Glimpse of Eternity [A Reincarnation Isekai Fantasy]

‘Damned dark attribute… I can’t see shit through that fog.’

Sir Tidus Suprana ran along the train tracks faster than the fastest train ever did. The effort didn’t seem to tire him out in the slightest though, as if he was just doing a light bit of jogging. Covered from head to toe in steel that hid everything but his towering height and his well-built physique, the warrior also had the Aizenian Wolf engraved on the buckle of his belt.

Just like all knights from the kingdom of Aizen did.

‘I only came here since it’s that time of the month for my sister, but…’

Of course, as a knight, his sister wouldn’t have had any trouble pushing through any biological inconveniences — and in fact, she did so on a regular basis when they had work to do. But all the same, it didn’t feel right to shove extra work on her given how particularly bad she had it during these times, so he had answered the secret orders in her stead.

He grumbled and acted pissed about it like any brother would just so she wouldn’t start thinking that she could take advantage of his kindness though. Everyone knew that if you gave your sisters an inch, they'd take everything you had.

‘All things considered, she would have been perfect for the job since she had the earth attribute.’

Regardless, he was here now, so he may as well do it.

Tidus stopped just before his body made contact with the thick dark smog, musing on how he and his sister had been celebrating an unexpected break from work because of the recent issues with the transportation restrictions.

But then someone very important sent them a message in code, ordering them to send someone down the tracks and check if any trains were running on it.

Of course, with the restrictions in place, the only trains active on these particular tracks were the ones that had been handed over to the Star of Fortune for some reason — a reason the knight didn’t know, nor need to know.

Sure, the orders didn’t come signed by the king or the Knight Overseer who served as the commander of the knights stationed at all the train stations in Arkhan.

But that didn’t mean Tidus could just ignore it either.

‘Sir Valter Suprana… the second prince’s guardian knight.’

Prince Reivan Aizenwald was famous among the knights for his various contributions and how rapidly he was growing stronger. Tidus was confident that in a year or two, even he would be bested by the young lad, but he held no negative feelings about that — only pride.

After all, that was his prince. The royalty of his nation. it could not be anything but a good thing.

In any case, Prince Reivan was supposedly in Arkhan at the moment, so Valter Suprana also being in the republic wasn’t that strange.

But being here, specifically, was.

‘Wherever the prince is or whatever he's planning is irrelevant now. Given who delivered the order, this must be the prince’s orders then.’

It wasn’t strange to assume so.

Even if it wasn’t the prince’s direct orders, Sir Valter’s identity alone meant he was probably doing things for the prince, and needed a bit of assistance on short notice.

Guardian Knights served the primary role of ensuring the royal family’s safety, but oftentimes, they also served other roles — like teachers, advisors, or even assassins.

Hence, Tidus assumed that Valter’s orders were Prince Reivan Aizenwald’s orders.

And that changed things, as far as he was concerned. Now, Tidus’s direct superior or even the Knight Overseer's intentions didn’t matter — the royal family’s orders were to be given the highest priority.

Hell, even if it wasn’t an order from the prince, and was a favor for Sir Valter instead, Tidus still would have been happy to oblige and get yelled at by his superiors.

Sir Valter Suprana was a living legend after all, someone all young knights — including Tidus, who was turning 124 this year — aspired to be.

Sure, Valter wasn’t among The Twelve Helms — an unofficial name for the twelve legendary Ascendant Knights who were said to have the greatest fighting capabilities before Sir Viktor and Queen Vianna came along. But even then, he was still the one said to be closest to following in the Sword Star’s footsteps, and was probably somewhere around 13th place among human knights anyway.

That wasn't something to be looked down on at all.

‘Anyhow… I must decide what to do with this Sun God-forsaken mist…’

Tidus took a moment to think things over before realizing something.

Although he was ordered to run along the tracks, there was nothing about saving anyone or killing anything. He just had to check if there were any trains running on the track — and there was. He could see a very damaged locomotive derailed by the side of the tracks, just beyond the smog’s area of effect.

With this, it could technically be said that he’d completed his orders.

‘How… inconvenient.’

He wasn’t the only one to hold this opinion among the knighthood, but orders that left much of the decision-making to the knights on site were very undesirable. Most knights preferred receiving detailed orders that could just be followed to the letter.

After all, orders like those usually went through multiple rounds of consideration from strategists, tacticians, or a bunch of other people who were too smart to put at risk out in the field. That usually meant those plans were near perfect, improved and revised countless times by people who had the nation and the field knights’ interests at heart.

Of course, knights would never be entirely dependent on such plans, and neither was Tidus. Adapting to the situations when needed was the default. But it didn’t hurt to have a very detailed plan of action with a very detailed map of possible consequences spelled out that could be used as a reference. It made everything infinitely easier and assured a certain level of success no matter what.

Now, though? Tidus had to use his head to deduce what was wanted of him. All while grappling with the anxiety that he might completely go in another direction.

‘Ugh. I don't like acting being given free rein… Should I stick my nose into this?’

Tidus crossed his arms and pondered what the prince’s intentions should be, despite the obvious noise of battle beyond the darkness.

Though he and his sister had been stationed in Arkhan for the past two years, they held no particular fondness for the country or its people. Tidus’s loyalty was to Aizen, and his love was for his countrymen. If he ever lost his life, he wanted it to be used for the land where his ancestors lay to rest.

He wasn’t about to go rushing into danger just to save a few Arkhanians — those weren’t the people he swore to protect with every fiber of his being after all.

Simply put, if he was ordered to save them, he would save them. If he was ordered to ignore their suffering, then he would ignore them. And if he was ordered to slaughter them, although he wasn’t some raving lunatic with a taste for the blood of the innocent, then he would do just that.

He was a loyal soldier by trade and he had already decided to live like that for the rest of his life.

Currently, though, he didn’t have any specific orders. And he held no personal feelings about the matter either.

That left considering the source of the order’s intentions.

‘What would His Highness, Prince Reivan, want…’

But that was the thing, he didn’t know Prince Reivan all that well either.

It may have sounded a bit negative, but most members of the royal family didn’t reveal their true colors to the public, and Tidus was aware of that too. Generally speaking though, they all had the kingdom’s interests at heart, and that was what mattered most to knights like him.

He may have had more insight into the matter if he worked closely with the prince — but he didn’t.

Before being deployed to Arkhan, Tidus was assigned to one of Aizen’s underwater projects for ten years because he was a somewhat adept water elementalist.

In any case, since he couldn’t gleam anything out of the intentions of the order’s source, that meant the only thing left for Tidus to consider was whether he personally wanted to get involved in this or not.

‘Do I, though?’

Tidus hummed in thought before he knelt on one knee and pushed his palm into the upturned soil.

‘There’s water… Ah, now that I think about it, there should be a ravine somewhat close by. It should be down a steep cliff though.’

The river was too far for him to utilize to its full extent, but river water had a tendency to bleed into the nearby areas too, and he could pull it out of the depths of the earth to bolster his strength if need be. Of course, the groundwater was really far underground, and there were layers of hard rock in between.

But Tidus was quite a decent elementalist in his own right, and being in an underwater base for a decade allowed him plenty of opportunities to improve his skills.

‘Now what about the sky?’

He then stood up and squinted up at the heavens, noticing how it was somewhat cloudy today. It didn’t seem like it would rain, but the clouds certainly looked a bit heavy.

‘Hm. I’m quite strong here, aren’t I?’

In fact, the current conditions meant he was slightly better at taking out large swathes of weaker foes than his sister.

‘Maybe I will get involved in this then. Haven’t had anything exciting happen recently.’

Tidus may have sounded like a nutjob by finding the idea of jumping into trouble exciting, but really, all he had as a sparring partner lately was his sister. And that got old really fast. They had already annihilated the monster population near their station early on too, so there really wasn’t much to do but stand guard.

‘Then again… on the off-chance that I die here, it would be for nothing.’

It would not be for his woman, for his country, or for his king — but rather, just for some fun. That seemed like a very foolish thing to risk his life for, especially when he still had a chance to gain immortality.

After a full minute of thinking about it, Tidus decided that he should at least investigate a little. Just so he could add a bit more content to the report he would send to Sir Valter.

‘...Wait a minute, how am I supposed to send him a report on this? I don’t have a line to him and I don’t think my direct superior does either… Maybe I don’t need to send in a report at all? Is that it? I hope that’s it. I hate writing reports…’

Tidus pondered it as he jogged along the outskirts of the smog. Of course, for him, a “jog” was far faster than anything an ordinary human being could possibly be capable of, so he reached his destination quickly.

‘Those monsters really messed it up, I see.’

With a bit of schadenfreude, Tidus marveled at the destruction the alleged monster horde must have wrought on the train and its occupants.

The sides of what seemed like passenger cars for their troops were completely mutilated, revealing the interior. He walked along the path of destruction and inspected things closely, suddenly stopping at a few cars that had no damage at all.

‘Oh? What’s this, then?’

Tidus easily punched a hole through the wall and peeked inside to see a number of empty crates. There were blatant signs of damage on them, and it didn’t take a genius to realize they were made with a monster’s teeth — the little buggers must have gnawed the thing open, seemingly very careful not to damage anything inside.

“Interesting…” With a smirk, Tidus knelt down and picked up one of the crates, overturning it and watching a few pieces of fur and what seemed like little turds fall out.

‘I’m starting to get an idea of what happened here.’

He saw it all the time back when he was still in the underwater base east of Aizen’s shores. Some monsters really took good care of their young, and even had all sorts of homing functions to find them.

That’s why it was common practice to kill everything so they didn’t get followed to base.

If the creatures seemed peaceful, then they would be left alone, of course. Sadly, there did not seem to be a lot of peace-loving creatures underwater — everything wanted to eat everything else.

The Star of Fortune — or one of its operatives seeking profit and renown — probably abducted a few monster babies for breeding purposes or something along those lines. And this situation was the consequence of that.

‘This is none of my business. This wasn’t our train, anyway. So it matters little if the Star’s antics get it run aground.’

What mattered more here was how this entire incident with the monster horde actually hindered the kingdom’s operations in Arkhan — after all, although it was just a small bit of income, running the train stations was still a source of revenue for the kingdom.

It was convenient for him since he didn’t have to deal with as many people during the transportation ban, but that hardly mattered in the face of his country’s earnings. Although the losses probably weren’t all that high, he still felt somewhat indignant that any damage was dealt to Aizen at all.

‘I bet someone smart can put this information to good use to wring out some concessions or something.’

That was obviously out of his jurisdiction though. Old as he was when compared to a lot of people, he was no diplomat.

He was a soldier.

His job now was to go back and file a report. Since he didn’t have direct contact with Sir Valter, then Tidus would have to go through his direct superior. It would take a bit longer, but since they all had communication crystals — or dream crystals, apparently, since that was what they were called according to the prince — there wouldn’t be much of a delay in the grand scheme of things.

Tidus jumped out of the train car and was just about to head back to base when suddenly, something small shot out of the darkness.

His body moved before he even realized, slapping the projectile away mid-flight. When more of them came, Tidus almost dodged out of the way when he noticed how slow and weak the mysterious things were.

So he just stood there and took the barrage.

‘Wasting resources on an attack of this caliber would be unwise…’

There was a series of dull clangs that reminded him of his childhood, hiding from his mother’s scolding out on his father’s tool shed as the rain banged against the metallic roofing sheets. Tidus couldn’t feel a thing despite the seemingly endless barrage of what were probably horns piercing the air with greater intensity than a bullet. So he just let the tiny insignificant vermin beyond the smog shoot him as they pleased.

Naturally, though, he was keeping an eye out for anything stronger mixed in.

But none came.

Eventually, the attacks ceased, leaving piles of discarded horns with shattered tips around Tidus’s position. His full plate armor, manifested by his soul armament, remained spotless and without a single scratch — as if it was brand new.

‘Alright. If they're smart, they should start to understand that they can’t hurt me and back off—’

With his back against the train car, Tidus had been preparing to walk forward to intimidate the horde, but then a sharp pain in his hindquarters caused him to yell in shock. He swiveled back to see a black rabbit with a ghostly mane of white fur on its neck.

It was right where he was investigating earlier, surprisingly bypassing his natural perception.

‘That’s not a good sign. I didn’t know they were so formidable at hiding.’

More rabbits who looked similar appeared from the shadows of trees or underground, looking at him with their beady little red eyes. It didn’t seem as if they were keen to let him get away peacefully.

“You little shits…” Tidus muttered in anger as he pulled out the horn sticking out of his armor. "Alright then. If it's a fight you want..."

It was a good thing that the projectile seemed to have lost most of its power piercing through his armor, because though it pricked his skin a little, no blood was drawn.

But Tidus’s anger wasn’t about pain, but pride. If the monster's attack was just a little stronger, Tidus would have died here today.

Aiming at that spot seemed deliberate too. The thought of dying with something shoved up his ass was infuriating.

‘It’s stronger than the others, that much is apparent.’

None of the other projectiles even made it through the steel he wore, but the one from this rabbit did. It may have been the leader of this entire species — though, Tidus highly doubted that given how monster species whose numbers grew this big usually had an Ascendant to lead it.

But it wouldn’t be strange if this particular rabbit was older or part of some kind of special bloodline.

‘You first.’

Not giving its comrades a chance to gain their footing, Tidus rushed forward and closed the distance in less than a second, extending a hand to crush the small monster’s head in his grip.

Unable to react, the monster didn’t even realize it was dead until its head practically exploded.

With a blood-soaked gauntlet, Tidus could sense hundreds — if not thousands — of gazes lock onto him, and this time, he wasn’t in the mood to take the hits.

The next moment, his body burst into a dense cloud of vapor, spreading outward and mixing with the dark smog. This let him perceive just how ridiculous the monsters' numbers were, but also let him know that the vast majority of them were weaklings.

He rushed into the horde of rabbits, and sapped the moisture in their bodies, turning every living thing around him into mummified corpses.

Placed in the horrifying situation where countless members of their kin dropped dead in such an inconceivable way, the swarm of black rabbits started to visibly panic. Some tried to attack by shooting their single horn at where he should have been, and some even shot forward with their teeth bared.

But all their attacks passed right through him, until a moment later, they joined the list of casualties.

Faced with such hopelessness, they all chose to disperse in different directions.

Tidus didn't pursue those who fled. He flew around like a reaper, claiming the lives of the braver monsters with his mere presence. As he did, the groundwater stored deep underground rose up, floating out of the soil in countless tiny droplets that were rapidly sucked into the clouds in the sky as soon as they were freed from the shackles of the earth.

It was only a few moments later that a light drizzle started falling from the heavens.

And that was a death sentence for these monsters — even the ones who had fled from him.

‘Foreplay’s over.’

Tidus’s body rematerialized in the middle of a field of dried-up corpses. He spread his arms wide and looked up, soaking up the rain with his body. Gradually, he could feel his magic power being restored, and now, the entire forest was nice and wet for him to do as he pleased.

In the rain-soaked forest, the darkness was irrelevant to Tidus.

Every droplet was both a window for him to peek through and a lance to use on his enemies.

Countless squeals erupted from all around the forest, as countless monsters were speared through the head by a high-pressure jet of water that killed them in an instant.

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There was a saying from before the Kingdom of Aizen was born — one should never fight water elementalists anywhere near bodies of water.

Or if it was raining.

Tidus’s display was a perfect example of that.

But over the years, the knights of Aizen realized that water elementalists didn’t need to restrict themselves so much. Trying to lead enemies into coming near bodies of water and waiting for rain to fall was too much trouble.

Hence, they came up with a simple solution.

If it wasn’t raining, then simply make it rain.

And if there were no bodies of water nearby, then simply make one.

It was one of the oldest tricks in just one of Aizen’s many books though, so Tidus didn’t particularly feel proud. He simply benefited from what those who came before him perfected.

When the symphony of death around him ended, Tidus opened his eyes and let his arms fall beside him. He tried his best to appear calm and serene, as if what he’d just done took less effort than eating breakfast.

‘There are four… no, five.’

As expected, not all of the monsters were weaklings he could pick off easily. Though he wasn’t completely sure, there were around four or five monsters hidden throughout the forest who were at or close to his level — which was not good for him, seeing as he’d just wiped out so much of their kin and they probably didn't like that.

‘Time to pull out the good old fashioned bluff card.’

Most monsters weren’t completely dumb. Moreover, they had highly acute survival instincts.

If they were watching him right now and they saw him acting completely nonchalant after performing such a feat, then they would think twice before challenging him.

Tidus would have to immediately run with his tail between his legs and see how he could play the situation out if they ignored the bluff though. He could hardly perceive them as it is, making a possible fight skewed in their favor and forcing him to fight defensively.

‘Is it working? I hope it’s working…’

Tidus slowly surveyed his surroundings, stopping to gaze in the general direction of where he thought the hidden foes were, hoping that it would make the monsters think that he could see them, and the earlier incident where a surprise attack on his bum worked was just a fluke. Truly, the darkness attribute was unfair in that he still couldn’t be sure even though he had just turned the area into a playground for water elementalists.

A few grating moments passed, yet nothing popped out of nowhere to take a chomp at him.

‘It worked.’

If they were going to attack him at all, they wouldn’t wait for him to restore even more of his depleted energy — they would strike right after he did something big like he did before.

The fact that they didn’t meant the hidden monsters didn't want to fight him.

‘Good for me, I suppose.’

As Tidus inwardly sighed in relief, he idly thought back to how knights got so good at bluffing in the first place.

Everyone on the continent agreed that knights were the greatest military force known to humankind, and they weren’t wrong either. Though few in number, each was a force to be reckoned with.

But in fact, the stories about them throughout the continent were way overblown, and this was something intentionally induced by a certain knight with the special gift of releasing an aura that made her seem much more powerful than she truly was.

Historians called it the “Domination Aura” or something along those lines.

But knights just called it “The Poker Face”.

That knight had run around fighting in wars and showing off their domineering aura, and quickly discovered that they could actually spread it to their allies, amplifying the fear enemies felt for the knight order as a whole.

Of course, this was accompanied by a long history of success and victories, but, as far as their reputation was concerned, they were a lot more impressive than they actually were. Even the Sword Star admitted to having felt threatened by the Domination Aura even though he had watched the lady knight grow up, thereby knowing the full extent of her capabilities.

In any case, because of that knight — who, sadly, passed away in a battle with a particularly nasty nightmare spawn — the world’s estimation of knights was quite bloated.

Aizen also realized how useful bluffing could be. And Tidus had to admit that being feared ended a lot of battles before they were fought.

Just like right now.

With the threat of stronger foes dealt with for the moment, Tidus started walking toward where the other people were.

Perhaps the monster’s deaths instantly dispersed it, but the ebony smog had already vanished by the time he was done bluffing the hidden monsters, giving him a much wider view of his surroundings. That also made it much easier for the people from the Star of Fortune to see him too.

He noticed how most of them had collapsed in exhaustion upon realizing that they had survived the fighting. Some even took the opportunity to start checking on their comrades.

Tidus threw a glance at the rifle-wielding men that the Golden Star usually hired as cannon fodder and completely ignored them afterward, walking toward the ones in armor.

‘Custodian Guards. I see, so there's a Custodian nearby.’

He did not have a particularly good impression of their capabilities given how they let the situation be reduced to this state, but then again, it was a bit mean-spirited to compare them to knights.

Though comparable in base physical prowess, the two were leagues apart.

One side had teachings from countless geniuses over multiple millennia. They learned under the best teachers using the best techniques and the best resources, all while doing so in the best environment. Then they were given the best equipment, tailor-made to suit their individual capabilities. And to top it all off, their loyalty ensured they would continuously seek improvement all while their healthy salaries provided an extra layer of motivation and security.

On the other hand, the other side was composed of unwilling slaves forced to live in harsh conditions, trained like disposable mutts, and taught only simple techniques.

They were not the same.

Knights and Custodian Guards were worlds apart in terms of capabilities and just about everything else. And that notion intensified in Tidus’s mind when he saw them up close.

‘They don’t know what I’m here for, but they show their exhaustion so easily.’

Tidus found their lack of discipline pathetic.

Even he did not reveal how much his magic power reserves had dwindled after he slew so many monsters in such a wide area — and in such a short amount of time, too.

Such a spectacle obviously didn’t come cheap.

And it would take a while before he could restore it to full. Sure, the current conditions were gradually restoring it, and there was enough water to theoretically restore his mana reserves a hundred times over.

But doing it so fast would almost assuredly cripple him forever. Only Ascendant water elementalists could instantly transform natural water into power without consequence.

‘Whatever. Their capabilities are none of my concern since they aren’t allies.’

Tidus was so exhausted he felt confident that he would fall asleep standing just by closing his eyes for a bit. But there was no need to show that to anyone except those he trusted. It was in his best interest to end things here and go back to his assigned train station.

“Well met,” Tidus spoke to the nearest Custodian Guard, of which there were three. “Are you alright?”

“Yes…” The armored man answered, trying to desperately control his breathing. “Thank you for your aid, Sir Knight.”

“No thanks are necessary. I had my own orders and was simply attacked in the middle of fulfilling them. Anyway, may I— Ah, ahem.”

Tidus was just about to ask what the man’s name was, but when he remembered Custodian Guards weren’t given names from birth — just some identification code branded on their chest with a special tool — he cleared his throat to disguise his blunder.

Tidus then rushed into the heart of the matter. “Where is your Custodian? I’d like to speak about some things. Please lead me to them.”

Although Tidus believed his theories were incredibly likely, he recognized the need for more evidence. Reporting this incident to his superiors might instigate someone on the diplomatic side of things to take action — and though that wasn’t much of a problem in itself, it would be a great embarrassment to Aizen if it turned out his assumptions were incorrect.

Hence, he had to take additional steps to confirm some things.

‘They probably saved a few while retreating.’

The little boxes that supposedly held the monster babies weren’t all that big, and presumably, weren’t too heavy either. Even ordinary people could aid in their transportation without much trouble.

Obviously, the Golden Star’s personnel wouldn’t outright showcase their misdeeds to him, but with his skills, it wouldn’t matter.

“That’s…” There was a slight delay of hesitation before the Custodian Guard shook his head. “I’m sorry. But I cannot help you, Sir Knight.”

Tidus stood there in silence for a moment before shaking his head and walking right up to the man who was a head shorter than him.

“If you thought that was a request, then you are mistaken.”

His words were punctuated by a stifling silence as a portion of his essence mixed into the air, sending chills down the spines of everyone around him.

Normally, ordinary people had trouble perceiving supernatural energies like mana or qi. The few that could were usually those who had the talent to walk the path of a knight or sorcerer.

But essence was so intense that even people with the dullest senses could vaguely feel it. It awoke a person’s survival instincts, alerting them that a being they could not resist was nearby.

Tidus intensified this further by infusing his will to intimidate into his own essence, creating an aura of indomitability around him — a pale imitation of the ancient gift, the Domination Aura.

This was yet another way to bluff.

The mercenaries, whose combat strength was completely irrelevant to him, were slowly backing off while some fell on their asses, staring at him in horror. As for the three Custodian Guards, their muscles visibly tensed but Tidus could tell that they had no intention of attacking or backing down.

‘Their loyalty is admirable, at least.’

As soon as he had that thought though, he suddenly realized that what lay behind the men’s eyes wasn’t bravery or the resolution to die for their masters — rather, it was fear. Though Tidus understood why they would feel that way, he felt stupid for admiring them for even a second.

If he were in their place, he would burn his life away just to get back at the people who put a collar around his neck. But these people clung to the hope that they would be released from their chains, even though nobody had ever done it before.

‘But then again, I suppose I've never been a slave, so I hardly understand.’

Even though Tidus’ head was full of idle thoughts, he was still paying close attention to what the three Custodian Guards were doing. After a few more moments of waiting for something to happen, Tidus eventually gave up, knowing that these men wouldn’t tell him anything.

He didn’t actually need them to lead him to the Custodian though.

‘I can find the Custodian myself.’

Tidus grunted from behind his helm, then walked right past the three and transformed into mist as he headed deeper into the forest.

‘It should be somewhere beyond here.’

There were a lot of dead mercenaries in certain parts of the forest and it wasn’t so hard to notice that the Star’s forces were utilizing a tactical formation to surround and protect a specific area.

Obviously, the Custodian and the monster babies that those black rabbits wanted so much were nearby.

Tidus rematerialized before a steep cliff, throwing a glance behind him where he could sense the three guards he’d talked to earlier giving chase. Then he looked down in satisfaction when he laid eyes on the ravine below.

‘Excellent.’

Absorbing too much natural water to restore his mana was dangerous, but utilizing it as it was had no drawbacks. So Tidus was significantly more effective in this type of environment.

Now, if he acted threatening against those monsters or the Custodian Guards again, he wouldn’t be bluffing anymore. Killing twenty of them in an instant would not only be easy, doing so would barely cost him any energy either.

‘Now, where could they be…’

Tidus looked around and glimpsed a rope tied to a tree. The other end led down the cliff, so he followed it with his eyes and finally noticed something that looked like a cave.

‘That must be where they’re hiding.’

If it wasn’t, then he’d eat the tree.

Chuckling at his own foolish thoughts, he transformed into mist once again and rapidly descended, heading straight for the cave’s entrance. He floated in front of it and peeked inside, immediately noticing a dozen or two people — all of whom, except for an armored man and a young woman talking animatedly with someone, were wearing coats or jackets marked with the Golden Star’s insignia. a few crates placed at the very back of the hollow were particularly conspicuous.

‘Bingo.’

Without waiting for the lone Custodian Guard in the cave to notice him, Tidus went straight for one of the crates and let some mist seep through the gaps. His perception bled into the crates — which seemed to have some sort of perception-blocking effect.

'Well, this is new. I should include these strange boxes in my report.'

Luckily, they only blocked it from the outside, so Tidus successfully confirmed his theories.

'Maybe I should take a box as a souvenir... Nevermind. Can't do anything too hostile.'

With that, it was time to retreat.

Right on cue, the only Custodian Guard in the vicinity got up, seemingly having noticed him.

But it was already too late. Tidus' essence had already taken over the ravine below, so his misty form was rapidly sucked into it as if the body of water was magnetic and Tidus was a grain of sand. He was about to ride the ravine but stopped, noticing something strange.

‘Hm? Someone’s there…’

As Tidus was absorbed by the river water, he became the ravine, sensing every living thing within it in a very long area — no matter how small. He hadn’t noticed it earlier, but now that he was here, he finally noticed someone being carried away to who knew where by the ravine’s intensified currents.

‘Did someone fall in?’

He could save them, but he also didn’t need to. Tidus did feel a bit sorry since they were likely having a harder time because of him though. After all, he had intensified the river’s flow so it would gather more momentum earlier.

This wasn’t done in malice, of course, but rather, so he could utilize it easier in the unlikely event battle erupted.

‘Eh. They’ll be fine.’

If that person fell in, then that was their fault for falling in the first place. The same could be said if they jumped in on their own volition.

‘I must go back now.’

Tidus’ consciousness rapidly moved up the ravine, away from the unknown person who was being carried away by the river’s flow. The ravine actually didn’t reach anywhere near his assigned station, but he could use it part of the way to get there faster than running.

‘Mission complete.’

Of course, a mission was never actually finished until the knight was back home or at least in a base, but he believed he was quite safe now.

Now it was time to go back to his station and write a report on what happened.