38 Searing 123
Having dealt with his shadow, now it was time to wait until the ones he was shadowing to deal with theirs. The sounds of the fight became louder as he got closer then Dakkur stopped. That was far enough. "You know what to do. Roll or slide along. Unless you have to hit anything, don't, you want to be quiet even if the city has shittons of coins and rubble lying around that you're probably the most natural thing for miles. As long as you can hear them, I can hear them but you don't need to get too close even if you can't. I only need to watch so I'm quite happy to stick with that... but. If they get into another fight or you notice they don't look back you can take your chance. What you mean look. This isn't your first time dealing with people right. Well. Uhhh... See these? These are my eyes. If you can't see them it means they aren't looking at you." which was putting it in the simplest way possible but recalling some of those soldier's equipment, lucky Dakkur remembered that "some of them have these thingies in front of their face. Its made of metal. It has holes" as he motioned a sliding visor in front of his face to demonstrate. "Yeah holes like one of those weird fire spirits. You don't want those facing you too. Now..." it was time for the earth spirit to get on with its task and run along- roll along, which Dakkur assisted it with in giving it the first spin.
That was probably the hardest part dealt with. Now Dakkur could just leisurely feed off that link with the earth spirit he had summoned to observe. The hardest part, if any, was just keeping the spirit's mind on track and perhaps a representation of the summoner's own shortcomings, the little struggle to remember the route taken by the soldiers as they moved in deeper and deeper in through Verowa's End. All in all, it seemed like the soldiers' routine was quite straightforward, as expected. No doubt in part this was because they were moving in such a group that moving through the main roads is the easiest for them unlike an individual like Dakkur, though big in size, could still navigate the alleys and side roads. Their route though did not seem like it had any end goal in sight nor a plan in mind as much of the time seemed to be wasted on waiting at forks and sometimes heated deliberation. What kind of an outfit was this anyway? Dakkur may be a pampered and sheltered civilian but even he was aware the militaristic types were particularly anal about dumb things like the chain of command. "Oh." Now if that did not bring some enjoyment to watch. The small one just slapped one of the bigger ones in the face, without any retaliation. Definitely the leader or someone else who was just as important by Dakkur's measure. The spirit however did not understand where its summoner had some joy in watching one of his own smacking another. The people of Ransera were either weird or degenerates to think this way that its no wonder their city and plane had gotten so messed up.
Things were going from good, to bad. Or maybe it was good if the only benefits were being looked at were for Dakkur and not the wellbeing of the soldiers. The commotion had attracted more shadows to them which means... "hold on right there." There was now the chance for Dakkur to catch up with the group and the immediate vicinity of the soldiers should be clear of shadows and other creeps since they should all be attracted to them. As recalling the route they took was a chore in itself, so as he would not be confused on the route Dakkur had to content on his link with his spirit being sound only and heard 'skree, skree, screeeeeech! Yahhhhhhh! Bang! Bang! Thud! Clank! Clank! Clank! Screech! Snap! Bang! Pop! Bang! Bang! AAAAAAAAA! Clap! Bang! Clank! Snap! Screeeeech!' With only voices speaking in what he could recognize as common in the end, Dakkur did not have to see to know that the soldiers had won. While might be quite right to assume that Dakkur would not have wanted to hear only the annoying screeches and guttural sounds of the shadows either as it would mark the triumph of the shadows over the soldiers, there is maybe one other thing which would be just as high up there at the time.
"Oh look! A coin. And it still looks shiny too! Score!" There were some other weird comments like how it was like one of those old games and stories they had as a kid because monster loot, Dakkur could not understand but he was rooting for that one who was reminding them that looting was not a part of the program. Still he should have considered that somewhat a possibility to happen and sensing some distress with his summoned spirit he looked through. Pitch blackness. "Fuck." The soldier must have pocketed it anyway although it should not be too much of an issue as the spirit would return to its home plane once its time was up. Dakkur however was a little more distressed as the means for him to follow the soldiers was now not something he could rely on. Should he call it quits. Perhaps. But... If the soldiers have cleared out that part of the End anyway it would not do to waste the opportunity to search around in peace. Dakkur quickened his pace. Maybe if he was fast enough he could even catch up with the group and follow them from behind- the normal way.