Chapter 297 - Sneaky mode (Patreon)

Is Vega catching too many things from me? Sure, I noticed her copying a bit of my behavior, but this is… too much.

Maybe it's her demon part? Demons seem to be obsessed with strong hearts or strong beings. Maybe she identified me as one of such and instinctually copies me to become a bit similar? No matter what she went through or how she behaves at times, she is still just a kid, so it makes sense.

Well, whatever, another thing for future Nathaniel to deal with. So far, he did nothing, well he couldn't even, so he can at least deal with this. Screw you, future Nathaniel, I bet you will be an even bigger weirdo.

With Vega in my arms and mana flowing under my skin, I head towards the Bastion.

Sneaky Mode is on once again, the same one I used against Nina and Darren. Yup, I'm totally just another normal guy with totally normal mana.

***

POV Vega

As always, the master's heart beats strongly but calmly. He is not scared at all, not even when so many humans look at him and scream at us to stop. His heart doesn't even react. It's just one calm, confident beat after another.

I look up to him and, as always, he has the expression he puts on when we are not alone. Unlike when there are only two of us, it's colder, and his eyes look different. It's hard to notice, but I learned to do so!

While he talks with a weak human, I continue to send my senses into our surroundings. I can't sense it, but I'm sure the master is trying to catch me hesitating. I'm sure of it! I also will do the same. The master can get distracted when he finds interesting items or gets an idea to improve his skills.

It's fun, and I'm thankful to the master. I never got to play like that before. Even if I fail, it won't hurt, or I won't go hungry. The master is just that kind.

One of the humans asks, “Someone attacked the Bastion just a few hours ago, do you know about it?”

Even though that human is so weak, he looks down on the master. I think he is so brave only because he has so many people helping him but I want master to show him his place.

“Attack? We just came here. A few hours ago, we were still far off and scouting to avoid all the monsters. Maybe some of them attacked?” he answers. His pretty eyes not hesitating.

“Sure you did,” the man snorts, “where are you from?”

“I came from the Sanctuary. Do you know Darren or Nina? They both were here in the Bastion, ten years ago. I have a few items to trade and a bit further in camp I left some food too for trading.”

“Their names sound familiar, but I can't remember everyone. Okay, you said your name is Nathaniel, right? I will send you to customs, you will pay for staying in the Bastion and you will get a three-day pass. After that, you will either leave or go through customs again. According to your behavior or usefulness, we will decide what to do with you.”

“Thanks, sir, that sounds very reasonable.”

“I think so too,” the man answers and turns to one of his men.

When I look at the master, he is still releasing mana in that weird way. It's hard for me to describe, but it feels very scary. It shows how amazingly good at controlling mana the master is. He already did it while talking with human flesh-eaters Nina and Darren, and now the master is doing it again.

I'm not sure why the master calls it Sneaky Mode when I see that it scares very much some of the humans, but there must be a deep meaning behind it. Master is smart and powerful and I want to be like him. I'm already trying to learn Sneaky mode but it's so hard.

"Sneaky Mode successful," master whispers as we pass through the gate, and I nod and smile.

It's so much fun with master.

***

Well, that was easier than expected. Some of the guards with better mana senses seemed a bit scared, so maybe the attack from before made them a bit nervous. Not my problem anyway; their commander can deal with it.

As for entering the Bastion, I expected them to be more careful as they don't know me at all. But maybe there are some other defenses that would deal even with stronger people if they started fighting? It might be true that the defenses deflected one of the Veil Guardians years ago, and that's why. Better be careful while I'm here with Vega.

I also force myself not to examine the barrier. If it works at least a bit similarly to the Veil, it could detect my touch and cause me trouble.

But at least I completed the quest and can now get some food and water. Not like I need them, but I could sell it.

"Touch this stone; it will measure your physical stats and mana," the man who accompanied me through the gate points at the stone. He says it somewhat respectfully.

There are a few more men around, and all of them are ready. The stone they are pointing at is imbued into the wall and perfectly flush with it. It looks like it's made from transparent white glass.

Okay, let's be careful. I need to control my mana a bit. Okay, maybe a lot, not a bit. It seems like people over level 200 are usually the ones who survived the war, and survivors rarely reach that level because of the Veil so I can try to act like someone born after the war.

When my hand touches the stone, I immediately grab a hold of my mana and cycle it, letting only as little as I can pass into the stone.

"Strength is at around 100," one of the men says after checking some item in his hands.

"That's low for a traveler," another one answers.

"Dexterity is at a similar level," the first man reads again.

"Man, you are brave to exit the safe zones with such stats," the man writing it down giggles, "how are his other stats?"

"Constitution is around 250."

I continue to control my mana and, instead of fear of being caught, I'm curious if I will be able to hide it against this item. And also curious how it works. Items like this always interest me. Its inscriptions are interesting and the way it examines my body is someth...

"Master failed; you stopped examining your surroundings," Vega whispers.

Huh? In shock, I realize that she is right and my concentration slips a little.

"Your mana stat is…"

In the air, a rift appears, and the man steps out. He is tall, has neat clothes, and a light confident smile on his lips. His hair is brown and wavy to his shoulders, and there is a well-kept mustache on his lip.

"Greetings, brave guards," he says with a smile.

"The Butler!" the guards immediately ignore me and turn to the man, bowing their heads.

"It's fine, no need to be so formal," he takes a few steps towards the man with the item that showed the results of the test and grabs it from his hands.

He does something to it and then returns it, "You can continue with registration, and after that, I will take care of our guest. Procedures are important," he smiles.

His clothes are neat and fitting. Suit-like and nice brown in color. Meanwhile, the guards are wearing something that I identified as mostly low-grade rare armor. Simple, but covering most of their bodies.

"Yes sir!" the man takes the tablet-like item and continues, "Mana stat is at around 170. The overall level is estimated to be 150, registering Nathaniel Gwyn as level 3 danger. The pass will last exactly three days starting now. The price will be…"

"You can put the price of his and the little girl's entrance on my tab."

"The price will be paid by Sir Butler at a later date. Mister Gwyn will get the entrance token from Sir Butler personally if I'm not wrong?" he asks carefully, and the Butler nods, "Now then if you allow me to measure your companion."

To that, I let Vega off my hands and look towards the Butler.

The man greets me with a nod while he patiently waits for the entire registration. When it's done, Vega seems to be disappointed by being registered as a level 1 danger.

When we start walking deeper into the Bastion, the Butler walks by my side.

"Did I screw up?" I ask him.

"It's hard to trick essence probe, Mister Gwyn," he smiles.

In front of us, the Bastion opens up.

The streets are tilted as well as the buildings because of how the entire fallen island is angled. But they are clean, and people are all around. Every single one of them looks better fed and better kept, even though we are in the poorer parts of the Bastion. They move all around, trading, joking, meeting, working. I can hear a blacksmith nearby, I sense pulses similar to the enchanter. There are even training places, something akin to a school.

It's the city nestled within the remains of a creation of a previous civilization.

"Mister Gwyn, would you like to join me and Miss Housekeeper tonight? We won't be taking too much of your time," the man asks.

"Yes, we can do that." This time I agree, already getting curious.

The man bows slightly and hands me entrance tokens for me and Vega, "Thank you, I will send someone to the place where you decide to stay. Have a nice rest of the day." He turns to Vega, "Miss Vega," he adds.

[Phase Ranger - lvl ??]

So at least 20 levels higher than me, but probably not much more.

Butler, Housekeeper, such titles. What's next? Gardener, Tutor, Maid, Valet?

"So how do you like it so far, Vega?" I ask her.

The moment I do so, she tries really, really hard to hide her smile. I lost, and I can accept it. I just got so enthralled by the item measuring me that I stopped scouting my surroundings. Something I kept complaining to Vega about doing.

Well, it's just one day, and my dear minion will surely slip up after that, and I will have my revenge.

"He called me miss! No one ever called me miss!"

"That's good, but don't trust him because of that only. He is probably very dangerous." You just can't trust anyone with such a majestic mustache. It should be criminal, rocking such a mustache and still looking so good.

"I don't! I trust only master."

"Good."

Already drained by so many people walking through the streets, I ask an older woman for a place where we could lodge. Then I spend five minutes answering her questions. Stuff like, "We didn't get a mana courier or traveling merchants, is the wilderness getting dangerous? Oh, The Sanctuary, how is it nowadays? Who is this cute little girl? Are you married, young man, I have a daughter…"

Such things.

In the end, she also shows me a kind of symbol that is drawn on the houses that offer rooms for the night, and walking through the streets, we search for some. I pass by a few because I don't like the location, but deeper in the city, I find a nice one. The one in one of the original towers.

The moment we enter it, I know it will be probably expensive, but I don't mind that much. The inside is big but filled and feels nicely cozy. There are heating mana stones all around, deactivated but ready to be used if needed.

People here are mostly better clothed than outside, and even average levels are slightly higher. Plenty of them seem like they know how to fight.

We reach the bar where a woman glances at me, "Token," she says simply.

I take my and Vega's entrance tokens and put them on the table.

She examines them, "Entrance token, three days. So you two are from out of the Bastion. Are the roads as bad as they say?"

Huh? Not really. Just a few level-two-hundred monsters and mostly lower-level ones. But such an answer would probably get annoying attention.

"Even worse than what you heard. Monsters are everywhere," I complain. "We barely made it here."

The woman nods solemnly, "Damned monsters. It's been years since the courier guild was able to get some rare spices to the Bastion, and people keep asking for them," she sighs. "Single room, two beds?"

"Yes, with a nice view if you have any."

"What can you pay?"

"Plenty, what do you prefer? It's my first time in the Bastion."

"Oh really, welcome here. If anyone talks shit to you, forgive them; we are not too used to travelers. As for the payment, an uncommon item, some better mana stone, a piece of conductive crystal or rare metal ore, even some rare monster body parts."

"Would this be fine?" In front of her, I put one of the worst mana stones that I have, which I inscribed to radiate heat.

"Oh, a heating stone and really well made. Probably from before the war, people nowadays rarely are capable of this," she glances at me. "This single stone is too much, but I can give you one of the rooms on the highest floor and add dinners and breakfast, and a few baths. Sounds good?"

"Sure," something tells me that she might be scamming me a little, but not like I mind.

It also seems to tell her something about me, willing to get separated from a valuable item, and her behavior becomes a bit more respectful.

"Fabian, get your ass over here and take the mister to room four, and make sure they get some food delivered to them."

Led by a young boy, we walk upstairs and get a mana stone that unlocks the door, and we enter the room.

There is a carpet on the floor and two beds, a big one and a smaller one in the corner. The furniture is nice but simple, and the room is worn a bit but well-kept and clean.

I let Vega examine the mirror on one of the walls and open the balcony. There is a flower pot with a smaller tree and two chairs with a small table. The view is not towards the middle of the city, where the higher towers and buildings are. No, the view is pointed at the outside. It oversees the smaller buildings and all the people below.

I can see the small wall surrounding the city and the nature outside of it. When I look to the left, I can see most of one of the mountains that the city rests in between. At least I'm lucky at getting places with a nice view.

After getting back inside the room, I jump and lay on the bed.

"Minio… Vega, tell me why just being around so many people drains me."

"Maybe it is Bambi's curse, master!"

"Maybe. I don't want much. A place to become stronger, and level up my skills and stats. Some interesting items to play with and places to explore. Most of the time people are an annoying addition, especially when they decide to bother me."

"Even me?" She also climbs onto the bed and lays next to me.

"Nah, you are fine."

"I see!" she smiles happily. "But I couldn't notice it at all. Master is really good at talking with people."

"Silly disciple, there are two kinds of people. The ones that become stronger the more they spend time with other people. Then the ones that become weaker when they have to socialize and then need to recharge their energy. I'm the latter."

"Maybe there are passive skills or traits for that."

I just poke my cheeky disciple and when she jumps from the bed to examine the room I go through the system shop.

Just in case.

***

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