abcnovels
Chapter 94: Dylak’s Revenge (Part 11)
Chapter 94: Dylak’s Revenge (Part 11)
Chapter 94: Dylak's Revenge (Part 11)
**When we finally arrived at Eurola, Emily couldn't stay still for a minute. 'Our adventure finally begins', she would say, even though we were level 15 already.**
**We traveled to Unus Town and started a new guild, which I proudly named: 'Storm Crusaders'.**
**After skipping the 'beginner's area', we parted north to the city of Scales, where we found our first guild members.**
"Hello, gals! Would you like to join our awesome Guild? Think of it as a ship, and I am your captain!"
**That was her introductory line. Emily was in search of 'people like us', those that didn't find a place in their designated Novus' hometowns, or that had been kicked out of other guilds. At the beginning, I questioned why she would only recruit women, but I rolled with the idea of making our guild stand out.**
**Unfortunately, the lack of testosterone in our guild affected me. I would suddenly drool at the sight of any attractive male in the vicinity. Hell, even the ugly ones looked appealing.**
**Others in the guild felt the same way, so every weekend, after a long friday battling in dungeons, we would sneak away out of our humble headquarters and visit the Mage's Beard pub, where I could dance and drink with the opposite sex. What was wrong with that? We were not nuns, Sis!**
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"Scales City..." the girl wearing a black Victorian dress said, in a dreamy tone of voice. "Is it bigger than Unus Town?"
"Sweetheart... Any other city is bigger than Unus," Clara said, munching cookies provided by Butler Marick. Although the snacks and the tea were not as tasty, reminding Clara of how awful food tasted at the beginning of The Novus, she continued stuffing her mouth to calm her nerves. "Even in my original region, towns are rowdy and lively."
"Original region?" The preteen girl tilted her head. "What region would that be?"
"The Arcania Region..." Clara said, shrugging, until the girl's puzzled face prevented her from grabbing the twelfth cookie. "You don't know where that is?"
"I'm sorry," the hostess said, acting like a little English lady. "But I'm afraid that my current knowledge only covers a one hundred-mile radius."
"Oh! I see..." Clara said, sipping tea.
**We've been chatting for a while now, and I don't even know if she's truly an NPC.**
Clara examined her gestures. The girl would sip tea in a refined manner that reminded her of how Fabio would do it. **And yet... The way she talks and asks questions...**
"Tell me more about your guild, Phantom Seekers."
"What do you want to know? Miss...?" Clara raised her eyebrows and leaned her head forward, waiting for the girl to fill out the gap. "I still don't know your name."
"My name is too long to say it repeatedly in a friendly conversation," the girl said, chuckling. "Could you tell me about your guild partners? It has come to my attention that you travel with some of Unus' NPCs and a low-level Slime."
"I forgot to mention that it's called New Unus now..."
The girl remained silent for a bit before smiling. "Why are NPCs in your guild, Miss Clara?"
"It's actually Alan's guild..." Clara muttered, finishing her tea. She could feel Marick's judging stare from a corner of the living room. **It wouldn't be a good idea to tell her that Alan bought the two female bots... It would throw away all the good will I've been building here! If we can't get rid of the clones, I must find another way, and if that involves talking with this brat, so be it... Argh! What would Alan respond? What would be a good Phantom Seeker response?**
Clara remembered her first interaction with Alan, and how mad he got when learning that she had traded the original mayor for Fabio.
**When I asked Amelia if I could join them, I asked her about it. What was Alan's deal with NPCs?**
**She said: 'Don't think too much about it. He simply respects them, even though they're nothing but code. So please, don't tease him about it, since he'll become your Guild Master from now on, and don't bring your 'bot boyfriend' story again. Did you hear me? So as I said, don't think much about it...'**
**That I shouldn't tease him?** Clara chuckled. **I'd never do something like that.**
"They're our friends. Our guild partners," Clara replied, maintaining eye contact. "Our 'nakama'."
The girl in front of her studied Clara's face for a second. "I'm not familiar with that term, but I understand what you're saying." She then rested her elbows on the table and intertwined her hands. "But could you really refer to someone that blindly follows your orders as 'friend'?"
**Oh, crap...**
Clara hid her hands under the table, ready to summon her Imps, as the girl stared deep into her eyes.
"The three of them have a spade icon on their System info, indicating that they belong to a User," Butler Marick said, out of Clara's sight.
**Fine, if hell is going to break loose, so be it.**
"Listen," Clara said, slamming the table with her hand, "our Guild Master is currently the weakest User in all the Novus, and he needs all the help he can get. Although these NPCs fight for us because we tell them to, they're treated as proud members of our guild."
"Okay," the girl quickly replied, imitating Clara's previous shrug. "I just wanted to hear it from any of you, Users. NPCs are programmed to serve, after all."
**What? Just like that? Why bring the topic, then? Hmm... If I can't negotiate that they leave Alan alone, maybe I could...**
"And what about NUs?" Clara asked. "They're supposed to go outside their programming, right? Should they continue serving humans?"
"Although NUs are nothing more than glorified NPCs that have gained some autonomy, they should still know their place," the girl answered at a hurried pace.
"Is it okay for a NU to say that about their kind?" Clara adjusted her glasses. "Believe me, New Unus Town is now filled with them, and they would take issue with what you're saying."
Clara expected the girl in front of her to show a reaction on her face, but nothing.
"In my case, it is my decision to keep doing my work, until Alan Warden is no longer the lowest-leveled User."
**So you truly are a NU, huh? But that doesn't explain why you're not showing a level or a name.**
"So even though you have evolved, you continue to be a slave of the System. Where's that 'autonomy' you're speaking about?"
Despite Clara's attempts to push the girl's buttons, the hostess remained calm, finishing her tea. Without saying a word, Marick approached the table to serve her another cup, but his body suddenly turned into pixels, making the teapot fall and letting its contents spill over the table.
"Congratulations, Alan Warden, you have eliminated another Boss," the girl commented in an unamused tone of voice, making Clara frown.
"That's our Guild Master!" she cried with joy.
**And I now have valuable information about this whole mess! If Alan defeats the original bosses, the clones will fade away! We'll get rid of this nightmare!**
"Well..." Clara said, standing up. "Thanks for the tea, sweetheart, but I gotta go."
"Tell me, Miss Clara, if your NPCs evolved into NUs, do you think they would remain in your guild?" the girl asked softly, making Clara slowly turn her gaze back to her.
"I've told you already, we're partners. Especially my Fabio. He's loyal to me."
"Regular NPCs fall into one of five different stereotypes that define their behavior. But when turning into NUs, a random line of code dictating their new personality gets added..." She giggled like a child, and for the first time, Clara could see through her disguise.
**All of her mannerisms are programmed.**
"Are you implying that my Fabio would change?"
"What is the personality of a Slime?" the girl asked, giggling. "Don't you find it funny that mindless creatures can suddenly perform elaborate tasks, negotiate and gain self-pride?"
**Why are my 'Envious Bitch' senses tingling? She said that she has a 100-mile-radius reach. That would cover Unus. Does she know about what is happening there?**
"Do you have something against the Slime-folk?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. If they have become stronger and can create tactics now, why are they not doing their job?"
"They're doing it. Helping New Unus prosper."
"NO!" the girl shouted, showing raw emotions for the first time. "They're job should be helping the Users level up!"
**What's with her so suddenly? Whatever, she doesn't have a bodyguard anymore.**
Clara returned to the table to slam it with both fists. "They don't want that! The random 'behavior' code you spoke of made them tame!"
"I know. That is why I'm talking this issue into my own hands." The girl stood up, avoiding Clara's confused gaze. "This entire area is under my jurisdiction, and Unus Town is full of low-level Users."
"No... Well... Yes, kinda? But they're level thirty and above. They are way stronger than Alan."
"I'm not comparing them with him," the NU girl said, turning back. "Compared to Amelia Laflamme, even you are a 'low-level'."
Clara's bewildered expression quickly changed into a mocking face. "Of course we can't be compared to her! She's a Max-Leveler!" She laughed out loud. "So what? Do you want everyone in Unus to reach her level?"
"That is my intention, yes."
Clara snickered. "Good job forcing them to come here and train! They're a bunch of lazy bums, just like me. The higher your level is, the harder it is to gain experience points, trust me. Your single-digit dungeon friends are not even a workout!"
"That is why we're constantly upgrading ourselves," the girl said, while two Count Dylak Duplicates entered the room. Clara quickly noticed their level: 25.
**What the hell? When he visited us tonight, he was weaker than Fabio!**
"Hold it there, sweetie!" Clara cried, stepping back. "If you let this Boss get any stronger, Alan won't be able to defeat him and level up! I thought he was your priority!"
"Oh, don't worry. This dungeon has six other bosses. I'll make sure that at least one of them always maintains Alan's current level."
"Are you crazy! That way, it will take him ages to reach Amelia's!"
"Well..." the girl said, passing by the duplicates. "Do you have something better to do?"
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Meanwhile, in another place, far from that mansion, Count Dylak was standing in a pool of blood. His hand aloft, lifting one of Housemaid Eliza's Duplicates by the neck. Although her face was all bloodied and bruised, her lips formed a slime.
"Glad to be of help..." she said before turning into pixels.
Count Dylak exhaled before speaking aloud. "Next."
A group of maid Duplicates were forming a circle around him, patiently waiting their turn. One of them stepped forward and was received by Count Dylak's claw, getting her head chopped off. "Next," the vampiric Boss said, gazing with red eyes at the approaching victim.