborn are not known for their use of magic, I must suspect either infiltration or an accomplice.”

Petra gave an understanding nod, though she already had an idea of her own as to how this had happened. “Just out of curiosity, but have your people ever practiced the ‘arts’ of the Ashenborn?”

“Not beyond the elementary levels, to understand the nature of their power.” The man shook his head, confirming Petra’s suspicions.

“Then, you might not know this.” Petra gave a small sigh, beginning to explain. “Among the uses of natural energy, there are a great many possibilities. The ones you know of, and are the most visibly obvious, are the simple manipulation of base elements. However, natural energy also has the potential to gather information. Let me demonstrate…”

Petra closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and stroking a ring on her finger. “Show me the last person to enter this office.” She whispered, the smoke from the candles shifting to pass through the air, heading to the door.

The guard captain raised a brow as he watched the smoke take a humanoid form. Another armored guard walked in, offering a salute as his smoky form began to deliver a soundless report. “Are you saying that they can gather their information without any need for covert tactics?”

Petra offered a weak smile, nodding her head. “We call this branch of natural energy the ‘shaman’ path. I myself have not studied it much, but I can already cause the natural elements to respond in such a way. For people that are proficient in the techniques, they can use the wind itself as their eyes and ears. This is an incredibly subtle spying method, but also one that is easy to prevent, should you be aware of it.”

That caused the man to look at her in delight. “Please, if you can offer the means of defending us against this tactic, I would be thankful. Many of my men have laid down their lives in the recent battles, and I do not wish to lose any more.”

“Well, I can assure you that my presence will prevent them from doing such in the next week.” Petra assured him. “I practice the ‘druid’ path of natural energy, so I can control the energy in this base to prevent it from leaking outside. Which means that you have one week to get a barrier installed. These barriers are rather common for my people, and they serve to mute the natural energy going in and out of a city.”

“This means that shamans won’t be able to do their spying without being physically within the barrier, and it will also offer you a resistance to wind and fire-based druid abilities. Most of such powers dissipate after passing through the barrier, unless they have a root in a natural phenomenon sustaining them.”

The guard captain offered a small nod. “In that case, I will have to put in a requisition for such a barrier, and hope that the trade is able to take place before your departure. In the meantime, you said that you practice the same arts as their warriors, correct?” He asked, to which Petra nodded her head. “In that case, would you be willing to train my men, and help them understand how they should best fight people like yourself?”

Petra thought that over for a moment, nodding her head. “I can do so. But first, would you allow me to use my powers to inspect your body? If I can do that, I will have a better understanding of what you and your men are capable of.”

The man looked surprised at that offer, but also cautious. “You may. However, it is of paramount importance that you do not touch my body with your mana. For the muted like myself, there is a risk that the thought eater still remains within my body.”

Petra’s expression grew serious when she heard that. “Then, I won’t use my mana. And if it is there…” She chuckled darkly. Her hand swept out, her shadows following her command to wrap around the captain’s body. “So it is…” She muttered, feeling the presence of a creature within the captain’s mana trying to latch onto her shadow. While the shadow itself wasn’t mana, mana was a component of it.

Petra simply grinned, allowing the creature to attach itself to her. Or rather, to her shadow. The shadow of an entire world, filled with millions of minds. Millions of thoughts assaulting this ‘thought eater’ all at once, with the shadow itself being sentient. It was naught but a starved bug captured by a massive beast and trampled before a charging stampede.

“Well, I have two pieces of good news for you, captain.” Petra said with an innocent smile once she pulled her shadow back, the captain shuddering with a sense of violation.

“P-Please, go on…” He said, his body still shaking slightly.

“First of all, I’ve killed your thought eater. I don’t know if there is any method of your people recovering their powers if it’s gone, but if so, your mana should be able to be returned to you.” The captain’s eyes went wide when he heard that, but Petra continued. “Additionally, your people have the capability of wielding ki. I assumed this would be the case, but I needed to check to make sure. While your talent for it is far below that of the faceless monks we heard about, it is still a viable means of amplifying your combat power.”

“Ki…” The man muttered the word under his breath again, before nodding. “I understand. Then, if you can train my people how to wield ki to counter this ‘druid’ path, I will be grateful.”

“I’ll do what I can, but my own ki is of the uncontrolled variety.” Petra explained patiently. “After I leave, I would suggest putting in a request for your next guard to be a monk. I can even recommend one of my friends to you. They’ll be able to set your people up with a proper training regiment to harness their ki. In the meantime, I’ll do what I can to simulate battles against druids for your people to train themselves.”

The guard captain nodded his head, standing and offering a bow of thanks towards Petra. “We’ll be in your care for the next week, then.”