(OP-F2)The Wanted List

[Asen 0]

(If you don't know what happened, go to The Ascendants first Cuz I'm not doing recaps.) I woke up with every muscle on my body were screaming as I sat up from the soil. The chamber is now empty with scorch marks here and there.

I'm surprised those PKers didn't kill me while I was out. I mumbled as I stretched my arms. I tried to get up, but it was like the air grew ten times heavier and I had to brace myself against the cave walls. There was a set of stairs not too far off, and I'm guessing that it leads to the second floor. I looked around once more and saw my Anneal Blade not too far from where I was. Using every ounce of my strength to walk normally, I walked up to the sword and picked it up and put it in its sheath. Then pushing myself even further, I ascended the stairs to the second floor.

[Asen 0]

The outside of the second floor was mainly hills and mountains with flat surfaces. Within about one kilo, there was a settlement. The creatures that dotted the landscape were mainly ox-type but some were different than the others. Miliel perched herself on my shoulder as I sat down with my legs dangling over the edge of a cliff.

Then I received a warning message when I opened it I couldn't believe my eyes.

Wanted!

Name: NightShade

Height: 5'6

Weight: 136

Charged: Act of treason and heavily injured against the Valeclya Guild. Authorized as a wanted murderer.

Reward: 180,000 Kol, Dead or Alive.

That's stupid! When could I have done something like that?! I thought to myself as I waved the screen away. Miliel hid herself between my coat collar and my neck and snuggled against me. My eyes grew more determined as I want to know just the hell happened!

[Asen 0]

Using my <> skill, I took cover from hill to hill as I keep a lookout for any players who might've alreadyrreceived the message.

Who could've known my name?! Who could have the mastermind to frame me?! A dozen questions were running through my head as I sprinted in the direction of the settlement. The moment I saw players heading this way, I skidded to a halt and immediately hid behind some boulders on the side of the road. There was two of them, one tall guy and the other was an average height girl just casually passing me talking happily to each other. Using my <> skill, I managed to eavesdrop on their conversation.

Did you hear about what happened at the Valecyla's Guild Mansion? The guy asked.

No, what happened? Does it have to do with the NightShade guy that was wanted by them? She asked.

Well, apparently someone broke into their mansion last night and attempted murder on Lady Nunia, the head of the guild. One of the members caught him and tried to capture him, but h escaped. The only thing they got was his name. And well... you saw who it is. The guy explained thoroughly as they moved out of range. I couldn't believe it! How could I be out cold and do that at the same time and wake up at the same spot?! Only one way to actually find out, and that's going to meet this Lady Nunia personally!

[Asen 0]

I snuck inside the town which turned out to be Urbul without getting detected by other players. I had Miliel fly up to the top of the buildings and had her guide me through the dark alleys to make sure I didn't run into a dead end. I managed to go up to a (Tailor NPC) and bought myself a red feathered hat and put it on my head. Thankfully the brim is low enough to cover my eyes so players wouldn't really recognize me. Still having my <> skill set on, I casually walked along with a decent crowd of people. Then up ahead, there was a group of four men carrying lances and wore yellow and black coats with a full plate helm limiting their vision. I gracefully slid through the crowd and crept into the back alley once again. Taking a left, I came upon a plaza of not so pleasant outlook. I had to stop before I dropped thirty ft. Into the plaza full of people down below.

Not going down like that. I remarked as I noticed another group of those yellow and black coat guys wandering into the plaza. Like it's second nature now, I pressed myself back into the shadows and against the grimy wall.

[Asen 0]

They were all asking the other players questions and even had a flyer with the Wanted! written in bold letters. Majority shook their heads, but some took a pretty good while conversation. After twenty minutes had gone by, they finally called quits and started to head in the western direction. Along the way a group of four of the same people met up and kept going west. I noticed that there was a huge mansion not far from their direction.

If I had to bet money, I would bet those 180,000 Kol that that's the Valecyla Guild's Mansion right there. I said to myself as I climbed down using stones that were sticking out to hold myself. After I got to my feet on the ground, I went to the west direction of the plaza as well.

[Zelrius 0]

Walking the other direction, Zelrius was on his way to go level up a bit and work on sword skills, With his newly obtained wolf, Miles, accompanying him, when he bumped into someone in such a hurry

Gah! Watch where you're going! I wouldn't be near as mad if you were headed the right direction. Do you realize what is going on?!

[Asen 0]

I accidentally bumped into someone was getting yelled at angrily. I tipped the brim up a little bit and recognized it was Zel. For once since this morning I smiled.

It's been a while old friend. I said as I scurried into the direction of the west plaza. Miliel flew down and perched on my hat and was just chirping happily.

Didn't expect to bump into him of all places, just hope he doesn't follow me. I thought as I weaved through the crowd. The guys in yellow and black coats never even looked back, which is really a surprised to me. If you were hunting someone down shouldn't you be on a alert for anything? It was like these guys hadn't the care of the world as they turned right through a set of gates that led into the mansion.

It would seem that my suspicion was correct after all. I thought.

Go to Zel and stay with him until I whistle. I whispered to Miliel. She chirped once and zipped through the skies heading towards Zel's direction.

[Asen 0]

I climbed through what I thought was a window but turned out to be door that opens outward. In any case I managed to crawl through there and inside was like I walked into a Pirate's Den. Everyone was drinking (non-alcoholic beverages) and laughing pretty loudly. I was surprised I couldn't hear all this noise from the outside! I was standing on a catwalk that stretched over from one end of the big bar room to the other and at both ends was a spiral staircase. Despite the noise, I got noticed by one of the guys who was looking up, and with him warning everyone now he pointed up to me.

Come here you filthy pirate! One of them shouted as he ascended up on the spiral staircase on one end while two others climbed the other end. I frowned when he called me a pirate, then I looked at my hat then my rugged clothes (which I need to get new ones pretty soon) and with my sword strapped onto my belt. But I drew out my sword and held it in front of me as I faced the two coming towards me.

[Asen 0]

The two slashed at me with their cutlasses and I parried both while the third tried to slash at my back but my sudden movement made him just barely miss me. When I tried to counter, they parried me as well. I twisted my body, spinning it backwards and around the stumbling guard(?) and managed to start to climb downstairs. However, more were climbing up as well, so I swung my legs across the railing and slid all the way down passing all the other guards(?) along the way. With a twist of my right leg, I slid down and landed on my left foot but I buckled under pressure and tumbled to the ground. I quickly got up on my feet to meet my attackers who had all their swords drawn out (there's five plus the three on top so a total of eight of these guys are here).

(Also the dice setting for me on battle is this, Battle Dice: Attack Dice, Crafting Dice: Dodging Dice, Loot Dice: Parry Dice. that's how I distributed my battle set of dice. Outside of combat are unchanged and go as accordingly.)

[Asen 0]

I jumped on a table as I parried their attacks and made sure I didn't get hit, but I had very little time to counter so I'm focused on parrying and hope that their blades don't get past mine. My footwork shifted every now and then to keep up with the tempo of their attacks as the three finally came down and joined in the fray. I frowned as I continued to weave my sword to strike their blades away from harm's way. Then I bravely stepped back and jumped off the table and just like I thought they would, they followed me and tried to strike me again, but I cut a rope that was wrapped on a pulley and I grabbed the rope as I shot up and the chandelier went down and crashed on the eight guards(?). None of them are dead I can assure that, but their HP bar is already 75% low because of that. I let go of the rope and landed on the catwalk once again and watched them struggle to get up with the chandelier weighing them down.

[Asen 0]

Just as they got up and were about to come after me once more, but then a woman's voice called out louder than I've ever heard.

Just what the blazes is going on out here?! Standing in front of open doors was a woman who wore practical dueling equipment and carried a rapier on her side. All eight of the men stopped what they were doing and immediately bowed to her.

We're sorry Lady Nunia, but there was this intruder that tried to sneak in here m'lady! One of them quickly explained. "Nunia" squinted her eyes at me and I could feel her studying every aspect of me. Then her eye twitched in annoyance as her voice started to get a furious tone in her voice.

Tell me, when you sent that message you didn't perhaps just picked the random name on the book did you? She asked. One of them gulped and looked at each other. Then after not hearing their full response she looked like she was about to explode.

You idiots! That NightShade character just got into this floor! How the hell could he just walk in this floor and be at my chambers at the same time?!! She exclaimed.

That's what I'm wanting to know too. I simply said as I climbed down the spiral staircase and sheathed my sword. One of the other men was again about to speak, but out of the corner of my eye saw something that reflected light somewhere high in the dark. I reacted as I picked up a random chair and threw it just beside Nunia's body as a silver dart hit the leg of the chair where it would've hit her neck. The chair crashed into the corridor and I saw a shadow moving and I quickly climbed up the stairs once again and dashed through the catwalk. The shadow looked straight at me as I slammed my shoulder into it's body. I heard a man's voice getting the air knocked out of him. That didn't stop him to slam his knee on my chest and forced me to stumble backwards. Seeing a flash of silver reflecting light once again, I dropped on my back on the catwalk as another dart flew past me. The shadow took it's chance and went out the window. I got up on my feet and brushed myself off.

14/15

[Asen 0]

I took the dart out of the chair and found that the tip was dripping some kind of poison. Lethal type no doubt, but the only way that type of poison could be made is if you're in one of the murdering guilds and that just started very recently!

I need to find someone who has the <> skill and have them look into it. I said to myself. Nunia approached me with a small bag of Kol in her hand.

Here, this is to make up all the trouble we caused you. I hope you would forgive my guild members, they didn't mean any harm. She said as she presented the bag. Without even looking at it, I shook my head.

Well, you got me into this now, might as well hold on to that for now until I figured out who's behind this. I said as I put the dart in my inventory. Then I got to my feet and looked at her astonished expression.

It'll be a lot easier for me because I already have a history with those type of people, so I'll figure it out why and who's after you. After that I'll capture the guy and then you can pay me, and you can do whatever you want with the guy once it's done. I said with a smile as I walked to the outside doors.

[Asen 0]

The sunshine never looked so amazing than after fending off an entire guild just to set your name straight. I let stretched my arms and all my stiff limbs popped. Walking through the gates and into the plaza sure feels good now that my name has been cleared up. Although I'm still keeping the hat, I decided to go and look for another trench coat or perhaps get it custom made by a tailor. While I'm at it I guess I can see if any of the shopkeepers has a <> skill to see where this dart came from.

I walked inside a store called Izzi's Tailor, and I found a lot of trench coats, but none that really suited me. Then a young woman came up to me.

Are you looking for anything particular sir? She asked. I smiled as I finished browsing.

You wouldn't happen to have a trench coat either the same or better quality than this would you? I asked her. She crested her brow as she went behind the counter and opened the inventory and browsed through it.

I have a Ox-Tempered Coat for 3,400 if you want it. It's very similar to what you're wearing but it has a fur collar on it and it has a few straps to put your weapon on it. She described it as a jet black leather coat with a brown fur collar and a strap on the left side to put your weapon on it. I figured why not? I bought it and traded it with my old one (which was worth 450 because of it's poor condition.) But I could feel the chill air approaching, so I'd better prepare for it.

[Asen 0]

The sun was settling on the horizon as I entered the Inn, and I found it surprisingly crowded. There was at least a dozen players in here just chatting away like nothing ever happened. A few however gave me the cold stare, and it felt like daggers were piercing my skull ask sat at the counter just minding my own business. I went ahead and rented a room for the night, 10A, and I just turned around when a group of guys (three total) were blocking my path. I didn't say anything, but I tried to go around them an they blocked that way too on all three sides.

Why don't you boys take it outside please? Unless you want to pay for the damages. The innkeeper asked nicely. Then the guy who blocked the way to the door slammed his shoulder into my chest and I staggered back into the counter from the brute force.

[Asen 0]

I kneed him in the stomach and threw his body into his buddy next to my right as my hat flew off and the other guy wearing scaled armor swung at me with his fist, but I managed to catch it with my left hand and kicked him into the counter. With the other two charging at me from behind, I rolled my body over the guy who was hugging the counter and pushed his body with my foot and collided with his two comrades. I smirked knowing that you can't lose HP in here, but it doesn't mean that it won't hurt. All three got on their feet and charged at me again.

[Asen 0]

I slid across the counter as they barrelled to the wall face-plant and as I ran I noticed the innkeeper was wearing my head. I stopped and looked at him like he was out of his mind.

Are you serious?! Give me that! I exclaimed as I swiped the hat off his head and put it on mine. Then I continued running to the other side of the building and slid across the counter again. A small group of players (group of five) waved for me to come over. I got the message and using my <> skill I slid underneath their table as some other players took off outside the building. When the three turned and saw the swinging, they ran outside as well not even paying attention to anything else.

[Asen 0]

I let out a sigh of relief after about five minutes had gone by, then I heard a low threatening female voice.

Look this way, and I'll kill you... Not really knowing why that's the case I turned aroundand tried to get out, but i got a boot on my chin and I froze in my tracks. The same voice spoke low again.

Stay for a minute. She warned, no sooner than that one of this'd guys came back and looked around the place. He even checked behind the counter and looked around once again before leaving the building. Then finally the boot went down and scooted back enough for me to crawl out. I looked up to find a girl with long brown hair, and my eyes widened as I couldn't believe it! Her hazel eyes and creamy skin as well as that same glare I always get.

Celidia?! I asked as I jumped to my feet. She grinned at me and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

Hello, Jin, or should I say NightShade in the this world. She greeted and brushed me aside.

Celidia, do you know this creep?! A guy that was a little short with rugged blonde hair and has a Dagger strapped on his belt exclaimed.

[Asen 0]

She shot a glare at the guy and he pipped down to his seat. She turned her attention back to me with a smile.

To answer your question Dunbar, yes I know him. Too well unfortunately. She said coldly. I scratched the back of my head as I recall what happened, (not going to tell it though, not yet anyway.)

Yeah, sorry about that Celidia. Wait when did you get here?! I asked serious suddenly. Her eyes softened for a moment as her cheeks grew a little red. She avoided eye contact which was fine by me.

I-I came... er... I was trapped here as well. She stumbled on some words, which is very unlike her. Then she looked at me like she was interested in me now.

First of all, how did you get so famous suddenly? This is the first time since I've been on here that a message like that appeared floor wide. She teased. My eye twitched with annoyance, then it hit me.

Those guys!? They might be from the same group as that guy! I said to myself. She along with the four looked at me puzzled.

[Asen 0]

Realizing that they don't know about recent events, I decided to keep it to myself. I tipped my hat to them and I went to my room.

I collapsed on the soft bed without even taking my coat or boots off. Then Miliel flew through the window and landed on my pillow chirpping up a soothing song. My hat fell upside down on the bed, which I put on the night stand and took off my coat as I got fully on the bed and played on my back as Miliel hopped on my chest and already starting to get the sleepy eyes. I smiled as I gently pet her small head until she went completely asleep. I stared out into the night's sky and found that there was very little stars shining it's light. But the waning moon shined as beautiful as ever. Soon exhaustion took over, and I was out as well.

[Asen 0]

To be continued...

(Completed)