Back when he was in Thousand Masts City, Colin had tried using this magic to locate Gold Coins at the Black Tower out of curiosity. He was stopped and questioned by some of the Black Tower’s Mages at the time, but he still managed to figure out the spell’s specific effects.
Simply put, this magic could be set to track a specific number of Gold Coins within a certain range.
It could also locate a single, specially marked Gold Coin.
As he recited the Spell, a faint golden thread coiled around the tree branch.
But the thread quickly dissipated, turning into a few ephemeral golden specks of light.
The magic failed.
"There isn’t a cache of five to fifty Gold Coins within three hundred meters of here. Are there any other places?" Colin asked.
"The tanner here did donate a lot of money not long ago. Hmm... the charcoal burners’ place. Since the winter disaster isn’t over yet, those guys are still working. It’s possible they might attract a stray dog or two," Father John said.
Colin thought for a moment and said, "Then let’s go check out the charcoal burners’ place."
The group followed the stream flowing out of the pond downstream, arriving at the charcoal burners’ place.
The area looked a lot like a construction site. On a flat piece of land were scattered a dozen or so charcoal kilns and piles of logs waiting to be burned. In a corner stood a large thatched hut, big enough for several people to live in.
Charcoal burners usually work before spring, so this was just a temporary residence.
However, due to the winter disaster, the charcoal burners were likely in a bittersweet situation. The work was long, but it was also profitable.
Colin stood on a small hillock and placed the branch on the ground again.
As he recited the Spell, a faint golden thread wrapped around the branch. This time, the branch began to slowly swing like a compass needle. However, it didn’t point toward the charcoal burners’ hut, but toward a thicket not far away.
"Alright, it’s roughly in this direction, about two hundred meters from us," Colin said.
"Follow me."
Kase held a Short Spear and a Javelin in one hand and a Longbow in the other. He even had a few Arrows clamped in his mouth. Once ready, he began to slowly creep toward the direction the branch was pointing.
Colin shot Orelia a look.
He picked up the direction-indicating wooden stick from the ground. He and Ale took the lead, with the other two bringing up the rear.
Thanks to his Empowerment Armor Specialty, Colin made very little noise. From a distance, he was almost inaudible. The Specialty was proving to be exceptionally useful in this situation.
Kase’s chosen route was nothing short of perfect. He moved forward while rarely having to step on a dry branch, and he skillfully used the undergrowth to conceal his movements.
Before long, the sound of conversation drifted from up ahead.
The voices sounded very hoarse, speaking a language Colin couldn’t understand. The language had many hard consonants and sounded inexplicably hair-raising, like someone scraping their nails on a chalkboard.
Judging by the tone, these Imps seemed to be arguing about something.
Colin glanced back.
He could faintly see Orelia nodding at him.
The group snuck to the edge of where the sound was coming from. It was a small, muddy puddle that looked like a wallow for wild boars or other animals.
However, the clearing was empty and nothing could be seen. If Colin didn’t know that Imps could turn invisible, he would have thought he was having auditory hallucinations or that the place was simply haunted.
’These things must be invisible.’
’Judging from the sources of the voices, the Imps aren’t too far apart, but they’re not close enough to be taken out by a single *Shatter*.’
Just then, Colin noticed the fallen leaves on the ground.
He walked to the front, patted Kase’s shoulder, and pointed at the ground.
The two of them immediately began to silently gather the fallen leaves. The others saw this and came over to help.
In a short while, they had made a pile of fallen leaves.
Then they placed this pile of leaves onto Kase’s Fishing Net and moved it behind a bush closer to the Imps.
The Imps’ argument was getting more and more heated.
Just then, Colin suddenly yanked up the Fishing Net filled with fallen leaves.
The moment the compressed leaves made a RUSTLING sound, the conversation around the puddle stopped instantly, followed by the sound of flapping wings.
Colin cast *Misty Step*, teleporting into the air ahead of them and abruptly releasing the armful of leaves.
Countless fragmented, withered yellow leaves fell from mid-air.
The gentle breeze generated by the Imps’ flapping wings scattered the naturally falling leaves.
The people below could use this phenomenon to accurately pinpoint where the invisible enemies were.
Standing below, Ale took out a transparent diamond the size of a thumbnail.
Her lips moved slightly, and the transparent diamond in her hand began to flash with blue light. Streaks of crooked lightning swam and spread within the diamond.
Two lightning orbs, ten centimeters in diameter, appeared around the diamond and flew off in two different directions. They then exploded in mid-air, and where they exploded, two small red Imps slowly materialized before falling from the sky.
Colin, who had fallen to the ground, looked at the Imp’s corpse that had landed beside him and thought.
’That must be a *Chromatic Orb* cast with *Twin Magic*.’
The latter is a Warlock’s Super Magic, an ability unique to them. They can use their bloodline to make their Magic more powerful.
*Chromatic Orb* itself is only a single-target attack spell. What makes it special is its ability to deal different types of Elemental Damage, allowing it to bypass the immunities of certain creatures—Imps, for example, are immune to Flame and poison Damage.
And by using her Super Magic, *Twin Magic*, Ale was able to cast *Chromatic Orb* just once and attack with two orbs of energy.
Thus, the same Magic cast by a Warlock can be more powerful than when cast by a Mage. This is their advantage.
As Colin was lost in thought, Kase, standing nearby, fired an arrow.
A blossom of blood bloomed in mid-air. The Arrow had struck an Imp in the chest. Kase immediately followed up by throwing a Javelin to finish the creature off for good.
Within a few seconds, all three Imps were dead.
After carefully scanning the sky and confirming there were no more enemies, Kase walked over to Colin and held out his arm.
Colin grabbed the other’s forearm and was pulled up in one go by the Half-Orc.
He looked at Orelia and asked, "Do you smell anything else around?"
"Gone. At least, those Evil Demons were all I could sense. I wouldn’t be able to tell if there was anything stronger."
"If there was anything stronger, we definitely wouldn’t be standing here chatting." Colin glanced at the mud splattered on his body and suddenly felt less pleased.
’Although, I can just have Ale clean my Armor later.’
Not far away, Father John stood frozen in place, weapon in hand, staring blankly at the scene before him, completely unable to process what had just happened.
Colin and the others paid him no mind and began to inspect the corpses on the ground.