Chapter 22 - I'm soooo tired

'Hmm... how do you think we'll get in?' Luna and Noll stared at the gigantic castle in front of them in awe. Somehow, they needed to find a way into the castle. If they entered with Jessica to begin with then all of this could have been avoided.

'Don't you think they'll just say no?'

'I guess...' Luna made her way over to the main entrance and waved to one of the guards. "Hey there, can I enter the castle? I'm a hired bodyguard of the noble Jessica Braggart." She tried giving her friendliest smile.

The guard looked at her. "Do you have a crest of identification?"

"Uhhhhh... no? But I was hired yesterday by her grandfather."

"Do you have any formal documents stating any of this?" The guard asked.

"No, I don't."

"Then I can't let you in."

"Hehe, what if I said I was the legendary DreamWalker?"

The guard laughed. "Hahahaha! You? The legendary DreamWalker? Yeah, I wouldn't count on it." Luna walked away feeling a little bit embarrassed.

'That guy pisses me off.'

'I do have one.' Luna grinned.

-

A user tapped on his friend's shoulder. "Hey, what do you think that person is doing?" He was pointing at a rooftop.

"I'm not sure, but hopefully she's not gone beyond the brink."

Outside the castle walls, Luna had made her way onto a nearby roof. The castle walls were about double the height of the surrounding homes. There were noble estates scattered around the center of the city with similar heights to the castle walls, but none of them were as close as Luna needed.

Her plan was simple, if you can't go through the walls then jump over them. Now normally this would be impossible, but Luna had something up her sleeve. Three equippable items were in her inventory just gathering dust. After the fight against the lich, they were automatically collected and entered her inventory. She checked each of them out during the carriage ride to the capital, but decided not to equip them.

[Draec's Undead Cloak

Rank - Epic

Defense - 639

Item details: A cloak surrounded by the souls of Draec's previous victims. It emanates a foul smell, it's so terrible, only the souls of the dead find it's smell delicious. Draec was skilled in alchemy and necromancy, this cloak is the only piece of clothing that could last through his insatiable desires after transforming into a lich.

*+360 intelligence

*Damage dealt by the user's undead is increased by 30%

*Damage received from the darkness attribute is decreased by 50%

*Attached skill - Bone wave

Durability - 61/167

Weight - 10]

[Bone wave - Active

Rank - Epic

Details: A wave of skeletal remains rushes forth. Deals 230% of your magic attack power. If the enemy is hit by the wave, their movement speed will be slowed by 20%

Cast time - 3 seconds

Cooldown - 1 minute, 45 seconds

Mana cost - 110 MP]

[*Prototype* Gravity Ring

Rank - Unique

Item details: A ring forged out of pure greed for power. Draec made it as a countermeasure against stronger opponents, but ultimately failed. As a prototype it is still flawed and can not be carried out with its original purpose in mind. There may be some use to the ring, but it was too taxing for Draec to use it.

*Warning! When worn, the ring will drain the wearer of their stamina at a rapid rate. If the user's stamina value reaches zero then the ring will kill the user.

*Weight value of the ring will change depending on amount of stamina the user has left

*Attached skill - Gravity domain

Requirements - Intelligence 1100, Wisdom 250, Draec's soul

Weight - 0]

[Gravity domain - Active

Rank - Unique

Details: You are no longer limited by the laws of physics. When activated, the user can partially control gravity within an area of 2 meters. Gravity can be increased and decreased, but not removed or completely under your control.

*Within the range, the user can increase gravity by up to x3.0 of it's original value.

*Within the range, the user can decrease gravity by up to x6.0 of it's original value.

*Increasing the amount of gravity will multiply the mana cost

Cooldown - None

Mana cost - 100 MP per second]

[Cursed Scepter of the night

Rank - Legendary

Magic Attack damage - 1349~1432

Item details: A Scepter crafted by Draec for his eventual lich transformation. The orb holds the souls of everyone of Draec's innocent victims. Tied in fate with the forbidden magic of necromancy, this staff gives any necromancer an unbelievable amount of karma when equipped.

*Undead summoned when this item is equipped will have their grade increased by 2

*1200 Karma points

*When summoning undead, there is a high chance of the Graveyard effect occurring

*When attacking, there is a low chance of the disease status effect occurring

*When attacking, there is a high chance of the Soul burn skill occurring

*Attached skill - Rise from the grave

Requirements - Level 150, 2000 intelligence, 680 Karma, 666 Wisdom

Durability - 506/546

Weight - 64]

[Rise from the grave - Active

Rank - legendary

Details: An undead army at the tip of your fingers. Summons numerous undead skeletons, equal to half of the user's max karma value.

*Each undead summoned will have 20% of the user's max stats added to their total

*The skill's cooldown will not reset until every undead summoned by the skill is killed or released

Cast time - 15 seconds

Cooldown - 3 hours

Mana cost - 10,000]

There were multiple reasons for Luna not equipping the new gear. Two of which were very obvious. The ring drained her stamina constantly when worn. So she decided to just equip it whenever she actually needed it. The scepter couldn't even be used by her, it was designed for a necromancer to use it. She definitely wanted to try her first legendary weapon out, but it's requirements were insane compared to what Luna already had.

She also was able to obtain a stat called karma from the weapon. When she inspected the scepter this message appeared:

[Your fingers are cursed from the souls of Draec's victims]

[You have discovered a hidden stat!]

[Karma will now appear as an additional stat]

She originally thought it was a stat that was exclusive to necromancers, kind of similar to her sanity meter. But apparently anyone who touched a cursed object could unlock the karma stat. It's just that the stat didn't do much good for players that didn't have the necromancer class.

It was more of a negative stat. The more bad deeds or NPCs you kill would increase the karma amount. The higher it was, the more common it was for bad luck to strike.

Not a stat most players would want around. Sadly Luna had already earned over 32 points in this stat. Most of which were from killing the Ushain soldiers.

Luna could decide to equip the undead cloak, but she really didn't want to. Firstly, it smelled horrible. No one, not even Luna would want to be anywhere near this thing... It was that bad. Secondly, it's defensive properties compared to her current cloak were less than half. It wasn't terrible because of the stats and skill attached, but she would rather sell it for money than use it herself.

The gravity ring was the only thing she could really think of using. With it's properties, she could decrease gravity enough for herself to maybe jump over the walls. It was all estimation from Luna's standpoint, but other than climbing the walls with one arm, there wasn't much she could do.

Luna equipped the ring and started to feel the stamina drain already. She readied herself and ran with all her might.

[Gravity domain has been activated]

The users and NPCs below watched in awe as Luna leaped off the roof. Her arm flailing through the air trying to keep her balance. It sparked laughter in a couple of people as she flew over their heads. Thankfully her visor was over her head and no one could see her face.

She was almost there at the top. It felt like inches away, but slowly in her head, she realized wouldn't make it. With her left hand, Luna drew her sword and jammed it between a crevice in the castle wall.

'I sure hope this works!'

"Stitches!"

Luna's veins flowed an oily black. She withdrew her right arm from the sling and reached upwards. It cried in pain, a cracking noise filling the viewers ears, bone against bone. But her blood was the glue that kept it all together. Using her right arm, she grabbed the top of the wall and pulled herself up. It was extremely painful for her.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!"

But a quest was a quest and there was no way she was just going to give up on her new friend. Luna climbed her way over the wall and a few people cheered. Others just went over and called the guards. Even if she put on a dramatic show for everyone, she was still intruding on the king's property.

She sprinted away realizing that multiple guards just witnessed her jump.

-

Corridor through corridor she ran, but Luna couldn't find any sign of Jessica. There were only maids and the occasional guard that was added to the already existing force of nature behind her.

There had to be over 50 of them chasing her through the castle. Her stamina was already a little drained after using the gravity ring so being chased by a hoard wasn't making her feel any less tired.

"Stop the intruder!"

"You can't outrun us!"

"Stop! You've violated the law!"

She had already activated swift, but they weren't letting up. They were way faster than any of the soldiers she had previously seen. It would make sense as they did guard the king's castle. But they were right on her tail and not feeling the least bit tired compared to her.

If it wasn't for the sylph blade increasing her movement speed for as much as it did then she would have already been caught. Her legs looked like wheels, moving so fast that they felt like jello.

Running wasn't working and she couldn't find Jessica. So Luna dove into a room and locked the door behind her. After just a couple of minutes of running, the pressure of being chased was getting to her. She pulled open her in-game window and found the menu. 'Noll, I'll be back, I just need a quick break.'

"Logout"

[The user cannot logout while in a combat state]

"Are you kidding me?!"

A loud slam came from the door as it immediately broke open. There was no escaping these guys.

'Let's hear it!'

Luna wanted to yell at Noll because his plan sounded absurd, but there wasn't enough time. The guards were already rapidly approaching Luna. 'This plan better work!'

She leaped out the window and used wind blade.

[Gravity domain has been activated]

The force of the skill combined with the lower gravity pushed her upwards. She landed on top of the castle. It was a little terrifying being this high. The guards didn't have as much freedom of movement when it came to heights like these. It gave her some time to regenerate her completely drained stamina with some well earned sleep.

It only took about 10 seconds for her to come back with a refreshed spirit. Luna somehow needed to sneak across the castle and find her way to Jessica's location.

Well..... not really, because directly below Luna was a glass ceiling. Below that was a gigantic throne room. There were a lot of nobles inside the room, but most importantly, Jessica was in there too. It was now just a matter of appearing beside her without anyone realizing she was even there.

The more she thought about it, the more impossible it seemed.

'Yeah, so what?'

'Oh.... yeah....'

"Sounds like a plan!"

"I hate your sense of humor."