Once they got out of the "Chat room", I set to checking the status of al the elves.

Lenore was safe thank god. Though I had been distracted by the surprise player, I was still concerned about her, having seen her unconscious within the cage.

She had magical bindings on her, something I was inept to solve.

Thankfully, someone else here could.

Philly grunted, as he casually broke the bindings. "Runic. Has a bit of elven flair, but all that means is unnecessary complication. rather simple solution. Friend of yours?" He asked, and I nodded.

"She was sent by the royal elven family for a special mission." He raised an eyebrow in surprise at this.

Perhaps I had let down my guard too much, but given we were both players chosen by the gods, I felt safe enough to say this much.

Though, I did not mention the high elf escort mission. That was not my matter to share.

"Oh, the high elf escort mission?"

I was caught off guard by the surprise comment, though I did not change my expression.

"I already know about it. Damn knife ears think they're subtle, but for those who've known them long enough, we know their sneaking ways." He said, dismissive of the elves.

No point in commenting on that.

As she came to, she reacted quickly, sweeping her leg out to attack someone, only to have her leg casually intercepted by Philly.

Philly threw her leg back. "Elves. No gratitude." he complained.

Lenore looked around warily, only to see all the broken cages, then me, and finally calm down.

"My apologies." she said calmly and Philly merely grunted, paying her no mind. She clearly paid him none either.

"So? Do you think she'd be interested?" He asked quietly, avoiding the ears of all else there.

Probably not, given her circumstances, though I'll mention it to her anyway.

And as guessed, when bringing it up to her, she refused promptly.

"Sorry Earl, you should know that I have my priorities. There's a A-rank assassin out there, and Willow needs protecting. As much as I'd like to help, we have our priorities. Besides, someone should probably escort all these prisoners." She added, looking around and seeing the huge number of slaves.

I nodded in understanding, as obviously the high elf would take priority for the mission.

She seems tempted, but I understand the stance.

Were I handed a citizen of the empire with a high level of potential, I too would prioritize protecting him.

She seems to realize something as she fishes something out of her pocket, a small magical tool.

Appraisal.

[ Recording device. A magical recording device capable of recording up to 5 hours of footage.]

"It's a recording device." She explains. "You turn the nob, and the device begins to record. If you see anything down there that you think needs to be recorded, feel free to turn it on."

I nod in understanding, before Philly pulls on my sleeve. "Hurry up, we can't give them enough time to pack up and flee!" The kobold urges, and I follow him, alongside the three kobolds who followed as well as the skaven, who I now knew was cheese steak.

Well, it's time to conduct a raid I suppose.

----------------------------------------

"Sir! The slaves are escaping." An elf rushed into the room, alerting the rogue to the situation outside.

However, he paid no attention to that. "Whatever. The slaves were always merely a means to an end and now that we're losing this position, they mean nothing else. As long as the forces outside are more distracted with freeing the slaves, the better. We have bigger priorities after all." e said, looking at the root they were slowly dislocating.

The root would not so easily uproot itself, and needed slow convincing, as it were, to leave such an area which was filled with mana. It had to be moved before the forces above found it and discovered their true intentions.

After all, what they were doing was considered heresy by the royal court. SHould this reach their ears by any means, their lord could not protect them fro the hammer that would come down upon them.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The traitors would get to live, unfortunately.

"But sir," The soldier added with hesitation.

"What?" He asked, confused why the soldier continued to pester him.

"Six of them are heading inwards." Hearing this, his eyebrows rose in slight surprise, before giving a slight grin.

"What races?"

"One skaven, four kobolds, and one elf sir. One of the kobolds is the special one we captured, and the elf seems to be the one who we thought to be a druid." He said that last one in hesitation, and the rogue's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion.

"Didn't we set up a magic circle to deal with him? It was an S-class formation, something a druid of his level shouldn't be able to handle, and something not even an S-class should be able to shrug off easily."

Something was fishy here....

"I'll take a squad to go investigate. You continue to dislodge the root."

"But sir-"

"No buts! This is the heaviest priority. There is something weird about this druid, something we don't know, and I do not trust a group of C-ranks to successfully find out what that is.

I am wasted here. It is better I move to meet them so that the process remains uninterrupted."

The commander moved briskly, ignoring any would be complaints the others would've had. He only ever really listened to his aide after all, and he was sure there was something off with the druid.

----------------------------------------

As we rushed further into the basement, more elves came out to stop us, but we managed to squash them rather easily.

It was interesting watching the kobolds fight, as the three kobolds from the jacket acted in tandem, working to support Philly.

Philly himself was the clear leader, barking orders and leading the charge, hammer in hand, alongside a black set of armor that complimented his coal-like scales.

Cheese steak... did his own thing.

"Eheeheheheheehhehehheehehehe"

"Make explosions, yes yes! Collect good materials, and Cheese get more boom boom, yes yes!"

"Stake win manys cheeses, yes, yes!"

Turns out it was stake, not steak.

And that the less that was perhaps said of the explosive freak, the better.

I was using the new hammer, testing out its capabilities.

The first elf it hit resulted in a gruesome scene, quickly signaling to me that using this hammer required a great deal of restraint.

Thankfully the hammer wasn't malicious, though, to say it was innocent would be wrong. It was mostly screaming of

'Charge! And let us dominate all those who stand before us! Young spirit, join me in chanting!'

'Unyielding!' 'Unyielding!'

'Domineering!' 'Domineering!'

'Overbearing!' 'Overbearing!'

It was worrying for sure. I have dealt with weapon spirits, and generally understand that unless your personality happens to match the spirits, the best you can really do is be accomodating. It's one of the reasons why people prefer new weapons at times, as new weapons without weapon spirits, or with newborn ones, are easier to mold to your liking, though the nature of the materials that a weapon is made of can also influence its personality, as seen here, given that the weapon contains a fraction of the personality of the original weapon.

Does ore count as a weapon spirit? Regardless, I'll have to make sure he doesn't wander down the wrong system.

The traps were getting more intense, as we had to dodge rains of arrows and disarm magic circles set to explode.

Luckily we had a former dwarf on our side, as the traps pointed to the idea that there was in fact, something quite valuable down here.

There were more elves than we had expected as well, confirming this suspicion.

Clang!

Sensing the sense of danger, I quickly create my shell, and lift it over my head, just in the nick of time, clashing with a blade that seemingly came out of nowhere.

"Fascinating. You have better intuition than someone of your level should have." Came the voice out of nowhere, causing the others to go on guard as well.

Except for the skaven. He was doing his own thing.

The perpetrator made himself present, as an elf emerged from the shadows.

A weathered old elf made his appearance, the blade gleaming wickedly in the night.

[Cockatrice's kiss: an A-class blade imbued with the blood of the cockatrice. Has the ability to petrify those who come into contact with it.]

And indeed, when looking at my shell on my arm, it was in bad shape, already starting to petrify.

OPening the shop, I find petrification potions for 500 points.

A quick purchase, and a gulp, and I'm back to normal, yet wary of the rogue.

"So you're the uppity fools who decided to delve deeper rather than fleeing when given the chance." He cocked his head, and laughed in mock laughter. "What a bunch of fools. But I expect no less of those who travel with a traitor." He said with venom those last few words.

Seriously, we are missing some serious elven history here.

"I'm feeling generous here kobold. Turn over the elf, and I'll allow you guys to leave." He said calmly, only for the kobold to snort.

"I don't deal with you damn tree lovers. I don't know what you're protecting down there, and I don't care. You kidnapped me, you daft bastard, and I'm going to hit you where it hurts, and make it into a nice handle or something." he said, before spitting on the floor, before grinning.

"You caught me by surprise before assassin, but an assassin without surprise is just another dead man." He sai, before flipping the elf off, much to his chargraine.

"Well, what did I expect from a damned worm. I was just trying to save myself some effort, but if you insist on making this more fun, I won't stop you." He said mockingly, disappearing into the darkness, as a large group of elves appeared, surrounding the group.

He's not gone, and clearly hiding, but it'll be hard to find him unless he wants us to.

And even if I can buy another potion, he probably won't give us a chance to use it.

I look to Philly.

[ Earl ]: Any anti petrification measures?

I ask the former dwarf in the new chat function, and he nods.

[ Philly ]: Yeah, but I don't have any for you. Yuu have anything for yourself? He asks, and I nod.

"I might." Calling ore, metal begins to condense around my arms and body, only to find that ore cannot maintain such a state, seeming to be beyond his abilities currently.

Alright then, a shield should work then, right? And to my satisfaction, ore can form a shield. Good, let's hope that since Ore isn't organic then the cockatrice's petrification effect does not affect it.

The kobolds gather in a circle formation with the skaven in the center, as Philly and I agree to separate.

It's clear to both of us and that working together could hinder us, rather than helping, and that it is better that we separate from one another.

Not only that, but the elven assassin seems to have an obsession with traitors, which can work to our advantage. An obsessed elf is a distracted one, which could allow them to sneak in and steal what it is that they're hiding.

The skaven in the center, cheese steak, actually has duplication and teleportation skills, courtesy of its material gathering ventures.

The longer he's distracted, the more time the skaven clone has to rob them blind.

Let the facade begin.