Chapter 10

A few months later

In the underground hideout of Sly's tavern, two figures were engaged in a deadly dance. They rushed at each other ferociously as their daggers clashed against each other, Sly maneuvered around Jason with grace and flexibility as Jason moved nimbly dodging the attacks as they came. Sly went in for a kick to the head which Jason flipped away from while simultaneously releasing several throwing knives at him. He avoided and parried with little movements as he continued on with his assault, Jason tried his best to fend off his strikes until his legs were kicked out from under him and a dagger was placed in front of him pointing at his throat.

"Well done Jason, you have finally completed your training, although there is much I want to teach you we don't have enough time and this should be enough to prevent you from getting killed too quickly," he said

" Thank you Sylvester for everything, I might actually miss you when I'm gone", Jason said with a smile as he stood up.

*Clap* *Clap*

They both turned to the source of the clapping to see Rex standing near the doorway in armor.

"You have grown so much, now it is time for you to meet Morgana", he said

" Who's Morgana", Jason asked as he wiped off his sweat and put on a shirt.

"Morgana is the oldest member of our group and the unofficial leader of our group. She is a powerful sorceress and apostle of the Dark One. She is the only one who can give you the Dark One's blessing in other for you to gain a class." Rex explained as he led the way out of the room

As Jason followed after him, he opened his status to see how much he had grown

Character Status

Name: Jason Gender: Male

Level: 1 Class: None

Race: Human, ???? Alignment: Chaotic-Evil

Fame: 0 Infamy: 100

Health: 410/100 H-Regen: 0.35/Sec

Mana: 140/140 M-Regen: 1.45/Sec

Stamina: 660/110 S-Regen: 3.60/Sec

Strength: 20 Dexterity: 36

Vitality: 11 Endurance: 36

Intelligence: 22 Willpower: 13

Over the course of his training, he discovered that gaining stats points was more difficult than he imagined and that a single stat point difference is enough to decide who wins in a duel especially the higher you go.

Another thing was that skills were not easy to obtain and very difficult to level up especially non-class related skills. Skills level up through frequent use and the understanding one has about the particular skill and that most individuals have beginner rank skills with few having intermediate anything higher than that was rare. Over the course of his training he had managed to gain several skills and leveled some of them up, Rex and Sly theorized that his ability to gain skills and level them up quickly had something to do with his status as a champion.

Skills

Sneak

Skill level: Beginner level 5

Effect: -10% visibility (reduced effect in direct light).

Cost: 2 stamina per second

Night Vision

Skill level: Beginner level 5

Effect: 14% increased visibility in darkness or near darkness

Tracking

Skill level: Beginner level 2

Effect: 10% increased chance to pick up your targets trail

Disguise

Skill Level: Beginner level 4

Effect: 7% authenticity to your costumes and manerisms while disguised

Perception

Skill level: Beginner Level 3

Effect: 7% increased chance to notice traps and unnoticed details.

Small Blades

Skill level: Beginner Level 5

Effect: 9% increased damage and accuracy with daggers and throwing knives.

Sneak Attack

Skill level: Beginner level 2

Effect: 202% increased damage when striking an unaware opponent or weak point

Cost; 50 stamina

Dodge

Skill level: Beginner Level 3

Effect: 2% increased speed when avoiding attacks

As they reached the tavern, Rex handed Jason a cloak and some leather armor as Sly handed him two daggers with silver handles and a dozen throwing knives with accompanying sheaths and straps. As Jason wore the leather armor and equipped the weapons, he reminisced about the training he had been through over the course of the months and how much he has grown. He no longer looked like a scrawny boy but rather his body was filled with muscles that were built for flexibility and speed along with the various scars from times he missed a block or failed to dodge a thrown dagger.

He approached Rex as he was done and Rex handed him a map saying

" Memorize that, Morgana is going to be at the cottage within the cemetery, you have to find your way there whiles hiding your identity and purpose take it as a final test"

Jason handed back the map before nodding and putting up his hood and exiting the tavern and disappearing within the crowd outside as he blended in.

Meanwhile, as this was happening a crow stood on the roof watching and silently took off, following him.

Jason moved within the crowd unnoticeably as he avoided guard checkpoints. It was late in the afternoon and the city was bustling with activity. According to the map he memorized, the path to the cemetery was through the southern gate, Jason kept checking routinely if he was being watched or followed. With his Perception, he was confident in identifying any pursuers or watchers, spotting a few thieves and pickpockets but no pursuers he continued on his path. As he approached the southern gate the crowd thinned out as few people could be seen along the path. Jason moved into the shadows of the various buildings along the path to avoid detection and approached the gate. He spotted a lone guard on duty sitting in front of the gate, upon close inspection it could be seen that the guard kept bobbing his head in a vain attempt to stay awake, looking around the area and spotting no one, he carefully made his way towards him as he activated sneak and blend into the shadows. The stench of alcohol hung around the guard like a palpable cloud even from a distance.

'If the city were to be attacked right now, it would be taken without much effort', Jason thought observing the drunk man carefully.

He moved past the guard sticking to the shadows cast by the walls and buildings exiting the city through the gates. Deactivating sneak as he made it outside, he continued along the path to the graveyard.

After fifteen minutes, he caught sight of a stone wall with a sturdy wrought iron gate down the road. By now the skies had started darkening as the sun began to set. As he approached the gate, a dark form shot at him out of the dark. He jumped back reflexively, and his hand dropped to his dagger only to see a crow swoop down and land on the gate and caw at him studying him with its beady eyes.

Jason relaxed his posture as he took his hand off his dagger. He laughed a little as he whispered

" Aren't you a beauty, how's about flying off and letting me through the gates",

The crow as if understanding him seemed to nod and fly off.

'Weird', he thought and approached the gate to open it only to stop, he observed the gate again taking notice of the rust on the hinges and how faded it looked he concluded that the gate would probably make a lot of noise when opened and decided to play it safe climbed over the wall with his perception picking up easy handholds and footholds. Hopping down into the graveyard, he moved stealthily and quickly among the tombstones while staying low. He noticed the crow gliding past him and following him as he approached the center of the graveyard where according to the map Morgana would be found.

The graveyard was enormous and after a few minutes of navigating through the sun had already set when he noticed a small cottage at what seemed to be the center. He immediately made to approach it when the crow behind him cawed loudly causing him to duck immediately as he cursed. Peeking around the tombstone he hid behind to see if anyone had noticed the sound, he could hear muffled whispering ahead and noticed two three men crouched next to a gravestone closer to the cottage. He saw the crow looking at him with a gaze that seemed to exude smugness.

Jason quietly sneaked upon the men thinking about why they were there and as to why they were hiding. He noticed that they were dressed in heavy leather armor and two were armed with swords while the other had a crossbow. They began to make their way toward the cottage and Jason guessed they were there to kill whoever was in the cottage probably Morgana and as such, he needed to help Morgana by getting rid of them. The moment the thought passed through his mind a familiar numbing cold filled him as his sclera turned black. As the two with swords moved towards the cottage door he activated sneak and moved quickly upon the man with the crossbow and jammed his dagger into the side of his neck.

Blood spurted from the wound and drenched Jason's hand. The man made a strange gurgling sound as his body fell to the floor. Pulling his blade free as it tore back through the flesh on the way out. He turned quickly to see the other two register the noise, reacting quickly he threw two knives which lodged into the neck of one of the men as he dropped his sword clutching at his neck as he fell with blood bubbling up his mouth. The other had excellent reflexes as he blocked the knife with the sword and without giving Jason time to throw another blade attacked him with his sword. Jason managed to block although his hand felt a bit numb from the man's strength. The man grinned maliciously upon noticing that his opponent was probably lower level compared to him and attacked ferociously with a series of sword strikes which Jason dodged and blocked successfully before spinning and giving the man a kick to the head knocking him down.

Suddenly the ground erupted under the attacker's feet. Rotted hands sprung from beneath him and grasped at his feet and legs The hands ripped and tore at his limbs, pulling him partially into the ground as the man screamed and dropped his blade. Low chanting in a strange language could be heard from inside the cottage as an old woman appeared in the doorway, her grey hair tied in a bun and wearing plain black clothes. The man upon noticing the woman scrambled frantically and seemed to activate a skill as a white light erupted from his body burning the hands holding him down as he moved forward towards the woman with his sword in hand to attack the woman but with a gesture from the woman, black miasma erupted around her before shooting towards the man lifting him into the air and corrupting his white aura, corroding his armor as his skin rotted and fell off his bones before he fell down.

Jason looked at the scene with a stunned look on his face as a spark of greed passed through his eyes at the power displayed by the woman which promptly disappeared as the woman looked towards him with dark miasma covering her as her eyes glowed with an ominous red light and the graves around burst open as corpses crawled out. She opened he mouth as she said…