This was Zin’s fourth attempt at killing Jaw-Long in the game. Whenever Zin returned with a new legendary piece of equipment or an unbeatable combo, his old teacher revealed something even better and wiped the floor with him.
That was going to change today. He’d been training hard for months and was fully clad in legendary gear. Additionally, according to his network of plant spies, Jaw-Long was attacked every week by a cat thief who stole a piece of his equipment. If Zin could somehow catch his old teacher with his guard down while he was preoccupied with the thief and a piece of equipment short, he might finally have the satisfaction of killing him.
Was using a third party as a distraction cheating? Maybe. But against Jaw-Long’s decades of experience, what choice did he have? Using a distraction at least leveled the playing field. For as long as Zin could remember, he had tried to beat the old man.
Zin finally reached the Core. Although this place was paradise for guilds, it didn’t suit him as a solo player. These dungeons were designed for teams of at least 20 players, and even with all his stats and strength, Zin couldn’t easily solo them. He preferred other secret maps scattered around AstroTerra. Still, he'd been here several times spying and was familiar with the lay of the land.
He left the Crystal Forest and headed toward the mountain, teleporting in short bursts. He moved like a fleeting shadow, crossing the distance at an impossible speed until he reached his destination.
The mountain loomed ahead, a jagged heap of boulders stacked haphazardly as if tossed by a giant’s hand. Shadows filled the cracks between rocks. Zin wasn’t sure what kind of history the developers had programmed around this mountain, but it made for a fateful landscape. It was a suitable setting for the upcoming battle.
It worried him that Roth had managed to pierce through his camouflage a few hours earlier. He never expected Roth’s insight to be so high. He hadn’t even bothered to activate all his camouflage skills back then. But he wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. He would use everything he had to make himself undetectable.
Zin activated all the abilities that buffed subterfuge and everything else that boosted his camouflage.
Wind Concealment!
Cloak of Darkness!
Noise Cancellation!
Sense Supressor!
Just in case, he drank a couple of potions to boost his camouflage's effect further.
You’ve drunk [Invisibility Booster].
+30% camouflage effectiveness for 10 minutes.
You’ve drunk [Chameleon Marrow Extract].
Camouflage buffs doubled for 5 minutes.
“Are you there yet?” Eron messaged.
Zin clicked his tongue and closed the message window. He also blocked all notifications. He couldn’t afford to get distracted. Not while facing this monster.
He entered the tunnel, glancing at the plant he’d left here two weeks ago. He couldn’t help but think of the hell he went through in the Living Ivy secret map to unlock his most precious skill: [Grape Vine Network]. It had been worth it, though. Thanks to it, he knew of this window of opportunity to target Jaw-Long.
As he ventured deeper, he could sense the presence of players. The Dragons were here, hiding, though Zin couldn’t pinpoint their exact location. Whoever this thief was, they were making Jaw-Long swallow his pride and resort to the aid of his guild.
Zin continued deeper into the tunnel until he finally spotted his teacher. Jaw-Long stood with his legs spread, arms raised in full battle readiness, back against a wall in a tight, cramped tunnel, waiting for the thief to arrive. Zin checked the clock. He had arrived two minutes before noon. It was time to look for escape routes and understand the surrounding map. Knowing the terrain could save his life in a battle against the old geezer. From there, he had to find a place to hide and wait for his opportunity.
“Hello, Zin,” Jaw-Long greeted him with a smile.
Zin’s throat tightened. It couldn’t be. Had Jaw-Long's vision pierced through all his buffs and bonuses to camouflage? That would have meant that he had an obscene amount of insight.
“Come on, Zin. Your camouflage is good—maybe the best—but it’s not good enough to fool me.”
Zin gulped dryly. Why would the old man call out to him unless he was sure he was there? His disguise was blown. Zin canceled his camouflage.
“So, you were waiting for that cursed cat burglar to arrive, hoping it would distract me. Admirable. But you overlooked one thing: I’m not distracted. My senses are in overdrive. You’ve also had to sneak past my whole guild to get here. Did you think you were sneaky enough to go past me and my Dragons?”
Instead of responding to Jaw-Long’s taunts, Zin just said something snarky. “You look older.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Jaw-Long laughed. “Oh boy, you haven’t changed a bit, Zin. I’m going to miss our little skirmishes.”
Zin’s eyebrow raised. What was the old man talking about?
“So far, you’ve been just a fly I could swat away.” His face hardened, losing all traces of playfulness. “But you dared to steal the Hive King's kill from under my nose. I won’t tolerate you any longer.”
Zin’s instincts screamed at him. He drew his daggers, ready to engage his teacher. He glanced at the clock. Only one minute until the cat arrived. If he could keep Jaw-Long talking, the cat would arrive and create an opening for him to attack.
“Humor me,” Zin said, trying to keep the conversation going. Jaw-Long seemed in the mood to talk, and Zin would make the most of it.
“Loki made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
“Loki?”
Foreign substances detected in your nutrient solution. System shutdown in 10, 9, 8…
“What have you done, old man?” Zin demanded.
Jaw-Long shrugged. “Loki already had plenty of information on you. I just gave him whatever else he was missing. You’ve served me well in the past. Goodbye, kid.”
Zin’s vision blacked out, and he was out of the game before he could start fighting. He was back inside the darkness of the VR capsule but found that he couldn’t move. He tried to force his muscles into action, but it was useless. He was poisoned.
The capsule popped open. Even though his muscles were paralyzed, he hadn’t lost his senses and could still make out his surroundings. A group of men were binding him with chains and handcuffing him. Zin didn’t recognize most of them, but he spotted one or two familiar faces—well-known mercenaries he had previously crossed paths with or even teamed up with.
How had they infiltrated his hideout without any of the alarms triggering? Through the drug-induced haze, he remembered that he had disabled all notifications. That was how. He had missed the alarms signaling that invaders were in the building. As his mind faded into unconsciousness, he cursed his luck.
Loki and Jaw-Long had joined forces to get rid of him. This might be the last time he ever opened his eyes. He allowed himself a tiny smile. Fortunately, he had prepared a little surprise for his enemies in case he was caught. At least he could go, knowing he would drag some of his enemies down into the grave.
*
Loki kept his eyes glued to the phone. The team should have struck by now. Jaw-Long had already messaged him, saying that Zin had appeared. All that was left was for the captain of his team of mercenaries to make contact.
The phone rang. Loki answered, and a hologram of the captain of the merc appeared. “We got him,” he said.
“Excellent. Follow the plan. Leave him at the coordinates I gave you.”
“Very well, sir.”
Loki laid back on his chair with a smile on his lips. With this, his revenge against Zin was complete. He would suffer much more staring at the ceiling of a black-sited prison than in the grave.
Additionally, Loki had gained some favors from powerful people by turning Zin over to them. Now that this thorn was removed from his side, the Usurpers were just a headless snake that would die without leadership. In the meantime, all that he had left to do was take care of the Slayer.
Loki turned his attention to all the e-mails and memos to which he had to respond. He had an empire to manage and plenty of in-person meetings to attend. He would do these and then return to the game to check on the state of the quest in Sapphira. Hopefully, by then, there would be more clues of where the Slayer was, and he could deal with the brute, too, just as he had with Zin.
*
Eron paced back and forth across the ornate chamber, his footsteps echoing off the stone walls of Duke Dandelion's castle. He glanced at the clock for what felt like the hundredth time. 1 p.m. flashed back at him in bold digits.
"Come on, Mr. Zin. Where are you?" he muttered under his breath, running a hand through his messy hair.
Zin had gone offline just before noon without a word—a departure that didn’t bode well for his operation. A gnawing sense of dread settled in Eron's stomach. Something had happened; he could feel it.
Taking a deep breath, Eron thought of the brown envelope in the safe at his house. When Zin had saved him from Loki’s clutches, he had entrusted Eron with this package and strict instructions: if Zin ever remained offline for 12 hours without contact, Eron was to execute a specific plan.
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Eron whispered.
But he couldn't shake the unease creeping through him. Just in case, he decided to keep himself busy. Standing up straight, he grabbed his bag and headed out to make a trade run. If trouble was brewing, he'd be ready to act when the time came.
*
The flag of the molians shone brightly at the center of the Molympic Coliseum. The radius was enough to cover the whole cave, although the tunnels around it were out of the skill’s radius. Even so, it was impossible to deal damage within the area of the [Sanctuary] skill.
“Try again!”
Revenge for Everytime You Scolded Me Nyah Slash!
Null!
Null!
No matter how hard Lin attacked Roth, he couldn’t scratch him. His kitten seemed unhappy about it, but Roth couldn’t be happier. The skill worked! He had a working sanctuary!
Roth had also upgraded the [Sanctuary] skill with the three available upgrades.
Consulate (Sanctuary Upgrade)
Description: Your allies send a consul to represent them wherever you create a safe zone.
Effects: The level of ambassadors depends on your relationship with each faction and your wisdom.
Cost: 3SP
Asylum (Sanctuary Upgrade)
Description: Weary travelers and races who hear of your exploits will travel far and wide, seeking solace and peace in your sanctuary.
Effects: Scales with charisma.
Cost: 3SP
Tribute (Sanctuary Upgrade)
Description: There is a price to peace. Only by chipping in a little of their strength can the sanctuary prevail.
Effects: You gain 0,1% stats of all inhabitants of your safe zones.
He had to spend most of his available skill points on these three upgrades. [Tribute] was already active, and off the three thousand moles inside the Molympic Coliseum, he had gained 30 extra stats! [Asylum] should gradually increase the number of NPCs inside the Sanctuary, and [Consulate] would draw in powerful NPCs among his allies. The subsequent upgrades required 10SP each and were way beyond what Roth could afford currently, but he hoped these three would be enough to help him.
Sadly, not even that much was enough to get him through to place 15 in the ranks. From now on, he was competing against some real monsters, guild leaders, and the like.
“We’re up here,” Sarg and Drake messaged him.
“Alright! I’m going to pick you up.”
Roth didn’t want to waste his forms' cooldown timer. He was going to need them soon. Instead, he located the fastest mole he knew: the previous winner of the burrowthon. Roth then miniaturized and hopped on his back. “Can you please take me up to Charlesville? I need to go pick up some friends.”
“Right away, Your Majesty.”
The golden mole was much faster than the common ones and swam through the gravel at an incredible speed. It was time to hear what Drake and Sarg had to say to make the most of his kingship.