The flashing lights still made Rastel uncomfortable as he rubbed his eyes while getting up from the bed. He stretched a bit before getting his bearings and got to work on his long list of things to do, it was almost sunset and he had to prepare as soon as possible
The first thing he did was to open the wardrobe and take out the mage. He found him sound asleep in the uncomfortable position all squeezed up in the cramped space. The mage woke up in a foul mood as he glared at Rastel while he undid the gag in his mouth.
Taking out a few buns from his inventory, he stuffed them down the mage's mouth as he sorted out his equipment. The immortal's blade was his only weapon but it was powerful enough as it could cut through anything, or so the immortal said.
He still had Amba but he hadn't tried to communicate with the golem since he left the immortal's cave. He still had his own golems though so he didn't mind for now, the mission he was going for was stealth focused, he couldn't use the loud golems unless shit went down.
He also had the golem cores he had taken from the golems he fought during the quest but he had no idea how to use them. He had finished the book but saw nothing on golem cores or the like, only sculpting basics and the Basic Golem skill.
He brought out the book and was about to check it out when he saw the mage glaring at him as he chewed ravenously on the buns like he was possessed. He was quiet throughout, just glaring and chewing.
"....."
"Chomp….munch...gulp…."
"...…."
"Munch...grunch…."
"Yeah fuck it, you're going back into the closet"
Ignoring the mage's protests as he gagged him and shoved him back into the closet, he sat down on the bed as he opened the yellow skin cover of the book to read through it. He wanted to be sure he didn't miss anything important.
But as he reached the second to the last page of the book, he still didn't find anything different. He was confused and very disturbed, how was he supposed to learn new skills for his unique class? It was a fucking unique class so what in the fuck was he supposed to do, he couldn't just learn this skill from anyone else!
He opened the last page with frustration as he glanced at the contents with rising anger when he noticed something weird. There was an extra page for him to flip through!
The leather cover should have been the last thing in his sight but a new page had magically appeared! He turned the page as he focused on the cover and to his surprise, he actually saw a new page materialize!
'What is this sorcery? This wasn't there when I read through it the last time' he thought wide eyed.
Looking at the new contents, he saw notes and detailed pictures on more advanced sculpting skills for golem making and….. combat!
'Isn't this a mage class? Why are there knife skills?' he was confused
"Carving series... three movements... First strike….." looking at the skill, he was somewhat happy.
A mage's biggest problem was always the risk of a one on one melee battle, in that situation the mage would be hard stressed to cast skills in a quick paced fight. At least with this, he won't be totally defenseless.
He read on it for a while but still couldn't grasp the skill to learn it. The first strike was a horizontal slash made a thrusting motion. But no matter how many times he read and studied it, he didn't see the notification for acquiring the skill.
'Maybe it's one of those skills you have to practice?' he thought as he kept on reading.
Apart from the first strike of the carving series and the sculpting skills, there was nothing more. His sculpting skill increased by 2 levels just by reading the contents so he was happy.
'It seems I would have to start sculpting things regularly to increase the skill level' he wanted to increase the skill and see the limit of the kind of golems he could make.
Would the skill allow him to create more realistic golems? A bird, a horse or maybe a human construct? He would have to improve his Basic golem skill too so that he could create such high level golems. If he could do so, the potential prospects were limitless! He could even use the skill to re-create many things from the real world, he could work on new technology here where something as powerful as magic can be used to fuel almost anything!
Thinking of the future got Rastel very motivated. He put the book back into his inventory then went downstairs to get some food.
The inn at this time was very lively, local hunters coming back from their trips, players looking for a place to meet up and residents just looking for a drink. He walked past all of them to the counter where Marilyn was attending to the customers.
She was wearing another big black dress but with different designs and a yellow sash was still tied at her waist. She smiled at him when she noticed him and dropped a big mug of cider in front of him. He nodded thankfully as he took a sip of the sweet cider.
He wouldn't reject her acts of goodwill towards him, she was well aware of the danger of the mission she proposed so she was probably trying to keep him comfortable and in a good mood before he left.
He took half of the drink and went upstairs to pour the rest down the mage's throat to keep him from dying of thirst or something. He then went downstairs and was about to leave when Anna approached him. She passed him a piece of paper discreetly as she walked pass and gave him a light smile and greeting.
"Blessed moon to you"
"B-blessed moon to you too" he stuttered a bit as he wasn't used to such greetings.
He waited till he was outside before he read the contents of the note.
'There are ten people locked in the cellars, the chief, his son and 8 guards, three women and five men. There is a way for you to sneak in through the kitchens out back behind the building. When you come out of the kitchens, there would be a long corridor leading to the great hall on the right, take the left and keep going until you reach the stairs leading down to the cellars. I shouldn't have to remind you that it would be heavily guarded from that point on. I will pray for your success.'
'Well this makes things a whole lot easier' Rastel tore up the paper and threw it away. With this, he wouldn't have to blunder in blindly and possibly end up aggroing a lot of heat.
'But first, let me go find the old man' he started moving towards the library
In the village hall, the huge swordsman was going through motions and movements with his sword. He was like a tireless beast, always training, always practicing to get stronger and stronger. He waved the huge sword with such dexterity that didn't seem possible with its weight. It was a magnificent scene that would leave any passerby in awe.
After a while, he lowered his sword and walked to the bed and sat down. The elf appeared from within the sheets as she wiped his sweat with a towel as she reported.
"It seems the mage was taken down by a few summoned outside the gates. We are not clear exactly on what happened but he is nowhere to be found"
"Hmm!" he grunted as he took the towel from her and began using it to polish his blade silently as though allowing her to continue
"He wasn't here for his combat strength anyway so it shouldn't matter much, the only problem is what he may spill as he knows too much about the operation. What should we do?" she spoke softly as she slowly massaged his shoulders.
"That is if he isn't dead yet. Even if he came back alive I would strike him down myself! The higher ups would not tolerate such blunders" the man spoke as he looked at his polished blade. It reflected the gleam in his eyes as he added
"It won't matter much when we leave anyway. We have captured a lot beastmen over the months we were here. It is enough." With that, he continued to polish his blade with the towel as the elf kept quiet and spoke no more.
The scene was quiet and calming, with seemingly nothing to break the picture.
'Ah, I'm stupid! I'm really very stupid!! Why didn't add the old man and Mary as my friends? I can't even find Gai and his team too!" Rastel mentally slapped himself as he moved under the dim moonlight.
He hadn't been able to find the old man when he went to the library and since they were not on his friends list, he couldn't tell if they were online. He also couldn't find Gai and the others in popular gathering places for players.
'I just have to wing it myself then, I hope they forgive me for breaking the peace' he chuckled as he looked down at the crumpled body of the knocked out guard.
'Nah definitely not" he murmured as he activated stealth and opened the kitchen back door and stepped inside.