As the shadow approached its destination hitchhiking a ride in a merchant cart headed toward Boshi town the area shook due to an enormous mana wave. It came from quite far. The horses panicked and the small caravan stopped to calm the horses.


    “What is going on?!”


    “Is it an attack?!” The merchants sounded panicked but even though they seemed to keep their cool overall. The shadow stepped out of the cart to look around. Nothing seemed to be amiss, no monsters, no bandits, nothing.


    “Is everything alright?” The shadow addressed a merchant who seemed to visit this town often.


    “Yeah, it was a surprise but everything seems to be alright. The mana wave seemed to have originated from Boshi town. We are planning to send out some scouts to check it out but the barrier is still a problem.”


    “I would like to volunteer; I have experience scouting out dangerous situations.”


    “Oh, really? That is of great help, I will tell the others that we have a volunteer, and we will look to see if we can find more volunteers to help you out.”


    “That is not needed, I prefer to work alone.”


    “Oh… Ok, The name is Jeremiah Odell, by the way, what is your name?” Jeremiah reached out his hand to the shadow to shake hands.


    “You can call me whatever you want, my name isn''t important.” The shadow shook Jeremiah’s hand.


    “Well, I need a name to tell others that you are taking care of everything…”


    “I will get whatever I need and leave immediately, what can you tell me about the town and its inhabitants?”


    “Well, I have been here 2 days ago going in between Boshi town and Ypa town. Something seemed to be off. The market at the foot of the mountain was quieter than normal. Only one kid selling rubies and fish this time. Quite the weird kid. Overall, the people of this town are a bit weird but nice. We occasionally get company-issued clones to send inside the barrier and from that, we know more or less how the town is.”


    “A kid selling rubies? Can you tell me more about him?”


    “Well, he seemed odd even for Boshi inhabitants, it was as if he could read my mind but on the other side, he either couldn''t remember my name or was messing with me.”


    “Was his name Agnis Hourai by any chance? I came here to meet him.”


    “Uhh, I’m sorry I can’t disclose details of my clients.”


    “That is fine, your description was enough.” The shadow got ready to set out. Jeremiah grabbed the shadow''s arm.


    “Hey, he is an important client to Yttroz Industries, you are not planning to harm him, are you?” The shadow turned around.


    “I’m sorry but that is not your business.” The shadow freed its arm and started walking toward Boshi town. “But as a small thanks for bringing me here, I will tell you this, he won’t lose his ability to do business with Yttroz Industries in the future so you can rest assured.” After which the shadow vanished.


    “Be careful kiddo” was the last thing the shadow heard Jeremiah say. The shadow headed toward the mountain range; The small caravan would arrive at the foot of the mountain leading up to Boshi town in half a day so there was quite the distance to cover. It followed the path while running in stealth. After 2 hours the shadow reached the foot of the mountain. There seemed to be a small cleared-out area where other merchants were breaking up stalls.


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    “This must be where they sell their wares to the townspeople.” The shadow said to itself. A clear path led up the mountain. The shadow decided to ask some merchants here about the state of Boshi town.


    “Oh, that energy wave? Yeah, we felt it, some people went to check it out and what do you know! The barrier is gone!”


    “Are you sure?”


    “Yeah, because of Boshi’s barrier, we always have some experts with us to make sure none of us get trapped in it. The size of the barrier varies from time to time. Some years ago, even this place was inside the barrier. But now they are convinced that the barrier is either small or gone. Some have gone to the town to do some sightseeing. I’m planning to do the same before the barrier comes back.”


    “Thank you very much”


    “You’re welcome, now if you excuse me, I still have to finish breaking up these stalls.” The merchant continued his business as the shadow started to head toward Boshi town. It sent some shadow clones in front to scout out the situation. The shadow was confident in its endurance but even this climb was quite challenging. Something was off. If the targets were in this town the shadow should have felt their presence by now. The shadow focused. It was 500 meters from the town. The clones reported that there was no sign of any barrier and that the town was safe to enter. The shadow reached the edge of the town. The shadow sensed that this town had 6271 inhabitants but none seemed to match its targets. Were they aware of the shadow''s presence? No that is impossible. The shadow entered the town square. It seemed busy. Every shop seemed busy except for one.


    “Uraya’s shop. Must have taken a day off.” The shadow asked around but none of the inhabitants seem to know anything of the loose descriptions the shadow provided. Maybe they greatly altered their appearance. While lost in thought the shadow bumped into something.


    “Hey watch it noob! Hey, who are you!”


    “My name is of no importance, do you know anyone going by the names Agnis, Ted, Gregory, or Raishin? They are a bit younger than you 4 are”


    “Ha, why should I know about those below me, if you want to look for someone important you have found him! I’m Dunkey Hurado and I will be the next Beatrice Manarune! You might be surprised to know that I mastered blue lightning!”


    “Oh, good for you… Isn''t Beatrice Manarune a woman though?”


    “That doesn''t matter!”


    “Hey, Dunkey I think this stranger is making fun of you!” The shadow was surrounded by these 4 kids.


    “I don’t have time for this.”


    “What? Where did he go!” The shadow looked down on the confused kids from a rooftop. The shadow sent out more shadow clones to either look for the targets or to ask around. Some interesting information the shadow gathered included that the lake here was unnaturally hexagonal shaped and that there were unnatural holes in the surrounding mountains. But more importantly that there was no trace nor indication that the shadow’s targets had ever been here. The shadow thought about it. All evidence gathered inside this town points toward that they have never been here, while all the evidence gathered outside this town points toward the opposite. What is going on? One of the bits of information the shadow gathered was that the seller of the Hourai rubies was a blacksmith apprentice. The shadow headed toward the only blacksmith in the town.


    “Hello, can I help you?” A quite skinny balding man opened the door.


    “Are you Philip the blacksmith?”


    “Yes, I am, are you here for a commission?”


    “Oh, no I just wanted to ask a question, I have come from far and have heard about a 12-year-old blacksmith living in Boshi town called Agnis Hourai, do you know anything about this?”


    “That is odd, I would love to have more blacksmiths here in Boshi, but unfortunately, I am the only blacksmith in this town. I’m sorry but your information must be wrong.”


    “Philip come eat your food!”


    “I’m at the door, Hera! Do you know anyone by the name of Agnis Hourai?”


    “No, I haven''t.”


    “I’m sorry but I can''t help you and apologies but I have to finish my dinner else I will get into trouble.”


    “That is fine, thank you for taking your time.” The shadow had sneaked a shadow into their house and it couldn''t find any trace of anyone else having lived there besides them. They also showed no signs of deception. The shadow sent shadow clones further out to slightly beyond Boshi town and the results brought more confusing results. There were signs of the shadow’s targets activity outside the outskirts of the town. Boshi town would fall right inside the range of motion of all these spread-out traces. These traces just led toward Boshi town where they all died out. The shadow grabbed its head. This situation caused quite a headache. The sun had already set and the moon was out. The shadow had looked for almost half a day. It sent a shadow clone to the merchant group to report that Boshi town was safe. The shadow completely forgot to look for the cause of the energy wave but it didn''t find anything that could have caused it while looking for its targets. The shadow looked up to the waxing gibbous moon. The shadow removed its shadow cloak disguise and revealed her long hair and light green eyes. Her blue fox ears contrasted with her silver blue hair.


    “Agnis, where are you?” She kept looking up at the moon as if it would give her an answer