From Player To Npc

After having some more small talk and making sure that White Biscuit was fully informed about what they planned to do, Shingi wrote and gave Quick Thunder a list of items they would need. Some of them were quite expensive, but for those Guilds, it would be no problem to cover the cost.

To tell the truth, Shingi could gain these items either with the help of Ardent or Master Jax, but getting them through the Guilds was better to test them. He told them about the discovery of the Dungeons not appearing out of nowhere, and it seemed like they preexisted, that they should have a connection with the Tower and that they should investigate them.

As an NPC, different Guilds could recruit him, but only if the two weren't at war, and only if the first active Guild he is a recruit at agreed on joining the other Guild. Shingi could end the recruitment if he wanted unless it was by contract, which tent to have special cases for one to leave. He didn't have a contract with Marcy, but Quick Thunder, who wanted to recruit him to communicate through the chat system, wanted him to sign one.

Shingi had asked him to make some changes to it, as he gave him a typical form they gave in these cases. It had a few restrictions that seemed simple, but Shingi knew that the Players had used them to force their recruited NPCS on fulfilling tasks.

Changing the contract would take time, but they should be ready before they had everything ready for opening the way to the Tower.

White Biscuit joined Shingi and went back to the shop, but he wasn't allowed in the forge. He could technically be his brother, but he was still a member of one of the most powerful Guilds. He had secrets in the forge room that he wanted to keep like that, like some of the rune improvements they had done to it.

Volig was hard-working to finish today's orders as also some that were planned for tomorrow. He wanted to clear the schedule for the new project Shingi mentioned.

Both of them would be necessary for it to succeed, and Shing just passed to make certain when he would be ready to start.

He didn't plan to start it today as he would be useless at helping at his current state, no matter how much his senses had improved. However, some skills needed him to use his eyes, and crafting was one of them.

Volig told him that they should safely start working on that project from next week, as he planned to clear the schedule of those days as much as possible.

Shingi nodded to him and left, going back to the Dungeon. White Biscuit again joined him, and fortunately, he had an AGI-based class to keep up with Shingi.

After making it into the Dungeon and reached the seemingly dead end, Whiter Biscuit seemed confused about them being there.

Shingi used the secret knock, telling the Oozes to open the secret door.

As it started opening, Shingi knew that his new party member was confused, but he explained nothing and just motioned him to follow as he went into the secret room and down toward the lab.

As they went down the stairs, they started hearing some noise that they soon both recognized for what it was.

Those were moans, and Shingi was actually familiar with them; it was Ardent's.

'Don't tell me he made more of those Oozes.' [Shingi]

Shingi remembered when he first heard Ardent making that kind of noise, but it wasn't like the time they spent together and not like the ones she made now. Actually, the ones she made now were pretty close to those of that night.

White Biscuit seemed to feel awkward after hearing those sounds, as it seemed he was familiar with the reason one could make them.

"Just stay here. I may have to beat some sense to a few people." [Shingi]

He got in the lab and headed toward the other room as the voices of the two people expressing their excitement was getting louder.

Shingi didn't know if he had to stop them or just let it be. But it was weird that Ardent acted like that, and by the voices, he was certain that her partner was Zhen. The two of them had some dates, but he didn't notice any further intimacy between the two.

Still, he could never get a good reading on Ardent or understand her way of thinking completely in most situations.

Shingi entered the room, and for the first time, he was happy that he was blind.

He coughed to get their attention, but it seemed like they were too much into the moment to notice him. It seemed though that they were close to the climax of their activity, so he considered it useless to stop them at this point.

As it reached its end, he could hear both of their heavy breathing, especially Zhen's. But then finally they noticed him in the room.

"How… how long are you here?" [Ardent Scythe]

"Just got here. Finished with your sparring?" [Shingi]

Shingi wanted to save the awkward moment, so he tried to pass it as he thought of them sparring with each other.

"Spar…. oh yes. That's exactly what we did. SPARRING. I mean, there isn't anything else we could possibly do." [Ardent Scythe]

She started dressing herself, but Shingi acted like he didn't notice.

"Zhen, it is good to see that you train your body. A man needs to stay strong in mind and body." [Shingi]

"Well. I am all on training like that… "[Zhen]

Shingi detected that Ardent had hit him in the middle of his first sentence with her elbow, but he tried to make it look like he didn't notice.

"I mean, you are right. I need to do my exercises more regularly. Did you want to talk about something? Or want to call more Oozes to train with you?" [Zhen]

"I brought a new friend to meet. Also, I want you to get us to the same room you found me." [Shingi]

Zhen nodded and headed towards the lab, followed by Shingi, leaving Ardent behind, who was still getting dressed. She tried not to make any sudden movements or sounds, so Shingi couldn't know what she was doing. But she didn't know that he could see her aura as a Blessed One, which was the same as seeing her body, so he could tell what movements she was doing.

Zhen continued walking toward another wall, which he tapped to open another secret door that led into another part of the Dungeon.

"Who is that?" [White Biscuit]

"I am sorry, but I can't answer that. For now, consider him our guide." [Shingi]

"Then where does he guide us at?" [White Biscuit]

Shingi hadn't gone to full detail about the room in the dungeon yet to anyone, as he still investigated it. He was certain there was a connection, but he hadn't found it yet. He had asked Zhen if he knew something, but he told him that 'he had no such knowledge that he could share with him.

Shingi considered it weird that he worded like that and seemed to be one more of the things his master forbade him to do.

Shingi was confident that something magically made him follow these rules, making it impossible to do something about it. There was so sign on Zhen's body of a rune that could be the source of a seal, meaning it was a Top Master Grade Spell or maybe even a Grandmaster Grade one.

Shingi still wasn't certain if Mikhail was behind it or had anything to do with Zhen's master, but a lot of the signs seemed to indicate to be the case.

It didn't take them long to reach the hole of the underwater tunnel that led to the room.

"Come on. Grab my hand, and I will get you there. Or do you want to stay here?" [Zhen]

Shingi grabbed Zhen's hand and motioned his new teammate also to do so.

White Biscuit was a bit reluctant, but in the end, he did as Shingi told him to do.

They both turned into mist and appeared instantly in the room.

Shingi could feel the lack of mana in the room.

"Why are we here again?" [White Biscuit]

White Biscuit couldn't use any magic, so he couldn't feel the special effect of the room, other than the air being a little thicker than normal.

"We are here to train, and investigate. Well, I will train while you investigate." [Shingi]

Shingi went to the middle of the room and sat at his meditative stance.

"Wait, wait. Investigate for what? What are we looking for?" [White Biscuit]

Shingi didn't speak for a bit, as it seemed like he was thinking about his response.

"I am not sure myself. But you should know it when you find it. So let's both start our tasks without impeding each other." [Shingi]

White Biscuit didn't know how to respond, and he started examining the walls. How difficult could it be to fully examine a small room like that?