End Online: Volume 6 (22 page)

If Gladox gets caught in
this endeavor, he will only be locked away for a week, so he doesn’t mind a
great deal. I question Gladox as to why he didn’t mention that before so he
could break us out, but he explains that if he was caught and imprisoned, there
would be no one to watch over the tablet.

To prepare for tonight’s
break in, I first head to the market. During the week I couldn’t play, I did
some research at the End Forums and devised a new plan. We will still break in
the same way we did last time, but add an extra variable to counter any guards.

My plan is to use what is
called a ‘Masking Potion’, a potion made from basic low quality herbs with a
reagent, that will cover up our scent. The potion is originally used to help
players infiltrate monster territories without them noticing, but this
additional use for the potion is basically guaranteed to help.

I also happen to learn
that a reagent is needed in nearly every potion. Without it, the potion will
have a vicious taste that can be very off-putting. I had never known this part
of potion making as I never studied guides on it thoroughly enough. However,
the reagent will also lower the effectiveness of the potions, so I decide to
still make most of my private stock without it.

The reagent for the
‘Masking Potion’ is a small white onion like monster drop called ‘Soul Mucus’.
It has a very insignificant value and is fortunately sold at many stores. It is
also the reagent for a considerable amount of other potions, none of which are
currently applicable to me right now.

I purchase a hundred ‘Soul
Mucus’ from an NPC store for a price of two silver coins. Fen and Verde then
follow me to a quieter location in the city where I bring out my mortar and
pestle for potion creation.

Ignoring the players
looking at me as I’m grinding up the herbs required, I take an hour to finish
creating a total of 45 ‘Masking Potions’. This is to ensure we have enough if
the effect runs out before we finish escaping with the tablet.

Taking out one of the
potions and inspecting it, while I feel it has a short duration, I am still
satisfied.

The first few potions only
had a duration of just over three minutes, but my ‘Potion Production’ skill
finally levelled up to level 20 in the middle of creating the potions. The
duration of the potion increased greatly after the skill growth, becoming a
massive 72 seconds longer than what is recorded on the forums.

I split the potion into
three even stacks and distribute one to Verde, holding onto the other stack for
Fen who doesn’t have a personal inventory. With fifteen potions each, we can
conceal ourselves for a little over fifty minutes. That should be more than
enough time to break into the museum and steal the tablet.

Just as I am leaving my
secluded spot and am about to return to the inn, I run into a familiar player.

“Lost, how good it is to
see you!”

Chronix, with his
expensive armor and large sword strapped to his back, stands in front of me
with a sinister grin. I recall how Mason told me he told him we were in Koga
City in order to throw him off our track and I can’t believe I had completely
forgotten about him.

“No need to be silent,
we’re good friends, aren’t we?”

“The feeling isn’t mutual.
How on earth did you track me down here?”

“There’s no need for that.
It is just a coincidence that we met.”

I have a feeling that he
used player tracking scrolls or spells, else how could he find me so many
times? Luckily we are currently in the city so he won’t be able to attack.

Glancing around, I see
several players standing in shadows and spying from the corners of buildings.
Chronix definitely wants to stir up trouble again.

“I don’t have time for
you, and we won’t be leaving the city, so give it up.”

I lead the way as we walk
past Chronix and back toward the busy sections of the city. Chronix doesn’t
stop us, expressing a thoughtful look. As if coming to some kind of conclusion,
I hear him give some faint orders to his guild members behind us. I hear
something about “hidden” and “waiting” but I am already too far to hear the
rest.

Returning to our inn where
Gladox is, Verde, Fen, and I patiently wait out the rest of the day before
silently leaving in the early stages of the night. Gladox had already left to
go break Sir Laurence out of the prison, planning on arriving at the museum
shortly after we get there.

At the museum, the amount
of guards seems to have mysteriously multiplied since last time, making our
task even more difficult.

“We can’t go around the
back,” Verde says quietly as we watch the guards constantly patrolling the
perimeter.

“It doesn’t matter, we can
still use the same method as last time, just from a different origin. However,
I have a bad feeling for some reason.”

Fen nods her head
silently, reflecting that she also has some kind of foreboding premonition.

I use my ‘Partial Draconic
Transformation’ and fly into the sky high enough to get a good view of the
surroundings. I notice that there is a large building almost a hundred meters
behind the museum. The distance between the two is daunting, but it should
still be possible.

We quickly move towards
that area where the building is. There are no guards around it so it mustn’t be
a very important place. I fly up to the top of the building before lowering a
long rope. I am fortunate to have bought this earlier today in case it would be
needed.

Fen and Verde quickly
scale the rope and reach the top of the building. With our plan about to be set
in motion, Fen looks at me nervously.

“Lost, all this for me...
You really don’t have to.”

“Don’t say anymore. It is
something I want to do more than anything else. I will help you no matter what
it takes.”

“...Thank you.”

“Okay, time to start.
Verde, drink your first potion... Verde?”

Verde is gripping the edge
of the roof and looking down at the ground twenty meters below with a ghastly
pale face that can be seen even in this darkness. It is a strange sight because
I never imagined her with a fear of heights. The museum is only a little more
than half as tall as this building, so there must been some sort of threshold
as to how high she needs to be before she gets scared like this.

“Y-yes.”

Verde drinks her ‘Masking
Potion’ as I give one to Fen and consume one myself. I don’t feel any different
after drinking it, but a small icon of a blurred figure appears in the corner
of my screen with a countdown. At least this will make it easy to tell when to
take the next potion.

“Let’s go!”

I grab Fen and Verde
before they can react and launch off the roof. My wings extend to either side
of me - white in stark contrast with the dark sky - and glide toward the
museum. I frantically beat my wings to stay aloft as much as possible, but I am
slowly losing altitude.

After reaching fifty
meters, halfway to the museum, I start getting very nervous. If we do manage to
land on the museum roof, it will be a very close call with colliding with the
wall. I flap my wings even harder, charging forward through the air in a white
streak.

Forty meters left. Thirty
meters. Ten meters. I give one last powerful burst with my wings and straighten
my body horizontally. We briefly scuff the top of the wall before sliding onto
the roof on our stomachs.

‘Safe!’
I excitably call out in my mind.

The guards below seem to
be alerted by the sound of our landing and are searching the area, but can’t
seem to locate us. The potion is definitely working to conceal us from the
guard’s sense of smell.

Feeling relieved, I
quickly stand up and mouth an apology to Fen and Verde for the rough landing.
They are both a little disgruntled but are smart enough to not make any noises.

“Lost, Sir Laurence and I
are here, hiding across the street,” Gladox’s voice sounds in my mind. “The
guards are still looking for us, what do you want us to do?”

“Stay hidden for now.
After we get the tablet, we will all escape together, travel to Kano City and
teleport out of the beast realm.”

“Roger that, I will wait
for Fen here.”

“...”

I glare in the distance at
the direction Gladox should be, but I know he can’t see me.

“Don’t glare at me like
that. My intentions are pure.”

“You can see me?!”

“Haha, no. But you’re predictable.”

I groan in displeasure and
choose to not reply. Instead, I lead the way as Verde, Fen, and I go to the
window we broke in through last time. The window itself is in perfect
condition, as if it was never broken in the first place.

It is at this moment I
hear a large commotion at the front of the building. The guards are shouting
loudly and the sound of clashing steel rings out.

“Gladox, what’s happening
at the front of the building?!”

“I’m not sure, it looks
like a large group of players are fighting the guards.”

“A large group?”

“Yeah, at least a hundred
players.”

My thought process goes in
overdrive as I try to figure out why a group of players would be fighting the
guards, especially at such a coincidental location and time.

‘It isn’t that AI
swordsman, he should be by himself... %$@&! It must be Chronix! Don’t tell
me he followed us here?! $#!%! Well, at least he can distract the guards!’

“Come on, we have to be
quick!”

I recklessly smash the
window and roll a rope down before jumping in the opening. There is enough
noise out front of the building that they shouldn’t hear us entering the
building.

Fen and Verde follow me
down shortly afterwards, all of us charging toward the room where the tablet is
kept. I had planned to be more cautious and take it slow to avoid detection,
but right now speed is of the essence.

The sound of a door
banging open comes from the front of the building as I try to urge Verde to
keep up with Fen and I. Both the wolf girl and myself have to slow down
drastically so Verde can keep up with us, but we still want to go faster.

All the guards must have
been attracted by the commotion at the front of the door as we make a beeline
for the stone tablet and don’t encounter a single one.

The sound of fighting and
yells are getting closer to us, but luckily we get to the room where the tablet
is being stored before they reach us.

I stop in shock as I enter
the room, Fen and Verde running into me and nearly knocking us all over.

In the center of the room
is a broken case where the stone tablet used to be. Shattered glass covers the
floor, and some is even embedded in the wall behind the case.

The tablet is currently in
the hands of the AI swordsman who is standing next to the broken glass. I can
tell he hit the case with such an inhuman strength that the shattered remains
only travelled in a single location.

At the same time, a second
door in the room bursts open and a party of six players casually walks in. It
is Chronix and several of the ‘Swords of Light’ guild members.

“Lost, fancy meeting you
here,” Chronix says while examining the room in fine detail. When he sees the
AI swordsman and the stone tablet in his hand, his eyes widen with surprise.

“So this is what you were
after? Getting locked in prison for trying to steal some useless relic? I had
thought more of you.”

Chronix monologues to
himself on several other recent topics, recreating an uncanningly accurate
series of events I have gone through. I warily keep an eye on both him and the
AI holding the tablet.

The swordsman completely
ignores Chronix, as if he isn’t even there. He stares disdainfully at Fen
beside me before speaking in the tone a king would use.

“You have arrived too
late. This trial has already been completed by me. Return to whence you came
before making a fool of yourself. Mother’s system is about to strengthen and
increase the difficulty, so I will be leaving.”

Just like that, without
any further discussion, the swordsman turns around and walks out the back of
the room. Strangely, every step he takes causes him to move five meters. It is
like an illusion that is difficult to follow.