Heath crossed the room silently. He pulled the bookshelf and it swung open like a door, revealing a darkened stairway. Heath checked his time before he went any further. He still had about 15-minutes left.
Knowing that he couldn’t leave empty handed, Heath started into the basement of the manor, or was it a dungeon? Either way, Heath didn’t like it. He liked it even less when he heard whimpering, crying, and moans of pain.
There were people in that dungeon. People in cages. Heath had never felt such fury. Not even when his ex-wife betrayed him. Slaves. That was the Baguette’s dirty business dealings. Everywhere he looked were Beastkin. They were beaten and bloody. Some of them looked to be on the verge of death according to their health bars.
“Help . . . please . . . help my children,” a voice called pathetically.
It was a Bearwoman, her health bar nearly empty. She was holding two cubs to her chest protectively, the pair of them barely at half-health themselves.
Heath checked the time again, 6-minutes. He moved silently and got close, putting a finger to his lips. “Take this,” he whispered, giving her a healing potion, which she immediately split between her two children. Heath would have yelled at her but held his tongue. “Listen, I’m going to get help, but you need to stay alive long enough for help to get here. Now take this,” he insisted.
The mother Bearwoman reluctantly swallowed the potion, restoring almost a quarter of her HP.
Heath moved quickly through the dungeon. Handing out potions to those who were closest to death before returning to the Bearwoman and her two children, giving them his last potion. “Have you seen any documents? Ledgers of what’s going on here?” Heath asked, his eyes briefly looking to his game clock. He was down to 2-minutes. He was late.
“That Baguette bastard has a safe in the floor under his desk,” a different prisoner answered.
“Thank you,” Heath said. “I’ll be back with help, I promise.”
“Heath . . . what is this?” Kimm’s voice startled Heath.
“Kimm, we need to go,” Heath urged her to leave.
“But these people, we have to help them,” Kimm protested.
“We will, but right now, we need to go,” Heath said, trying to express urgency to her.
Kimm was in a daze as Heath led her away. Closing the hidden door behind him and putting the dagger back on its stand.
Heath and Kimm just came out of the restroom after splashing water on themselves when Ridley’s irritating voice caught them by surprise.
“Just cooling off, mate,” Heath said, sniffing and rubbing at his nose. He realized that he was trying to play the cocaine thing, not knowing if they had anything like that in this world but risking it.
Ridley sneered. “Dragon Dust. I should have known.”
“Mate, relax. The young master doesn’t need to know anything about this. We’ll finish the gig, you’ll pay us . . . extra. And we’ll go quietly. Deal?” Heath asked, playing his roll, slinging one arm around Kimm’s shoulders. “Or, I can tell the young master that you brought me here to sell you Dragon Dust?”
“But I . . . I would never,” Ridley protested vehemently.
“You and I know that,” Heath said, grinning.
“They would never believe you,” Ridley insisted.
“And I would suggest they search your room. Maybe give them a hiding spot,” Heath suggested.
“And they would find nothing,” Ridley insisted.
“Would they?” Heath asked, grinning mischievously.
“You demon,” Ridley hissed angrily.
“Then we have a deal, yes?” Heath asked.
Ridley sneered and nodded. “Go . . . go play your cursed music.”
“Count on it, mate,” Heath said, clapping Ridley on the back and walking back to the kitchen with Kimm under one arm, looking even more dazed than before.
As soon as they were back in the kitchen, Krag shouted, “Where the hell have you been? We’re late to start our set.”
“Kimm, I know you have questions about what you saw,” Heath started.
“What did she see?” Tana asked.
“Something bad,” Heath answered. “Listen to me now, all of you. I need you to go back in there and play.”
“What about you?” Tana asked.
Heath looked for Ridley who slammed the door to his room shut. The only one in the room still was Cloe.
“Cloe, are you,” Heath paused to swallow the lump in his throat as he looked at the little Deergirl and then asked, “Are you a slave?”
Krag scoffed. “You made us late for this.”
“Yes,” came a very soft, terrified reply.
Tana’s hands came up to her mouth in shock while Krag’s jaw clenched.
“I’m going to free you and all the others,” Heath promised. “I need you to be brave for a little longer, can you do that for me?”
Cloe nodded.
“Krag, you don’t need to like me, but I need your help right now. I need you and the others to play. Play more than an hour. Do multiple encores if you must,” Heath said.
“And where are you going to be?” Krag asked.
“I’m going to see an old friend,” Heath answered, hoping the man would be willing to see him at this time of night. The Patrolmen would have been his preference, but since he learned of Captain Saaya’s promotion and reassignment, he couldn’t count on them.
“We’ll buy you as much time as we can.” Kimm answered, then asked, “I just don’t understand why?”
“So long as those kids are here, they can’t move the slaves,” Heath answered. “Too many eyes on them.”
“Okay, we’ll do what we can,” Kimm promised.
Heath looked to Krag, wondering if he was going to play along. Thankfully, the large Orc nodded.
“Okay, Cloe, I need a favor,” Heath said, kneeling down to look the little Deergirl in the eyes. “I need you to be me for the next little bit. Think you can manage that?”
Cloe’s eyes widened in surprised.
“I know it’s scary. And I know if you get caught, you could get in a lot of trouble. But I’m asking anyway, can you do this for me?” Heath asked.
“We’ll protect you,” Krag said gruffly.
Cloe reluctantly nodded.
“Okay, I’m going to put an illusion over you, it will feel real but it’s just an illusion,” Heath said, pulling out a glowing crystal that was flush with mana. Heath cast his ‘Doppelganger Illusion’ spell, creating a mirror image of himself.
“That’s high level,” Thor said, poking the clone of Heath.
Heath stumbled and fell to a knee, his mana bar completely empty as was the mana crystal he’d been holding. “Thank you for the mana potions, Baby,” he mumbled as he quickly imbibed one, restoring about 10% of his mana.
“Okay, you guys go play, I’ll be back as fast as I can,” Heath said, activating his ‘Stealth’ and vanishing.
“Who the hell is that guy?” Heath briefly heard Tana say, before he opened and closed the servant’s entrance door.
Last month, Heath and his friends had made a lot of friends. One of them particularly powerful. The Six guards that stood at attention outside the gates of his home said as much, not to mention the dozen guards patrolling the perimeter. Breaking in was not an option.
As Heath approached, one of the guards upon seeing him immediately shouted, “Halt, state your name and business.”
“Heath Rickards,” he said. “I know the Major. Helped him out last month. Now, I need his help, desperately.”
“The Major is sleeping,” the same guard replied.
“Please, this is an emergency, wake him up if you must,” Heath said.
The guard frowned. “What kind of emergency?”
“Slaves,” Heath said. With that one word the guard seemed to take him much more seriously.
“If this is a joke, adventurer. I will have you imprisoned for the rest of your days,” the guard promised, rushing inside the gates.
<
br /> Heath breathed a sigh of relief. He watched the manor intently as lights came on inside, including one of the upper windows that Heath hoped belonged to Major Daws. It took about ten minutes for the guard to return and thankfully in his company was the Major himself.
“Mr. Rickards, it has been a while,” the Major said stiffly.
“Yes sir,” Heath replied. “And now I need your help.”
“My guard said something about slaves. Explain,” the Major ordered.
Heath told him the story of the Baguette Manor and the party he was playing. He told him an . . . abridged version of his quest that brought him there.
The Major frowned when the story ended. “The Baguettes, are you sure?”
Heath nodded.
“But . . . Aldo Baguette has always been one of the staunchest supporters when it came to fighting slavery,” Daws protested.
“In the history of my world, those are often the people that you should look at first,” Heath said.
“Sergeant Sailensen,” the Major bellowed.
“Sir,” the guard from before snapped to attention.
“Gather all my guards, we move now, and we move fast. That party cannot last forever,” Major Daws ordered. Then looking at Heath, he asked, “Can you ride?”
“Never got the skill,” Heath said.
“That’s fine. Sergeant, give him a ride,” Daws ordered.
It took about ten minutes for the guards to all mount up, including Major Daws. Heath was expecting them to race across the city, so he was pleasantly surprised when a Portal Mage appeared and opened a portal, getting them close to the Manor, close enough that they could get there significantly faster than Heath thought possible.
It wasn’t long before the Manor was in sight. A manor that was fully engulfed in flames.
“No,” Heath hissed, leaping from the horse and running into the manor, his ‘Heat Resistance’ reducing the damage to almost negligible. Inside, he saw no one, just fire.
“Mr. Rickards, what do you think you are doing?” Major Daws yelled over the sound of the crackling flames.
“They wouldn’t have had enough time to do more than evacuate the guests,” Heath shouted. “That means the slaves are still in cages.”
“Lead the way, but we must move quickly,” Daws shouted back.
Heath nodded and ran. There was no point in using ‘Stealth’. He ran the halls, right to the magically sealed door, key already in hand.
Somehow, the fire hadn’t reached the office. As luck would have it, the Mystic dagger was still on its display stand. Heath moved fast, quickly inserting the dagger and twisting it.
Daws saw the bookcase release and moved ahead of Heath. He ran down the stairs and Heath quickly followed.
The cages were full and included the band members.
“Kimm, are you alright?” Heath asked.
“I’m fine,” Kimm replied. “We all are.”
Heath looked for the others. “What about . . . where’s Cloe?”
“I am here,” the little Deergirl said, stepping out from behind Krag, who put a protective hand on her shoulder.
“What happened?” Heath asked.
“I slipped, and . . . and the magic broke,” Cloe said, looking down ashamed, tears welling in her eyes.
“It’s not your fault,” Krag said. “The magic was shoddy and weak.”
“That’s right,” Heath agreed. “It was my fault. I wasn’t strong enough. I’m just glad you’re all okay.”
“The reunion is nice and all,” Major Daws said. “But the manor above us is on fire. We should probably get these people out of here.”
“Agreed,” Heath said, trying the magic key on the cage doors. With a click the door swung open. Heath handed the key to Daws. “Let’s see if we can find a way out of here.”
Back upstairs in the office, the hallway Heath came in from was fully engulfed. “Not getting out that way.”
“Heath, help me lift this thing,” Krag called standing by the desk.
“What are we doing with it?” Heath asked, moving to help anyway.
“Opening the windows,” Krag replied.
Heath nodded and together they rammed the desk into the window frame, cracking it and shattering the glass.
“Again,” Krag shouted, making them back up farther. With more of a running start, the desk crashed through the window frame, opening a large hole.
“Sergeant,” Heath called out the large opening they had just created.
The Sergeant was running from down the street, near the entrance to the manor. Heath heard him yelling as he got closer, “Rickards, is the Major with you?”
“Freeing slaves. Get your men over here so we can start getting people out,” Heath yelled.
“You heard him men, move it or I will have you running the length of the Ninth Ring by sunrise,” the Sergeant snapped.
After that, there was a steady procession of slaves being helped out of the manor by the soldiers and the Bards.
“That’s the last of them,” Daws shouted, coming up the stairs.
“Okay, everyone else, out,” Heath yelled, the fire was now covering the ceiling above him.
When it was just Heath and Daws, the Major yelled, “You first.”
“I’m not done here, you go, I’ll be right behind you,” Heath yelled back, his eyes already focusing on the familiar rectangular shape on the floor where the desk used to be.
“What could you possibly still need?” Daws asked.
“What I originally came for, the reason I was sent here. Now go, I’ll be just another minute,” Heath yelled. “Besides, if I die, I’ll wake up in the graveyard. You’ll join me if you stay but unlike me, you won’t be waking up.”
“Fine, but hurry,” Daws yelled, finally leaving.
Heath searched round for the dagger. He finally found it under some broken glass near the window. A quick stab into the floor and a twist and Heath was opening a safe door that blended seamlessly with the floor.
Heath didn’t search through the safe, just took everything and dumped it into his bag. He closed the safe again and pocketed the dagger. There was no sense in letting it go to waste. There was a loud cracking over his head and Heath knew his time was up. He ran and dove out the window. The sound of the manor collapsing behind him, told him just how close he came to dying.
“Well, that was interesting,” Heath commented as he stood up and brushed himself off.
“That is one way to put it,” Major Daws said, clapping Heath on the shoulder. “Maybe one day, you will tell me the whole story as to how you ended up in this mess.”
“Maybe one day,” Heath said, grinning.
“Thank you, thank you so much,” the Bearwoman from before said, tears flowing from her eyes, her two cubs clutched tightly in her arms.
“It was nothing,” Heath said sheepishly. Where was Bye-bye when he really needed him? This was usually his department.
“It was everything,” the Bearwoman insisted. “Thank you.”
Heath, not sure what else he could say, just said, “You’re welcome.” Then he was forced to endure much the same treatment from the other former slaves as they thanked him one by one.
“So,” Krag began after it was only the band and Cloe remaining. “Maybe you aren’t so bad.”
Heath laughed. “Don’t go saying stuff like that. People might hear.”
This time Krag laughed.
Heath was surprised when Kimm kissed him ardently. “What was that for?” Heath asked breathlessly.
“For being a hero and all-around good guy,” Kimm replied.
“Bite your tongue,” Heath said, after being called something . . . positive. “I’m perfectly disreputable and don’t go spreading any rumors to the contrary.”
Kimm rolled her eyes. “What do you all say we go back to the ‘Jaeger Bard Bar’ for some late-night drinks?”
Hours later, Heath finally had a chance to go through the documents he recovered from the safe. And wou
ldn’t you know it. All the slaves from in the dungeon behind the hidden bookshelf. The people he just rescued. All of them came from the Endless Savanna. Provided by a group calling themselves the ‘Bandaka Slave Ring’. It even came with a map to their fortress.
Heath made copies of the paperwork using his ‘Forgery’ skill and delivered them to Fence the next morning. Fence grumbled a bit about Heath not exactly escaping without being caught, only due to a technicality, but in the end, he accepted the quest as completed.
Class Quest Alert: Jack of All 14 (Thief/Bard/Illusionist Only) – Completed!
Time for your final test. Join with the band ‘Specter of Craft’ to infiltrate the Root City mansion belonging to the Baguette family. Once there, you are to infiltrate the Duke’s office and copy any ledgers or documents detailing dark dealings perpetrated by the Duke of Baguette. You are to escape without drawing notice and return to me. (Requires active title ‘The Bard’)
Reward: +100,000-Experience, Class Evolution: Jack of All
Heath considered shouting in joy, maybe even raising his arms in the air in celebration. Instead, he nodded and walked away. He would celebrate later.
Class: Initiate Jack of All
Armor Restrictions: All Cloth, All Leather
Initiate Class Effects: Access to Bard, Illusionist, and Thief Class specific skills up to Rank V. +20% All Skill Experience, All Status Point Experience fixed at 75%, Titles: The Bard, The Thief, The Illusionist
The class effects were . . . strange. What did it mean, Class specific skills up to Rank V? Did that mean Heath couldn’t not raise any skills specific to those classes beyond Rank V? And what were his class specific skills? Heath made a note to figure it out later. At that moment in time, Heath needed to get to the Endless Savanna, find his friends, and then get them in on his self-imposed quest to eliminate the Bandaka Slave Ring.
* * *
“And that, Bye-bye, my old mate, is how I came to be here,” Heath finished his story.
World Tree Online- the Endless Savanna- 3rd Dive Page 50
