Twilight Zone

Bria had woken up several hours after having fallen back to sleep once again. That nightmare was definitely something they weren't used to. Being attacked in one's own mentalscape was a horrible feeling. Vulnerability, worthlessness.

Getting off the bed in her nightgown, she would walk over to the Mage tunic and slip it up over her self and pulled up the hood. With her face concealed with ease, she would walk over towards the door of the room which was being used as her lodging.

Slowly turning the door nob, she opened the door ever so slightly and peered out the crack. She didn't hear a sound, no one was moving. No one was talking. Strange, what was going on?

[ Quest Added: Investigate the Eerie Silence. 500 EXP. Louisiana Hot Sauce. ]

"Thanks for the incentive," Bria almost laughed, yet kept her voice down into a hushed tone. She didn't know who or what was around. From her benefactor's memories, she knew that there were various mythological and legendary creatures, or demons, that could use such powers.

Slowly, she opened the door all the way, a loud creak echoing down the halls.

'I'm awake right?' Bria questioned herself in her mind and took a few steps out into the hall. Everything looked normal.

Sucking in her upper lip, she slowly closed her door and without her boots began walking along the stone tile floors. While the bedrooms had wood flooring, the halls and corridors were made of stone. There were various chandeliers which kept each one lit up, and a long royal blue rug lined all of them.

Walking silently, she barely made a sound. Her eyes locking on any bit of movement, even if it be just a fly or a small bug. She saw a rat twitching on the ground, on its side. It wasn't dead, yet it didn't look injured.

After looking it over it seemed that it was just unconscious and having a dream, or in this case, a nightmare. Strange, even the animals were effected by whatever caused her nightmare.

"Hm…" She went back towards her room and nudged the door of Claude's room open. Glancing inside, the there was Claude laying on the bed. He was fine, well rested. Though for some reason he had abnormal level of perspiration on the surface of his skin. She could see the reflection of moisture all over him. Even his pillow looked wet.

Her eye twitched and she moved into the room and walked around to the side of the bed he was sleeping on. Reaching over she would gently touch where his pulse should be detected on his neck.

His heart was beating abnormally as well. Could this have been poison maybe? Thinking back, they hadn't had anything to eat or drink since they arrived. On top of that, they had their own food and supplies.

Looking towards the door however as she heard movement, she arched a brow slightly and swiftly made her way over to the opposite of the room. Out of the view of the door and slid down the wall silently. Listening, she watched as the bedroom door would creep open and what looked like one of the Second Prince's personal attendant glanced into the room.

Using her affinity over light, she cast a spell which bent light around herself to make herself invisible to the naked eye.

The attendant quickly scanned the room with their eyes before scurrying out and moving to the next room. It seems that her disguise didn't work after all. Maybe they knew what she had been wearing and asked around. If the people in the slums were offered food or money, they'd answer any question unless silenced by a better offer.

Maybe it was the amount of money which she had used prior which put up some red flags. Especially the use of the platinum gold coins. As said before, barely anyone even nobles had those.

Letting out a small sigh, the girl would crawl prone on the ground as she made her way to the door and peered out from ground level.

There were three people in the hallway several meters away from the door. The attendant she recognized seemed to be chattering away. Seemingly upset having not found anyone who matched a distraction of a sixteen year old girl with a shaven head on the premises. Though there were a plenty of teenage boys with shaven heads, there was no girls of that discription.

The other two men looked like a Knight and a Mage. Slowly crawling back into the room and out of sight, she made her way over to the bed and crawled under as they saw them going to the room next door, her room.

Once beneath the bed, she would turn to look towards the door. Anyone who looked into the room would have their sight obscured by the quilt and the shadows. On top of that, the girl was practically invisible even with this amount of low light beneath the bed.

That's when Bria would hear the sound of a man panicking. They found boots at the side of a bed which clearly looked disturbed. Whomever had been sleeping there had woken up.

"Shit! Did anyone of you see anyone leave the building?" The Attendant asked in a hurry, rushing down the corridor.

"No Sir." The two others stated.

The Knight followed him before splitting off down a different corridor, while the Mage remained where he was.

"Someone was able to break out of the Dreamscape… Interesting…" The Mage said aloud, believing that they were alone. "They'd make a great disciple, but if it's the girl." He let out a soft sigh and twiddled with the jeweled head of his staff.

Looking towards Claude's bedroom door, the mage thought to himself for a few moments. While that had been the first door which had been investigated. It was also known that this door had already been partially open when they arrived.

"Oh?" A small smirk formed over the Mage's lips as he walked towards the door and glanced inside. His eyes immediately narrowed on Claude who was on the bed. He could see the Mana swimming around over him.

His eyes scanned the room, he was much more keen than the attendant. Plus he was a mage, he could see the flow of mana. It was unlikely someone could hide from him as easily.

That's when he paused. The flow of mana around Claude was strange, it was as if it had two identifying properties instead of one? Tilting his head to the side, the Mage stepped into the room and looked over the man tucked into the quilt.

Lifting the blanket, he nodded to himself as he found nothing within it. There were no abnormalities above the bed. That's when he glanced down towards the shadow beneath the bed.

Kneeling down, he placed his hand down on the bedframe, caressing it slightly.

[ The mage is onto you. You have to act. ]

[ Quest Added: Kill or Subdue the Mage. BlackSteel Magic Short Sword. ]

Glancing to the side, Bria's eyes widened slightly as she saw the crouched man's legs. Silently backing up towards the wall in prone position, she would activate various non-attribute spells without speaking.

< Agility Boost II > < Endurance Boost I > < Spring Jump > < Inertial Dampener>

Each of the non-attribute spells created a dim flash of light with various colors. The mage noticed this, but before he could make a move she pushed off the wall with her feet and sent herself sliding across the room.

Once she was half way across the room, as a blur, she would flip off the ground and then spring herself off the wall. Literally crashing into the Mage's chest with her head. A sickening snap could be heard as she broke his sternum and sent him to the ground with a mouth full of blood. His own ribs puncturing his lungs.

Cough.

"Wha… Wha…What the…?" The disoriented mage looked down at the princess which was laying on top of him. Slowly he removed the hood and let out a light sigh.

Opening one of her eyes partially, she looked up towards the man. Clearly she had hurt her head in the process of taking the man down. "You're pretty weak.. Ow…" She put a hand on her head. "Old man."

Rolling off the man and getting to her feet, she looked down at him as he rested his head back on the ground. He was quietly drowning in his own blood. "Pity…" She muttered to herself, seeing the little smile across his lips.

Why wasn't he trying to signal the others? Did he want to do a good deed before his death?

"Dealing with my brother, means you're courting death, my friend." Bria whispered as she placed a foot on his chest and pushed down, before abruptly raising and stomping down with all her weight.

The ribs which were already broken, bent down with the force she brought upon him. Many of his internal organs were now being damaged beyond repair. He didn't have enough mental constitution to even cast his magic due to the pain.

Seconds later, the Mage was dead.

[ Level 4 Mage defeated. 3,000 EXP. Level up ++++.]

[ Quest Complete: Kill the Mage. Rewarded. Item Equipped. ]

The Magic Short Sword would make its appearance in a decorated black and blue-green trimmed scabbard on her lower back. It was attached horizontally and had a locking mechanism which only allowed the user, Bria, to draw it.

The blade itself was thin and the hilt was rather light. It looked like an samurai sword which was about three feet in length for the blade and about one foot for the hilt. There was a protective guard which was decorated with the emblem of the Royal Family: Cerberus.

Embedded at the end of the hilt was an ocean green crystal, which seemed to have the same emblem engraved into it. It was as if it doubled as an ink or wax stamp of some kind.

Shhht.

Her lip twitched slightly as she slowly unsheathed the weapon and observed her reward. Examining the molecular sharpness, she smirked a little seeing it now. She felt guilty for killing the man, but if he had found her, it was likely she wouldn't live to see the morrow.

Walking towards the bedroom door, she would open it slowly as it had somewhat closed after the Mage enter the room. Her eyes narrowed on the man around the corner. The Knight had returned after some sounds had been heard. He was looking down the opposite end.

That's when Bria slowly crept out, her blade being held diagonally towards the ground away from her body. Licking her lips slightly, she tried not to let her nerves get to her.

Reaching out her free hand towards the man, her eyes narrowed on his sheathed weapon. She'd proceed to cast a spell known as <Aport>, which was the ability to teleport objects to one's hand.

It was a non-attribute skill which allowed one to easily steal items or just bring things to one's hand with ease. Especially if someone was disarmed, this was definitely one way to rearm one's self.

The knight's scabbard appeared in her hand, with the sword inside of it. Placing it on the ground silently, the Knight was shocked by the sudden lack of weight on his hip.

"What the hell?" He glared down at where his weapon used to be before glancing behind himself towards a figure which was dashing towards him. "Shit!?"

Putting his arms up in defense, the girl jumped up and ran along the wall and did an upward slash. Shallowly ripping the man's tunic and creating sparks from his chain mail, Bria was able to cut the man's arm off at the elbow.

His screams could be heard throughout the private property. Which made the attendant one story down freeze in his spot and look towards the ceiling. A few moments later he saw some blood leaking down from a crack formed between the wall and ceiling. "God dammit…" He muttered and began to rush towards the stairwell to get back up to the residential lodgings.

"You little bitch!" The Knight screamed as he ran towards her, blood spouting like a fountain from his stump. The armor he was wearing was blessed with a regenerative factor, so the blood stopped within several seconds. Though he had clearly stained the little section of the hall.

Standing in the center of the hall, she grinned at him and tilted her head. "Coming for more? Aren't you going for your sword?" The girl's tone was teasing, devilish. Her intent to kill began to radiate from her body. She found that she had no qualms anymore after her first kill. The panicking thoughts and nerves seemed to have ceased.

In her mind, it was only kill or be killed.

As he was only about five feet away from her, she darted to the nearest wall that kicked off of it with one foot. He continued to pursue her, wanting to beat her with his severed arm. With a downward slash, she took the Knight's head clean off. His helmet made a clanging sound as it bounced like a ball before rolling to a door and resting there.

[ Level 2 Knight defeated. Light Affinity Gauntlet, Looted. Equipped Item. ]

Looking over at the alabaster metallic grew object which had appeared on her right hand which held the blade, she chuckled a little. It seemed to have elvish symbolistic carvings all down it. It almost looked like roots of a tree engraved on it.

Looking towards the flight of stairs, she arched a brow slightly as the Attendant stepped up and turned the corner before pausing; seeing the girl.

"No one said you were armed…" The Attendant stated as he drew a dagger.

[ Warning. This guy is at level fifteen. He is much harder to kill. ]

Switching over to mana sight, she couldn't help but stare at the size of his mana pool. It was at least three times larger.

Nipping a small strand of skin from her lower lip, she played with it nervously with her tongue until it snapped. "No one said I wasn't armed," she spat out a response to his statement.

Growling under his breath he began to slowly, cautiously approach her. Since the Mage was dead that meant everyone was going to wake up soon. He had no choice but to attack and deal with her here.

If only she hadn't woken up. He could've brought her before the Prince. He could've had a promotion! He could've cultivated his mana and affinity even further.

With her free hand, she pointed her finger towards the man who was slowly advancing. A sudden burst of kinetic energy was sent towards him. It made him stumble back slightly, but he was able to regain his balance rather quickly.

"You think that will help you, that little skill that you have?"

Bria put all the remaining skill points she had acquired earlier into her Intelligence. A quick soothing light would envelope her mind, seen through her skull for a mere moment.

This made the man pause for a moment. What just happened? The sight he had just saw meant she had cultivated her mana? Her magic affinity? How did she do that in an instant?

Narrowing his eyes on her, he seemed to have found an interesting specimen.

Lowering her hood, the princess revealed her face entirely to the man. The circlet definitely fitting her status and position.

When she revealed her enchanted circlet accessory, he began to notice that the rest of her gear had some enchantments. What was going on here? Where did she get all these treasure from? The attendant could only purse his lips, his eyes ogling her items with greed.

"How about we make deal?" The man began to make a proposition, a slight gesture of the hand. Yet the girl flinched at his movement. She was still clearly afraid, especially of death.

Sadly he wasn't carrying any concealed weapons. Hidden weapons weren't his specialty.

"I'm listening?"

"If you give me the mana ring on your finger. I'll make your death painless. You won't feel a–" He was suddenly cut off as she aported his dagger right into her hand. A grin forming over his lips.

Blinking a few times when he grinned. Bria suddenly felt a heavy voltage course through her entire body. Twitching uncontrollably, she found herself clamoring to the ground. Clenching her teeth shut as to not bite her tongue, she kept bashing her hand on the ground until she finally let the dagger go.

Steam would be coming off her body as she laid there for a few moments in a daze. She could hear the man coming towards her, a sinister snickering coming from his serpentine lips.

However just as he placed his feet before her head and reached down to grab her by the hood to lift her up he paused and looked far behind her towards Claude's room. "Shi–"

Wsht. Pop, pop.

The Attendant's body jolted, but remained entirely still. He died standing up and his head had fallen clean off his neck.

Bria was too out of it to move very much, but she could feet the hand of someone familiar grab her ankle and gently begin to drag the girl' out of the dead man's grasp. However this also meant that her face would once again meet the floor. As her face felt the blue rug brushing against her face, she was happy that the inertia dampening spell was still in place. Otherwise she'd have rug burn on her cheeks.

Moments later she felt herself go airborne. As she had been thrown from the door way, she temporarily made eye contact with Claude who winked at her, before blacking out as soon as she hit the feathered mattress.