Alfred kept calm and first created a distance, turning into a dark streak and going backward.
Then, while still in Umbral Drift form, Alfred passed by the trees while staying high up and positioned at a corner, fifty meters off the ground on a tree that was twenty meters away from the camp.
A giant bear with golden-brown scales lay roughly fifteen meters away. It was the closest monster to Alfred, but it didn’t notice.
’Slacker,’ John thought as he saw the bear lazily lying on the ground, keeping half-eyes open instead of full.
’Let’s look at the camp. Focus, buddy.’
Alfred looked at the camp and saw two tents. However, there was also a giant square thing covered by a cloth.
’What’s that?’
Alfred couldn’t hear any talk of humans. However, there was blood inside that square thing. Living, flowing blood.
Alfred could sense it with his level 2 Blood Mastery, and so could John as they were sharing senses.
’Wait, a box covered by cloths and there’s a living thing inside. Is it a rare monster or something?’
However, as if to answer his question, a person came out of the tent. It was a woman looking in her late thirties, wearing a worn but durable dark red leather tunic lined with faint steel-thread reinforcements and a faded brown cloak hung loosely from her shoulders.
John could feel her aura via Alfred. It was strong. She was a Gold-rank Tamer.
Walking towards the square thing, she waved her hand as the cloth rolled upward, revealing a cage.
’What the...’ John was startled. There were two young kids inside, one boy and one girl around ten years old.
’Their clothes are rather fine. Could it be a nobility from some kingdom?’
The woman waved her hand and took out bread and a glass container filled with some kind of Jam from her storage pouch.
Opening the cage’s door, she put the bread on the plate and jam bottle nearby before snorting. "Eat."
’It looks like a kidnapping case. But why are they camping here?’
John thought of something and told Alfred to look around.
’Trees, high ground, wait....this is kind of a good hidden spot. It looks like we are at the edge of the mountain’s north side.’
John’s eyes glinted. Alfred was still within range, so John directly connected his threat to Alfred and sent him into Monster Paradise.
Afterward, he properly buried the surface from where peeked out, sealing the passage to the cave.
He then returned to the main cave and flew up on Pymon’s back through the hole that diggers created, returning to his previous location.
John came from the opposite direction of their camp, so if he just continued north for about a kilometer, he would reach their camp, hiding behind a thick grove at the edge of the mountain at this altitude, which is roughly four thousand meters from the mountain’s base.
’Pymon, fly up and look in the surroundings. I want to see the possible pathways around this spot and general location.’
John shared his senses with Pymon. He closed his eyes while Pymon flew up and looked around, giving John a proper view from above.
He also located the camp.
’If they kidnapped the royalty, they must have wanted something from the kingdom. And it’s also clear the kingdom must have sent their people to search for them or they must be negotiating with the other kidnappers.’
John knew there were multiple people at the camp last night, but it was quiet now with only one woman and those imprisoned kids.
’Wait...it should be quite easy to save them with the diggers!’
John’s eyes lit up as a superb plan formed in his mind.
The cage was covered with clothes usually, which means those from outside also wouldn’t know whatever that happened inside the cage!
He could just tell one of his digger Monster to dig a pathway leading to that cage, and nab the kids quietly without anyone knowing!
’But there’s a problem...if they somehow noticed it, then I might get discovered pretty fast. Hiding in the cave is good, but only if they don’t find it, but I can’t risk that either. I’d be like a sitting duck inside the cave.’
John thought for half a minute before he formed a plan.
’Pymon, let’s move. Come and pick me up.’
John flew up on Pymon’s back and flew in the west. He already marked the location of the kidnappers on his map, so it won’t be hard to return.
For now, John decided to take to the skies and find other human presence.
’Fly up higher. Your eyesight is already giga powerful since you can see things from miles away, so look for humans.’
Pymon replied with a low cry while nodding.
Even normal eagles and falcons had supernatural eyesight, so Pymon was a Silver-ranked Monster of apex potential in the rank. His eyesight was crazy good!
’I am wasting my time here, so this better be worth it,’ John internally thought as he searched for other humans while staying high up.
But suddenly, Pymon cried out and John responded by quickly vanishing into Monster Paradise along with Pymon.
Just a second after they disappeared, a giant vulture with two heads, one blazing with rocky skin and the other wooden with green smoke.
It was a Prime-stage Gold-rank monster. If they were a second late, things could have gone bad.
Fortunately, nothing happened. The vulture confusedly looked around as if failing to understand just where did the two insects go.
But after not finding them, it flew away.
’Geez, I should get Crocky and Sony to Gold-rank and train them to Prime-stage. And Starry too for flying support, after making her reach peak of Silver-rank.’
John couldn’t evolve his Pet Monsters to Gold-rank yet, but he could rank up others and gain their support in dangerous situations!
But for now, John resumed the surveillance for human presence while sitting on Pymon’s back.
’Tell me if you find them, buddy. I am going to train since I can’t waste time, and I can’t see anything myself anyway.’
"Kreee!!"
"Yeah, I’ll give you a delicious meat dish once you find the humans."
And so, John began training his Monster Geno art, but just a minute after he started, Pymon jolted him awake.
’You found them?!’ John blinked and closed his eyes, sharing his senses with Pymon.
At the foot of another mountain that was southeast of the one where John had landed, there was a big camp with ten people in knightly uniform facing four people in different outfits.
They were talking, but Pymon could only see from afar, not hear.
’Keep watching them. Just fly around this area.’
But Pymon cried to John that a monster was coming a few seconds later, so John had to escape again.
’Fuck.’
A few minutes later, John and Pymon appeared at the same location in the sky and resumed observation, but the party of four with three men and one woman had left while the leader of the knight seemed frustrated.
’Should I approach them and prob? I have Ouroboros Hall’s token, so they won’t simply dare to do anything to me, right?’
Pymon simply cried as if shrugging and saying ’How would I know?’
’Man, it’s clear that the kidnappers are exhorting things with this kidnapping. And I want those things. If there are a bunch of Gold-rank resources or a King-rank one, it’d be worth the while.’
John could sacrifice them to Xhalthuun’s Shop, and get the good shit!
’Alright, let’s land in the camp. We are doing this shit.’