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It was with a sense of dread that Meliadol approached that familiar foyer. The two massive orcs stood where they always had, an insurmountable obstacle to his goals, the light gleaming off their blackened iron armor and weapons.
But this time he was armed with an idea, and ideas could become wings.
It wasn't just about stealth. It wasn't just about lock picking. He had gotten so much more when he changed classes. Improved Dexterity, Spider Climb, Electric Needle Trap, Silent Movement. His toolkit expanded considerably after he re-classed, but he hadn't even attempted to fight the high-level orcs. He hadn't taken advantage of the DFS. No, what he had done was cling to the mindset that he wasn't meant to fight these orcs because of their absurdly high level.
There are many ways to fight beyond that of a sharpened blade.
Meliadol looked upon the area with Darlia's advice ringing in his thoughts.
He began to connect the dots now that he was specifically looking for it, and his excitement rose with every passing second. He saw it clearly in his mind's eye. The idea was so dumb, so ridiculous, that there was no way it could work.
Fuck it, even if it failed, it'd be a hell of a ride.
Meliadol circled around, keeping to the darkness. Once again he crept up to the fallen pillar jammed against the wall, using it as a visual barrier between him and the orcs. But this time he took a rope from his inventory, throwing it over his shoulder as he began to climb carefully along the pillar. Like a lizard he scaled the side, his legs and arms splayed out, braced against the pillar and nearby wall.
Near the top he paused, both legs jammed in the crevice to support himself. He looped the end of the rope into a basic overhand knot, smiling to himself as he worked. Who would have thought his time in the boy scouts would be useful in a video game?
Carefully he peeked over the edge. Backs straight, hands on their hand axes, the orcs still seemed oblivious to his presence. Perfect. He stealthily threw the loop over the tip of the fallen pillar, pulling it taut and testing if it was secure.
It was.
With steadfast patience, he began to wrap the length of the rope around the tip in a spiral. The hardest part was keeping his movement slow, deliberate, as to not draw the attention of the guards below. It wasn't until most of the rope was wound tightly that he stopped, nudging the remaining length to hang on the opposite side.
The way back down was a little more precarious, since he was torn between excited expedience and trying not to draw the attention of the two orcs. It was like reining in an excited dog. He dropped the last few feet, landing silently into a crouch and setting a Electric Needle Trap within the shadow of the pillar. Fifteen seconds passed, the cooldown of his trap, and he set another down nearby.
Once again, he waited fifteen seconds for the cooldown. Though two traps out at a time was the limit, it was important to have the cooldown available for what he had in mind.
The only thing left was the main event…
This time he threw the rock slightly upwards, where it landed down toward the base of the marble pillar, bouncing to slide out toward the hallway Meliadol had snuck in from. The sound was like a gunshot in the still room. Instantly their heads snapped to the source, hulking forms plodding forward, weapons drawn.
As before, one went to investigate and the other stayed back, guarding two entrances at once.
The instant the orc rounded the corner, out of sight of the other, Meliadol sprang into action.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!
Every muscle in the orc's body locked up when he stepped on the trap and Meliadol was already by his side, hooking his fingers into the straps of the orc's armor. With a mighty pull, he tipped the orc over, catching and propping him against the wall. The poor creature couldn't even cry out an alarm. Meliadol placed another trap and waited, one hand still hooked on the paralyzed orc, keeping him close.
"A'taki, og'on?" the other orc asked after a few moments.
Silence.
Meliadol closed his eyes, counting. Fifteen seconds. On non-player characters, the paralysis lasted fifteen seconds. He could hear the shuffling footsteps as the other guard warily approached. The orc stopped just around the corner, and Meliadol held his breath, replaying over and over in his mind what he had to do next.
Nine, ten, eleven…
With a roar, the other orc charged around the corner and Meliadol yanked savagely on the incapaciated orc in his grip. Both the paralyzed orc and the one coming around the corner triggered the remaining traps respectively, syncing their paralysis times. But he had to be fast, the paralysis on the previously stunned orc would only last half the time.
Meliadol didn't bother to gloat. He used the one orc as a springboard, pushing himself up to the pillar above the pair, scrambling to find purchase on the unyielding marble. He started to count once more while climbing, reaching the coiled rope he had left in mere moments.
He sprung from the pillar, grabbing the rope with the entire force of his descending weight. The rope had been wrapped around the tip like a reverse toy top, and there was a shift of movement as the pillar shuddered, turning slightly, moving against the wall.
It was on the cusp of falling down…
"Four, five, six…" Meliadol counted through gritted teeth as he continued to pull for all his worth, jerking his body against the heavy weight of the pillar..
"Seven…"
The rope was yanked from his grasp as the broken pillar suddenly rolled, slipping from its perch against the wall. Down it crashed, directly onto the two orc guards, sending up a small puff of dust, before rocking slightly before settling. Meliadol hit the ground, twisting, coming up to brace himself against the wall as he froze, listening intently
Nothing.
No sound from either the orcs under the pillar or of those sleeping in the nearby rooms. It had fallen quietly enough to not raise an alarm. Small blessings. Meliadol shakily let go of the breath he had been holding.
Warily he approached the pillar, half-amazed at the results, and sure enough, two corpse crystals had spawned, spinning like a scintillating top. Loot for killing the pair of guards. He picked up both, but was disappointed. Just a few pieces of copper. The developers obviously didn't do in-depth loot tables for the monsters of this scenario. Meliadol didn't even bother opening up his UI to check out experience gained for killing them.
Killing anything drastically higher than you with the DFS resulted in far less experience anyway. This was to prevent abuse, Bast had explained. Meliadol still thought he deserved something more than a few copper and pat on the back experience gains, but there was no measure to the satisfaction in a hurdle successfully cleared.
Let bad players be bad, and good players be good.
Bast's words reverberated in his mind as he began creeping down the previously guarded passageways. Now that he wasn't running from a horde of angry orcs, Meliadol had time to actually check the rooms along the way. Most were full of sleeping orcs, their bulky forms visible in the pitch-black rooms only because of his Night Vision potion. The rest were usually storage rooms, barrels and boxes packed tightly to the point of almost spilling out.
Most likely what he was looking for wasn't in these rooms, so he quietly moved on to the next. All the way down until he reached the familiar locked door. It was with immense satisfaction that he quickly picked the lock and slipped inside, climbing a steep set of circular stairs that led to an unlocked door.
The room itself was simple, with a fireplace in the back and a shuttered window to the side. A lone desk awaited in the middle, a pile of papers and books upon it. Other than that, it was ostensibly spartan. With the all-clear, Meliadol closed the door behind him and immediately rushed forward to begin shuffling through the papers. He soon found what he was looking for. A letter bearing a mysterious sign, sealed with wax. An alert flashed across his vision for a second before fading.
Guild Quest complete: 1/1 Sealed Letter
Pocketing the letter, he looked around, but didn't see anything else of note.
Now to head back…
Acting on a hunch, he approached the window, flinging open the shutters and…
"You've gotta be fucking kiding me!"
From his vantage point, and thanks to the Night Vision Potion, he could see obvious handhold sized holes in the mortar leading up to the window, along with several protruding bricks from poorly laid brickwork. He could have climbed his way up had he known, bypassing those annoying guards that had stumped him before.
But Darlia…
A commotion from outside the door alerted Meliadol that he had bigger issues at the moment. They had most likely discovered the bodies and were now scouring for an intruder. The last thing he needed was a host of burly orcs with sharp weapons bursting into the room to find him there standing awkwardly.
Grumbling, he hopped out the window onto the ledge, carefully closed the shutter, and began to gingerly pick his way down.
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