Author's Note:

A big thank you for everyone for your condolences. It was a trying time but I think I'm back on track again. Or well close enough. I hope the absence had only made your hearts grow fonder and you haven't forgotten about Ace. I'm not sure if he's still the same but hope the quality of the chapter isn't too bad.

Characters

Titles and Abilities

(Sorry for not updating these. I'll get to it one of these days... One.. When I have enough time and brain power for it...)

***

New Skill: Tribute [Passive]

You have achieved greatness in this life of yours. You have set on an impossible mission and against all odds came out victorious, mastering your art. No one expected that of you and that is why your actions shine even greater.

The class you founded will be renowned throughout the world and many new students will try to learn your art. This will only increase your fame, carrying your name through the lands.

Many will want to apprentice under you but be careful, fame also brings fiends with it. They will want to challenge you, hoping to earn a name for themselves. Each time you will lose, a great deal of your fame will disappear until you’re nothing more than an old legend. Greatness is a fleeting thing after all.

+ 1 agility and intelligence for every player having chosen your class.

Ace’s concentration faltered as he read that description, feet hitting empty air instead of a field. In an instant, he pushed all the thoughts away. He created fields at the sides, extending hands to catch himself on them. The palms burned at the pressure but his descent slowed and he could catch himself with a field.

Then he lifted himself backand started running again. He wanted to reach the lake before it got light and more people came out. This was an hour when night hunters had already returned but day players were still sleeping, too early for them.

He neared a forest’s edge, landing on a tree and continuing forward on branches. It was more physically taxing but required much less concentration, he could think about what he had just seen.

Those things he received after finishing Sedgart’s quest, they were unparalleled. Such huge increase in skills by percent? Immunity to all status effects? Ability to go everywhere freely? And if that wasn’t enough, there was that last one called Tribute.

It would take only a hundred players who chose his class and he would gain two hundred points worth of stats. Ones he couldn’t put wherever he wanted, but that made little difference. So many free points to agility and intelligence... And it wasn’t like only one hundred people were going to join his class.

He was Silver Wing after all.

Every player who’s class didn’t work out, everyone who felt weak, who envied him his power, they were all going to take it up. The moment his class became known to be up for choosing, he was sure it was going to become one of the most popular ones. People were simple creatures.

But that skill... It was like something a foolish designer made up for himself, to become so overpowered in his own game that no one could face him. Skills and tactics mattered only when powers were on the same level, or close enough. Humans didn’t defeat gods like rabbits didn’t hunt wolves.

He shook his head, that was stupid. Why would he get this thing? It’s not fun to defeat others when you’re quicker than they can see and can never run out of power for destructive magic.

Well, it wasn’t like he had to use that ability. He could always apply half of his speed, no matter that it might take a week or two to learn to fake well.

“Mirror Walk,” he whispered to the lake and jumped in. There was no one waiting for him on the other side and he changed his clothes. Rags weren’t bad, but Silver Wing was a classic figure. He had to keep up his image. Dark trousers, blue cloak and fox mask on a red wig.

Reflection in the water showed that everything was in place and Ace made his way out. He wrapped himself in [Shadow Veil] and sneaked inside the castle. In his opinion L was way too lax with his guards. They were half-asleep in their posts or sitting and playing cards. It was a child’s play to get past them.

Ace without a sound moved through the corridors. He heard L’s raised voice in one of the rooms, but didn’t feel like disturbing a meeting at the moment. There was no one he knew inside so it would be more trouble than it was worth.

He rather made his way into the man’s secret study, one he kept under heavy guard. These people were alert so Ace went the other way. He chose a close room and left through the window. [Radiant Step] carried him where he wanted to go and in a moment he was inside.

It was littered with papers like before, hardly anywhere to step on. Ace hovered in the air for a moment, looking around. He wanted to take something valuable. Something L was going to miss for sure.

Papers on the ground were out of the question, books didn’t seem to be important enough, maps had only a few marks on them. He moved to the other side of the room, deeper into the mess.

There his eyes landed on a golden case leaning against a small stool. He picked it up, opening the lid and peering inside. There was a paper there but as Ace took it out something clattered inside.

After turning the case upside down a small black amulet dropped into Ace’s hand. It was a round onyx on a silver chain. Nothing to be in such an exquisite case. That left a stack of papers.

The first one was a letter sent by some Lady Jeerin. He scanned through most,uninterested when his eyes caught on a line.

* November 30th

I have managed to persuade the guild to come to our cause. Red Death will serve you from the shadows. They have infiltrated all of Marion’s cities and are reporting to me each day. You will be glad to hear that I’ve learnt a lot of the man’s plans. He’s way too trusting whenn he finds you harmless.

On December 7th he’s planning to...*

Ace didn’t read more but he got the gist of it. This was information Marion wanted. Something he was going to let Ace have an undiscovered city for.

The kid laughed at that silently, making his way out with the case. The guy wanted to take L over way too much, playing with fire to achieve that. He didn’t know who he was asking help from.

Well, it wasn’t Ace’s problem. He was happy to receive his share. An unexplored city. That sounded like something to lift his mood up after having slept for some week or more in sickness.

That decided he ran around the city, enjoying his powers and the way people pointed at him. They whispered and scattered if he got too close. A pack of sheep in presence of a wolf.

He waited till the two hours were over and he could activate [Mirror Walk] again. There was no way he was going all the way on foot when he had this ability.

As he approached the lake, he saw his reflection. Silver Wing. That wasn’t okay. Marion didn’t know the heartless killer. He was only acquainted with Ace, a joyous if a bit dangerous kid.

That meant he had to take off all his carefully put on garb and return to his normal look. One better described as a spoiled rotten brat. Amber curls, blue eyes, smiling face, purple scarf and a white shirt with sandy trousers and ankle boots.

It brought a strange feeling to his chest, seeing himself like this again. This was no longer who he was yet it held a certain charm. He had started the game like this. It was the original thing, even if outdated and no longer relevant.

He smiled at it, lips curling up at the corners and closing his eyes rushed into the lake. [Mirror Walk] made sure to keep him dry and he was in the world of mirrors. For a moment he could see thousands of them, and through them. There people moved, dances were held, lovers met up and old wardrobes stood.

And then it was gone. He was out in a dark, dusty room. It was one he’d seen before so he made his way out and hiding with [Shadow Veil] wandered around. There was little life here, no servants walking around, but Ace was sure this was the right place.

Now that the Duke had left, and even got himself killed, there was no reason for Marion to stay in his old house. He could be just as menacing and ruling from an empty castle, though why he had no servants was an interesting question. From what Ace gathered Marion was a noble, npc one even.

How could he live without everything given to him on a silver platter? Wasn’t his life consisting mostly of that?

There were voices up ahead.

Ace crouched down and with [Silent Steps] moved closer. There was little light coming from underneath tightly closed doors. It didn’t lit the corridor but [Mystic Eyes] made it easy for Ace.

He also added [All Ears] to hear through the thick wood. Closed doors were no obstacle for one who wanted to eavesdrop.

“What do you mean you can’t find him?” Marion’s voice asked. It was slow and controlled, but Ace could hear cold rage simmering beneath. The guy was on the verge of exploding.

“He’s gone. Maybe he got tired of this world,” answered a familiar voice in a nonchalant manner. Ace could have sworn the guy was shrugging, an indifferent smile on his face. “You should start looking for someone else to spy for you. It’s been a week.”

“It’s just a week,” dismissed Marion with what sounded like paper shuffling. “But I pay you not to lazy around. You need to find him,” he said with emphasis on the need part.

“Find me?” Ace asked, pushing the doors out of his way. They were old and heavy, destroying his epic entrance, but he still put the smile on. “What would you need of me, oh lord?”

Marion’s eyes narrowed a fraction, a soft “you..” escaping his mouth.

Ace bowed with one of his hands forward and the other bent backwards. “At your service, my lord. I had a feeling you might be missing me.” He then turned towards Aster. “It’s nice seeing you again. Sorry, for our first meeting. It just happened,” he said with a mocking smile.

The guy’s chain appeared in his hands and Ace had a millisecond to dodge the dagger flying his way. He thanked [Evasion] and raised an eyebrow at Aster. “You seem to have a grudge. It’s a bad habit to keep them, you know? My mother always said t-”

“Shut it,” hissed Aster, tugging on his chain and pulling the dagger back in. He then moved to strike Ace again, but Marion’s voice stopped him.

“No fighting in my study!” he growled, eyes flashing silver. “You calm down,” he ordered Aster and turned to Ace.

But Aster didn’t seem to be good at following orders. His dagger flew again, missing Ace by a hair’s breath. Now it was his time to get annoyed. “Are you serious? Can’t we do this some other time? I have business with this guy, you know, the one you call your boss?”

Aster spat on the ground. “Boss? No one orders me around! I was just using him to get to you! So fight me, now!”

“Did you now?” Ace asked, raising an eyebrow. He dodged the dagger to the side, not taking out his weapons yet. It was dangerous in this small room, he couldn’t dodge forever but he wanted to see what Marion was going to do. If anything.

“Is this the way you control your followers?” Ace asked, leaning backwards to evade a second dagger. There were two on each end of the chain and Aster was pretty good with using both of them. The small room didn’t help him either, but somehow he was managing to make them come dangerously close to hitting. “I might have to rethink my allegiances!”

“Guards!” Marion shouted out, his hand hitting the table with a loud bang. It rung through the room and in seconds it filled up with man in plate armour. Ace didn’t feel too much danger from them, but they were a huge crowd.

Soon there were so many he couldn’t even move. It was wringing, shifting mass of bodies all of which were trying to get a good grip on Aster.

Ace didn’t want to be squashed in that mess with his small build so he cast [Wild Vines] on the ceiling. They were easy enough to climb and from the there he could see the whole show. One that was, to his surprise, quite entertaining and even educational.

The guy, Aster, was much stronger than any single soldier. He was probably twice if not three times the level. However, he couldn’t move. The guards had went up so close to him, the guy couldn’t even lift his hands.

Soldiers didn’t either, but they could push around until one of them managed to get his hands on Aster. Then he tried taking the chain out of his hands, but that showed up to be a futile attempt.

Aster rather shifted his dagger upwards in his hand and stabbed the hands trying to grasp his chain. Luckily for the soldier he wore mail gloves so a simple attack like that did no damage. It was a sign, however, that there was no easy way to settle the raging maniac.

“Kill him,” Marion said from his seat, resting against the back of his char. His disposition was relaxed but Ace saw the unrest in the way he tapped his fingers. The lord wasn’t as unaffected as he pretended to be.

It was something Ace liked so he used the moment and descended on Aster. “Orders and orders my friend,” he said, sliding Kris inside the guy’s chest. It didn’t kill him in an instant, this was a game after all, so Ace materialised some of his other daggers.

Standing on the guards’ shoulders he felt no danger so he took his time with it and pushed each dagger in slow motion, using skills a few times. Aster growled threats at him, cursing, but it was useless. The guy was powerless to do anything.

“Heart-seeker,” Ace whispered as he was done playing. “See you around.” Then he pulled the Kris out and looked at it in the light coming from the window behind Marion. The blade gleamed without a speck of blood and Ace put it back in.

Guards started to move, trying to cover their lord from Ace, but he jumped from one shoulder to another and landed on the table. There he kicked a few piles of papers away and sat down.

Marion glared at him, open and without any pretence but held his hand up. “Hold.” He took a better look at Ace, their eyes meeting. Nothing was decided with it but Marion still spoke up. “Leave us.”

There was no disagreement or grumbling. The guards shuffled out as silent and quick as they could, only their armour making soft clinking sounds.

“Why are you here?”

Ace raised an eyebrow. “Weren’t you looking for me? I had had an impression I was a wanted guest.”

“Guest?” Marion asked, his face muscles twisting, trying to frown while he wanted to keep them in place. It was an ugly dance on the man’s face. “You’re nothing but a lying bastard. I should have killed you on sight.”

“And what would that have achieved?” Ace asked, tilting his head. “You think you want to have me as an enemy? I wouldn’t suggest that. Bad business being my enemy. They don’t tend to have happy lives.” He thought for a second. “Though my friends don’t seem to be better off either.”

“So you’re an adventurer then, I had a suspicion...”

Ace shifted his position to be looking straight at Marion. “Who said it so? I haven’t died yet. This life of mine, it’s one and only.”

“You’re pretending to be a native then? What for?” Marion asked, his eyes narrowing. His fingers started tapping again.

“Why not?” Ace asked, standing up. “It’s boring being like the others. They have a thousand lives so I have my only one. It’s more fun that way.”

“So if I killed you, here and now, you wouldn’t return? You would stop coming to this world?”

Ace looked down at the man before him, small smile playing on his lips as he nodded. “Though as I said before, I don’t advise trying that.”

Marion stood up himself then, shorter only some ten centimetres than Ace. “Do you have something for me? You had to bring some documents.”

“You’re not afraid they’re going to be all lies?” Ace asked, taking out a couple of his borrowed things. First where the oldest parchments, most useless ones he’d taken by accident the first time.

“I can decide that for myself. Show them to me now,” Marion said, taking the parchments with great care. He skipped through them, his eyes stopping for a moment to examine some passages but not showing any reaction otherwise. “This is nothing much. I had known most of it.”

“Most but not all,” Ace said, not taking other things out. If he could get what he wanted for this, there was no need to present more.

“The rest is useless knowledge, minor details that have no influence on my plans. You would need something better than that to get your reward.”

Ace put his hands on his hips, a frowning expression on his face. “Better, like what? You have to be more specific than that, old man. I’m not going to run to you with every little paper I get my hands on.”

Marion thought for a moment, his eyes wandering over his room. “Tell me his sources. Who are his tacticians? His public image creators? His personal advisor? I need to get those people for myself.”

“That’s pretty simple,” Ace said with a grin “You should have asked for that the first time we’ve met! I would have gotten the prize already!”

“Speak up if you have something to say.”

“It’s him! He does all that himself!” Ace laughed. “Didn’t you know? He’s not sleeping, eating or doing anything but plotting how to survive against you! There’s no chance he’d trust anyone with that!”

Marion’s eyebrows lifted up a bit at that. He mulled it over for a moment before replying. “So you want to tell me he’s a one man army? He has no confidantes?”

Ace shrugged, starting to walk on the table. “I suppose he has people who know bits and pieces but no one near close enough to a full picture. He’s too paranoid for that.” His footsteps brought him to the end of the table and he turned around. “You will never find his plans out. I’m not even sure they’re written down.”

“That’s too bad,” Marion said with a sigh, moving to the window and looking at the empty streets. The sun had risen and alighted the place, colouring everything in yellow hues.

But it didn’t give life to the place. There was no one moving. Not a single person outside. Since the fights and Marion’s takeover people had been killed, ran away or hid. Not a single soul dared to move through this ghost town, even the players were gone.

“It means,” the man said turning back to Ace, “that I no longer need you.” He returned his eyes back to the city. “You’re dismissed.”

Ace chuckled. “You sure about that?” he asked, kicking an ink bottle off the table. Dark blue liquid rushed over the carpet, staining it black. Ace watched its path with a bright grin. “I’d like to know about the spies among my most trusted companions if I were you.”

He then jumped down, crouching down to take a better look at the stain. Most of the ink had been absorbed by the fabric but a small trickle was still leaving the bottle. It slowly went past the darkened spots, disappearing each moment but reaching a good part for a second and with its last breath staining a millimetre black.

A tragic journey, one for the greater good that no one could explain the point of.

“Are you sure you want to go this way?” Marion asked turning around, his eyes two blocks of ice, a hardness to his face. He came to stand right behind Ace, hands crossed. “If you have no proof it-”

“Oh, but I have proof!” Ace said with a smile, raising his head up for a moment. Then he turned back to the stain, touching it with his finger. Ink painted it bluel and Ace licked his finger, wanting to wash it off. He didn’t want to be known as Blue Finger.

“Show it to me!” hissed Marion, grabbing Ace by the shoulder. Motion brought the kid’s face to look at him, but the sharpness in its features made the lord let his arm fall.

It was so easy to forget that before him was more than just a kid. This was the most renowned killer in maybe the whole world, someone even Marion himself didn’t want to cross. He might have his armies and servants but this was a shadow in the night.

No one saw him coming.

And his eyes, blue a moment ago, was now burning a deep red. Narrowed to match the scowling face. “You don’t touch me,” he sneered, rising from his crouching position.

Marion took a few steps back, his hands going for the sword at his belt. But he stopped that motion. It wasn’t going to help him while a cold head might. “What do you know?” he asked, returning to sit on the old Duke’s chair.

“Everything,” Ace answered, taking out a case from his backpack. Golden ornaments glistening. “Here is information about a spy network right under your nose. It’s called Red Death if that helps you.”

“Red Death?” Marion asked, a thin smile appearing on his lips. “I should have guessed.” Then he extended his hand, waiting for Ace to put the case in.

The kid did nothing of the like. He pocketed the case and came to stand before the table, stepping on the ink stain. Marion was still too far away in his opinion so he leaned over, his eyes, hopefully, some dark deep colour.

“I don’t think so, my lord.” He spat the last word as if it was a curse. “You either give me my reward or you’re never seeing that thing again. I might even walk around and bring a souvenir for L. He would appreciate it for sure.”

Marion’s gaze steeled but the kid wasn’t budging. “I do not know what you have. You might be bluffing.”

Ace’s lip corners turned up, teeth showing. “You’ll have to take the chance. So how will it be? Trade or no trade?”

The voice he said it in made Marion’s distrust only raise. There was no reason to believe in this child but he had an inkling the boy was telling the truth. Red Death was known for betrayals and he had accepted them only under heavy consideration.

But he had accepted and he had to take the fall now. It was either take the case and find out the truth or live in eternal suspicion, not able to trust his own servants. Something that was the quickest way to downfall.

“Fine, give it to me.”

“Where are my ruins?” Ace asked, taking out the case but not yet passing it to the man. He had no idea how such trades where done, but he was sure if he looked imposing enough the guy wouldn’t dare to trick him. Silver Wing was too much of a living nightmare to dare oppose him.

Marion stood up, walking to a bookcase on the left side of the room. Ace watched his every step, Kris moving into his hand. This was the moment where everything could go down, and he didn’t want to be wash up drowned.

But Marion just opened the glass doors and picked through the books until he came to a one with a dark green cover. It was made of thick velvet, golden words that held no meaning for Ace drawn at the front.

“Here,” Marion said, opening a page marked with a bent corner.

Ace took a few careful steps closer and glanced at the page. Straight lines met his eyes. A map of sorts was drawn here, though it wasn’t a normal one. There was no way any kind of river or mountain went in that straight a line. Or even if it did, that didn’t mean all of them too, something this map suggested.

Marion closed the book then, passing it to Ace. The kid was forced to let go of Kris to get it and that brought a scowl on his face. Having both of your hands taken up wasn’t good practise.

“When you want to reach the place, open the page and say ‘Krignora Melantis’. Magic will lead you to it, but know that it’s not a timed thing. The light showing the way will shine to you until you reach the place.”

Ace examined the book’s cover, but didn’t learn anything new. It was an old tome, one covered in green velvet with strange words atop “Dealenus Krignora Houras”. “What does it mean?”

“Give me the case,” Marion ordered without answering the question.

His tone tempted Ace to disagree, but he threw the case anyway. It was enough playing with this man, there was a land to explore!

He made sure Marion was occupied and made his way out. Moments later he was at the mirror and tried to pass. To his surprise a message popped up before his eyes.

*Mirror Walk has been recently used. You will be able to activate it again after an hour and twenty minutes.*

Ace gritted his teeth at it but there was no way around. He couldn’t make the spell come up sooner, but neither could he leave. It would take much longer than that hour if he tried to get to Lasran by walking.

First he decided to return to his Silver Wing clothes. People knew him there as that and appearances were everything. It was important to know who you were and what you could do, where you stood in the society.

When the cloak and mask finally settled on him, he opened his bag and took out a piece of bread and some dried meat. It wasn’t a five star meal but his satiety level rose. That was important, and that it let him pass some time. The rest of which was used to read a random book he’d found in his bag.

It was hard to say when it had appeared there and how.

When he finally made his way out of the lake, it was daytime. Kids were playing on the beach, their parents sitting in the shade sharing gossip. An idyllic view, one easily disturbed by a form walking out of the lake.

Creature that didn’t swim but walked out of the depths, dry as though he was strolling through a field.

Mothers screamed at that, covering their mouths. Fathers went to grab their children, dragging them squealing away. Then took their wives and made a beeline for the city. Behind the walls.

As if they could protect them.

Ace didn’t pay much attention to the confusion he caused on this beautiful weekend and activated [Radiant Step]. It didn’t require much thought to move towards the abandoned manor so he opened the chat menu.

“Yes?” came L’s voice.

He sounded a bit breathy but Ace didn’t pry. There were more important things on his mind. “Do you have any missions that need to be done this very moment?”

Silence lasted for a few moments, then came a short response. “No.”

“I’m taking my rogues for a training camp. We should take a few weeks.”

“Got it. Hope it works out. Keep me informed of any changes in the plans.”

Ace didn’t reply to that, but quickened his step. By the time he came to the tree alley, he was running. There he stopped, calming his breath and lowered to the ground.

In he went, his boots making no noise on the polished floor. Someone had cleaned the place up, aired it and put colourful blankets to hide the sorry state of the furniture. It was hard for Ace to understand who’d waste his time doing something pointless when his eyes landed on the girl.

She was curled up in one of the armchairs, a notebook in her hands. There were a pile of papers on her side from which she was copying. Rewriting?

Ace moved closer without being noticed and looked over her shoulder. Papers held dates and short paragraphs written in a quick hand about the success or failure of some mission. The girl was rewriting them, changing the language to a more fitting one and then signing them as Silver Wing.

She was taking too much authority, but Ace didn’t plan to start writing reports himself. As long as she made herself useful, it was better than nothing. Especially if she took some work off his hands.

That decided he moved deeper into the house, to the pillar room.

As he walked closer he could hear sounds of steel clashing, boots scraping against the ground, people huffing and groaning. They were soon in his sight, duelling in pairs, one of their hands bound behind their backs.

To his surprise even Fenek was in an exercise instead of walking and ordering everyone about. That was something new and Ace moved to take a better look.

His opponent was a man clad wholly in black. From head to toe that was the only colour on him but for his skin and steels. “Master!” he shouted out, disentangling himself from the fight and appearing before Ace. “It is a pleasure to officially meet you.”

Those words brought a memory, a man defeated, lying on his back, ready to face death with pride. He was also somewhat familiar so without thinking it through Ace had suggested he joins the crew.

As Silver Wing Ace just nodded at the formality. “Name?” he barked out.

“Dark, and we’ve met before. Quite a long time ago.” Ace didn’t say anything, but didn’t stop him either so Dark continued. “I suppose you were just starting your journey then. You killed a certain paladin Perin of the Angel guild and saved the whole caravan though none know the tale. They think their braveryand skills did that.”

A smile tugged at Ace’s lip corners and he let it appear. “I remember,” he said turning to glance at the rest of the room. All fights had stopped and his supposed students were making their way towards him.

They didn’t look particularly eager to see him back, but there were no scowls either. That was more than Ace had expected. Somehow without his leadership not only had they not fallen apart but kept on doing the missions and training.

He returned his eyes to Dark and Fenek. “Which?” he asked, not even bothering to voice the full question.

Fenek shifted in his place, but Dark didn’t seem to be affected by being in the presence of a notorious killer. “I made some adjustments to your team,” he said with a thin smile. “They needed someone to show them around while you were busy.”

It was as good explanation as any, Ace had to say. This man had lived with the scum of the humanity, rogues and thieves since the beginning of the game. He wasn’t like the others in this sorry bunch. He knew what he was doing and had a good idea of leadership.

Something Ace didn’t feel like learning. It was too much work with little fun.

So he nodded at Dark, noting the way he followed his every move. It was unsettling but at the same time exciting. The guy admired him for a different reason than others, not some quality attributed to him but never actually seen.

It was clear it was the danger that interested the man. He wanted to be the best, to sit among the dead bones of others, at the top of a criminal organisation. And when that didn’t work out, he found the biggest monster around and challenged him.

Madman, for sure.

But an intriguing specimen none the less.

“Prepare. We are leaving in half an hour.”

“What?” came a sound from somewhere in the back and Dark glared in that direction. Ace had to keep back a smile at that. A personal hound, now that was interesting.

“Half an hour,” he repeated himself, not even glancing in the direction of the speaker. “We’ll be gone for two weeks. Stragglers are out.”