Rebirth Online World

Book 2- Chapter 12- Plans in motion

“……..” represent dialogue *…….* represent thoughts

Past:

Prince Alphonso POV

“Rumo. You have returned.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

Rumo and his units that was tasked with eliminating the monsters came back soon then I had expected but that only shows their strength to finish such a task.

“No doubt you bring good news.”

“Yes.”

For the next several minutes I quietly listened in as Rumo explained the entire situation to me. I wasn’t all too surprised with how they dealt with the monsters. I was confident that they would accomplish their task but….

My mind shifted the moment he mentioned the fact that there was a Rank D monster. I immediately cursed the the people that provided us with the information.

*How the hell do you miss something as big as that?* I kept a calm face while I started to ponder on other subjects. *There’s no way Rumo and the rest can go up against a Rank D monster. That would also explain why they came back so early. Tchh. Now the question is, how to eliminate a monster of that magnitude?*

But before I could think of any plans, Rumo dismissed all my thoughts. At first I couldn’t believed my ears and asked Rumo to repeat the news again.

*They…defeated a rank D monster?*

I couldn’t believed what I was hearing. Our knowledge of monsters were limited and the ranking system was only systematic to the destructive capability of the monster, and ability. There were many different categories to affect a monster’s rank.

The monster that they fought was one that relied on brute force. At most they needed the backing of at several platoons of knights to support them. Yet they killed it one their own…no. It was them.

When they talked about the wilaer, there was a shift in tone. Rumo started to talk about the one called Nu-Ru. Most of his report were short and to the point but when he talked about Nu, he lingered on. Going on and on, describing his plans, his leadership, how he calmly asserted the situation.

 

There was an air admiration when he spoke highly of Nu. Although I was happy that beast was ultimately killed, there was an even bigger threat loomingover.

Asking him for more details, Rumo went on to describe the entire battle. The way he described the scenes were vivid that managed to even excite me. But what immediately stood out was at the beginning where they were pinned and Nu-Ru swooped down and saved them. Then the next part is where they were safe. The gap was negligible but I found it strange.

I then questioned him, just how exactly they escaped. His response only raised my suspicion as he and the others didn’t know. It was also convenient the only one still fighting were Nu-Ru and his ally.

Rumo had very little recollection of how exactly they escaped which made it all the more suspicious. I was about to give up until he stopped one particular piece of information. One of the spells that Rumo vaguely remembers was a spell, Gravity Down.

And then all the pieces fall into place. A single cold sweat dripped down from my side as I resisted the urge swipe it away.

*If he is the same one from before, does he know of my plans? Is he trying to weasel his way in? How much does he know? Does he intend to inform the Regios Kingdom?*

Questions swarmed my mind as I tried to ascertain the objective of Nu-Ru. *If he did know I was behind everything he wouldn’t put so much effort into hiding. But that I still don’t know just how far he knows.* The questions plagued my mind and the unknown almost drove me insane.

I willed myself and pushed those thoughts aside for now. I needed a plan. Finishing up the report Rumo was dismissed and I was by myself. The moment I sure it was safe. I brought my fist down, slamming it into the armrest of the throne.

“Damn it….damn it.”

Those were the only words I could produce. Everything that I had worked up to and every careful planning, all of it was being undone.

“Just who the hell is he?”

Catherine: “That is something I would like to figure out as well.”

A voice answered me and in the next second the assassin from before jumped down.

“Catherine? When did you get here? How long have you been here?”

Catherine: “I made sure to be here when your allies get back from the mission.”

“Do you think this is him?”

I narrowed my eyes when I asked the question, I still had my doubts but at the same time it made sense.

Catherine: “I would say it’s highly likely that it is him. I have never heard of anyone using a gravity spell before so we can assume yes.”

That’s one question answered but now, what should we do? We were dealing with a powerful mage, and by her previous report, he’s more powerful than he is letting on. Not to mention his allies is just as strong. Antagonizing them with no clear plan of action is the last thing I wanted to do.

“What do we do?”

I begrudgingly asked Catherine for her help as I was out of options. If I tried anything then they would surmise that it is me. There was no physical way of hurting them.

Catherine: “Well what do you want me to do?”

I couldn’t tell if she was being serious or sarcastic but nevertheless I was deeply annoyed.

“You know what I mean. How are we going to get rid of him?”

Catherine: “I would like a list of names. He goes to the academy correct? I need a list of those in class with him. Also I need a supply of gold coins.”

“I can manage that but… I find it hard for someone like you to deal with him.”

When comparing known information, Nu-Ru is obviously stronger. I didn’t know the achievement of this assassins but against someone with that much power…

Catherine: “There are others ways of hurting someone then through physical means. I would like the list by tomorrow until then I’m going out for a walk. Who knows maybe I’ll bump into him.”

 

Present:

Shae.Alpha POV

*Damn it Nu. You could have at least waited for some back-up.*

Throwing curses at him I was making my way to Nu’s last known position. Although he informed me of the bandits he rushed in with no prior plan and I was sent running after him. Luckily for me he was detailed in his information.

When the coast was clear outside of the gate I used some support spells to drastically increase my speed. I eventually arrived at the forest where Nu was in a few minutes. Navigating through the forest, I wandered aimlessly until I came to a horrifying sight.  

It was cliff side area with wreckage scattered everywhere. Something big must had happened to cause that much destruction. But what got me were the dead bodies. Some charred, some limbs missing, and even worse. For once I was thankful that I was an android, or else I would be throwing up.

I gently walked around, inspecting the site. The rocky ground was charred as well, in a manner similar to an explosion. The smell was still in the air so I concluded it was an explosion. While looking around I spotted something was wasn’t burnt or destroyed, Nu’s magical bag.

“Ok, this proves he’s here. But where is he now?”

Looking around I went over to the cliff to see it was a small waterfall. Putting two and two together it was logical that the explosion probably knocked him down and onto the waterfall to the river. But the biggest question was why was his bag here? A simply explosion shouldn’t have given him much trouble, especially if he used magic.

But that still didn’t answer the question why his bag was here. Sitting around and pondering won’t give me my answer so I jumped down and ran along the river. Some of the wreckage had apparently fell down as well from the explosion.

Continuing along I only stopped when I my radar pinged. Immediately looking, it showed freindly dots but also red dots as well. Increasing my pace I closed on in. The dots were slowly disappearing and by the time I got there there were only friendly dots.

I eventually came to small hill that looked down on them.

“Nu!”

Immediately spotting him, I rushed down towards him.

Nu-Ru: “Shae? Shae! Thank god you–”

Rather than an embrace I punched him. I heard a small cry escaping from Als who witness the odd interaction.

Nu-Ru: “Oww….What was that for?”

“For being a reckless idiot and running at the enemy. What.happen.to.being.a team?”

I emphasized every single word, clearly showing my annoyance.

Nu-Ru: “I’m sorry I rushed in.”

Letting out a sigh I forgave and helped him up. The floor was littered with what looked to be dead dogs. It was only at that moment that I realized what was going on. Nu was covered in wounds and cuts all over his body. One of his hands seemed to be broken while his clothes is dirtied and damaged.

“What happened to you?”

Nu-Ru: “Long story short I can’t use magic.”

“You can’t use what?!”

I couldn’t keep my surprise quiet and accidentally shouted instead.

“What do you mean you can’t use magic?”

Nu-Ru: “Take a look.”

He pointed his finger towards himself indicating something. I was perplexed by his action until thought came to mind. As a |Support| class we had the ability to look at our teammates. Their health, status, mana, etc… A window popped up with Nu-Ru avatar on it. Everything was in order, except….

“A de-buff?”

I let out a low response the moment I saw the unusual sign. De-buffs were status effects that harmed a player, the exact opposite common buffs used by supporter such as myself.

Nu-Ru: “In this world, they are call Curses. One of the bandits that we tracked surprised me and hit me with some dagger weapon. That was when the cursed activated. Since then, all of my magic have been sealed.”

“Wait…as in all of it? Even with the Binding Ring off?”

Nu responded with only a nod and I knew what that meant. A chill ran down my metal spine as we knew that despite being more powerful in this world, there were still dangers.

“So wait, can we get rid of it?”

Nu-Ru: “That’s the million dollar question isn’t it? Frankly I’m counting on you for that. But not now, we need to take care of them first.”

I was confused for moment until I realized that he was referring to Als and Alia behind him. I handed over Nu’s magical bag and he set to work fixing himself, Als, and Alia. When all was said and done we made our way out of the forest. The trek back to the capital was long and arduous despite their healed state. I suggested using my support spells but Nu shot it down.   

Escorting the two near the gates we let them went in first. Nu suggested we take a more stealthy approach with all the present danger. Using an invisibility spell we cloaked ourselves and bypass the walls through flight.

Finally reaching the dorm we started to relax. On the way there Nu filled me and that Als and Alia will be living with us. Mixed feeling stirred within as I wanted to help them but we were drawing too much attention as it is. Of course Nu wouldn’t be swayed so I quietly resigned.

Assigning Bamen and Bamun to help them and allowing them to rest, I got to work. Making sure we were alone in his room I took off my Binding Ring.

Back in Eternia there was no way to tell just exactly how powerful a de-buff was. The only measurement was the effects. A debuff that completely sealed Nu’s power was no joke.

“|Earthen Miracle|”

The spell was one of the most powerful support spell in the game. Any and all status effect were wiped and the player would receive boosts in their stats.  A heavenly light surrounded Nu and focuses in on him. Within seconds the light show was over.

“Did it work?”

Extending out his hand in responses a small fireball formed and Nu proceeded to juggle it around. Opening up the screen again the de-buff was no longer there. I let out a sigh of relief but our troubles weren’t over just yet.

We were able to take care of the problem but the problem was still there. Like a cold, curing one of the symptom was great but curing the disease was another thing. The fact remains was that a person like Nu was rendered helpless without his magic. If so what else were there? Curses that can stop healing or inflict heavy wounds? The questions piled up but there were no answers to keep them down.

Sensing my distress Nu calmed me down and we discussed in further details. According to Nu Curse items are quite rare with very little known about them. The thought eased me as they are not a common commodity but that only meant their value was even higher. That of course raises another question.

Since the item was no doubt hard to come by, who would be able to purchase and or acquire such an object? It didn’t take a genius to guess who our first suspect was. But there was also the unknown factor, the mysterious force that Sirva mentioned before. But the most likely option was the two teaming up.

If so, then our troubles just doubled.

“If that’s the case then we need to act now”

Nu-Ru: “No. If anything we need to lay low and keep hidden.”

“Nu, you can’t be serious. They know who we are. At the very least they know have an idea. We can’t just sit on our butts and wait for them.”

Nu-Ru: “You’re right but we can’t just do something half-ass. If it really was only coincidental then we can simply wait it out. Go into hiding and let them make their move.”

“But there’s also no guarantee that they would do that either! It’s true that the others don’t know if we’re alive or not but going into hiding means that we’re running away from the problem. It’s obvious that the prince is involve—“

Nu-Ru: “Then what do you suggest we do? Run in and confront the prince then what? Kill him?

Capture him? Who would take his place? What of Rumo and the rest? What of the entire Empire should their prince be visited by two other worldly beings? We may have power but we are not gods. We can’t make something disappear and then expect everything to be fine after words.”

Nu spoke in a low and menacing voice, cutting me off. It was clear that he was mad. I wanted to refute him but I knew he was right. The world didn’t work that way. Every decision has a consequences and if we did anything reckless, others could be swept up into the fray as well.

Seeing my flaws I kept my mouth shut and lowered my head.

*Perhaps all of this have gotten to our head.*

Letting out a sigh in defeat I asked.

“What’s the plan then?”

Nu-Ru: “Let’s assume they have only an idea of who we are. They were confident that they could take us or at the very less, me, out with their plans. If not then they would have send in a force of considerable numbers to put us down. The man from before escaped so he will most likely report to whoever came up with the scheme. I didn’t kill all the dogs so if we hide then perhaps they might believe I died and was eaten. If we are lucky then they might believe we both perish. We can still have Sirva operate within the courts to spy while we come up with something.”

“What about Als and the Bamun? Are we just going to leave them?”

It was obvious that I touched a sore spot. A conflicted look passed his face before answering me.

Nu-Ru: “We can’t take them with us or else it would look to suspicious. At the very least we can inform them and they can feign ignorance of not knowing where we are.”

Nu didn’t want to resort to this, but what other choice do we have? It’s a difficult choice to make, especially with what Nu went through to help Als. We spent the remainder of the day packing everything up while finalizing the plan. Making sure everything was in place, we began phase one.

Calling everyone to the main living room, we informed them of what’s going on and where we were going. We excluded the details about the prince and everything going on. Als seemed to have a faint idea but kept quiet for our sake. The last thing we needed was involved them in our mess. Providing them with plenty of gold, we would leave at midnight.

When it was time we said our final goodbyes. As we made our way out into the night I took one last glance back at them. For a moment, perhaps the trick of my eyes or I was imagining it. Als looked sad if not devastated almost. Pushing the thought away we jumped through the night without as much as a sound.

Making our way to the lower section of the capital, we landed and walked some distance before stopping.  

“Alright, this seems far enough. So what’s the plan now?”

Nu-Ru: “By tomorrow they will realize that we are gone. We just need to keep hidden and wait on Sirva. If this works out then we just need to wait for an opportunity and then…I don’t know.”

Nu’s brimming confidence was nowhere to be seen or heard. The plan was flawed and he knew it as well, but what else can we do?

“Guess all we can do now is wait huh?”

XXX: “Or we can entertain you instead.”

A voice responded to my question and the next thing I knew, several individuals jumped down and surrounded us. They wore jet black outfit that made them invisible in the night if it weren’t thanks to my enhanced vision.

Our backs were pressed against one another as we faced the intruders.

“Well there goes our plan of hiding. Got any better idea?”