Escape From The Prison

<On a small ship at Nelio's Port>

"What the hell are you talking about!? We can't throw away years of our preparations just because he was your sister's husband!" The shadow shouted at Odysseus.

"Don't worry. All you need to do is guide him to the bottom of the palace and take care of the rune walls. We won't provide any other help."

Odysseus' words shocked the shadow.

"And he can escape with that…? Be real, Odysseus! He would need to fight the entire military force of Nelio on his way out. He can't defeat a nation alone, he isn't Achilles!"

"If he fails then he fails. That would mean he was worth just that much."

Odysseus stared at the moon. The strength Noah showed that day changed his plans by a large margin.

***

<A Prison Cell below Nelio's Castle>

[ Skill 'Sage Heal' has reached Tier 1 ]

[ Skill 'Gravity Manipulation' has leveled up ]

[ Skill 'Gift of Benevolent' learned ]

[ Skill 'I Am Tired' learned ]

[ Gift of Benevolent(Passive): For every 1000 HP healing given to others by you, you regain 1 SP ]

[ I Am Tired: You can sacrifice 100 SP and gain 1 Divinity ]

[ Sage Heal: Heals 20,000 Heal Points and 5,000 Stamina Points of the marked targets in a 20-meter radius ]

Noah stopped using Gravity Manipulation on himself. As he read the skills description, he spoke. "Thanks, Saintess. Words aren't enough to show my appreciation."

{Ehehe, it's nothing much.}

After much discussion, Noah learned three skills from Saintess: Gravity Manipulation, Gift of Benevolent, and I Am Tired.

All three skills were extremely rare. Players would need to complete several high-rating hidden missions for just one of them.

In return, Cecilia requested Noah to travel as much as possible during the 1 year duration of Better Half Potion.

Considering the worth of the skills Noah had gained the skills free of charge.

{Brat, attempt it.} Hepius spoke from the side.

Noah closed his eyes and activated his trait.

"Inverse"

[ Activating trait 'Genius Psychopath'. Please choose a skill. ]

"Gift of Benevolent"

[ Checking Compatibility ]

{How is it?} The Saintess asked with anticipation.

Noah's brows furrowed and he maintained his breathing.

[ Skill Compatible ]

[ Inverse Gift of Benevolent(Passive): For every 1000 HP damage you do, you gain 1 SP ]

"It works."

{You did it!}

Cecilia shouted in joy. The three of them were testing if Noah's trait worked with passive skills. Even if it worked, they needed to know if the inversed skill harmed Noah in any way.

This experiment opened new doors for Noah to improve his strength.

"Looks like I can use Inverse with 3 passives in my current state." Noah spoke.

Using passive skills didn't burden Noah. But keeping his trait active at all times did. He could use his trait 'Genius Psychopath' on three passive skills at his present strength.

Noah's preparations to escape the prison were moving steadily.

He also practiced Menzen with Hepius. Turns out Hepius could use Menzen on Noah. Thanks to it, Noah reached the Intermediate Stage in Menzen mastery.

It was far from defeating Achilles with Menzen alone. However, Noah wouldn't be helpless against Achilles' Menzen anymore.

Noah wanted to use Skill Points to increase his Menzen level.

…Until he realized how useless it was.

[ Consume 110 Skill Points for Menzen(Tier 0, Level 0, Intermediate Mastery) → Menzen(Tier 1, Level 0, Intermediate Mastery) ? ]

The mastery remained the same.

Increasing Menzen's tier increased its range and duration. But the most important factor 'Mastery' didn't increase!

Just reading that unfair line was enough to anger Noah.

Hepius chuckled as he saw Noah's expression, {Don't cry too much, brat. Each skill is unique, and their progression rates vary greatly. Some necessitate hundreds of points to increase one level while others can be ascended to the next tier with a few 10's Skill points. Shouldst thou feel disheartened, bear in mind that the greater the challenge to enhance a skill's level, the more potent it shall become in the days to come.}

"I know." Noah sighed and returned to training.

Two weeks remained for his execution and one week for the 'Great Hero' title cooldown to end. Noah would make the jailbreak when the Great Hero was usable again.

There was a high chance he would face Achilles when escaping. His plan was to use Great Hero and run away from Achilles in those 30 seconds.

"Here's your food. It's quiet nowadays, isn't it?"

The janitor passed a tray inside Noah's cell. A week ago every prisoner except Noah was taken out. Since then the janitor had grown a habit of conversing with Noah to pass the loneliness down here.

"It is. Did you find out where the prisoners were taken?" Noah asked, focused on lifting the bucket in his prison cell with Gravity Manipulation.

"Nelio has declared war on Troy. The prisoners were taken to do the work of oarsmen."

{Huh!? Already!?} Cecilia shouted.

While Noah was stuck inside the prison, the world outside was moving toward the finale.

Noah asked, hoping he had enough time. "When will the army leave?"

"In two days." the janitor answered.

Noah was unsure of the extent of damage Troy could take before he failed the goal 'Defend Troy'.

Was it okay if half of Troy was eliminated?

What if he failed as soon as Nelio's army set foot on foreign soil?

'Dammit, I can't delay it anymore. I need to leave this prison before the soldiers depart for Troy.' thought Noah.

While Noah was calculating his best course of action, the janitor asked, "Are you planning to escape the prison?"

"..."

The Janitor removed his robe and broke the lock of the prison.

"It's you."

If Noah had a nickel for every time an unexpected person came to meet him, he would have two nickels. Which wasn't a lot but it was weird that it happened twice.

"Why is Karnork's advisor helping me?" Noah asked while preparing to fight.

The man was the very same person who stood beside Karnok, the king of Nelio, as his advisor during the hearing where Noah was sentenced to execution.

"I'm a spy of King Odysseus. Here take this and follow me. I'll explain along the way."

The man placed the 'Robe of Protection' and 'Training Cube' on the ground. Noah checked for other items and found nothing missing. He changed and followed behind.

"Call me Shadow." the man spoke.

Shadow moved further into the prison and stood against an unassuming wall. He pulled the lantern, causing the wall to split open.

The duo walked into the dark tunnel with a single lantern.

Shadow explained, "When you were caught, Achilles and King Odysseus saw you fighting those masked men. The reason you weren't tortured and your execution was a month later was to buy time for preparing a siege in case you were to retaliate.

He continued, "The royalty has been evacuated along with the citizens. The entire city has been turned into a fortress. You'll need to cross over three walls, thousands of soldiers and reach port. If you can do that, King Odysseus will help you from there."

"I didn't know I was valued as such a high-priority threat," Noah spoke while removing the cobwebs.

"You killed an elite opponent with a single word. Achilles also requested for you to be treated as a battalion level threat."

The tunnel ended with a door. Shadow held the doorknob and opened his mouth.

"Achilles is out of the city, you have 3 hours before he returns. If you can't reach the port in that duration, you can forget about escaping alive."

Moments before the door opened, Noah asked the doubt lingering in his mind. It didn't seem Shadow would follow him, so this was his last chance.

"Why are you helping me?"

"We are not helping you but using you as a diversion. Now get moving, time is of the essence."

Noah stepped out of the door and found himself at the foot of the mountain on top of which the castle was built.

Fwooosh!!!

Hundreds of magic spells were suddenly shot at Noah. And Shadow's voice entered his ears.

"Ah, since I got caught while bringing your items, they are aware of your escape. You don't need to run away stealthily."

'Tell me that first.'

Noah thought just as the barrage of spells struck.