The Insider System

Chapter 291: Barriers Or Wards

They had been running towards the Metal domain for almost two hours already and while they had been traveling in silence Lake was about to break that pattern. "Hey Tiff, we're going to catch up to the group heading to the Metal Domain soon and since it seems we're heading there do you want to join them or keep going at our own speed?"

"I'm in a bit of a hurry to get the dagger. I can't tell you why but the faster we find it the better." Lake was fine with that but he did want to chase them down to see if they were still fine. "Do you mind if we go and check on them? Actually, if the dagger is in the city there's no way for us to get to it anyway so we should stay with them."

Lake had forgotten that he could just make things up to get what he wanted for a second. "Do you think it's inside the Metal Domain barrier?" Lake nodded and decided to line up the fact that they would find it inside of a random building. "Yeah it doesn't seem to be moving and that probably means whoever has it is trapped in the barrier."

There were other possibilities but Tiff seemed to take his word for it and didn't ask any more questions for a while and Lake led them towards the group that Helain was in by using the magic compass technique.

Eventually he saw them off in the distance but he could tell they were in a fight. "They look fine but this fight seems to be a bit more intense than the last one I saw." Lake wasn't sure how many they had gotten into since he had left but with four barriers visible from where he was looking he had no idea how long this battle could take.

"Wow it's rare to see Demon Worshipers fight this way. I wonder who they're being led by." Hearing Tiff's words he wondered if she could tell him more about the Demon Worshipers army structure so he asked. "How does the Demon army work? I kind of figured most of them just kind of did their own thing most of the time."

When he had been clearing out Demon Worshipers in the Metal Domain most of the groups he had found didn't seem to be involved in the plot that was currently holding the Metal Domain hostage. He was sure they would have helped once it started but they seemed to be doing random things when he had found them which made him think the army didn't have much structure.

"You're right, most of them don't really have anything to do with the main army. But these that we're looking at right now are from an organized group that has a special purpose to the army. There's a good chance that there's a giant nearby so let's stay hidden." Hearing Tiff thought they should keep their presence hidden until something big happened he agreed and got into a more hidden spot.

...

Tiff couldn't help but think this would be a great chance to get ahold of the next divine core so another member of the 23 could ascend. She knew she was being kind of reckless if she actually tried to fight a giant by herself with none of the other members of the 23 around but this didn't really get in the way of what she was supposed to be doing.

If they just happened to get attacked by a giant there was nothing she could do about it and she would be forced to fight it. "Wow they took that barrier down like it was nothing. It looks like they plan to take one down at a time." With three groups of Demon Worshipers it made sense for them to focus on one of them at a time whenever they got a chance to attack.

"How are they defending from the group that's only attacking when the barrier comes down?" Every time their group attacked they dropped the barrier and with three groups on the opposing side there was always a group that was able to attack them at that time so she could understand why someone would ask this. "It looks like one of the people in the group knows a masterwork shield formation. You see that formation that never seems to lose its power? That's probably protecting them better than the barrier they're using."

...

Hearing another term he had never heard before Lake didn't let the moment pass and asked Tiff. "What does masterwork formation mean?" He could guess it was just how people described a formation that was designed much better than normal but he wanted to be sure. "Most formations that are taught to you in a class aren't always suited for you which causes them to be less efficient so it's best to redesign the formation for yourself to better match your mana and once the formation passes a certain level of efficiency it's considered a masterwork like any other crafted item."

"So why are they using the barrier at all if that shield formation is able to block everything?" He understood the benefit of more than one form of defense but he also understood asking questions that you thought you knew the answer to had its own benefits. "Barriers stop more than just spells; skills and intruders are the main reason to use them over a shield formation."

Lake had already known these two things about barriers but hadn't realized a shield formation wouldn't stop a skill or someone sneaking up on you. There was something else he wanted to ask about though he had already lost the ward ring when all of his gear had been destroyed he wanted to know what a ward was. "What's a ward?"

"Wards are pretty much shield formations you don't have to activate yourself. I don't really know how they work but they can tell when something was meant as an attack and stop it while allowing it when there was no malice or no way it could hurt you."

"They don't stop skills though, right?" There had been a lot of times that his ward ring hadn't done anything when he felt it should have and he was guessing it was because the skill that had been used on him couldn't be blocked by the ward. "It depends on the ward and the skill but it's best to assume that a ward won't help against skills when you're in a fight. They're really good at stopping people from seeing your stats though so it's good to have one."

As an attack you really couldn't see coming Lake guessed something like a ward was the best to stop people looking at your stats so he wished his hadn't been destroyed or that he had taken the time to get a new one but he knew that with Detector he could find one as soon as he got back to the Metal Domain with all the bodies laying around.

"Alright I'm going to go sit over there, tell me if anything interesting happens." After he said this Lake did exactly what he said he was going to and sat down on a log that was nearby. These types of battles were really boring and he had watched one yesterday so he had no interest in this one.

...

"It's time for the meeting where Rigbis is going to share the news. Get the Team ready to go." Hearing Keel talk for the first time in a few hours Donny was relieved that he finally got to hear what the meeting that had sent Keel into such a weird mood was about. Relieved probably wasn't the best word since it was most likely going to be bad but after a few hours of knowing it was coming and having no idea what it was since Keel couldn't tell him he did feel relieved.

It had been a type of mental torture just sitting here and wondering what was going to happen. "Wake everyone up and get ready to walk to the big room." Donny wasn't actually sure where the meeting was going to be since Keel hadn't told him but the room where they had been put into their teams was probably where they would end up since it was so large.

Once the team was ready Donny walked back over to Keel who was still sitting at the table and said. "We're ready." As he got up Keel looked back at the group and said. "We're heading to hear bad news. I want you all to keep it together and don't let yourselves panic. We're still going to be fine."

Keel still wasn't able to tell any of them what this was about but Donny was happy he said this and didn't let whatever came out of Rigbis' mouth be a complete surprise to the group. Donny had kind of wanted to do a similar thing but wasn't sure if he was allowed and didn't want to get Keel in trouble for telling him if he wasn't supposed to say anything at all.

"Alright, follow behind Keel." Donny planned to walk in the back while they moved so he would be able to see anyone who tried to split from the group. This would be a perfect chance for anyone who wasn't on their side to get out into the fortress.