Starting from Zero

Book 2, Chapter 18

Cape of Invisibility

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I followed the Undead Fighter towards the depth of the valley. What I saw along the road proved that it was a wise choice not to force my way in.

Inside their patrolling perimeter there are groups of Undead Fighters standing in square formations. All of them stay in a pit beside the valley. From the looks of it the pit is man-made, and I can't see the bottom of it. From my experience of last time I would guess there were above 100k of them. But according to what I am told in the future, the actual number is more than 10 million.

Across the area of Undead Fighter, is the territory of Undead Knights. My "guide" handed his duty (me) over to one of the Knights, explained something and left. Then I had to follow this Undead Knight towards deeper inside. I saw another similar pit, but this time there are all knights riding skeleton horses down there. I used [Identify] on the knight walking ahead of me. He is level 150!

Then they switched to another inner guard, a level 200 Dark Warrior. From then it just kept going like this. I met level 300 Dark Knights, level 400 Shadow Warriors, level 500 Phantom Knights, level 600 Dark Sanctuary Warriors, level 700 Dark Sanctuary Knights. I finally came to that Dark Sanctuary Knight Captain (*) the manager mentioned. And I think she trolled me yet again. This dude is level 750. I knew something was wrong when I saw those Dark Sanctuary Warriors. The minions are level 600 already, how can their captain be that level as well??

"You are the one who wanted to see me?" He asked loud and clear. The intimidating captain is wearing full black combat armor, sitting on fully black armored phantom horse.

"Eh? Ah, oh! Yes! It's me?" I can't even speak normally!

"What is your business? You brought a message from the Demon Marshal?"

"Huh? What? Message?" I got no messages! Is he talking about that Demon's Eye?

"That purple crystal."

"Oh. It's from the clothing store manager in Lost City. She asked me to come to you and bring a cape to her so she can learn how to make those."

"Is she alright?" The captain's voice is shaking now, like, crying. But his mask covered the entire face. I wouldn't see it even without the mask though, cause I have no idea if the dead can cry!

"She is fine! She seems happy to be with Clark, the owner of the weapon shop!"

"You don't say? Marshal Clark? (**) So they went together!" The captain seems excited for some reason, I can obviously see he's trembling now.

After a while he straightened his thoughts. "Ha-hahaha! Well those lovers do deserve to be! Clark gave up his position as a Marshal just for her. At least that's something I can't do! But I don't think I'm fit to sit as a Marshal either!" The captain suddenly looked at me. "Young man, how did you know them?"

"I'm close friend with Clark, and I just knew about the manager. But now you mentioned it, I should call her sister-in-law!"

"They sent you means they trusted you. And the Marshal always have a keen eye! I'll give you something. Use it well to achieve something great!"

He snapped his finger towards someone. A Dark Sanctuary Knight carefully brought a chest. The captain passed it to me, "This is one of Marshal's most favored item. He won't need it anymore though, it's yours now!"

"Don't mind if I do!" Free treasure is always welcomed! I took the chest but didn't open it. It would be bad manners if I appear too eager to see the gift! (***)

"I'll take my leave!"

But the captain stopped me before I can turn around. "You didn't refuse my gift proves you're not hypocritical, but you didn't open it right away means you're not obsessed with wealth. So that's why the Marshal trusted you. May I have the honor and become sworn brother with you?"

"Of course! That's all I could wish for!" This means I can call a level 750 boss as...my boss! No one dares to stop me now!

Later I knew that his name is Domergor. He agreed to send his men to help me whenever anyone dares to "bully" his brother. I fully trusted that. They say monkeys can defeat a tiger when in big numbers. And surely these men are not monkeys!

When we're done talking, I rushed straight out of the Dark Valley with the chest in my arms. But I realized something is off when I saw the Lost City. This is not right! I was sent to look for a cape. But instead I got a gift box and a brother, without doing my job!

Geez! Greed causes troubles. But I already left, of course I can't just return and ask for it! Sigh. I can go without cape anyway. It's just a few points of Defense.

I found a safe place and opened the chest. Wow looky here! It appears to be some sort of clothes, black, made with something like fabric. I touched it. It feels good, soft and shiny, definitely high-class material.

I spread it open and stood froze. Isn't this just a cape?! The cape is total black, with golden linings, with a strange magic symbol sewed in the center.

I looked at the attributes and I froze again. Phantom Cape, Artifact, durability 1000/1000, Defense grows with wearer's level (current is 120), movement speed + 20%, 50% chance to paralyze attacker for 3 seconds, wearer becomes totally invisible when standing still, and partially transparent when moving. Attributes change with wearer's level and attribute.

There is only one requirement: Your class must be Dark affinity.

Another Artifact! I have a whole lot of them now! I didn't quite understand the "partially transparent" part, so I tried it on.

Ohh, I look badass! The black cape drifts with the wind and feels really cool! The cape appears to be the big type, not those smaller ordinary cloth. It looks similar to those western wizard robes, with two braces on the shoulders which expand it even wider. There are buckles at the front, once buckled it will hide your entire body, no one will see what you are wearing inside. And there's even a hood attached to it. It reminds me of the robes worn by those scythe-wielding reapers. But this one looks brand new, instead of ragged and tattered.

I tried for a while but didn't figure out how the invisibility works, because I can't see myself anyway. So I decided to run back to Lost City with the robe on.

I came straight into the clothing shop, and Clark happened to be here too. Upon seeing my cape, Clark was obviously a bit shocked. Looks like he is really the "Demon Marshal" Domergor told me about. (He doesn't look like that type, though.) But he made no comment, so I chose not to reveal this matter either, if that's what he wants.

Still, I asked Clark to wear the cape so I can see the effect. Once worn, as long as Clark stays still I won't see any trace of him, even if he disappears right in front of my eyes. But when he moves I will see a transparent shape, which looks like when those Predators go invisible mode in those movies. I asked Clark to run back and forth in front of me, and I can only notice some small warp and twist in the light. Goddamit this skill is terrifying, I can just become an assassin in the future!

When we're done with the experiment, I left the cape with the mistress as we agreed. She will keep it for one day and learn to copy it. She didn't take back the Demon's Eye though, saying that I can keep it as reward. I need to take the cape before logging off at night, so I chose to grind up a bit near the forest outside the city. It soon became dark, and I've reached 103 with Lucky and Phantom just the same as me. I went to the mistress and logged off with my cape back.

I saw Wayne still in the game, so I didn't call him out, ate dinner and rested. The next morning, Wayne is still playing when I woke up. I wonder did he woke earlier, or didn't sleep at all?

The clock reads 9 am. Ugh, looks like I'm the late one. With some random snack down the throat, I entered the game too.

Time for further levels! I feel extremely good when battling with monsters. It's not because I'm violent or something though, but fighting will make me feel more like a man! Which...is quite luxurious, due to my nature. (****)

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(*) I confused "Dark Sanctuary" and "Hidden Palace" in previous sections. I will use the former from now on.

But again, I don't think this concept will appear often in the novel.

(**) I used "Chief" before, which was, wrong...

(***) Um, different culture I guess?

(****) Remember how the protagonist looks like a girl?

Oh and, don't worry too much about those balance-breaking minor attributes from his gear, like the paralyze one. The author will probably stop mentioning them in later battles.