Riell’s eyes widened, recognizing the effect.

“Stop, we are just trying to help you!” She yelled out, lunging for him. Dharen danced just out of reach, far too strong and agile for the others to close on without being in range of their abilities. In a flash, he disappeared.

Dharen blinked, finding himself back within the room of his inn - standing upon a small metal plate that had been smeared with his own blood as it slowly disintegrated into dust. On the day prior, he had been disappointed to find that the personal teleporter device had been so unimaginably expensive. But, upon thinking about it, he reasoned that his life was worth far more.

So he simply stole it. Among many other things, of course.

After his nighttime activities were finally completed, Dharen had set up a personal teleporter within the inn for use in case of an emergency. He had known that there was a possibility that he would be unable to properly convince the others while they remained under Duende’s control, or even that they would simply be unable to break his hold despite their best efforts; he was almost certain that the man would be higher than level 15, given his status and abilities. It was never a sure thing that a simple enchantment made from the soulseeds available at this floor would be enough to break it. Perhaps, on a later floor, the available items would increase in quality enough to prevent the free reign of someone like Duende. But for now, the charismatic man held a great advantage against those who lacked mental resistance Boons.

Dharen quickly moved, retrieving a pack of his things that he had prepared during the previous day. He knew that he had nowhere to hide within the city that Duende or those under his control couldn’t eventually find him; any human had the potential to be under his thrall and thus an enemy.

However, Dharen had discovered an important fact recently. The day prior, he had not been taxed, rousing his suspicions. This morning, his suspicions had been confirmed - it seemed that the Tower only taxed Contribution Points at a particular time of day. Thus, if one wasn’t within the boundary of the City during the time of the tax, it could be avoided. He had even managed to confirm that the missing tax did not stack with the next when he was only charged the normal amount earlier that very morning. Thus, his excited grin when the tax had occurred.

Prior to that, he had considered simply stocking up on a massive number of Contribution vouchers - allowing him to acquire the Contribution Points for them only after murdering Duende. Then, he would be able to escape the floor immediately, having instantly gained all of the necessary points to make his escape. However, that plan had its own drawbacks - the main one being forced to remain within the City for a long enough duration to acquire the needed Vouchers. He had little faith that Duende would have allowed him to do so peacefully, and had little wish to risk falling under his clutches once more.

He donned a cloak and slipped through the window of the inn, wary of anyone watching the front entrance of the building. As he was exiting through the alleyway, his paranoia was justified upon spotting a familiar-looking man in the vicinity. Though he could not remember the man’s name, he did recognize seeing him recently within the Spire - hardly a coincidence, he was sure.

He sneaked past the watchful man, careful to pass by unnoticed. Fortunately, the man was not prepared for his exit; he was far more focused on looking out for Dharen arriving than he was for Dharen leaving; he had likely seen him leave to meet the others relatively recently and not yet return.

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Dharen was able to make his way to the Vezian Spire undetected, looping his way through alleyways whenever possible. When not feasible, he was careful to hide himself within the crowd; he was far more likely to be recognized walking along a quiet street than he was within a bustling crowd. Blending in, he adopted a busy and confident posture, as if he had somewhere to be and something to do. Which, truthfully, he did.

Finally reaching his destination, he stepped carefully through the Spire’s sole entrance. He reached the stairs with no trouble and no alarm; however, he was met with disaster upon reaching the first landing. Walking out of a nearby room and in the midst of a conversation was Ledan, Duende’s right-hand man. The dour man was fully armed and armored, as he always seemed to be. The man paused his discussion, looking up. His eyes met Dharen’s and widened.

Dharen quickly dashed further up the stairs, Ledan hot on his heels. He was taken aback by the man’s speed in full armor; he clearly had strength that surpassed Dharen’s own by a decent margin - it was likely that Ledan also held significantly higher levels than most, just as Duende did. However, Dharen held the edge in Agility, allowing him to make faster and more precise turns up the winding steps.

Dharen cursed inwardly. He had been pondering on the idea of assassinating Duende before escaping through the teleporter, saving himself from the resulting tax that would attempt to eradicate him. Following that, he could have slowly gathered enough Contribution Points to exit the floor, all while hiding from the deadly taxation that was given to the City’s murderers by avoiding the morning hours.

However, with Ledan on his tail, he would be unable to safely make the attempt immediately. And while he was perfectly willing to risk his life by staying within the treacherous jungle in order to consistently avoid the death sentence caused by committing murder within the confines of the city, he was not willing to die simply for the attempt. With enough patience, other - less suicidal - opportunities would make themselves known.

Reaching the top of the stairs, he veered away from Duende’s office. Though he felt a slight pang of regret at the thought of his missed opportunity, he traveled instead to the teleporter room. Urgently, he quickly activated the teleporter, sending glowing blue light into the air. Ledan sprinted closer, but Dharen knew that he had no chance of preventing his departure. He gave the man a wave of his hand before disappearing in a flash of light.

In the next moment, he had appeared within the jungle once more. With bated breath, he waited, muscles tensed and ready. Though Duende had told them that he was unable to send others through the teleporter if any were lost, he was suspicious of anything the man said. However, after some time passed, he realised that Duende must have told the truth in some matters - only the other five members of his party would be able to enter the jungle through the Vezian teleporter. Ledan was unable to follow.

⥫⥬⥫⥬⥫⥬

You have been removed from the Vezian Alliance.

⥫⥬⥫⥬⥫⥬

Dharen grimaced. Though he had loyalty to the Alliance no longer, he had at least hoped to claim the optional objective rewards that came along with being a member of an Alliance. He was unsure if he still qualified for the rewards; the wording had been rather ambiguous, only stating that he should form an Alliance with other Awakened. It didn’t say he had to keep the Alliance, though. He shrugged, putting the matter off for another time.

Dharen secured the straps of his pack once more before racing off into the jungle, prepared to enact his other plan - perhaps more foolhardy than the last. It was time to find an army of his own.