[NeoRealm] Chapter 24 - Why Would We? (Patreon)

“So my skeleton is now made of amber? It seems the System really wants to give me some kind of item. I don’t see a downside but what about the rest of you?”

Penny frowns, “If it was normal amber I would be worried about it shattering or something. As a magic item, especially a living one you should be fine. Probably want to keep it under your hat though. New things always attract unwanted attention.”

James just shrugs, not really having an opinion. Rosha however speaks up, “Being amber your fine but what if it was a metal? Would you be weak to magnetic based stuff? Kind of like that one super hero when faced with the magnet based villain.”

“Phew, that is a good point. Hopefully the System keeps that in mind for future quest rewards. Though from the bit of research I have done, basic manipulation abilities like that are rare at the lower levels. I should be able to cover for that weakness at higher levels.”

Penny speaks up again, “magnetic control is quite rare. Not rare enough that if someone wanted to target you, they wouldn’t be able to find some. Amber however is incredibly hard to manipulate. Earth manipulation doesn’t work as it isn’t technically an actual jewel but on the other hand plant manipulation has a hard time doing anything to it as it stopped really being a plant. It would be like trying to manipulate charcoal which is another material in a similar position. Necromancy is ironically the only thing I could think as having any chance of affecting it but yours is living so immune or at the very least highly resistant to it.”

Andrew this whole time has been spacing out but now he seems to have figured something out. Nodding his head, “I don’t think you need to worry too much about this. If I am right, then manipulating your amber bones would be just as hard as a blood mage manipulating someone else's blood. It can be done but the mage has to be many levels above the target. At that point you likely wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it. From the little bit of magical poking I did right now, the item has melded with your energy field. It truly is a part of you now. More like an actual organ transplant rather than a prosthetic. A metal mage can manipulate a mechanical arm. However a plant mage can’t manipulate a grafted lifewood arm on a person.”

“Okay, so what I am getting is everything should be fine. Though natural stuff probably will still trouble me, I won’t need to fear someone ripping my skeleton out. I guess we just need that letter you want delivered and we can see if someone bites.” and with that Andrew passes the letter over and our trio leave the Guild.

As they walk to the nearest guard post Rosha looks a bit worried, “There aren’t that many ways they could keep us from testifying and death is the simplest. Luckily anything too hardcore is restricted but even ‘softcore’ torture isn’t exactly fun. Though even tossing us into a prison while tied up and leaving us to starve would be tough on us.”

James grimaces, “Also that wolfkin probably will not let us off. They can’t keep us in the game forever but the pods only require someone to leave once a week.”

“After we deliver this letter, I think we should all get out real quick before the start of the next bit of the chain quest. While it only kicks you out after a week there is one other condition that lets you drop out. We need to remove some of the nutrient gel so we only have enough to get us through the quest. A week doesn’t sound that bad but it would be a over a month in the game.”

Rosha brightens up, “That is a great idea. Wonder why I haven’t heard of someone doing it before?”

“Well are you going to go and tell others about it? Because I don’t really plan on spreading it around. Sometimes being able to keep someone from getting the word out about what your doing is very important.”

James nods, “True, though you missed one other option which is likely more common. Just having someone outside to force you out. The bigger guilds probably have all their important people in the same space to keep track of them.”, and with that they all sigh. Big groups can really get some advantages that solo players can’t make up for.

After that the group lapses into silence. It doesn’t take long after that to reach the guard station. The guards there are relatively helpful after finding out they do have a legitimate deliver quest for the captain. Apparently he will inspect the walls today and they direct our group towards one of the wall stations that he should pass in another hour or so.

Then our group has a nice relaxing walk over to the station. Or that is what would have happened if not for a certain guard they didn’t meet who after they left snuck off to inform someone of their plan. That someone proceeded to send out a small group of black wearing kidnappers who ran a high speeds through the back alleys until they reached a point ahead of our group where they hid themselves along a side street.

Now as our group approaches the ambush Jason feels something is off. Like in the woods when everything goes quiet he notices that the people ahead quieted down. Not only that but they seem to all be avoiding a certain side street up ahead. After informing his teammates of this irregularity they all decide that something is up and they don’t want a part. A quick turn down another road and the ambush is avoided. However they still have a distance to go and a spotter can be seen going to inform the kidnappers of the change in course.

Not having any real choice the men decide on a more straightforward snatch and grab. With not much distance left before the wall all these men can do is set up in the middle of the road along the way our group is going. Soon the road is clear and even the shops along it have closed as clearly something is going down.

Finally our group approaches them and before they turn down another road, the men shout at them, “Hey, don’t you three even think of leaving. If you make us chase you, we might get a bit rough when we catch up to you!”

The group pauses and Jason quirks his eyebrow, “Like you weren’t going to anyway?”, and with that they just take off running. At least that is what it seems like they are doing. In actuality once out of sight they hide behind a abandoned store stall. All the townsfolk who see what is going on quickly make themselves scarce as well.

Moments later the group of kidnappers runs by shouting obscenities. Soon after a small ratkin in similar clothes rushes by almost without any sound. The team waits just until the ratkin is out of view before sneaking back around the corner and then taking off in a run towards the town wall. They do manage to make it to the guard station but this time they are paying more attention and manage to catch a nearby idler sneak off after they arrive. It seems the game is very much afoot.

Things I wanted to mention but didn’t:

I call the place they are a town. It would more likely be called a city as it is a bit big. The reason it isn’t is only because there are conditions in the game besides size and population. Shine town is big enough and even not counting the temporary visitors has a good number of people. However it doesn’t have enough of a few key things. The person in charge isn’t high enough level for one. Another important one is that the king in charge of the area isn’t allowing it. The town is on the edge of the kingdom and an important trade stop over. A town might be traded back and forth during war. Cities however have more rules around conquering them. Basically although it wasn’t intended, most kingdoms only allow towns on their borders. Now being a town does limit permanent population size and a few other things but the kingdom is using a loophole to get around it. Basically what they do is have a bunch of migratory citizens. Serfs that don’t technically live in a place but they just happen to stay there for 6 months a year.