"Now that is just surviving in the forest," Karl explained, "But to forcefully leave the city gates you also need strength around that range. Because from what I know there is a Novice Captain at the gate, and another Novice Captain in the tower above the gates."
"That's it?" Melvin excitedly exclaimed, if that was indeed the case then he would be able to run away that same day.
Chuckling to himself, Karl shook his head in disagreement, "No," He uttered, "There are another two Novice Mages and several Novice Archers."
Registering the news, Melvin's eyes widened in both apprehension and shock, realizing that running away from such a lineup would require a level of strength that would take him a considerable time to achieve.
However, Karl continued to pour even more cold water on his heart, "There is more," He said, "You need to have the strength to be able to defeat all of these in less than a few minutes because that's how long it would take for reinforcement from all over the city to arrive. Moreover, now that you're wanted, the security will be even tighter. In fact, I've also noticed that in the last couple of days, the number of guards had increased in the eastern gate, so I imagine in the other gates as well."
After processing everything, Melvin realized that a forceful approach was too difficult and complicated, and most importantly, it would take a lot of time, time that he didn't have. Feeling stuck, he asked, hoping for some other clue, "Is there another way to escape the city?"
Karl had a deep pondering look on his face, and after a while, he said, "There is a way."
"What is it?" Melvin asked with the fervor of a drowning man looking for help.
"There are some carriages that can leave the city without being checked by the guards." Karl pointed out, "If you could convince them to help you, somehow..."
After understanding his meaning, Melvin questioned, "Who are they?"
Karl raised four fingers, "There are powers in the city with that privilege." Before he explained what each finger presented, "The Laurelli, Gaillac, and Gaistel families. The last one is of course the church."
Hearing that, Melvin couldn't help but think, 'It's those families again.' At the same time, he understood that two paths lay before him. He could either approach one of these powers for help or stay in the city until he was strong enough to leave on his own.
Needless to say, he was aware that both of them were riddled with difficulties, and the previous confidence he gained in his abilities had already evaporated after meeting Johnathan Parker. The sense of helplessness that he felt was still very vivid in his mind. He wasn't able to do anything but wait for his death. If someone of that caliber or even weaker found him, he would die.
Feeling himself leaning more into the asking-for-help route, he asked Karl to give him a brief explanation of the differences between them.
He learned that the Laurelli family was the undisputed number one family in the city.
They were involved in all manners of magic enchantment, runes, blacksmithing, casinos, export and import to other cities, mercenary work, and many other industries. The fact that their daughter was married to the City Lord's and The Princess's son, and so they were, in essence related to the royal family was but the cherry on top.
The Gaistel family had a monopoly over the port, and they were in charge of the whole sea fishing business, and from what Melvin had learned it was very lucrative since monster fish had a lot of precious body parts that are needed in alchemy. That was precisely the reason why they were the ones with the alchemy chain, "Gerrald, And Sons," The head of the family was none other than Gerrald Gaistel.
The last family, The Gaillacs were in charge of the Initate Tier dungeon, The Bamboo Forest. They also had a lot of mercenary groups and guilds working for them in all manners of protection business from traveling to merchant caravans, among other things.
When Melvin noticed that the other dungeon wasn't mentioned, he asked, "What about that Fiendish Cemetry Dungeon?"
"That one," he said with a smile, "Is under the royal family, in other words... The City Lord."
Melvin quickly appreciated learning such a fact, although he had nothing to do with it at that moment before he moved on. He found that even though he had learned some things about the families, he was still clueless as to how he should go about making them help a criminal wanted for rape and murder.
However, from that pile of seemingly unrelated facts, he had learned something very crucial.
The news house was funded and protected by the Laurelli family.
He always found the fact that the news reporters went out of their way to paint the most despicable image possible around him rather odd, after all, he was but a nobody. But now he couldn't help but associate such peculiar events to that dispute he had with one of the daughters of that family in the Royal Plaza.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Thus, despite the fact that his chances were higher with that particular family since they were involved in the creation of runes, he knew that he would definitely avoid them.
That left him with two families, and the church, prompting him to ask, "What about the Church?"
Shaking his head in disagreement Karl just said, "I advise you to forget about them. The Church's power is very deep, but at the same time they're hard to understand."
"What do you mean?" Melvin questioned unable to grasp the point the latter was trying to convey.
"I don't know how to explain it," Karl said, "But they're just not something you should entangle yourself with at this particular time. If you approach them, they will either immediately hand you to the guards, or they will take you under their wings. And trust me both of those are similar."
Melvin's eyes lit up in understanding, 'So they're also dangerous...' He thought, and although he didn't receive much evidence of that he decided to trust Karl's intuition. After all, he had seen the gods behind such Churches with his own eyes, and good-natured wasn't exactly the word that would come to mind if he were to describe them.
Dismissing such thoughts, he asked for the man's opinion, "Of the two families, Gaillac and Gaistel, who do you think is more friendly and might be open to something like this?"
Karl helplessly sighed but at the same time he found the situation slightly amusing as he explained, "You are wanted for rape and murders, frankly, I doubt any of them will want to entangle themselves with you... Unless you provide sufficient benefits, which again, I doubt you have anything that would tickle their fancy."
Melvin chuckled whilst scratching the side of his head saying, "True, true..." Following that, he stood up and glanced at the man in front of him, "Alright, that's enough for now, I don't want to waste your time too much." And he reached for a handshake.
Shaking his hand, Karl said, "It's fine, you don't need to worry about it. If I could I would have helped you more, but I am only Novice Rank 3 and not particularly well known so..."
"I appreciate what you did, I owe you one." Melvin said before he gestured to the man's bathroom and said, "Can I?"
Receiving the confirmation, Melvin did his business there, and when he finished he didn't immediately reach for the door to leave but reached for his right-hand pocket.
With the dark brown precious stone in his hand, he didn't want to waste any more time, and so he began.
Mana gently coursing through his body, it reached his arms, and hands, until finally it made contact with the stone.
The moment that happened, all of the magic and lights that the stone stored flashed into Melvin's hand rendering the previously glowing stone but a dark empty shell that cracked. However, he had no mind to even register that, because a series of notifications appeared before him.
[Congratulations! You have unlocked the Class: Thief(Common)]
[Select one of the following initial skills:
Stealth(Passive) – Your presence becomes less noticeable allowing you to move almost undetected in the shadows. As you level up, your ability to blend into darkness improves, making it even harder for enemies to spot you.
Backstab – You receive a 20% Damage increase when you attack someone from behind.]
[Congratulations! You have reached Rank 2]
[Common Class(Thief) Stats Assigned: + 1 Vitality, + 1 Strength, + 2 Agility]
[Congratulations! You have reached Rank 3]
[Common Class(Thief) Stats Assigned: + 1 Vitality, + 1 Strength, + 2 Agility]
[Congratulations! You have reached Rank 4]
[Common Class(Thief) Stats Assigned: + 1 Vitality, + 1 Strength, + 2 Agility]
Melvin shivered in excitement as he looked at everything before him, and the new strength flowing through his body made his smile widen revealing all of his teeth.
His attention was then quickly captivated by the two skills he had to choose from, and after a minute or two of serious contemplation, he made his decision.
[Congratulations! You have acquired the skill – Stealth(Passive)]
The moment that notification was heard, he could immediately feel a shift in everything about him. His presence felt weaker, his smell fainter, and even the sounds coming off his body as he stood there softer.
He briefly glanced at his system interface to see the results of the new improvements.
***
Name: Melvin Miller(Jacob)
Age: 25(19)
Class: Rune Mythomancer(Legendary)
Class: Thief(Common)
Tier: Initiate
Rank: 4(7%)
Titles: [The Heretic] | [The Storyteller's Charm]
Health Points, HP: 300/300
Mana Points, MP: 60/60
Stamina Points, SP: 138/138
Mental Energy, ME: 85/85
Vitality: 30
Strength: 28
Agility: 41
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 17
Charisma: 8
Available Stats Points: 0
Skills: [Storyweaver, Lv1] | [Stealth, Lv1]
Ongoing Quest: [Jacob The Snake's Death]
+ 20% Agility in Darkness
2% Lifesteal
Resistances: 20% Basic Poison Resistance
***
Unwilling to make Karl wait for too long as he seemed busy, the bathroom door parted open and he walked out with a wide grin on his face.
Step by step he advanced into the center of the living room, and just as he was about to thank Karl for his help, a loud knocking sound was heard.
Karl who already seemed a bit skittish and anxious instantly tensed up. With a solemn expression, he said, "Wait, I'll go see," And he went for the door.
Melvin and Firrol were both alert, ears strained trying to hear whatever they could. Soon, the door creaked open, and instead of the usual dialogue he was expecting to occur after one answered their door, what he heard shocked him.
There was the sound of a shove, hurried footsteps that were clearly from several people, a nervous shout of, "Where are you going?"
Melvin instantly understood what was happening, and his mind seemed to freeze as he stood there in place. His eyes and mouth widened, and even his hand just rested limply by the side with a dazed look on his face.
A prickling sensation was felt around his nasal area, something that always happened to him when he was overwhelmed by emotions.
Fortunately, after a breath or two, Firrol nudged him with his strong paws, and he managed to wake him up from his stupor. Melvin sucked in sharp breaths, chest heaving with rapid inhalations. His head began darting from one side to the next, trying to think of what to do.