Raphael used Traveler to bring Audrey, Fors, and Emlyn to a stretch of wasteland south of Backlund.
It lay between Backlund and Pritz Harbor. The surrounding terrain was fairly flat, but few people lived nearby, and no one had come to cultivate the land.
Raphael had made inquiries in the nearby villages. Apparently, long ago, the Church had forbidden people from clearing land or grazing livestock in this area. Over time, people had stopped going there.
The cold winter wind rustled the wild grass and branches around them, but none of them felt cold. They had long since passed the stage of fearing natural heat or cold.
After arriving at the site of their expedition, Raphael pointed to a distant ruin and said, "That was once the Castle of a Loen noble family, but the family was wiped out by the Southern Continent Allied Forces during the Pale Age.
"I learned of these ruins from a notebook left behind by the family's last member.
"I came to explore the place a few days ago. Following the hints in the notebook, I found the entrance and did a little preliminary exploration.
"The conditions inside the ruins are no longer quite what the notebook described, so it may be of very limited use.
"But I still decided to explore this place because I'm fairly certain the Wraith characteristic I need is still inside."
Fors and Emlyn nodded slowly, while Audrey asked Raphael, "Are you already preparing to advance to Sequence 5?"
Raphael smiled. "I'm just making some preparations in advance."
Audrey studied Raphael's expression carefully and realized that he really was about to advance.
Wasn't he advancing far too quickly?
Raphael then led them to the entrance, an unremarkable-looking little mound. He used Flash three times to take them inside one by