They had probably walked for a couple of hours with Quill doing his best to act like he wasn’t having a hard time seeing where he was going. He could only imagine how hard it would have been without his enhanced eyesight. Just to briefly test it out he quickly turned it off and on again. The difference was striking in how little light the few lamps in the tunnel actually provided. He could only hope that as that skill leveled up. So would his perception.
To test another theory and to pass the time, Quill took to carefully examining the Rat Kin ahead of him with every possible detail he could find. Once he was he felt like he couldn’t find anything more about them he casted identify on them.
Rat Kin
Max 5 level difference
Class- Within the Rogue group.
Well that was certainly new, and Identify didn’t level up which proved the point that the more information he could discern from an object or somebody the more information he would probably get from the skill, even at level 2 it helped him gain some decent information. He decided to make leveling up identify a priority once he wasn’t in life and death situations.
Plus he was pretty sure that meant if he wanted to level up a skill he had to make sure he did things that meant he progressed with said skill. He would have to workshop how he would go about leveling up the skills he currently had, as well as maybe trying to get more skills too.
Eventually they came to a stop and the Rat Kin turned to look at him wearily. “No funny business human. Rest assured we will not tolerate any potential acts of treachery.”
Before he could respond, the Rat Kin reached up and shoved open the trap door before scurrying up himself. Quill briefly hesitated wondering if this was all some elaborate trap. But then remembered the Rat Kin could have just killed him when he initially ambushed him and that would be the end of it so decided to climb up as well while hoping for the best.
The first impression was that it seemed like the whole layout of the metro station was the same as the other two, even the placement of the trap door. So yeah, the system was lazy in creating this dungeon.
The next was that, as opposed to the previous 2 stations he had been in, this one seemed to have houses. Well, more like hovels. They weren’t really impressive to look at and seemed almost slapped together with spare parts that might have been lying around but they were still livable areas in a way all lined up against the walls. Some even stacked on top of each other. Kinda gave a slum vibe if he was being honest.
Quill then took note of several Rat Kin standing around him and the trap door with their weapons drawn but made no real move to stop him or hinder his movements. He did note that they were all very tense, as if waiting for him to suddenly spring forward and begin the slaughter. He also took notice that towards both of the platforms were several more guards standing by the stairs, eyeing him wearily and clearly protecting something that was on both of the platforms.
“Come human. My master wishes to see and speak with you.” The rogue Rat Kin spoke and Quill tentatively followed towards where the Kiosk would have sat.
The Kiosk was still there but it was fortified with various pieces of metal and in front sat a Rat Kin in some dirty brown robes holding a long wooden stick with a human skull at the end. If he was a betting man he would probably guess this rat was some kind of wizard or shaman.
“Either way you should be careful. You’ve never fought a magic user and don’t know what they might be able to do. Examine him closely before casting your identify.”
He had to agree with her assessment and walking with confidence he certainly did not feel as he made his way towards the sitting rat kin. The guards that had circled around him followed, keeping their distance but ready to move at a moment's notice. The rogue that had escorted Quill was already at the shaman/wizard rat kin whispering in his ear.
It was taking just about every ounce of his mental powers not to freak out. His anxiety was blaring at him from every angle about every tiny detail with every single possible scenario that could go wrong.
Needless to say he absolutely needed to solve this diplomatically cause he sure as hell wasn’t going to solve this with violence. Or at least not solve it without coming out alive.
“Should have just killed the rogue rat like I was saying. If you end up dying here I am going to make sure you never hear the end of it.”
He almost asked her how he would never hear the end of it if he were dead but now wasn’t the time as the Rat Kin dressed like a Wizard/shaman stood up from where he sat and held his hand out for Quill to halt which he did.
“You are the one who bares the title?” He looked Quill up and down briefly and then shook his head “You hold no title. Why did you claim to have such? Even if this is the tutorial for your planet. The system does not take kindly to such statements. The fact that you would claim such a thing and not suffer the consequences is confusing.”
“Uh..” Quill hesitated to speak wondering how he knew he didn’t have a title but then summarized that he probably casted identify or something equivalent so felt like honesty was the best answer “I never said I had a title. Your guys just sort of assumed I did and ran away.”
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The Rat Shaman/wizard raised what he assumed was an eyebrow (It was a little difficult to read their facial structure). And eyed him up and down once more. “So this whole thing about you having a title is a misunderstanding?”
“Unless I suddenly got one without looking.” He then briefly checked his status just to make sure cause he could see the system being an ass and suddenly gave him one after saying that. “Nope. Don’t have one”
“Hmm.” The shaman/wizard seemed to relax a little after hearing that. “I am both relieved and frustrated to hear that human. Tell me. Do you know why I have brought you here?”
“Can’t really say that I do. The fact that you didn’t have your little rogue friend try to kill me and are currently talking to me leads me to believe you have some kind of request?”
“Astute observation” The shaman/wizard spoke. “Then I shall not beat around the bush. I want you to kill our king, destroy his spawner, and exterminate the roaches.”
“Wow. He seems surprisingly forthcoming. I don’t trust him at all and think you should only accept the deal with the intent of breaking it later. You know, when you aren’t in such a dangerous position because you thought it was a BRILLIANT idea to just waltz into here unprepared.” She spoke in a rather sarcastic tone
She did have a point. Sorta. So Quill spoke again “How can I trust this deal? Seems pretty weird that you would be so quick to trust that kind of task to me.”
“I don’t trust you human. But I know that the rat king won’t rest until you are dead after what you did to his forces. And once he kills you, he will kill us for what he perceives as a betrayal. The roaches? They care not for anything that isn’t their own, they will try to kill you on sight so you will eventually have to fight them as well. And the roaches will kill us on sight too, making them a common enemy. Thus our goals align, having a powerful warrior will increase our chances of survival. And our faction's help will increase yours.”
That did make a fair amount of sense to him. Self preservation was a pretty strong motivating factor. “And the spawner that you mentioned?”
The Rat Kins eyes narrowed. “Our king made a bargain like many before him. When his power was threatened he went to the system to beg for mercy and it was delivered to him and those that were still loyal to him. Including myself. In return our levels and powers were stripped and we were forced into a kind of stasis until we were given the second chance with this tutorial. Should we live through it. We shall be able to start anew on the planet that is awaiting us.”
Before Quill could ask what this had anything to do with a spawner the Shaman/Wizard continued. “When we were put into the tutorial we were given rules to adhere to and told that the inhabitants this tutorial was made for would arrive in a short while. The king was given a special gift though. Two spawners for Rat Kins and Dire Rats.”
The wizard/shaman suppressed a shiver and the rest seemed equally disturbed by the notion. “Instead of rejecting it out right or using it only as a desperate measure. The king saw it as a way to gain back his power with an army of system generated minions loyal only to him.”
“Judging by the tone I take it this was a big no no?” Quill asked, his mind racing over the multiple implications he just discovered from this small conversation.
The Rat Wizard/shaman looked at him like he had gone insane for a second before speaking “Imagine a spawner for you humans. Those certainly exist. Every human that is spawned from it is soulless, a doll that seeks only to enact the will of the one in control of the spawner. It has basic intelligence, sure but its main purpose is to fight, kill and destroy. There is no real sentience, no real thought, no real life. An imitation and mockery of your species if you will.”
“What the fuck?” Quill spoke with a mix of horror and confusion. Even she was disturbed by the notion judging by the roiling of emotions that seemed to rise up from within his mind “Why is your king wanting to use such a thing?”
“Because it is a useful tool and weapon. It also makes sure he stays in power. Something I learned too late was that he did not want to give up the power. Even if it meant turning to methods most would condemn. I and many others spoke out against it. He didn’t listen, so for that we left. We are now his enemies according to him. This happened even before you humans arrived.”
Yeah, that makes sense. “So why are you asking me to do this?”
The wizard/shaman smiled “As I said. Our goals align. I plan to use you to soften up the rat kings forces, force all his attention on you. Then,” He gestures towards the rogue “He shall kill the rat king and destroy the spawner.”
“So I’m a distraction, a distraction that will very likely see me dead.”
“And yet you have a higher chance of succeeding than if you did it alone. Just like we have a higher chance of succeeding if we have you.”
“Allies of circumstances then.”
“Precisely”
The same with the roaches then. He didn’t need to question why the roaches needed to go down if they were telling the truth. Luckily his quests stated he needed to destroy what was making more of them which led him to believe in order to complete the quest. He needed to destroy the spawners.
“Alright then. I accept these terms but how do I know you won’t backstab me when this is all said and done. How do you know I won’t”
A sudden screen appeared in front of him
Contract with Ssevinac
Huh, he didn’t know the system could do that. Or maybe it was his class? Either way, he read it over and thankfully it didn’t seem to have any legal jargon that would confuse him. It all boiled down too. We both help each other kill the rat kings faction and destroy the roaches. We also enter a non hostility agreement with the other until the tutorial is over. If either were to break the agreement then it would result in a ten level reduction towards the breaker. It seemed pretty straight forward.
He sent a mental thought towards her asking if there was anything she saw that he should be weary of.
“None that I see. It is pretty straightforward and it certainly improves our chances of completing all of your quests within time. That said, I still argue that you don’t need their help and don’t need to accept such a contract, though at this point it doesn’t feel like much of a choice.”
There was one thing he did take note though which he felt compelled to ask “What of the cursed sins? What are your plans with them?”
Ssevinac gave him an odd look “We will not do anything to the cursed sins as we are not stupid or crazy enough to even try. If you wish to die fighting them then by all means do so. But do so after the rat king and roaches are dealt with. Do we have a deal or not?
Quill looked over the contract one final time before looking back at the wizard/shaman whom he guessed was named Ssevinac. “Deal… How do I sign this though?”