Ch. 17 – Invictus (III) (Patreon)

Felix had to take a step back as the billowing blackness poured out of Roy as screams echoed in the space around them. Tinuriel took up a ready stance with her weapon, and Lucifer instinctively ducked into Felix’s body, merging with him once more. Melanie cowered behind Tinuriel as the darkness expanded further, surrounding them all wholly.

But then, it stopped. The blackness turned to a light grey, before slowly brightening to a calm, soothing silvery-white. Roy’s hair turned light grey, and his eyes were dark grey. His armor had shifted as well, it was no longer the full plate from before. It was more ornate and regal but in an imposing, intimidating way. “I…remember.” He stared down at the blade, “I remember it all. I was the Dark Lord of Dirge. I tried to free everyone from the bindings of class, race, and all divisions. The Tiers rose against me, and I was slain.” He shook his head, “That…was a lot of information at once.”

Felix frowned slightly, “Are you still Roy?”

The Dark Lord nodded, “Yes. I am still me. I just remember the past me.” He looked up to Felix and smiled, tears streaming down his face. “I’ve never felt…fulfilled like this. I’ve always had some hole in me that I tried to fill…but it’s gone!” He laughed, and a sheath appeared on his hip. As he put the blade into it the aura disappeared and his armor returned to normal.

Melanie ran up and hugged him, “Good! As long as you’re still Roy in there.”

Tinuriel leaned down to Felix’s ear, whispering, “We just have to get him to Dirge to complete a Crisis, right?”

“The text states: Revive the Dark Lord on Dirge, the Dark Lord’s Desolation, Tier four. So yeah, we need to get him there at minimum.”

“Seems easy enough. Let’s finish up on Invictus, first. We have to find out why it is going to collapse, and stop that from happening,” Felix whispered back.

I just had a thought.

Oh? Do tell.

We know that the Tiers can collapse into one another. What if the Empire isn’t going to collapse, but the Tier is going to?

How would we stop that?

No clue.

Can the System give us unsolvable Crises?

Let me check…no. It must be solvable for a Versewalker to be counted as a Crisis.

Felix brought himself to the real-life situation at hand instead of just talking in his head when Roy came over. “Are we ready to head off?”

“Yeah,” Tinuriel said as she put a hand on Felix’s shoulder, “We have to get our new armor.”

They left the VBV and Felix equipped his new Dragonscale Leather armor.

Do you want to combine its properties with your current armor?

We can do that?

You have a Crafting Station and the Warehouse let me access the VBV and its facilities from here.

Hell yeah. Let’s do that.

The crimson scales shifted and became a subtle, metallic grey as it took on the Absorbing property from his prior Light Armor. The smithy took a step back and inhaled sharply, “What did you just do?”

Felix shook his head, “Sorry. Versewalker secret.” He helped Tinuriel get into her new armor. The heavy-scale armor was far more protective than her prior gear, and the helmet protected everything much better. She had to get it adjusted for her ears, and the smith didn’t seem to mind that he was working on adjustments for an elf.

Roy walked into the forge shortly after Tinuriel finished adjusting the new helmet. “Father. We need to talk.”

Strom turned to him with a scowl, “What do you want?”

Roy pulled his new sword from its sheath and his full majesty as the Dark Lord was revealed. Strom quivered away in shock as Roy spoke, “I will bring equality to the Tiers. It is my purpose. My destiny. I’ll always love you as my father. But I am not a failure.” He sheathed the blade and his form returned to normal.

Strom was sweating, shaking in place before he passed out.

Felix turned to Roy and raised an inquisitive eyebrow, “Was that the best play? He’s going to tell someone.”

Roy shrugged, “Let him. They’ll think he’s a crazy old man.”

Tinuriel nudged Felix and the duo followed Roy out to the cart as they continued through Artisan’s Reach and entered Etheria.

They passed through the stone gateways and the landscape changed once more. Instead of being full of various industries, this region of Invictus, this wedge of the Tier, was filled with simple, austere buildings. Almost like an enormous monastery complex. Several enormous temples were erected that towered above the smaller buildings. “The assassin’s safehouse on this Tier is somewhere here,” Tinuriel muttered.

Felix smirked, “Should be easy enough for me. Detect Object.”

40 Anima? It must be super well hidden.

What did you expect? It is an assassin safehouse.

The golden line shot off into an enormous temple complex with huge gates guarding the front. “It’s over there,” Felix stated as he pointed at the facility.

Roy frowned, “That is the Furca Scriptorium. It is the holiest place on the Tier. None may enter save for priests and holy warriors.”

Tinuriel frowned, “It’s heavily guarded and defended. We aren’t getting inside, even with my ring.”

Felix smirked, “I can get in there.”

Melanie looked over to him, “You’d go off on your own?”

“I don’t see much of another choice. Roy, are there any inns or taverns nearby?”

He nodded, “Yes, there’s a few on the Southern edge of the town. We can stay at The Red Goblet.”

Tinuriel grabbed Felix’s wrist, “Are you sure? You’re going into a nest of assassins.”

Felix shook his head, “No. I’m not sure. I’d rather have my muscle with me,” he gave her a light punch to the shoulder. “But you heard him, we can’t enter.”

Melanie moved over to him, “You’d be willing to risk being caught for me?”

“No. Not just for you. I want revenge. They killed me. If I didn’t have a Talent, I would’ve died yesterday.” He pulled the face mask part of the armored hood taut. He activated Ghostwalk...

...and slipped down from the cart, vanishing into the crowd as his Skill let him move around unseen.

He got next to the gate easily enough, and glancing through he activated Shadestep, his body melding with the shadows.

His skin went cold and the world went black and white as he moved through the darkness itself at near-instant speed, before he re-emerged in the darkness on the other side of the gate.

[Experience Awarded = 2]

Infiltrating a highly guarded facility. I would’ve expected more Experience. Disappointing.

Maybe how difficult the actual action is determines the Experience.

Slowly he crept along the inner wall, keeping in the shadow cast by the sun that was arcing towards its descent. The golden line ran out in front of him and led him off to a set of arches that descended into the ground. It was well-lit, with several torches alight and burning on the wall. I can’t hide down there, he thought.

Just turn off the lights.

You know I can’t see in the dark.

Right. We should fix that. Felix’s vision flashed red for a moment before the world appeared in shades of crimson. Now, turn off the lights.

Felix reached up and snuffed the torch, surprised as his vision stayed the same, and he was able to easily discern everything in the stairwell. What did you do to me?

I lent you my sight. This is how I see. It’s not a Skill or a Talent. This is just a benefit of having me alongside you in your travels.

I got lucky with you as my Versewalker Core.

Yes, you did.

Why not do this when we were ambushed and I got a crossbow bolt to the face? Why not do this all the time?

Cut me some slack – I was in as much shock as you were. I’ll activate the dark vision any time the lights go out going forward.

Felix descended and snuffed the torches as he went, following the golden line and marveling at his ability to now see in the dark unaided. The stairs bottomed out into a cellar with several racks of wine bottles that were sitting, covered in dust. A woman in robes was going from rack to rack, humming gently to herself as she turned the bottles in place. If I use Show Mercy and knock her out, will she be injured permanently?

Nope. Go ahead and knock her out.

Felix snuck up behind her and – using Show Mercy – hit her on the back of the head with his dagger. She fell silently with a slight gasp, and he caught her, setting her down gently.

[Experience Awarded = 1]

The golden line continued past her and to a wall. So, their lair is behind this stone. Any ideas on how to open it?

Cliches exist for a reason. Pull that torch sconce.

Felix started to reach for it, but stopped, as the golden lines indicating a trap appeared as soon as his hand came close to contacting the sconce. He followed the minute golden spindles until he spotted a crossbow that had been prepared and pointed to where he was standing. He disabled the trap.

[Experience Awarded = 3]

Returning to the sconce, he pulled it down and the stone wall shifted slightly, dust settling on the floor as it moved on hidden rails to the side. Felix slowly went forward, keeping his eyes peeled for traps. He encountered two – one was a pressure plate that would have collapsed the tunnel, and the other was a false floor that opened to a pit of spikes. Both were easily avoided thanks to being able to see them.

[Experience Awarded = 5]

Why is the System being so generous with the Experience now?

I don’t know, but I don’t like it. Keep your guard up. I’ll have Elixirs on standby.

Felix reached a large, wooden door. It was also trapped, but the golden spindling thread did not give him any indication on how to open it. How do we deal with this?

Try picking the lock?

Pff, yeah. Sure.

Just try it. Here, let me buy you some thieves' tools…

[Items purchased]

·         Thieves Tools

o   100 VC

[Monies Paid]

·         100 VC

[Current Balance]

·         1,638 VC

A set of lockpicks appeared in Felix’s hands and he knelt next to the door, slowly inserting one of the picks. To his surprise, a video-game-like interface appeared.

Rogue Class and hidden benefits.

Yeah, the System isn’t giving me anything on the Class benefits that are being hidden. It’s intentionally being withheld. Probably the Administrator screwing with me.

Felix picked the lock and slowly pushed the door open. The room beyond was sparse, with three doors going off in each direction, and a large trap in the center of the floor – some rug that gave him the worst feeling of ‘stay away’ that he’d ever felt. He went to the left door and – to his relief – this on was unlocked. He pulled it open, and saw a man sitting, pants down, on some type of privy. Execution, he thought as he plunged his dagger into the man’s skull.

He went limp and Felix slowly pulled the dagger out.

Good kill. One assassin down.

Felix felt a weird mix of emotions. He had just killed someone when they were vulnerable and in cold blood. But oddly enough he didn’t feel bad. It felt good. Justified. They killed me. Whatever I do to them is just fair play.

[Experience Awarded = 5]

[Experience Bonus from Execution Skill = 1]

[Congratulations! You have reached the Experience threshold to level up! Speak with your Versewalker Core when you are ready to Choose your next Class.]

Let’s hold onto that level up. I want to have a get-out-of-near-death free card.

Understood.

[Loot Obtained]

·         Local Currency: Converted to 20 VC

[Loot Bonus from Execution Skill]

·         Assassin Orders

Felix put the Loot into his inventory and went back to the main room, shutting the door behind him. He skirted the rug once more and tried the other side – purposely avoiding the main, central door, reasoning that it would lead deeper in the complex and he did not want to be closed in on from behind. Opening this next door revealed a small armory with a bunch of clothes for a variety of roles and occasions. He looted all of it and Lucifer instantly sold it in the VBV, converting it to VC.

[Loot Sold]

·         Various Assassin gear

o   4000 VC

[Monies Dispensed]

·         4000 VC

They are going to be pissed. Lucifer chuckled. Leave one coin. Just as a cherry on top.

Felix did, chuckling silently to himself as he closed the door. Skirting the trap-rug one final time, he found the final, inner door locked. Using his lockpick tools and playing the mini-game again, he was able to unlock it. But the golden spindles appeared before he was going to open the door. A small, poison spike was embedded in the handle, and if he had gripped it normally, it would’ve spiked him. He pulled out a set of clippers and activated the trap carefully, using the clippers to snap off the tip of the spike before opening the door.

The room was empty, but was the main barracks area. To one side was a small cook station and table with several cards laid out as if a poker game was interrupted. Several bunks were on the other side of the room with footlockers that had been opened. One assassin was asleep with a novel lying across his face. Some type of romantic epic. Execution, Felix stabbed the man in the throat, ripping the knife across to prevent him from shouting before he stabbed down into his chest, twisting as the man went limp.

[Experience Awarded = 5]

[Experience Bonus from Execution Skill = 1]

[Loot Obtained]

·         Local Currency: Converted to 40 VC

[Loot Bonus from Execution Skill]

·         Assassin Orders

Can we get rid of the extra Assassin Orders?

Mhmm.

Felix heard a noise from the last door leading deeper, and he crouched next to the entrance, readying his knife. The door opened and a pair of men walked in, both dressed the same as the ones that Felix had killed already.

“I can’t believe the ambush failed.”

“It’s not the end of the world. Just means more money for us if we finish the contract.”

“Right, but we’ve gone through how many men now? Twenty? At this rate, we’ll have to abduct urchins to train instead of screening them.”

“The contract is worth it.

Can you bring my other knife out of inventory?

Yeah, here’s your other knife. The knife from the Death World materialized in Felix’s offhand, and he snuck up behind the two men – unheard and unseen thanks to Ghostwalk. Activate Execution twice, once for each weapon.

He stabbed both men in the spine, their bodies jerking and a slight, suddenly cut-off scream coming from the one struck by the Death World knife.

[Experience Awarded = 10]

[Experience Bonus from Execution Skill = 2]

[Loot Obtained]

·         Local Currency: Converted to 90 VC

[Achievement Unlocked: Killed several targets in rapid succession]

Felix heard a noise behind him and turned as a crossbow bolt impacted his torso, bouncing off of his armor but leaving a deep bruise.

Another assassin was there, and he dropped the crossbow and pulled out his own pair of knives. He was silent, and his dark clothing masked all his features. He ran up to Felix and began unleashing a flurry of stabs and slashes. Thanks to his Warrior Class, Felix was able to keep up and not just dodge but also parry some of the blows. Another assassin came from the same hallway, and launched another crossbow bolt that landed a blow right at Felix’s collarbone.

 That armor is paying off, he thought. Turn on Hellblade.

Felix’s daggers sparked with crimson flames swirling with black. He pushed the offensive, getting the assassin he was dueling with into the middle of the firing line and scoring several hits across his torso as the flames licked and burned him. This finally elicited a yelp of pain from the individual, and he backed off into the corridor. Both men were sucking in air.

Felix coordinated his thoughts with Lucifer and unleashed a Hellfire Beam paired with Affinity Empowerment.

The enormous beam flared outward and encompassed the whole hallway, instantly incinerating and searing the two that were standing there.

Felix reactivated Ghostwalk and stayed completely still, waiting to hear any movement or noise. Nothing came to his ears.

[Experience Awarded = 10]

[Experience Bonus from Execution Skill = 2]

[Loot Obtained]

·         Local Currency: Converted to 70 VC

Hey, you’ve unlocked a new class. Silent Blade. Cool. Want to see the information on it?

Make it quick.

 Interesting, but I'm going to max out your unique Class first.

It's annoying that the System doesn't tell you what the Skills do before you take the Class.

Felix grunted in response. He went down the hallway that the two assassins came from and found an open door. Inside were several desks filled with papers. He rummaged through them as Lucifer quickly analyzed them for any importance, storing the important bits in the inventory.

A golden spindle of a trap caught his eye, and he followed the line until he found a small spike that guarded something on the bottom of the desk. He got down, disabled the spike, and used a small pry bar from his Thieves Tools to crack open the desk. A small puff of dust spurted in his face which he quickly waved away. Reaching into the cracked wood, he pulled out an amulet.

What could this be?

No clue.

> Jeremy? Why are you using this? I told you only in emergencies. <

Felix dropped the amulet, “What was that?” he muttered.

Some type of long-distance communication item. Telepathy. Best put it in the inventory for now.

Getting off the floor, he spotted another golden spindle. It was duller, however, and for some reason, he knew that meant it was older. Much older. He traced it back to the main common area where the corpses lay, and into a pantry near the kitchen. He pushed several crates of food and barrels of drinks out of the way until he saw a lever that he would never have found save for the golden spindle showing him a trap was present.

It’s ancient. And all the dust – it’s caked on there. He disabled the trap – a very, very rudimentary spike that snapped as it tried to activate. He pulled the small lever and the wall next to him slid aside, revealing an old tunnel.

What do you think? Go down the ancient, creepy tunnel that hasn’t been used in God-knows how long?

You can always use Vigor to teleport back here through the shadows. I’d say let’s look! When Versewalkers find these types of things, it's almost always worth exploring.

Felix checked the inside of the tunnel and saw to his relief that there was another lever on this side. Just to test, he put a crate of food in between the hidden door and the wall and ensured that the inner lever worked. It did, and so he shut the tunnel behind himself before facing the depths.

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