Novels2Search

Chapter 57: Eavesdropping

Turning her attention away from the Chat Room, Astrid set her sights on the building where Hazel and those suspicious humans entered. More specifically, the back of the building where two of those humans were heading.

Astrid was perched on a rooftop right in front of the building, staring down at the place with a narrow gaze. Next to her, the Nightwing Bat, Nytceris, expelled a low screech while intently staring at Tavern as well.

The dark elf turned to Nycteris for a moment. “You mind holding the fort while I head to the back?”

The Nightwing bat spun his head to the side, setting his crimson eyes on Astrid. “Yes...”

Astrid nodded, not saying another word, as she jumped off the roof and made her way over to the Tavern. She gracefully landed on the ground and rushed over to the alley between the tavern and another building.

She then scaled the wall, climbing her way to the roof of the building next to her target. As she pulled herself onto the roof, the dark elf hastily hid behind a chimney right near the edge. All she needed to do now was wait for the players that Hazel mentioned before to make their appearance.

She told Astrid that the players were a Ranger and a Warrior. Since there were two Warriors that Hazel identified, the mage likely meant the brown-haired male one. The other warrior, apparently named Soren, was still with Hazel then. Which only unnerved the dark elf more.

Despite how Astrid acted toward Hazel, even the dark elf knew that the mage wouldn’t betray her. Not after everything they’ve been through. Which was why she was feeling so anxious regarding Soren was the fact that the Warrior could most likely easily kill Hazel before the dark elf had a chance to jump in and save her.

That was also why she was nervous about Hazel entering the tavern building. Soren and the rest of the party could be using that place to kill her partner. Then again, if that were the case, they likely would’ve done so when they first met.

Which meant Hazel was correct in their intentions. They planned to make use of her since she was a Mage. And while Astrid was relieved that they weren’t planning to kill her just yet, this situation would’ve been worse if this group already possessed a mage. They would’ve just killed Hazel and stole her gear without a second thought.

But that wasn’t going to happen. And they weren’t going to be using Hazel either. Astrid was going to be certain of that.

A moment passed by before the door to the back of the door opened, making a loud creaking sound in the process. Astrid held her breath at the noise while shifting her attention toward the exit. Just then, she watched as two players emerged from the building.

It was the Ranger and Warrior. Staying hidden behind the chimney, Astrid attempted to use identify again to see their status.

[Mya Clover – Class: Ranger – Level 14]

[Ben Nova – Class: Warrior – Level 14]

They were on the same level as her, but Astrid was hesitant about her chances of beating them. At least in a frontal assault, that is.

Before, Astrid couldn’t make out their appearances due to her being a couple of blocks away. Even with [Eagle Eye] at that distance, it was difficult to get a proper look at them. But now, the dark elf was a lot closer, allowing her to properly observe them.

And, now that she was near them, she could also hear them better.

“Didn’t think we would run into a Mage here. She’s the first mage we’ve encountered, actually.” The warrior said while observing his surroundings. “And a pretty powerful one at that.”

“Well, she’s level 14 like the rest of us aside from Soren, so that’s to be expected,” The ranger stated. “What I find more surprising is how she managed to survive this long on her own.”

“Yeah, that is a bit strange. You think she has a party of her own?”

The ranger shook her head. “Not from what I can tell. Which makes her all the more formidable considering that she reached that level without assistance.”

Technically, Hazel was around level twelve or thirteen when Astrid and she met, so she didn’t reach level fourteen entirely on her own. Of course, Astrid couldn’t just tell them that without blowing her cover and simply observing them in silence.

“Well, at least she’s pretty naive and oblivious considering that she joined strangers in a dangerous city like this,” The warrior snickered deviously. “Like, who’s stupid enough to do something like that? She must be desperate for company if that’s the case.”

Astrid narrowed her eyes at the warrior named Ben as she clenched her hands into fists. She could feel a burning rage blaze within her chest, urging her to kill him. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was spying on them, that bastard would’ve already been struck with at least ten arrows before the other ranger could have the chance to react and or retaliate.

“It would be best to not underestimate her, Ben. Try and remember that she slaughtered an entire horde of Fractured humans with a simple spell. Who knows what else that mage is capable of.”

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They had no idea. This party only witnessed Hazel use her Mana Bolt spell. None of them even know about her other spells like Baneful Sickle or even Decay. Then there was her Telekinesis spell.

“Oh, please, like I’m going to be afraid of some stupid Earthling,” Ben sneered. “That is what those humans called themselves, right? Earthlings? At least, that’s what those players from Earth stated.”

Astrid froze at the mention of this. These people came across players from Hazel’s world? But if that was the case, then...

“Not all humans from Earth are the same, Ben. They're no different than humans from Gorus.”

“Except they’re the only species in their world while we have to share ours with Elves, dwarves, and every other creature under the damn sun. Besides, if this Hazel girl causes us problems, we’ll deal with her like we did with the other Earthlings. We'll make her beg for mercy like the others, then kill her when she believes we're sparing her.” A wicked and sadistic smile formed on the Warrior's face as he stated this. A rather disgusting sight to the dark elf.

Astrid clenched her fists tighter after hearing this. So, Hazel wasn’t the first human from Earth that they encountered. And from what that Warrior said, she wasn’t going to be the last one they would kill while in this dungeon.

Now that Astrid was certain that these players were vile scum, she could inform Hazel of this so they could deal with them appropriately.

But just as she was about to inform Hazel of this, a new conversation was struck up. One that interested the dark elf quite a bit.

“Let’s hope this mage will assist us in finding that bat beast in the sky,” The warrior grumbled. “It has to be around here somewhere.”

Astrid stared at the players. A bat beast? Were they...referring to Hazel’s Familiar, Nycteris?

“You’re still on about that bat creature we saw fly through the city?” Mya expelled a groan.

“Hey, Soren was interested in the beast as well. It had to be strong considering how big it was. It had to be at least over level twenty.”

The dark elf stifled a laugh. To think that these humans believed that the attention-seeking Nightwing was stronger than them. Little did they know, Nycteris wasn’t even past level ten yet.

Jokes aside, Astrid was a bit concerned over their interest in Hazel’s familiar. Especially since they could potentially find out that she was his master if they tried to identify him. For now, she should tell Hazel what she discovered and let her know about them knowing about Nycteris.

The situation was becoming too dangerous for Astrid’s liking. These players needed to be dealt with before they could get tipped off regarding Hazel’s true intentions.

...

Hazel walked around the center of the tavern, cautiously stepping over broken pieces of various chairs and tables from whatever happened in the building. She made her way over to the counter and peered over, seeing if there was anything useful she could use. Like an intact chair so she could sit down.

Sadly, there was nothing. While expelling a heavy sigh, the mage moved on from the tavern counter.

As she did, she came across Soren who was emerging from a different area of the tavern.

“Well, this place is incredibly barren,” The blond warrior grumbled.

“I-I’m pretty sure all these buildings are like that,” Hazel stated. “T-this world was turned into a dungeon after being destroyed.”

“Yeah, I guess you're right. Still, this place could at least provide a few chairs or some so we can rest a bit before leaving. But it doesn’t seem that we’re so lucky.”

“I-I guess so...”

Although this was a big city, Hazel had doubts that this place had anything useful they could take advantage of. Other than using the buildings as shelter against the Fractured undead roaming the streets of this city island.

But that was the least of Hazel’s concerns at the moment. Right now, she needed to focus on what to do with Soren and the rest of her party. For now, they were being nice to her, but she knew that their fake kindness would only last for so long.

They’re not doing anything to her because she’s making them believe that they’re playing her. But it won’t be long before they do something that will change that.

“Do you think that there are other players in this city?” Hazel suddenly asked.

Soren pondered over the thought for a moment. “It’s possible. We managed to find you, and vice versa, so there’s certainly a chance. Maybe we’ll be able to find more players from Earth like you.”

For some reason, Hazel had the sneaking suspicion that she wasn’t the first human from Earth they encountered, likely because of her previous lackluster reaction when she told them that she was from Earth.

“So, what’s your world, Earth, like, anyway?” Soren asked. “You're the first player from Earth we've encountered, so I'm curious. Is it any different than Gorus?”

So now she began to ask about Earth, huh? Hazel felt that it was a bit late. She should’ve asked a little after she told them where she came from. Either way, that made things easier for her.

“Well...we have cars, skyscrapers, TV, and more. By the way, how technologically advanced is Gorus?”

“Apparently not enough for me to understand any of those words just now,” Soren scoffed.

“So, does that mean your world is a Medieval Monarchy with swords and magic?”

“In a way, I guess. We have Kings, knights, and obviously, magic. Which is why we knew you were a mage aside from checking your class.”

“I can see that...” Hazel mused. “A-also...”

“Soren,” One of the blond warrior’s comrades called out to her. “Mya and Ben have returned from checking out the back of the tavern.”

“Alright, I’ll be right over.” Soren then turned to Hazel while making a kind, yet forced smile. “We’ll talk later. I can't wait to learn more about that Television thing you talked about before.”

“...Yeah,” Hazel said hesitantly.

Looks like Soren and her group knew quite a bit about Earth already, despite telling Hazel that she was the first human they encountered. Since she never told the blond warrior what TV meant just yet. That alone...told her quite a bit regarding Soren. They knew more about Earth than they led on. Which meant they'd encountered other Earthlings before her, and that Soren was keeping that a secret from Hazel.

The question now was why. Did they do something to the other players from Earth? Something that they planned to do to Hazel when they get the chance, or if they deem her as a threat?

Hazel watched with a narrow and suspicious gaze as Soren made her way over to her group. Just then, she got another message from Astrid.

[Astrid Skogr: Hey, we need to talk.]

She stared at the message for a moment with a stern gaze before responding.

[Hazel Thatcher: Yeah...we do.]