Chapter 4 - The Therapist

They went to the house of their next target, Jason. He was a level 9 chaotic red NPC. His combat abilities was not so different from Samuel. So with the help of Samuel, Metehan could seize him and rehabilitate him with his usual method easily. Metehan used his new skill Terror during the process so the rehabilitation of Jason ended in an hour. His Guidance Skill didn’t rise to next level and he didn’t gained anything new except for 100 Contribution Points. Jason was also gonna follow him and fear him as the Divine Agent just like Samuel. However a different system notification popped up.

+Your Satiety dropped under %50. All stats decreased by %50.

‘What? My stats decreased?’ Metehan checked his stats and as the notification said, his stats were half of his original stats.

‘I guess I need to eat something to recover it.’ Metehan took out a wheat bread and ate it. His Satiety had recovered to %75 and the stat penalty was also removed. ‘I guess I need to eat one more to recover it fully.’ So he ate one more and his Satiety recovered fully. ‘I should pay more attention to that from now on. If I had this penalty during a combat, it would be quite dangerous.’ Metehan turned to Jason and stared at him with cold eyes.

‘However this is taking too long. I won’t be able to rehabilitate them in time at this rate. I need to think something.’

Even with his new skill Terror, it took an hour to rehabilitate one. There were still 19 people including Lorenzo to rehabilitate. And he already spent 7 hours since he took the quest from Mario. He had to finish the quest less than 24 hours so at this rate he would fail it. After thinking for a while, an idea flashed through his mind.

‘Hmm, if I do this, I might finish it in time. It might be a little risky but I guess there is no other choice.’ Metehan turned to Samuel and Jason.

“Samuel, Jason. I want each of you to go and bring one of the gangs members here. Tell them whatever excuse you can and convince them to come here.”

Both of them had figured out Metehan’s intention. A sudden cold fear surged through their bodies when they thought about what the gang members they will bring will go through. But both of them nodded and left.

This was a risky plan for Metehan. Since he didn’t know whether they would betray him and tip up the gang and come back with them to crash him. It was a gamble actually. However he couldn’t come up with a better plan to speed up the process.

5 minutes later, Samuel came back with a chaotic red NPC. He was a little confused to see Metehan. While he was trying to understand what was going on, Samuel suddenly hit his nape and he collapsed.

“I am sorry, bro. This is for your sake.” After Samuel said that, they seized him and tied up to the chair. Samuel didn’t betray him. Metehan’s rehabilitation was a complete success. A few minutes later Jason also came back with a chaotic red NPC. And they seized him the same way.

Metehan started to rehabilitate them. With his new skill Terror and the physiological impact of seeing his friend tortured, the process had sped up again and it ended in 45 minutes.His Guidance skill had reached to Beginner Level 3 and he gained 200 Contribution Points. His new skill Terror also reached Beginner Level 2.

“Nice. It is more effective this way.” Meteha was satisfied with the result. ‘However I can still speed it up a little more.’ Metehan turned to the four rehabilitated gang member.

“I want each of you to go and bring one of the gangs members here.” Metehan was planning to rehabilitate four people at the same time. Otherwise it would take too much time and he didn’t want to waste anymore time. It had started to be quite annoying now. Even though he was torturing them, he didn’t practically like it. He was just doing it because it is necessary.

Metehan continued his rehabilitation with 4 people each time. He had rehabilitated all gang members except for Lorenzo in 4 hours. His Guidance Skill was now at Beginner Level 10 and Terror Skill was at Beginner Level 5 and he had gained 1600 Contribution Points. Now the only one he had to rehabilitate was their Boss, Lorenzo. Metehan checked his skills with a satisfied face before that.

Root Skills:

Sword Mastery (Passive, Beginner Level 1 | %11) : It is the essential skill in order to use swords, knives or daggers. You don’t get any penalty while using a sword, knife or dagger. Depending on your skill level, you can unlock branch sword skills.

Mace Mastery (Passive, Beginner Level 1 | %0) : It is the essential skill in order to use maces. You don’t get any penalty while using a mace. Depending on your skill level, you can unlock branch mace skills.

Axe Mastery (Passive, Beginner Level 1 | %0) : It is the essential skill in order to use axes. You don’t get any penalty while using a axes. Depending on your skill level, you can unlock branch axe skills.

Lance Mastery (Passive, Beginner Level 1 | %0) : It is the essential skill in order to use lances. You don’t get any penalty while using a lance. Depending on your skill level, you can unlock branch lance skills.

Random Skills:

Guidance (Passive, Beginner Level 10 | %5) : Guiding lost souls is a tough job. Since not all of them are aware of their conditions, you will need strength to subdue them in order to guide them to the right path. When you are in Battle Phase against chaotic NPCs or players, all stats +%29, HP and MP recovery rate +%5 per 10 seconds, HP and MP fully recovered at the activation of the Battle Phase.

Terror (Active, Beginner Level 5 | %42) : Fear is the most basic emotion that affects one’s actions and it is a very important factor in a battle. So the ability to strike fear into your enemies provides an enormous advantage to bring them to their knees. When you activated the skill, all enemies in an 10 meters radius will be paralyzed for 6 seconds and their attack powers and morals will decrease 11% for 35 seconds.

Mana Consumption : 10

Cool Down Time : 4 minutes 50 seconds.

Now he just had to rehabilitate the Boss and his both quests would be completed. Metehan turned to the gang members “Okay, let’s go and rehabilitate your Boss.” He said with a confident face. He had 20 loyal followers so he was quite confident that he could easily handle Lorenzo. However when you said that, all of the gang members’ faces were pale.

“What is wrong?” Metehan asked with a confused face.

“Big Brother, we don’t think we are enough to handle the Boss. He is enormously strong. Even with you, we can’t take him down.” Samuel said with a worried face.

“What do you mean we are not enough? We are 21 people here including me. No matter how strong he is, I don’t think he can handle all of us.” Metehan said with a disbelieved face.

“Actually he can and he did, Big Brother. We do training with the Boss every month. The training concept is quite simple. We all attack the Boss at the same time and try to take him down. However we could never take him down yet. He always beat us down.” Jason said.

‘Damn it. Just when I thought it was over...’ Metehan had fallen into desperation. He had to rehabilitate the Boss in order to finish the quests. However if the Boss was that strong, he wouldn’t be able to do it. While Metehan was in deep thoughts and desperation, one of the the gang members spoke.

“Ummm… I have an idea but…” Metehan’s eyes flashed at at the moment. He had no idea how to deal with the Boss so he was open to the ideas.

“What is it? Let me hear it.” Metehan said with hope in his eyes.

“I don’t know if it will work but we can drug him to sleep. Today is Boss’ birthday. He doesn’t really care about his birthdays but we can use it as an excuse to drink with him. And we can put drug into his drink and make him sleep. Then you can handle the rest, Big Brother.”

“Hmmm, it might work. But do you have any sleeping drug?”

“Yes, we do. We usually use it for kidnapping women and sell them… I mean we used to use…”

“Okay, let’s do it. Let’s go then. Ted and I will be waiting outside. Let us in when you are done.” Metehan said with a joyful voice.

Gang members knocked the door. Lorenzo was a little surprised when he saw them however he let them in anyway. About 10 minutes later, Samuel opened the door and let them in. Lorenzo was tied up and sleeping on the ground. His name was written in dark red. Metehan kicked Lorenzo to wake him up.

+Battle Phase is active.

Lorenzo didn’t wake up however Metehan’s eyes had wide opened. He had seen Lorenzo’s level. Lorenzo was level 50! There was really no way he and the gang members could take him down. The highest level among the gang members was 12. The level differences was too high. Metehan got himself together again after a little while.

Metehan kicked Lorenzo a few times more to wake him up however Lorenzo didn’t. He was in a deep sleep. Then Metehan drew his sword and slashed the X spot of Lorenzo.

“Aaugh!” Lorenzo woke up crying in pain. “Who the hell are you?!” Lorenzo shouted angrily. After a few seconds he saw the other gang members. Their face were down. They were a little ashamed to look into the eyes of their former Boss. “You bastards, did you betray me?!” Lorenzo had figured out what was going on.

Metehan continued his torture without answering. Lorenzo’s HP and defence was just too high. Metehan could drop his HP 1% after 5 slashes. ‘Oh My God! This will take quite time.’ Metehan could drop Lorenzo’s HP to 5% after 10 minutes. Luckily Lorenzo’s HP was recovering faster than others so he didn’t have to wait too long for Lorenzo’s HP to recover fully. This routine continued for 3 hours. However even though he was occasionally using his Terror Skill, he couldn’t manage to break Lorenzo.

“You little squirt! No matter how much you torture me, you won’t see me to beg you for my life! I am different from those shits over there! Just kill me! Or else if I manage to get free, I will crash every bones in your body!” Lorenzo laughed wickedly. That scene gave shivers to Metehan. Even though he was the one torturing him, the one who started to feel fear was also Metehan himself. Lorenzo had a fearsome willpower so that Metehan’s willpower had started to fall apart.

‘This is not good. The classical torture method won’t work on him. I need to change my approach.’

Metehan stopped his torture. “Lorenzo, I heard you were the former Captain of the City Guards. It is an honorable job. What made lose your honor and turned you to evil?”

“Honor?” Lorenzo laughed wickedly again. “It is a worthless virtue. What use does it have if you can’t even protect the ones you treasure?! Strong is just and being weak is a sin. That’s the law of this world, kid. As long as you are strong, you can do whatever you like. You don’t have to have useless virtues such as honor.” Lorenzo continues with a lecturing voice.

“What exactly happened that changed you so much?” Metehan asked with a soft and gentle voice. There were apparently some kind of circumstances behind this.

“It is the Great Invasion.” Ted said with a grieving voice.

“Ted, stop it.” Jason said.

“It is okay, Jason. We can tell him.” Samuel said with a gentle voice.

“The Great Invasion? What is it exactly? I heard this before.” Metehan asked with a curious tone.

“You must have realized the current state of the City, right? It is just like a city that just got out of a battle.” Samuel asked and Metehan nodded.

“It wasn’t always like this. It was a very peaceful and beautiful city until The Darkness Army invaded it.” Samuel continued.

“The Darkness Army? What is it?”

“We don’t really know. They are some kind of evil empire. 10 years ago, they invaded the city out of nowhere. Great sacrifices were given but we could somehow defend the city. Many of us lost the people we loved. The Boss lost his wife and his elder son. I lost my sister as well. They were slaughtered while praying in the Temple. However God didn’t do anything to protect them.” Samuel had started to cry. Meanwhile a system notification popped up.

+You acquired information about the history of Semerkant City. Wisdom +2, Intelligence +1.

“God is worthless. He doesn’t do anything to help us and expect us to worship him. How selfish.” Lorenzo interrupted while Metehan reading the notification.

“We lost our faith and left the City Guards following the Boss.” Samuel added while crying.

“You were also in City Guards?” Metehan asked in surprise.

“Yes. We cursed the God and our infirmities. We couldn’t even protect the ones we loved. What was the point to protect the City? We swore to be strong and protect the people we love no matter what it costs.” Jason continued.

“The cost of hurting other people? The people who are precious for someone else? Isn’t that selfish? Just as selfish as the God you cursed? What is the difference between you and the God you cursed? What is the difference between you and the Darkness Army? That was your answer, becoming the evil itself you cursed so much and make other people to go through the same pain you went through? Fuck you all. You are just worthless weaklings... cowards who were just afraid of embracing the pain and the grief and moving on. Instead of sharing the pain all of you experienced and overcoming it, you just ran away from it. Trying to ease your pain by causing more pain to others. Tell you what? You are the weakest scums I’ve ever met. You are worse than the Darkness Army invaded this City. You scumbags!” Metehan was quite furious. He couldn’t ease his anger even after all of those words. The gang members and Lorenzo were speechless. They couldn’t say anything back.

“Are you happy now? Did your pain and grief pass off now? I inflicted pain you because I thought maybe you could understand feelings of the people you hurt and feel regretted. However you were just scared of having more pain and begged for forgiveness. I thought as long as you don’t harm others anymore, I would be satisfied with that but now I learnt it, I won’t be. Why did you cause the same pain to others if you went through the same pain? I don’t understand how can you even call yourselves humans. I just don’t understand how you can stand yourselves.” Metehan had started to cry.

Lorenzo and other gang members were conflicted now. They had never thought this way. They had thought what they have been doing was natural. They had lost their precious ones so what would they care about others? However when they saw Metehan, they realized something. What if they were in the same shoes with the people who they had been hurting so far? Actually they were in the same shoes with them, they had lost their precious ones and so the other people did. So why didn’t they act the same way they did and hurt others? They had many friends in the City Guards who also lost their precious ones but they didn’t act the way Lorenzo and his men did. Why did only they acted that way? Why didn’t others do it? How could they stand themselves? They had started to question themselves. However the answer was clear. They were scums, weaklings and cowards who chose the easy way and ran away. Realizing that had made them regret. They wished that they hadn’t acted that way. They had truly wanted to make amends for it. While they were in these thoughts, some system notifications had started to pop up in front of crying Metehan.

+You truly rehabilitated Lorenzo, a chaotic dark red person, and his men. Previously you had just subdue them by striking fear into them. Since this had prevented them from doing evil deeds, this was kind of a pseudo rehabilitation. However you made them realize what they were doing wrong and repent for it. You guided them them to the true right path. They will never repeat their past mistakes and try to be better men. Their alignment will stay the same however it can turn to white depending on their good deeds.

+Your Guidance Skill reached to Intermediate Level 1.

+Due to special actions, a new stat has been created; Therapy(+15). You can not distribute points to this stat. It will increase due to your avatar’s special actions. You will convince other people more easily depending on the stat amount.

+Since the special conditions were met, Guidance Skill upgraded to Guidance II Skill. New features added to the skill.

+Due to special actions your title upgraded to The Therapist. All stats increased by 2.

+Since you rehabilitated a chaotic dark red person, you earned 750 Contribution Points and 500 Fame.

‘What the hell?! They were rehabilitated? And moreover I got a new stat and my skill was upgraded?’ Metehan was in shock. He was just sad and furious before when he heard their story. All he did was to shouting at them in anger and crying in sorrow of how they could do what they have been doing. And that caused them to be rehabilitated? It was sure a weird game. He stopped to cry and checked his new upgraded skill.

Guidance II (Passive, Intermediate Level 1 | %11) : Guiding lost souls is a tough job. Since not all of them are aware of their conditions, you will need strength to subdue them in order to guide them to the right path. When you are in Battle Phase against chaotic NPCs or players, all stats +%30, HP and MP recovery rate +%6 per 10 seconds, HP and MP fully recovered at the activation of the Battle Phase.

Additional Effect : When you are in Battle Phase against chaotic dark red NPCs or players, all stats will increase by the amount of your Therapy stat.

‘Hmmm, it has an additional effect. It is useful.’ Metehan was satisfied with it. And then he checked his stats.

Status WindowNameMetehanRaceHumanGenderMaleClassWarriorSubClassNoneProfessionNoneSubProfessionNoneTitles[/td4]The Therapist[td2]Level1Experience0%Fame600AlignmentWhite---Satiety50%Fatigue75%Attack17-19Attack Speed9Critical Hit Rate0.23%Maximum Weight14Defence7Evasion Rate1.1%CP2800GP0HP240/240MP75/75Stamina190/209---Strength28Agility23Vitality23Luck13Wisdom15Intelligence14Leadership13Charisma8Therapy17

Metehan closed the stat window with a satisfied face. All of his anger and sorrow had passed off. He was calm again. He turned to Lorenzo and the other gang members. Their faces were down looking at the ground like naughty children who had something wrong and waiting for their parents to scold them. Metehan sighed when he saw them. Apparently they had really repented.

“Untie Lorenzo. “ Metehan ordered gang members. They immediately untied him. Lorenzo stood up his face down. He was so ashamed that he couldn’t look at Metehan’s eyes.

“Return all the stolen items you and your people stole starting with the necklace of Mario’s mother.” Metehan said with cold voice. Lorenzo nodded silently and opened a chest standing in the right corner of the room. He took out the necklace of Mario’s mother and handed over to Metehan. Meanwhile Ted had also approached to Metehan.

“Thank you very much, Big Brother. You really guided them to the right path. I can’t thank you enough.” Ted said with soft voice and a tender smile on his face conflicting his appearance.

+[Quest : Ted’s Sincere Request] has been completed.

+Diamond Necklace of the Innocent Woman has been acquired.

Metehan checked the necklace with the basic skill; Inspect.

[Diamond Necklace of the Innocent Woman] [Quest Item]

Type : Necklace

Durability : [50/50]

Weight : 0.3

Special Effects

Decreases the fear and anxiety by %90. Provides mental stability.

It is a diamond necklace worn by mother of Orphan Mario. It helped him on easing his anxiety and fear and provided mental support. You will complete the [Quest : Urgent Request of Orphan Mario] when you give it back to Mario.

Time Left: 8 hours.

There was still time. However Metehan wanted to return it as soon as possible since Mario was feeling anxious without it. Metehan turned back to Lorenzo and gang members.

“I want you to go back to the City Guards and make amends by protecting the City if you really feel regretted.”

“We will. Thank you for your help. If it weren’t for you, we would never be able to realize what we’ve been doing was wrong. You guided us to the right path. We will go and beg for forgiveness from our former friends and do our best to protect the City. You are always welcome to visit us.” Lorenzo said with a smile on his face. And other gang members nodded.

“Then I shall be going. I need to return this necklace to Mario as soon as possible.” Metehan left the house and came to the Mario’s house. Mario was quite happy when he saw Metehan.

“You are back, Big Brother! I had started to think that you were dead.” Mario said with a joyful voice.

“Hahaha, I won’t die so easy.” Metehan said with a fake smile.

“Did you get back my mom’s necklace, Big Brother?” Mario asked with an expectant tone.

“Ah, sure. Here it is.” Metehan gave the necklace to Mario. Mario was so happy that he started to dance with joy.

“Thank you, thank you, Big Brother!”

+[Quest : Urgent Request of Orphan Mario] has been completed.

+Your level has risen.

‘Sweet. I gained a level!’ Metehan smiled with a satisfied face. He checked his stat window. He had 9 unallocated stat points.

‘Hmm, I am a Warrior so I will need strength. However I need agility and defence too. I guess I will add 5 points to Strength and 4 points to Agility.’ He distributed his points accordingly. Meanwhile Mario was staring at me with a weird expression.

“What is wrong, Mario?”

“Ummm… It is not much but please take it.” Mario said with a blushing face and handed out a Silver Coin. Metehan was surprised a little. He wasn’t expecting this.

“No need. I am sure you need it more than I.” He said with a smile on his face. Actually Metehan had no money. He really needed it. However he didn’t want to take money from an orphan.

“No, please take it. I won’t feel alright unless you take it. You helped me while nobody else did. Please Big Brother, take it.” Metehan couldn’t refuse it and took it.

“Thank you, Mario. “ At that moment a system notification popped up.

+Warning: Fatigue level exceeded 75%. All stats decreased by 75%. Sleeping is adviced.

‘What? Sleep? I have to sleep as well?’ Metehan was a little confused. He didn’t encounter any information about sleeping on the forums.

‘But how will I sleep? Do I have to sleep while connected? Or just logging off will be enough?’ He had no idea about how to do it.

“Big Brother, you look really tired. I think you should sleep. If you don’t have anywhere to stay, you can stay here tonight.” Mario said with a worried voice.

“Well, I don’t have anywhere to stay. But I don’t want to be a burden to you.” He had nowhere to stay and wanted to test his idea however he didn’t want to be a burden to Mario.

“No, it wouldn’t. Actually I would be very happy if you stayed. I feel a little lonely and scared since there is nobody at home. Please Big Brother, stay.” Mario said with begging eyes.

“O-Okay, if you insist.” Metehan didn’t want to refuse Mario and he could test his idea about sleeping as well.

“Yay! Thank you, Big Brother! Come this way. I will show you your room.” Mario said with a joyful voice. The room Mario showed was a narrow room with a single bed. The grouts on the wall had fallen. Normally Metehan wouldn’t stay in such a room however he had no other choice. There is no way he would refuse to stay here. It would hurt Mario’s feelings.

“Thank you, Mario. “

“I thank you, Big Brother. Good night.”

“Good night.”

Mario left the room and Metehan lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. It was a long day for him and he was quite tired. So he had fallen asleep after a few seconds later.

Royal Blood Online