“Is that everything?” Cardinal asked after putting his bag down and untying it. He had just arrived from doing his “borrowing” objective. Starch got back earlier than him but we waited for everyone.
“You took long enough,” Starch said while he leaned his back on the wall.
I turned to them, “What did you guys get?”
Cardinal sighed, “Mostly everything we need, I couldn't get past the defenses for some of the bakeries, but what I got will do,” He opened the bag and took out a small black ball.
I was confused, “You stole… A ball?”
Starch laughed as he spoke, “It’s not just a ball, it’s a smoke ball!”
I remembered the smoke ball. It was a item used by people of the rogue class. “The one that lowers aim and visibility?”
“Yep!” Starch said.
Cardinal tied the bag again, “I basically had to steal enough ingredients to make 10 of these things, worth it, but I nearly got caught by some old lady’s cat.”
“Sounds like a skill issue, should’ve picked the thief class,” Starch said while chuckling.
“Fuck you, you purple fuck,” Cardinal said irritatingly.
“What did you get Starch?” I asked. He was a thief class, so he probably had better luck than Cardinal in that regard.
“Where do I start?” He said as he opened his bag and started taking things out. After taking out 3 smaller bags, he threw one to me.”
“What’s this?” I asked while moving the bag around.
“It’s the ingredients to make a minor summoning scroll,” Starch said while reorganizing the things in his bag and tying it shut.
Cardinal added on, “Yeah, you are a necromancer, the Necromancer Class is a splinter of the Summoner Class. You should be able to use a smaller summoning scroll.”
They were completely right, I didn’t have to entirely depend on my undead skills to fight, even if it meant my normal summons were way weaker.
I turned to Starch, ‘I’m guessing this plays a role in the plan you guys discussed further?”
“Yep,” Starch confirmed.
Cardinal ate a piece of roasted chicken he had taken out of his pocket before he started talking, “So since we did our part, did Marsa and you get started yet?” He asked.
“Yeah, she left a while ago to go to the cathedral, I checked the chests and stuff for new clothes,” I said while showing the wand I had found. “Say, when can I wear better equipment?” I asked them.
Starch got up from the wall he was leaning on, “You already partly understand it, wearable armor is determined by your level, but also by the progression stage of your class.”
“Progression stage?” I asked. It would seem my skipping of tutorials and lore would come back to bite me in the ass, yet again.
Cardinal sat down in a chair and leaned back, “You were not joking, you really skipped all the tutorials!” He started chuckling.
Starch continued his explanation, “Basically, there are four stages to classes, Starter, Novice, Advanced, and Adept.”
This information was vital, but also interesting for me to learn. “And what stage is Necromancer?” I asked.
Starch sat down in a chain next to Cardinal, “Necromancer is an advanced class, all things considered, with a good set of armor and more levels, you would be a powerhouse! Necromancers were so good that this entire DLC was based around kneecapping ya’ll!” He seemed really surprised at the notion.
Cardinal finished the chicken from his pocket and uncrossed his legs, “Exposition is nice and all, but we have a task to do.”
I quickly remembered why I was here in the first place, we were going to do Old Man justice by fulfilling his wish. We had to survive and find answers.
“Yeah,” Starch and I said in agreement.
I went to the table they were sitting in and sat down. Cardinal pulled out a map, one of the things he had stolen, and laid it out on the table.
“What is this a map of?” I asked.
Cardinal finished rolling out the last inch of the map, “It’s a map of The Holy Cathedral City,”
He said while pointing to the main cathedral.
Starch crossed his arms, “And I’m assuming that we are trying to avoid that?”
“Yeah,” Cardinal said.
Cardinal moved his finger to the city gates. “The northeast gate leads to the Fae Forest, from there the path goes to Wistgardia, supposedly.”
“The Fae Forest?” I asked. On my Bunny Beastkin account, I had farmed slimes in the outskirts of the Fae Forest many times. I usually farmed during the Class Boost Events, like the Archer Skill Boost Event. Those were the times.
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Cardinal continued, “Yeah, the members of the forest are probably nice, according to lore at least. We go past there, keep going, and then we get to Wistgardia.”
Starch slightly leaned back in his chair, “So, did anything you find give us any information on Wistgardia?”
Cardinal moved his hand off the map and pondered, “Not really, outworlders who got teleported say that it happened almost as soon as the update went online, nobody has any experience with Wistgardia.”
“But the risk is worth it?” I asked.
“I’m pretty sure it is,” Cardinal said while getting comfortable in his chair again.
I turned to him and spoke, “So, the plan is to escape the city, get to the Fae Forest, get past that and then go to where Wistgardia probably is?”
“Yeah,” Cardinal said while putting his finger back on the map.
Starch moved his finger to his chin, “Sounds great, but do you even know if this leads to Wistgardia?”
Cardinal quickly directed his attention to us, “Do either of you remember that fog that was around the end of the map last update?”
“No.” I said. I had no idea where he was going with this.
“Actually, yeah,” Starch said.
Cardinal continue , “Well, to put it shortly, there was a foggy area that you couldn’t access two updates ago, most people forgot about it.”
Starch responded, “And you think that fogged area is where Wistgardia is?”
Cardinal doubled-down, “It has to be, the fog lines up perfectly with the Fae Forest route, it even fit the shape of the sneak peaks that were posted!”
“Sounds good enough for me,” I said while turning to Starch.
“I think it’s risky, but the risk factor lowered for me, I think it’s solid too.” Starch said.
“Glad both of you are on board now,” Cardinal said.
Starch leaned forward in his chair, “But even if this is more manageable, how are we going to escape the city in the first place?” He asked.
I added on, “Yeah, how do we get past the heavily-guarded walls to even make it to the Fae Forest?”
Cardinal smirked, “I’m glad you asked! Now we can get to the real bones of the plan!” He reach into the bag and took out pieces of some game he had stolen.
Starch winced slightly, “The plan is… tabletops?”
Cardinal snickered, “No, it’s to set the scene, lock in.” He presented the figures in order in order: Cleric, Necromancer, Thief, and Rogue. “Marsa is… Here!” He moved the cleric figure towards the Cathedral closest to the gate.
“And while there she?” Starch asked.
Cardinal smirked even harder, “The guards are sent by the holy knights, she can either prevent them from going straight on our tail, or she can be one of the clerics sent out in the groups.”
“And me? “ I asked.
Cardinal picked up the necromancer piece and moved it to the road leading to the gate, “You summon skeletons, and when they are running out of mana, you book it towards the gate while amped up on speed potions!”
My eyes widened, “Okay, cool! Then what?”
Cardinal moved the piece further up the path, “You use the scroll to make an opening for me and you to get past the gates!”
“Just you too?” Starch asked.
“Yeah,” Cardinal said while picking up the thief figure. He placed it on the path leading to the gate, “You can’t leave with us, you gotta stay and lead the remaining division on that side away to better our odds,”
“That makes sense,” Starch started, “Me and Marsa can stay and handle things here while you guys go on your little journey,” He ended jokingly in a smile.
“But what about you?” I asked.
“Me, I’m going to be the cause of the best diversion in history!” Cardinal said enthusiastically while pointing his thumb to himself.
“How so?” Starch asked while leaning forward more.
Cardinal reached into his bag and took out the Smoke Balls, “Smoke!” He said loudly.
“That all?” I asked.
“Let me set the scene, stop interrupting!” Cardinal said.
“Okay, okay,” I said.
Cardinal picked up the rogue figure on the map after putting the smoke balls back. “I divert attention from the patrolling division heading from the left path,” He moved his finger to the opposite path of the one Starch’s figure was on.”
“And?” I said.
Cardinal moved his figure to the top of a building, “I throw smoke bombs at them, disappear, but then I join you and throw a final smoke bomb, pretty radical.”
“Radical indeed,” Starch said.
I analyzed all the information Cardinal had laid out, “So the plan is to divide and divert until the remaining group left to guard the gate is something we can handle?”
Cardinal stood up and pointed to me, “Exactly! Right on the money!”
Starch clapped while laughing, “I have to admit, that is a really good plan!”
Cardinal bowed playfully, “Thank you, thank you!”
“Well, we best be getting started,” Starch said.
“Yep,” Cardinal said.
“Yeah,” I said.
We rested well, well… everyone else did, the other undead outworlders and I didn’t have to sleep, so we kinda watched everyone else.
When morning came, we all gathered around the table and went over the plan again. I would wear my cloak over my attire to hide my undead nature, and perfume provided Starch would hide my deathly scent.
Cardinal handed out five of the ten smoke balls to Starch, he gave me one speed and mana potion, and then gave me a small bag to hold them in.
As soon as I tied the bag around my waste, I saw something in the air.
[Inventory Type: Small Sack. Inventory Storage: 1x Minor Mana Potion, 1x Viobee Swarm Scroll, 1x Speed Potion.]
“Huh?” I said out loud.
“What?” Starch and Cardinal asked.
“Does anyone else see this?” I asked.
“See what?” Cardinal said, still confused.
“These numbers and stuff,” I said while pointing towards the words.
“Are you… okay?” Starch asked.
Within a few moments after bringing attention to it, the words had disappeared.
“Nevermind,” I said.
Cardinal put his sack on his should as Starch finished tying his. We left out of the crack of the Safe Haven and stood on the street. Cardinal went the path he had planned, and so did Starch.
“Stick to the plan guys! Cardinal said while whisper yelling.
“Of course!” Starch said while whisper yelling back.
All that was left was me.
I was supposed to go towards the main gate past the town square, through market district, and then towards the intersecting road that led to the northeast gate.
I went to the market district. It had a brimming array of characters, ranging from every race but undead, for obvious reasons. I quickly sprayed the perfume on myself to mask my scent, moving through the sea of people that went in and out of stalls.
The guards kept close watch, many were inspecting newly imported goods.
“When did this come in?” A guard asked in a stern voice.
“They just got here from Frelagar!” The man at the inspected market said.
“Frelagar?” I thought to myself. Frelagar was one of the nations that released a few months ago, but only the outskirts were available. I wondered how it was possible for this world to have already extended on what was in the game files.
“Alright, be on your way,” The guard said after inspecting the box of food and giving it to the merchant.
After making it out of the market, I waited for the sound that would alert me of the plan being in its second phase.
I wondered around from stall to stall, pretending to be someone interested in buying goods. I saw all sorts of finds, rare items like Banshee Cords. There were even more items than Millie’s shop had, it was pretty amazing.
“Order here! Order here!” A cook yelled while flipping kebabs on a grill. “Get your Grilled Gritzgaldr Special!”
I could barely smell the aroma of the food because I was a zombie, but I guess Casey’s character have a mostly intact nose helped with that. I walked past the food stall before I was suddenly stopped.
I looked down and saw that a stray cat with a fleshy tail was pawing at my robe. I looked around before slowly reaching down and petting it. It purred before walking past me and going back to the alley. I assumed that was where it came from.
A few more minutes went by, before I head the sign to commence the rest of the plan. “Guards, there’s been an incident!” A man yelled.
“What kind?” A guard yelled in response.
“A guard has been stabbed a few houses down from here! The culprit might be undead!” The main said as he struggled to finish his words.
“Get the division head!” The guard said. “We are going to assist the situation!”
Within seconds, most of the guards in the area had stormed towards the path leading further behind the market, exactly where Starch was supposed to do his part of the plan. I looked from side to side, making sure that no one was watching me as I made my way to the northeast gate.
“Halt!” A voice said. It was a guard. “What business do you have here?” He asked. I stayed quite.
“I won’t ask again, what business do you have here?” I still walked without answering, my back turned to the guard.
As soon as I heard his sword sheathe, I threw a pocket full of dust in his face. He coughed and wheezed, giving my the opening to run.
The plan was now fully in motion.