Chapter 11
Border Checkpoint
maybe, just maybe, we can get the group to help us deal with the clan in exchange for certain favors. That will be all, Soldier!”-Deokk.
Maybe I can fly over the wall, but I definitely cannot carry all of you with me. In theory, I, or rather, my friend, can absorb all the sentries'' attacks, mundane or magical, but not only do I have a limiting range of a 3 meter radius around me, far too small for all of us, but if those guys realize it doesn''t help to deal with living beings, they could take us out with a swarm of common rats, never mind magical constructs like golems. No telling if The System will consider them ''alive'' for our purposes. We can''t use the avalanche trick again because not only is the wall too far from the base of the mountain, but there''s a river in the way! An avalanche would have to be truly cataclysmic to overcome all that. And as for going around in some way? No time!”-Allura
“Hang on. We can work with that! As it just so happens, we do have disguises laying around, armor from the soldiers in the mine we escaped from are right here in my <u>blueprints</u> list!”
“That''s nice and all, but how are we going to disguise our collars? Even the lowest level of [Appraise] or any magical tool that can do the same would see right through your plan.”-[Debt] slave.
“Yes. That''s where things get a bit DANGEROUS. I can remove the collars by breaking them down, but the cost in MP is extremely prohibitive, and if I fail or am interrupted, the consequences are death. Plus, I can''t even try unless I get fully informed consent from the slave in question. So consider your next decision long and hard...”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“You DO realize that if I fail, the penalty is DEATH, yes?”
“I think I ssspeak for all of usss when I sssay that we''d all take the risssk rather than being little more than walking, talking, flesssh golemsss for the rest of our livesss!”-Snake-kin.
“1000 MP per collar. And no, my max MP is 3100.”
“I AM a Traveler, you know.”
“Yeah. I''ve heard stories of Travelers that had MP pools so vast we couldn''t even measure them!” [Criminal] slave.
“I''m going to need a (somewhat) safe place to do this, and everyone else watching out for enemies, man or beast, no offense, because once I start, I can''t stop and I won''t be able to do anything else. Any interruption, and whoever I''m working on, dies. I only have once chance at this.”
“Yeah. This isn''t a good option, but it''s the least bad of what we have to go with, and we''d better hurry. Time is decidedly not on our side.”-Allura.
blueprint</u> to produce a make-shift shelter where they can get to work.
System Notice: <u>Blueprints</u> [Slave Collar (Criminal)] and [Slave Collar (Debt)] acquired. Remaining MP 950/3100
“And THAT was nerve-wracking. I had to go and brute-force several ''anti-theft'' protections that threw out [System] errors as I tried to dismantle those slave collars. I suspect that The System was actively helping me the first time and I''m never going to succeed at brute-force removal of these damn collars ever again! Are you two alright?”
“Cough, cough. I''ll live.” Says Ricardo, the former [Criminal] slave. “I actually blacked out a few times there, and I don''t think I''ll ever forget the feeling of coughing up blood and bile!”
ever want to go through that again! The System kept giving me warnings about that damned collar being about ready to literally explode several times! And my head felt like it was being squeezed like a grape in a wine-making brewery! Wait.. Do I have blood coming out of my eyes and ears?!” Suzie, the former [Debt] slave.
furthest but he''s far enough that it would take weeks by horseback to get to him and his name has enough pull that the guards wouldn''t dare hold up an order with his name on it, without damn good reason. Add in the fact that his name''s on this list in the first place...”-Ricardo