by A P Gore
A smile played on Agatha's face. “I wonder if he can reject my charms.”
Deadeye wanted to smack the woman’s smug face, but he resisted. Though his wife, she used her charm on every top-level player she knew and made them work for her benefit. If it wasn't for the special status he had in the guild, or Kurush not being interested in her, she would have tried her charm on Kurush too.
“Where's Ashima?”
Agatha snorted; a disgusted look came over her. “That leech took off for Chinari ten days back, and his team’s comms are turned off. I don't know which woman he is fondling right now.”
Ashima was the only player Agatha hated. She tried everything in her power to avoid that bastard. If it wasn't for his proficiency in assassination, she would have kicked him out of the guild.
Deadeye sighed. “Let's hasten our preparations and march toward Chinari. We'll investigate Ashima's whereabouts once we get there.” He paused, focusing his eyes on Agatha whose body quivered under his intense gaze. “Make sure everything is perfect. The guild leader doesn't like screw-ups.” He had to get this right before Rob, the leader of Punishment division, set his eyes on the area.
Chapter 7
Maggie sat in the small waiting room, the waiting room of Chinari's central prison, staring at her polished nails. If not for a well-placed bribe, she would be sitting on hard stone, behind bars.
But why was it taking so long to set up her appointment with the chief guard?
A lady guard walked in and handed her a glass of wine before hurrying out. Slipping some gold into the lady guard's hand had worked.
Putting her legs up on the small brown table, she sipped the bitter wine. It tasted like shit, but it was better than the muddy water she would have gotten in a prison cell.
Staring at the faint white ceiling, she considered logging out and coming back after drinking a real cup of coffee. However, she put that thought aside.
First, it would mean losing 2 hours in the game, and second, no one waited for her in her small apartment, and moving around in the wheelchair would be clumsy at best.
She sighed. That had been her life for the last few years. She logged out only for mandatory breaks prescribed by her doctor, or for checkup appointments.
Thanks to her custom-fit virtual cabin, she could stay in the game for 25 real world days without logging out. Not even to pee. With a VR helmet, she could only spend 8 hours at a stretch.
After all, she didn't have a reason to log out.
After spending 60 years with this builder profession, she had developed a passion for the buildings and architectures spread across the game world. She didn't know where the game developers got the information, but the game had a myriad of information on the ancient buildings and structures, suiting to her interest.
A lady guard walked over to her and said in a muted tone, “Miss Thief, Chief Guard Kelas is ready for you.”
Good, the guard lady hadn’t dragged her feet. Maggie nodded and followed her. She had asked for a meeting with the chief guard this morning. This wasn't her first raid on the Imperial Tomb, so she knew how things worked.
The chief guard was a burly man with a heavy build and seven-feet height. A dark black sword was sheathed at his waist even when seated behind a high table.
“Respected Chief Guard, Kelas.” Maggie bowed slightly to show her respect. Though NPCs, these guards were peculiar about nobility. Any other time, she would've ignored such pleasantries, but right now her prison term was in his hands.
“Thief, you are here again.” The chief guard looked down at her with his bloodshot eyes.
“Chief Guard Kelas.” She pulled a pouch of gold from her bag and placed it on the table. Bribery worked even in broad daylight in this society, and everyone knew how to get out of prison with gold.
Kelas placed his hand on the table and pushed the pouch away. “That won't work anymore, Immortal. The third time’s a charm, and with the new continent opening near our town, Lord Mayor has asked us to be harsh on the prison term. So, you will undergo tier 5 execution without a trial.”
“Tier 5...” Maggie gasped. Her insides churned and her knees went weak. “How can...” God, this wasn't worth it. Executions by the Imperial Guards meant not only death but a loss of two character levels. A tier 5 execution meant a ten-level drop. “Chief Guard...” She pulled some more coins from her bag. “Please reconsider.”
Kelas shook his head in disappointment. “I'm sorry, Thief. Though we had a business arrangement previously, now it's not possible to help you.” He pushed the coins away again.
Maggie's knees buckled, and she dropped on the ground. This was the end. Her game, and her life too.
God! It wasn't worth it. Stealing two rare blueprints. It wasn't worth her life.
Chapter 8
The roar of the striped lion pierced Jon's eardrums like a knife, rendering him stunned for a moment.
-50 damage popped up over his head.
Whoosh!
An intense air current missed his ears by a hair’s margin. If not for his quick roll, his head would have separated from his torso.
Gritting his teeth, he dropped two formation flags to either side of him and rolled forward, placing the remaining two flags.
“Formation Lock,” he shouted, and an energy field emerged between the four flags. The lion’s growl abruptly stopped.
Turning back, Jon looked in the eyes of the lion who had halted in midair.
“Master, run!” Grimish shouted as he hurried away.
For a moment, Jon was confused. The lion was in his Lock formation. Why would he run?
The answer quickly presented itself.
Even inside the formation, the lion growled and opened its mouth before dropping to the ground.
Damn!
How was this possible?
Pushing all thoughts away, Jon jumped to his right where he had spotted a large stone wall and cast Earth Mend on himself. In a bizarre manner, Jon felt like he was slipping inside the stone and flowing forward. Stone particles gave way for him as he stepped forward.
Sweat tickled down his back as he moved deep inside the stone.
What the heck was this?
F-k this! Jon marched ahead through the stone. He had only ten seconds for the spell, and he wasn't sure what will happen to his body if he stayed inside the stone for more than that.
Well, he got his answer. The stone didn't end. He had stepped inside a mountain. There was seemingly no end to it.
When the timer reached zero, his body flew backwards like a rocket. When his ass touched the ground, he realized he’d ended up right next to the striped lion.
Even the lion stepped back in response to the sudden landing of his prey.
This was his end.
The lion growled, piercing black eyes staring at the prey that had landed in front of it. Opening its mouth, it pounced.
But that prey was Jon, and he had already cast Earth Mend on the ground below him.
The ground below them swallowed them alive. Everything turned dark as he dropped deep inside the soil.
F-k!
The soil pressure was too strong to resist. Jon felt like his were bones cracking. His chest constricted, and his lungs became devoid of air. His health plummeted slowly, like sand through an hourglass. But he couldn't do anything about it until his Spirit bar refilled.
The lion was separated from him by a thick layer of soil, but he could sense the struggle of the animal not far away.
One second, two, three, and four. When his Spirit reached the 300 mark, he cast Earth Mend again and leaped up.
When he’d first thought of this plan, he thought he would get out easily, but that wasn't the case. As he was in a fluid status, he couldn't get enough support to push himself up. Only after waving his hands like a swimmer for few deadly seconds did he manage to swim out of the ground. It took him five seconds to get out, but each second was a nightmare. His lungs were already on the verge of collapse, and his vision
had blurred long ago.
When the pressure on his body subsided and fresh air brushed against his face, he inhaled—a deep inhale that choked him for a moment—and then he coughed so hard that his lungs tried to jump out of his mouth.
Damn. He would never do that again.
Huffing, he dropped on the ground and took a deep breath and thanked God for his life. Dying inside the soil would have been terrible.
Grimish zoomed over like a sports car and skidded to a stop in front of him. “Master!” He gave Jon an assessing look. “Where's the striped lion?” He handed Jon his blank flags with a golden border.
Raising his palm in the air, Jon tried to say something, but his lungs still didn't listen to his plea.
“Did you put him in the ground? That lion fella is resistant to control spells. That’s why I told you to run.”
Jon glanced at the land next to him. The lion was inside it, buried six feet deep.
About ten seconds later, he received 1000 EXP from the kill. The lion had survived for nearly thirty seconds. That was a record in itself. Jon would have died if he’d had to stay underground for a few more seconds.
“Master, let's go. These striped lions are known for moving in packs. No doubt it was a scout sent ahead.”
Jon was about to stand when a faint blue light shone from the ground where the striped lion died. The beast must have dropped something.
“Mend Earth.”
The earth churned, bringing up the corpse of the striped lion and a shining thing.
Bending over, Jon picked it up and cast perception on it.
Amulet of Chance
Class: Rare
Socket: 1
Skill:
Fortune's Tale
Increase your chance at the cost of your intelligence for one minute.
Chance Increased: 3
Intelligence Decreased: 3
Cooldown: 10 hours. Cost: 100 Sprit.
Jon didn't know the use of Chance, but whatever he got was better than nothing.
Grimish was right, because they soon spotted a herd of fifteen lions walking toward them.
This was bad. The night had almost descended upon them, and without his Lock formation working, there was no way he could fight them all.
Chapter 9
The lions marched with the attitude of an area overlord, their black eyes piercing into the darkness. Even looking at them sent an icy sensation across Jon's whole body.
“Master, drink the potion and let's move away,” Grimish whispered, voice quivering with fear.
Jon nodded and gulped the weird-looking potion in one go. It tasted like muddy, sticky slime, sending pulses of disgust through him.
However, as soon as it entered his stomach, a cool sensation passed through him, and his eyes ached a little.
Jon shut his eyes when the pain increased, but when he opened them the world had turned brighter. As bright as a daylight view. Actually, more than that. Even in daylight, many areas of the forest remained dark, as sunlight never reached them. But with the potion’s effect, he could see a lizard pouncing another on a nearby tree branch.
It was a weird thing to watch when he’d had no action for so many years.
Sighing, he followed Grimish who had marched back toward the route they had come from. His footfalls didn't make a sound, while Jon rustled foliage with every step. If not for the night insects’ high-pitched voices filling the whole forest, the lions would have discovered them long ago.
They were about to turn around the mountain base when they heard a loud thump behind them.
Fear shooting into his gut, Jon turned to see a huge figure popping out of a nearby thick tree patch.
It was an enormous bear, watching them with deep red eyes. Pressing its paws in the ground, it charged.
They didn't even get to breathe before the bear was upon them, swinging its huge paws toward them.
If it wasn't for Grimish, Jon's head would have flown across the forest.
Grabbing Jon's hand, Grimish pulled him inside a small cavity on the mountain wall.
“Master, hide. I'll come back after I lure this fella away.” He took off.
It was a good decision. Jon was no match to Grimish in running away.
The bear sniffed at the running Grimish and followed him with long strides. With every stride, the land beneath its paws shuddered a little.
It was too large for the forest.
Casting a quick perception on the back of the bear, Jon discovered he couldn't kill that abomination even with his Lock formation. That f-ing bear had 5000 life. How was that possible?
Enraged Mountain Bear
Level 15
Class: Rare
Life: 5000/6000
Mana: 500/500
Soul Damage: 35%.
Darkness is imbued in its paws.
Damn, it would take him a whole night to chip away at that creature’s life. Thank God, Grimish had drawn it away from him.
After five minutes, Jon began to make his way out to head back to the village. The forest was too dangerous for him right now, and since Maggie had 50 gold to get herself out of prison, he didn't have an urgent need to go to Chinari. Grimish could run his errands for now, or he would ask Grimish to buy a horse for him.
Yes, that sounded like a wise decision.
As he was about to step outside the cavern, two striped lions appeared outside, and Jon stopped breathing.
This was bad. Did the developers want to kill him today? Was it because he’d cursed at them too many times?
With the striped lions prowling around, Jon retreated back into the cavern. As long as the lions roamed outside, he didn’t dare leave.
“Master.” His vision blinked, and Grimish's voice echoed in his ears and a video call initiated. As Grimish being a slave, he could anytime connect with him using the video feature.
Jon glanced at the sweaty face of his slave. “Grimish, where are you? There are two f-ing lions roaming outside.”
“Master, just stay put. I'm running in circles, but the Mountain Bear fella isn't ready to leave me alone. It's strange this time, because the outer rim of the forest never had high-level magic or rare monsters before. I'll call you once I get rid of this fella.”
“Go to town and buy a horse for us both.” Jon abruptly killed the connection. A striped lion had entered the cavern and glared at him with its black eyes.
Chapter 10
The striped lion stepped forward, its large paw pressing on the hard stone, fierce eyes shooting fear into Jon’s mind.
Touching the stone wall, Jon searched for steadiness, but none reached his heart. And when the lion stepped forward, he had to let go of the wall and step away. While doing so, he stumbled and fell hard on his butt.
The rough surface assaulted his chiseled ass. “Ouch!”
Growling, the lion licked its chops and paced forward.
There was no way Jon would walk away alive.
“Acid Vine.” Jon muttered his spell, targeting a small grass blade growing in a crack on the stony surface. The blade turned into a waist length angry vine, shooting acid sprays at the lion.
The lion rolled away and mostly avoided the spray but couldn’t avoid a small portion of acid hitting its back. It roared in pain as its skin charred black. Snarling, it leaped at Jon.
But Jon was already on his feet, running deeper into the cavern, hoping it was a deep one. Though running outside was an option, he couldn’t take it since many lions might be waiting for him.
He stumbled and hit some hard rocks on his road to the end of the cavern, but his only hope to get some terrain advantage perished as he delved deeper inside.
F-k!
A stone wall stopped his advance, and an angry growl came from behind him.
He was trapped. Death awaited him.
Sweat tickled along his thighs.
No way. He wouldn’t give up until he died. Gasping hard, he cast Earth Mend and dashed forward.
The liquid fe
eling surrounded him again as he passed through the stone wall. With his heart on the verge of giving up, he prayed the lion would leave the cavern so, once the spell propelled him back, he wouldn’t end up in the lion’s mouth.
His speed increased as the timer in the right side of his vision ticked.
Ten... Nine... Eight...
A gush of salty air entered his lungs, and he fell flat on his face. The stone wall had ended abruptly.
Where was he?
Opening his eyes, Jon found himself lying on travertine paving. Spitting dust out of his mouth, he pushed his palms on the ground to get up.
What the heck was this place? His gaze jumped around. He stood inside a large, empty, rectangular stone room. Every corner of the room had been carved in a perfect ninety-degree angle, resembling machine-cut walls.
But why inside a mountain? Who could do this?
Brushing away dust from his trousers, Jon moved around. The room was completely empty, but the air was full of oxygen, so there should be a way outside. Otherwise, a closed space would have killed him instantly by inflating his lungs with poisonous trapped air.
However, from the center of the room he didn’t see a door. He’d better check carefully.
After conjuring a Light Ball, he carefully searched around the walls to find a door. His fingers brushed against the smooth surface, but there was not a single nick or mechanism to be found.
And damn himself. He had already lost track of his original position, so he couldn’t go back using Earth Mend.
How could he be so foolish?
After a while, hopelessness slipped inside his mind.
Wait... maybe there was something at the middle. The only place he hadn’t searched was the middle of the room.
And there it was. While searching the floor in the middle of the room, he tapped on a small pressure plate. Something clicked inside, and a circular platform rose from the ground.
A small circular fish tank appeared on the platform, and a goldfish the size of a baby’s fist swam inside.
Was this a joke by a developer? Triggering a fish tank? Really?
