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Chapter 48 - Swindlers
🕑 Added 2025-02-22 15:21:50 +0000 UTCAang waited for Vivi’s response. He had claimed that his proposal was an order, and that he wouldn’t let Vivi do as she pleased. Yet, despite the forceful offer, Aang’s words weren’t threatening like Carla’s or Andre’s. Aang didn’t plan on killing Vivi even if she chose to step out right now.
His gang had runeswords, and a runesmith. The members were Eem’s friends. This group was entirely different from the other gangs. Did Vivi have any reason to turn them down?
“I will work with you,” Vivi said. She slightly lowered her head. “Please treat me well.”
Ven and Alisa grinned, while Rohan bowed, as if already believing himself to be Vivi’s inferior. The old mathematician, Henry, gave a quick nod of approval.
“Really?” Lucius asked. He’d been listening in on the conversation in silence. “You’d accept their offer?”
I think it’s a good choice, Vivi thought. These demons aren’t cruel, and they’re willing to teach me how to hunt without being caught. If we continue hunting on our own, everyone will be our enemy.
“You plan on revealing our powers?” Lucius asked.
Not yet, Vivi thought. Only if we need to.
“Happy to have you,” Aang said. “As of today, you will be treated as a member of the Phantoms. Whether you wish to stay is up to you. I can let you go after I’m certain you won’t cause trouble. The easiest way to teach you will be to take you on missions. Starting right now.”
Aang placed down his runesword, replacing it with an ordinary ensium greatsword. He transferred ether into an ether orb. A real ether container. The ruby-colored orb was see-through and smooth. It glowed bright as wisps of ether filled it up. Each orb held roughly a thousand wisps. Aang required four more orbs to get rid of his ether reserves. He fell back below three hundred.
Lastly, he wore a brown cloak and put on a black mask. Beneath the hood, his face was entirely hidden. He tossed Vivi another similar mask and a hood.
“As a new member,” Aang said, “you are not allowed to enter and exit the hidden dungeon on your own. Moving between the hub and the hidden dungeon is always a risk. Getting caught a single time could lead to the base’s discovery. Until you learn to properly sneak between the areas, you will need to be accompanied by one of us. Rohan excluded. He cannot be trusted to sneak between the areas.”
Vivi nodded.
“Second, when moving within the hidden dungeon, wear a disguise. Getting caught with a disguise is still a disaster, but a disguise is better than none.
“Third, when moving into the hub, don’t get cocky. Keep your ether reserves below three hundred. Avoid fights. None of us here are wolves. You might be tempted to skip this step for quick visits, but keeping my ether low has saved my life countless times.”
“This won’t be necessary,” Vivi said. “Etherprint scanners believe that I’m fifteen thousand ether in debt.”
Ven leaned forward. “You’re not?”
“I am in debt. However…” She hesitated before continuing. The demons already entrusted her with a lot of secrets. Vivi could let one of hers go. “I can hide my true ether reserves. I currently wield over two thousand ether.”
“Damned humans,” Alisa said. “That confirms Andre is doing the same, doesn’t it? He’s been hiding his real aura this whole time.”
“Yes,” Vivi said. “Andre uses the same trick. He and I can walk in the hub with our full ether reserves without the Stewards knowing. Please keep this a secret. If Andre gets discovered, I will as well.”
“Andre doesn’t concern us,” Aang said. “He’s strong, and he causes trouble when he can, but he hasn’t yet figured out that the hidden dungeon exists. His men are weak and uncoordinated. Only Andre himself is a problem.”
“A problem when we are without our weapons,” Rohan added. “I could defeat him in a fair fight.”
“Rohan would lose,” Lucius said. “At least if he fights like he did against us. Andre is still strong. A spirit blade defeats these old outside runeswords.”
Rohan fought us with three hundred ether, Lucius, Vivi thought. And he still almost stood a chance. He’s skilled. Just a bit stupid.
“Ven, Alisa,” Aang said. “Let’s move to today’s operation. Prepare to hit the Ember Golem. Rohan can come as well, but he’s not getting another sword. Ven, bring my blade into the boss room.”
“The usual business, then,” Ven said.
“About time,” Alisa said. “I thought we were brewing the boss for the Stewards.”
“It has been three weeks,” Aang said. “A large risk. We’ll have to take it.”
“And you?” Ven asked. “Has Lydi finished the potions?”
“She has,” Aang said. “I’m meeting her now. Vivi, put on your mask and come with me. I’ll explain the plan and show you how things work on the way there.”
Vivi did as asked. She put on the brown cloak over her raincoat. Aang climbed down the ladder, expecting her to follow.
Before leaving, Vivi glanced at Eem. The fiend sat on the arm of a sofa with an observant expression. Everyone treated her nicely. Eem wouldn’t be in trouble if Vivi left her alone.
Vivi, however, would feel safer with Eem. “Do you want to come with me?” she asked.
Eem’s face lit up. She ran over and quickly climbed on Vivi’s shoulder.
Alisa laughed. She flicked a finger at Vivi’s forehead. “Good luck, newbie. Let’s meet in the boss room.”
“Um, yes,” Vivi said. She still didn’t know what was happening, but Aang had promised to explain things. She exited the lair through the hollow column.
In the cave below, Aang was fighting three surge hounds.
His movements made Vivi pause. Aang, disguised by his cloak, wielded three hundred ether and a non-runic ensium blade. Aang was totally surrounded, yet he stood his ground. His swings hit like boulders, crushing each wolf he hit. Despite his strength, he wasn’t clumsy or slow. He dealt with three wolves at the same time, defending and then attacking, as if the monsters were nothing.
Vivi couldn’t even consider helping before Aang had already killed all three wolves. “Take their ether,” Aang said. “I’m already at 299 ether. If you have hidden reserves, you should take their ether.”
“Um, yes,” Vivi said. The hounds’ ether put Lucius at 2629. She helped Aang hide the host bones.
“Lydi is waiting for us in the apartment district,” Aang said. “The room is our primary connection between the hub and the hidden dungeon. You used the same path yesterday.”
“Eem brought me there,” Vivi said.
Aang nodded. “You didn’t cause a disaster. The guard at the doors, that’s Grenall,” Aang said. “He’s not a real guard. We replaced the real apartment keeper a little while ago.”
Vivi blinked. “Seriously? How?”
“It was quite the scheme,” Aang said. “Ven organized most of it. Grenall was originally a nimrod. We managed to get him hired into staff. These days he lives in the woods of the fourth level, pretending he has a wife and kids to take care of. He’s in charge of keeping the apartment district in order.”
“No way,” Vivi said. “He could escape!”
Aang knocked over one of the purple amalgamations, swiftly passing. He dealt with the cavern’s monsters similarly to Rohan. The faster monsters were killed, while the slower clumsy monsters were left alive. Difference was, Aang held a lot less ether. He fought monsters within the confines of a nimrod’s three hundred ether limit. And he still made hunting look easy.
“Escaping isn’t too difficult once you have enough ether,” Aang said. “I’ve been outside the walls many times.”
Vivi raised her eyebrows. “Seriously? Why are you still here, then?”
“It’s a long story,” Aang said. “I’ll tell you if you become an official member. There’s a lot we still need to do in Zand.”
Vivi’s mouth hung open for a moment. “You’re not even hunting in the hidden dungeon,” she said. “What reason is there to keep a hidden base?”
“We aren’t hunting for ether,” Aang said. “All of my members are already maxed out with ether to spare. We’re down here to hunt for skills.”
He slashed open another surge hound and said, “Zand is more than just an ether facility. That’s why there are so many strong Stewards. It all has to do with this dungeon. There are a total of five squadron bosses on top of the main boss itself. All of which have a chance of dropping skills. The fang tanker had been brewing for three weeks after the Stewards killed it. Ven and I were planning on clearing the fanglings today, but the Ember Golem will do instead.”
“The Stewards killed the boss before me?” Vivi asked, raising her eyebrows.
“The Stewards’ job is not to safekeep nimrods,” Aang said. “The job of keeping order goes to the guards. Most Stewards are not present in the facility for the majority of days with the exception of Uundref and Wheryn. The rest only show up for collection day.
“The Stewards’ real job is to clear the hidden dungeon. Every four weeks, the Stewards gather up to kill every monster, and to defeat every squadron boss, collecting skills and ether. With everything dead, they shut the doors, leaving the dungeon to brew for another four weeks. This cycle is the true reason so many Stewards are present. On top of the ether that the nimrods provide from each dead end of the dungeon, the Stewards also gain skills from the hidden dungeon.”
“Interesting…” Vivi said. It was good that she was learning this now. “If they clear the dungeon every four weeks, they’ll be back in a week?”
“A week or two, yes,” Aang said. “Bosses have a higher chance of dropping skills the longer they brew. The optimal time is roughly four weeks. Lately, however, the Stewards haven’t been receiving as many skills as they would like to. They think the bosses are starting to become too recycled. They’ve begun waiting five or six weeks between each raid.”
Vivi thought for a moment. If bosses respawned after one week, but the Stewards waited for four weeks between each raid… “You’re ruining the Stewards’ brew, aren’t you? Every two weeks, you defeat the bosses to gain skills for yourselves.”
“Exactly,” Aang said. “Bosses respawn weekly. Even at two weeks, they have a decent chance of dropping skills. This is the true reason why the Hollow Phantoms exist. We sneak in at precisely week two or three; we swoop the bosses for ourselves, and we leave the Stewards with the scraps.”
