Chapter 6
The skill to win
The first thing Crane did after the pair he was left alone was collect the loot and money from the ground. He had killed at least eighty bugs on his side and Levi had done likewise and the queen as well. Crane found a knife where the queen was slain and picked it up.
"Identify."
Steel Throwing Knife
Durability 40/40
Damage 7~10
This knife was made with a perfect balance to be thrown.
Requirements:
+50 AGI
Crane suddenly became aware of his lack of distance attacks. The knife had decent damage and would need to be retrieved after it's use, but if Crane practiced a lot he knew he should be able to gain the skill Throw. Crane held the knife as he walked through the dungeon. Although most of the beetles had been called by the queen and killed, there were still many left in the dungeon. When a group popped up the first thing Crane would do was throw his knife. After that Crane would take out his sword and kill the beetles. However for the first few attempts it he couldn't aim at all. After a while the blade was finally going where he wanted it to, but it took longer still for Crane to get the hang of making sure the blade was facing the target at the moment of contact. All the while Crane wandered through the tunnels collecting the loot of the monsters Levi and himself, but mostly Levi, had killed.
Fighting Spirit increased by 1 point. (+1 FGT SP)
Crane had been receiving +1 messages for the vitality and fighting spirit stat since he got them after defeating the wave of beetles, but had not looked up their use yet. "Show Stat Fighting Spirit and Perseverance."
Fighting Spirit
You can call on superhuman strength temporarily, or bring weaker monsters to their knees with a force n your eyes alone. You are prohibited from distributing stat bonus points to this stat, it rises spontaneously, depending on the avatar's action, especially if you fight monsters for a long time, or often confront monsters stronger than your current level. Dying or running away from battles may lower this stat
Perseverance
You are likely to use less stamina in action. You are prohibited from distributing stat bonus points to this stat.
Crane could only smile. From what he understood of their uses, fighting spirit increased after winning a battle that was fought at the edge of life and death, and perseverance increased after doing a difficult task for a long time. In other words he just had to fight hard and fight often.
A side effect of this strategy to enter more intense fights was that he was injured a lot more, and although he packed two weeks worth of herbs, rye bread, and bandages, he would eventually run out. Crane had considered ending his intensive battle streak when, after another blow, he received another message.
New Stat: Endurance
After the battle, Crane said, "Show Stat Endurance."
Endurance
Reduces physical damage and slightly increases life. You are prohibited from distributing stat bonus points to this stat.
And again, Crane smiled. Now he would purposely take strong hits, enduring the pain so he could increase his new stat. Crane now had everything he needed and no reason to leave, until...
After dealing the finishing blow to another Beetle, Crane heard a sharp CRACK sound from his sword, and a message appeared.
Your sword's durability has reached 2/80
If you continue to use your sword it shall break and sustain unrepairable damage
Crane felt a shiver of fear as he realized he needed to get back to the city immediately. He had already collected all the fallen loot he could find and was currently taking advantage of the 2x experience he had for another day. Crane rushed back to the entrance as fast as he could, when he encountered monsters he used repeated Dashes to get through the slow moving bugs.
After an hour of running around and having just finished off his mana, Crane found the door to the surface and went through. When he opened the latched his eyes screamed out in pain. Crane had forgotten that he had been in a dimly lit with glowing roots underground dungeon for almost a week. Crane shut his eyes for about three minutes before he slowly opened them for another five minutes.
After regaining his sight, he knew the first thing he wanted to see. "Show stats and skill window."
Status WindowAvatar- Crane.Alignment- NeutralLevel 71Class- Kallamore WarriorTitle- NoneFame- 40Health- 3130Mana- 1530Strength- 150+45Agility-155+46Wisdom- 60+22Intellect- 60+22Vitality- 30+16Luck- 0+10Leadership- 0+10Finesse- XX+10Fighting Spirit- 8+11Perseverance 14+12Endurance- 12+12Attack- 154Defense- 35+ All stats are added 10
+ While using a sword you receive +50% bonus to Attack
+ Decreases Mana Cost for Sword Skills by 50%
+ Can learn skills that use the Stat Finesse
+ All stats increase by 20% while wearing the Kallamore Warrior's helmet
+ All stats decrease by 20% while not wearing the Kallamore Warrior's helmet
Skills WindowIdentification [6] 78%: Enables you to learn the true value of unidentified items.
Mana Cost: 30Sword Mastery [9] 86%: Increases attack power and hit rating for swords.
+90% ATK +27% ATK SPD while using a sword.Twelve Forms [6] 3%: Increases strength and speed while fighting using the twelve forms.
+60% STR +60% AGI
Mana Cost: 10 per secondFlurry [2] 73%: Rapid series of thrusts
3 thrusts per second
Mana Cost: 30 per secondDash [4] 32%: Move a great distance in a single step
Mana Cost: 10Power Lunge [5] 23%: A strengthen piercing attack that covers some distance
Mana Cost: 45Soa's Routines [3] 55%: The routines used by Kallamore Kingdom's most elegant swordsman
A week's worth of fighting higher level monsters at double experience did wonders for his level and his sword mastery which increases at twice the rate because of his warrior sub-profession. However even though his twelve forms and identify skill were highly useful in there, his dash, flurry and Power Lunge however were not so much against bug shells.
The only thing that had not increased another level was Soa's Routine. After the fluke in the queen's chamber, he still could not reach past 50 finesse when using the skill, and it seemed that low finesse techniques barely if at all increased the proficiency of the skill.
Crane looked around and saw nothing in all directions. Crane knew his position was west of a road that was north of the city of Yarsan, so he headed southeast until he hit the road. Another two days of walking and Crane saw the Cliff that marked the city. After returning, Crane went to to shopping district to try to sell his items. Although the shoddy equipment he found would sell for something, few people would hang onto bug parts to try to sell them. But Crane knew better than most people. According to some of the books Crane read, certain bug pieces did have a use.
Crane entered the Sorcerer's shop and looked around. This shop was the only place in the city where people could buy magic ingredient and items. However according to the law, the store could only sell magical tools that only magicians could use which were mostly pointless and redundant. Because of that the store became a specialty store that sold items required for magic ceremonies and rituals, potions, and potion ingredients. Crane walked up to the shop counter.
Crane looked at the merchant and calmly asked, "This store buys and sells ingredients for potions and the like correct?"
"Of course, we buy ingredients to make potions ourselves or to sell back to people who make their own."
"What can you tell me about the shell of the Grass beetle? Do you have any in stock?"
"That it is a mid-class ingredient that can be used to make strong stamina enhancing potions popular with warriors. But I am sorry sir, we do not have any in stock."
"I see, would you care to buy some from me?"
The merchant's eyes lit up, "Of course, but there are several grades of that ingredient. If you show me all you have, I will give you a fair price that takes into account the overall grade of the stock." Crane knew that the merchant would claim his haul was lower quality than it actually was to pay as little as possible for it. But could not have known that Crane had the identify skill, and leveled it up four times sorting each and every piece he had into bags ranked by their quality.
Crane took out three bags and placed them on the table. "I have taken the liberty of sorting by grade, I think you will find everything in order, and I would like to negotiate on the price of each separately." The merchant was doomed as soon as he told Crane what the item was used for. With his extensive knowledge of item prices he obtained from reading, Crane knew exactly what the merchant could sell it for, and negotiated until the merchant would only make a profit by the barest of margins. However Crane had another goal in mind.
"You drive one of the hardest deals I've ever seen, but ok. I'll buy the low grade bag for 35G, the mid grade for 63G, and the high grade 112G. That is a total of 210 gold pieces and the absolute highest I can go, take it or leave it." It finally reached the point Crane had been waiting for. "Sir, your deal sounds reasonably to me, but before I take it, I have a question, do you make your own potions?"
"Why yes I do, every bottle in this store was made by yours truly."
"That's incredible, in that case, I've changed my mind. I'll give you everything I have for free if you can teach me your skill!"
Any profession that involves magic, whether magician or potion maker required a great deal of money. Due to this, most if not all members of these professions are always money hungry, and practically giving the man 200 gold pieces for nothing was an excellent way to disorient him. Although any decent cook could make a potion or tonic, only people with the alchemy skill could truly make potions with powerful effects from lower quality ingredients. An NPC with a skill can teach the skill to a User, but of all the skills that could be learned, Alchemy was the most well guarded. Alchemists were few in number and the craft guild preferred it that way to allow monopolization of the high grade potions.
The man blinked for a few seconds as if he could not register what Crane had said, but as his mind slowly reassembled. The words, 'two hundred gold', 'free', 'teach', and 'skill', lined up in a row inside his head. The man then said, "It's a deal, come on in the back and I'll show you how's it's done." The man picked up the bag of low grade bug pieces and took them to a small cauldron in the back of his store. He dropped the bug shell in then poured several vials into the cauldron and said, "Watch carefully, the secret of potion making is in the stirring." Crane watched carefully as the merchant stirred in a figured eight pattern that slowly rotated clockwise.
You have learned new Skill: Alchemy
After showing him the skill he left the cauldron and went to a bookshelf in the back.
"Here you go, it is the oldest book I have. I have long since memorized the recipes in it and it does no one any good collecting dust on a bookshelf, so you should take it, and these as well." Crane only smiled and received the book and the empty bottles from the merchant. As he left through the door he said, "Good bye and have a nice day."
At his words the merchant shook his head as if he had woken up from a dream. "What just happened here..?"
Whether or not he would realize what had happened Crane did not know, but he knew he would not have as much luck with the blacksmith. Before he got there he took out the book he got and looked at it. The cover was blue but it was so worn the words on the cover were no longer legible. "Identify."
Potent Recipes of Kallamore
Gives lists of ingredients of various potion recipes.
Recipes will yield poor quality potions if used without sufficient Alchemy Skill
When the merchant said it was his oldest one, Crane thought he meant the first one he got, like a basic beginner book, but he gave Crane a the oldest book he had that contained ancient recipes with powerful effects. Crane's trick had worked far better than he hoped, a mere 200G for this book and the skill to use it was a bargain.
Crane saw a thick dwarf sitting on a chair in front of the blacksmith shop. Crane had seen him before, and timed his arrival with the time the Dwarf usually used to take a break. Crane not only needed his sword repaired, he decided he needed to learn the repair skill for himself. However even though the repair skill was far more common than alchemy, learning it from this dwarf would be a greater challenge. Crane walked up to him and said, "Great blacksmith Oralast, I ask of you something only your great dwarven skills can accomplish."
The dwarf's eyes moved to Crane and he said in a low voice, "Speak."
"I am a soldier of Yarsan who wishes to learn how to repair equipment so my fellow warriors can always be ready for battle. My captain recommended I learn from an Elven Blacksmith he favors. But I know that dwarves are superior to elves in this field and have come against my captain's wishes to learn from the greatest blacksmith in Yarsan." The dwarf's eyes widened a bit at the term 'Elven Blacksmith,' but he still needed another push. "I have brought many broken and battered weapons with me so that you could use them to better instruct me in repairing them. After I have repair them, I shall give them all to you as payment as well as 100G for your time." After the last comment, Oralast got up from his chair and said, "I see you got a fine fire in ya, you'll be welcomed by the hearth. Now get out that beaten equipment so I can show you why dwarves are superior to elves on the forge.
You have learned new Skill: Repair
Two hours and a hundred gold later Crane had a newly repaired sword and his repair skill hit level three. Crane considered that the skill would not raise that fast normally but under the supervision of a skilled dwarf he rose his proficiency faster than normal. Crane still hadn't gotten the skill, Throw, after practicing in the tunnel, so after thanking and paying him Crane bought a set of ten throwing knives for 35G and a small cauldron for 15G. Crane then went back to the grocer's and used the last of the coin he obtained to fill up on supplies and few ingredients to use for practice potions.
Almost two weeks after leaving, Crane returned to his army base to find Owens. "I have returned from the field sir."
"And your timing couldn't’ve been better. I've received a report that there's a gang of criminals who've taken captive of the villagers of Surrol. That village is under our protection so we're sending in a combat force to negotiate or deal with the criminals and I want you on it.
Surrol Liberation
The people of Surrol have been invaded by a criminal gang lead by a mysterious thief. Go with the military force to Surrol to save the villagers and if necessary kill the bandits.
Difficulty: D
Reward- Dependent on Contribution to quest.
Crane was weary of this opportunity, if the quest's combat force could been assembled without him, why was he needed at all?
"Sir, why do you want me to go?"
"Because everyone else on that force in a backstabbin nobleman, and I don't trust them any further than I can throw them."
Crane said," The noblemen are skill book using high level soldiers, what is their average level and what of the gang member's levels?"
Owens looked at Crane through narrow eyelids like he had just been asked questions he had not wanted to be. "The noblemen average level 110 and our intel places the gang members average level at 85. We don't know what there boss's level is."
"Ok, I'll accept under one condition."
Owen's eyes narrowed further, "What?"
"Tell me how to use the finesse stat. I am stuck at only getting 50."
He relaxed his posture with a look of relief and said, "Hmm, I've told you before that having the answer given to you retards you progress permanently, however, if you are stuck at fifty, then there is a hint I can give you, but accept the mission first."
"I'll go to Surrol to take care of the villagers."
You have accepted the quest.
"Now, you say you've gotten to 50 already, that's impressive for couples of weeks. But a fencer's routine is only half physical motion. That is probably the half you're getting right. The other half is mental. Ask yourself why routines were created in the first place and where the source of their power comes from."
Crane was relieved that he had not been doing the routines incorrectly, only incompletely. Now he just need to figure out the source of the routine’s power and use it to figure out the mental aspect of the routines. But first he needed to join a band of sheltered brats and save a village from a group of criminals who could each probably kill him single handedly.
According to Owens, the group would leave at sundown. Crane had until then to practice his throwing skill on an archery target. Being able to throw ten knives before having to retrieve them shortened his learning time and he was getting use to throwing at different distances.
Crane stood with a knife in hand 40 feet from the target, he raised his hand behind his shoulder and held his breath. After confirming the motion in his head, he forced out his breath in a shout, something he learned increased muscle strength for a moment, and let his hand fly over his shoulder with a moderate wrist movement to control the spin. The blade missed the target.
Crane took a couple steps forward and one to the left. He had been practicing throwing at varying distances and angles and even added a shout to his throw since leaving the dungeon. It was something he read martial artists did and he thought it would be cool to practice. Crane took another dagger out and threw it with a "HA."
It hit a few inches off the center, but Crane was pleased with his progress. He took several steps to the right and a few back and threw his last knife from the set with another shout. After the sound of it striking the target was heard, two messages popped up.
You have learned new Skill: ThrowYou have learned new Skill: Shout
Crane started laughing hysterically. Today had been a good day. He brought up his skill window to see how profitable it had been.
Alchemy [1] 0% Enables you to create potent potions from various ingredientsRepair [3] 7% Enables you to repair weapons and armors. Beyond Lv. 10, you can forge new weapons and gears.Throw [1] 0% You can throw objects and weapons further and more accuratelyShout [1] 0% Increases strength for an instant while shouting.
Mana Cost: 5
STR +3% for an instant
The shout skill was unexpected but welcomed, it seemed that the timing required to learn shout was easier for him to learn than the accuracy required to learn throw.
Besides the ten knife set he purchased, Crane had one last knife from the Burrower's loot. He pulled it out and threw it at the target with a shout. The blade moved faster than they usually did and stuck itself a few inches into the center of the target. Crane dug it out and retrieved his other knives before heading to the meeting place of the combat force.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
He arrived about half an hour before sundown and sized up the group. Only half of them were there but each of them had high class equipment Crane judged had requirements right at their level, making them as strong as they could be. Another pair walked through the door followed by Barrows, in equipment Crane recognized had a level 120 minimum requirement and some rare shoes that increased movement speed. Crane wanted to say something but Barrows ignored his existence. One more member came through the room and Barrows started speaking, "The leader of this force, Captain Dessan, informed me we will meet him at his camp by the village of Surrol. You are all expected to bring your own supplies. We move out now."
Short and to the point, Barrows seemed to act this way to everyone, not just him. But although Barrows met everyone's eyes as he spoke, he looked through Crane like an empty seat. This reminded Crane that Barrows and every person in that room other than himself was a member of nobility and thought poorly of Crane. The soldiers flowed out of the room followed by Crane.
The entire atmosphere of the meeting ruined his good mood from earlier. To these people Crane was less than nothing. He was an unwanted source of competition for the reputation that individual achievement gained on the quest. Crane decided it would be best to keep his mouth shut and remain as small as possible until he returned to the base.
From there it only went downhill. After Barrows passes the city gates he started running as did the entire combat force. Running wouldn't be a problem for an average person, but Crane hadn't actually done any long term running in several years. It didn't long for them to lose Crane, and after three hours of running he was alone. However Crane had long since memorized the geography of Kallamore from books and could find his way without help.
He ran until his chest burned and his legs ached but still did not see them and ran some more. After another hour a message appeared.
Your Stamina has fallen, you can run no further
Crane was breathing heavily and barely moving forward. Crane sat down and took a look at the sky. Even though he was abandoned, tired and cold, he still smiled after he looked up. The night sky was filled with shining stars. Crane reached his hand into the air and felt like he could reach the sky. This couldn't be called a game. It wasn't real either. But he could feel the pain in his legs and the breeze on his face. Crane didn't know how long he stayed there, staring at the stars, but after he saw his stamina had fully returned, he got back on his feet and started running.
After four more days of running, he arrived close to Surrol. For all he knew the criminals had all been wiped out by that time, and the town was safe and happy. On the road to the town Crane saw a very large pair of weapon bearing men. "Ok, scratch that thought." Crane opened his inventory and re-equipped his started equipment before the men could see he was wearing an army uniform and helmet and walked towards them. Compared to the men, Crane was a young, skinny, poorly dressed, boy with a thin sword. Crane tried to walk while appearing as meekly as he could. As he closed in on them, one of the men said, "Halt, this road is closed, go another way."
Crane raised his hands like he was afraid of being beaten and said, "good sir, the next road over is a full day longer by foot, if I may ask, how long until this road reopens?" The guards looked at each other and started chuckling. "Heh, by sundown tomorrow, everything will be taken care of." Crane nodded and left back down the road. A few hundred feet down the road Crane saw another pair of men, these ones he recognized. The two soldiers from the combat force glared at him and motioned for Crane to follow them. He figured that there were people posted at both the north and south exit to ascertain how many people came and went from the village.
Crane was lead to a small camp outside the village where all but two members of the combat force were located. One of the men escorting him went to a man Crane had not seen before while the other stayed with Crane. The unknown man walked up to Crane and said, "I am Captain Dessan. I wasn't sure that you would make it here. I am sorry you wasted your trip, but you are not needed and may return to the city."
Crane said, "I beg your pardon Captain, but I cannot do as you ask."
Dessen replied with a dangerous look in his eye, "Is that so?"
"Yessir, my instructor Owens told me he would reward me with a skill book depending on how I contribute to the quest. I know I am weak, but I will carry my own weight."
Crane could hear Dessen mutter the word 'Owens,' along with some profanity before saying, "Carry your own weight can you? Let me see your sword."
Crane could not defy the order of his rightful commanding officer and handed Dessen his rapier by the hilt. Dessen gripped the sword hard before saying, "Barrows."
Barrows slashed his sword through the space between Crane and Dessen where Crane's rapier was. The blade of the Rapier had snapped off in what Crane believed to be the skill Power Break. Dessen dropped the bladeless handle and said, "It is dangerous to carry a damaged sword into combat, it could snap at any time and leave you defenseless. How can you carry your own weight if you don't even have a proper sword?"
Crane's willpower was just barely keeping him from assaulting a man who was likely twice his level. Crane's sword had not been used since brought back to full durability by the blacksmith Oralast. Barrows sword was stronger, his level higher, and if Crane was correct had used Power Break. Crane bent down to pick up his sword when Dessen said, "Get yourself back to the city to fix that up, you can return after that but everything here will have concluded by then." Crane found the broken blade and walked out of the camp. Just before he left, Dessen said, "Don't forget to thank Barrows for demonstrating the danger you faced here. He did save your life." Crane walked out saying nothing, but at his back he could hear laughing.
Crane started running away from the camp in the direction of the city without looking back. After two hours of running he stopped. Crane figured Dessen would sent scouts after Crane to ensure he was heading home, but they would've turned back by now. Crane took out the broken sword and said "Repair"
Could not be restored to full durability with current skills
Maximum Durability has been lost
Light Rapier:
Durability 50/71
Damage- 10~12
A fine rapier made of quality iron. The back of the blade was made with a stronger iron, making it more durable
Options: +5 AGI
Requirements
STR 50
Crane hated Dessen for what he had done but was relieved the attack on his sword had not dropped, even if the max durability had. He was at least glad he had his helmet inside his inventory, or Dessen may have made an excuse to take it away. Crane need to figure out what Dessen did not want Crane around for and if it had anything to do with the sundown tomorrow deadline he had been told the road to the village would be closed till. Crane needed more information but had limited resources, he needed more options. Crane needed to clear his mind, so he did something that always did the trick. He took out a book and begun to read.
Potent Recipes of Kallamore was the only thing he had, but maybe something there could give him an idea. The book contained recipes for ancient elixirs and poisons, but he needed a high level Alchemy skill to make them successfully. The ingredients he had could make only make health potions. However the book contained recipes that used wild herbs that grew in Kallamore Kingdom, the grasslands he was now in. Crane's ingredients could be combined with certain plants that grew in the area to make poisons. However Crane only had the name of the missing ingredients, he did not know what they looked like. At that point Crane started to search the grasslands for herbs and use identify on each one he found. It was a long shot but if he could find something to make a poison, he may have been able to stand a chance.
At about the time the sun rose, Crane was reasonably depressed. He had found some plants he could use to make a decent poison, but he failed to extract them, destroying the usability in the process. The only herb Crane had successfully harvested was a paralytic ingredient. And it seemed that because they were poorly extracted, they were of the lowest grade in quality. Crane was running out of time and used all the herbs he collected to make the paralytic poison in his cauldron. He managed to fill a single bottle. "Identify."
Simple potion of paralysis
The ingredients are of low quality but created by someone with skill
Paralysis for 3~10 seconds
The potion came out pretty bad but it was the best he could do and it did give him more options he did not have before.
Both criminal guards and Dessen's scouts would be watching the north and south entrances to the village and Dessen was camped on the west side, so Crane went a long way around to the east side of the village before making his approach. He did his best to approach unnoticed, but doing so was slow and it took four hours before Crane could see the outskirts of the town. Crane saw a single guard leaning on a rock looking out over the landscape. Before entering Crane would half to deal with him. Crane moved to the backside of the rock, where the guard could not see and took out a knife and potion. Crane poured the potion over the knife, and knelt down to pick up a rock. Crane threw the small rock hard at the back end of the rock the guard was leaning against, making a loud noise. Crane stayed perfectly motionless, knife in hand, as the guard circled to the back of the rock. Crane threw the knife at the man, and before confirming the hit, used dash to shorten the distance between the two. The knife hit his arm, but before he could raise his weapon, he froze in place. Crane shouted and used power lunge, combining his shout, dash, and lunge to a single strengthen attack. However the guard was not dead yet, Crane did not know when the man would recover so he took his majestic stance, 50!, shouted at the top of his lungs, and used Flurry. After three seconds of Flurry the man finally dissolved, leaving behind his armor. Crane had an idea.
Crane, now dressed in the guard's armor entered the village, trying to attract as little attention as possible. Crane found his way to the largest building in the village, where in front of it he saw two men talking. Crane hid next to the wall and listened in on the conversation.
"If the ransom isn't delivered by sundown, we get to kill every person in the village."
"I almost wish they don't pay, there are so many women here I want to make dead."
"Don't even talk like that, between this lot and my shared of 50,000 gold, I'd rather have the gold."
"But we were told a man called Dessen would bring us the ransom by now, where is he?"
Crane saw another man approaching so he quickly left. He found a broken down home and risked opening the door. He saw no one inside and decided here would be an ok spot to stop and plan. Crane had read of many such scenarios and it sounded like one of two things were happening. Dessen and his troops were given orders to kill the criminals and save the village folks held hostage. However if that were true he would have no reason to reject Crane's help, meaning it would be the second possibility. Dessen was given 50,000 gold to pay the criminals, he will wait until the deadline had passed and the criminals have killed all the villagers. Dessen and his combat force will then kill the criminals. He would likely report that the criminals killed the villagers after getting the ransom, he killed them in retaliation but did not recover the 50,000 gold. He would get the reputation for killing the awful criminals who slaughtered innocents and 50,000 gold as well.
Crane had to do something but he had no more paralysis potion, and even if he did, he could not kill the entire criminal gang by himself. Nothing had changed from before. Crane needed an army of his own to free the villagers. Crane raised his head as an epiphany struck him, he did have an army, they just didn't know it yet.
Crane took off the guard's uniform and hid it inside the house after re-equipping his military uniform. The bandit's was better than his uniform but Crane didn't want the criminals to find it while searching him and discover he killed one of their own. Crane exited the house and walked towards the center of town. He was surrounded by the criminals in less than a minute.
"Take me to your leader."
Like all sane people in the world, he had always wanted to say that, but a man replied, "Why shouldn't we kill you right now?"
"Because I got here somehow, and whoever is in charge will want to hear what I have to say." Crane was taken to a empty house where he was under a two man guard until the door opened revealing a slender halfling in what Crane recognized to be a thief's upper level choice clothing. "Hello, my name is Tensford, and I am told you have something I'll want to hear." Crane remembered that the halfling race is not native to Kallamore kingdom, meaning the leader of these bandits was a user.
"Captain Dessen is in a camp to the west of here with your 50,000 gold. But he won’t be sharing it with you. As long as there are no survivors, whatever he says happened here is what everyone will believe. After you have killed everyone to make a point that your demands are to be met, Dessen's soldiers will kill everyone one you."
Tensford's face remained neutral as he removed his dagger and shined sun's light at Crane with the blade. "And why should I believe you?" Everything Crane had said could not be proven, his only choice was to make a leap of faith and trust his intuition. "Because you are being used by Dessen's employer." Tenford's eyes widened for just a moment. "You were given a quest by someone to ransom the villagers here for 50,000 gold. Not the person who gave you the quest, but the person who hired them, used their influence to ensure that Dessen and some spoiled noblemen would be the ones to deliver the ransom. After you are dead Dessen will deliver the 50,000 gold to that person himself. Though the nature of that deal is unknown to me."
Tensford's eyes noticeably twitched. He raised his dagger and stabbed it with all his force into the table. "If what you say is true, what do you propose?" As Crane thought this person was a user, though whether or not he knew that the Kallamore Warrior Crane was one as well was still a mystery.
Crane looked up at Tensford and smiled. "How high is your pickpocket skill?"
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Crane watch the horizon from the roof of a house to see the last bit of the sun vanish. Dessen would arrive in the village shortly to kill the criminals, and Crane didn't want to miss the show. Dessen and his men could be seen heading for the village, but what they found left them speechless. The villagers were set free and noticed the arrival of the the combat force. They rushed to them with open arms shouting, "Thank You nobleman of Yarsan," and "You have saved us." The villagers came right up to the people and actually hugged them. Crane smiled from above as Barrows got a nice big hug and looked very uncomfortable. A man came up to Dessen but before he could get close Dessen raised his sword. The people who had been close to the soldiers backed away at his gesture but the man continued towards Dessen. The Captain extended his sword in a very threatening manner, but the man stopped and said, "I am the village elder. I was told you are Captain Dessen, and you are responsible for paying our ransom. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you."
Dessen looked incredibly uncomfortable, his plan required the villager to be killed by the criminals, he could not kill them himself and get away with it because the criminals were still out there. And there was the manner of the paid ransom. Dessen turned his head slowly to Barrows. Barrows moved his hand in the air, an indication he was looking through his inventory. Barrows said nothing but his face went white. Dessen narrowed his eyes and gave Barrows a look that could kill. He put on a calm mask and asked the village elder, "Told by who?"
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Crane slowly got off the roof so as not to be noticed and Dashed to the the southern end of the village, where he saw the man who had given a hug to Barrows.
Tensford asked, "How did you know that it was the man called Barrows, and not Dessen himself or any other member of his unit that was holding onto the 50,000 gold? From what you told me you could not have known who Dessen trusted enough to hold onto the money for him.
Crane let another smile slip and said, "The shoes. Each of those guys had expensive, high quality shoes focused on defense, but only Barrows had shoes that enhanced movement speed instead of defense. If everything went to hell the guy with the money had to be able to make it out. I confirmed this when I saw the Dessen had on normal shoes as well."
Tensford let out another laugh and said. "Well, now I get to decided whether or not to kill you. You have helped us and if you were apart of my gang you would receive a fair cut, but you are not. You are young, but you have proven yourself formidable. It just so happens that one of my men was killed and we have an opening. Would you like to join my gang?"
You have received an offer to join a criminal gang!
If you accept it, your post as a infantryman of Kallamore will be abandoned and you will be charged with desertion. You are entitled to receive training in criminal skills. Your infamy will raise with each successful crime, and you position shall rise with your infamy. You will receive your cut of the ransom, 15,000 gold.
It sounded like Tensford knew that Crane had killed him but was fine with it because it proved he had the skills to do so. The idea of abandoning the city to live the life of crime sounded fun, and Crane would be able to learn skills like pickpocket and lockpicking, but Crane got more fun from being the hero than the villain. That and he would incur strict penalties and be unable to leave his class if he left the Royal Kallamore Army. "I thank you for your offer. But that isn't the kind of person I am."
You have rejected the offer.
Tensford frowned and said. "Then we have a problem. You know my face and are not under my command. I think I may have to kill you."
Crane nodded and said, "Yes, I understand you have to protect your interests. But there is a way I can join you without becoming a criminal."
Criminals get money by performing crimes, but most of the income from a professional criminal comes from contract work. The trick to hiring a criminal is knowing where to look, so criminal organizations often posed as legitimate guilds. The only way to learn of which guild was a so-called dark guild was by referral, making them all but untraceable. However if every member of a gang was apart of the guild, word about which guilds were secretly dens of criminals would get out quick. But the User leader of a criminal gang was almost always guaranteed to be a dark guild member. However although most guilds are run by NPCs, since the starting of the game only Users could join a guild.
At Crane's implication Tensford narrowed his eyes and said, "Wait, you're a user? User's can't join the army of Kallamore."
"I can prove it, would you like to be friends?"
And once again another round of laughter from Tensford, he even said, "sure."
Tensford has been added to your friend list.
Only users could be added and Crane had spent two months in an empty library and two months in an NPC only army base. He had met few if any users in Royal Road and this was his first request.
Tensford said, "Alright then, but as for your request, I don't have that authority. I'll tell them you're interested of course, but no promises." Leaving it at that, Tensford walked away.
Chapter 7 Allies and Enemies viewtopic.php?f=91&t=578&p=2357#p2357
Chapter 5 The Variable Stat Finesse viewtopic.php?f=91&t=576