From Player To Npc

Chapter 109: Old acquaintant

Shingi could tell from Price's aura that he had grown in power, but not as much one would expect after all those years.

Shingi studied the aura of his students and the rest of the Player's that he could learn what level they were. He was pretty confident in his Skill to tell what level a Blessed One was with a small margin error.

Price was a beginner when he last met and had just started helping him, so he hadn't reached level 20 back then.

Now he seemed to be at level 55 to 60, which was among the highest level player he had seen up until now, but that was the case because he was in small towns most of the time.

Even the Guild Members who attacked them the other day seemed to be around 50-54 while Master Whip was 40 to 42.

But level 60 compared to what Ameanum had reached, and the ones at the top of the game were a pretty insignificant number.

But level 60 was critical as a lot of classes were upgraded to that level. 

To pass level 60, you need to have one of these classes and fulfill the requirement to upgrade it, which involved a Quest; most of the time.

Shingi could tell that Price hadn't upgraded his, and he wasn't sure if he had taken one that was upgradeable as he had just reached level 20 back then and had given him some tips for earning some of those Classes as most needed you to be level 20, like in Wild Tycoon's case.

Price continued his way away from the Inn and was going through some alleys to make sure if anyone were following him, he would lose him.

But Shingi had locked on him with all his Detection Skills. He even used ECHOLOCATION to track him by the impact his feet were making with the ground.

Soon Price reached a storehouse that seemed to be abandoned but in a good state.

There were chains on the door keeping it locked, but Price pulled out a key and unlocked the padlock that kept the chains together.

Shingi had cast INVISIBILITY on himself and entered the room with him before he had turned to unlock it.

Price sighed of relief as he started pulling out of his Bag, which seemed to be similar to the one of Ragnarock, everything that he could take.

Most were pouches with coins, but he also had some dagger, scrolls, and even arrows which seemed to have some Enchantments at their arrowheads.

It seemed like he wasn't just picking random things but only ones that could have some value.

He started organizing the coins, but it didn't go as well as expected. Most coins were copper, some silver, and rarely there were some gold ones.

"Just my luck. I knew I should move faster before they started throwing their coins."[Price]

"You should already know that. But it is better to be safe than to be caught."[Shingi]

"Yeah, very true... wait, who said that?!?"[Price]

Price started looking towards where the voice was heard, but he couldn't see anyone there.

He looked left and right and all around the room, but there was no indication of anyone else being here but him only.

He drew a pair of daggers and was ready for combat.

"Come one, show up, you coward."[Price]

Shingi smiled but didn't let any sound come out or let his presence be known.

He was confident that even if Price had his PERCEPTION as Master Rank after all that time, he wouldn't have the ability to detect him unless he had reached it at its peak. But he was more than aware of what was needed to reach the peak of the Skill, and he doubted Price had, but he could tell that his PERCEPTION was relatively high.

He slowly moved to the other side from where he last spoke, but with his current speed as he also cast HASTE at himself, he was able to make it there in a few seconds without making his presence be known.

"It seems your abilities are stronger, but the way you use them is weaker. Master would be very disappointed."[Shingi]

Shingi cast ROCK TROW aiming at Price's legs, arms, or head but wasn't planning to damage him, so set his Spell to deal the lowest damage possible.

Price was looking frustrated by all this but took some deep breaths to calm down and focus again.

'It seems he hadn't forgotten everything.'[Shingi]

Shingi continued moving around, hitting him with his Spell and throwing some taunts now and then.

Price tried to hit him, but every time he seemed to miss the spot after finishing his attack and hitting nothing, the voice spoke by the other side from where he attacked.

As time passed, there were some close calls of Price hitting Shingi, and the time between each was becoming shorter.

"That is enough for today."[Shingi]

Shingi dispelled his INVISIBILITY and appeared in front of Price.

He had at his right hand one of his staves, the one with both Mana Gems being away from each other, and was holding it too had the Light Mana Gem's design active.

He touched the top of his staff at Price's forehead as he called out an immense amount of Light Element Mana, both his and of the Mana Gem, to invade the body of Price.

Price didn't expect this, and his resistance to Spells, even if it was more significant than a beginner, wasn't that much against Shingi.

He felt his muscles getting tenser to the point he couldn't move any of them. Shingi focused only on his arms, legs, neck, and head and not to stun everything; otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to breathe.

Price looked at the face of the young adult, and for a moment, it looked a bit familiar but unfamiliar at the same time. It was like he knew him, but something was different since he last saw this one.

"Firstly, I want to apologize for the little test, but I needed to see how good you are. I will not harm you from now on and not here to steal from you either, but I am here to give you a deal. To work with an old friend."[Shingi]

Shingi released his mana from the body of Price after a few seconds.

Price didn't attack as he knew that he had no chance against this one.

"What old friend you are talking about?"[Price]

"I am referring to the one who if he didn't take you under his wings even after trying to pickpocket him, you probably would spend your time in prison more often."[Shingi]

Price's eyes widened as he realized why the face of the person looked familiar.

He was pretty similar to Ameanum but a lot younger from what he was when he had met him.

Ameanum was near his thirties, and his NPC body had reached the appearance of a 15-year-old or so.

"M..master?!? But how could that be? I read an article saying you were found dead."[Price]

"I am not Ameanum. I have a relationship with him, you could say, but we aren't the same person. As for his death, a lot of things happened since then, but the article or whatever that you are referring to is probably true."[Shingi]

He had decided long ago not to let just anyone know that he was really Ameanum. It was also true that he had died and that he was now different from before.

"Oh...I...see. Then who sent you to find me? Also, how did you?"[Price]

"There are forces in play greater than what you know or can imagine. I have my ways, as you probably understand as for who sent me, I can't tell you, but you should soon meet him."[Shingi]

Price seemed to understand the situation a bit, even if most of his questions seemed not to get answered.

"Then what do you want from me. Also, what is it for me? Especially if it has to do with Ameanum, I would like to know what it is for me? Last time he disappeared unexpectedly, and it took me a long time to progress without him. Especially since entry at  the Tower was forbidden."[Price]

Shingi didn't expect him to follow him for no reason as most Players, even those who were currently helping him, wanted some benefits.

"You can have this for now, but we have people to make something better."[Shingi]

He brought out his dagger. 

It had a weird design, but this added to its use, and Shingi made some adjustments to it over the past weeks.

He had Sinhunter and his staves, so he didn't have any use of it.

Also, it was made of Mithril, and Shingi was feeding it his mana to increase its quality when he had free time or was working at his Mana Pool. Even Price could have a use of it even if he didn't have any mana to get a boost by going through the Mithril.

This dagger was worth more than what Price had gathered today from his time at the Inn. Even the special arrows or scrolls weren't of anything too rare.

"Then we have a deal. So what do you want me to do?"[Price]

Shingi gave him directions to Carda and told him to speak with the local Blacksmith there and help with gathering Quests until he is back.

He also told him to look for Marcy and help her as she had started working on creating a Guild a little before he left.

Shingi also asked a few questions about the Tower as he played the game before, unlike his students or Marcy.

Price was checking the situation of the Tower now and then and knew a bit more.

A few more Guilds like the Whip Master one worked to have some access to the Tower or get a share of its resources.

Price knew the identity of a few of the Guilds as they were the most significant targets to steal from, even if they were also the most dangerous to do so.

After their talk, Price left right away. He wasn't planning to stick around for long as people would start to look around for their missing things.

Shingi returned to the Inn and went for his room.

The special event was over by the time he returned, and he took some sleep, and after a long time, he entered his TRANCE ROOM to train while taking a rest.