Asef froze in front of the doors that wasn't guarded.
His breath didn't hitch, but his mind raced.
Was he too late?
Had the Seer been moved?
Or… was this a trap?
The military could have discovered someone was hunting her and set this up to lure the attacker.
But no.
There was no magical residue. No sense of surveillance. No signs of recent movement.
Just silence.
Still, he entered slowly. Carefully.
His steps were soundless, his aura suppressed.
His presence wouldn't be picked up by standard detection spells, and even if a trap had been laid, he was confident he could dismantle it before it triggered.
But he didn't find any traps.
No mana pulses, no buried formations.
Only emptiness.
He didn't know exactly where she would be, but something inside him stirred. A quiet tug beneath his ribs. Familiar. Deep.
The same feeling he'd had when he approached the well as a boy.
The same instinct that led him to Hon's house in the middle of the plains.
A call without words.
