Chapter 43: To escape
"An Adret has infiltrated the base!" shouted the watchtower guard as he rang the bell. "He goes by the name Roy Ytreshi" this fuckin idiot.
There's no time left for me to stay here. I got the information I needed, now I just need to leave. Guarding the front gate is the tower guard so I'll be spotted immediately. Good thing I didn't have any characteristics that differentiate me from the other Adrets here. The only thing that could give me away is how act, gotta make sure I don't make it obvious.
I get up and straighten my back, pushing my chest out and making myself look bigger. Scanning the area, I can see a possible escape towards the other side of the camp. There is a ramp that leads up to the opening but the ramp starts beside the gate where all the bandits are. I should go around the back to see if there's another way towards the opening.
Back in the hall where i was in before, further ahead after the storage room, there's another way likely to connect to the other way that i saw. Walking past the room, a bunch of guys are surrounding "Reyna", as stated by the bandit who reported her unconscious body earlier. I don't think she saw my face, as i was curled up into a ball with the back of my head facing up.
"Are you okay? What happened? Did you see his face?" They all had asked in a panic, one of them came across the misfortune of accidentally grabbing her arm to see if it was damaged which then triggered her to say "How dare you touch me with your filth" said Reyna, as she pulled back her arm "I am fine, look at me. If you think that i am anything but fine then you are far from right. I am Reyna the Swift, sister, rival and equal to Lando the Swift. My haste exceeds that of the average person leaving them bewildered, flabbergasted, and in shock." She said, with her ego higher than the stars above. This interaction seems a little familiar to a person i met before but i can't seem to remember..
"You over there! In the doorway!" I believe she's pointing at me but i realllllly don't want to talk to her. I'm more afraid of conversing with the Felinor than me getting caught being an intruder.
"Hey, don't just walk faster when i Reyna the Swift, sister, rival and equal to Lando the Swift, is talking to you!" Must be a hassle to say all of that all the time.
"HEY LOSER!" Shouts one guy, as if he were in an American highschool film from the 80s-90s "Hey punk, i'm talking to you! You better not disobey me, otherwise you're gonna have to eat my knuckle sandwich" There's no way this guy is real.
"おい," Another one? And he's Etrean too? "何を見ているんだ?あ?! クソ野郎,ここではあなたが大嫌いだ,あなたたちのせいで私は気分が悪くなる!?!?!" 90% sure he's taking this chance to be openly racist to Adrets.
"Oi cunt," What now?? A Tiran?? "Eshay bah... oicuntyebettergimmeyemoneyorelseimahavetogettheboysonyesoyoudontwannafuckwithmemkaycunt" The Tiran takes a minute to puff his disposable gobelleto flavoured vape. "oohhyeaaathatthegoodstuff" Pretty sure this guy doesn't even know whats happening, he just wants to take my shit.
"Boys, leave, i wish to speak with him. Stand behind me." Reyna said stepping out of the room. "Yes, ma'am!"
I see how it is..All three had said that in sync and are now in a line behind her. Even the Tiran and Etrean spoke perfect English and are now serving under Reyna, like a dog...
Fuckkkk...Another goober i have to deal with. I might be able to bullshit everything if i get lucky. I'm just gonna have to rely of my cha(rizz)ma for now.
Chapter 44: Reyna the Swift, Sister, Rival and Equal to Lando the Swift
"State your name, Adret."
"Chris." Best use an alias, just to be safe
"Chris who? Sahet? Adaset?"
"Chris Peacock."
"Well, Chris. Chris Peacock" Something about this interaction reminds me of someone. Someone. i do not wish to remember.. "You don't seem to be someone who has a family name 'Peacock', i didn't even know there is a family name 'Peacock', I'd be expecting more of a Yuset" My heart skips a beat.
"I get that a lot. You see, my ancestor was an expert Flamecharmer. He managed to conquer death and arose from the flames, rebirthing anew. People started calling him Phoenix Flames which he liked so much that he wanted it to be his real name. He was illiterate, however, and did not know how to spell Phoenix. When he went to change his name, he accidentally spelt it P-E-N-I-S which was, oddly, the only word he did know how to spell. So in a panic, he scribbled P-E-A-C-O-C-K instead and handed it in" That story isn't half bad. I wouldn't expect this Felinor to follow through, however. But if worse comes to worse I'll just leg it.
To my surprise, it did get to her. I can see that she's convinced enough for her to not doubt my name as Chris Peacock. "Also," I add on "If you don't mind me asking. Could you fill me in on Lando? Your brother?"
"Who gave you permission to talk-"
"Quiet, I'm talking with Chris, not you"
"Yes ma'am" The wannabe was cut off by Reyna. It seems that Reyna is a big shot around here. She has her own fan club and doesn't appear to remember any of the names.
"Lando, My Brother, Rival and Equal, Is as fast as I am. Maybe a little bit faster. He's off scouting to Upper Erisia to look for a man in white robes." Could it be the vigil I'm looking for?
"He's a real pathfinder, and a great bandit. Normally, once bandits in this camp 'Hear the Song' they usually set off on their own. However, Lando has been here ever since he Powered Up. I hear he's around Power 4 right now which is much greater than a bunch of the other guys here." That's just one above me.
Meanwhile, At the front gate.
"Do any of you guys remember what the Adret looked like?" Asked the watchtower guard
"Blue." Responded, the Etrean. "With yellow facial markings."
"Nah, cuz I thought that Adrets had a black skin tone with glowing eyes and a hat which slightly resembles that of a snail," Said Roy Ytreshi, sarcastically.
"Well, I don't want to remember any of those people."
"A more darker-skinned Adret," said a fellow from behind them "With bright yellow facial markings that run vertically down through both eyes and one line cutting across the middle of his face." Said the fellow, jumping into the three bandits' conversation. This 'Fellow' was in fact, not a random. It was Zote, the Mighty.
"Did you see him earlier?"
"Yes, he was looking for something in the storage room. He could still be there as we speak"
"Great thanks for the help" The Watchtower guard scurries to his post to make another announcement "The Intruder is a darker-skinned Adret with bright yellow facial markings. Two vertical lines cut across both his eyes and one line cuts across the middle of his face."
Currently, the whole hall is silent. I am the centre of the spotlight, while dozens upon dozens of bandits stand before me. Reyna, the three amigos behind her, and her fan club stare at me as if I were a priceless art piece, so much so that not even great artist Vince Ganvough dare draw upon my brilliance as he fears he may tarnish what was one so great.
"Me-wow, is that the new Felinor Fashion?"
Chapter 45: "Me-ouch!"
The whole corridor abrupts into coordinated chaos with all the bandits who stand here start shouting non-audible words as they overlap each other's voices. It's become louder each second because they have realised who had knocked out their beloved "Reyna the Swift, Sister, Rival and Equal to Lando the Swift". Before they draw their blades, I have already deduced that even being a Power 3, fighting a bunch of freshies on steroids will result badly. "Tie him up! Crucify him!" They cry in harmony.
"Crucify him! Crucify hi-" But their cries are drowned out by the raging fire that is Burning Servants! Across the walls of flames left by me, i can hear struggling while they all try to stay away from the fire as to not get burnt. While they're doing that, i make i grand escape through the other side of the corridor. Adrenaline rushes into my bloodstream and i begin bolting.
Reaching the end of the corridor, i bump into another guy. Luckily he's oblivious to the situation at hand and doesn't realise who he had bumped into. He takes a single glance at the flames and understood what the situation was. "Intruder! Over here, towards the back of the base!" He shouts, alerting the back side of the base. Not that nobody had not known already, as there was a giant raging inferno in the centre of the main hallway.
I can hear him unsheathe his blade but i'm too focused on getting out that i just keep looking forward. I run up the ramp that, i'm assuming, leads to the outside. I can start to hear the bandits from earlier get passed the fire. Upwards, at the top of the ramp there reveals an opening to the left that leads out to the balcony, perfect. I make a quick dash out the door but realise that I'm a few metres up the ground level, i'm guessing 2 or 3. What's worse is that there seems to be a Megalodaunt sleeping beside the base's wall.
"There he is! On the balcony!"
"wait he's not gonna-"
There's no time to think, I've beaten one of these chumps before so i can do it again. Probably...Now's not the time, don't think just do.
I take one step off the ledge and plummet down to the Sharko's head. This, unsurprisingly, wakes up the Sharko which then lets out a deafening screech as it should. I've already heard this once so at least i was prepared and blocked my ears to protect my sanity from crumbling. However, the bandits could be heard dropping their weapons to steady themselves to the scream afterwards. The problem now, however, is that the Sharko wants to eat my ass. Luckily, because the Sharko's head broke my fall, I didn't sustain as many injuries as if I were to land flat on the ground. I run back around towards the entrance to try aggro the Sharko on some other bandits but it kept its dotted eyes on me, this Sharko may just be an Etrean, that was until a strange, peculiar wind had blown past. This wind felt familiar...no, not the wind, the presence was familiar. It was that of a Void, like the one a few days ago. Why is it back? Is there a trigger to this? That doesn't matter for now. The Sharko seemed to have caught wind of this feeling and had lost interest in me and started to search for the source of this anomaly. Now's my chance to book it. As the Zote guy had said, "Just further ahead, left to the camp, there is an opening to a cliff. Towards the left of the cliff is the entrance to the Tower Struck Lands" which is where I'm heading next. One, because the bandits are pussies and won't go to the Tower Struck Lands, and Two, because that's where my 1500 notes are- I mean the vigil's brother...
Chapter 46: Mindless Void
I was awoken by the sounds of a ringing bell over to the East. I wonder what's happening, could it be a travelling merchant notifying that he's open for business? No, a merchant wouldn't need a bell this loud and so heavy-sounding.
Possibly a military camp perhaps? Signalling that it's time to wake up? Or possibly a prison? Both are unlikely. It's late into noon, and i don't think this place would be fit for a prison.
Or maybe even a bandit camp, alarming the entirety of it that there's an imposter among them? Nah, what are the chances? There are still a lot of things I need to learn about this place before i move on from here, maybe i should revisit Etrea but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get out alive.
It's been about a week since the Sharko incident and I've suffered a fractured shoulder blade from being flung into a wall. Also, I discovered that the Dream is like a mirror to the physical dimension. Everything that happens here will also occur in the dream and vice versa. So it's like a safe house. Time moves the same however so if I were to spend all eternity in the Dream then I'd eventually die from malnutrition, unable to eat anything with my physical body. Think of it like the Hunter's Dream from Bloodborne if you will.
When I woke up today, it felt like someone went through my stuff. The person didn't steal anything though, not that there's much to steal.
Not much has happened recently, I've just been training ever since the Sharko attack. It turns out that I don't only need to train physical attributes to power up, instead, I can switch towards mental attributes like willpower, intelligence, and charisma. I can't really work out with the broken shoulder blade, the doctor said it should take about another 3-5 weeks until I can safely train my body.
But seriously, how long is this bell going to go for? I don't think i should check it out, considering my condition. So I'll just stay here till the sound dies down.