~‌‌ ‌‌2.22 ‌‌-‌‌ Bob Catcey’s Splinter Cell ~‌‌

Tenzin’s Lorien

4th Lifeday of the Full Moon

As soon as Kyle fell asleep, I made my way down into the basement. I pulled up my status to see if I could level up my [Eagle Eye] since I couldn’t raise my stats until Kyle leveled. I raised my [Eagle Eye] to its max of level 20. I was surprised when I was able to level it again for 50 Energy. Shrugging, I raised it once more to see what would happen and hit accept. The burning at the back of my eyes started slowly until they felt ablaze.

The pain passed fifty-three seconds later. I pulled up my status and immediately noticed the change.

Companion Lv.10: Bob

Persian Earth Cat

1428 Energy ➕

10

Strength

➕ [110]

10

Constitution

➕ [110]

10

Dexterity

➕ [110]

10

Intelligence

➕ [110]

10

Wisdom

➕ [110]

20

Magic Bag 🛈

➕ [25]

Mana Gates

Predator Eye 🛈

1/25

➕ [100]

My [Eagle Eye] was now called [Predator Eye] and had 25 levels to work through. Mentally clicking on the information button, the skill's details came up in a prompt.

[Predator Eye] ⏣⏣

Magnified Sight

Heat Vision

No cool down.

Thermal range increased per level.

The skill had leveled to a Tier 2 skill. Looking around the room, I couldn’t see anything different. Thermography ranged from black being cold to white being the hottest in the range. But there didn’t seem to be any changes in my vision. I concentrated on my eyes some more and then looked around the room for a second time.

There! By the door!

I could see my boot print alit as a dark purple color. Waving a paw in front of my face revealed no change in color. I decided to go back upstairs and try my skill on Kyle. Heading into the bedroom, I found him still asleep on Tenzin’s bed. Concentrating again on my eyes, Kyle’s face immediately lit up in whites and yellows, with the rest of him showing up in a light purple hue under the blankets. I began walking backward until the colors ceased showing in my vision.

It looks like level 1 [Predator Eye] gives me heat vision within ten feet.

I leveled it once and found the skill’s distance went up by five feet. Using most of what I had left, I raised the skill to 3, getting a twenty-foot radius out of my new heat vision. I made a note to Meditate as much as I could to level the skill up while I waited for Kyle to return to his own leveling.

Going back into the basement, I headed for the tunnel into Dustgrove. Leaving the inn around midnight, I began looking for the first Tunaka I could find. It didn’t take long to find my first one. I asked him if he knew where Zan was, but he didn’t know. The grumpy looking pitbull Tunaka said to come tell him if I found out. That immediately struck me as odd, but there was no time now to consider his strange request.

Wandering around town in the middle of the night provided me with no leads as to where Zan was located. The only dogs I found seemed to be guarding the houses they were in front of. With no luck finding Zan, I decided to make my way to the east of town. Once there, I had to hop over the wall as the East Gate was closed.

Running along the east road towards the small range of mountains, I was able to get the hang of the heat vision. In a short time, I was able to turn it on and off with a simple mental reflex. I could still smell and hear the Dream Leeches and Firetails before my heat vision could pick them up, so I didn’t use it as much once I got the hang of using the skill.

The baron’s compound was only ten minutes up the road at a full sprint on all fours. Getting close, I could see the residence of the baron over the walls of the compound. The place was laid out in a large square, with stone walls on three sides. The back of the compound was secured by the sheer wall of the mountain. As I drew closer, three other buildings besides the manor also stood taller than the wall.

I crossed the road and made my way towards the small mountain the compound was against. Twenty or so minutes later, I was able to get enough elevation to see inside the compound. With my [Predator Eye], I could see almost everything inside with great detail. The manor was by itself in the southeast corner closest to me. Against the cliff face sat a one-story barracks type building. On the west side were a long-two-story cabin and a stable next to it. A few of the odd rhino-giraffe creatures filled some of the stalls.

At the complex’s center sat a tall, three-story tower exactly twenty-feet in diameter. I could see two guards at the top floor looking over the entire area. In the northwest corner to the left of the barracks and right of the cabin, sat the third building I could see before over the stone walls. It was a tall, large wooden square structure with a single open window that I could see. There was no telling how many floors it had, but the building was almost as tall as the central tower.

I could see the stone walls were just walls and not a palisade, but they were thicker than an ordinary wall. This late at night, I was able to spot every guard in their shiny red plated armor easily framed in light thanks to the torches each carried as they patrolled the grounds.

I sat there looking over the compound for an hour, memorizing the path each guard took. The two in the tower would get up every fifteen minutes to look around the grounds and then sit back down to continue their conversation. As I compiled the various data points, I created a 3D mental image of the environment and set timers for each patrol. If they were going to allow us AI’s to play the game, then I would use my abilities to the max. I got up and ran back down the mountain.

I climbed a tree and used a large branch overhanging the compound’s wall to get inside quickly. Landing on my feet, I waited for the two in the tower to take their peek around. Once they were done, I began running towards the manor. I ducked underneath a wooden carriage behind the manor as one of the patrols passed. As soon as he was around the corner, I left my hiding spot and walked to one of the manor’s side doors. Putting my ear up to the door, I could hear nothing and jumped a bit to grab onto the handle and opened it. Slipping inside, I closed the door behind me.

I found myself inside a kitchen, a single candle on the windowsill illuminating the pots and pans that hung from the ceiling. Activating heat vision for a moment, I could see all heat was gone from the hearth and stoves, telling me it had been some time since the kitchen had been used last.

Sneaking around the first floor gave no indications as to who the baron was or where Zan’s friends were being held. Slowly making my way up to the second floor, I found a slew of rooms furnished with multiple beds, but they were all empty.

On the third floor, a red plate stood outside a door at the end of the hall. Deciding not to chance getting caught, I made my way back to the first floor. After waiting for the guard patrol to pass, I headed out the door.

Once again, I waited for the two in the tower to peek out before making my way to the barracks. Not finding an easy way to get inside, I hopped up to the roof and skulked over to the nearest window. Getting close, shouting erupted from inside. I couldn’t tell if it was a male or female doing the yelling.

“Whoever brings me the rest of Esalune and Zan’s friends or this new cat you’ve talked about will get the next Golden Crystal. I need leverage so that bitch Esalune will tell me how she regained her damn ability.”

“We got it, boss!”

I squinted my eyes and tried to look through the window, but couldn’t see anything of interest below. That voice had sounded familiar. Almost like Genji’s did back when he met Zan. Getting up, I walked to the west side of the barracks to find a window with a better view, but all turned out to be similar to my original vantage point.

With seemingly nothing else to gain here, I made my way back down to the ground as quietly as possible. Once down, I mentally reviewed each guard’s current location, updating them on my model as needed. Satisfied that it was safe to move, I made my way to the tall wooden structure in the northwest corner of the compound.

Outside the building’s entrance stood two very alert looking red plates continuously scanning the area. Slowly circling the structure from a distance, I noticed an open window at the back of the building facing the rocky cliff face. Without drawing the attention of the two guards I made my way behind the building and climbed up to the window. Peering inside, the large room was filled with cages of various sizes. Seeing no sign of the red plates, I climbed through the window.

Right upon landing on my feet, I heard a gasp coming from my right. Pulling my bow and Sleep Arrow in an instant, I found myself aiming at an older Dwarf sitting inside one of the cages.

“Please don’t kill me.” the Dwarf whispered.

I placed my weapon back into my bag and looked around the room, this time taking a closer look at each of the cages. There were dogs in most of the smaller pens. In two of the larger cells sat the older Dwarf and a humanoid looking manta ray whose race I did not recognize. At one of the far corners sat the largest cage. Inside, a young Elf sat on a small bed.

“Are you the princess?” I whispered loudly to the Elf.

The Dwarf and Mantaman groaned.

“She’s not a princess, you fool. Who told you to come and look for her?” the Mantaman said.

“Zan did. He asked me to help rescue his princess and the rest of his kind.”

“Zan, you said? Did he look like this?”

Before my eyes, the Mantaman began to change. In moments he shrank into almost the same shape as Zan. He was a pug, but had slightly darker hair than the dog I had met before.

“Yes, that’s what Zan looks like, but maybe with lighter hair,” I said.

“Well, I’m Zan. Whoever you met is using my appearance to send our kind to try and free us. They all have been either killed and forced to rebirth, or sent to the mines so the baron can keep track of them.”

I turned to the Dwarf, now finally realizing what was going on here.

“Let me guess, and you're Genji,” I said, looking at the Dwarf.

The Dwarf went wide-eyed.

“How?”

“I just overheard what I thought was someone sounding a lot like the Genji I had met. He used the same phrase ‘Boss’ at the barracks.”

“You should leave cat; before they find you here. You won’t be able to easily free Esalune from that cage. It’s warded to heal anyone inside instantly, and there is no door or lock.”

I looked over the cage. It, in fact, had no door or any kind of opening I could see.

“How do I get her out? Why can’t I just rescue you two first?”

“To answer your first question, we don’t know how to get her out. The cage was warded by the baron’s master. While we understand how they work, we have no clue which wards they are, forget how to break them.

To answer your second question, we vowed to stay by her side and keep her safe. With us gone, that would leave them with more time to torture just her. Add to that, we can’t take the risk of a rebirth.” said the now real Genji.

“What is special about you, Esalune?”

“She knows how to change the Tanuka back into Tanuki, restoring them to player status without Golden Crystals. That is the secret the baron’s master wants.”

I went wide-eyed, my mouth falling agape. More pieces of this puzzle were now starting to make sense.

“Almost all of the dogs or Tanuka inside the town are the baron’s spies? And the fake Zan and Genji are controlling the other Tanuki from your group?”

“Sounds about right. The baron’s master doesn’t care about the town. Getting control of the Crystal was just a happy mistake for him. The baron just wants the ability to change again. Few races have come into the games with the ability to alter their appearance. Those who have, usually do very well in The Games,” Zan explained.

“If I can’t rescue you now, Esalune. What can I do to help everyone here?”

“Find a way to kill me. The baron has yet to remove my ability to respawn in Dustgrove. If you can find a way to kill me while still within the confines of this cage, then you can free everyone here so they may escape back to town,” Esalune finally spoke.

“This cage you’re in, do the wards act like a healing potion?

“Yes, it acts like a Greater Healing Potion, though I don’t recall ever hearing of a ward so powerful. From what we’ve been able to gather, those withinside will heal any wound and cure any crafted poisons,” Genji said.

“What about a creature’s venom?”

“No, only a normal antidote would cure something like that. How don’t you know that? Are you a new player?”

“I have access to a Desmox nest.”

The three shuttered within their cells.

“If you can get the venom from one of the larger ones, that may do the trick. Esalune will just have to deal with the pain.”

“What is your current spawn timer?” I asked, looking at Esalune.

“Thirty-Six hours,” the Elf responded.

“Alright, I have a plan of sorts forming. It’s going to take me some time to get everything in order. The next time you see me, it should be for the prison break. One last question for plan B, if things don’t work out the way I want. How many inventory slots do you have, Esalune?”

“Plan B?” both Genji and Zan said.

“Twenty-Nine.”

I looked around the room again. There were a total of twelve sets of eyes upon me. Nodding to everyone, I left the tower through the window and back into the night.

“Did anyone get that damn cat’s name?” asked one of the dogs in a small cage at the back.

Genji and Zan quietly hung their heads in shame.