Spell 13 : The Shadows

Another day had passed by in the game, and still there were no leads. Security around the castle had been tightened so much that we could virtually go nowhere within the castle. It was almost as if the castle itself did not want the banner to be found. Morale was running pretty low in the castle; most of the investigators seemed to have given up searching.

Spirits were running low in my group too, but I was not about to let up. Whatever that was left to us now is to find an entrance to the underground tunnels, but no matter how we looked, there were just no hidden entrances. None concealed magically at least, or else I would have been able to sense them with my higher senses. The thing about leveling up Intelligence, one of the core stats in this game, is that you also cause yourself to develop the innate ability to detect magic. The higher your Intelligence, the stronger your ability to pick up traces of magic. I knew this would also lead to unlocking other hidden abilities, but I did not know what abilities just yet.

'C'mon guys. Think! Where else can we find the entrances?' I asked aloud, encouraging everybody to get their brain juices flowing.

'Well, we searched everywhere we could think of. The king's room turned out nothing, though that would have been pretty weird since the king would not be able to escape if he really did get targeted in his sleep.' Cluck said with a frown.

'Might not have been nothing. Could have been blocked or removed or something. Well, surveillance room is out. Hallways are out. Bathrooms are all out, though I haven't checked the girls' one yet. Cluck might have. You could ask him.' Saber said while grinning at Cluck.

'No, screw you. In this game, I'm a chivalrous knight. I don't do things like that. Tidus might have. Ask him instead.' Cluck replied.

Just then, there was a loud growl in the room, followed by large gurgly sounds. Almost as if mini-volcano just erupted. We all looked at Bambsie, who coincidentally looked down at his stomach.

'Sorry. Stomach's empty. Needs refuelling. Anyway, I don't know why, but I seem to have 'Hunger' as one of my stats. Says here that if I am either starved or full, depending on how high my Hunger stat is, I would get bonus abilities. Do you guys have it?' He asked innocently.

'No. I'm pretty sure no one in this game other than you has that stat. The only 'Hunger' I know is a basic need, not the stat. How the hell you would even come to have this stat puzzles me, but I suppose we could work better after some food.' I said, thinking into the distance.

Wait... There's one place we haven't checked yet...

'OF COURSE! Oh man, Bambsie, you're a freaking genius! Guys! I'll meet you in the grand hall later! There's some place I need to check out first!' I yelled as I leapt up and ran out of the room.

It occurred to me that there was one place we didn't check, which was the kitchens. We didn't really think that the tunnels would originate from there, but come to think of it, the kitchens would have been a perfect place for an entrance, since it was near the basements and the cellars, where the castle has its stock items kept. I ran down all the staircases, earning myself quite a number of glares from all the castle staff, who did not really liked disorder about in the castle.

Finally, I reached the bottom of the castle, panting heavily. Incidentally, the staircase led directly into the kitchen itself, where many delicious scents assaulted my very senses. Steam rose up from giant pots, which raised the temperature of the entire kitchen by a few degrees Celsius at least. People bustled about in white robes. Many of them wore white cloths over their heads, instead of the typical chef hats. For a moment, I was lost, caught up by the activities going on in the kitchen. Everyone was so busy with something; it would have been bad to even stop someone to ask something.

But, time was running short and I had a lot more to lose if I dared not even stop a chef-boy from cutting carrots. I approached one washing the dishes by the sink and tapped him on the shoulder. He swung around so fast with the dish that I had to jump back or he would have sliced my head with the plate.

'What?' He asked, irritably.

'Sorry to bother you, but do you know of any entrance here to the underground tunnels?' I asked, looking at the dish in his hand.

'No.' He replied curtly, returning back to his dish-washing.

Well, okay. I'll ask someone else then...

'Hey, do you know of any entrance to the underground tunnels?' I asked, stopping a woman with burly arms carrying 3 crates.

To my horror, she put down the crates, cupped her mouth and bellowed.

'HIE! ANYONE HERE KNOWS ABOUT ANY ENTRANCE TO THE UNDERGROUND TUNNELS?'

Immediately, movement in the kitchen ceased and all heads turned to our direction. The silence was absolute; you could hear a spoon drop. A moment passed, and the activities returned back to the kitchen. No one pretty much gave me nor the woman, whom I noticed was gone, a second look. I slouched against the counter behind me, and took a deep breath, feeling at loss. Here I was thinking that I could have solved the case already but nobody seemed to know anything.

'These idiots here don't know nothing. *Hic* if you wanna know anything, I'm the one you should *hic* ask.' A raspy voice said from behind me.

I looked behind, and saw a small figure slumped against the floor in between two counters. From the looks of it, this man had probably not bathed in donkey years. His hair was completely unkempt and there was not a spot on him that was not dusty. His rags were all tattered and torn. In his hand, he seemed to be carrying an oddly-shaped bottle of some sort. Facial hair covered most of his features, and only his eyes could be seen. There was something weird about his eyes though. They were gold, and no amount of hair could have covered that gleam. I walked towards him slowly. I knelt down and looked at him questioningly, signalling him to talk.

'Sounds like *hic* you want to know about them *hic* underground tunnels. Sure, I could tell you about them, but you have to hear a plea *hic* of mine first. Interested?'

*DING*

[p=center]Quest Received!

Listen to the plea of the drunkard.

Quest Difficulty : Unknown

Do you accept?

Yes | No

[/p]

'Alright. I'll listen to your tale.' I said, sitting down. The 'Quest Accepted!' notification came up but I swiped it away.

'Excellent. I do not need a *hic* name, but know this. I come from a very far land, a continent *hic* separate from this one. In fact, in that land, you could say that time runs a little *hic* differently. The old king of this castle came from that land as well, though he had no idea of my existence here. My presence here *hic* serves as a plea sent from that land that I come from. That land has been terrorised with war, with no evident victor. There is no way you can stop the war in that land, and so instead, I beg of you, go to that land and determine a winner. That conflict must end, or otherwise, the bloodshed and savagery of war will consume the entire land. Choose a side, participate in the war and win the battle for that faction. In return for that, I will aid you in your current quest by showing you an entrance to the tunnels. There is no hurry of course. Once you are ready, I will come to you again. ' He said, seeming to sober up the more he regaled me with his tale. I also noticed that the more he talked, his skin grew less pauchy. Also, his hair was slowly turning a natural black.

*DING*

[p=center]Quest Updated!

Travel to the land that the drunkard has spoken of, pick a side of the war and win it!

Quest Difficulty : A

Failure : You will be sent back here to the continent of Versailles. Whatever loot that you managed to acquire from that distant land will be destroyed.

Do you accept the quest still?

Yes | No [/p]

A rank A quest! I was shocked. To be presented with an rank A quest so early in the game was unheard of! I mean, how can someone whose level isn't past level 30 accept a quest like that? But as I thought about it, I realised the quest was only so difficult because this was not just a simple quest of search and find, or to kill a marked target. Rather, it sounded like an epic war of proportions unheard of. I could easily die from the war, since there would be attacks from all fronts. I could even die in my sleep, if enemies were to attack in the cover of night. I considered my options, and made my decision.

'Yes!' I said to the man.

'That is very good news indeed! Now, I can tell you're a mage. That ring never escapes the notice of people. I will now teach you something to help you with your journeys ahead. Consider it a gift, as well as a debt repaid to an old friend, from me to you for accepting the quest.' The moment he finished, he poured the golden liquid that he had been drinking into a cup he took from the counter next to him and passed it to me. I noticed that his oddly shaped bottle was actually an hourglass. I looked at the liquid he passed to me, and to my surprise, it was actually liquid sand.

'Drink this.' He said, giving me a smile through his bushy beard.

Feeling a little apprehensive of drinking sand, I took it nevertheless and drank it down. To my surprise, it actually tasted heavenly! Delicate sweetness permeated my every taste buds, leaving a slight bitter aftertaste that which is alcohol. No wonder the man could get drunk from this.

*DING*

[p=center]Gained new Legendary Ability : Alter Time

Alter Time Beginner Level 1. 0%

Active : With the ability to control time within your own body, you can now cause time within yourself to speed up or slow down, depending on how you wish to react to your situation. Using this ability well, you might just be able to turn the odds against you.

Passive : Whenever you are about to be in danger, you will automatically go into a state of Quick Time, where time will stop, with respect to you, and you will be notified where you are about to be attacked. However, Quick Time will only last 4 seconds, giving you just about enough time to evade any lethal attacks.

Mana-cost : 200 for active ability, zero for passive ability

Cool-down : 30s for both. Using one ability will not affect the cool-down for the other.

Note : All changes to time will only affect you. You do not have the ability to control time around you; only within you yourself. [/p]

This was an Legendary ability! Legendary abilities are pretty much unheard of, so rare were they that nobody really had any records of these abilities being found! I was about to thank the drunkard when a voice behind spooked me.

'Hey! What are you doing over there?'

I turned around and saw one of the chefs peering down at me with his arms at his side. Straightening up, I told him I was talking to the stranger. The chef gave me a weird look, as though I was mad. I could hardly blame him though, for when I turned around to look for the man, he was gone! In his place was the hourglass he was drinking from. And there was a trail of sand that led from the hourglass towards the other end of the kitchen. Having met my fair share of weird NPCs in this game, I knew this was not the time to investigate his disappearance. Ignoring the chef, I picked up the hourglass and followed the trail.

Pretty soon, I got to a door in a quieter part of the kitchen that said 'No Entry!' I rolled my eyes, and pushed the door open. It was pitch black, which reminded me unpleasantly of the underground basement beneath the Grand Enchantium.

'Cast Luminous Light!'

A gigantic ball of light flew out from my palm and attached itself to the ceiling. From the looks of it, this was the cellar. The trail of sand led down the steps and ended at one of the corners of the cellar. I closed the door behind me, and followed the trail. In the corner of the room, there was nothing much except sacks of rice. They were all piled in stacks, except one particular stack that stood out because it was only a single sack of rice by itself.

Feeling suspicious, I went down to inspect the sack. Probing with magical senses revealed nothing, so that meant that the entrance was concealed with physical means. Prodding the sack of rice led me to believe that it was not just a sack of rice. I tried lifting it, but it did not budge. Too heavy for just rice, I tried pushing it but nothing happened. Instead, I tried turning it. The sack turned, albeit with loud cranking sounds of metallic gears. When I turned the sack horizontally, there was a sound of sliding doors. I looked around the room, and found a hole in the wall diagonally opposite from where I was standing.

That's it! I found the f***ing entrance!

Feeling excited, I sent the guys a message, asking them to come down to the cellars immediately. After like 10 minutes or so, they arrived. Bambsie had like 3 croissants in his arms. I shook my head and gestured towards the hole.

'Guys, come on! Let's go before the kitchen finds out this idiot nicked their bread!'

'I did not steal their bread! It was in a bask-' He could not finish his sentence because at that moment, Saber threw some powder in his mouth and his lips were sealed tight. He could only make funny gasping sounds as we pushed him into the hole.

I summoned another Luminous Light, and we ventured into the tunnel. It got colder the further we travelled. Along the way, we saw several large rats which we took care of rather easily. The tunnels were all connected, which meant that there were indeed many entrances either within the castle grounds or outside of the castle.

We walked past one of the conjoining tunnels and paid no attention to it. We figured as long as we kept on walking straight, we should be heading towards the center of the tunnels, where the chamberlain must be with the banner. Regrettably, we had no map of these tunnels so we were just playing on a hunch. The Luminous Light ran out for the 3rd time, and just when I was about to cast another one, we heard the roar of a dragon.

Quick Time was automatically initiated, and time froze around me. I got a notification telling me that the foe was right behind me. Knowing I only had precious seconds, I had to face the foe first. I prepared a FrostFire Bolt, which I launched at the direction indicated at the moment Quick Time ceased. There was a blast and there was a sound of something crashing against the rocky floor. I wasted no time and summoned Luminous Light. The enemy was already standing up, but to both of our surprises, we recognised each other immediately.

It was the knight with the dragon tattoos, one of the leaders of a group of investigators. However, this time he was alone. He sheathed his claymore sword the moment he saw our faces illuminated by the light. The rest had already turned around and were all in hostile stances, though a moment too late. Saying nothing, the knight pointed forwards, indicating us to travel on.

'Are you here to look for the banner as well?' I asked.

The knight nodded and started walking towards the direction he was pointing at, beckoning us to follow. We looked at each other and shrugged. Sensing no hostility from the knight, we agreed to follow. As we walked, I stared at his cape. Much like the tabard in his torso, his cape was also emblazoned with dragon tattoos. Recalling the roar we heard earlier, this person must be no ordinary knight.

'So, hey, I haven't gotten your name. Which class were you from in school anyway?' I asked.

The knight gave no reply, but he did turn back to look at me for a brief moment as he continue walking forwards.

So... Not a talker eh? Or could he be mute? Though I don't remember anyone in school being mute...

There was no more further talking after that and we travelled on in silence. After what seemed like hours, we finally reached something like a cavern floor. The tunnel opened to a gigantic space of underground rock. Stalactites hung like crystal spears from the ceiling while stalagmites pierced up from the rocky floors. In the center were two figures. We all quickly grew excited. We found the chamberlain! But the presence of another figure puzzled us. Both were bounded by ropes and were unconscious. We approached cautiously, knowing fully well that this could be a trap. As we came nearer, we all recognised one of them with horror.

It was Redrow! We all gasped in surprise. Throughout our discussions earlier, we all thought that Redrow was the most likely suspect! But here he was! Tied up along with another old man! Redrow was the most likely person amongst the teachers to be the one who staged this theft. Though we had no idea of his intentions, his actions gave him away. It didn't make sense for the chamberlain to bar people from investigating the chamber room, the obvious scene of crime. Only Redrow could have coerced the chamberlain to make that decision. There was also no reason for the castle to only give 5 days for us to conduct the investigation. Redrow must have forced the chamberlain to restrict the time we were allowed in order to hinder our investigations. We found out later that Redrow was also a rogue, so that black smoke that the thief used to cover himself must have been used by a rogue like Redrow. All the evidence pointed to no one but him!

Reasoning all but abandoned us when we saw his unconscious form next to an old man, whom we presumed was the chamberlain.

There was a large scroll of some sort made of fabric that was lying next to them. This was presumably the banner.

What the hell is going on?

I reached out for the banner, but at that moment, a shadowy hand reached out from beneath the ground and grabbed it down into the shadows. I immediately stepped back, my magical senses heightened. We all saw the spectacle and got into our combat positions. Saber readied his pouch while Cluck summoned his horse and lance. Bambs, his mouth still sealed tight, took out a few dynamites from his bomb bag. The Dragon Knight unsheathed his claymore and brandished it in front of him. I equipped Monkgar's Staff and readied my spells.

The light gave out, and darkness enveloped us. From the darkness, a voice came. A voice that I knew could not be true. A voice we always heard in school. A voice too familiar that all of us yelled out in denial.

'Congratulations. You have found the missing banner. Now, prepare to die.'

Wouldn't have been fun it really was Redrow now, would it? :P