“My wife and kids are staying with her parents in Greenstone,” Kyle said. “I've been maintaining things here, but every time I look at starting back up, the monster appears again. I keep getting adventurers out here, but they don't find anything. I'm afraid I'm going to be black-marked.”

“We’ll have to see what we can do about that. I’d like to start by seeing all the places the monster was spotted.”

Kyle did exactly as asked, taking Jason all around the property. There was the lumber mill, the farmhouse, and a dormitory for the people working the mill. There was also a small farm, producing food for Kyle, his family and the workers. Kyle was doing his best to keep everything in order, but he was clearly getting overwhelmed.

Jason said he wanted to look around for himself, leaving Kyle to go back to the farmhouse. Jason made his way around the property until his map ability had fully unveiled everything. Afterwards, he sat down with Kyle at the farmhouse, enjoying some fruit punch Kyle had made while Jason was roaming about.

“This is really good,” Jason said. “Can I get the recipe?”

Looking over his map, Jason marked out the areas the fergax had been spotted. He could just tap a finger to the map and set a marker, or drag his finger to mark a whole zone. Kyle watched curiously as, from his perspective, Jason was waggling his finger in empty air.

“Invisible magic map,” Jason told him, not looking up.

“I figured it was something of the like.”

As he examined the map, the general area the monster was coming from was quite clear. Jason marked out a grid pattern to search, then left the farmhouse to get to work. He took out the watering can Jory lent him, complete with extra-dimensional water storage, and started sprinkling it over the area marked on his map. Kyle looked on with curiosity.

“What exactly are you doing?”

“Looking for salt,” Jason said. He kept moving from spot to spot, sprinkling little bits of water as he went.

“Salt?”

“That's right,” Jason said. “When you use an essence ability to summon a monster, the first step is to make a summoning circle. It isn't complicated, but you do need to use the right material. I have some friends who use obsidian dust and iron filings, but exotic materials like that are generally for the fancy summons. Most people just need a circle of good old salt, including people who summon a fergax. I'm betting the summoner just kicked it into the dirt after, rather than collect it up.”

“You think someone is summoning the monster?”

“I do.”

“You think someone is trying to drive me off my land?”

“I do.”

Kyle hung his head.

“Why us?” he wondered.

“You’re independent,” Jason said. “You don’t have a backer in Greenstone to push back with.”

“How am I meant to prove what’s going on?”