Level 1 Fallen

After determining our path forward after Pike City, the two of us traversed forward, the city itself visible in the distance. Our plan was to make a brief stop, check if there were any necessary supplies or skills that we needed before traversing the desert, and then move on. We had still not decided exactly how we wanted to use the final books that we had received from the tower dungeon, having spent a great deal of time the last few days talking it over.

Currently, our leading idea for the first one was for Diane to combine her low-ranking Sneak skill with Shadow Step or Shadow Clone. Theoretically, we might be able to create a skill that allows the user to completely merge with shadows.

As for my own skills… I didn't have any suitable low-level skills to contribute to this. Although I could potentially combine two of my stronger skills into something even better, we only had two demotion books. If I couldn't start training the skill from its basic level, then I would be losing out on a great deal of potential later on.

Granted, the Lightning Bolt skill I learned was already an intermediate skill, and should have been the evolved form of Spark Shot, had I not fused it with Create Water. I didn't know if I would still be able to get the benefits of the full training for that one now or not, but we would have to see.

As I was thinking about that, a message came to me from Wisteria, our direct superior in the League of Assassins. Drake, Diane. The two of you are near Pike's City now, right?

I blinked when I read that message, glancing over at Diane. Given her expression, she had no doubt received the same message. That's right. Is there a mission in the area?

Since joining the league, the only mission that we had thus far received was the one to kill the dragon immediately after joining. This would be the first mission that would be 'naturally' created.

A moment later, Wisteria responded affirmatively. NPCs have been going missing in Pike City, and you're our closest operatives. We strongly suspect that a player has been either kidnapping or killing NPCs, but we need you to investigate. Locate the culprit and report back for further instructions.

As soon as I finished reading the message, a quest window appeared, the reward being one thousand faction points. "Looks like our trip to Ilsan will be slightly delayed." Diane said, reading through the details provided in the quest.

"That's fine. We'll just get to it a little later." Similarly, I was reading through the window, as it provided information that Wisteria hadn't mentioned. According to the quest description, between two and three NPCs were disappearing every night. Some of them would disappear from their homes, others from the street. There was never any sign of a struggle, and one person disappeared from directly next to a friend as they were walking.

The witness, another NPC, stated that he saw a blue flicker out of the corner of his eye, but thought that it could have been the reflection of a streetlight in a window. The next thing he knew, his friend stopped responding to him, and was gone when he turned to look for him.

Reading this information, I pursed my lips, fists clenched. I couldn't fathom why anyone would abduct NPCs like this. Perhaps if they were abducting Fallen like myself, and farming them for skills and traits, I'd understand their reasoning. But NPCs? NPCs don't have levels, skills, traits, or any valuable gear. I could think of absolutely no benefit to doing this.

"How do you want to do this?" I asked, looking down at Diane next to me.

"The abductions happen at night." She pointed out with a nod. "To avoid any record of us, let's enter the city with stealth, and spend the day gathering information. Then, overnight, we will keep an eye out for suspicious activity. After we've resolved the case, we'll enter town formally and take care of our business."

After saying that, she paused. "I'm going to go offline for a little while, and see if there is anything that I can find there. It's unlikely, but someone might have posted about their activities, or another player might have reported something strange."

As soon as she had finished speaking, the brand on her forehead dimmed, and Diane's Chosen blinked, before furrowing her brow. "A blue flicker… maybe the witness saw a teleportation effect? That would be the easiest way to make someone disappear like that."

I nodded my head in agreement, having been thinking something similar. Still, I couldn't understand why they were doing this to NPCs, as there was no tangible benefit. "Let's go." I said, activating my Ghost-X and Glancing Steps-X, grabbing Diane's Chosen just as she went into stealth. Since I could see the wall of the city, I sent us straight there, and then onto another rooftop.

To avoid detection, Diane's Chosen spoke to me through the friends list. I'll look around on my own until my Player gets back. We'll cover more territory if we split up.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Although she couldn't see me, I nodded my head in agreement. Pike City was a large settlement with nearly ten thousand residents. It would be all but impossible to canvas the entire city for clues before nightfall if we stuck together.

With my various perception skills, as well as the fact that I watched Diane enter stealth, I was able to see a blurry outline of her running over and jumping off the rooftop. As for me, I sent a message to Wisteria, asking her to send the information on the locations of the more recent abductions.

Following that information, I moved to the home of an elderly couple that had disappeared two nights prior. Although the man walking down the street was the most recent abduction reported, any clues would have been trampled throughout the morning.

Thankfully, the house was unguarded, though it was deserted. Inside, the table was still set for dinner, two plates laid out. Taking a deep breath, I activated my Detective Analysis skill, and my vision took a darker tone. While keeping this skill active, I walked throughout the house, looking for anything out of place. Perhaps a player item that could be used as a beacon for the teleport, or something that might have been dropped.

However, despite searching the entire house, including the concealed basement, there was nothing related to players or chosen. Not a single item with any form of stats to identify. No signs of any hidden dungeon that could have spawned within the city, or anything of the sort.

As I was thinking about that, Diane seemed to have logged back in, and sent me a message. Nothing on the forums. Pike City isn't very popular for players, because of the higher level monsters and low resources. Only a few people wanting to play lancer-types come here, or those passing through to Ilsan. By the way, I saw something interesting being sold online, and bought one for us. I'll show you when we're done with this.

You bought something online? Did you have enough gold? I responded in concern, since I kept most of our funds on myself. I was significantly harder to kill, after all. For now, at least.

I used money from outside the game, so don't worry about it. This should help us with our travels a lot later. After sending that message, Diane went silent, returning to her search.

Once I left the house, I did the same, wandering through the streets under the effects of Ghost-X, and occasionally using my Detective Analysis in order to look for any possible clues. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be anyone in this city capable of seeing through my stealth. Or at least, if there was, I hadn't run into them.

This search continued throughout the rest of the day, with neither myself nor Diane finding anything useful. In the end, her activity limit was reached, and she was forced to log out shortly before nightfall.

Once night fell, Diane's Chosen and I were perched atop the tallest building near the center of town, the local church. "If this is the work of a player, they must be a nocturnal one." Diane muttered, shaking her head. "My player can't play at nights, so it'll be up to us if that's the case."

I gave a small nod, using my Scout skill to observe the streets below. However, as I did, I couldn't help but ask. "So, what was the thing that she mentioned buying?"

Diane, however, shrugged her shoulders. "She wouldn't tell me. She said she wanted it to be a surprise for both of us."

Now, I was even more curious. Honestly, I was thinking about that surprise just as much as our current case. Though, not so much that I was willing to stop my search, my eyes scanning the city constantly.

It took over three hours after the sun had set before we saw any activity. And what we did see, I wasn't quite sure how to explain. A faint blue, ethereal form rose up from the west side of town, looking like a translucent ball of dim energy. A moment later, a second one appeared next to it, and I immediately took a picture of both of them to send to Wisteria.

Seeing the spectral orbs descending towards the city, I activated my Detective Analysis on them, identifying them as a pair of players. The first was named BetterHelper, and the second Friday. Both of them had their races listed as Wraith, and I sent this information to Wisteria as well, while explaining it to Diane.

"There might be a third somewhere." Diane pointed out. "The number of cases per night went as high as three on some occasions."

I gave a small nod of my head, but quickly stood up. "I'll let you watch for the third. I'm going to go stop them from taking anyone tonight."

After saying that, I activated both Glancing Steps-X and Ghost-X, disappearing from the rooftop and appearing near where the ghosts were descending. I watched the two of them looking through various windows, floating along the ground. Given how hazy their forms were, they must have been under a low level stealth effect.

Soon, the two players stopped in front of a house, speaking with one another in hushed tones. Assuming that this was going to be their target for the night, I used my Martial Intent-X to create a very thin barrier over the wall of the house, weak enough to not produce a visible effect. This was the only way I could think of stopping them without engaging in direct combat.

And, given their levels in the low twenties, I had no doubt that I could defeat both of them easily. However, I didn't know where they would be respawning, which made this a situation to be handled carefully.

Sure enough, both players began to fly towards the wall of the house, only to crash into my projected barrier and stagger back. They froze in surprise, before moving to another house, which I also protected with a barrier. After hitting two impassable walls, they seemed to have been startled back to their nest, flying back towards the west of the city.

Just to be safe, I followed the pair, maintaining my stealth and preparing to create more barriers over any walls that they looked to be about to pass through. I wanted to create the illusion that the people of the town had started to develop countermeasures against them, that way they would need to be more cautious about their actions. Additionally, I was hoping that I could find some clues by following them.

However, ultimately, the duo flew into a well near the west side of town. By the time I got to the well to follow them, their figures had vanished, and Detective Analysis did not show any form of hidden passage.