An hour later, Zephyr found himself standing on the beach, gazing at a vast mangrove forest. His forearm was tightly bandaged with breathable cloth and medicine.
"Here we are…"
He muttered, his voice drowning in the sound of wind and thunder.
The wind was picking up as the storm approached. He, along with the fishermen and village chief, had traveled over five kilometers north on a large canoe to reach the mangrove forest.
This was the area where the fisherman went missing.
A little north west of them was the island chain that the crabs were migrating to.
From where he stood, Zephyr could barely see the land bridge connecting the mainland to the island because of the thicker, persistent mist. Still, he believed the judgment of the fishermen who came with him to guide him.
'Anyways, it's time to cast the spell. My first spell after coming to this world.'
Zephyr thought while gazing at the dark billowing rain clouds above his head. Occasionally, he could see flashes of light, bursting out of the cloud with blinding radiance.
For a second, he thought the sky was cracking and falling apart as he witnessed nature's madness take form above him.
"We have no time to waste. It will rain any moment now."
Because of the dark rain clouds and mist, even as the sun rose, the lighting didn't improve. It still looked as if it were the crack of dawn.
Zephyr ignored the wrathful cries of thunder and flashes of lightning before quickly fetching the paper placed within his robe.
It was the same coarse paper that the village chief had given him. But unlike that time, it had dark red drawings of runes on it.
"I don't want it to be soaked in rain. I need to cast the spell now. Bring me the fishing rod." Zephyr motioned his hands towards the chief.
The elderly man had come along with them even after everyone else's opposition.
"Yes, bring it here, Jack." The elderly chief promptly called out to one of the middle-aged fishermen who came with them.
The fisherman named Jack was a burly man with bronze skin and a bald head. Zephyr felt a little intimidated whenever the man moved.
Although Jack wore a foolish smile as he brought the fishing rod towards them, Zephyr knew that a single slap from the hand of the hardworking man would send him on a one-way trip to hell.
Thus, he didn't even dare to make a sound.
He let the chief take the fishing rod and hand it over to him.
'Oh, well. I am not really afraid. I am cautious, that's the word, cautious.' Zephyr said to himself while receiving the fishing rod.
The fishing rod was the object they chose to bring as a binding object for the spell.
'The search spell needs a binding object to function. The better the binding object, the larger the search area would be. I hope this works.'
Zephyr prayed in his mind and walked forward, away from the beach. Then he struck the fishing rod made from bamboo on the sand, placing it erect on the beach.
'Channel mana to the runes written in blood through the paper. Focus and wait till the spell activates before slapping it onto the binding object.'
Zephyr recalled the steps to initialize the search spell. Then he followed it step by step.
Immediately, the mana in his cores turned to a stream of cloud and drifted into the paper he held. Soon after, a pale white glow came from the paper.
Zephyr concentrated and pushed all the mana he had into the paper, redirecting it to the blood runes. And just as he was about to run out of mana, the runes on the paper came alive, shimmering pale white.
On the other hand, the paper suddenly disintegrated into dust and ash, shocking those who witnessed it from the side.
Even Zephyr was amused by the change.
In the game, no magic was this detailed, nor did they have this type of great three-dimensional animation.
He carefully observed the changing runes with great interest.
Zephyr was like a child who discovered his favorite toy. His mind was fully obsessed with the flickering runes, disintegrating paper, and the formation it took as it floated.
But suddenly, he noticed the floating formation of runes wobble.
'Oh! Crap!' He exclaimed in his mind.
He was supposed to strike the runes onto the fishing rod before the paper fully disintegrated.
The spell was fully active, and it was destabilizing.
It was a spell that was never meant to last long.
'I need to do it now.'
As everyone watched in wonder, Zephyr slammed the floating rune formation onto the fishing rod.
The runes that were gently floating suddenly took a drastically different form. They glowed brightly for a second, attaching themselves to the wooden rod.
Then, like water droplets dripping down glass, they moved along the length of the fishing rod.
Before Zephyr could observe the motion of the runes in detail, it suddenly shot up along the rod's length and flew into the sky like firecrackers before exploding in a distinct, high-pitched sound similar to a bell ringing.
Everyone who stood nearby heard and saw the same thing.
Zephyr, Chief, and everyone else lifted their heads to look at the sky.
Shortly after the high-pitched explosion, they heard a similar explosion from far away.
…from far to the east.
…from the mangrove forest.
Immediately, their heads turned towards it.
'It worked. I cast my first spell. I did it.'
A sense of great accomplishment washed over Zephyr. A small smile bloomed on his cold, stiff face.
"That's where we have to go." He muttered.
Hearing his voice, everyone smiled.
There was still hope.
From what they heard from Zephyr, the spell would detect the general direction of the person they were targeting only if they were alive.
And from what they could see, the fisherman who went was still alive. He was also within the range of the spell.
Both were good news.
"Everyone, get ready. We must go into the mangrove forest to search for him. Take out your weapons and follow me."
The chief regained his bearing and ordered.
Jack was the first to move. He swiftly moved his giant body and picked up an axe from the canoe they alighted from.
The two other fishermen, both sturdy and strong, picked up large machete-like knives from the canoe.
Looking at them bearing weapons, Zephyr shuddered.
He was definitely scared. But he didn't show one bit of it on his face.
To hide his nervousness, he also took a smaller knife from the canoe to use as a weapon.
After that, they followed the direction shown by the search spell and began their journey towards the mangrove forest.
At the same time, the first drop of water fell from the sky, wetting Zephyr's face.
'Uh! I don't feel good about this…'
Zephyr looked at the mist-covered mangrove forest east of the beach.
An unsettling thought that something dangerous was waiting for them in the forest crept into his mind.
'I shouldn't have come.'
He said to himself while unwillingly following the group.
Although the search spell showed directions towards the mangrove forest, instead of the island, it still made Zephyr's instinct scream of danger.