Lost in the Game

Level 2, Day 1

Lucas was surprised to see that the door opened onto a desert plane, and the temperature even though dark was still far warmer than he wanted it to be as he left the Raid Oarty who was clearly making for the nearby town. He knew by morning news would have spread about the victory, as the guild was already alerting thier own members to get there quickly. He on the other hand looked at his map, and saw there were several areas of good ore and herbs that he could collect as he made his way that way, anxious to see what he would be able to do when he met a tradesman on a crossroads before his target area. He was glad he was able to unload some of his junk, but also very surprised that he had the books he needed to increase his profession skills, even though all it did was give him the basics. This NPC had next to no ability to tell him anything other than prices, but was ok by him as he kept going to farm the new resources.

The monsters proved interesting challenges, and more than once he was forced to retreat from overwhelming numbers before he learned they were weak against paralysis poisons. Once he had that down he had almost no issues with them as he collected the herbs and mineral deposits between where he was and the town. When he came walking in an hour behind the party that he had helped, a bunch of new guides were beginning to pop up, and he even saw the details about the quest shared to the topic board as he walked to the Rogue Headquarters here. He didn't care about the one off quests that applied to everyone, only the ones from the Assassin Master, and he knew he still had some time before they figured out the detail he had left out. He decided to add it tonthe forum, letting them know the first visit was just to meet the Master and potentially earn a rare throwing weapon like the one he had. Many of them had reported getting a lower quality item than he had, but not received the Masters Apprentice Quest.

His first stop was the top floor, where he scared the Master who was looking out his window over the city. "I do have a door." the Master said.

"With how many boobytraps?" Lucas asked making the master assassin laugh knowing he was absolutely correct.

"More than one." he said moving to the side. "Keep this up, and the window will be next." Gorman said as he stepped aside and allowed Lucas to enter. "I have a mission that requires your unique skills." he said as the mission appeared. "The Royal Family has been moving against the people, and must be taken out. It cannot be connected back to us." he said as Lucas smiled.

It was a 4 part quest, and the rewards he could tell would all be Legendary Equipment that he would be able to put to good use. He accepted it amd went to the actual base, and ran right into that same Rogue.

"It has to be done on the first floor, doesn't it?" he asked Lucas who smiled.

"Afraid so." he said as the kid moved aside and allowed him to enter.

"Sorry about what I said earlier, it was not my place to question what you do." he said. "Names is Maestro." he said holding out his hand.

Lucas took it and smiled. "No hard feelings, as we are all still new to eachother. Just remember one thing and you will do fine. The more you act your role, the more experience you get from the game." he replied as he walked in and the kid followed him inside.

"Wouldn't you go to the Master for training now?" he asked making Lucas laugh.

"Nope, still these guys down here. From what I can tell, he is just a quest giver." he replied as he went and took care of the trainings he needed to.

"Okay, I am headed back to level 1, any advice before I do?" Maestro asked him.

"Act like a Rogue." Lucas answered as he headed out into the city and saw that nearby was a little red dot.

"What does that mean?" he asked Lucas as they walked down the street and came across an open window and barred door.

"Go in this house here, and steal something." Lucas said not realizing it was connected to his target.

"You cannot just steal things from houses, you can't even enter, the door is blocked." Maestro replied as Lucas pointed him at the open window.

"Stop looking for doors, and most definitely quit following the rules as you think you know them. We can do anything the game allows, including entering windows and as we are Rogues, we are expected to steal. Hell, I even have an assassination mission right now." he said with a smile as Maestro was shocked. "Lesson 1, go steal something and come back here." Lucas said making him go in.

It was only a few short minutes later when Maestroncame running out carrying a sword, running like his life depended on it. "Lesson 2, don't get caught." he said as he ran before a man leaned out the window and drew a bow.

Without thinking Lucas drew a dagger from his belt, and impaled the NPC's eye with it, making it slump over dead before he went and looted the corpse. It wasn't until he found the emblem he needed and he looked at the dagger he had used that he saw the first part of the quest was complete, and the bow that was nearby was also an Ultimate before he took it and disappeared. The Warrior Dagger would make it very hard to track back to the Rogues at all, as he began chasing down Maestro who had just stopped running after he saw no one was pursuing him anymore.

"Lesson 2, kill anyone who catches you before they know they caught you." Lucas said as Maestro laughed and looked at the sword. It was Ultimate Quality, but barely had any attributes that was worth keeping at first glance.

"Can you use this to help someone else?" he asked handing it to Lucas.

"Everything is useful, even if it is just melting it down and starting over." Lucas said with a smile as he put it in his bags.

"So essentially be the best version of a true thief as I can be." Maestro said smiling still.

"Do that, and you cannot go wrong." Lucas said before they went thier seperate ways.

Lucas had spent the night killing the Royal Family, and had just successfully done the Crown Prince when he got the final mission. The King himself was now the target, and at the moment it was in the Palace on this level. He knew this was going to take some time. So far he had pinned blame on the Warriors, Mages and Priests for the other 3 deaths, when they were actually discovered as he went into the castle wearing the Robes of a Monk. He knew it was risky, but they seemed like they were the only ones being ignored.

The path he had to follow was not easy, and he about had a fit when the chef thrust a tray into his hands and demanded he take the King his breakfast. He smiled as it even gave him the quest, and had an option to even place the food and drink with poisons. He decided to hell with it, and laced each food with a different one, as well as the drink before delivering it to the King himself who began devouring it before he had even left the dining room.

He knew he had about 5 minutes before the King keeled over, and this time he was hoping it would be blamed on the cooks as he made his way out of the castle before the alarm sounded. It was a close call too as he had just slipped into an alleyway and dumped the monk clothing when the bell started chiming. The entire palace went on lockdown, and he knew it would be for hours as he calmly walked back to the Rogue Tower and up to the Masters Chamber. He had easily found the door, and just as he suspected it was booby trapped if the wrong people decided to use it.

It however didn't take long to bypass before it swung open to the private chambers, and Lucas crept around looking at things. Most if it couldn't be taken, but there were a few trinkets and rings he managed to take, all of them unidentified so far as he walked into the office and snuck up on the Master.

"The entire Royal Family in a single night, and not one bit of suspicion on the Rogues at all. Well done." Gorman said as he threw a bag hitting him right in the chest as the couns rattled around inside.

"Need a greater challenge next time." Lucas replied.

"Well you are aptly named Shadow Killer, and are bound to go down as a great assassin. You will get plenty more challenges, when they appear. For now, congratulations on a job well done." Gorman said as the completion screen appeared and he selected his rewards for a other critical success mission.

The office dissolved around him before he found himself at the main entrance, as the Kings Guard came and asked the Master to identify which poison had been used on the King from the scraps of the meal that were left.

"You know who did it?" Master Gorman asked.

"We have 5 suspects, and 5 different poisons belonging to them." the guard replied. "We need to know which one acted so we can execute them."

"From what I can see, all 5 were used. 4 on the food itself, and a fifth in the drink." Gorman said as the guards eyes went wide before hernan back to the castle.

It was easy to follow him in, and the Chef who had thrust the meal into his hands was thankful he had not had the opportunity or purchased his own poison yet, making the comment he wished he knew who had done it. He had a reward of his own to give out when a quest chain appeared for his cooking skill. He smiled as he saw this, and accepted the quest telling the cook he might be able to help.