Tec Mage Chapter Thirty One: Consequences Of The Information Network
Dracken and the bold little man was sitting in a bar at a table opposite to each other, the bold small man had introduced him self as Mr Peel, Mr Peel was sitting and shaking while holding a drink cupped between his hands, Mr Peel was a quite man who had found employment in Dracken's information network in finding quests and information leading to said quest but now he found him self in front of his employer
The whole situation of him meeting Dracken was the lack of payment in fact the whole of the information network hadn't been paid in months, after some investigating Mr Peel and many other people in the network had found why they hadn't been paid, the 4 captains who were the back bone of the network had intentionally with held the money that would of gone to pay the employees, they had tried to ruin the information network that Dracken had started so they could build their own on the ruins of the old
Mr Peel didn't know what to think of Dracken, though out his research in to the captains he found out where they lived, where they hanged out and their future plans for the information network, a good amount of info on the 4 captains was found but on Dracken he had found very little, only that he was the owner of the network and what he looked like, where he hanged out and lived was a mystery
This was why Mr Peel was shaking, he had stuck his neck out to find the information about the 4 captains and found that they were quite viscous and now he had stuck his nose further in by telling the owner about the captains misdeeds, with such little info on Dracken he couldn't be sure what Dracken was like and if he was like the captains
Mr Peel drank deeply from his cup, in his cup was a very week wine that had been water down, the taste was rubbish but cheap after all alcohol was expensive, opposite him Dracken waited while rolling a grape between his fore finger and thumb
Placing the cup down Mr Peel wiped his mouth with a piece of cloth "that's all i know"
Dracken looked into the Mr Peel's eyes, it came to Dracken that this whole thing could be a well timed hoax and Mr Peel could be working for someone else to discredit his captains and break up the information network from with in but either way something had to be done
Dracken placed the grape he was toying with in to his mouth, he was thinking of today's adventure, the group of 4 thugs who tried to mug him were only level 20 but with team work they had mange to temporary pinned him down, on the other hand Dracken's captains were level 30 when the information network had started to get off the ground and he guessed that their level were higher by 5 levels, Dracken also thought about their team work, by almost destroying his information network and managing to keep the info away from Dracken they most certainly had great team work
"I may need some help with this one" said Dracken
"Y..yes i agree, 4 against 1 is too great of odds, b.. but who can you trust when your own captains betrayed you" Mr Peel looked stunned at his own bluntness "wait, no, i.. i mean that you don't know who else is working for them, you don't want to turn up with men and find that in stead of 4 against 4 it will be 7 against 1"
Dracken liked the way Mr Peel thought, he had also thought the same but he knew of some one who not only wouldn't betray him but could take on all of the captain single handed "When you were doing research on the 4 captains did you find any information on the 5th captain"
"A 5th captain..... no there was nothing about a 5th captain" Mr Peel said meekly
"I'm not surprised, to be honest he isn't a true captain.. more on the lines of a enforcer" as Dracken said this he pulled out a little black silk bag and opened it
In the bag a little transparent head popped out, it was one of Atlas mana mouses, Atlas had given Dracken, Mary and even the gnolls a mana mouse each, each mana mouse knew exactly where Atlas was, so if Dracken wanted to find Atlas all he would have to do was follow the mana mouse, there was a 2nd function to the mana mouse that was darker, if any one with a mana mouse was in deep trouble they could destroy the mana mouse, this would transfer the memory's of the mouse to Atlas, this was why they were kept in a black silk bag, so that all the memory's of the mouse would be black up until the moment the mouse was taken out of the bag and destroyed, this would allow Atlas to look through the memory's super fast and find where the trouble was
"D1 mouse, find Atlas" said Dracken
The little mana mouse jumped out of the bag ran out of the building followed by Dracken and Mr Peel
Atlas found that he could name each one of his mana mouse's and that when destroyed their memory would transferrer back to him instead of "A mana mouse has been destroyed" he would get "D1 has been destroyed"
This was why he named the mouse that Dracken held D1, it stood for Dracken 1, Mary also had a mana mouse but her's was called M1, Atlas did this so he knew who was in trouble and could distinguish between the thousands of mana mouses he had made, if it didn't have a letter in front Atlas would just delete the message
The mana mouse skipped though the streets and bounced of boxes, Dracken was a speed type mage so he didn't have a problem keeping up but Mr Peel did, he was sweating buckets and his short little legs was only just keeping up, just as he was going to collapse the mana mouse slowed down and stopped out side some grounds that was surrounded by stone walls
"W...where are we" asked Mr Peel, he was dabbing his brow with a cloth and resting while leaning against a stone wall
"Shuu" Dracken put a finger to his lips
Dracken walked in to the grounds surrounded by walls, all around the inside off the walls were make shift huts but this didn't interest Dracken, what did interest Dracken was the man sitting in the centre off the grounds on a chair resting his hand on a table, this was of course Atlas, he was making a list and his table was full of papers, pencils and all kinds of measuring rulers, there was even a mana blueprint that Atlas was making changes to
Before Dracken could say anything the little mana mouse known as D1 skipped in to the room and jumped on to the table Atlas was working at, Dracken witnessed Atlas lightly touch the mana mouse and absorb the memory's of D1
After awhile of just looking at Atlas Mr Peel spoke up
"W..who is that" asked Mr Peel as he looked up to Dracken, he was no longer as scared as before but he was out of breath
Before Mr Peel could get his answer he was greeted by an unfamiliar voice
"Dracken, Mr Peel, i will be with you in a minute" said Atlas from his table
"W..waa" Mr Peel was stunned "h.. how does he know my name"
Dracken lips smiled at the corner "i would say that my information network is good but his is amazing, as you know my information network is flawed, if someone with holds info, forgets it or doesn't think it's worth mentioning then it will not reach me but he doesn't have that problem"
"W..what, how" asked Mr Peel
It was all down to the mana mouses, what they hear and see could be transferred to Atlas without any lose of information but Dracken couldn't say that, it was a secret that Atlas asked Dracken to keep
"Trade secret, lets just say we use our information network differently, so i know i can trust him" said Dracken
"Right, I'm ready, Mr Peel will you lead the way" Atlas was standing next to the door way
Mr Peel took a step back, he hadn't realised how tall Atlas was, when he had first seen Atlas he was sitting at the table but now he was standing next to him
"B..bu..but you don't even know what's going on" stammered Mr Peel
"Just lead the way, didn't i say that his information network is amazing, i would say that he could even find out what the king was going to eat for dinner before even the king knew" explained Dracken
Mr Peel mouth fell open and then closed and opened again, he was doing an great imitation of a fish
"I can maybe believe what you said but your still 2 vs 4, your out matched" said Mr Peel
"Who is out matched, who said that" Forge had raised his head from his sleeping position on top of Atlas shoulders
Mr Peel started to sway, he was just a simple man who wanted to live a simply life but now he was involved in a power struggle between information networks and a talking scarf, Mr Peel didn't know that the red scarf on Atlas shoulders was in fact an imugi, instead he thought he had gone crazy with worry, in his mind he decided to push it out of his mind to save his tired mind
"Right this way" said Mr Peel as he shook his head
It didn't take long for Mr Peel to guide Dracken to the bar that the four captains hanged out, with the money the 4 captains stole they could afford to drink most days
"Thank you Mr Peel, i will contact you in the future about back pay for everyone, i advise you to return to your business, after all we don't want the 4 captain thinking that you told on them, do we" said Dracken
No we bloody well do not thought Mr Peel but instead he just ran away as fast as his little legs could carry him
When Dracken and Atlas entered the bar many pairs of eyes looked their way, a dark and smelly place the only noise was coming from the 4 men sitting at the counter
"When i get my hands on my share I'm going to buy my self a pub, not like this dump but a high class one, one that has a piano"
"Starting a fresh network over the ruins of the old will take a little gold and time"
"What are you talking about, it's in the bag, that idiot doesn't even know what's going on with his own information network, we could take over right now if we had just a little more gold"
"Who's fault is that, if you just stop drinking we could have been up and running by now"
"Hehehe your one to talk, you drink more than me"
These four men were the captains Dracken had hired to take care of the network while he did other things, Dracken couldn't believe how stupid these people were, turning there backs on him and the information network but being so loud and public about it, no wonder Mr Peel had found out about there future plans, it was like they weren't even try hiding it
Dracken stepped forwards only to be stopped by Atlas
"Listen they haven't seen us yet but i get the impression that they aren't alone" Atlas gestured with his eyes to the right
The many pairs of eyes that had watched them entered were still on them and the people they belong to had their hands down beside there waist
"Whats the plan then" said Dracken with a whisper
Atlas pulled a small pouch from his belt and opened it, Atlas went on to hand Dracken two small leaf, one was a yellow stamina leaf and the other was nasty smelling green one
"Chew these, don't swallow them" Atlas also popped the same leafs in to his mouth and started to chew
Dracken had complete faith in Atlas he didn't even ask why or what these leafs were, Dracken went on to watch Atlas uncork a potion vial and place it on one of the empty tables
The liquid in the vial seemed to be one part liquid and one part gas, the substance acted like water as it slushed about but it settled down like fog, gently falling and condensing
"Now we wait" said Atlas but just then the captains spotted Dracken and Atlas, the 4 captains became deathly silent
"Stale for time" Atlas whispered
The 4 captains just stared at Dracken, all of them was wondering how much he had heard, one of the captains spoke up
"Hi boss, it's been awhile" as the captain took a step forward one of the other captain held him back, the captain that had taken a step forward looked back to see his comrade shaking his head
All the captains instantly understood what the shaking of the head meant, the fake greeting to test Dracken and see what he heard wasn't needed, they all could see Atlas
The last time the captains had seen Atlas was when he was used as an enforcer and had helped Dracken to receive a unpaid debt, even though they had only seen Atlas once they all understood that Dracken meant business and they couldn't bluff there way out
Thinking fast the captain who had held back the other captain spoke first
"By the looks of things you are prepared and informed, that's to be expected of the owner of the information network but still can you take on all of us, you are more than out numbered" just then chairs though out the room could be heard scraping the floor as people pushed off there seat and stood up
A strange cool breeze could be felt though the bar even though there was no windows or doors open
"WHAM" Atlas had slammed his staff on the ground bringing the whole rooms attention to him self
"Boss Dracken you leave the captains to me" Atlas was pretending that Dracken was his boss just like when the captains first saw him
The four captains remembered how Atlas fought last time, it was a mixture of magic and physical attacks and it was completely unpredictable to their eyes, each one of the captains had some cold sweat rolling down their foreheads, they weren't sure that they could win against Atlas, even 4 against one
"Come on, we can take him" whispered on of the captains "we have trained for this"
After the captains formed their plan to take over the information network they also at the same time searched for Atlas, having a powerful magic user who could fight on their side would benefit them greatly and if he refused then he would need to be removed but they couldn't find any info on Atlas and instead worked on their team work at defeating Atlas if the need ever rise
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"What going on here" Forge had woken up after resting on Atlas shoulders, yawning and stretching his body Forge flapped his wings
"A magical beast" the four captains had a little gasp, the cold sweat that they felt when Atlas stepped forward was now a pouring rain of nervousness and fear, they weren't even sure what Forge was but hearing him speak in human tongue they were sure Forge was something magical and powerful, after all animals couldn't speak in human tongue unless they were high level, magical or legendary creatures and any one of the three were super dangerous to them
Thinking fast the smallest of the 4 captain changed his attitude instantly "it's clear to us that you are something more than a enforcer so how about joining us, we are offering gold and a leading part in the new information network, with the five of us we would be unbeatable"
Just as Atlas was going to answer a small crash in the corner of the room was caused by a man slumping over his table and falling to the floor
"God damn him" thought the 4 captains, every one in the pub was hired by them for protection and times just like these where they were confronted by there enemy but this man was drunk and had passed out and now was useless
Atlas quickly checked the passed out man to make sure it wasn't dangerous and then just as fast moved his eyes back on to the captains "how much gold"
Dracken was surprise when Atlas said this, even though he knew that Atlas was on his side the question threw him off and it must of shown on his face because the 4 captains were laughing
"20 gold now and a stake in the company's future" said the smallest of the captains
20 gold was a good amount for low level but it could be considered nothing to Atlas, after all he could make a steel weapon that had enchantments on it in less than a hour and sell it for 300 gold
"is that all" said Atlas
"No of course not" said all of the captains at once, by pooling all of there stolen money together they managed to collect 74 gold
This amount of gold was about half of the gold that was stolen from the people in the information network, there combine wage was small because of the safety of their job and the fact all they did was read, a skill that wasn't rare
"Throw it over" demanded Atlas
The sack that held the 74 gold was tossed though the air and as Atlas caught it a new crash and a pair of men collapsed in to a pile
"What the hell is going on" thought the captains, how can so many people be stupid enough to get drunk at a time like this
There was now only two other people in the pub that was hired by the captains, the bar tender had left when he saw Atlas and Dracken, he knew trouble when he saw it and had left to make sure he wasn't part of it
With the gold in Atlas hand he judged the weight and to the horror of the captains he handed it to Dracken like it was nothing "if you want to buy me then you should of offered 1000 gold, that's how much i am being paid by Dracken here" Atlas lied
The 4 captains faces had gone bright red, they had been fooled and lost most of the gold on the off chance they would get a powerful comrade, the only thing that was holding the 4 captains back was the mystery of the magical monster but now such a thing had flown out of there mind and only shame and anger was there
"KILL THEM" shouted the smallest captain
The remaining two people who where sat at there tables stood up, wobbled and fell to the floor
"GOD ALMIGHTY, WHAT DO YOU PAY YOU FOR" screamed the little captain
Atlas and Dracken had done nothing but all the people in the pub except Atlas, Dracken and the 4 captains had collapsed, it wasn't the fault of the hired thugs but instead they had all been poisoned by a sleeping potion that had been steadily passing though the air from the bottle that Atlas placed on the table, only time was needed for the potion to take effect
The reason that the captain were still on there feet was because of the type of potion Atlas had made, Atlas wasn't able to find a antidote to the sleeping potion but he did find out that increasing the body's stamina and heart rate he could negate the effects of the sleeping potion by using the body's natural gifts, this was why Atlas and Dracken were chewing on yellow and green herb, stamina and a herb that increased heart rate made sure that when the poison was absorbed it was quickly neutralized in the body and even though the captains didn't have the herbs there heart rate had quickened when they had seen Atlas and Dracken and this was enough to keep them standing but dizzy
"NOW" shouted Atlas
Dracken pulled out two knifes and threw them at two of the captains, each knife had a steel wire attached, the speed and fluid movement of Dracken knife throw showed how much Dracken had practice on the fish men
The two flying blades stuck into the shoulders of the closest captains, with the sleeping potion in there system they couldn't dodge, the two captains started to dance on the spot, Dracken had been powering up his electricity skill and now it was making the two captain dance, it wasn't only Dracken throwing speed that had increased but his skill too, Dracken pulled the two captains down to the floor and tied them up
Atlas on the other hand had grabbed the wrist of the smallest captain and cleanly broken it, the other captain tried to pull his sword but couldn't draw the sword, it was stuck fast, Atlas was using his power over metal
[Magnetic Presence beginner level 8
Able to control magnetic forces, make metal float cause repulsion and attraction with metal, can use a program for the skill, the more complex the program the more mana will be used]
By making the metal in the sword attracted to the small bit of metal in the belt the scabbed was attached to the captain was unable to pull his sword, looking down the captain was confused at why he couldn't pull the blade, at this point Atlas had knocked out the captain with the broken wrist and now a flying punch was coming for the face of the confused captain
When the punch hit the dazed captain in his face it was caved in due to Atlas unusual high strength he had over powered the captain, Atlas had worn a special spring suit that had increased resistance in every single movement he did and when ever the stats didn't increase fast enough he would tighten and add more springs to the suit to increase the resistance, he now had the strength of a warrior even though he was a mage
The captain was lifted off his feet and flew across the room crashing agaist the wall of the bar, Atlas strenght wasn't enough to lift the captain but Atlas had used his spell gust to increase his power and push the captain back
Atlas thought he was finshed with the captains but the captain with the broken wrist had got to his feet and was about to attack Atlas
Forge raised his body and was eye to eye with the attacking captain, this captain had forgotten about the magical beast but now he was frozen with fear
"HISSS" Forge raised his tail and slapped the captain to the floor, the power in the tail had increased a huge amount due to Forge evolution from his cocoon
Atlas patted Forge on his head for looking out for him, in this event two heads were better than one
With in moments Atlas and Dracken had disabled the 4 captains and now had them all tied up
"What now" asked Atlas
Even though Dracken had killed before killing a npc would cause the murders mark and it would cause to much trouble
"Don't worry i have an idea and it doesn't involve their death" explained Dracken
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The smallest captain had a fierce head ache as he came to, he tired to raise his hand only to find he couldn't , not only that he felt a bag was over his head and a gag in his mouth, he was trapped, moving violently the small captain was shaking on his chair
He couldn't move and no matter how much strength he put in his struggle and his binding didn't budge
Just then a bright light invaded his eyes as the hood was pulled off, the difference of complete darkness to light made his eyes hurt and squint, moments later his eyes got there baring and the small captain found him self in a huge empty room, except that there was a man sitting on a chair, this man was Dracken
"mummmmmm mumm" the small captain was swearing at Dracken but due to the gag only mumbling could be heard
"Shuu shuu" Dracken had his finger to his lips
"Don't talk just listen, i want to make a deal" said Dracken
This made the captain fall in to a still quiteness, Dracken held all the cards but he still wanted to make a deal, it didn't make sense to to captain
"The deal is going to go like this, i will let you go and you will disappear, disappear from my sight, disappear from my city, because if i hear about you or even see you there will be consequences I'm sure you wouldn't like" Dracken had said this all with a hushed voice
The captain easily agreed by shaking his head, he would agree to anything as long as he was free, later he would get his revenge but now he had to play along
Dracken stood up and silently moved to the captains back, the captain thought he was going to be freed but he thought again when he could feel the the breath of Dracken at his ear
"And just to let you know what would happen if you go against me" whispered Dracken
Now that Dracken had moved from his sitting potion the captain could see a door behind the chair and it was slowly opening
"I advise that you don't make a sound, not even a muffled screem" whispered Dracken in to the ear of the captain
Slowly 3 shadows entered the room though the door, the captain quickly understood why not to make any noise, these 3 shadow belong to monsters, fish men to be exact, the captain was paralyzed with fear
"Yes, you're correct to fear them, nasty pieces of work they are they will even attack there own kind" Dracken lifted him self away from the captains ear and threw a dagger at one of the Fish men
With the dagger sliding in to the belly of the fish man it gave a small scream and clasped a fin over it's own mouth but it was to late
The other two fish men could sense weakness and taste blood in the air, even though they had no sight and was blind there hearing was good, with out mercy the two fish men ripped into the injured fish man flesh
The fish man's blood splashed everywhere and small screams could be heard coming from the fish man, some blood had splashed on the captain face but he didn't dare to move
Slowly Dracken moved away from the captain and stealthy walked behind the feeding fishmen, pulling out his twin short swords Dracken decapitated both of the feeding fishmen without any problem
Picking up one of the heads of the decapted fish mens Dracken placed it on the lap of the captain
Shaking from the fear of the monsters the captain wasn't sure what had happening, the bloodily head of a monster was resting on his lap, he couldn't believe that he had tried to take over the information network from Dracken, he couldn't believe how merciless Dracken was and he couldn't believe how powerful he had become
Dracken sat down on his chair again "did you think i was doing nothing when i was away, i could easily kill you and get away with it, but you did do some work, so I'm giving you a chance, but if i see you again or hear about you you will find your self in the same shape as them" Dracken pointed to the dead fish men
"Do you understand" asked Dracken
The captain didn't dare to move, only sit there paralazed with fear
"I will take that as a yes" said Dracken
Dracken poured more of the sleeping potion on to the hood and placed it over the captains head, after Dracken was sure that the captain was unconscious he left the room,
On the other side was 10+ gnolls with spears and full steal armour, they had pushed the fish men in to the room
"Are you done" asked one of the gnolls
"Yes all of them have gotten the message" Dracken had done the same thing to all the captains, Dracken had kidnapped the captains and transported them to the gnolls underground home, Dracken had shown the captains how powerful he was, what kind of resources he could get and how vicious he could be
"Why not just kill them and get it over and done with" asked one of the other gnoll
"Killing would be the most certain end but i'm sending a message to anyone who might want to take what's mine, i said to them to disappear but the message will spread, with in a week i'm sure that the city will know what i'm capable of and when they leave they will take the story with them to other citys and towns" answered Dracken
"some times it's best to be well known, this way i will be feared by anyone who may try to take what's mine" said Dracken as he wiped his blade clean
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Just as Dracken had planed the captains had left the city but not before telling people of what had happen to them and now the city knew of the name Dracken even though the people didn't know what he looked like they knew not to mess with the information network or anything connecting to Dracken's name
End Of Chapter Thirty One