Checking messages, and getting into the city

-Day 1 of AC, 1.04.1052-

=First piece of advice: Everybody lies.=

The message was written in simple words.

Yet, it appeared... strange and convoluted.

Travis stared at the piece of paper in his hand, nearly no reaction from him for a few very long moments. The black letters laughed at him in silence, careful handwriting emphasizing their eloquence.

Suddenly hearing Leaf mumble something in her sleep, he shook out of his state. Turning toward her, he noticed that she didn’t wake up, only shifting in her position a little. Her massive breasts appeared slightly more pronounced as they pushed to the side, partially escaping the blanket she lay under and stretching her tunic.

He sighed with relief before crumbling the piece of paper and throwing it to his side. Before, he felt uplifted at receiving a gift like this, but… not so much anymore.

“…if you really wanted to laugh at me, Redion, don’t disguise it as a favor,” he said quietly.

This was… definitely not a situation that was playing in his favor. Redion was allowed to give Travis an item, so… why would he give him something this useless?! Couldn’t he have given him something else? A weapon, armor, ANYTHING?!

Travis breathed a heavy sigh. Maybe it was because this situation happened in the middle of the night, but the man didn’t feel like ranting this much. It was no doubt not amazing, but...

‘Maybe there really is a reason behind this.’ he thought after a minute or so. ‘Surely, there must be limits to what he can give me.’

It made sense. Without such restraints in place, any Apostle could grow unreasonably strong overnight. There was no way God of Truth would allow such a thing.

*Ting!*

[Your Daily Quest has arrived!]

*Ting!*

[A new message is added to the message log.]

*Ting!*

[You have received a new message!]

Without much thought, he dismissed the first message, but…

‘…?’ Travis raised an eyebrow as he eyed the two remaining notifications. ‘…log? Does this mean something like a tree?’ he made a perplexed expression before shaking his head a little with a slight chuckle. No, it probably wasn’t the case. Redion had already talked before with words that Travis didn’t understand. This ‘log’ RALS was talking about was probably not what the man thought initially. ‘Then… open message log.’ he sent a command to the System and discovered another panel opening.

It contained some lines of words, neatly separated. Two of them were at the very bottom and blinking in a slow rhythm, bringing his attention.

[01. The first piece of advice: Everybody lies. (New!)]

[Do not feel discouraged. (New!)]

‘…is it like quests?’ he wondered for a moment. When he brought his memory into the equation, this panel did appear quite similar. The messages even got the shiny '(New!)' prompt next to them. It was like he was supposed to enter them. Travis directed his thoughts toward the lower message, and even before he commanded the System, it opened itself.

[Do not feel discouraged.

There are many things about RALS you still don’t know. Don’t hastily come to a conclusion before you even have all the information.

An item may be useless at the moment you receive it, but later it can become more than useful. Do not ever forget that.]

'Why do I feel like Redion is angry at me with this?’ Travis thought, feeling a slight shiver travel down his spine. He looked around, but other than Leaf writhing around in her sleep and a breeze traveling between trees there was no sound. Still, he couldn’t help but feel some kind of a gaze on his back as he did his best to ignore it, instead opening the other new message.

1. The first piece of advice: Everybody lies.

[Lies are a wonderful thing, aren’t they? Don’t like something? Twist the truth to make it seem insignificant. Don’t want to get caught? Just say ‘I was never here.’. It’s a thing even a kid knows and does. There’s no point denying it. We all lie. Humans, canines, orcs, trolls, undines, dragons, gods. Believe it or not, even the God of Truth twists the truth sometimes or just ignores pieces of information. It’s an inherent trait of all living things.

But why? Why do we all lie? Well, that strongly depends on the individual. Some lie for fun, some to gain something, and others to get rid of another person or avoid conflict, there are as many reasons as there are mouths to lie. But there is one thing everyone has in common: We all will lie to survive. Nobody is truly immune to this. No dragon, no god, and certainly no mortal. Those who think they are unbendable either are fanatics who lost their common sense or haven’t been pushed hard enough.

There are many things to notice when somebody lies. Their palms sweat, eyes race around, they start blinking faster, breathing becomes slightly irregular, their heartbeat changes and blood pressure rises.

Just keep this in mind at all times. We all lie, have lied, and will lie, as long as the world exists.]

Travis looked at the final words of the message. It was… somewhat informative, in all honesty. Or maybe he was just tired? ‘…I really need to sleep.’ he shook his head a little, yawning as he slowly got closer to where he had been sleeping earlier. As he dismissed the message log, he looked over at Leaf.

The elf woman had just finished an adjustment of her position, her mouth closed. Snugged in her blanket, she was turned with her back toward him, head under her backpack and calves curled up to her thighs. Her hair flowed onto the ground, hiding her ears and partially covering her exposed cheek.

Travis smirked a little before lying down himself. Within a few short minutes, he was also sleeping.

-In the morning, around 8-

“So, uh, what’s your plan?” Leaf asked as the two of them were sitting around the traces of their campfire.

“I’m pretty sure Goldhilt’s mansion is nothing outstanding. Autir is a small city, after all."

“What about getting into the city itself? I don’t really worry about myself, since I do have an MID, but what will you do?” the elf woman tilted her head slightly, fixing her bun.

Travis looked somewhere to his side. “…I may have a plan on getting in.”

“You ‘may’ have a plan? What is it?”

“I’m still thinking about it. I’ll let you know once I’m done with it, alright?”

“…alright,” she replied, albeit there was a glint of dissatisfaction in her tone.

“I’ll go and train for now. Be back in half an hour,” and then, he got up quickly and left into the forest, not waiting for Leaf's answer.

-15 minutes later-

‘Is it Redion’s influence?’ Travis pondered, quickly finishing the last of push-ups. ‘Or am I really lagging behind?’ he grimaced slightly, looking over his Daily Quest.

[Daily quest: To become strong.

Do any 3 of the following:

265 burpees (115/265)

131 push-ups (131/131)

11 km run (2.613/11)

116 pull-ups (0/116)

Optional: ‘Plank’ exercise for 14: 22 (03:23/14:22)

Time remaining: 14:26:40

Rewards: 4 stat points, 1 skill point

Full completion bonus: 3 stat points

Optional reward: Runestone of phase-shift

Failure penalty: Penalty Quest. Penalty severity: high]

The moment he opened the DQ today, he immediately noticed one thing: The layout has changed. The change wasn’t significant, but it was definitely noticeable.

‘It’s more readable.’ Travis came to the conclusion after some time, having finished his second exercise. ‘It wasn’t bad before, but it’s definitely better now. If this is what ‘update’ means, I’m all in for it.’ he smirked a little. ‘Although the difficulty has increased, it won’t change much for me.’

Still, he couldn’t pretend that he didn’t notice the quest’s rewards for this day. A skill point on top of stat points was good to receive. However, he reminded himself of what he'd read nearly 2 weeks before.

‘Receiving a skill point through DQ means I’m lagging behind others. What I’m doing is not enough. I will need to quickly find a place to gain levels in.’ he sighed lightly. ‘Though, this may just play in our favor. With this, I can get a new skill… Should I take a look at what I can learn, then? RALS, open skill tree.’

Without wasting time, Travis focused on what skills were available. Some of them, like <Possessor of Knowledge> and both types of <Detections> were rejected instantly. On the other hand, <Sleight of Hand> looked very promising.

[Sleight of hand lvl.1

Dazzle your opponent with a held item, causing short-term confusion.

Duration: up to 6 seconds.

Cost: 60 MP]

It was a simple skill, but its effects were not to be underestimated. 6 seconds was a lot of time for most scenarios. A few <Suggestions> could easily be used. But this skill did have one anti-synergy he noticed.

'If the target is confused, they won't be able to focus. <Hypnosis> will become useless if I try to use it.'

That was the reason he dismissed the skill.

‘Picking skills for my current needs has worked so far, but I'll have to start looking ahead. Let’s have a look at what <Hypnosis> unlocked.’

[Implant Trigger lvl.1

Cast psionic magic on the target and encode a specific order. The order can be placed either verbally or mentally. The complexity of the order a target can accept depends on their mental capabilities. Whether the target accepts the order depends on how conflicting the order is.

*Casting the same trigger more than once will reinforce it, making it more difficult to remove. However, reinforcement makes the trigger easier to detect.

*Targets of higher levels than you are resistant.

*Targets of higher WP than you are resistant.

Cost: 50 MP, 10 WP]

‘…maybe it’s not too useful.’ he mused. ‘As it happened with Leaf, I can implant triggers with <Hypnosis>. This is more WP-efficient and might have better wiggle room, but I don't need it now.’

[Mind Prickle lvl.1

**** psionic energy into the target’s mind, causing mental damage.

Deals 8-12 + 10% of your magic power of damage to the target’s WP. Damage is increased by 20% for every mental condition a target has. If the target’s WP is 0, this skill does nothing.

Cost: 15 WP]

‘Hmm… it’s not a bad skill, to be honest.’ he nodded to himself whilst finishing the third exercise. ‘It's a spell to make <Hypnosis> easier to use. It doesn’t seem very efficient in terms of WP, but that's a fair price for the level of involvement <Hypnosis> requires.’

And lastly, 2 new skills got unlocked near <Mana Bolt>.

[Psi Bolt lvl. 1

Create and form a bolt of psionic energy.

Deals 4-7 + 20% of your magic power of damage. Damage is increased by 25% if the target has any mental conditions.

Cost: 8 WP]

‘…It’s connected to <Hypnosis>. An attack skill using Willpower... interesting.’ Travis smirked lightly. 'The problem is, WP takes time to recover. This looks far better.’ he looked at the other skill, unlocked after getting <Mana Bolt>.

[Mana Body lvl.1

Charge mana into your body, decreasing all damage taken by 20%. However, any damage dealt to you will also drain your mana.

*Mana draining equals 150% of damage received before damage reduction is applied.

*Damage reduction from this skill is calculated before any other effects of a similar nature.

Cost: 35 MP/minute

Duration: Until MP is used up or skill is canceled]

‘This is definitely a very useful skill. 20% is a decent decrease since every little thing can add up to the difference between life and ****. The problem is, it won’t help me get into Autir, so for the time being, it will have to go in line.’

-10 minutes later-

[You have completed the Daily Quest ‘To become strong’.]

[You have completed all 4 objectives and the optional condition.]

[You received 7 stat points, 1 skill point, and 1 ‘Runestone of phase-shift’.]

‘…this also changed. More packed and cleaner.’ Travis nodded to himself as he started walking back to where he left Leaf. ‘Kind of makes me wonder what else is different… Status.’

‘Hmm… this is definitely more compact as well. The order of stats also changed. Grouping them in 2 columns is very nice. I actually really like the changes, even though it’ll take a moment to get used to it.’

Without much thinking, he spent 3 points on Intelligence and 4 on Wisdom. Travis couldn’t explain why, but he really liked his stats being multiples of 5 or 10. It brought him a sense of… order. ‘And now, time for you.’ he thought, looking at the stone that appeared in his hand. It looked identical to the Runestone of Smoke he’d received a few days earlier but it had a different inscription on its top, reminiscent of a large arrow with a small circle in its head.

[Runestone of phase-shift

Rating: Normal

Durability: 3/3

When powered, it will emit a small sphere of reality-altering mana. For 10 seconds, you will gain the ability to phase through any material obstacle. The magic surrounding the stone will prevent you from sinking into the floor.

*You are still visible when under the effects of the stone and can still be hit with magic attacks.

*If you are about to re-materialize inside a wall, you will be forcibly thrown to the nearest empty space.

*Cannot be repaired.

Cost per use: 150 MP, 300 WP

‘No-clipping at its finest.’]

‘…this is my way in.’ he thought. ‘But there is a problem. I don’t have enough Willpower to use it twice. It’s a one-way trip with this thing… I need to think of something to secure a way out…’

-15 minutes later, on the way to Autir’s southern gate-

“Did you scout the city?” he asked, looking at his elf companion.

“Yeah,” Leaf nodded. “Security near gates doesn’t seem heightened much, but they are definitely checking MIDs of everyone that comes by, be it in or out. By the eastern and northern walls, there are also some monks, 2 per gate. They will probably spread to other entrances, but it’ll take some time.”

“Hmm… they are checking people’s mana,” ‘I wasn’t expecting this to happen. Not so soon, at least. Seems like sieving through authorities finished quicker than I expected.’

“Seems that way. If we hurry, we’ll be able to enter without getting checked.”

“Will that be alright for you?”

“I’ve been through similar situations before. And just in case anything happens, this time, I’m prepared,” she said, frowning slightly as she reached under her backpack and pulled out a knife. With a bit of skill, she spun it in her hand before hiding it.

“…”

“What?” she asked, noticing his startled expression. “Preparedness comes in many forms.”

“But, uh, do you really intend on using it?”

“So long they don’t do anything suspicious, I won’t need to. But the moment they overstep their boundaries, they’d better hope I stop at a finger or two,” Leaf said. Travis could notice how there was some steel resolve emanating from her sapphire eyes.

‘…I didn’t expect to see such a side of her. It seems that Icla had caused her to be on her guard more.’ Travis thought, looking ahead slowly. They were no more than 200 meters from the city’s walls and approaching fast.

“So, what about that ‘way in’ you spoke about earlier?” Leaf asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m prepared. We’ll split before the gate and meet inside the city. Will that be alright?”

“But what IS your way in?”

“This little thing,” he answered, showing her the runestone he’d received. “It’s a runestone. It’ll help me bypass the wall.”

“Oh… what’s a runestone? Is it an enchanted stone, or a special mineral, or something else?”

“…I don’t know,” he shrugged momentarily. ‘I expected her to know at least something… are runestones rarer than I thought?’ he grimaced inwardly but didn’t let it out.

“Where did you get it from?”

“Hmm…” Travis put a hand on his chin for a moment. ‘If I just tell her, I’ll fail the quest… won’t I? But without giving her a hint, I can’t win the quest… hmm, let’s try something ambiguous.’ “I can’t remember. I think I just have someone watching over me,” he smirked lightly, forming an innocent expression.

Leaf frowned slightly but didn't inquire about his answer. Instead, she asked, “…so, how does it work?”

“Want to see it in action?”

“Well, yeah. It feels like it might be worth watching.”

-5 minutes later-

Travis looked up at the wall. It was tall, but its slender build and wide walkway on top made it difficult for anyone to notice him and Leaf unless they bent over the walls and looked down.

“So, care to explain? How will you scale the wall with this little thing? Unnoticed, at it?”

“That’s the thing. I won’t scale it,” Travis smirked slightly.

“???” Leaf formed a perplexed expression.

“Listen, whatever happens, within the next 10 seconds we’ll know if I can get inside. If I don’t come back within that time, it’ll mean I’m in. Alright?”

“…fine,” She answered slowly, forming a little suspicious expression.

“Alright, here goes.”

He held the stone tightly and thought of a command.

‘Activate.’

It was instinctual to him to call out toward the runestone in his hand.

A strange sensation spread throughout his body quickly. In a way, it felt similar to when he used the single-use stealth skill days ago. Some kind of tepid, but strangely pleasant, feeling enveloped his body as the stone vibrated lightly. Surprisingly, he felt his entire body vibrate in unison, and within a second the entire world seemed to get… fuzzy.

[‘Runestone of phase-shift’ has been activated.

For 10 seconds, you can phase through material obstacles.]

[10]

[9]

Travis didn’t wait. Without thinking, he stuck a hand into the wall and felt his heart skip a beat as it sunk right to his elbow, no resistance on the way. He turned to Leaf with a tiny smirk.

“See you on the other side.”

“??!” he noticed her completely shocked expression disappear into the darkness as he went into the wall.

[7]

Travis felt nothing. He saw nothing. It was a bizarre feeling. He couldn’t hear a thing. Travis tried to breathe momentarily but also wasn't able to. His heart shook with a glint of fear, but he did his best to not quiver. Instead, he quickly walked forward.

The surface under his feet was perfectly level, a nice contrast to what he’d been experiencing these past days. In a way, he didn’t want to forget this feeling.

[4]

He noticed the timer in the corner of his vision, ticking down. He could swear that every time the number decreased, he felt some mana around him swirl, preparing to throw him away. Was he that far away from the other side?

[2]

It was difficult to say how wide the wall was. Travis felt like he should’ve already made it through. Even if the wall were to be 10 meters wide, how long could getting through that take? He wasn’t entirely sure.

Suddenly, some light entered his eyes. The flat surface under his boots shifted into the semi-refined cobble of Autir’s roads. Not expecting the change, Travis tripped, falling flat to the ground.

[0]

[Duration of ‘Runestone of phase-shift’ ended. The durability of ‘Runestone of phase-shift’ reduced by 1.]

‘That was… something.’ he thought, lying on his back for a long moment. Looking around, he noticed that there was not a single soul in sight. A few buildings stood next to him, looking like small houses, roads going in between them and under the wall. ‘It wasn’t that bad, honestly. Kind of a weird feeling and a little scary, but overall, the fuzziness was nice.

Sitting up quickly, he confirmed that his backpack was next to him, seemingly falling off his shoulders when he tripped. ‘Hmm… I thought I had the straps on…?’ he grimaced as he got up, grabbing the pack and putting it back where it was. ‘Perhaps it’s something with how the runestone works.’

Having gotten up, Travis looked around one more time. ‘Now that we’re in, we need to find the Goldhilt mansion.’