Ella stomped her foot in frustration. “Oooooh!” She said. “I missed it! Why is the bandit attacking the clan when I’m sleeping? Almost everything that is interesting happens when I’m sleeping! It’s not fair…”

Daniel watches her in amusement. “I don’t know what to tell you, sweetheart, I too miss the commotion last night,” Daniel lied. “I’m inside the forest when I heard a loud boom. I ran back here and everything is in chaos.”

That very morning, a very angry Burrlock organize several teams to try and track the bastard that gutted the biggest building in the clan compound. Amriel (Daniel) was part of the first team that moved out early that morning but after several miles of fruitless tracking they went back. They returned and explained the situation but Burrlock didn’t want to hear it. He organize another team and then another. This newest team will be led by Tyler himself and he is now being brief by the head elder.

Daniel is keeping the child a bit of company while Tyler is still inside. Daniel didn’t mind because he simply love watching Ella. Amriel meanwhile was still brooding inside of him. The two intruders were good, but the truth of the matter is that they got away simply because Amriel underestimated them.

That portal alone was made by someone more powerful, Amriel was sure of it. The design and sophistication of the traps suggested a far more experience mind than those two. Oh well, too bad Daniel will not be able to question them but unlike Amriel, he is more interested in what they are doing here than anything else.

Ella looks over his shoulder and ran toward an emerging Tyler who is still talking to the head Elder. Tyler scooped Ella with one strong arm and tickled her.

“Do you have any questions?” Burrlock asked brusquely.

“No, my kai,” said Tyler. “I have no questions.”

“Good, hopefully, your group are more observant than the last few ones I sent,” Burrlock said, looking meaningfully at Amriel’s direction.

Amriel bowed politely and Burrlock left.

Tyler turned to Amriel. “Can you take care of this little beastie while I’m gone?” He said.

Ella giggled. “I’m not a beastie!”

“Of course,” Daniel answered. “But where is Navina?”

Tyler had a troubled look and choose not to answer Amriel’s question. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

Amriel grabs his brother’s shoulder. “Take care of yourself out there.” In this world, Nature is not the slogan environmentalist used on our planet. Here nature is cold, hungry animals, poisonous plants, roaming monster and foul magic. Here, nature is the enemy.

Tyler simply nodded, messed up Ella’s hair and left with a few man. Daniel watch him go then levitated the surprised Ella and drop her on his shoulder. “What’s our plan for the day, little princess?”

************************************

That very night, Amriel glided down from the roof of the clan building. The two guards below, while alert and ready, still did not see him. And even if they do, Amriel already prepared a minor for sleeping and mind alteration magical programs.

The door has both updated physical and magical lock covering it, but Amriel simply created a small portal to the side wall and entered that way. He felt the magical radiance in the air, another security measure to detect unknown radiance entering the room.

Amriel recognizes the radiance signature as something that Master Lohan had made. And it took only a swipe of a few lines in the magical rune in one corner and the magical detection was disabled.

“Now for the hard part,” Simon said next to him.

Why would highly skilled mercs come to a backwater clan like Twotree and snoop around? Normally those kinds of mercs are already working for kings and emperors. I find it hard to believe that kings or emperors are interested in our small little clan.

Greg the Bum sat outside the door and served as a watchman, while the rest of the aspects started searching around the room. Daniel swap with Amriel since he understood espionage better than the straight and narrow Amriel.

Simon read the scrolls on the desk and those inside the cabinets but found nothing special. “This is all receipts and ledgers for the clan trade,” He said.

“Anything interesting?”

“Besides the fact that the clan trade volume increase by almost 300 percent in the last year… no, nothing special.”

Tubby started smelling the desk with a serious glare in his single eye.

“What?” Daniel asked impatiently.

“Master Burrlock boink someone in this desk very recently, perhaps 2 days ago!”

Both Simon and Daniel had to hold the bridge of their noses just as Aida’s karate chop hit the giant cat squarely in the head.

“We’re missing something here,” Simon said, ignoring the giant cat as he rolled around in the floor

Rex the Chihuahua barked and Daniel’s eye widen. “Of course!” He exclaimed. His eyes glowed blue and his mage eyes activate. Suddenly, it was all so obvious.

One side of the wall has a huge open and hollowed out space. The place is covered in a very week radiance that at first glance blended perfectly with the surrounding. It was an illusion magic and cleverly made.

But once you focus on it, the magic is dispelled for that person. Inside the space is another ledger, but this one is different.

It seems that Burrlock purchases a sizable land in the merchant quarter in the capital of Abbadon. For a bargain price of 90 emeralds. Normally no one can buy a piece of property in the ancient capital for less than 500 emeralds even in the port district, much less the old town quarters where the oldest nobles stay.

But somehow, our clan is the proud owner of a 20 room building apartment in the merchant district and even now is expanding the place upward to accommodate another 12 more rooms.

“I didn’t know the clan is that rich,” Daniel said to himself. He felt Amriel agree with him.

The ledger went on to describe that the clan also owns a sizable supply of consumable goods at the vast warehouse in the port district. Almost 5 emerald worth of goods, mostly dried food and essentials.

“Burrlock, you sneaky bastard, what are you up to?” Daniel said to himself. This discovery only created more questions than it answers.