Chereads / Epic of the Desert King / Chapter 5 - Hidden Passages

Chapter 5 - Hidden Passages

After Eugene realized the situation that he was in, he no longer wasted time in thought and quickly ran through the hidden passage. As a child, his father had taken him through the passage numerous times for fun. It was something that paid off in spades now, and Eugene quickly pinpointed his location and figured out where he needed to go.

He was not leaving the city. Not yet, at least. First, he needed to secure somethings that would help him survive elsewhere if Gustavo failed to defeat the assassin that had struck.

Grrrt!

The sound of the hard stone wall grating over the ground was clear in Eugene's ears as the view of his bedroom entered his vision. He quickly ran over to his bedside table and pulled open a few drawers. In the first drawer, there was a collection of silver rings, four of them, which he quickly slid onto his fingers.

Next, he pulled out some clothes and other essential things, before tapping on one of the rings on his fingers. The ring flashed and all the clothes and other essentials vanished into it!

The ring was a spatial ring!

This was an incredibly expensive accessory that Eugene only had access to because his father was the city lord. And even still, it was not a high quality one, as the space inside it was very small. The space inside each ring was roughly two cubic meters each, and if he planned to pack enough to survive long enough in the desert, then he would quickly consume all that space.

Eugene quickly stuffed some other things into another ring before getting up and making his way to the secret door. He quickly slipped back into the passage and closed it behind him. At the same time, he heard the sound of his room door slamming open and he sighed secretly.

"Luckily, I was able to get this." He flicked his wrist and a long weapon appeared in his hand. He held it up by its silver shaft that was decorated by golden lines. It was quite the extravagant looking weapon. In one of his father's rare moments of displaying fatherly love and affection, he had splurged on a lot of money and purchased this weapon for Eugene.

The weapon was a composite glaive. It was just like a glaive, but it could be split into two halves and used like a pair of twin swords or staves to fight. Each end of the weapon featured a sharp two edged blade that gleamed in the darkness of the tunnels. The low grade light crystal that Eugene held in his other hand was all that lit up the tunnels.

"I need to hurry and get some supplies." He snapped back to his senses and continued his journey through the tunnels. Now, his destination was the storage area where they kept the ingredients for the palace's kitchen. He would need to pass through the open halls to reach there, but as long as he was careful, he would be fine.

Grrt!

A statue moved to the side, revealing a secret passageway. Eugene stepped out and pressed on a discreet part of the statue, causing it to move back in place. He did not want to reveal the fact that he was walking through the tunnels to anyone.

Sure, the assassin that was fighting Gustavo would probably figure it out first when he noticed Eugene gone, but until then, maintaining its secrecy was his best bet out of here!

The screams of people rang through the large halls. It seemed like the news of what had happened in the meeting room had spread, and the palace servants had started panicking.

Eugene did not have the time to worry about the servants. He quickly made his way into the kitchen that was just on the opposite side of the statue he had emerged from. The place was surprisingly quiet. He pushed open the door slightly and was stunned at what he saw.

A man wearing black, with the lower half of his face covered by a cloth, was pressing against a palace servant. The female he was pressing up against was a rather young one, and what was most notable was the fact that she was a Beastkin!

"Scream and I'll slit your throat. I don't mind as long as you are still warm." The man's raspy voice whispered and his tongue darted out from underneath the cloth on his face to lick her neck.

"Ah! Please, don't do this!" The young lady's eyes darted around with tears already running down her cheeks. It was then that her eyes landed on Eugene and widened.

'Shh...' Eugene placed a finger to his lips, gesturing for her to remain silent about his presence. He silently pushed open the door to the kitchen and stepped into the large room. Right now, he was glad that his father had always paid attention to the maintenance of the kitchen. The doors did not release even the faintest squeak.

Swish!

The composite glaive appeared in Eugene's grasp as he stalked closer, like a predator lurking in the tall grass while moving ever closer to his prey.

Unfortunately for the man, he was a weakling and was totally unable to sense Eugene. He was merely a normal human, while Eugene was a two star martial artist! The gap between Eugene and an ordinary person was too large for the latter to sense him without seeing him!

Woosh!

The glaive flashed and Eugene held out a hand to catch the man's falling head by his shaggy brown hair.

"Young master?" The maid fell to her knees while trembling, but she still managed to look up at her savior with teary eyes.

"Get up on your feet. This place isn't safe at all!" Eugene grabbed her by her left arm and hauled her to her feet. She leaned against a tabletop as Eugene went on to raid the pantries for food and other supplies. He went to the storage room at the back and got a few gallons of water, filling up an entire ring with just water to make sure he did not run out while on the run.