Wraith lunged towards Ayrsted and grabbed him by the neck, ready to kill him. A small part of him did want to slit his throat right then and there, but the rest of him wanted to extract as much information as possible before savouring his death.

“Now I'm going to ask you a question, and you're going to answer it without lying or keeping any information from me. If I do feel that you're lying, or if I'm unsatisfied with your response, the time I take to kill you will go up by one hour. Understand?”

Ayrsted didn't, or perhaps he couldn't, say a word since Wraith's hands were around his neck and choking him. Realizing this Wraith loosened his hands, though he still held them around his neck. “I understand,” he said while shivering in terror. The last vestiges of his fighting spirit had evaporated away by this point.

“First, do you have any combat ability at all? Or even some unique skills?”

“No, I just have a high Fighting Spirit stat.”

“Explain. Usually you would have to fight exceedingly strong opponents for a long time to get a stat like yours.” He thought for a moment and asked, “is this how you tricked the instructor into thinking you were a powerful warrior?”

“Well, most warriors do gain the stat that way, but there is a sort of...loophole in the system. The requirement to raise that value is to confront very strong monsters, but that doesn't necessarily mean you have to fight them. See, one day while I went to check on a trap I set to catch some game, I saw that a high-level monster got trapped instead. After staring at the monster for a while I realized my fighting spirit had gone up.”

Wraith asked through clenched teeth, “that's all it took?”

“Well, apparently a battle of wills is just as good as a physical one, but I also trapped several other strong monsters and put them together to raise the stat faster. To get everyone to think I was strong I exercised a bit, gave myself a few scars to look like a warrior, and gave myself a cool title. I realized that it would be an easy way to get money out of people. If someone asked me to get rid of a monster I would scare it off, or if it was fairly strong I would weaken it with my spirit while other people killed it. If I came up against bandits, I could even scare them into giving me their gold.”

“You're telling me that you bluffed your way through life like this for all years and no one suspected a thing?”

“Well, most people didn't want to challenge me, given my spirit and my ability to lie to and trick people. Even people like your instructor assumed I was strong. When your instructor helped me I was acting like a strong honorable warrior that was injured. He gave me food and money and wasn't even suspicious that I was taking advantage of him. Since I never told him where I lived I didn't think I would ever hear from him again.”

Wraith's temper flared up at this, angry on behalf of his duped instructor. “So the tasks you had me do were to wear me down so I would abandon the training?”

“Well over the years there have been several people that wanted to learn from me. I found that the best way was to give them tasks to drive them away. I also needed some wood to expand my house, so I thought I'd get two birds with one stone. Truth be told, you're the most tenacious one I've met.”

Wraith's eye started twitching. He really, really wanted to kill him. The only reason he held out was because he thought he would get a special class, but now it seemed that he just wasted his time. Time he could have spent looking for a fighter that actually knew how to fight. The fact that he was hundreds of miles from civilization meant that he couldn't get any quests, and even worse he might not be able to get a decent class until he found his way to a city.

“So that's all you have to tell me. There's nothing else I should know?”

Ayrsted started to panic, realizing what the end of the questioning entailed. “Wait,” he begged Wraith. He then put on a subservient smile on his face and said, “I can teach you things. I can sense greatness in you. So how about it? With my methods and your innate strength You can become rich beyond your wildest dreams.”

Class Change!

You can convert to a secret class Conman. If you accept it, you can learn exclusive skills for the class that are withheld from the primary thief and rogue classes.

Do you want to convert to Conman?

At this, Wraith said nothing but stare coldly at Ayrsted. Initially, regardless of what he threatened and insinuated, he only intended to scare the wits out of Ayrsted, but that statement tipped him over the ledge. He got off of him and walked towards the pile of wood he cut up. “So will you accept?” Ayrsted asked him nervously, afraid of Wraith's odd behavior. When he saw Wraith pick up the axe, the saw, and the length of rope, he realized that things probably weren't going to end well for him.

He was so terrified that he couldn't even get up. Frozen with fear, all he could do was watch helplessly as Wraith came closer to him, his long black hair framing a face with all the warmth and compassion of a stone. His grey eyes were chips of ice piercing Ayrsted's body and pinning him in place. Ayrsted could do nothing but surrender to Wraith as he was tied spread-eagle onto a tree stump.

Wraith rested the axe against the tree and picked up the saw. He lay its teeth against Ayrsted's wrist and listened to him whimper and beg.

“Quiet,” he said softly, that one word silencing Ayrsted. “First off, in answer to your question do I want to be a Conman? Not in a million years.”

Please confirm your decision. You can convert to a secret class Conman.

Do you want to convert to Conman?

“Like I said, not in a million years. You know what really makes me mad?” he asked in that same soft, deadly voice. “It's not that you tricked me, it's that you stole from me.” As he said this he dragged the saw up his arm to rest in the crook of his elbow, the teeth of the saw almost breaking the skin.

“Wait, I didn't steal anything from you. I didn't take any money or valuables, I just played a little trick on you so please let me go,” he babbled to Wraith, pleading for his life.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“No, you didn't steal my money, you took something more valuable than that. You stole my time. For about eight days, you had me do pointless exercises, when i could have been doing something more rewarding. I might be able to get back money, but I can't get back those eight days.” The saw inched up Ayrsted's arm, drawing closer to his vitals. The saw wasn't sharp any more, it was dulled by repeated use on the tree. Ayrsted knew that instead of slicing smoothly and cleanly through his flesh, it would catch and tear the muscles apart.

Wraith continued talking, “but that's not all is it? You had the gall to ask me to become like you? I came here thinking I could gain true strength to defeat my enemies. The only way I could defeat enemies with your skills, IS IF WE WERE PLAYING A FREAKIN' POKER GAME!” He lost control of his emotions for a minute, and let out some of his fury.

After taking a deep breath he regained control over himself and brought the saw blade up to Ayrsted's neck, prepared to end his life. A part of him wondered what he was doing and why he was prepared to commit such a brutal act. Just a short while back he wouldn't have thought himself capable of such violence.

In the real world he always took whatever life threw at him and didn't let it affect him. In Royal Road he thought he was acting out another character, but in truth all he did was let his true nature show. As Warren he was nice, and pleasant. He was someone that didn't want to rock the boat. As Wraith he didn't have to tamp down his irritation and fury, but could instead let it rage. He could take what he wanted and destroy what he hated. It was liberating, but also a bit scary.

“So since I'm about to end everything, do you have anything else to say for yourself?”

Ayrsted swallowed nervously, he hoped that what he said next would save him. “You say that you want real strength, I may know how to get it, but I can almost guarantee that you won't survive.”

Wraith was curious about this, but he didn't know if he could trust the words of a conman. “What is it then?”

“A while back I ran into a lone goblin. He was weak so he didn't try to fight against me but surrendered instead.”

“This doesn't tell me how to get stronger.”

“I'm getting to it. The goblin gave me everything he had on him, which included an amulet. He said that the amulet was a pass of some sort to a tournament or battle. Apparently the Queen of the Hunt was going to pass on her power to someone she deems worthy. The tournament is supposed to start tomorrow night. He also gave a map that shows the location of the tournament.”

“I've never heard of such an event.”

“It is to be attended by some of the more sentient monsters around. I don't know for sure if it's true, but if it is the power has to be incredible. But then again that's only if you aren't killed on sight, and if you don't mind learning from monsters.”

Wraith was excited, but didn't let it show. He initially thought the Conman class was the only one that was available for him, but now he had his doubts. It was possible that an even greater reward lay in store for him.“Though I doubt it to be true, I'll take the amulet and see for myself.”

“I'll give it to you, if you promise to spare my life.”

“Very well, I'll let you live. However, if I find out that you were lying to me, I will find you through the same method I used before. Believe me when I tell you that you do not want that to happen.” Saying this, he looked at Ayrsted and from his reaction to his threat he judged him to be telling the truth.

“I wouldn't dare lie to you.” Wraith then picked up the axe and cut the rope holding Ayrsted down. He followed Ayrsted into his cabin, where he took the amulet and folded map from a small box on the table.

Though Ayrsted called it an amulet, it was little more than a small stone circle threaded through with a piece of string, covered with crude symbols.

Quest Complete!

A Mysterious Solitary Fighter

The truth behind the fighter's legacy has been revealed to be a trick. His true profession was that of a Conman, deceiving the poor and innocent through lies and false skills.

You have leveled up!

Ayrsted looked at him, and before handing over the amulet and map he asked him, “are you sure you want to do this?”

The Strength of Beasts

Rumour has it that the Queen of the Hunt is hosting a massive tournament as she is looking for an heir to her mighty power. Verify the truth of the rumour. And take part in the event

Difficulty Level: D

Quest requirements

Find Ayrsted of the Empty Fist and receive training.

Uncover Ayrsted's true profession.

Turn down Conman class.

Intimidate Ayrsted into giving information.

Quest rewards

???

Warning-Quest will immediately fail upon death

When Ayrsted looked at the quest requirements his heart felt like it was about to burst from his chest. This was the quest he was looking for. With so many strict quest requirements, this was one of the rarest quests in Royal Road. He was now certain that a great reward was lying in wait for him.

“Of course. Don't worry, I'll find the tournament and win it,” he said as he grabbed the amulet and map.

You have accepted the quest.

Wraith then left the house and made his way deeper into the woods, leaving a relieved Ayrsted watching his figure fade away into the distance. Well that's the last I'll see of him. He truly must be mad to think that he would survive walking into the middle of the battle of such fearsome monsters. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if he actually could gain such power.

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