According to the scout’s memory, the entry point was exactly where he had thought, a gap in the treeline marked with two stone cairns. It was the kind he had read as natural to anyone who would be looking for it.

Looking ahead, Emperal saw an enforcer. Gauging his strength, he estimated him to be Verth Weider Stage Three. He had already formed deep pools.

"I...can’t win against him."

Emperal admitted honestly, not to mention the racial abilities. His cultivation alone was more than enough to sustain and kill Emperal.

And on top of that, he had a Titan-adjacent bloodline. His eyes were flat grey, and they moved to Emperal in attention.

Emperal’s expression didn’t change, and he walked towards him at the same pace the scout had walked earlier. Unhurried and vigilant.

Kern looked at him for three exact seconds.

"Are you done with your patrolling?" He asked.

"Everything is clean." Emperal nodded; it was just a few words, because the earlier scout was a bit economical with his speeches.

Kern’s eyes moved across him once more, and he tried to read his Verth signature, but the unreadable result came back.

Kern’s expression didn’t change; he merely nodded and stepped aside.

With a small smile, Emperal walked through.

Group A, Gorven’s camp, was functional, with various operations being conducted.

There were five structures: a supply shelter, a sleeping stretch divided into sections, a cooking area, a weapons maintenance space, and a camp meeting room. All arranged simultaneously.

Twelve of the fifteen members were visible, three on the perimeter, which had included the scout that Emperal had secured.

Emperal took the scout’s usual position, which was a spot near the supply shelter with clear sightlines to both camps’ interiors and the neutral zone around the Crystal formation.

He had approximately forty minutes before the next patrol rotation. And sitting here was exactly what the scout was normally doing.

During the entire time, he made a few passive observations. A wolfkin in his late twenties in appearance. He entered Group A camp from the neutral zone side at midmorning through a gap between the supply shelter and the perimeter markers that both camps used as an informal passage for intergroup communication, as required by the arrangement.

Next, he went to the cooking area and spoke briefly with two of Gorven’s people about the supply logistics. He talked in such a way that had a legitimate surface and could carry other information underneath if both parties were involved. Emperal watched him leave and noted three things: his name was Mael, he had been here twice this morning already, and the two other people he spoke with were not directly involved in supply logistics in any capacity that Emperal could spot.

The second observation he made was of the lieutenant of Gorven, who was his most trusted subordinate with wolf blood flowing through his veins. His name was Brack; he had amber eyes and twitching ears. He ran the camp’s internal logistics with high efficiency.

At first glance, he may seem normal. But Emperal noticed some things while the rest remained oblivious.

He was the only one in Group A who didn’t tighten when the eleven members of Group B passed through the neutral zone. Everyone else had the specific tension with the thought of sharing territory with other races—Elves, no less. It was similar to innate discomfort.

But this man, Brack, had no such visible reaction. He even nodded to a man named Valin when Valin crossed the neutral zone at midday.

It was the nod that shocked Emperal, the main part of the shock was...Valin had nodded back. Something was exchanged. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

From these two instances, he had identified two potential seeds. Seeds...that could be sown properly.

The next and the most troublesome variable was Gorven himself, even from a distance. His heart thumped whenever he concentrated on the Verth around Gorven’s tent.

Even though he wasn’t even near that Dragon, he had felt it. The deep suffocation of a higher realm entity.

But from his observations of the past, he had noticed that Gorven had that specific quality of look. He was restrained, assessing and calculating, despite the heavy muscles on him—he wasn’t foolish, on the contrary, he was paranoid.

It was this sole thing that prevented Emperal from making any further moves. This told Emperal everything he needed to know about Gorven.

He didn’t create the suspicion. He just needed to give it a name. And names—oh, he already had a few.

On the next patrol, Gorven took a walk around the perimeter and passed near the supply shelter. Near...Emperal.

At first, he just glanced at him; it was the same annoying three-second assessment that Kern had given at the entry point.

"Any suspicious activities?" He asked from a distance, his voice as overbearing as it could be. But the intimidation would have worked on anyone else.

Emperal lived with a far more dangerous monster than anyone could even imagine. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he, at one point, became numb to any intimidating aura other than Vraelyn’s.

Still, he had to pretend. Bowing his head down, he ’trembled’.

"N-Nothing suspicious."

Gorven merely grunted and moved on to his next stop. Emperal watched him go with the side of his eyes and couldn’t help but snort.

"What a waste."

There were three reasons for that: this guy thinks too much for a beast. He doesn’t trust his own subordinates by the looks and stares he gives, and lastly, his paranoia.

"But...if even I noticed it, there was no way this fool wouldn’t. There is something I don’t know here." Emperal muttered before resuming his patrolling.

Two days went by, Emperal continued his observations while hoping for Calder not to mess up. But knowing his wits, he wasn’t too worried about him.

It was just the racial tensions, if he could somehow bypass that. He was in.

Emperal looked around for a while, seeing that all were leaving for the perimeter patrol. He moved.

There was a split in the bark of a specific pine tree at the eastern treeline’s second ridge. It was a gap wide enough to hold a piece of cloth.

Once again, he swept his eyes around his surroundings, and he quietly left a mark there—at dusk.

One strip of dark cloth pressed into the gap.

The meaning could only be understood if Calder was the one reading it.

"All is clear, meet in two days."