Infinite Realm

(AN : I have been using my phone to write for awhile so as usual, you might have noticed a few errors here and there. Notify me of any please..)

Earlier on after Sinland had wiped out the last player group they encountered and were about to open the door-like gate, they discovered that the gate was closed. There was a little keyhole on the door and apart from that, there was nothing else, not even a handle.

Seeing as they couldn't go any further without unlocking the door, the captain of Sinland ordered the team to begin searching for the key. After quite sometime of continuous searching and scouring, Faded Wings found the key in a small chest that was stored in a hidden compartment.

As an Assassin class player, she had greater visibility and perception than the other players. Also, Faded Wings was a meticulous person in nature. With all these features combined, it was reasonable to understand why she discovered the secret compartment.

"Captain, here it is." Faded Wings handed the key to their guild captain.

The key was bronze in colour with a streamline design. There were a few indentations on the key forming a weird fissure-like pattern on it. It flowed from the key's head to it's tip. The indentations were painted a bright yellow colour. At the head of the key, a very small red gem was engraved on it.

Taking the key, the captain plugged it into the keyhole and twisted it for one full clockwise rotation.

*Cluck*

Once he completed it, a mechanical cluck sounded out as the red gem on the key's head glowed brilliantly. Suddenly, the gem began to melt to form a viscous liquid similar molten lava. The molten liquid gem flowed through the indented ridges going past the key's tip and entering the locking mechanism of the door. Despite being hidden within the door, a faint red glow was still visible as the entire door slowly lit up like a Christmas tree before abruptly turning dark.

"Isn't it weird how wild goblins possess such advanced technology?" Riddled Tree asked though his question wasn't aimed at anyone. Even more so, he wasn't expecting an answer.

Pondering on his words, the captain grimaced a bit before his thoughts were interrupted by a loud 'clink'.

"Prepare yourselves." The captain mouthed out two words before staring at the door. Taking a step forward, he placed his two hands on the door before slowly applying force on it, pushing the door open.

As the door slowly opened, the team tightened their grip on their various weapons, raising their alertness level to the highest. But this action of their was for naught as when the door fully opened, they were greeted with the sight of large hall with no living being present. No, that was wrong. There were a few living beings there but they were engaged in a battle.

"Looks like we're late." Riddled Tree smiled bitterly.

The two parties currently battling with each other were both bipedal anthropoids. However one of them was a bunch of true humans while the other party was a bunch of big and ugly looking creatures. Similar to the trolls Sinland saw above, these ones were muscular but they were differentiated from the ones above by one feature, a lone short horn. Though the horn is said to be short,that is just in consideration to the overall size of the trolls. It was at least 1 meter in length if measured.

The players were battling 3 of these creatures or rather, 3 of these one-horned trolls and though they were having a somewhat hard time keeping up, they still held a slight advantage over them. Even more so for the team of two players who totally decimated one of the trolls on their own.

"So what do we do now captain?" Faded Wings looked at the man who led them through thick and thin and always had a solution.

"Participating now would be pointless. As there's already a team here, why don't we let them deal with the obstacles for us. Riddled, block our signals from them.

"For now, we wait."

. . . . .

"Players?" Chesces asked with a frown.

"Yes." Kylian replied in a concise manner.

"How many are they and how long do you think they have been there?" Chesces asked again.

"I didn't get a proper lock on their signatures just in case there was a druid with them so I don't know. But I'd guess around 5-7 players. As for how long they have been there, I don't know."

Druids not only have an extremely keen intuitive to mana but they are also sensitive to mana tracking. In other words, once a druid, druid A, is trying to use the nature element present to sense for another druid, druid B's location, druid B would be able to perceive the act due to his/her high awareness to mana especially nature-type mana.

So if Kylian tried to probe the other party, their druid (who unknown to him was present in the form of Riddled Tree) would be able to pick up his probing actions and notify their commander. So rather than alerting the group, Kylian felt it was best to inform his leader, Chesces.

The only reason why he was able to get a reading on their mana signals was because sometime ago, Sinland had approached closer to  the group and Riddled Tree had experienced a relapse in concentration when blocking out their(Sinland) mana signals. The escaped mana eventually reached Kylian's active range and because he was on high alert the entire period of the battle, Kylian was able to interpret the readings as a player's mana signal.

"Did you tell anyone else about this?"

"No captain." Kylian answered right away.

"Good." Chesces nodded. "For now don't let anyone know, I'll handle it."

"Okay." Although he was confused as to why Chesces decided to keep it a secret, it didn't stop Kylian from doing as ordered. After all, Chesces was often regarded as the guild's pride in tactics and strategy.

After the team had taken their break, which Chesces had shortened from the initial 2 minute mark, and were about to join up with Sato and Fudo, they all received a message from Chesces, who already being aware of their identities, easily sent them the message. The only exception to this was Sato and Fudo but Chesces treated it as if they were to blame as they had kept their identities a secret even till now.

[[ System notification :

Message from Chesces : We are being monitored by some other players. Act natural and ignore them. Await my signal later on.

]]

"We're being monitored?" Swift Blade frowned. "What do we do?"

"Of course we have to find them and eliminate them fast. Just staying put would give them the upper hand right? Now that those guys are keeping the boss busy why don't we go for their heads?" Dream Tiger sounded annoyed but he was still smart enough to keep his head cool and lower his voice in order to avoid alerting the hidden figures.

Old Jiro frowned too. From the way he saw it, it was better to handle the pests now before things got out of hand. He really didn't understand why Chesces had put it off for later. Even if Sato and Fudo couldn't handle the boss for long, they could send them reinforcements while the rest would attack the ambushers. To him, anything would be better than leaving behind a potential threat.

"It doesn't matter. He's the leader for this raid and he shouldn't be so stupid as not to realise this. Maybe he has a better plan. After all he is known as the Emperor's 5th hand."

'The Hands of the Emperor'. These are all important positions held by certain players of Emperor's Might. Unlike the elder rank, the hands of the Emperor can be given to a non-elder player. If anything, elder rank players aren't allowed to hold the title as a 'Hand'.

Chesces is one of the very few individuals to hold the rank as a 'Hand of the Emperor', having the 5th rank. Even though it is just the 5th rank, one shouldn't take it lightly as apart from the guild leader, vice guild leaders and elder figures, Chesces is the 7th most valued player of the guild. What even makes him even more important is that he got this title not just with his strength as a 'false King' but also with his brain as a tactician.

The reason why he is 7th rank rather than 5th is because before the numbered ranks, there exists the 'Left and Right Hands of the Emperor.'

"I have a feeling that this mission would take longer than expected."