Chapter 81 - Alliance, and Abandoned Mine

The leader of the Dagger & Coffin guild, one of the biggest assassin guilds on the server and the biggest in the Kingdom of Aldora. It was the first time Arthur had come face to face with a player who held that much influence.

Standing beside the guild leader were two more members, both Rogues as well, silent as they kept watch over him.

’There are definitely others lurking around somewhere.’

Arthur kept fishing and only turned his head to face the guild leader.

"Dagger," he said, "come sit by the lake with me."

Dagger was the guild leader. He was a young man who looked to be in his early twenties, with jet-black hair slicked back. Pretty stylish, honestly. He carried an air of mystery that was hard to shake off.

He walked toward the lake and sat down on the ground between Arthur and Point Blank. With no chair around, he simply crossed his legs on the grass by the water.

The two players with him started to follow, but he raised a hand.

"Stay there. This is a private conversation."

With just those few words, the two players nodded and walked off.

"Such a big shot," Arthur joked, his eyes fixed on the bobber of his fishing rod. "What brings you here?"

Dagger stayed quiet for a moment, staring at the vast lake in front of him. The water here was different, tinted a deeper green, and it caught his attention, almost hypnotizing him.

"Can she hear our conversation?" Dagger asked, referring to Point Blank, who sat beside him so tense she could barely breathe. "Do you trust her?"

Point Blank turned her head and looked at Arthur, as if waiting for the answer to that question. As if she wanted to know how much she really mattered to him.

"Yes, I trust her."

Just a few words, but enough to make Point Blank feel a warmth spread through her chest. For the first time in a long while, someone was treating her well. The feeling of belonging to a team, of being a piece that actually made a difference, was priceless to her.

"I’ll get straight to the point."

"Please," Arthur replied, still looking at his fishing rod, as if hooking a fish mattered more than the conversation itself.

"I’m not looking to recruit you, but I’d like to form an alliance. How about having access to my guild’s contacts? I can pass along useful information, and you can use our services whenever you need. A solo player like you could end up in trouble at some point."

Arthur finally looked at him, studying his face and trying to figure out what was going on in Dagger’s mind. He liked the idea of having a big guild’s backing, of course. Who wouldn’t? But what did Dagger want in return? That was the question running through his head.

He wasn’t naive enough to believe Dagger would help for free.

"And what do you want?" Arthur asked, getting straight to the point as well. "I’m not sure I have much to offer."

Dagger gave a faint smile.

"Not much," Dagger said, his gaze back on the lake. "Just your help when I need it. For example, I’d like you to join my party for the dungeon, and I might need you for other important quests."

Arthur hadn’t expected that kind of request. Honestly, it wasn’t a bad deal for him. A powerful guild had his back when he needed it, and all they wanted in return was his help on missions? Where was the downside? Completing those missions would earn Arthur rewards too, so as far as he could tell, it was all upside.

"But why me? I’m sure there are plenty of talented players who could help you."

"None of them are as talented or as mysterious as you. I know you know that. No need to be humble."

Lost in thought, Arthur couldn’t decide whether to accept. Dagger was right that a solo player like him would eventually need help, especially once the big guilds started hunting him down and making his life miserable. Having Dagger & Coffin behind him could make a real difference.

"I accept your offer," he answered, "but I want our alliance kept secret. I imagine you want that too, since your guild operates in the shadows."

Dagger rose to his feet, thoroughly pleased. He was practically beaming now that Arthur had accepted.

"Splendid," Dagger said. "I’ll send you a friend request. See you around, Cinder."

He left without another word. Point Blank let out a breath the moment he was gone.

"That guy scares me," she said. "Are you sure working with him is a good idea? Do you really need his help?"

Until that moment, she had seen Arthur as a player who could do anything he wanted on his own, without anyone’s help. Strong, skilled, independent.

"It could be useful to have him as an ally. His guild’s assassins are scattered everywhere, and they’ll definitely come in handy for gathering information and passing it along to us."

In fact, it didn’t take long for the alliance to bear fruit. Arthur had caught about five different fish, raising his Fishing level to 3, when a message from Dagger popped up in his friends list.

"Saw a group of furious players heading toward the lake. I think they’re angry about you monopolizing the dungeon. Better get out of there. I believe they want to kill you."

Point Blank noticed he was reading a message.

"What happened?" she asked.

"How do you feel about a little pegasus ride?"

Arthur summoned the Cloud Chaser and climbed on. He let Point Blank take the front seat, wrapped his arms around her waist to grab the reins, and took off into the sky, soaring away.

About five minutes after he left, the players reached the lake.

"Where is he? Where’s that bastard?"

"How did he know we were coming? One of you ratted us out, didn’t you? Who’s the traitor?"

The group that had come to kill him ended up fighting among themselves by the lake... Arthur was already far away, flying his pegasus toward a nearby mountain.

The mountain had a cave with ore to mine, ore that would come in handy for the elven armors he was about to craft. After his first dungeon run, Arthur already had 2 blueprints, and he’d surely get more by clearing the dungeon again.

The mine was hidden behind dense vegetation, and reaching it required a flying mount like his. Getting there any other way was practically impossible and would take forever.

Arthur knew the locations of several important spots that required a flying mount, and as the only player with one, he intended to take advantage of every single one.

"How do you know about this place?" Point Blank asked as soon as she hopped off the Cloud Chaser. "Don’t tell me you came here during the beta too?"

It was obvious she was teasing him about the beta testing, as if she didn’t really believe the things Arthur said. He noticed it too, but it wasn’t like he was going to tell her the truth.

"I have my contacts, you know," he said. "I’m going to mine some ore, like I told you, and there are some nice monsters to kill in there. We can level up a bit until the others log in and we go do the dungeon."

This was the first time Arthur was actually going to that mine. He knew about plenty of locations in the game from reading the forums and watching other players’ photos and videos, but that didn’t mean he’d visited all of them, especially since many were early-game areas, so it made little sense to go back to them now that he was stronger.

Then, as he got close to the mine entrance, he noticed a cabin near it.

"Looks like someone lived here," Point Blank pointed out. "Maybe the miners’ house? I say lived because it looks abandoned, but who knows."

It was supposed to be abandoned, yes. Arthur stepped inside the cabin to take a look. The interior was a mess, as if someone had torn the place apart searching for something specific, which instantly piqued his curiosity.

’Is there a quest here?’ he thought.

Arthur searched the cabin too, in case he found anything. Point Blank helped him, as always.

"Nothing interesting here." Arthur sounded disappointed. "I thought there’d be something."

Before they could even leave the cabin, a scream echoed from inside the mine.

"Help! Help! Anybody there? Please, help me!"

It was a man’s voice, by the sound of it. It was coming from deep inside the mine.

Arthur frowned. He had believed the mine was abandoned, but apparently the information he had wasn’t 100% accurate. Players hid a lot of things, so maybe the reports and information he had read during his past life weren’t complete.

"Want to go check it out?" Point Blank asked.

"Of course. Let’s go."

The two headed toward the mine entrance, following the cries for help, with no idea whether it was someone truly in need of rescue, or something else...