Chapter 49: Hanging Out (Patreon)

The dead Trean held me in place, thirty feet up in the air against another tree. Its face was gone, and it just appeared like any other tree. The problem was that I couldn’t move and Hugo had just informed me that someone was coming.

[Lucas Hudson: Switch to party chat to avoid being heard.]

[Hugo: Okay. But what do we do?]

There was nothing to do right now except hide and pray that whoever was coming didn’t look up.

[Lucas Hudson: Grab my hood and pull it over me. My cloak's magic should help keep me obscured.]

The forest trees were densely packed together with a lot of leaves to block sunlight. It wasn’t dark, and I wasn’t in a shadow, but it was a little gloomy. I had to hope that it would be enough to activate the cloak’s enchantment.

Hugo flew down to me and managed to grab the hood with his beak. He flapped and lifted it over my head. I felt the weak darkness coalesce around me.

[Lucas Hudson: Now, keep your spirit summons out and ready but hide them. We don’t know who or what’s coming.]

Hugo nodded and flew higher up into the trees, where he wouldn’t be noticed. His Corvus Commandos did the same while Archer and Norris crouched down behind a bush, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

I heard voices talking as they came this way, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying until I used Heightened Awareness. Suddenly, two very familiar voices became clear to me.

“Just how long is it going to take?” asked Martin.

“That depends on who it is,” replied Damian.

I peeked out from under my hood and saw that Martin had his goblin dog out walking alongside him. Damian held his crossbow casually in his hands but looked ready to shoot either of them if they so much as twitched in the wrong direction.

[Hugo: Should I attack?]

[Lucas Hudson: No. It’s too much for you to handle alone. We should just let them pass by.]

“I need it done as soon as possible,” Martin said.

“And I need proof that you have who you say you have.”

Martin and his dog stopped. “She has a small tattoo of a heart on her left ankle. Satisfied?”

Damian stoically gave a sharp nod of agreement. “Who’s the target?”

Martin grinned. “We’re calling him the black swordsman.”

Damian’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t get cute. What’s their real name, class, level, and physical description?”

“His name is Lucas Hudson. He has some kind of blood-based power. I don’t know what exactly since I wasn’t paying attention when it came up. He’s tall with pale skin, mid-twenties, carries a katana, and wears a black cloak. We estimate his level is somewhere between nine and sixteen.”

Damian’s eyebrows rose. “That’s quite a level range.”

“Well the only people who know his level for sure are dead by his hand. It’s our best guess based on how he took out some of my men.”

“Our best guess? How does he fit into all of this?”

“Anders? Obviously, he wants revenge. I tried to talk him out of it, but he’s quite fixated on this figure. You’ll just have to do the job while staying out of his way. Maybe use poison and kill him like you killed Harold?”

A flicker of surprise passed over Damian’s face, which Martin took for confirmation.

“Don’t look so shocked. It became rather obvious when Anders told me he didn’t get a notification for killing him.”

“Unless he’s lying to you.”

“Anders wouldn’t do that. I saved him and his sister’s lives on the first day. The pair of them owe me everything.”

Damian grunted. “If you say so.”

Martin scowled and continued walking. “You just hold up your end and I’ll hold up mine.”

The goblin dog stopped and sniffed the air. Is it smelling me? I held my breath.

Martin glanced back in annoyance. He whistled. “Come on, we’re done here.”

The dog padded after its master and the pair disappeared through the trees. Damian waited until they were gone before saying, “okay you can come down now.”

He could only have been talking to me, but I waited in silence anyway to confirm it.

Damian sighed and looked directly up at me.

“I’m uh… actually stuck up here,” I said finally, feeling embarrassed.

“Oh, I thought you were just snooping. Hang on.”

He slung his crossbow onto his back and quickly climbed up the tree to where I was.

“I see your leg is better,” I said.

“Good old health potions. Never leave home without them now. So can I assume that your feathered friend is hiding somewhere nearby with backup in case I make a wrong move?”

“You can.”

“Would you believe me if I said that I wasn’t serious about taking the job?”

“Maybe. Tell me why?”

“He has somebody I care about hidden away somewhere. He told me to meet him here and that we could exchange if I did a favor for him. The problem is that I don’t trust Martin and I don’t think he’ll honor his end of the deal. He’ll try to find a way that keeps me working for him. Having an assassin take out his enemies from the shadows is too convenient to give up.”

“What does he have on you?”

“My wife.”

Damian pulled out a knife of his own and started hacking away at the dead tree hand holding me in place. When it finally gave way, I fell, landing on my feet and hands.

He dropped down to join me and said, “I have to go now.”

“Just like that?” Hugo asked as he flew into sight.

He nodded. “I got here early and laid traps all over the area in case Martin tried to double-cross me. I’ve got to go collect them before something else sets them off.”

“What do you want to do about Martin?” I asked him.

“For now, I’m going to pretend to give him what he wants. I’ll just say that you’re hard to find and as long as you lie low, it should buy me a couple of days to find where he’s holding my wife.”

“With all due respect, we can’t afford to hide for a few days. We’re not strong enough for floor 96 yet, so we have to use this forest to hunt.”

“What if there was a better option?” asked Hugo.

“Go on,” said Damian.

“Well, there’s three of us and Martin is alone right now. This seems like the perfect time to attack.”

“He’s got a point,” I said. “Combined, we’ve got enough power to subdue him and question where he’s holding your wife.”

Damian considered it and agreed. “But on one condition,” he added. “I take point on this and you both do exactly what I say. Not just because I’m worried about taking him alive, but because I’m the only one who can guide you away from my traps.”

Hugo and I said that was fair. Right before we moved on, I quickly brought up my stats screen to spend the points I’d earned from killing the Trean and leveling up. No sense in not being at my best when we went to face Martin. My screen said that I had 35 points to use for upgrades. I decided to throw fifteen into strength, ten into vitality, and ten into constitution.

Stats

Name: Lucas Hudson

Race: Human (Class F)

Class: Blood Reaver Level 14

Currency: 237 coins

Strength: 110 > 125 (+15)

Vitality: 90 > 100 (+10)

Intelligence: 20

Constitution: 100 > 110 (+10)

Dexterity: 223

Perception: 100

Willpower: 17

Free points remaining: 0

“Everybody ready?” asked Damian.

The crow’s two land-based spirit summons stood up from the bush and awaited further orders. Hugo frowned at Norris and said, “it’s piggy back time.”

The former goblin squad leader didn’t seem to care either way as he hopped onto Archer’s back to be carried.

“He’s a little slow,” Hugo explained to Damian. “But he’s got spirit.”

“Remember, we have to get to Martin before he makes it back to town,” I said. “His goblin dog will be his main line of defense but he’s also carrying a pistol.”

“Is it a System gun or something from our world pre-integration?” Damian asked.

“Pre-integration. It’s a Glock 9mm. They hold somewhere around fifteen to seventeen rounds. We should let Hugo’s spirit summons focus on Martin first to soak up the bullets while the two of us deal with the dog. Then we can have a long chat with Martin without any interruptions.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Damian.

As a group, we set off in the direction Martin had traveled. Damian took point with me, Archer, and Norris trailing behind. At our current speed, I was confident that we’d catch up with Martin soon, but we were also moving closer to town than I would’ve liked. We had to take him out fast before any of the others discover what we’re doing.