*In Da Pub*

The knights looked like they were about to say something to us, loudly too, so we quickly gave them a chop to the back of their necks. I was only shown how to do this by Jack a couple of times on the ship and I can only hope I just didn’t straight up kill them. They all slumped to the table and we sat down next to them quickly. We looked around and saw that nobody noticed what happened or that they just really didn’t care about it.

I looked at Jack, “Know what?” He was quiet for a second, “I honestly didn’t think about it.” It took everything I had not to slam my head into the table. I stared at him, “Seriously man?” He smile, “Yeah, was just kind of going with the flow.” I shook my head and tried not to strangle the man. Qendaess spoke in my head at this moment, “I think I can help master.” I raised an eyebrow and looked her way. She was sitting at the table smiling at me.

I grinned, “What you got in mind?” She grinned, “Do you trust me?” I thought about it for a second, “Normally I wouldn’t because we just met, but do to the brand I think I can trust you.” She frowned quickly, but it went away. She then smiled, “I understand that. Watch this.” She stood up from the table and planted her feet on the wooden floor. She closed her eyes and a few seconds later I could actually feel a vibration through my feet. There was a notification that popped up.

Due to your class and witnessing a spell being used you may learn the spell [Seismic Shift].

Would you like to learn the spell?

Yes

No

I selected no for now and figured I may go back to it later. The vibration in my legs started to get worse and other people in the bar were starting to notice it. A few seconds later the entire building started to shake. One of the patrons yelled, “Earthquake!” After that a lot of people started to leave the building while some crawled under the tables. Qendaess stopped channeling her spell and then looked at me with a smile. The building was still shaking and I turned towards Jack, “We should take the knights and go now.”

He nodded his head and grabbed the two nights next to him while I grabbed the other two and then we followed Qendaess out the back of the pub. When we made it out side I actually noticed that the entire capital was actually shaking. I widened my eyes and looked at Qendaess who was grinning from ear to ear at me. I shook my head and followed Jack who was heading down an alley.

We made a turn down another alley and after a few more yards we came to a stop. Jack threw his captives against the wall and I tossed mine beside his. The town was still shaking and there was screaming everywhere. I looked at Qendaess, “How long is this going to last and how powerful did you make this?” She shrugged her shoulders, “The effects after using the spell are random as far as time length. The more I channel magic into the spell the longer it will last, but the time is a little random.”

I furrowed my brows, “That doesn’t really give me an answer.” She thought about it for a minute before answering, “At the strength I made the quake, which is enough to level thatch buildings; the length of time it could last is between thirty minutes to an hour. If I was to make it stronger then the time would also increase.” I shook my head, “Little bit of an overpowered and annoying spell if you ask me. You mean to tell me that if you were to make it strong enough to level the capital then it would continue for a long time?”

She nodded her head, “Yeah, if I made it powerful enough it would level the capital in about five minutes, but the quake would last for a day or two.” I shook my head, “That is pretty damn annoying if you ask me. It also makes any rescue attempts almost impossible.” She smiled, “Not necessarily. Any experienced Earth Mage or Geo-Mage could cancel out the quake pretty easily.”

I was confused at the difference in classes now, “What is the difference between an Earth Mage and a Geo-Mage?” She quickly answered, “An Earth Mage is a mage that can manipulate the planets crust and tectonic plates, but not the planets gravity. A Geo-Mage can manipulate the planets gravity, but not the planet itself.” I nodded my head, “So an Earth Mage can cancel out the spell by manipulating the planet itself, but the Geo-Mage can cancel out the spell by increasing the gravity on the tectonic plates and stopping them from moving.”

She nodded her head, “Precisely.” I then spoke my other confusion, “You mean to tell me that there wasn’t a single Earth Mage or Geo-Mage in this city?” She thought about it for a second, but then she pointed at one of the nights, “From what I could tell the only person that smelt like Earth was that night.” An Earth Mage dressed up like a knight, seriously? I face palmed, “You mean that we happened to be lucky enough to knock out the only Earth Mage in the entire city?”

She nodded with a smile, “Yup!” I literally banged my head against the wall a couple of times. Jack was laughing his ass off and Qendaess was confused as hell, “Why are you doing that master?” I stopped and then glared at her, “Okay First…” I pointed at Jack, “…this joker over here decided to knock out a pair of knights with no plan at all after that. Second…” I pointed at her, “…you decided to use an earth related spell that could easily be canceled by an Earth Mage without even seeing if there was any around.”

She looked down and then played with the dirt with her shoe, “I’m sorry master.” I felt back and then took a breath. I sighed and put a hand on her head, “It’s okay I was mainly frustrated with the joker standing behind me.” Jack was still laughing and after he stopped he spoke up, “I’m the joker? You’re honestly more of a joker when it comes to our group’s point of view.” I turned to him, “How is that?”

He smiled, “I read about what happened back on our home planet. You were about to kill an ambassador to another planet in an instant. Your attitude makes you more of a joker in our eyes sometimes. There was also the time that you beat the King of Diamonds into the ground. If it wasn’t for your random sarcastic attitude you wouldn’t have been put in that situation in the first place. It’s okay though, Jacks often get mistaken for Jokers, they see the letter J on the corner of the card and a lot of people just assume. Same happens in our group as well.”

He has a point. If I would have kept my mouth shut Yogi the Bear would have just kept on walking and I wouldn’t have ended up hurt. As for the whole ambassador situation I was honestly just pissed off at the whole situation and wasn’t really thinking. If it wasn’t for The Dealer sticking her neck out for me and using her authority, that she has on the planet, to cover then I might have been killed. I know I would have just come back, but I really don’t want to know how much death may hurt.

I sighed and then calmed down a little. We sat there in silence and about thirty-five minutes later the earthquake actually stopped. The screaming stopped twenty-five minutes ago and we had just been listening to the rumble of the earth since then. I was about to say something when one of the knights actually groaned. I looked over and say it was actually one of the ones that I knocked out.

I was relieved that he wasn’t dead, but I was disappointed that he didn’t stay knocked out as long as Jack’s did. I crouched down and looked the knight straight in the eyes, well his eyelids since they were still closed. He opened his eyes a few seconds later and then tried to jump back in fright. I grinned, “Well hello sleeping beauty. Have some nice dreams?” He looked left to right and noticed that his comrades were still out cold.

He swallowed some saliva and stared at me, “Who are you and what do you want?” I sneered, “We want to have a little fun with you dear.” I licked my lips and then gave the guy a quick up down with my eyes. Jack was laughing his ass off while Qendaess looked a little dejected for some reason. The knight’s face turned white and he moved his hands to his rump, “I… I… don’t float that way mate.”

I shrugged my shoulders, “That doesn’t matter to me. I’m gonna have my fun either way.” He yelped a little and Jack grabbed my shoulders, “That’s enough queenie. We need to ask him some questions first. You can have your fun later.” I frowned, “You’re just jealous that I haven’t given you any attention lately.” Jack smiled, “Who says I need any attention from you?” I walked over towards him and then placed my fingers on his chest, “You were begging for it just the other day though sweetie.”

Jack looked at me and grinned, “I think we went a little too far with our joke.” I raised an eyebrow, “Why is that?” He pointed towards the knight. I looked over and saw that he had fainted again and was slumped back against the wall. I cursed a little, “Dammit. I have always wanted to play that joke on someone one day and when I do they go and pass out.”

Jack laughed, “If it means anything to you he didn’t pass out until you put your fingers on my chest.” I sighed, “I guess that has to work for now. Maybe it will work out better next time.” Qendaess finally couldn’t keep quiet, “So you guys were joking?” I looked at her and laughed, “Yes we were joking. I wouldn’t have anyone’s dick anywhere near me.” Jack nodded, “Ditto.” She sighed and then let out a small voice, “That’s a relief.” I strained to hear, “What was that?” She waved her hands in front of her, “Nothing!” I smiled and shook my head.

A few minutes later another knight was waking up. This time it was one of Jack’s captives. I smiled, “That’s one for me and one for you.” Jack smiled, “When did we start having a competition?” I laughed, “When we stepped off the ship at the station.” He shook his head, “If that is the case you are going to lose this competition.” I grinned, “We will see.”

Jack squatted down and looked at the knight that was waking up. The knight opened his eyes and then flinched at the sight of Jack. Jack’s face was still hidden behind his mask and he was grinning at the knight, “Tell us what you know and we won’t hurt you.” The knight glared at him, “What if I don’t?” I grinned, “Then you get to have some fun time with me sweetie.” The night flinched a little and scooted away from me.

He glared at Jack, “What do you want?” Jack grinned, “We want to know who else was involved in the kidnapping of the girl the other day.” The knight didn’t say anything and kept quiet. Jack looked at me. I grinned and started to undo my belt. The knight flinched and started to speak, “It was just my unit.” I frowned like I was sad and put my belt back in order.

Jack nodded, “How many are in your unit?” The knight pointed at the other three, “There are us and one more.” So a five man unit then? They must have an assassin in their group or another stealth based class. I instantly thought about something and then activated [Detect Presence]. I felt that there was someone down the alley staring at us from around a corner. I grinned, “Found you.” Jack looked at me, but I used [Swift Strike].

I put all of my strength into my legs and in an instant I was behind the person. I quickly gave them a chop to the back of the neck and then activated [Swift Strike] again. I appeared next to Jack and threw the person next to the knights. I looked at the one that was awake, “Is this the other one?” The knight’s face was white, but he nodded at me. I looked at Jack and I could see that there was a little surprise on his face. I didn’t know why it was there though. I figured that as an assassin he should know the same skill.

Jack spoke to me, “Your faster than the report said.” I laughed, “I raised my strength since then.” So that is why he was surprised. Jack nodded his head and looked back at the knight, “So, why did the king want the girl for?” The knight was quiet for a minute and flicked his eyes at me. I licked my lips and he shivered. He looked back at Jack, “He wanted her to be his concubine, but she didn’t want to. She said something about having someone she liked back in the village. The king got mad because she rejected him and ordered us to kill the guy in the village and then to kidnap her.”

We interrogated the knights for a little bit longer, but they didn’t have anything different to say that the other knight. I looked at jack after we were done, “So what do we do with them now?” He smiled, “This.” After he was done speaking his arm flickered and five throwing knives were embedded in the head of the knights. I was shocked at the fact that there was no notification which meant that it was pure skill and arm speed. It was something that he has learned over his years of being an assassin. I was a little disappointed that the system didn’t automatically turn his skill into an actual skill, but I quickly got over it.

I raised an eyebrow, “Now what?” He thought about it for a minute then he grinned from ear to ear, “We sneak into the castle tonight and do a kingnap.” I shook my head, “Kingnap? Really?” He shrugged his shoulders, “I thought it was funny.” I shook my head and walked towards the exit of the alley with Qendaess and Jack in tow.

I stopped at the exit to the alley and peeked out. I looked left and right and didn’t see anybody. I used [Detect Presence] and felt that there were a few people at a couple of stalls down the street, but they were looking the other way. I deactivated the skill and stepped out of the alley. The other two followed me shortly after and we headed towards the main square again. I slowed down and walked beside Jack.

I spoke to him in a low voice, “Are we not worried about anyone finding the body?” He shook his head, “Not really. The technology on this planet isn’t really advanced enough to find out who actually killed them.” I nodded my head, “But what about your knives?” He smiled and fished out five knives from his cloak, “You mean these?” I was a little surprised, “I saw you leave them in the alley though.”

He quietly laughed, “They are enchanted knives. When I throw them they always come back to my inventory after a few minutes.” I was impressed and thought that it would be cool to have some knives like that. I nodded my head, “That answers that question then, but what about finding out who killed them magically?” He shrugged his shoulders, “Honestly finding a mage that can use a spell such as that is extremely rare and very expensive. I doubt the country would waste the money it would cost for one over a few knights.”

I guess that made sense, “Okay then.” He smile at me and clapped his hand on my shoulder, “Don’t worry about it too much. I have been doing this for a very long time, remember?” I smiled and nodded my head. Jack wouldn’t make any rookie mistakes I don’t think so I might as well relax.

We made our way to an inn and reserved some rooms, even though we were going to sneak into the castle at night we needed somewhere to stay for the rest of the day. We tried to get three rooms, but Qendaess was insistent on staying in the same room as me. I caved and finally rented a room with two queen size beds in it.

Jack’s room was right next to ours and when he opened his door to walk in he hollered back at us, “Try not to tire yourself out too much now. We do have a mission tonight.” He laughed and shut the door before I could say anything to him. Qendaess was as red as a tomato when I looked back at her. I shook my head and then walked into the room.

It was quiet a cozy looking room if you ask me. The walls were made of wood and there was stone trim running along the floor and ceiling. The window was outlined in stone and opened to the outside. I walked over to the window and opened it up. I got a very good view of the castle from where I was standing, well at least the upper stories of the castle.

I squinted my eyes and tried to look at the top of the castle walls. I stared at them for probably a few minutes before my eyesight changed. I stopped squinting my eyes and I could see the sentries on top of the walls like they were standing a few feet in front of me. I could even see their lips moving as they talked to each other. There was a notification in my field of view as well.

Congratulations! You can learn the skill [Far Sight]!

Would you like to learn the skill?

Yes

No

I quickly selected yes.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill [Far Sight]!

Far Sight: Allows the user to see things at a distance like they were close; sight is adjustable. Limitations – Can only see up to the point of the planets curvature (unless obstructed by objects).

I was delighted for the new skill that popped up, because it was something that I was actually trying to learn. I pulled my sight back a little and examined the troops that were walking across the walls of the castle. I was surprised to see how extremely lax they were acting. There were even some soldiers that were playing cards at a table. I returned my vision to normal and shook my head while closing the window.

I went over the information that the knights gave us from earlier in my head. The squad of knights was the only one that was involved in the kidnapping of the girl, or so they say. I don’t know whether what they are saying is the truth or not, but it is all we really got right now. I sighed and then grabbed my hair and groaned.

Qendaess sat down on the be beside me, “What’s wrong master?” I looked over towards her, “We don’t have enough information to decide whether or not the entire palace needs to crumble or the king just needs to die and it is frustrating me.” She smiled and rubbed my head, “Don’t let it get to you master. I can go search these things out for you if you would like.” I raised an eyebrow, “You could?”

She nodded her head, “Yup!” I inquired some more from her, “How can you do that?” She stood up and walked over towards the stone trim on the floor. She looked at me and smiled, “Watch this master.” She touched her foot to the stone and then her body was literally sucked into the stone. There was a notification on my screen.

You have witness the skill [Become one with the Earth]. This skill is only learnable by those that are blessed by the earth.

I raised an eyebrow at the fact that the skill wasn’t learnable, but I was trying not to laugh at the name of the skill. I don’t know who was naming these things, but that was all they could come up with? Really? It sounded like something some martial arts master would say back in the day. The name was pretty straight forward though, because it looked like she did fuse with the rock. I couldn’t see her at all and my [Detect Presence] was actually barely able to pick her up.

She was moving around the rock trimming in the room and then she popped up on the other side of the room. She was only half out and half in the rock though so it was kind of weird looking. I tried not to laugh as I spoke to her, “So you would be able to sneak into the castle and spy with this skill wouldn’t you?” She nodded, “Exactly master. The castle is probably made up of almost all stone, minus a few pieces of trim here and there.”

I nodded my head, “This is great. Would you mind doing exactly that please?” She nodded her head and smiled, “Of course.” After that she disappeared back into the trim and her presence headed towards the castle. I sighed, I wonder what happened to the spunky attitude she had when we first met. I kind of liked it to be honest. I shook my head and put the thought to the back of my mind.

I left the room and walked over to Jack’s. I knocked on the door and he answered a few seconds later. I smiled, “Can I come in?” He laughed and opened the door for me. I sat down on one of the chairs that were next to a table. Jack sat on the edge of the bed and leaned forward with his arms on his legs. He looked towards the door and back towards me, “Minute man are we?” I scoffed at him, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, we didn’t even do anything.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Was your act earlier for real then queenie?” I gritted my teeth and flicked the mug on the table at him, “Of course not!” He was laughing as he brushed the mug away, “You mean your straight and you didn’t do anything with the hot dragoness? I thought humans were all horny dogs.” I scoffed, “Not all of us have no self-control. I never said I didn’t want to do something with her, but now isn’t really the time.”

He smiled, “I guess you have a point there. I really didn’t want to hear any of that racket anyways.” I snorted, but I didn’t say anything to him. He smiled, “So where did the dragoness go anyways?” I hooked my thumb towards the window behind me, “She is spying on the castle, trying to see if there is anything in there to make destroying the whole castle worth it.”

He raised an eyebrow, “You still want to do that?” I shrugged, “Only if there is a need to do it.” He nodded his head, “So you sent the dragoness to spy on the people in the castle to see if the entire place was like the king.” I nodded, “Yeah, if she finds any evidence then we will go ahead and burn the bitch down.” All of a sudden there was a loud roar and the ground started to shake. Jack and I looked out the window and saw that there was dust, smoke, and rocks flying everywhere from the castle. I could see Qendaess’ tail and wings flail about here and there, she was also breathing fire in all directions. I laughed and then grinned, “I guess she found something.”