Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

Kaizen hesitated for a moment before running after the figure who had helped him. As he considered his options, he knew that following this person would mean leaving behind the main goal of his mission in 'The Den': finding Adohorn. But now, with the masked mages on his tail, he had no choice.

With a sigh of disappointment, Kaizen ran towards the person who was helping him, quickly running through the crowd of onlookers.

Kaizen had to catch up to the yellow-eyed person before he lost sight of her, and she was very agile. So he didn't even bother to dodge the people in his path, he just pushed them hard. At one point, he went through an alternate gate on the second floor, which led him into more stinking sewer tunnels.

The darkness in these tunnels was almost total, and he had to concentrate to avoid tripping over the jagged stones, moss, and iron pipes along the way.

Directly behind him, the masked mages shouted and cursed at him, casting various spells to hit him, but Kaizen always dodged at the right moment, scaring them off. Few mages in all of Olaynore had reflexes strong enough to dodge like that, but they weren't surprised; after all, it was a psyker they were after, and they knew it.

Their spells also bounced off the stone walls of the sewers, creating sparks and briefly illuminating the darkness, inadvertently helping Kaizen.

Suddenly, the player spotted the yellow-eyed person rounding a corner and quickened his pace to catch him at the turn. As he turned that particular corner, he was surprised by a large diagonal drop that looked like a slide, or rather a toboggan, into complete darkness. Considering the speed at which Kaizen was running, he didn't even have time to decide whether or not to jump down this sled as he turned the corner and simply fell, just like in a cartoon.

Slipping quickly into the darkness, Kaizen felt the wind whip past his face as he glided, faster and faster. For a brief moment, he floated in the air before falling heavily to the ground on the other side. Even as he fell, he quickly stood up and looked around to make sure the yellow-eyed person was still in sight.

The masked mages also made it as far as the fall, but unlike Kaizen, they didn't fall because they were much slower than he was. Panting, they stared into the darkness, then exchanged glances.

"Which one of us will jump first?" One of them asked, looking at the other five.

"Are you serious about jumping? That is suicide, you know there is nothing down there, it is all dark and there is no way up, he will die or come back."

"Yes, you are right, but what if the boss..."

"That is not his problem. We've already dealt with the problem, let's just wait a while and see if he comes back."

Meanwhile, to Kaizen's surprise, as he got up from the ground and looked forward in search of his savior, she was standing right in front of him, on her back.

The person slowly turned to face him as well, and Kaizen could see that the bearer of the yellow eyes was actually a young woman with long black hair. She looked at him for a moment, said nothing, and then said in a low whisper:

"I know who you are, Psyker. And I know that you are looking for Adohorn."

Kaizen's obvious reaction was to arch his eyebrows in surprise, but he did not remain silent.

"And what exactly is it that you want from me? Why did you help me?" he asked.

"You are very direct. I like that. But I don't want anything from you, I just want to help you as much as I can."

"Why? I don't even know you."

She looked down with her eyes. "My grandfather used to tell fantastic stories about your people, Psyker, and he truly believed that one day you would come to Olaynore and change the fate of these lands. Imagine how I felt when I heard this story from his lips, listening intently as he told me how you would master chaos. I was only a child, but I remember it to this day. And I also believe that you can save this place, so I want to be here when it happens. The woman said, sounding sincere as she placed a hand on her chest and looked into Kaizen's eyes again.

The player closed his eyes, still suspicious. "I'm sorry, but it's hard to imagine that someone would help another person out of their own free will, without any particular selfish interest." He said.

She nodded. "You misunderstand me. I'm not altruistic or anything like that, in fact I'd rather see half the people in this town burn to death, but I know I shouldn't blame the fruit for tasting bad if it was born on a tree with a rotten, maggot-infested trunk. If you are truly able to change the fate of Olaynore, the people who will live the next generations, like me, will thank you."

"You seem to know a lot, much more than I do. If you want to help me so much, tell me more."

"I don't know how long you've been here, but I'm sure you've heard of Adohorn and the mages of the citadel. Incredibly, although they are all staunch extremists, they are practically waging a silent war right now. The notorious criminal operating in the shadows, Adohorn, wants to increase our contact with the outside world, expose Olaynore's existence to everyone, and end the slavery that exists here."

Kaizen refrained from commenting for the time being, although Adohorn's idea was not foolish.

"The mages on the third floor already want to keep Olaynore as a mage haven and ease the buying and selling of slaves for nobles. Adohorn seems like the obvious person to support, except he wants to do the right thing the wrong way, he controls the criminal underworld to create a foundation to spread his ideals, and thus has too much power and influence to start a civil war."

"In other words, he has decided to do things the easy way and theoretically quickly. He wants to create a revolution."

"Yes, but if things continue like this, the members of the Citadel Council may declare war on him, and then war will be imminent in the City of Tears. Tens of thousands will die through no fault of their own, I'm sure of it."

"However, I am sure that this is just his Plan B," Kaizen said.

"How so?"

"As far as I know, Adohorn is searching for 'the' book from the legends of the Library of the Magi that gives its bearer the power to grant any wish. If he can get it, and the legends match reality, nothing can stop him."

"Damn, that explains why he's so missing..." She started pacing anxiously. "I know, we have to stop him before it's too late. He didn't come to watch the fight today, he's probably busy with something else, and I know exactly where he usually hides."

"Where?"

"Ah! I forgot you were a foreigner. Listen, as unlikely as it may seem, there is a place in the City of Tears where it never rains."

"A place where it never rains?"

"Yes. That's the Drowned District, or rather, the district of the city's nobles. No wonder that this is the place in the whole city that is most closely watched by the military, and that is exactly why Adohorn hides there, under the nose of the authorities and the best place to make important contacts."

The moment she mentioned it, Kaizen thought quickly, and after gathering all the clues as to what the place she was talking about could be, he came to a conclusion and asked:

"Wait, the place where it never rains is the damn lake?"

The woman snapped her fingers and looked at Kaizen in awe. "Correct answer. That's why it's called the Drowned District, the houses are in a submerged district. You have a quick mind. So? What are you waiting for? We have to go to him right away and convince him one way or another to stop what he is doing."

"Relax, there's no need to be in such a hurry, I understand that now. If Adohorn is really as powerful as they say, I need to prepare myself and talk to a certain someone in case things get out of hand, and I happen to know just the right creature to help me with that."

"Creature?"

"The guardian of the Forest of the Lost."

The woman raised her eyebrows in obvious surprise. "You mean the legendary guardian that protects the Forbidden Forest? The same one that no one has seen or heard of for hundreds of years?"

"Yes, the very same," Kaizen confirmed.

...

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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