Chapter 20: I am vengeance
Aric had seen and even used drones in his previous life, so he knew how to use them if given the chance. But the drones of the future were something else. Since these were reconnaissance drones, each one had a central system with an inbuilt rudimentary AI that could understand human commands and direct the drones accordingly.
So, when Aric commanded the drones to follow the trails and relay back the position, the AI system embedded in them enabled them to perform spy work as well. Aric had spent a bit more credits to add this feature to the drones. With the help of his communicator, he instructed them to follow the trails and report back.
He had heard that the bandits would sell the children, women, and some men as slaves, so they couldn’t move fast with a group of people, and Aric could only hope that their destination wasn’t nearby.
As the drones flew up, Aric used his communicator and lens to get an all-around view of the forest and the trail they were following. The communicator provided a 3D view of the surroundings directly in his lens and showed hundreds of marks left behind by the bandits.
He didn’t expect the drones to be so capable, but then again, this society was probably not so developed, and their anti-spy skills were lacking. This played in Aric’s favor. Along with using the spy drones to check for any followers, he himself wore a black suit and covered his face. He was ready to vanish at the first sign of trouble.
He traveled with the drones for a full two hours. During this time, he realized that the trail, which wound through patches of forest, was more alive and dangerous than he had anticipated.
While following the drones, they showed him a pack of wolves. Even in the darkness of the night, the drones were able to livestream the wolves from afar. When he saw the colors on the wolves, he felt a chill run down his spine—not from the darkness, but from fear.
The wolves had a white coat with trails of azure running through their fur. They looked majestic, but the sight of blood around their mouths was unsettling. Each wolf was larger than any Aric had ever read about, like the Alaskan or the Eurasian. These wolves were at least twice the size of those on Earth, and Aric was convinced they were magical, despite the lack of clear indications.
Aric had to take a detour to avoid them, thankfully without alerting them. After two hours of walking cautiously, stepping on dried leaves and unpaved roads, he finally reached the bandits’ location.