From Player To Npc

Chapter 117: The Owl's hideout

Shingi followed the figure but didn't catch up to it.

The figure wasn't that fast, but Shingi's plan wasn't to capture him.

After some time of going around the town, Shingi made it look like he lost the target, while in reality, he was easily tracking the figure with his MANA SENSE since it had boots similar to the one he fought earlier today. 

The boots' Enchantment let out a small amount of mana which he could detect, but it would be impossible if he didn't have his Skill at the current Rank.

The figure seemed to be still careful, not believing that Shingi was gone, but he used his INVISIBILITY as he didn't notice any Mana Pool coming from him and no Enchantment at the mask on where the eyes were.

The chase lasted for close to half an hour and then an hour of following the figure.

In the end, they arrived at the town's graveyard, and the figure entered one mausoleum, which was for members of a family called Darksky.

Shingi remained outside for a few minutes even if he couldn't keep track of the figure when it entered that place, as there seems like Enchantments were preventing him from doing so.

After five minutes passed, he entered the mausoleum himself.

Since his detection Skills were suppressed in there and even his ECHOLOCATION Spell didn't work, he summoned a spare blade he had.

He wouldn't use Sinhunter here in case someone could identify what it really was.

He had to go down a few stairs until he arrived at the main room.

There were four stone coffins in the room, one at each corner. The rest of the members were kept in coffins that were getting inserted into the walls.

There wasn't any other visible entry or exit other than the one Shingi used to get here.

Shingi started looking around for signs of movement or a place where the dust was less thick, but with his detection Skills being suppressed, he had no luck finding anything.

He was surprised that nobody noticed those Enchantments, but he soon understood why as they got disabled.

It seemed like they were enabled for a specific time when one was getting in here to prevent people from finding a way to enter. He was sure that some other Enchantment was resetting everything in the environment to show no signs of anyone being here.

He used his detection skills and noticed that it really was the case as there were no signs of anyone being here other than him for a long time.

But since the Enchantments were disabled and he was unable to use both his detection Skills and ECHOLOCATION.

With this Spell, he tried to find any hidden empty spaces or mechanics in the room. He soon found one at the coffin at the furthest far and left corner of the room.

The name on it was Baldur Darksky, who was referred to as the founder of the Darkskys.

There was a pressure plate on one of the coffin sides, but Shingi could detect Enchantments of sending a message purpose, which would be to let the people down there that someone used it.

Fortunately, cause the coffin was quite old, the lit had a few tiny openings, not big enough to see in it. But Shingi could try using it to enter.

He cast LIGHT FORM on himself and tried to go through one of the largest ones.

It was a little smaller than the one at Zhen's place but enough to go through, although it still was a little strange the feeling of losing the shape of your body even for a few seconds.

As he entered the coffin, a hole and a rope ladder that was there to go down. 

He moved down the hole by 'flying' while in his light form as he had detected some detection Enchantments through the way down, which he could easily avoid in this form.

As he reached the bottom of the hole, he was in an empty room with only a closed door.

He ended his LIGHT FORM, as he couldn't detect any other Enchantments nearby.

He waited to recharge his mana as his LIGHT FORM had used a lot, even if he only used it for close to 2 minutes.

He noticed that his Minor Mana Regeneration was weaker when he had his eyes disabled, probably cause his CHA stat wasn't available.

He enabled his eyes and put the female's mask, which had some one-way glass on the eyeholes to keep the eyes hidden and let him see.

He had to be careful with his eyes after what Harbin told him as he wasn't aware what those people he referred to were, but he knew they would be dangerous ones.

He kept his detection Skills up and his ECHOLOCATION Spell if there existed any hidden traps or Enchantments.

He checked the door and tried to check if anyone was on the other side, but it seemed like it wasn't the case. It wasn't locked or had any traps or Enchantments on it or near it, so he slowly opened it.

It led to a corridor, and not far, some spiral stairs leading deeper down in the ground. 

He carefully progressed while he had his CAMOUFLAGE active, which in this case was as good as his INVISIBILITY while in a dark environment with no source of light.

Shingi moved through the darkness by using a simple Light mana-based Spell he was experimenting with, which helped him to see in the dark, but everything was in grey color since if he was in complete darkness.

He still hadn't brought it to a state to be considered even as semifinished by the System. He had to combine it with ECHOLOCATION and his detection skills to be sure that he didn't miss seeing something that he should easily be able to see.

His progress was slow but careful, but after a few minutes, he stopped after a notification appeared.

================================

SPELL LEARNED

The spell DARKVISION (Base Grade) has been learned.

================================

He cast the finished version on him, and everything was clearer to see without entirely using his detection skills, but still, everything was in different shades of grey color.

He continued moving at a somewhat faster pace, and he reached the ends of the stairs soon enough.

There was a doorless entry leading to a vast hall.

There were two people at the entry but were facing the other way than the one Shingi was. They seemed to guard the way and see who comes and goes.

Fortunately, they hadn't detected Shingi yet, but he didn't know if he could pass them undetected.

Fighting them wasn't an option as it could make noise and draw the attention of others.

"What do you think happened to the group? The scout seemed like he was in a great hurry, and they should be back by now."[Guard #1]

"I wouldn't be surprised if they got captured. No. 16 was always quite arrogant and careless. She thinks just because she gets gifts from the boss, that she is a big deal. Like we don't know where she spends her nights or with whom."[Guard #2]

"One had heard screams coming from boss rooms one day and wasn't sounding much of pleasure. Do you think he is in that kind of stuff?"[Guard #1]

"You are new here, aren't you? She is lucky that she gets out of that room with all her fingers, mostly because the boss finds her interesting cause she is a Half-breed. He always liked Elves, but they are hard to capture."[Guard #2]

Shingi found it interesting not because if they said but when they said it.

This was a classic mechanic of the game for the guards talking when someone, most times a Player, reached a spot for people at that spot to start discussing something. But this meant that there was a Quest related to what they talked about, and that info could be helpful to either earn this Quest or help complete it.

He didn't get a Quest yet, so most likely, he could use something later to earn one. He doubted it was a coincidence that they start their discussion with such perfect timing.

The guards stopped speaking after that, and Shingi started thinking of a way to pass them unnoticed.

He soon had thought of a plan.

He summoned one of his Golems as far from him as possible into the room behind a pillar.

He ordered it to make some noise to draw their attention while keeping itself hidden on the ground.

"What was that? Did you hear this?"[Guard #1]

"Hmm... weird. Anyone there? If it is you, Will, I swear I am going to beat your ass."[Guard #2]

The Second guard started heading towards the source of the noise as the other one stayed in place.

As he reached the location and found nothing, he turned towards his friend, who was unconscious with Shingi slowly putting his body down to the ground.

"Who are..."[Guard #2]

Before he could finish his sentence, he also lost his consciousness at the Golem of Shingi formed behind him and attacked the back of his neck.

They weren't heavily armored or had special outfits with defense mechanics, so Shingi and the Golem, with some use of his MARTIAL ART Skill, could also allow his Golems to use to an extent, were able to take care of them quickly.

He could have tried to attack them both usually, but the surprise was an Element that he needed, and even with his speed, there was a chance of failure.

He moved them to the place they were guarding, and with some use of Earth mana, he was able to make some stands to keep them standing in front of the wall.

He put them in a natural pose, so one wouldn't notice anything weird if just passed.

He progressed further in with his CAMOUFLAGE active and tried to stay in the shadows as there was some torches light at a few places.

He soon found another exit leading to a balcony and had some stairs at its left and right leading to the down level, which you could see from the balcony.

It looked like an inn with many tables and people eating or drinking and some music playing in the background.

Everyone was wearing similar outfits as the guards he just dealt with, but some wore one similar to the kidnappers he dealt with.

There were also a couple who had similar cloaks to the female leader. It had a bland dark texture for everyone else, but it seemed to have some unique texture like feathers for those specific few.

Soon a man with a similar cloak but most of the feathers on the design were cloaks entered that room by a door at the side of it.

The music stopped suddenly when he entered, as everyone noticed him since he kicked the door open.

The man wasn't wearing any mask, so Shingi could clearly see the anger in his eyes. 

Behind him was the one that Shingi had followed here, and Shingi assumed that this was the boss that the guards were talking about.

"Listen here, you worthless Owlets. Someone pissed me off, so we are going to war. So stop playing around AND GET READY. We have a city to burn."[Owl's Boss]

Everyone looked at each other and back to their boss with eyes full of confusion.

"Sorry, did I stutter? Get your asses ready for battle. We let them be for enough time."[Owl's Boss]

Shingi didn't know what to do. There were many people in the room that even he couldn't take care of them at the same time, and he was sure there were more at some rooms nearby.

So he took the only option he had. To return, report at Harbin and prepare for battle.