Unlimited Power - The Arcane Path

For some odd reason, Makoto little by little started to make noise in the tavern. He said something in a loud tone, and then suddenly, a big bald Russian approached and sat on the table where Leon and Makoto were. The bartender also bought several glasses of beer. Makoto and the Russian guy shook each other's hands.

"I guess this is a contest… what Makoto is planning?"

One at a time, Leon and the big Russian drunk a glass of beer. On the fifteenth glass, the baldie collapsed, while Leon's stomach was slightly full. Things got a bit noisier when Makoto said something, and then the bartender gave a free cup of beer to everyone inside.

"I get it… he was trying to make everyone get drunk and make them speak what he wants. It's a good plan, but I wonder if I will last long enough."

Leon recalled his days on the island; there were days that he ate a lot to recover the weight he always lost after recovering from big wounds. However, only a few times, he felt full. One of those times was when he ate dozens of kilograms of blue angel leaves.

"I guess now that our bodies can use mana, we use and store energy more efficiently."

That night, Leon went to the toilet several times, but even after drinking 75 glasses of beer, he didn't feel drunk at all. At that point in time, he was being looked by eyes full of wonder and fear among the drinkers of that bar. Regardless, things got noisy, so Makoto decided to stop there.

Since Makoto paid five rounds of drinks to everyone, all the people inside the bar were looking at him as if they were best buddies. But for some reason, no one tried to talk with Leon. However, that was fine with him; he didn't know Russian anyway. Leon and Makoto only left the tavern at midnight, and Leon wondered how they would find a hotel so late. However, much to his surprise, Makoto had other plans.

"Let's leave the city by the air," Makoto whispered. "Seiji and his soldiers stayed here two days ago. We don't have time to waste, and I discovered the route they are using."

Leon nodded, then they walked toward a dark alley and flew toward the sky until they became almost invisible in the darkness of the night before they headed to North-East. It would be hard for the Russians to see them at night, it was almost impossible, but Leon decided to be cautious and created an ice platform. However, Leon made the platform also to protect them from the satellites. He even disguised the top of the platform by covering with sand to make it look more or less like a rain cloud.

At dawn, Leon destroyed the ice platform and then created an underground shelter for them to rest for a few hours. They were in a hurry, but they also couldn't afford to make any mistakes, and they needed to be well-rested in case they find the group who kidnapped Yuki.

"What did you hear at the tavern?" Leon asked.

"That a pretty big group of outsiders being escorted by a bunch of shady Russians stayed in that city for a night," Makoto answered. "Although the path is harsh and climate is severe, they are heading toward the nearest train station. The Russians created a railway that crossed their entire territory in order to transport the resources they gather from the dungeons to Moscow. They intend to use that railway to reach Moscow as fast as possible."

"I see… by the way, do you know why no one tried to talk with me?" Leon asked.

"I told them that you were a heavy-drinker," Makoto answered. "But I also told them that you were born deaf and dumb."

"…Anyway, If we know where they are going, shouldn't we ambush them?" Leon frowned.

"At first, that was my plan," Makoto said. "However, Seiji used an item to escape from Tokyo. Items that can be used to move between big distances are consumables and expensive. But, the chances of Seiji having a few spares are high, to use it in the case of an emergency. If we try to ambush them and fail, things will become more difficult. If they notice that I'm here, they will send their men to hunt us."

"That makes sense, so, what's the plan?" Leon asked.

"We will plant an espionage device on the train to hear their conversations and follow them from a safe distance," Makoto explained. "With your skills, it shouldn't be difficult to infiltrate Moscow. Once we know as much as we can about their plans and the place they intend to keep Yuki, we will attack."

Leon nodded, even though that kind of plan would make Makoto stay away from Japan for more than a few days, it was the best chance they had in order not to fail. For someone who could become so hot-blooded when his daughter was part of the equation, Makoto sure could be cold-blooded.

"How will we plant the espionage device?" Leon asked.

"I will do that," Makoto said. "However, I can't approach the train while Seiji and his men are cautious of attacks. So, you will cause a diversion and force the train to stop. Once the soldiers try to deal with the diversion, I'll install the device."

Leon wondered if choosing such a roundabout way was fine. However, considering that Makoto had far more knowledge about Seiji and the Russians, he soon understood he had a reason for that. Anyway, considering that Seiji and his men would probably reach the train station that day, they would have to move a lot later to prepare such diversion. So, Leon decided to rest as much as he could.