AN:There seems to have been some confusion regarding the possess skill, and where Lock got it from, which is really my fault for not claryfing better. If you remember we went out of Arc one with three skills that were gained but remained unrevealed
One from the Assassin tree (lv10)
One from the Vanguard tree (lv 5)
And one given to him by Kruto
Possess is simply one of the skills that he gained, The answer of which tree it was taken out of is up to you, as I only plan on releasing this information a bit later.
Now on to the chapter
Chapter 25
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Lock watched the twins curiously swap the listening horn between themselves and put it to the ground, as he did his daily training regiment of push ups, sit ups and so on. It had grown fairly limited due to the small space he now inhabited, but the experience gained from this venture would by far overshadow the gains he could have made by simply training his body.
His thoughts wandered back to how oddly fascinated the twins seemed to be by the fact that they were successfully spying on someone, even if they didn't know what exactly they were spying on. The only explanation he really had for their behaviour was the fact that they were new to the life style. They’d been trained, obviously, but this might just be their first real mission. This suspicion of his was one of the reasons he hadn’t told them everything yet. Wouldn’t want to overwhelm them after all. The only thing they knew was that the ritual below was on its 17th repetition and that the real mission would start when it reached its 21st.
The reason he needed help in the first place was that the ritual was done on an irregular timing, therefore he had to, theoretically speaking, always stay behind to check on it every few hours (at least) when it wasn’t currently in session to make sure they weren’t starting it up again. The Outcasts also entered the beginner dungeon, sometimes for seven-eight hours, but sometimes only for one hour, so he couldn't use that time to get errands done either.
And one errant that really needed doing was going into the dungeon to firstly, familiarize himself with the place, and secondly, to check where exactly the group was completing the ritual in there.
The problem being that if he used the free time he had from the point they started the ritual, to when they ended it, he probably wouldn't be capable of finding the ritual space inside the dungeon. Being alone in a dungeon was bad enough, since that meant one had no safety net in the form of teammates, but actively searching for something was a whole other story. He could be harmed or delayed at any time, causing him to miss out on another repetition of the ritual -they sometimes completed two of them back to back- ,and thus his need for subordinates.
With two he could leave one behind while he explored the dungeon with the other, and soon enough that was exactly what he would do. When the ritual being completed right now finished, the twins would leave. It was hardly acceptable for two young women to spend so much time in an unmarried man's room after all. Ms Richards was checking on them incessantly as it was, bringing them tea and such. After they left, one would sneak back in, while the other would go to the dungeon with him.
Looking at the clock the departure would be quite soon, the six hours would run out in. Three, two, one, now.
One of the twins, Mia if he remembered correctly, she was the one with the pants, spoke, horn still pressed onto the ground. “They've stopped, what now?” She finished with a question.
“We wait for a bit to see if they do another repetition immediately, if they do, we're in luck, and the chance of us meeting them in the dungeon becomes zero. Personally, I get the feeling that they will do another one, which is the reason I had us wait in the first place.” Lock said. If he were them he'd definitely speed up the pace the closer he got to finishing the Gate. Give any potential interfering factors a scare and maybe put them off guard with the speed.
Lo and behold, not even a minute later Mia spoke again. “They've started again.” She said, surprised.
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Lock clapped his hands to get their attention. “Alright ladies, you know what this means. Well, you would know if I had told you,” he joked, “but I'll tell you now. The ritual the lads down there are completing is a gate ritual, one of them is a Vídd, a gate ritual however needs two places. On each one the ritual is to be completed 21 times. The only place our friends down there have spent much time in during the last few weeks has been the beginner dungeon, so now it's on us to go in there, familiarize ourselves with the place and find the spot where they're completing the other end of the ritual.” He put on a faux thinking face. “Well, only two of us should go into the dungeon, the other should stay here and watch over our friends. There has been absolutely no indication of them ever finishing the ritual early or anything, but I don't want to chance it. So,” he pointed at the two girls, “you will both leave out the front door now, get your gear, and one will wait for me at the entrance of the dungeon, while the other will report back to me here, entering unseen, and then continue listening in every few minutes or so. I don't care which one comes with me, you brought up your differing skills, but I don't really think it matters overly much, so you decide.” He finished
“As you command.” The twins said, stood up and made to leave, before Lock halted them again.
“Oh and, as for the suggestions regarding your disguise, Mia, you could spread some sawdust or sand over the clothes, it would make it more authentic. Tia, same for you, but maybe flour or something often used in a kitchen. Both of you, a reminder, while you may be dressed as NPC's right now, you still walk and look around like fighters, try to adjust it to something more clumsy. That was it really, I won't hold you anymore.” He finished, while waving the two off. They left, and Lock continued his exercise, glad that commanding his two new subordinates hadn't been as hard as he'd thought it would be.
He wondered what they thought of him?
Well he was probably just a person they had to put up with to get rich off Happy Time. Although he couldn't rightfully tell, their poker faces were quite good.
-/-
Mia slowly and deliberately made her way towards home, trying to eliminate as much of the 'fighters prowl' as Lock had put it, out of her gait. She almost felt jealous of Tia, who had it easier, her own steps being hindered by the simple fact that she was unused to heels. Key word being almost. While Tia had it easier at the moment, she couldn't rightfully practice, so she herself, would be the first one to learn the skill.
“Which one of us should go into the dungeon with him?” Tia asked suddenly, causing Mia to shrug.
“Does it really matter?” She answered.
They were the same, one could switch out the person going to the dungeon as much as one wanted, but nothing would change.
“Well, my illusionary copies probably won't be that helpful in the dungeon, golems have bad senses anyway.” Tia tried to explain, but Mia just shook her head.
“By that logic my fog would be useless as well.” She said, while asking herself what exactly her sister was getting at. Could it be that...
“You don't want to go to the dungeon?” She asked, surprised.
Tia looked at her, the same emotion evident on her face. “You do?”
In most circumstances the decision would be made at this point, Mia felt, but she was simply too baffled by the fact that her sister had such a widely differing opinion than her for once to really think about the question that started it all. An indiscernible feeling started spreading itself out in her breast. Like a small crack had been created in the earth between her and her twin, moving them ever slightly apart.
They'd always tried their best -and had been assisted in the task- in staying as similar as possible. The only thing that really differed between the two of them were their skills, a difference that they had created for the simple sake of combat efficiency.
They walked in silence, Mia glancing at her dress clad sister and feeling the divide between them grow ever so slowly with the silence. Why did she not want to go to the dungeon? Lock seemed to know what he was doing.
Surely they could learn much more from him in the future. Almost assuredly when one considered they were to go into a dungeon with him. They should both be, if not eager, at least not unwilling. So why, sister, why do you not wish to partake in this experience? Surely we would switch ourselves out eventually, but the one who went first would have an advantage. A slight one, since they were so close that simply telling the other of what one had experienced constituted as the other having done it herself. But an advantage nonetheless.
Did the issue lie with the person itself, rather than the teaching he could provide? Had Lock committed some social faux pas that had disquieted her sister, but that she herself hadn't noticed? Had he done something heinous? Something that would lay doubt upon his skill, his trustworthiness, his intentions? No, it couldn't be, her twin would have told her if any of the possibilities she'd just listed had occurred. They told each other everything! She dreaded the reason, it must have been a horrible one for her to not even consider it as a hypothetical, she was afraid of asking, but it had to be done. She had to know, so that she may lighten the burden clearly pressing down on the shoulders of her most beloved.
“Why don't you want to go?” She almost croaked out, teary eyes directed at her sister, dreading the answer.
Tia looked away, her expression, embarrassed? “I, wasn't as careful as I should have been while picking out my outfit, the shoes have given me blisters.”