by Elian Tars
“Activate the Blind Eye and hold onto me,” said Tael, checking to see if the hook had gotten properly anchored.
I had to put my arms around his chest. He pulled the other lever and the mechanism started to roll up the rope. A few seconds later, we were on the wall. My partner in crime ran over to the opposite side of it, motioned for me to join him, and, after making sure the hook was still properly affixed, began descending.
“Hold onto me,” he hissed, barely audible.
First, I had to hang down, clinging to the edge of the wall, and only after that did I manage to grab onto Tael. He acted as though he didn’t feel the increased weight; apparently, he hadn’t forgotten to upgrade his strength.
He pulled the first lever again and the rope began to unwind.
As soon as my feet touched the ground, I quickly looked around, and after running for about thirty feet, I hid behind an empty cart. Shortly after that, Tael sat down next to the other wheel, looking around warily.
There was a towering donjon in the center of the courtyard, at the gate of which, like tin soldiers, two guards stood, completely still. Another one was walking around the area between the outbuildings. The fourth one was still in the middle of the parade ground, admiring the clouds in the night sky.
Tael silently pointed up at the tower; there were two more guards on the lookouts, plus a couple more on the walls.
While we were hiding and examining the area, the cooldown of Blind Eye had refreshed itself. And so, when the two patrolling guards were once again as far away from the gate as possible, Tael whispered a quick: “Let’s go,” through clenched teeth.
And he vanished.
Following the agreed-upon plan, I also activated my invisibility and rushed to the entrance of the donjon. It seemed like one of the gatekeepers had seen me, because he stepped toward me, peering in front of him, and began to raise his hand. Right at that moment, a black figure appeared behind him.
Grabbing the enemy’s neck, Tael stabbed him in the side four times with lightning speed and then cut his throat skillfully, finishing off the level 50 guard. He immediately rushed over to the second guard as well, placed his hand over the guard’s mouth and attacked, ignoring the sword strikes that he received in the process.
By the time he had finished off the second guard, I was already at the gate. Tael had calculated the timing perfectly. Right at that moment, the gates, which had previously been locked from the inside, opened, and we saw two bewildered guards.
That’s what my partner must’ve meant when he had said that, due to the Circle of Mirrors, he wouldn’t have time to release the prisoner, because the guards rotated every ten minutes. No one spent their entire shift standing in one place. And now that these two had gone up the stairs, no one was guarding the prison.
Drawing his second dagger from its sheath, Tael, with incredible speed, brought down the guards in a hail of attacks. The poor guards managed to block some of them with their shields and tried to fight back by swinging their swords. However, they could put up no decent resistance against this level 82 killing machine.
My partner tied up the enemy in close combat. The other guards were already on their way to help. Two men tried shooting him with their crossbows, but after realizing that they couldn’t hit such a fast-moving target, they rushed to the gates.
Taking advantage of the situation, I moved slowly along the wall and dove inside the building. Remembering Tael’s instructions, I dashed to the left, and I soon saw a stone staircase leading down. Jumping over the steps, I got down the flight of stairs and found myself in front of a massive door that had two locks on it.
Forewarned is forearmed. By the time I got to the door, I was already holding the lock pick and the tensioner. Both the padlock and the mortise lock there weren’t as secure as those installed directly on the doors of the cells. According to Tael, even level three Lock picking was more than enough to open the entrance to the prison. But now I was level five!
However, despite the apparent ease of my task, I still felt a slight excitement. After all, it would be the first time I’d get to open a lock with the lock picks.
I exhaled, placed the tensioner in the keyhole, put the lock pick in, and started plucking it from one lever tumbler to another. I had never done this kind of thing before, but ever since I had gotten this everyday skill and upgraded it a fair bit, I felt that I knew what to do. It was so damn convenient!
I picked the right groove and I felt that I could turn the tensioner. However, one turn was not enough. I had to use the lock pick once more. But after a few seconds the lock was open.
So, I moved on to the next one. I took a lock pick of a different shape from the leather case, which changed the size of the platform under the desired lock by itself, as if by magic. What a unique artifact! Then I had a little trouble. I stuck a thin lock pick that looked like a curved wire into the well and tried to find the right grooves with it.
However, thanks to the game mechanics, which gave me the necessary skills, I quickly overcame this obstacle. After about twenty-five seconds, I pulled the handle, and the heavy door creaked open.
“Oh, man,” I muttered under my breath, seeing the prison.
Perhaps it could’ve been compared to some kind of a grim kaleidoscope. It felt like my brain was about to burst, trying to understand how an ordinary corridor, with doors facing each other along both walls, had turned into an infinite number of circles comprised of locked doors. Doors... doors... doors... they were everywhere! The silence was so absolute and deathly that I wanted to turn around and run far away from this madness, back to the normal, living world!
“Hey!!!” I shouted as I entered, but couldn’t hear my own voice.
“Stay calm. It’s just an illusion," I mentally commanded to myself and closed the door behind me. I had just broken the lock, completely cutting off this dance of illusions from the real world.
So, the Circle of Mirrors reflected the doors and the small areas of the walls near the doorposts. That was the strength of the spell, and its weakness, too. If it had also reflected the torches, I would have panicked. But as it was, I could clearly see three sources of light illuminating the dungeon. One of them was next to me.
Pulling the torch out of its sconce, I threw it on the floor and began to smother the flames with a thick blanket, the same one that had helped me find Jason’s treasure. I had decided not to sell it and keep it in my inventory, and here it was, being useful again. It was a simple thing, but it kept helping me out, as if it was some rare artifact.
The room got a little darker. Trying not to pay attention to the circles of the endless doors, I ran to the next torch and extinguished it as well. After a few seconds, I did the same to the last one, which was hanging at the end of the corridor.
The surrounding area plunged into total Darkness. However, that did not prevent me from seeing everything perfectly. My head instantly stopped buzzing. It even became easier to breathe.
“Hey!” I shouted, but again, I couldn’t hear my own voice.
It was clear that the spell was still working perfectly well, but that didn’t matter to me.
Until the very last moment, I had been afraid that my plan wouldn’t work out. Could I assume that the door of the cell that I needed to find was “hidden” by the Circle of Mirrors? I believed so. Because, in fact, the Baron had hired magicians to cast a security spell precisely to hide that door. If I turn off the lights, would the door be “hidden in the dark”? According to Tael, the Circle of Mirrors, despite its effectiveness, was not considered to be one of the most difficult spells to cast. Did that make this very door “hidden in the dark”?
The firefly, which was flickering some twenty feet away from me, was the answer to all my questions. Eyes in the Dark worked out wonderfully; I saw the marker and one of the countless doors before which it had appeared.
Without wasting any more time, I ran up to the cell that held Nelburg’s heir and began fumbling with the lock. The stubborn
thing didn’t want to give in. Damn it... It would be such a shame if, after finding the right door, I ended up unable to open it!
“Stop! Enough panicking!” I had to calm myself down again. For a few seconds, I stilled, driving away all the unnecessary thoughts, and tried to clear my mind.
That’s it. The only thing that matters now is the lock, nothing else.
So... It didn’t fit there... Let’s move the lock pick a little bit... Let’s try to turn…
Though this was a game, relying solely on game mechanics wouldn’t get me far. If I panicked and expected the system assistance to do everything, I would lose and die. Personally, I didn’t know anything about lock picking, but as soon as I focused on the matter, my level five everyday skill came through for me. I gently pulled the lock pick, realized that I could turn the tensioner and voila! The door opened.
A broad-shouldered man with shoulder-length, matted hair and a bushy beard stood in the middle of the cell, peering into the darkness of the doorway. He was dressed in a rough robe and was trying to say something, looking angry. But, because of the effect of the Circle of Mirrors, I didn’t hear a sound.
Sir Crane
Level 7
HP: 250/250
Such a low level really didn’t match the title, origin, and overall appearance of the heir. Perhaps I would’ve been very surprised, but Tael had told me earlier that it was customary to add a weakening potion to the water of particularly important prisoners, artificially and temporarily lowering their level. It was very expensive, but wouldn’t you do the same to ensure your safety? I had almost freed a mighty knight, but in the end, I didn’t end up with a strong fighter, but dead weight instead, one that needed to be protected.
I came closer, grabbed Crane’s wide wrist and dragged him toward the exit. He tried to escape my grasp, but the difference in strength was on my side. Abandoning his futile attempts to free himself, he obediently ran toward the stairs.
I opened the door of the prison, and as soon as I had crossed the threshold, I heard many people shouting and the clanging of steel against steel coming from the direction of the gate.
“Who are you?” boomed the Baron’s son when we could hear again.
“I’m your savior. I’m with Tael Handsome.”
There were no more questions. I let go of Crane’s arm, and he started running in silence. After a few seconds, we saw my partner. He was fighting at the front of the staircase, not letting any of the guards get behind him.
With the corner of his eye, he noticed our approach, and laughed loudly. With a quick move, he sheathed his daggers, materialized two dark balls in his hands, and smashed them against the ground at the enemy’s feet.
I was ready for this and, turning sharply toward Crane, I pressed him against the wall.
“Boom! Boom!”
Two small explosions rang out. I felt a slight breeze as one of the splinters missed my head by a couple of inches. According to my partner, two or three of those hits wouldn’t kill me. And since the splinters couldn’t reach that far, the trick posed no danger to me or the heir.
But the guards in the epicenter of the explosions weren’t as lucky. They cursed and groaned angrily, trying to escape from the huge cloud of smoke.
“Shut your eyes! Don’t breathe! Let’s go!” Tael hurried over to us and, grabbing both of us by our forearms, ran back into the smoke. I followed his advice and let him show me the way. “We got out,” I heard the voice of my partner in crime and breathed in the cool night air.
I looked around at once. We were in the courtyard of the castle, surrounded by a pile of corpses, and Tael, who had just 30% of his HP left, was bleeding.
“Thank you,” looking at him, Crane spoke in a deep voice.
“Not now,” my partner told him sternly after he stopped looking around. “Let’s go!”
As we ran up to the castle wall, the voices of our pursuers could be heard behind us, and crossbow bolts flew by. Immediately, Tael launched a shot from his device and, as soon as the grapnel caught on the merlon, he shouted: “Cling to me, now!”
Lowering the lever, he started the mechanism again; the rope quickly began to retract, and we flew up.
“I promised you...the information...” Tael said, adjusting the device so we could descend to the other side of the inner wall. “Mayor Ekheim…” he resumed when his feet touched the ground again, “has an artifact... Run faster!” He waved his hand toward the nearest buildings. “It’s called the Splinter of Unity. Maybe it’s just what you’re looking for.”
Behind us, we clearly heard the approaching clatter of hooves. We ran to the outer wall of the city as fast as we could, where it was already possible to see the guards.
Without slowing down, Tael took his bow and quiver out of his inventory and began to shoot the men that were guarding the closest section of the fortifications. By the time he had killed both of them, the horsemen had only been about two hundred yards away.
“Do you have twenty agility points?” Tael hurriedly asked me this as he stopped near the wall, turning his face toward the pursuers.
“I do,” I answered quickly.
“Here! Put it on!” He handed me his climbing device. “Take these, too.”
Several bottles and bombs appeared in his hands, which he quickly handed to me. Tael turned to the heir, whispered something in his ear, and slipped a gold ring with a black stone into his palm. Sir Crane’s eyes widened in amazement, and he hid the artifact in his inventory.
“Save yourselves! I’ll hold them off!” my partner shouted and rushed to intercept the horsemen.
A system message about a change in my quest appeared before my eyes.
I didn’t want to leave Tael alone, but I knew perfectly well that I couldn’t help him in the fight against the guards. Fastening the straps of the device to my wrist, I pulled the right lever, launching the grapnel.
“Hold onto me,” I said to Crane dryly. “We’re getting out of here.”
Chapter 14
Vella
As soon as we reached the wall, we immediately rushed to the forest. The first trees were about five hundred yards away from the city. I ran like hell, sincerely hoping that a random crossbow bolt wouldn’t add holes to my body.
I tried not to think what it was like for Tael back there. I heard quiet explosions behind me — he was apparently throwing bombs all around. I consoled myself with the thought that he was certainly a “Gleam” and that he would be resurrected if he doesn’t make it out of there alive.
However, unpleasant thoughts were still bothering me. It was just horrible to leave a man behind and get to safety at the cost of his life. Even if said person could respawn, dying was still painful.
When we were halfway there, I noticed that the shooting had stopped. It would seem that the darkness had finally hidden our figures from the eyes of the guards. Or maybe they were entirely preoccupied with Tael…
“Wait,” Crane said while hiding behind the trunk of the first tree he could reach.
“We shouldn’t waste time,” I replied, but paused to hear what the heir had to say.
“That’s exactly why you should wait,” he repeated coldly. “I can’t even put my armor on until that damn potion wears off!”
Well, that made sense. His stats had been reduced, and he didn’t meet the minimum requirement for his own items.
“And you,” continued the nobleman, “are not strong enough to accompany me through the forest. In addition, the horsemen will set off from Trikuni soon. You don’t really think that Tael will be able to kill them all, do you?” He exhaled and shook his head, speaking in a calm voice. “Forgive me, you’ve done a lot for me, and I will never forget that. Now, as a token of my gratitude, accept this gift.”
A heavy bag appeared in his hand. As soon as I hid it in my inventory, my gold reserves increased by five hundred coins. I couldn’t believe my eyes. That was a real nobleman’s generosity. I still remembered from my history lessons that, back in t
he real Middle Ages, the members of the aristocracy had loved to pretend they were wealthy so much that they would sometimes racked up a truly unmanageable debt just to keep up appearances with friends.
It was also amazing how much stuff he had in his inventory. Tael had said that it was impossible to use one’s inventory in prison, so that a criminal, or a prisoner, would not be able to take anything out of it. The people who had caught the prisoner would also be unable able to shake them down for every penny they had.
“Thank you,” I nodded.
“And take this as a memento,” Crane materialized a thin ring, woven from two white wires. Having accepted the gift, I looked at the stats and was flabbergasted in the truest sense of the word.
A Tiny Ring of Permissiveness
Heroic item
Vitality: +10
Endurance: +10
Strength: +10
Agility: +10.
Intelligence: +10
Requirements needed to unlock all the bonuses: level 10
Note: if you use multiple “Rings of Permissiveness”, your stats are only affected by the weakest of the rings.
“Thank you,” I repeated, and immediately put this luxurious gift on my index finger.
“Not at all. I should be the one thanking you. My gratitude knows no bounds. If you’re ever near Nelburg, be sure to visit. I will welcome you with open arms. Also, if you are ever in trouble, feel free to ask for my help. If it’s in my power, I will aid you. Now it’s time for us to say goodbye. Someone’s waiting for me at the designated spot, and I can only get there on my own,” he said, putting on a ring he had obtained from Tael.
And then he just disappeared, like he had evaporated. I heard his footsteps as he rapidly moved away from me and thought about what a pity it was that I couldn’t read the stats of another person’s items. What was that artifact? The heir had hundreds of gold coins and gorgeous rings in his inventory, but he hadn’t been able to hide his surprise when Tael had taken out his ring.
I shook my head and focused my gaze on the message hovering right in front of my face: