Rui pressed a button his standard-issue mission-tracking device that indicating arrival at the mission location, and another one right beside it, indicating the commencement of the mission. The reconnaissance part of the mission was rather simple, albeit long and tiring.
He had already begun the grid search as per mission guidelines. He divided the Shaia Plains into one-acre squares. One acre was the largest area over which he had confidence of detecting the target of his mission, any larger and the input was too undecipherable. There was too much activity during the day, he would probably be able to expand that range significantly, during the night.
Using some convenient standard-issue tools for hunter-class missions, he was able to begin his grid searching process rather seamlessly.
He closed his eyes, trying his best to focus on the input of Seismic data and deciphering its meaning. Seismic Mapping gave him a rough picture of the topography, as well as objects in the environment. What it couldn't do however, give him an exact picture of the object radiating seismic vibrations. Of course, he could indirectly infer the source of certain seismic radiation, through the number of contact points on the ground as well as their weight.
Humans walked with two legs, with two feet touching the ground, that along with the fact that he could estimate their weight, as well as the shape of their feet allowed him to instantly judge that they're humans. To some degree he could extend this identification process to animals as well, but he needed to be familiar with their seismic signature.
So, before Rui even began the actual grid search, he first spent as much time needed in order to be able to identify and distinguish seismic signatures of the most common types of animal species that could potentially throw his identification off by confusing him.
In order to be able to detect the target of his mission, he needed to know what it definitely wasn't, only then could detect it when it did enter his Seismic sense.
He took his time as he memorized the seismic signatures of the six-legged deer and the triple-pronged gazelles so that he could instantly dismiss them when he detected their seismic signature.
As time passed, he grew more and more familiar with the seismic radiation of the Shaia Plains. Before what was an inscrutable influx of Seismic data was not slowly starting to turn into a clearer and clearer picture.
It had taken a long time before he was finally at a stage where he could proceed with the mission with confidence. He opened his eyes in exhaustion, reaching for a rejuvenation potion.
"Oh shit." He cursed when he saw the sun going down. Seismic Mapping did not tell him the time of the day nor could it tell him that the sun was going on because the sun did not produce any seismic radiation.
He had grown so engrossed that he had completely lost track of time.
"Oh well, I guess I can just start the grid search tomorrow." He sighed. For now, it looked like he would have to begin the static surveillance first.
He brought out the mission bill as he glanced at the local-migration patterns of herbivorous herds in the Shaia Plains. If the target of his mission were to begin a hunting spree, then he would be close to the likeliest locations he would likely run into the creature, or creatures.
He activated Seismic Mapping, and extended his range as far as possible. Seismic Mapping as a sensory technique did not have any hard fixed defined limit as for how far it could allow him to sense seismic radiation. However, the further away the source of seismic radiation, the more muffled and less clear it was. It was, in a way, similar to the auditory sense.
However, Rui was not looking for something detailed or clear. He wanted to locate the biggest gathering of resting herds of herbivores before they went to rest and stopped producing as much seismic radiation, making them harder to detect.
He had already managed to narrow down the directions he conducted the search in thanks to the intel provided by the commission department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, now all he had to was find the biggest source of general seismic radiation and he could be relatively certain that herds of herbivores were responsible for that. That was because the largest groups of animals of a single species were those of herbivores.
Predators generally were either lonesome or part of a very small pack or pride.
This was Rui's strategy of finding the location of the herbivore herds before the target of his mission did.
"There they are." He said with knitted eyebrows, trying to sense the precise direction of the source of the seismic radiation he hoped was the target of his target.
He immediately began sprinting at top speed, activating both his Apprentice-level techniques to the absolute maximum while also using Outer Convergence to boost his travel speed, sprinting at incredibly fast speeds.
He could sense the jolting seismic radiation that doing this caused. He could feel the earth trembling at every step of his.
Soon, he could more clearly sense multiple sources of seismic radiation in different directions. The closer he got, what he thought was the result of a single source was actually multiple sources. It was just that the seismic radiation had interfered with each other too much over a great distance, making it seem it was coming from a single source.
He stopped running as hard once he was at a distance of five hundred meters from the herd, and stopped using any Apprentice-level techniques whatsoever at three hundred meters away. They would draw too much attention, there was no point in pursuing them if they simply ran away from him.
He crouched, taking cover under the tall grass ubiquitous in the Shaia Plains.
('Alright, it's time for action.') He thought to himself. His heartrate accelerated as his tension and alertness grew.
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