CLA.S.S NEUTRAL: Stranger Is Coming

Trouble. Traitor. Side effects of the spell.

"F

orgive me," the kaedd knelt down. "But I couldn't leave my family to die. The king had captured us in the sewer when he was looking for your shelter. He chained up my wife and daughter, then he sent me to the prison. He knew that you would come for your companions and take me with you. The king used a tracking spell that would indicate my direction. If I tried to warn you, he would surely execute my family."

"Got it." Teff sighed, looked closely at Hax, and then hit the crocodile hard on the head. The strike was strong, and the hefty kaedd squinted his eyes from the pain, but he didn't respond to the head of the guild's blow. "Powerful charms transmitting a picture of the world through the eyes are destroyed by a strong blow to the head." Treff explained.

"Not bad." Arns grinned and yelled, "Let's go kill the guards!" as he rushed into the chaos of numerous fights.

If I were an NPC, and Treff were a player, then he would have seen that his reputation with me increased, too. It's evident that he's an honest man. But why did the former chief of the Secret Investigation become a thief? I need to ask him, and now I must help the guild. My level's quite low, but I can distract the guards, at least.

"Hax, hide somewhere in a dark place," Treff said to the kaedd, who stared somewhere and didn't react to anything. "Don't worry, I was preparing for a new mission, and I put on a special suppression amulet that blocks such spells. I wish I put it on this mission, because it absorbs a lot of mana, and it's very difficult to keep constant invisibility and an amulet at the same time. Well, the king doesn't know that you've told us about his plans. His spell wasn't of the best quality, so it failed. If you understand me, then hide quickly. We still need to save your family."

"Yes!" the kaedd jumped to his feet and disappeared into a dark tunnel.

Treff followed his subordinates and entered the fray. It was hard for the thieves to fight against the soldiers and infantrymen who didn't allow them to go into stealth, but the guards also couldn't keep up with the thieves.

Like acrobats, they were spinning and jumping around the guards, but the HP of their enemies didn't decrease despite the blows of the guild members. It seemed like a damn powerful buff against physical damage was imposed on them.

I used the wh.i.p.s, which, instead of sinking into the throat of the 100+ level guards, grabbed their legs and didn't allow them to move. I quickly used Sohranaroh, and threw a 'Fan of Poison' on the nearest enemy.

Only two of the thirty guards ran in horror, but it was a great success for me. The poison made the tall soldier wince and spit carelessly. However, this allowed the noble thieves to take a break.

The Mole's Hole refused to open under the guards' feet. This meant that I hadn't improved it to a level when it could be used against living objects. However, I had an idea. I opened the hole under a weighty stone, and then over the some guard's head.

"Clang!" there was a ringing blow of stone on helmet, and the guard staggered.

A thief didn't hesitate and hit him hard in the temple with the handle of his dagger. Critical hit! The guard was knocked out and the thief hurried to his friends.

I managed to help the guild a bit. Yet there were only twenty of us, including me, against thirty high-leveled warriors. Five guards were killed, and one was knocked out. We lost seven people—five were on the edge of their digital life, and two had already gone to the next world. The situation was becoming critical.

I activated the Help of Nature: lianas and spiked flowers pounced on the guards. They tried to stab unprotected places, small spikes climbed by the collars, and they distracted the soldiers greatly. In general, the damage was very diverse. This allowed the thieves to take a break again before continue to fight with a new force.

I rushed to the wounded. I began to heal a salvin, but the cast wasn't strong enough to raise the thief's HP, even after the fifth activation.

I had to water everyone with the 'Swamp Healing' potion. I spent all four bottles I had and was able to increase the thieves' HPs to the orange sector.

I fumbled with the last one for a long time, activating the skill twenty times, but the sword that flew from a guard's hand killed the poor fellow.

Treff shouted something to his people, and they immediately rushed towards the tunnels. The fight wasn't easy. The commander of the guard was clearly angry and tried to kill the head of the thieves guild quickly before capturing me.

Damn it, I'd already activated the skill today, and I wouldn't be able to use it again until tomorrow. Hmm ... who was this?

Looking carefully, I recognized Vorhar. He slowly sneaked up to the fighting leaders, and I noticed a trio of throwing knives in his hand. So, he had decided to help Treff. That's great! Now I could concentrate on my dirty tricks towards the other guards.

However, I didn't like his look. He aimed at the back of the guild leader. Bastard!

The knife had already flown toward Treff, when I instinctively opened the Mole's Hole before his back, and all three knives went into the darkness of another dimension. I reopened the Hole in the wall opposite Vorhar.

The knives had already lost most of their power, so they only slightly injured their master and fell to the ground. I opened the Hole and picked up the knife. Vorhar tried to flee, but he failed. Treff applied some skill and quickly moved from the commander of the guard to the traitor.

"Al! Skill!" he shouted to me, and I instantly understood him.

I opened the Mole's Hole, and the head of the guild grabbed the traitor and jumped inside. Then I was able to open several more, but they were much smaller ones. The thieves jumped in them and quickly disappeared in the darkness, fleeing from the guards.

I managed to pick up the dead thieves, then I fell underground and joined the whole guild. I felt bad, and the space seemed to choke us. I opened the way back, and all the guild members went out into the tunnel next to Hax.

"Not bad!" Arns patted me on the shoulder and wiped the blood from his forehead. "The dissection of my eyebrow is a very unpleasant injury, but I will survive. How are you?"

"Fine," I croaked and spat blood. What a rollback! "It seems that I can't keep many people in that place. Now…" My head was spinning, and I slid down the wall.

"Hey! The Thieves' Joy!" Anrs shouted, then I drank a potion with a very pleasant cherry flavor—or at least very similar to it.