PH1RE'S P.O.V
The four of us sat in Ethan's room. Maya was perched on the bed, though she might as well have been on the floor with how slumped her posture was. Bryn, on the other hand, was as infuriatingly cheerful as ever. If the situation we were in wasn't enough to wipe that grin off his face, I wasn't sure what would.
The rest of us, however, were steeped in silence, our moods as sour as ever.
"All right, let's review the situation," Ethan finally said, breaking the quiet.
"First of all—we're screwed."
"That much was obvious," Maya muttered, arms crossed.
"Yes, but I don't think any of you truly understand just how screwed we are," Ethan continued. "The enemy holds every advantage. They can listen to our conversations—maybe even this one. They can erase any evidence we're lucky enough to find. And worst of all? They've already proven they have no hesitation in killing to cover their tracks. They're thorough."
A heavy silence followed.
"So… is it hopeless?" Bryn asked, his tone oddly neutral.
Ethan shook his head. "No. If anything, their actions tell us something important: only those without overwhelming power feel the need to display it."
Maya frowned. "Meaning?"
"Meaning that listening to every conversation in a town this big twenty-four seven would drain a ridiculous amount of mana. Even if they're strong, they're not limitless." Ethan leaned back against his chair, tapping his fingers against the armrest. "And more importantly—why?"
"Why what?" I asked.
"Why scare us into giving up?" Ethan's expression darkened. "If it were me, I wouldn't waste time. The moment I realized someone might use Leo to track me, I'd make him self-destruct immediately. No hesitation, no warnings. Yet, instead, they let us know they were listening. They let us know exactly how much control they have."
The weight of his words settled over us.
Maya shifted uncomfortably. "So what? You think they need Leo for something?"
"Probably," Ethan muttered. "It must have something to do with the rest of the creatures as well. Could be a ritual-type spell, for all we know."
Maya and I exchanged glances. A ritual-type spell?
"All ritual spells require at least four things: time, concentration, space, and resources," Ethan continued. "Obviously, the animals serve as some kind of ritual component. Kidnapping Leo makes it clear that strength and numbers are both important.
"But here's the part that doesn't make sense. If we were on the right track by asking who had contact with Leo, then why warn us? Why expose themselves? The smarter move would've been to make their agent disappear quietly." Ethan frowned, now speaking as if we weren't even in the room.
The way he was piecing it all together out loud was... strange. I'd known Ethan for years, but I'd never seen his mind work this way before. Figuring out this was a large-scale ritual spell should have been obvious, yet none of us considered it until he said it.
Ritual spells are one of the major spell classifications in Raize, known for their long casting times and tedious requirements. The fact that the enemy was going to such extreme lengths meant their spell wasn't just powerful—it was something they couldn't afford to fail.
Of course, ritual magic was just one of several spell types used in this world:
Conversion Type: These spells turn mana into a tangible object or phenomenon—fire, water, earth, metal, air, lightning, sound, and so on. This is the only spell type I have a proper grasp on, due to Fireball being the only spell I can cast.
Transformation Type: Alters the physical properties of an existing object through mana infusion. This includes shapeshifting and similar spells.
Status Type: Increases or decreases a person's strength, speed, stealth, or other abilities. This category includes spells like Strength Boost, Presence Concealment—which Ethan abuses constantly—and Cure, which removes buffs and debuffs.
Seal Type: Prevents the use of magic by a person, place, or object, or reduces their mana quality and quantity. An example is Seal of Scorches, which permanently stops someone from growing stronger.
Summon Type: Invokes supernatural entities. This type of spell is outlawed in most regions due to how unpredictable it is. Unless a person has a corresponding spell series, it's best not to attempt summoning magic.
Certain spells are hybrids of multiple types—such as using a ritual spell to summon a being—but most magic falls within these categories.
But none of this told us what our enemy's goal actually was.
Ethan snapped his fingers, bringing us back to reality. "We don't have time to waste. The best move is to disrupt the ritual before it's completed."
"How do we do that if we don't know what it is?" I asked.
Ethan smirked. "We don't need to know what it is—we just need to ruin it."
Maya tilted her head. "Ruin it how, exactly?"
"Think about it. Rituals need four things: Time, concentration, space, and resources. We've confirmed the animals are part of the resource requirement. And whatever they're doing in Nidus, it's important enough that they haven't left despite us sniffing around."
He leaned forward, voice lowering. "So… what happens if we take away their space?
What if they weren't worried about us figuring out their agents by tracking who was in contact with Leo, but were worried about us burning up the forest. After all, they had control of Leo but didn't make him destroy the wall or attack the laborers, instead he was tasked with stopping the fires and when he was done then he left!"
"Wait! You're right," I finally realized.
"That must mean..." He began but didn't finish speaking expecting us to come to the conclusion ourselves.
"Destroying or harming the forest is a way to disrupt the ritual, everything else was to throw us off. Make us think we were heading in the right direction, so we would give up on our previous idea!" exclaimed Maya striking her palm with a clenched fist.
Everything clicked into place.
From the start, we'd been thinking about this the wrong way. The enemy didn't care about us tracking their agent—they cared about the forest. Leo wasn't unleashed to cause chaos or destroy the wall. He was sent to stop us from burning it down.
Which meant…
"The forest itself is part of the ritual," I muttered, my voice barely above a whisper.
Ethan grinned, clearly pleased that we'd caught up. "Bingo."
Maya scowled, rubbing her temples. "Then that means we've been wasting our time! All that investigating, all those questions, and the answer was right in front of us the entire time!"
Bryn leaned back in his chair, arms behind his head. "I did say arson was a good idea."
"You also wanted to set random places on fire with no plan," I shot back.
"Controlled arson," he corrected, smirking.
"Whatever," Maya huffed. "So what now? We just light the whole forest up and call it a day?"
"I don't have that much firepower!" I exclaimed, plus the thought of setting that much fire to anything made me retch.
Ethan shook his head. "Not yet. If we go in blind and start another fire, they'll just send Leo—or worse—to stop us again. We need to be smart about this."
"Right, remember the enemy probably knows we've figured it out. Their listening," I said eager to come up with a better plan,"
Ethan shook his head. "Not necessarily."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
Ethan leaned forward, tapping his fingers against his knee in thought. "Think about it. Their reaction to us burning the forest was immediate, right? The moment we set those fires, Leo showed up to put them out. That tells us something important—they're not omniscient."
Maya tilted her head. "You're saying they didn't know about the fires until Leo did?"
"Exactly," Ethan confirmed. "If they were truly listening to everything, they would have stopped us before we even struck the first spark. But they didn't. They only reacted after Leo got involved."
That made sense. If they had perfect surveillance, they wouldn't need to keep testing us. They'd just eliminate us outright.
"So, they're listening… but not all the time," I concluded.
"Right," Ethan nodded. "They must have some kind of limit—you said there was a mark on the sparkhogs right, a music note, right"
"Yeah!" Maya responded.
"Good," Ethan said, a glint in his eyes. "I'd bet everything I own that they can only monitor sound through people or animals with those marks. That whole act about 'constantly watching us' was just a bluff—to make us lose hope."
"Seriously," I muttered, finally grasping the true scope of the enemy's deception.
But even more...
"I know our next course of action," smirked Ethan.
I grasped the scope of Ethan's genius.