From Player To Npc

Chapter 77: The Cave

Ameanum told Soryn and Marcy to keep paying attention to the movement of the people of the village.

Marcy advised making a party communicate through the party chat, but Ameanum was against that.

He said that if he met the ENCHANTER, he would tell that he would be at a party as Players had an aura on them that people with those kinds of Skills could detect.

In reality, he didn't want Marcy to know his in-game name or other info that would be shown on like his level, class, etc.  She still hasn't fully agreed to help them, and he didn't know her whole story and past she had with the Whip Masters Guild.

If needed, he could send her messages as an unknown individual as long she had her messages in public.

He enabled his STEALTH skill, and out of habit, he tried to cast INVISIBILITY, which of course, he couldn't do in his current body.

His STEALTH was better than on his NPC self and was moving silently, like the wind in a calm day.

He took the long route not to get close to the village and try to stay as hidden as possible if there were any watches they hadn't noticed.

He made it near the cave in a little less than an hour, and he kept checking his surroundings for a few minutes to make sure nobody else was around. 

While heading in, he kept his senses for anything noteworthy, like traps or runes of warning.

He didn't notice anything but that didn't mean much as most times those were invisible, so even his EAGLE EYES were useless. He had already missed the benefits of his MANA SENSE.

But as he headed deeper into the cave, he could tell that most of the cave, after a little bit from the entrance, was recently excavated.

His MINING skill was high enough to enable him to recognize stuff like that, and he could tell that it was extended the past few weeks at top two months. 

Bits of the seemed to have happened through labor and some through magic.

He was able to detect some footprints after a while, which seemed to be of someone with light steps as they barely seemed to leave any.

As he progressed, everything became dark, so he had to use a torch of his. He wasn't trying to let his presence hidden as he wasn't using his STEALTH Skill after entering the cave.

As he progressed for a few minutes, he stopped and pulled his torch nearer the ground as he kneeled.

He pulled a pouch that contained some silver dust he had bought and removed some on his hand, and then he blew it on the ground in front of him.

The silver got stacked in some places and seemed to form part of an invisible Enchantment Circle in the ground.

Ameanum used some more of the dust to see the space the Circle was covering, and it seemed it had barely enough room for one to move if hugged the walls. 

Ameanum checked the walls the same way as also with his PERCEPTION but didn't detect anything.

He was lucky to notice that part of the wall at the side of where the Enchantment Circle began seemed to be somewhat blown up and not dug like the res, but one wouldn't be able to tell the difference usually. But Ameanum's MINING and PERCEPTION Skill could.

He moved carefully and continue checking the walls in case there were any further traps.

After passing this trap, he continued stepping slower and kept checking his surroundings more for any change that could signal the existence of a trap like that.

He encountered some more Enchantment Circles, some he recognized and some he didn't. From the ones he recognized, some were designed to cause damage to the one who triggered them, and others were to stun them, freeze them, or other kinds of similar effects.

He had bought five pouches of silver dust just in case. It was helpful in these types of situations, but it wasn't cheap, so he had to be careful how much to use.

He had finished three pouched and had used almost half of the fourth one as he noticed some light in the distance.

He carefully progressed as it could be one more of the traps of the owner of this cave.

As he got closer to that light source, he noticed that it led into a room and saw a figure in there with his back toward him.

Ameanum focused his senses on the figure as, after a few seconds, a smile appeared on his face.

He raised his hand as a sign of coming in peace as he walked towards the figure.

The figure seemed to be a tall slim one, and he could barely see his pointy ears as he was one of the Elven race. Their ears weren't short, indifference, they were quite pointy, but of this individual, they were mostly covered by his long white hair, who seemed to be chaotic as he never brushed them in his life.

He was wearing Arcane Robes of grey color and many pockets stitched on it. Some of the pockets had gems, some herbs, some a vial with some strange liquid, and other similar things.

When Ameanum came close, the individual turned towards him with a wand pointing at Ameanum, and he seemed he was ready to say something until he saw Ameanum's face.

"It's been a long time, old man. I see you keep not taking care of yourself."[Ameanum]

The Elf's face seemed to be relatively middle-aged-looking if you compared it if one would ignore his hair. 

That was the exact same figure Shingi created with his VISUALIZATION when he first was training on it, Varan.

Varan seemed surprised to see Ameanum and somewhat not believing what he was seeing.

"It is me, Varan. I am Ameanum. I am not sure what you have heard about what happened to me, but I am sure you can tell I am not as I used to be."[Ameanum]

He noticed that slight instance of light in the eyes of Varan, which he knew was a sign of using an appraising type of Skill like his EAGLE EYES.

"You are a Spectating Spirit? But your aura is a bit different than normal Spectating Spirits.... how could that be?"[Varan]

He seemed to trust Ameanum being who he is as he lowered his wand.

"It's been a long story, my friend, and I am going to explain everything, but first, I want to answer one question of mine."[Ameanum]

Varan spoke before Ameanum was able ta say anything more.

"If it is because of the Tower and why I am not there anymore, it is because its new 'owners' don't like people like me around their feet."[Varan]

"Are you speaking of the Dark Guild? How can they made somebody like you leave the Tower? Are they that powerful?"[Ameanum]

"They didn't use the way of force on me, but by other means, I can't discuss."[Varan]

Ameanum thought for a second as his eyes got wide as he thought of a possibility.

"Did they find her identity?"[Ameanum]

Varan nodded but didn't say anything.

Ameanum was referring to the daughter of Varan, who was the most important person in his life.

Varan was one of the NPCs that were most of the time near the Tower and asked the adventurers to bring him materials only found in the Tower.

If one increased the reputation with him, he would learn that he was gathering materials to create a cure for his sick daughter, but none ever had seen any signs of said daughter. 

Many tried to follow him when he seemed to return home, but most were killed, while the rest were left unconscious.

Even Ameanum didn't have any clues about the true identity of his daughter or her whereabouts.

Varan was quite old and one of the most powerful NPCs of the game, but the Gods limited him not to take parts of any events that would change the fate of the Realm either in a good way or a bad way.

That's why he gave Quests to others to gather materials for him and didn't do it himself, as the Tower's exploration was included as one such event that he was forbidden to take part in.

There was some rare case that he was allowed to act, and each time the place he fought was left to be unable to grow any life.

He was able to draw the mana of the environment and all its energy, leading it to make his surroundings permanent death.

Of course, he was able to fight using other types of abilities and attacks, but since the reason for him to act was for the Gods to decide to let him act, something that powerful was suiting the case.

Ameanum didn't doubt that if he wanted to kill some of the Dark Guild people, he could do without the Gods much caring about it, but if they had found out about his daughter, it made sense why he wasn't able to act.

Ameanum started explaining what happened to him and his situation of being able to move between two bodies. He told what he had learned about the Dark Guild, the Air Spire, and the Whip Masters Guild and his current situation of needed to reach as soon as possible.

"What a fascinating story. If it were someone else, I probably wouldn't believe them,. But coming from you and the current situation of your body, it's not hard to believe it."[Varan]

Ameanum was glad to hear it and glad to see that the ENCHANTER of the village was an old friend of his.

Varan was blessed to have two Professions instead of one as he was both an ALCHEMIST and an ENCHANTER.

When he succeeded in this impossible deed, he was given a choice to become a God or be under surveillance of his actions. Since becoming a God would also affect what research he could do, he decided to stay mortal, having limitations.

Of course, as he became that knowledgeable and influential and cause of his Elven blood, he could live longer than any elf would typically without starting showing signs of old age other than his hair going white.

"I can help you with getting you in Carda, but the preparations are going to take some time if I work by myself and I need some more materials. Fortunately, we can find them in some nearby areas, but it won't be that simple to take them. But I am sure you will find some solution."[Varan]

Ameanum looked towards his Elven friend as he knew the current look of his. A glimpse of hiding the actual difficulty of his request.

"You know that I know you better than that, Varan. What is it that you want?"[Ameanum]

Varan smirked towards Ameanum, which Ameanum didn't like, as it was a sign of a ridiculous request.

"Nothing big. Just a tooth of a young Earth Dragon."[Varan]

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