Being the creator of Kings Glaive and having literally build the entire map and terrain from scratch I knew almost everything about all of the major cities and places that had either huge story importance or special events even minor towns and villages were in my recollection even if briefly, in other words just like how I knew where the hidden rooms were inside the sewers I also knew what was within the prison city of the white island.
Ordinarily when the player gets to this island there will be only 2 special ways to leave without using a ship, of course high level [Gray Mages] or [Cosmomancers] could easily just teleport out but in all likelihood none of the people who have these classes would ever step into the island in the first place if they didn’t have a specific reason.
This leaves those less fortunate and without the ability to force their way out, to seek the special ways to escape both of which are actually the same method only located in different parts of the island.
They are in the most blandest way simple [Teleportation Circles], they are similar to the [Warp Gates] Sonnia had mentioned before, similar in the way that both work on the same principle and that they can cover enormous distances within a single second.
But the main difference between these two is that the [Teleportation Circles] can only transport 6 individuals with limited luggage at the same time while [Warp Gates] can transport unlimited amount of people and objects as long as the [Warp Gate] is active, and to activate a [Teleportation Circle] or a [Warp Gate] one needs to either have incredible amount of mana or have a ton of [Magic Stones] to fuel the process which is why most [Merchants] never use [Warp Gates] since the expenditure of a single use would most of the time be too much to bear and maybe even cause the [Merchant] to go bankrupt.
Luckily the 2 [Teleportation Circles] located on the island are both fully stocked with [Magic Stones] meaning they can be used immediately without an issue, the only problem here is the way to get to them, as one of the [Teleportation Circles] is located inside the prison directors office and the other in the deepest part of the pestilence cavern.
Entering the prison directors office to use the [Teleportation Circle] to escape, would require to distract the prison director together with the wardens or get rid of the director first, either of which is impossible without thorough planning or huge strength.
This leaves only the [Teleportation Circle] that is located in the deepest part of the pestilence cavern, but this while easier still has its own share of challenges, the first hurdle being the [Barrier] that is put up around the entrance that only allows the prisoners inside, since I am not a prisoner I don’t have the tattoo on my wrist that allows me entrance, but digging into the cavern can be done and with my [Phantom Eyes] I could easily dig to the place I want without getting lost, it will take time but it is possible.
Of course just because I will be able to enter doesn’t mean things will be easy from there on, naturally there is a reason as to why there even exists a [Teleportation Circle] in the very depths of the cavern as it was once build by the creator of the cavern who was also responsible for the creation of the [Pestilence Ore] in the first place, a heinous [Necromancer].
On my way to that [Teleportation Circle] I will encounter many traps and monsters who still to this day continue to guard the [Necromancers] laboratory, the density of the pestilence fumes are also much more concentrated bellow meaning my [Scavenger] racial ability will start to become more and more ineffective the further I go down, even though I am highly resistant to sickness I am still not completely immune but still I am sure that I am resistant enough to hold on until I activated the [Teleportation Circle] and got out of there.
This plan in my estimation would have likely took between 1 and a half to 2 years to accomplish which doesn’t include the amount of time I would need to level up and train my body, gather information, tools and other knick knacks to even begin the operation, summing up the total of time needed to be between 3 to 4 years if things went smoothly.
It was a shaky plan really and more something I had just thought about on the go in the back of my head while I trained and went out hunting, seriously considering a escape plan when I didn’t even have the assets nor the strength to accomplish it is a big mistake which is why I didn’t seriously think about it before I judged that I had enough strength.
All of this of course changed with the arrival of Sonnia and Milky, the moment I came to know that Sonnia was a [Merchant] a high level one at that, a idea sprouted within my mind or more precisely a event that was soon going to happen after 1 year on this island.
But before I talk about that, I’d like to first explain the way the people of this world document time and dates.
Very out of topic I know but bear with me.
Its not really different from my old world, there are minutes that make up hours to days which are then formed into weeks, months and then years. The only difference here is that a month is exactly 30 days making a year exactly 360 days divided by 4 seasons each lasting for 90 days or 3 months.
The world of Orbis does not have a one unified calendar or time system that everyone abides by which is why each civilization or country just follows their own timeline, most countries do share dates but only those who are in a friendly relation to one another so they can more accurately chronicle history and everything related to them essentially validating each other to make sure events happened as they were written and could be proven.
Its because of this that its difficult to tell when, what happened exactly without having some other document to validate another and so on and so forth, fortunately for me I know exactly what year it was on a global scale since without a global calendar it would be difficult to build the game properly.
The way I remember what date and time it was, was through simply remembering at what date the hidden character starts the game since it never changes, counting the time I had already spent in this world I knew for certain that the current year was the 8th of July 3992, keep this date in mind since its important.
The industrial revolution had just recently swept through the Imperia continent, many inventions combining magic and machinery, or even just pure machinery were being displayed all over the most prosperous parts of the continent and from Sonnia’s account even trains had already been publicized.
Honestly I already knew all of these things happening just by recalling my memories which is why I also knew that after 1 year another big reveal by the Gastel empire will take place, no different from the banquet Sonnia had previously attended, the Gastel empire was about to unveil their most crowning achievement right after the revelation of the train which was already the talk of the continent.
And this achievement was, the Airship.
While the buzz was still going on the Gastel empire intended to use this fire they sparked to create a even bigger fire that would make them known everywhere through the use of their Airship ergo make them even more influential essentially strengthening the empire through the invisible power called fame.
More recognition brings in more profit, adding to their newly developed transportation methods the empire was soon going to swim in money if they already weren’t and with the reveal of this new vehicle they were now hoping that they could make even more to get enough funds to increase their military and overwhelmingly seize their opposing neighbor the Kelritt empire.
I knew the outcome of this but for now it was not important which is why I wasn’t going to mention it.
-Hmm…leaving out the fact that you somehow known that the empire is going to show case this Airship on this island the next year…If I didn’t already know better I would have started to think that you weren’t just a simple forest dweller as you have claimed Master~!
Sonnia smiled at me, her smile bright as the sun itself but hiding a dark shadow underneath as she tried to read my expression, for a moment I could even feel a threatening atmosphere where there shouldn’t be one, but I easily shook it off, her attempt on reading me was futile but funny nonetheless, and Sonnia realized it too, she couldn’t make me talk to no matter what even though she must have had hundreds of questions right now from how I knew this information to who I really was, there was no way I would ever answer any of those with the way things were now, on the surface it looked like we were getting along and in some respect it was true, but deep down we still mistrusted each other be it because of my mature thought process or because of Sonnia’s nature as a [Merchant], neither of us wanted to give away something that the other could use.
-Yeah, I also think its strange, but since Master doesn’t want to say I am not going to ask him, Sonnia I am sure Master has his reasons just like we have our own and in my opinion right now we should focus more on the escape then question each other, I for one don’t care who Master is as long as he is our partner !
Hearing Milky say something interesting once again both me and Sonnia got a little bit out of flow and quickly averted out gaze.
-You really have a talent to say the most interesting things at the most interesting times.
-Well she is Milky after all, it was me who gave her that name since she always seems to have clouds inside her head whenever she is even slightly relaxed.
Sonnia and I laughed, the laughing sound dissolving the once heavy atmosphere that surrounded us, Milky on the other hand didn’t look like she enjoyed us laughing at her and seemed to have taken it as a insult lightly sulking and saying things like “Hey, as I said before I am not stupid even I know a few things”.
Sonnia pacified her sulking friend which worked splendidly as she quickly got back to her work on skinning the rats for our breakfast.
After being done with Milky, Sonnia also scooted back towards me, our talk wasn’t over after all and even though we had a bit of a confrontation we pretended as if it didn’t happen and just continued talking.
Building a relationship took time, there were many things we couldn’t say to one another or reveal, in Sonnia’s case I could already somewhat tell that it was a touchy subject while in my case I just simply couldn’t say anything at all without causing some real shock to her and potential damage to myself, the only thing we could do now was trust in one another and build this foundation brick by brick.
It was fortunate that I hadn’t done anything that made her mistrust or hate me, Milky was also very important for all of this to work since her blunt and honest personality helped balance our troublesome personalities.
-So, how are we going to do this ?
Sonnia asked, not even doubting that I didn’t have a plan as she got all earns, her attitude also turned lax again just like how we conversed the very first time.
I liked that side of hers far more which is why I couldn’t help but smile when I replied.
-Of course I have a plan, but for now don’t you wanna hear why the Airship is being revealed on this horrible island in the first place ?
Sonnia thought for a moment, holding her chin as she spoke lightly.
-Can’t say I hadn’t wondered about that, after all it should be similar to the previous banquet planned by the Gastel empire when they revealed the train right ? That time it was held inside a beautiful mansion next to the foot of a mountain where the rails were set, going by this wouldn’t they do the same for the Airship ? Instead of going to somewhere like here where the air is poisonous and the land is inhabited by criminals ?
I nodded, agreeing with her reasoning but also adding something myself.
-Yes, indeed, but that is only if the reveal was going to be a ordinary banquet like the last one, how about this, lets say you were in the empire’s shoes how would you make this reveal ?
Sonnia seemed a bit confused, but she complied anyways as she thought about it before giving me her answer.
-Well first of all, it hasn’t been long since the train was revealed, the fact that the empire is going to reveal another vehicle, a flying machine nonetheless so soon just after revealing the train does not make sense to me since if it was me I would continue to keep the fever that was caused by the train to keep going, I would only reveal the existence of the Airship when the buzz around the train would start to die down which at the minimum would need 3 or 5 years to happen, so when I finally do show off the Airship I can continue gather recognition at a solid pace which is far more beneficial in the long run to my business and my profits, the only case in where I would do the things the empire is intending to do now is when I am in need to quickly gather some expenses in a short amount of time, but then why would do the empire need to…wait !
A small shock seemed to run down Sonnia as she seemed to have noticed something abnormal with her reasoning, and she most likely was right with her assumption too, her business know how and keen sense of money was all it took for her to figure all of this out.
She looked at me, staring at me as if she wanted to crack open my skull and see what was inside my brain, she didn’t say anything and I couldn’t see her eyes but her glare was intense far more intense then it was before piercing through her blindfold.
Finally she spoke, her voice somewhat shaky.
-Good god, with whom did I just make a [Contract] with…
Hearing her say this I couldn’t help but laugh.
-You know what, that’s exactly what I said too.
She sighed, her palm to her face making me laugh even more as I couldn’t help but think that we were somewhat similar to one another.
A Place Of Legends 