Chapter 27 – Rince and Repeat

I’ve decided to go with my mind on this one. Or maybe it’s my fledgling conscience? It doesn’t matter. Sneaking past the office isn’t a bad option. I will probably come back on my way down and murder them if the loot upstairs isn’t satisfactory. I doubt the two NPCs have anything of worth anyway.

Getting past the office should be fairly easy. The two NPCs aren’t looking at the door and the hallway is still dark for the most part. Still, there are four of us, and one of us has hardly any points invested in Agility. You know which one. 

Anyway, there is no reason to waste time. The sooner we get past, the better. My Cutpurse goes first, easily slipping past the doorway without making a sound. Obviously, I expect nothing less from my Rogue. He is the one with the highest level of stealth ability after all. Next up, is yours truly. Unlike my Cutpurse, my Agility is severely lacking, and my stealth skills are pretty much non-existent. Still, it should be possible. The NPCs are at least two meters inside the room and not looking this way. Anyone could sneak past. It still makes me nervous though.

The hallway is still mostly dark, and it’s only a short distance to cross. I move over towards the back wall where the light is dimmest. Hugging the back wall, I slowly inch myself forwards, trying my utmost to stay as quiet as possible. Having watched a whole lot of ninja-related movies in my past, I focus my eyes on the floorboards, trying to locate a support beam beneath to muffle my steps. I take a careful step forward, aiming my foot on top of the edge of a plank, right on top of where I can see the nails have been hammered in. I rest my foot on top of it, trying to get a feel for the pressure. Not hearing anything, I lean forwards, increasing the pressure on my front foot. 

And then, a loud wooden creaking noise echoes through the hallway. Fuck! An electric jolt travels down my spine. With only a slight moment of hesitation, I cast Chameleon on myself, watching how the shimmering illusion takes hold over my still body.

“Who’s out there?” A voice asks from inside the room. 

Shifting my eyes, I watch from the corner of my eye as the high elf is making his way towards the door. Shit. My Cutpurse and I should be able to stay well hidden, but my two Hoodlums won’t fare as well. There is just no time for them to hide, and they will be spotted for sure if they start running. Crap. My mind races as I try to come up with a plan. Do I have to fight?

The high elf doesn’t give me a lot of time to think as he soon sticks his head out of the door, staring straight at my two Hoodlums.

“Who are you? This area is closed off for visitors.” He says, his brows furrowing. 

My two Hoodlums, still dressed in their finest garbs, stare back at the high elf. They don’t make any noise, and they rest their hands on the pommel of their weapons. 

“I asked you a question. If you don’t answer, I will fetch the guards and have you escorted the dungeons.” The elf says sternly, albeit his body seems tense. He seems far more hesitant, and he carefully takes a step backwards. “This is your final warning…”

I grit my teeth. Damn it. There is only one option left. I activate ‘Cheap Shot’ and signal for my Cutpurse to strike. 

My Cutpurse dashes forwards, blade in hand. He sinks his skill-enhanced blade into the back of the startled high elf, and I watch as his body goes rigid, the effect of the Paralyzing Potion taking effect. As soon as my Cutpurse started to move, my Hoodlums drew their short swords and lunge at the frozen Secretary. 

While this is all going on, I break my ‘Chameleon’ spell and dash towards the office door. The other Secretary has gotten up from his seat and has pulled out a small knife from somewhere. As the halfling spots me, his eyes go wide. He is about to open his mouth to scream, but I am prepared for this. 

“Calm!” I hiss, pointing at the halfling. A glimmering mist shoots from my outstretched arm, enveloping the halfling’s head. It only takes a fraction of a moment, but the translucent mist congregates around his eyes as the spell takes hold. The halfling’s tense shoulders lower themselves, and his hand holding the knife rests against his side. The halfling looks at me, slightly confused.

“Uh… Hello there…” He mutters, slightly slurring his words. “Can I help you with something? Can I offer you some tea perhaps?” He smiles weakly at me. 

[You have slain High Elf Secretary(4). Gain 25 Experience.]

[Chameleon has leveled up to Novice 5.]

I stare back at the kindred halfling, my solemn eyes meeting his calm and relaxed gaze. The Illusion spell seems more like a drug than anything else. This feels really weird. Uncomfortably so. “Yes, that would be nice.” I say, as my underlings slip into the room behind me. 

“Splendid!” The halfling pipes up, a small grin spreading across his lips. “Anything for your friends?”

“No thanks. They’re fine.” I say with a grim look on my face. Already realising what will happen next.

“Okie dokie then. One moment.” He smiles as he turns around and steps up to a small table with a kettle on it, starting to pour steaming water into two prepared cups. 

I sigh, raising my hand to rub my temple. This feels wrong on so many levels. “Do it.” I mutter. My underlings lightly brush against my arm as they pass me, moving towards the sedated halfling. I close my eyes before the first strike, but my ears catch the sound of metal piercing flesh. The halfling whimpers, but a knife to his throat quickly silences him. My underlings mercilessly stab the halfling until he stops twitching. 

[You have slain Halfling Secretary(4). Gain 25 Experience.]

I stare at the body as it slumps to the ground. A small amount of bile threatens to escape my lips as I feel my stomach twist. I feel like shit. That felt way too real. Drugging the halfling, even if he was an NPC, and order my underlings to slit his throat like that... It’s a little overwhelming. A small part of me struggles to separate the experience from real life, and it makes me nauseous. I don’t know if it’s because of the adrenaline, the situation, my personality, or a mix between the three, but I know at some basic level that I don’t want to do that again. The game is far too realistic for this shit, and it does too good of a job to trick my mind to react as if this were real. 

The way that NPC looked at me…

A shiver runs down my spine. Snap out of it Ryan. It’s just the game messing with you. The game is designed to behave like this, and that halfling was created to be killed. It’s a game. It will always be a game, and you know it. If you don’t like it, then look away next time. Hell, write a support ticket to a game admin and complain about the game trying to turn you into a sociopath or some shit if it makes you feel better. So, suck it up and start looting. You don’t have time to hang around here all night.

I smile while shaking my head. I’m being silly, aren’t I? My morals haven’t been bugging me while playing games before, so why does it start now? Sure, I’ve never played a full immersion game before, and it feels infinitely more realistic than anything I’ve ever tried, but still. I know it’s fake. I didn’t feel any regret when I played as my Necromancer. Why not? Is it because I was mostly slaying monsters in a forest, or is it because I wasn’t so up-close and personal as I am now? Maybe this is all because I’ve hardly talked to anyone for three months straight and I’m just really stressed out?

Whatever it is, I need to get my shit together. This feels real, but it’s not that real. The graphics aren’t completely lifelike, and the sensual stimulation from my body and surroundings are still limited. This is probably just mental exhaustion. I should take a day off and do something else. Perhaps go out in the real world and grab a beer with one of my old friends, or just spend the day reading a book or something. I’ve been meaning to finish reading Fantasy Royale at some point.

I’ll think about it tomorrow. Right now, I have a few corpses to loot.

I order my underlings to start searching the room. Since my plan to sneak past went to shit anyway, I might as well make the best of it. It’s funny really, how the solution to my problems always ends up with me butchering everyone. History repeats itself. I should probably work on that. 

Looking around, I notice that this office, unlike the classrooms, is filled with furniture and other thingamajigs. It’s a nice change of pace, and it fills me with anticipation. There just has to be something of value around here. I can feel it.

While my underlings are busy rummaging through the room, I decide to do the easy job of pilfering through the pockets of the two secretaries. It’s not because I’m lazy or anything, but my life motto has always been: never do anything today if you can get someone else to do it tomorrow.

[Silver Letter Opener. Uncommon. 13-15 Piercing Damage, 4 Agility. Requires: Level 5.]

[4 Gold, 4 Silver, 6 Copper.]

They didn’t have the biggest haul I’ve come across, but I’m not complaining. The silver letter opener is an interesting item, as it’s both a tool and a weapon. I’m not really sure what the hell I’m supposed to use it for, but it’s actually an upgrade for my Cutpurse. It feels weird equipping him with a letter opener, but beggars can’t be choosers I guess.

Getting back on my feet, I take a glance around the room to see if my underlings can find anything. My Cutpurse is busy looting the office desk at the center of the room. It’s not a lot of stuff on it, but he is currently picking the lock of a drawer. My female Hoodlum is busy pilfering through a bookcase, while my high-level Hoodlum is checking out a cabinet by the door. Letting them keep on with their tasks, I walk closer to the door, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. 

My Spotters have been busy tracking potential enemies outside while we have been inside. I have spotted a couple of red outlines of players walking by outside through the corner of my eye for the last fifteen minutes, and luckily, none of them have decided to investigate the entrance as of yet. Not that they have any reason to.

One by one, my three underlings walk up to me, handing over the loot they found. My eye catches a thick leather-bound book the Cutpurse seems to have picked up from the locked drawer.

[Basic Skill Book: Charisma. Rare. Increases a Charisma-based skill to Novice 10. Requires: Unlocked Charisma skill between Novice 1 and Novice 9, Level 5.]

[Painting. Novelty Item. #3. *Contraband*]

[6 Cold Coins, 2 Silver, 9 Copper.]

I prevent myself from bursting out in laughter. A skill book! Those are ridiculously rare! I can’t believe my luck. Don’t let the title fool you. Even if it’s a basic skill book, they are nothing to sneeze at. In this game, powerful skills can be even more valuable than higher levels. The amount of benefits a leveled-up skill can provide is staggering. 

The way the skill system functions in this game is different from its predecessors. Skills cannot be learned from a trainer, and you can’t find items to unlock the skills for you. Everything you learn, you do it with Skill Points which you get from leveling up. Since every skill your class can learn is available either from the start, or until you have increased your proficiency within their field to the correct levels, it’s all about leveling up what you’ve got and prioritize the skills and abilities most useful to your playstyle. There are thousands of skills to learn out there, and you only have access to a very finite amount of Skill Points. The key to progress is thus to level up your core skills in tandem with your levels since your strength can only really be measured in your skills’ power. 

That’s where Skill Books come into play. Leveling your skills at higher levels is a slow and grueling grind. You can spend days using a skill to attack your enemies without seeing much return. Skill Books are kind of a cheat this way, as they give an instantaneous experience boost to any selected skill. The amount isn’t negligible either, as even a basic Skill Book can boost a skill from level one to ten. That’s over a week worth of grinding, possibly more, and is why Skill Books are highly coveted and worth a small fortune on the player market. Hell, I think I can sell this sucker for about fifty gold, easy.

But, should I do it though? As a Thief Lord, the majority of my skills are based on the Luck attribute rather than Charisma. In fact, I only have a single level able skill that is boosted by Charisma and I haven’t even unlocked it yet. It will no doubt come in handy for me at one point in the future, but it won’t help me today, or in the next few weeks at least. Should I sell it? I probably should. I really need the money. 

I open up my class skill list, looking over the skill in question.

Incite Crowd – Causes NPCs to actively distract and obstruct enemies for 0,1 Charisma seconds + 0,1 seconds per Skill level.

Cooldown 60 minutes - 15 seconds per Skill level.

It’s a nice skill, and it will no doubt help me immensely at some point. It’s an escape-based skill, and god knows I need as many of those as I can muster. The problem is though, I didn’t really plan on learning it for at least a dozen levels or so. As good as it is, I just have way too many better options available at the moment. Saving such a valuable item for the future just feels inefficient. I can use the gold it’s worth now.

…

Ah, fuck it. I’ll save it for now. I’ll call it my rainy day fund and only sell it if I’m really strapped for cash. I really need to stop rushing my decisions so much. It’s not like I’m that desperate for money at this very moment. I should let one-week-from-now-Ryan handle that problem. Let that sucker handle it.

With the loot all gathered up, I prepare to continue the heist. First of all, I hand the armor back to my Hoodlums, exchanging them for the disguises. No matter how efficient the disguises are, they just don’t provide the raw combat boost required for these quick encounters. I’m already deep behind enemy lines. There is no need to put on disguises at this point.

Storing the disguises safely within my bag, my underlings and I head back into the hallway. Like earlier, I send my Cutpurse ahead to scout, while my Hoodlums keep a safe distance behind.

The fourth floor of the college is where the Bards conduct their guild business. We pass a few offices which contain only a couple of furniture and no loot. We also pass what I assume is a dormitory for students or the faculty members, but we don’t explore it fully as it’s occupied by quite a number of people. For once, it’s not even a little tempting to kill them to see what sort of loot they can provide. I’m greedy and opportunistic, not suicidal.

We sneak further down the hallway, passing even more empty offices. We don’t find anything of value at all, and I start to doubt I’m even in the right place until we’ve nearly made our way around the entire floor. Just when my thoughts started to tempt fate, I come upon a well-lit corridor up ahead. Slowing down, I order my Cutpurse to scout ahead. 

I watch as my Cutpurse fade into the darkness and almost glide alongside the shadows of the corridor. I’m actually impressed. If it hadn’t been because I knew he was there, I bet he could easily sneak up on me. And I’m not just saying this because my Perception attribute is abysmal. I’m sure he could give even a Perception specced player a run for their money.

A few moments later, the Cutpurse returns. He holds up two fingers while slightly shaking his head.

Damn. 

Since my underlings are all mute, I had to teach them a way to communicate with me. The solution I came up with is a very simplified system of signs and gestures. My underlings are sort of dumb, and there is a limit to the amount of information I can have them gather this way. Anyway, the two fingers he holds up means that there are two enemies while the shake of the head means that it’s a bad idea to mess with them. Crap. 

Why are they there? Are they guards, players, or wandering NPCs? Are they guarding the loot I’m here for? I’m certainly running out of options, seeing as I have already scouted out the majority of the floor. Damn. Even though they are tough opponents, there must be a way to beat them. There always is. I just need more information. Information my mute underlings are unable to provide at the moment.

…

I sigh. I’ll try not and do something reckless again.