The elemental brawler
Chapter 6: Safe? house.
Part 1
As Cilerius drove his cart to the city gates, he thought again about what happened the day before, with the brigands. That earned him many benefits. Level up, spirit intimacy increase and, the most important with his new class, brawling skill increase.
‘That was nice. But I can’t expect morons to run at me each time I may need them to. I’ll have to find ways to provoke somes. That could be fun… but even without the red mark, I’ll build a reputation. That could prove a problem. And there is the arena thing. I can’t stay shackled to it.’
“Damn!” he shouted, deep in his thoughts as he was almost at the gate.
At this exclamation, the guards standing there looked up to see the origin of this ruckus. They saw a man on the bench of his cart, that seemed annoyed for some reasons.
“Halt! What’s your business here?” Shouted one of the guards.
As if waking up from a dream, Cilerius, at his turn, looked up too and saw the two guards there, then realised that he had sweared aloud.
“Hi, officer… I’m just a traveler coming from Nivese.”
“I’m no officer… don’t try to flatter me. What’s in the cart?”
“well, hmmm, some goods I’m carrying from a friend.”
“Ah ah… Are you a merchant?”
“uhhhh nope… can’t say I am… It’s just an occasional transport.”
“What goods are they? Nothing prohibited?”
“No clues what the goods are. I just know who I have to carry that to. Let me look for the names, I have a scroll with the list in my bag.”
As he was saying that and beginning to rummage in his bag, a soldier climbed on the back of the cart and opened one of the barrels then exclaimed:
“By Freya sake! What’s that?”
Turning his head to the back, Cilerius could see what was inside the barrel for the first time. There was a slimy, smelly green substance that bubbled.
At the guard exclamation and seeing jump from the cart and fumbling to pull his sword out of its scabbard, the two other guards now pointed their lance toward Cilerius, threatening.
After a short moment of surprise, he looked at them and said:
“Easy… easy now… I’m gonna pull this scroll from my bag as I told you and hand it to you.”
“Don’t make no funny stuff. Pull the scroll with two finger and don’t try to unroll it or read it!” Shouted one of the guard with an air of scared character in a violent movie. If that was a player, he for sure had seen too many movies. If that was a NPC, it was well programmed to give a living feel.
Slowly, to not induce bad response, Cilerius pulled the scroll to the guard who seemed in charge and asked:
“Now, read by yourself who are the people I’m running this errand for and go ask them if there is any problem.”
“Don’t tell me what to do.” Answered the soldier as he began to read the scroll. The color of his face gradually faded as his mouth gaped down.
“ermmm, hmmm… how to say that that. That’s quite the list you have here. And you say those goods are for them?”
“well, yes, of course. I have no idea who they are nor what this stuff is. I just was asked to deliver it to them, safely and untouched. I got through some brigands yesterday, I wonder if I’ll have to tell the “customers” that was guards that delayed or docked their shipment.” Answered Cilerius, pointing with his thumb the back of his cart and getting assurance as he had seen the guard losing his. The “customers” must have been some big shoot in the city if the guard was about to cry.
“okay… move on, don’t be late!!! wait a sec… did you say brigands?”
“yes, a day ago down the road. They tried to ambush me but proved lacking in their robbing skills.”
“If that’s true, welcome in Hartburg. Brigands are a problem we like to be relieved of. Go and see our guard captain at the watch office later. There may have been some price on their heads.”
“I’ll do that, thanks soldier.” And he drove his cart through the gates.
‘I don’t know what’s this stuff is, but at least those “customers” mean something here.’
And, slowly, he headed for the central place of the city, where he could look its map. There, he looked around a located the plan. From the scroll, he read the first two name and their address just to see they were in opposed places of the city. Cilerius could already figure that none of them would be close of the other. And with a single look at the map, he saw that the city had a complex topography. Sure, some streets were well orderly, but for the most part, it was a maze.
From this point, Cilerius only one course of obvious action open to him. He pulled a big blank piece of paper, his pen and the ink. Then he began to draw, copying the outline to the city plan. It was hard and tedious work, but with the original to look at, it was easier. As he was done, the familiar ring of system windows popping up was heard but he dismissed them immediately as he could figure what they were about. His calligraphy and drawing skills had gone up due to the success of a difficult work.
Raising his head once his work done, Cilerius then realised that many peoples were around, looking at what he was doing. He was packing up his tools when a human, dressed in a robe, asked:
“by any chance, were you drawing the map of the city?”
“yes, why?”
“errrrr, could you do it again? I’d pay one gold piece for a map.”
“Hey! Don’t listen to him. I’ll pay two golds.”
“Me two and ten silvers!”
Shouts were coming from all around and Cilerius was confused.
“Why are you all wanting to buy a map from me?”
The shouts recessed and after looking left and right, the first man to spoke before answered:
“Well… the city is literally a maze, yes? They don’t sell maps anywhere. If we want to get somewhere, we have to use the guide… and they charge us with ten silvers a tour. And there are many quest that require running around here. We can’t just let the possibility to get credential pass. We’re willing to pay for your work, pay well. Would you do that for us, please? We all would be very grateful.”
For one second, Cilerius contemplated the power he wielded here. Then, after weighting the pros and cons, he answered:
“Listen! That’s not something I can do right here and right now. I have some business to attend.”
Boo retended and some even said, loud enough for Cilerius to hear, as it was intended:
“damn that greedy bastard… he want to charge us more now that he know we’re in need… or does he want to keep this advantage for himself?”
“I heard that…”
“shaddup, you moron… what if he decide to not help us because of you!”
“Listen… I said right here and right now… Like I said, I have some business to attend and it can’t wait. Once I’m done with that, I’ll draw some more of those maps. And I’ll charge you only two gold each for the first batch I do. That will be a lot of work, at least at the beginning. Later, when I can produce them more easily and faster, I’ll charge less. If you want to be served on the first batch, be here tomorrow at… let’s say at the sun set.”
Murmures still echoed on the place but peoples didn’t shout anymore. They understood who holded the power right now and their need.
Cilerius, he, had seized the opportunity that presented itself. That was like looking in a river and finding a gold nugget then, instead of running to exchange it and claiming everywhere his luck, keeping to himself and looking for more. Here, he could make a lot of money, raise his skills and make connections. Well, a lot of money if you forget that he had made a lot more in bettings. But for someone under level 100, that was a lot. Few tradeskill could earn him that.
His map in hands, Cilerius climbed on the bench of his cart and headed to the first point of the delivery route he had devised. Some peoples were still following him, till they saw him get near the gates of some wealthy house and in, after a short talk to the guards. A few were still following him when he exited and headed for the next point, but then, they stopped, wondering how this guy was entering the households of some of the mens that were the most hard to approach.
Cilerius, not paying attention to his followers, arrived to the first house and at the question of the guards, answered he had a delivery for the master of this household. The guards were about to send him back when he precised that was a delivery from Gurdianson. At this name, the guards bowed and apologized profusely for holding someone who their master waited on so much.
Inside the house court, He was told to wait for them to go inform their master. Who came off fast.
“I’m told you were sent by Gurdianson?”
“yes, he asked me to make some delivery and, I have something for you.” Answered Cilerius as he looked for something in the cart, one eye at a second scroll he had.
“Here it is… this is the bag addressed to you.” He said, handing a bag to the master of the house.
The man received it with excitation, opened it a little to look inside then closing it with a big grin on his face, said:
“thank you for the delivery. Here, catch this purse. It will cover the fare.”
“oh! thanks, that too much.”
“no, no. I’m grateful of you for this quick delivery.”
“that was no problem, sir. Only a few brigands on the way, just enough to relieve me from the boredom.”
“Brigands? And you protected the cargo? Good… even better. Be advised that if you ever need something, you be at least welcome here to ask. Now, be on you way, and stay safe.”
!Ding!
Familiarity with the Everthop household raise by 50.
“Thank you. Stay safe too.”
More than the money compensation, that was what he was after. Credentials with some of influential NPC’s was a more valuable asset than gold, sometimes.
Cilerius Drove his cart out of the house court then to the next point of his delivery route, noticing fewer peoples following him. He passed the rest of the day to make his deliveries, garnering credentials and purses as he did so.
At the sun set, he was done and the cart was almost empty, but for his own bagages. Figuring he would need a place to rest, he headed to an inn but, as he was about to climb down the cart, he reconsidered and headed for the watch office. There, he asked for the guard captain. Since he didn’t have familiarity with the guards yet, the captain came a long moment later and asked, almost scornfully:
“what do you want from me… I was eating such a succulent dinner.”
“Please excuse me then for the derangement, I was told to come and report to you some encounter I made on my way here from Nivese.”
“Encounter? Do I have a look to care about the squirrels that crossed the route on your way here?”
“Squirrels? Hahahah… that’s funny… No, of course I wouldn’t trouble you for that. But what about brigands?”
“Brigands? We did receive reports of brigands lurking around the city, yes… but if it’s to report a robbery, you can see with the attendant, there, at the desk…” he was about turn and head back in his office when Cilerius continued:
“I’m not reporting a robbery… I’m reporting the disposal of the said brigands…”
The captain stopped his walk away, tuned on himself again and for the first time, examined carefully the adventurer facing him.
“Disposal? Do you mean you disposed of them?”
“yes, I would come to report for anything less…”
“Do you have any proof of your claim.” asked the captain, now interested.
“Well, of course I didn’t cut heads to show off, I’m civilized. But they all had those badges.” said Cilerius, handing one of the badges he had collected in the loots without paying attention at the time.
“Oh, yes… I see, those are the the badges of the wolves of the red forest. I heard those brigands changed their leader some times ago. They weren’t there when we headed in their hide-out to capture them. So they were in the forest around the road from Nivese?”
“I suppose, yes. At least, that’s where they tried to ambush me.”
“Okay… the badges are legit. 15 badges… good work man…” Now, the captain was more friendly and, as proof of that, a system window flashed:
!Ding!
Familiarity with the Hartburg guard raise significantly. +150.
‘Good, that was 10 points a head.’
“here, catch this…” Said the captain, throwing him a purse.
“They were small time offender so, the reward is … small.”
“That’s more than enough. But in fact, I would be delighted with another reward…”
“what…?” asked the captain with a frown drawing on his face.
“Nothing important… just a piece of information.”
“Ask and, if it’s in my power, I’ll answer.”
“That should be. Here, you see, earlier, I was looking for a room to rent at an inn, then I figured I could try to rent a little house. So, I was wondering if you could advise me on where to look or with who to talk…”
The captain face loosened a little hearing the request, as it wasn’t something abusive.
“I see… so you want a house in this fine city. I can understand why you ask me that. seeing how this city is a maze. Well… depending your budget, there are three kinds of houses availables, and three different men to see. If you ever want to buy or rent a mansion, go to the Marble Hand near the central place. It’s expensive but worth it. If you want a normal house, near the marketplace, go see the Stone Hand. If your budget doesn’t allow you the first two places, in the slum, you can look for the Beggar Hand. Well, this one isn’t in building, his office is a table in an alley at the south entrance of the slum.”
“I see… thank you captain. I’ll go and check those offices. Have a good night.”
“Good bye. And stay away from the slum at night. It’ more healthy.”
On those words, Cilerius left and as he was driving his cart away, marked down on his map, the three locations explained by the guard captain.
He headed to the second location, as, if he guessed he had enough to buy a mansion, he didn’t need to for the use he planned for it. At the marketplace, the merchants were starting to pack their displays. He looked around and spotted the building with signboard marked Stone Hand.
Climbing down his cart, he tied his percheron to a post, picked his bags from the cart and crossed the place to the office. He entered and could see at a desk, a woman dive nodding, sign of a long work day without much activity. He approached the desk and stood there, waiting for the woman to react. After half a minute, as she didn’t, he tried to attract her awareness.
“hmmm”
No reaction…
“HMMM Hmmm!”
Still no reaction…
“Excuse me!”
She was still dive nodding…
Cilerius noticed a book on the desk, took it and slammed it on the table, producing a really loud sound and shaking the desk at the same time. This time, the woman reacted:
“AHHHHHHH!?!? What is it? no, no… I wasn’t sleeping. Absolutely not!”
“Hi… could you please advise me on property acquisition?”
The woman, in her mid 30ties, still had clouded eyes and a little slobber at the corner of her mouth. regaining her senses, she whipped her mouth with her sleeve in mouvement showing practice and focused on the man facing her.
“Hi, what can I do for you?”
“errr, like I said, I’d like counseling on property acquisition.”
She raised from her chair and as if she was scanning him, looked at him from head to toes and seemed to make a conclusion of that.
“Well, if you’re here to look for a future home, I can of course advise you. But the day is nearing its end and I’m closing soon.” From his look, she rightly deemed Cilerius under level 100 and guessed he couldn’t possibly afford to buy or even rent one the house or flat she could propose. And she didn’t feel like making effort for someone who wouldn’t pay today.
“Then I’ll be brief. I’m looking for an at least two rooms lodging, nothing too grand but good enough. What would be the monthly rent and the buyout price for something like that?”
Since the question was precise enough and he didn’t seem to plan some window shopping, she thought for a few second and answered:
“Depending the location and the size, you would need from 5 golds a month to 40 for rent, or 600 golds to about 5000 golds to buy it.”
Cilerius made a quick calculation in his head and concluded:
“So the buyout is worth about 10 years on rent.”
“Yes, that’s about it.”
“Okay… then, I’d like to see what you have to propose for… let’s say, 1000 golds.” He said, opening a pouch full of gold in front of the woman.
Then, for a whole minute, she could only loot alternately at him and the pouch, with her mouth gaping wide and a unique sound coming out:
“Heeeeeee?”
Then she regained her thoughts began to act as the realtor she was.
“So, estimmed customer, do you intend to buy a house? I have the perfect one, not too close to the market but on main street. Of course, it would cost you a little more than 1000 golds.” She now was trying to sell something more expensive since her cut was 25% on the base price.
“No… the main street would be too noisy and I’d like to stay a little away of the busiest parts of the city.”
She keep trying to propose houses or flats that were over 1000 golds, then she gave up and concentrated on what he was really looking for.
“So, let’s resume. Not too big, not upstanding, at least two rooms, away from the busiest part of the city… I may have that, but you have to come with me to look if it suit you.” She said, taking a key with her and inviting him to follow. She closed the office door behind her and lead the way to a three floor house.
“See, this house is divided in three parts. Two flats and a place for either a shop or a workshop on main floor. The access to the flats is made by those stairs outside. Would the location suit you?”
“That seem correct. Can I take a look inside?”
“Of course, that’s why I took the key with me. The flats up for sale is the once just under the roof.”
She climbed the stairs up to the second floor, followed by Cilerius who was looking around. She opened the door and entered, continuing to make a sale speech. Basically, that was a three rooms flats, with an entrance by the stairs, two windows in this room and a door leading to the second room. That one had also two window, looking to the roof of the house next to this one and another door leading to the third room. The last room was a blind room. No windows, only the door that permitted to enter it. That was a little room, almost like a closet, just a little wider.
“So, what do you think about this flat?”
“hmmm… the location is good and the arrangement of the flat itself could suit my needs. How much?”
“This one would be 950 golds.”
“Hmmm… that seem a little expensive for this location and the size.”
Cilerius was loaded, but that didn’t mean he would throw gold like that.
“Of course, I didn’t deduct the usual discount, so that would be 900 golds.”
“It seem empty since a long time…”
“And as the actual owner would like to sell it, we are able the cut the price a little more to 850 golds.”
“Really empty… no furnitures, nothing…”
“You’re right, I forgot about that… what about a discount of 20 golds?”
“And it need renovation… the floor crack a lot…”
Now, the woman was desperate. She needed to sell this flat to increase her accounting skill but her cut was reducing to a trickle.
“Listen, about that, I can only add a discount of 10 golds and refer you to a good craftsman.”
“820 golds then? hmmm… “
Cilerius still affected to show hesitation but he was already ready to buy. He just needed to make her think he was doing her a favor.
“Okay then for 820 golds.” He said as if with reluctance, subtracting some pieces from the pouch then giving it to her.
In return, he received the flat’s key from a smiling woman who thought she had made a good sale with an exigent customer. She gave him as promised, the referrals to the craftsman and left, sure she was the winning one in the deal.
Of course, Cilerius thought of it differently since he made a nice saving with tactful negotiation.
‘That seem perfect… the main door in front, two windows that lead to the roof of the house next door and a blind room. Good.’
Of course, he could have look for a flat to rent, since on short term, it would cost him less, but he was one to like owning things. And this way, he was sure no landlord would come in. With a quick look around, he assessed what furnitures he needed and left after marking his map with the location of his house. The city was made so that without a map of a guide, you could walk near the place you were looking for and still miss it.
He exited the place, locked the door and climbed down the stairs. Then he walked toward the marketplace, according to the map, then to a shop. That was a general store with all kinds of goods for sale. He bought what he needed immediately and ordered for some furnitures he needed. The merchant told him to come back the next day after noon for it and he left. He still had one thing to do and headed to his cart, untied the reins and lead it toward a stable. There, he negociate with the groom and paid kim for taking care of his sturdy horse and storing the cart. Cilerius wasn’t sure he would need them again, but thought it was likely and best to keep a know horse and cart instead of selling them with a discount just to have to buy them again later. Also, the pension wasn’t expensive so…
As he exited the stable, he noticed a shadow quickly removing itself from view, behind a corner two streets down. Not too worried but careful enough, he walked away, took a turn then ran till the next corner and took another sharp turn. Then, melting himself in the shadow of the street, waited. Soon after, without a sound announcing it, a shadow in the form a person, walked fast past the street, looking right and left, then, as if not noticing Cilerius, walked further. But Cilerius had noticed a the very little hesitation at the moment the shadow saw him.
‘sneak skill, some sort of track probably. What does he want with me? I’m alone here, nobody to help in case… if that was an assassin or a thief, he could have made his strike just now. Speaking of track…’ Next, Cilerius whispered:
“Track!” And immediately, the trail of his stalker highlighted and he could see it lead further then turn at a corner. Passing the intersection without real head movement, he checked with only the corner of his eyes and could see the trail leading in a shadow of the street. Cilerius couldn’t stop a little grin to show on his face, but with the poor light, it wouldn’t be seen. He couldn’t almost notice the shadow melted in the shadow, only helped by the hunting skill that gave him a little passive buff to spot hidden live beings.
Now sure he was the target of this track, Cilerius began to plan a way to first lose his follower, then to know what he wanted.
‘Apparently, he isn’t a hunter or ranger… so his track skill shouldn’t be the same as mine… I have some convenient skills to use for that… I just need a diversion.’
He then checked his map for something and headed for the place he was looking for. There, he entered a little shop, luckily still open despite the late hour. The light was too dim for the signboard to be readable, but the inside didn’t let any doubts of what was being sold here. That was an alchemy shop.
Cilerius asked the merchant for a few products, paid for them and then left and headed for the slums. On his way, he mixed some ingredients in three different pouches. Soon, he was near the slums, as the populace roaming around was a clue. Many not so engaging faces were there, some men using a dagger to clean their nails or juggling with. For anyone not ready enough, this was suicide to enter the slum like that, alone. For Cilerius, that wasn’t a real problem. Whatever happening now would be to his benefit. If someone attacked him, it would benefit his brawling skill. They would also hinder the moves of his stalker. The only risk was the presence of a high level malicious thug. But his research about this city, on the net, didn’t hint about this case. So Cilerius was feeling safe.
Once in the slum, some other peoples followed him for a while but lost interest as he was walking around without goal, seeming to be lost, tacking many times the same way after turning again and again at each corners.
That was to make his tracks mixed again and again, so the latest couldn’t be told from the oldest. At the same time, he was looking for a good spot where to use his diversion. He finally found what he wanted and once again, passed and passed again on the same track near the chosen spot. Still having his own track engaged on his stalker, he discreetly checked on his actual position and took the three pouches out. He stopped where he had planned and after untying the pouches a little, whispered:
“Fire coating!” targeting the pouches. With the properties of this spell, the pouches were safe, but not their contents if it was touched by the flames. Then, with the burning pouches in hands, he turned, looked at the place his stalker was, made an exaggerated wink then, throw one pouch in his direction, one in the opposing direction and the last where he was standing. Upon hitting the ground, the pouches all opened and their contents exploded as it wath licked by the fire. The explosion wasn’t violent, just loud and produced thick colored smoke. This done, Cilerius proceeded with the rest of his plan and ran to one of the alley where he didn’t create a smoke screen and hide where he planned.
On his first passage here, he had noticed on the side, all the wastes, including a cover. He didn’t create smoke here, where he was planning to hide, for two reasons.
One, misleading the stalker. It was natural to think the prey would use the smoke to cover his escape and the stalker would run through the smoke, ignoring the side alleys without smokes.
Second, he needed a clear view to check on his stalker position when he would pass the crossroad.
‘and I succeeded in creating smoke bombs… easy enough if you get black powder and some coloring agents. I even got the recipe registered and a nice raise of alchemy skill… but next, I must learn to make black powder myself… it’s expensive to buy.’
The shadow, still sneaking but not silencious since he was profusely cussing, passed through the crossroad without a look on the side. He was running his head down, looking at the ground, trying to pick a fresh trail.
Cilerius stayed lying a long moment, waiting for his stalker to pass and pass again, to finally look on the sides but walk next to his hiding place without any clues. After 10 minutes, the guy finally throw the towel and seemed to contact someone using the friend list. Cilerius couldn’t of course hear what was said, but at the expressions show on his face, he could understand that it wasn’t plaisant.
‘Ok… that’s not an individual but a group that check on me… now, to know who they are...’
Cilerius waited for the stalker to finish his conversation then move away. He waited a little more, then, activating his own sneak skill, got out of his hiding place and carefully headed for the crossroad, checking for his trail. With great care, he then walked, almost hugging the walls and followed this trail, leaving space between his old stalker and now prey, and him. The trail lead to a mansion.
Of course, he didn’t follow up to the doors, but stopped as soon he knew what building it was. In this city, only some wealthy NPC’s and guild possessed mansions. And that wasn’t a NPC mansion.
‘Now… what would a guild want with me who only came in town today? Is it about the maps? Noooo… they wouldn’t bother when they could buy them all tomorrow… what then? Only one solution to know. I have to go and spy… ninja time...’
He chuckled a little at this thought and then prepared to enter the mansion. He first checked the surroundings for an access, then when he found one, looked for escape routes.
‘Going in is usually easy enough. The problem is always when you have to run out with possible pursuers.’
Using the shadows and the side alleys, he approached his entrance point, a wall on the back, totally in darkness. Now, he had to climb or find another way. Lucky for him, he had another way. A trick he used for offensive purpose before. Now, he needed to adapt it for this purpose. In a whisper, he said in sequence:
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“Ice shield, Wind walk.” Then, lowering his power to the minimum and targeting the area just under him:
“Earth needles”.
The result? Remember how the guy was throw up in the arena? Well, that’s the same process, but for the lower power so he wouldn’t fly too high.
‘Nice to have a trick like that. I’m sure many who would sell a kidney for it.’
Wizards could get the levitate spell when reaching the intermediate level in the wind mastery. But there was a quest involved and regent used, costly regent. Some other class had trick too, to climb a wall or something alike. But this trick didn’t need regent nor tools. Just basics spells and imagination.
Even with lowering the power of the earth needle, he was throw 2 meters higher than the wall but was safe thanks to the wind walk that allowed him to land safely on top of the wall. He released the spell then, using sneak, walked to a point where the mansion roof was close to the wall. A jump and he landed on it. He then looked around for an entrance and noticed a fanlight he opened with care and slided through.
He was in the attic. With a lot of care, because sneak doesn’t resolve everything, even more with a skill low as his, he walked near the edge of the attic floor then crouched and crawled till he could see and hear what was going down in the hall.
Down there, many peoples were assembled. Dressed in all kind of attire, spellcasters, heavy melee or nimble types were discussing, loudly. Obviously, they weren’t happy and a man on the side, dressed in black, was the target of many angry glances.
“damnit! They asked us… I mean commanded us to keep an eye on him and we lost him? How do you want me to report that? They fund us to keep order in this city and sometime run errands for them. What if they decide the switch the supported guild? We would lose funds and position.”
“yes… but who the f..k is this guy. They ask us to watch his every moves, to protect him in case of problems with another player, but everything while staying in the shadow. And he could lose him like that? What level is he?”
Here, the man suffering the anger of everyone spoke:
“I don’t know for sure. But according his gear, I would say between level 50 and 80. Not higher. He noticed me when he got out of the stable, so we could keep watch there too, not only at his flat.”
“yeh… we will do that. Did he do anything else noticeable?”
“He probably has many skills. He used some alchemy trick to create a thick smoke to lose me. His build is athletic but he seem to use magic.”
“what a fucked of character. Though I’d like this smoke screen trick.”
“yeh, but that’s not the point here. If we don’t find him before they ask for a report or if something happen to him, we’re fucked!”
“okay, you, you and you, go on the lookout at the designated places. We will send relieving each 2 hours to be certain we have alert peoples on watch duty. You, go in the slum and see if he’s still around.” At those words, four peoples left in hurry.
“now, you, did you check the non smocked alley?”
“not immediately. I assumed he used the smoke to escape so I ran through. Then when I looked for his trail, everything was mixed up.”
“later, in the side non smocked alleys, did you check if he was hiding there?”
A long silence was the only answer.
“damn… at least learn from your mistakes. This guy is smart. He applied real life trick with the game possibilities. From now on, when dealing with him, keep thinking of the most devious move he could use. The probability it’s the one he will use is high.”
At that, everyone shouted a loud yes, then as if this was their dismissal, they scattered in small groups, exited or simply disappeared, loging out.
‘ok… I know enough for now and it’s not like they will expose their plans in the open for me to see. I better leave before someone notice me.’
On this thought, Cilerius crawled back from the floor edge, then raised and walked to the fanlight and slipped out. The rest was easier, he just had to jump to the wall and down in the dark alley.
That done, he headed back in the direction of the slum, using side alley and keeping watch of move around. From what he heard, if those players were even only half intelligent, they wouldn’t lose his trail that easily anymore.
He headed for the slum because he figured that would be the place where it would be the easiest to lose a stalker again. That and since he heard they knew about his flat, he figured he needed an alternate place, unknow of them and where they couldn’t find him easily.
Arrived at the edge of the slum, from an alley, he looked around to see if there was any spotter. On the negative and after a long wait, he moved to a guy sat behind a table.
“Is it the Beggar Hand office?”
“yes.. it is indeed… what can I do for you?”
“I’d like to buy a little house, two rooms or more, in the slum… away from preying eyes.”
“Hmmm… that I could get you… that I could have… but do you have the money for it?”
“Speak your price.”
“If you want to buy it, that would cost you 300 golds. Discretion is an additional 100 gold…”
‘Crap… I let my need show and now he’s taking advantage... but I better don’t start to bargain now, with someone unwanted who could show up anytime.’
“okay for the buyout price and your silence price.” Answered dryly Cilerius, throwing a purse to the man. He was caught cold as he expected him to try and bargain, then he could have raised the price again since there was a need… but this guy facing him didn’t try to bargain. The shack he was selling him was overpriced by 50%. His so called silence was expensive, but it was as if this guy guessed what would happen in case of bargain. The beggar Hand tenant pulled a key and gave it to Cilerius, saying the address of the shack sold at a so high price.
“maybe you want someone to guide you there? That would cost you only one gold.”
“No, thanks… if the address is correct, I will find my way alone.”
“As you wish… but rescue in the slum if you’re lost will cost you 10 times more.”
“I’ll keep that in mind and take care of not losing my way. Thank you.”
Thanks were the last thing he wanted to give that common thief, but to create a commotion here and now wouldn’t be smart.
Putting the key in his belt hidden pocket and the map in hand, he dive in the slum, heading toward the address pointed on the map. Once he spotted the said shack, he walked past it and around a few time, looking for all the surroundings, for escape routes or preying eyes. When sure he was here alone, he headed for the door, pulled the key and opened his new home.
Once inside, Cilerius almost let a cussing shout out as the shack seemed to be composed of only one room. He was about to throw all discretion and go gibe a lesson to this damn thief, when he saw a trap on the ground. He raised it and could see stairs leading down to a door.
‘Well, I didn’t say how I wanted the rooms set...’
He climbed down and opened the door that was currently unlocked. Beside this door, there was no other access. With preparation, he could hide the trap and so, the stair and the second room.
“perfect…” ‘this thief probably doesn’t know he sold me exactly what I needed...’
He climbed back to the main floor, closed the door then descended in the cave after shutting the trap, then the door behind him. Then, he did what he planned by buying this house. He pulled his golden key, the key of knowledge, from his bag and, used it in the lock of the door. The expected effect happened. The lock flashed with light and the around of the door as well. Cilerius removed the key from the lock, then opened the door, that revealed this blue smoky light through which he could see his library reserve office. He walked through.
On the other side, things were as he had let them. Only the carrier of the key could enter this reserve. Since he had to wait for one hour before the passage closed and he could move from this room, he pulled paper, ink and his pen, then using the first map he had draw as reference, began to make a copy.
That was easier and faster now, since that was a work he already completed once with success. It had took him 45 minutes to complete the first map, from the original. But he had, at the time, to scale down everything. Now, with a better knowledge of the city and of the map, without having to scale it down again, he could draw it faster. This first copy was done in 30 minutes. As soon it was completed, he started with a second copy and increased his drawing speed again, managing to finish it in 25 minutes. He was getting the hang of it.
Now, the waiting time was almost over and so, Cilerius prepared to leave this room. But he wasn’t planning to return just now to his Hartburg shack. Since he had the money for and he was aware of some unwanted attention, he planned to buy a flat here in Nivese too, as well as another poor house in some remote location of the harbor city.
Since he was loaded, he was intending to make full use of this incredible item, the key of knowledge, and create a network of teleport gates with the library reserve office acting as the hub.
With this intention, as soon the doorway was free for the smoky light, he entered the reserve itself then exiting it, entered the library. He walked toward the exit, just to find Desmond at his desk, as always. Upon seeing Cilerius in front of him, he was surprised.
“Wh… where did you come from???”
Feeling like teasing him a little, Cilerius answered:
“Well, from the inner library, of course, as you can see… didn’t you see me come in?”
“uhhhh? No, I didn’t see you come. That’s impossible…”
“hehe, don’t worry, Desmond. I came from the reserve.”
“From the reserve?... Ohhhhh yes… from the reserve, of course! Useful, aren’t they?”
“Yes, you can that. The ways of knowledge are full of surprise.”
“Yes, yes… but what are you doing here?”
“Well, I thought I could make use of a home here, in Nivese. So I came to buy one.”
“That’s a good idea. Do you know who to ask for this?”
“No, but I have a guess, you, you know who.”
“yes, here, take this note and go see the man at this address. The note will give you diligence and discretion from him.”
“I didn’t say I needed discretion…”
“Well, even if you didn’t say it, from the way you used to come here and how some guys asked for you shortly after you left, I thought you wouldn’t mind discretion.”
“Desmond, you really are a wisdom well. Thank you for the introduction note.”
“That’s nothing… by the way… when are you fighting again?”
“Tss tss tss… Desmond, take care, betting may become an addiction…”
“No! Honest! I just wanted to see you fight again…”
“Yeh, sure, of course. Okay, See you later, maybe.”
“See you, and stay safe.”
“Always, friend, always…”
On those last words, Cilerius left and headed to the address Desmond gave him. On the way, he took care to make tour and detour to check if someone was following him. It was late and but for dumb luck, peoples who thought him gone wouldn’t encounter him like that. Sure he wasn’t stalked, he knocked at the door and waited. Soon after, the door partially opened and a grumpy voice what he wanted so late. Cilerius, as a silent answer to that question, handed him the note.
“A friend of Desmond, uh? Okay, what do you want? He asked me to help you to the best of my capacities.” He said, opening fully the door and inviting his newfound guest inside.
“I heard from him that you were the man to see if I wanted to buy a housing.”
“That’s true. I probably have the most possibilities of housing in this city, with a great variety of locations.”
“Then you are the man of the situation. I’d like to buy two. First, either a flat or a house with at least two rooms, one being blind. The location doesn’t matter, but nothing too ostentatious nor luxurious. Second, a poor housing, same as before, two rooms, one being blind, in a remote location.”
“okay… for the first one, it’s easy and I can think of many possibilities. For the second, I may have something.”
“I would also like utmost discretion regarding the second one. And if there are good escape ways, for both, it would be perfect.”
“If you weren’t send by Desmond, I’d wonder what evil plan you have… but since he gave you referrals.”
“I just like discretion… and in this world, many want to deprive you of it.”
“So, for the second one, its entrance is in dark alley and close by the sewers entrance. You could move through them if you really want to and if you don’t fear for your smell sense. For the first one, that should do too.”
“Then it’s perfect… the last thing we have to do is talk about a price.”
“I’d say… 1200 gold for the first one…”
“1200? isn’t it a little expensive?”
“Let me finish… for the second, nothing… You told me you wanted discretion, right? I have some paperwork to do in case of sale… so, if you want discretion about the second one, that wouldn’t do it, yes?”
“No, that wouldn’t do, so?”
“So I charge you for the first with the cost of both together and for some reason, I will have lost both the property paper and the key of the second and you were lucky to find them.”
“Clever… okay, then here are the 1200 golds.” Said Cilerius, handing this man a purse heavy with gold pieces.
“If there are inquiries, you can talk about the first one, it’s no problem, but keep the second secret, okay?”
“Of course, that was crystal clear the moment we agreed on the process and the price.”
“Then I thank you and hope your business prosper.” Finished Cilerius, taking the keys and owning papers the man facing him was handing.
“Thank you and stay safe… and hidden…” answered this man, with a knowing smile.
Cilerius left this house and immediately got in the shadow of an alley and stood there, checking his surroundings. Nothing seemed strange so, he took the opportunity to think a little, about which house he would connect first to his “network”. He came to the conclusion that the longer he stayed outside, the more probable it was someone concerned would see him and report to those investigating him or even follow him himself. The best course of action was to go now add this secret housing then proceed with the not so secret.
And so, Cilerius, with care of his own discretion, using sneak skill all the way, headed for the place that was located near the sewers entrance. With the address, he found it somewhat easily and first checked his surroundings again in search of a possible tail, then for the escape routes. Once done, he got to the alley that was really dark and there, found a stair going down to a door in a building that seemed totally anonymous. He used the given key and opened the door.
The inside was really common and without any special feature. There was another door leading to an 20m long hallway and another door. he opened this one too, to find himself in a blind room.
‘No clue what this was used for, but it’s perfect. The long hallway would be easy to defend. I even could plant traps...’
He closed the door, then pulled his precious key and used it, creating yet another gate to his reserve office. He crossed the doorway and was, again in his office. As if it was now a habit, he pulled for his bag, papers, ink and the pen and resumed with his maps drawing.
‘I’ll have to think about good light sources if I want to work in all those blind rooms. Adding that to the to do list.’ It was a fact that his actuals light sources were lacking for the work he was doing, and adding fatigue to his eyes.
He was halfway done with w third map in a row when the refresh time of the door was here. Now, he had two possibilities. He could set the access of the other flat in Nivese or go and do the same but in Hartburg. Following the same logic as before, he decided to first do with the one where nobody was looking for him yet then proceed with the Hartburg flat.
Since he was in the same city, since it wouldn’t wise to be seen coming from the hidden housing, he exited the normal way his office and the library, saluting yet again Desmond on the way and thanking him for the referral to the realtor.
Next was now a drilled habit. Sneak, move in the shadows…
‘I wonder if I missed my career path… maybe thief or assassin would have suited me as a profession.’ He thought with a smirk. The diversity of his possible actions was something he liked a lot. There was no place for humdrum if you looked hard enough in this game.
He soon got to the new bought flat, which was at the third floor of a building and that you could access by an outdoor stair. There were two flats on this floor, one with windows facing the street and his facing the back, another smaller building. Here too, he could escape by the roofs if needed. He entered and found an ordinary interior consisting a big occupying three quarter of the flat, the last quarter being a room in the back right, he could access by a door.
Satisfied with his lodging, he didn’t drag and got in the secondary room and repeated for the third time that night, the same action leading to the creation of a gate to his office.
There, he continued the unfished map and had the time to draw two more and even begin a third one, just enough to do the main lines. Then, he opened the gate to his shack in Hartburg and continued there his work, till he could exit the cave.
On the main floor, he looked through the windows a moment, to see if there was any suspect activity and, was about to leave when he thought about something.
“Sylphea?”
“Yes, master… I’m so happy you’re calling me… did you miss me?”
“Yes, of course… I’m sorry I didn’t play with you four lately. I was a little busy… Listen, I’m playing some kind of hide and seek with other peoples. Could you go and take a look around, if there are suspicious peoples around. Wait… that isn’t the right word… If you see peoples on the lookout, please tell me where.”
“Do you want to cheat? And yes, there is a suspicious person close by… he’s just facing me. Hihihi…”
“Funny, you little prankster… so, could you do that for me?”
“Yes, but cheating is bad, master.”
“It isn’t a real game, Sylphea… It’s more like those people are looking for me and I don’t want them to find me.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back.”
Ten minutes after, she came back and told him:
“I locked around everywhere at a distance of 500m. There are 10 thieves waiting for prey, 25 beggars and one assassin.”
“Where the assassin is?”
“To the north.”
“Thank you. You can stay with me if you want, but be like a breeze, almost unnoticeable.”
“I get to play with you? Yes yes yes!!!”
“Be quiet now… tsss”
“Sorry master.” And she shut up.
Now sure of the state of his immediate surrounding, Cilerius got out of his shack, closed the door, then headed to the south. The probability that this assassin was the one looking for was high. Turning again and again, he progressed to the edge of the slum while avoiding the waiting thieves. They could have been a good way for him to increase his brawling skill, but right now, he was seeking discretion, not the ruckus a fight would cause. Since he didn’t know where the other stalkers were, around his flat, he decided to be prudent and approach it from a different direction than he was coming effectively. To do so, he got to the south wall then followed it till he reached the west city gate, from which he first entered the city earlier the day before. From there, he headed straight to his flat without taking any precaution, just asking Sylphea to watch and report him after, where peoples were on the lookout. Additionally to the three he could see himself, on the way there, she reported another eight. As he pointed their locations on his map, he could see how their deployment was and guess that there probably were five more spy. They were on two circles of eight sentry, centered on his flat, one with a radius of 100m and the second 200m, with their watchpoint alternating. This was designed to efficiently cover the area. The rest, depended on their discretion, that most of them laked. or at least, it was short for a guy with a hunting skill, even at low level and even more for an elemental air spirit.
‘full grade for their deployment strategy but non passing grade for using it with mediocre men.’
Even when if they were his opponent, Cilerius always analyzed used tactics and strategies. That was the way to learn more, imagine counters and improvements for his own use. Of course, a cool mind was necessary for this kind of feat. That’s probably why most of the guild leaders weren’t melee class but staying in the back, where they weren’t intoxicated by the heat of the fight.
‘Their leader must be good, and he know it, that would explain his anger before, at the mansion.’ Even a good artisan, with poor material, will only produce mediocre result. Of course, the effort invested in the work could improve it, but not so much.
He could see most of them moving now, closing to his position as he was himself closing to his flat.
‘I’d have much to tell them if they were my men...’
He still had to climb the stairs and enter his housing, but they didn’t make contact.
‘At least they follow orders.’
Now in his flat, he relaxed since he only had one easy task to perform for the night, setting the last gate to his office. Since his office was better equipped than all of his new housings, he stayed there after going through the gate and settled to draw more maps.
‘Sentry in a city, for a non moving target… now that’s a job that I would hate.’ He thought, after he completed his tenth map in a row. He was now able to draw three and half a map an hour and was doing so with application. In result, both his calligraphy and drawing skill were growing steadily. Additionally, the handicraft was too, at a smaller rate but still, it was raising. Of course, Cilerius knew that from a certain level of skill, repetitive task like that wouldn’t help much to increase to skill level, but he could think about it when the time came.
‘too bad, drawing and calligraphy are artistic skills, I can’t use real life knowledge for a shortcut to success… but I will have to study chemistry a little, for alchemy skill purpose.’
For some of the production skills, real life recipes were used in the game mechanics, in the earlier stages of the skill mastery at least. So knowing about how the real life recipe were and adapting them for the game purpose would help a lot at the beginning. For the artistics skills, those shortcuts were fewer and you had to rely on the hard work and application in game.
‘but since the grow is harder, the benefits should be higher too, with an high mastery.’
Upon learning and raising those skills, Cilerius bet on the future and the fortune that may come. With this kind of thoughts, it wasn’t that hard to keep doing this repetitive work, drawing continuously the same map, writing its captions.
Subtracting the time lost in travel between each of his houses and his spying expedition at the guild mansion, since the end of his delivery tour the day before, he could work on his map making for 21h. If he could only complete two maps in the first hour, he gradually speed up the process and was able to draw almost four an hour at the end. He finished his 74th one then, since he had to take in consideration the one hour refresh and it was little more than one hour before the sun set, he opened the gate to his flat crossed it.
There, he pulled every maps from his bag, set them on the side and pulled clothes he got from the loots on his hunts. Using tailoring skill, he just dismantled them to obtain fabrics. He then cut those fabrics in ribbons. When he finished to do so with the fabrics he had yet, he had around 100 ribbons of different colors. He then took a map and rolled it up. He was about to just use the ribbon to tie the map when a thought came to him. He searched his bag again, till he found what he was looking for. He still had some candle he bought back in Nivese. He made the wax melt in a bowl and mixed in it some of the red colored powder he still had. Thus, he obtained red wax. He then took the rolled map, put the ribbon on the verso edge then let a drop a wx fix it. He then rolled the ribbon around the scroll he used a little more wax to seal it.
Upon completing this task, he got the window message stating that he had completed a fine work. He was happy to note a raise in both his skills and even got the surprise to see a new one, like a specialization, be created.
!Ding! new skill: mapmaking. You are now able to create maps from either an existing one or from observation of your surroundings. The higher the skill, the better you will be able to convey your observation in your drawing. The completion of more maps will now raise this skill in priority and the drawing and calligraphy skill secondarily.
That wasn’t too bad, since his skill raise already slowed a lot now. And the benefit to be able to make a map on the spot, from what he could see, or maybe hear from others, was big. Mapmaking was one of the skills thought to be monopolized by the adventurer class.
‘So, there was this way to learn it… good.’
Then he resumed his work, sealing each map with ribbons and wax. Each time one was completed, he got the skills raise notification. The waiting hour was almost up when he finished. At the end, his calligraphy skill was at B9 (98%), just short of graduating to the intermediate level and, his drawing skill was at B8 (56%). The mapmaking skill raised up to B5 (12%) in a short time, thanks to the completion of that many maps. Apparently, he could now convey the exact distance or the angles of the way, on the spot, as he would travel.
He packed the completed maps and, as soon the door wasn’t occupied by a blueish smoke anymore, he exited his room then his flat and headed for the central place where many peoples were waiting on him.
When he arrived there, many were those who let expectating sighs out. But they were all behaving. No riot like the previous day.
“Okay, hello everyone… so, I’m here like I promised. I have, in the meantime, completed 74 maps for sale…”
“Only?”
“So few…”
Many disappointment reactions could be heard, but they stopped fast as peoples came to the realisation that it was, in fact much. They had see him draw a part of the first map and saw that the process was slow, at the time.
“Sorry, I could have made a few more but I was disturbed by some pest on my way home, last night.”
“Who?”
“What the bastard come in the way of your work and our easier life?”
Indignant shouts raised from the crowd. Someone was hindering their hope for and easiest life in the city. That couldn’t be forgiven.
“No clue, but some peoples kept following me around last evening and they were even waiting for me to appear near my house late at night after I lost them… Well, whatever, I have 74 maps for sale today. As I said yesterday, I will charge 2 golds for each. Only one per person to be fair.”
He had throw a little jab to the interested peoples, that obviously were around and even in the crowd since some would try to buy a map too. That was to make them aware he know perfectly about them and it annoyed him. A crowd like this one could easily be transformed into a mob if a target to hate was given. As a testament to his obvious threat, he could see some faces grow uneasy among the assembled peoples.
He then began the sale of the maps and that was, as one could expect, an instant success. From what he could see, he had work for days and even weeks if he kept at it. Of course, he wasn’t planning to be a cartographer, so he would make maps for some more days then return to his own activities.
“Okay, tomorrow, same time, I’ll have more. Don’t lose your way.”
“We won’t, thanks to you.” Answered some of the lucky one’s who had bought the map already.