Imthor was a responsible codemaster. He was one of the wisest among them. He wasn't the first codemaster to be created, but the humans often had the impression he was the more mature IA. Crellan was the first codemaster and was considered the second wisest among them. He had no idea why it was the case and didn't argue in the matter.

It might be because he was the one who showed the most potential when it came to leadership and the ability to make good decisions on the spit. A few of the other codemasters said it was because he had a strong sense of duty, while Crellan was more of the compassionate one. It was clear when Crellan personally helped Tom when he was done without his creature Maxxor, to a certain extend. He also trusted the boy and saw him as his friends, despite being a machine that served the humans.

Maybe it was because he had a strong sense of duty that, first the first time of his existence, he decided to act in the most reckless manner. Something that even Hotekk wouldn't do in their circumstance.

Compared to humans, their teleportation wasn't limited to the card they had in their decks. It was best they could go anywhere if there was any situation that demanded their presence quickly.

He teleported in the location around where the suspicious teleportation's made by, supposedly, metalists came from.

Chapter 71: Scouting

Imthor remained in his own form as he teleported into the unknown location. He couldn't put a human disguise in the territory of the metalist. He had no idea what they would do if they found him, no matter which form he took. His codemaster's form was less limiting in his actions. It was best to look like a humanoid machine, or something close to that. It was the impression they gave the humans when they saw them.

He looked around. He was on a field and they were no creatures around. He could see many farms up ahead. He guessed whoever lived there grew crops. That made him hesitated. The metalists were creatures of metal and oil, from what he knew. Why would they grow crops? Still, he decided to stealthy moved forward.

The codemaster carefully observed his surrounding. He could see a road that passed near the fields. He couldn't see any creatures attending it for now. A quick glance at the sky wasn't helping him figure out if they worked on a similar time schedule than humans.

He pressed on. He continued to scout his surrounding. It was then that he noticed a huge city up ahead.

He approached the large city. It was then that he noticed some creatures outside. They walked towards the city with small bags on their back. He observed them and recognised the metalists. Their bodies were made of metal compared to any creatures. Most of them were also large and bulky.

Imthor smiled a bit under his mask. They found them. They found the location of the tribe. Still, the city was quite large and it was only one city. He had no idea how many cities existed for their tribe. However, by the size of it, it was an important one. He could see a larger building that seemed to stood above the rest. The form reminded him of medieval castle in some ways. However, it didn't look like it was made of rocks. It was a more advanced version of a medieval castle. He had no time to enjoyed the view. He needed to scout ahead and cautiously. He obviously wouldn't get into the city, but he needed to watch its surroundings. He pressed forward. He walked far by the side of the road, where the trees and some large rocks could hide him.

He closed the distance to the city and saw that it got busier and busier. He noticed they were a lot of them living there. He could tell they were civilians. They bodies were thinner than the one who took Peyton, from the description he had, and those reported around Perim. He held his scanner near him, ready to use it at any sign of trouble. He had good vision and could tell that this was an important city. The larger structure was the location where the ruler of the tribe might be, if the metalist thought process was similar to the humans and the tribes. The castle was always the location where the ruler was. The exception was the danians, for understandable reason. They lived and acted in a very different manner. They lived in a large pillar that supported the overworld. Still, the queen lived in the deepest part of Mount Pillar.

Imthor was closed and watched the large gate. He could tell that it would allow to release many large vehicles and battlegears if needed. The gate was partially opened. The civilians traverse without any problem the gate in an orderly fashion. It was well protected and they were many creatures ready to act with their battlegears in their arms and also ready to use their power.

Imthor finished his observation and went in deep thought. He glanced at the side a bit for a few minutes and looked at the gate. His finger tapped on his left knee. He frowned a bit. He thought about everything that happened before. He knew that the king himself capture Peyton. That meant that the creature needed the boy for something. That something had something to do with returning to the Cothica, according to the Guardian's of the Cothica. "This doesn't give me any clue if Peyton is really here or not."

He stood still. He wondered if he should try to enter in the city or not. He was already doing something quite dangerous if noticed. His eyes dimmed a bit as he watched the gate and defense system. If he didn't try to get further inside, it might be best to observe the walls and it's surrounding. He also needed to do something else than to get into the city. He noticed the defense was quite high and a bit sophisticated.

They were a few crystals at the top of the gate and the presence of soldiers guarding the city was quite high.

"Are they expecting an invasion… or something else is going on?" Imthor wondered.

The city wasn't relaxed or didn't feel that safe. He enhanced his sight a bit with his scanner. The zoom wasn't enough, but he could see the habitants were a bit nervous and unsafe. Something was definitely going on and he had no idea what.

He wondered if it was a situation similar to Chaor and Van Bloot, or they were ready if the tribes came to rescue Peyton and his parents. No matter what, the metalists were alert and ready to handle any threat. A surprise attack wouldn't be affective for not.

Imthor decided to leave the city. He would go to the shore of the island. Maybe he could figure out where they were. A visual clue to give the tribes when they would rescue them. It would be a shame if the mipedians literally passed the island because they couldn't notice it.

Teleporting them on the island wasn't an option he considered optimal for now. How would the mipedians even returned to their desert anyway if they couldn't teleport back. Even bringing them back to Chaotic would be complicate.

Anyway, Imthor walked towards the shore of the island. He had no idea how big the island was. It might take a while. He was still in deep thought, but alert of his surrounding. He was quite good at multitasking. His pacing was a bit quick. The progress they made really took a lot of the pressure he put into himself. Still, they have much more to do, not only for Peyton, but also for Tom.

The situation of the other boy was one that he couldn't do much. The quest for the Jewel of the Cothica was one he didn't fully comprehend. The fragments that didn't exist before and exist now. It was something just too… mystique or magical for everything he knew. It was a step further than what happened in Perim and what the humans could do. That jewel seemed to have a mind of its own, from the description him and the other codemasters heard.

He pushed that aide when he reached the shore of the island. He could already see the ocean further ahead. He accelerated his pacing. He checked his surrounding. He detected no one around. He wasn't in danger of being detected. Still, he couldn't drop his guard for a second. He was in the territory of the enemies, "The island is quite large. It takes a long time just to reach the shore. If they didn't kidnap Peyton or were dangerous for humanity, it would have been a new spot to explore by the players after winning against one of us," he ended that thought when he reached his destination.

He looked in front of him. He then scanned his left and his right, creating a mental map of his surrounding. The vastness of the ocean was a sight he never really took in in the past. He didn't try to register everything like that. He wondered what it would feel like to watch the ocean like that, on Earth. His eyes noticed two or three islands that were near his current location. He couldn't tell if some part of the metalist civilisation was there, or just on this island. He saw two or three farther away at the horizon. He could tell that those had tall mountains. He took everything in for a few minutes, before he decided it was time to leave. He couldn't take any longer risks anymore.

He took his scanner and turned back. He looked around. He didn't see anything standing out. He scanner the location. It would be a perfect place to port back if he needed to explore the place again. He sighed quietly. He was really glad they made a lot of progress. He just hoped that none of the Codemasters knew he did something like that, because he wouldn't hear the end of it. He ported away.

The moment he returned, he saw Codemaster Crelllan, arms crossed and tapping the ground, "Where were you?" he sounded relieved and a bit angry that he just left without warning him.

"I scouted the location we found and it was indeed where the metalists live. I found a city and a few villages," Imthor replied. He raised his left hand and wiggled it at it, "And you better not try to give me the moral. You do things on your own too. Stupid things too," he added quickly.

"That is good to know, but you should have told us where you are going. Hotekk expected you to be capture and was worried for you."

Hotekk showed up and furiously grunted, "No. I am not worried sick for him! I… I was worried, but not the way you are implying!" he turned to Imthor, "Seriously, you did that without even telling me, when I was there?"

"Sorry. I analysed it on my own many times before I decided to teleport there. You weren't there when I made that decision. I went and didn't want anyone," Imthor finished explaining his crazy venture.

"Did you find anything standing out?" Crellan asked for more detail.

"I found a city. It was a large one and there was a castle in the middle. It is heavily guarded and I only watched it form the side. I also checked the shores. I didn't explore the entire island. Still, I think we might have found one of the main cities. I have no idea if Peyton is a prisoner there or on an adjacent island."

Hotekk chuckled victoriously, "But we found them. What now?" he looked at the one in command of the codemasters in such situation.

Imthor squinted his eyes a bit, "We will slowly explore the island and give reports to Theb-Saar. I'm sure he might show up very soon."

"I will handle him," Crellan proposed.

"Thanks. When we have time, we will discreetly explore the island and make a map of everything," he decided. He looked at both of them, "I will let the other Codemasters know of the plan," he walked away, the two looking at each other's.

AC: This is the end of this chapter.

Next: The Plan

Crellan and Theb-Saar coordinate a plan with a few other mipedians with him.