The Insider System

Updated from 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝓮𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝙢

Summoning his arrears to block all the incoming attacks, Lake thanked his luck that none of the people surrounding him were using Light magic because while their attacks probably wouldn't kill or hurt him, he couldn't be so sure for the items he was carrying in his bag and Light magic would have reached him before he could block it.

He'd spent a lot of time on his list, so it getting destroyed by a simple spell would have made him mad enough to possibly kill the people here instead of just running the second he touched the Third Eye.

After blocking all the spells, Lake found a chance to jump and used Ghost Touch on the floor, but when the girl didn't fall through, he climbed through instead, assuming more spells from the people below were heading his way.

Once on the other side, Lake saw the girl he was fighting for the Third Eye near the stairs, clearly about to go down to chase after him. After they made eye contact, a beam of light left her hand and flew toward him. Lifting his barriers to cover his face and body, Lake started to close the distance as fast as he could, knowing there wasn't a better way for him to win this fight.

Slamming into the girl, both of them fell down into the staircase, and knowing that he would soon get surrounded again, Lake used Fast Hands to touch the Third Eye before kicking one of his legs to send himself towards one of the walls where he used ghost touch to pass through.

Emerging outside, Lake was 20 ft in the air, so he cast Fly and headed away from the Fortress. It didn't take very long for him to leave the range of the eye, but they were still thinking about him, so he continued to run until he felt their attention almost all the way gone.

Finding a place to sit, Lake quickly summoned the Third Eye to him even though he knew it would be much safer for him to wait until he was back at the guild. He just couldn't help himself; this item had let a young mage keep up with him while he'd been going close to his top speed, which meant its bonus to perception had to be much higher than even Mizzly's bow.

Feeling it appear in his hand, the first thing Lake noticed was this item was, in fact, a Mana Vessel like the book had said it was. It was already full, though, so he wondered how to empty it so he could fill it with his mana. "I'll just ask Felg later." Using inspect next, Lake did his best to sort through all the information until he had a list that told him everything he needed to know.

Third Eye Lv.61

Mana Vessel (459/500)

Increases perception by 50%

Capable of using all ocular skills for free

When placing the amulet on your forehead, you can transmit thoughts to those you make eye contact with.

Lake was sure there were other abilities this thing had, as it was level 61, but that wasn't important because it would be inside Inner Vault, meaning the actual effects didn't matter. "Wait, this thing's stolen, so won't the 50% increase be 100 instead?"

Taking a health potion out, Lake threw the Third Eye in as fast as possible, but instead of looking at the new bonuses, Lake looked at a popup that appeared the second the Third Eye went inside Inner Vault. [Mission: Gather nine more items of at least level 60 and fill Inner Vault. Reward: 1 Insider Exp (accept/deny)]

Seeing he had the option to deny this quest if he wanted, Lake guessed his relationship with the Insider had changed now that he'd reached level one, but Lake didn't see a reason to ever say no to a mission he would probably complete anyway. Items around level 60 seemed rare, but he already had plans to get some once he found a book that cataloged them.

If Lake wanted, he could use Detector to have it bring him to as many level 60 items as he wanted, but with each one, the odds of running into someone who could kill him were pretty high, so Lake wanted to wait till he was stronger to make sure nothing like that happened.

Missions didn't have a time limit, though, so he could still take it and continue at his own pace. Hitting accept, Lake switched his attention to see the effects of the Third Eye.

Lv.61 Third Eye (Unowned)

+100% Perception

-100% Cost For Skills That Scale Off Of Perception

+Thought Projection

+1000 Max mana

After Lake finished reading all of the bonuses, he finally thought back to the fortress he stole the eye from. The existence of such a place and the situation inside were both weird because why would a large number of Mages be living in the forest led by someone who owned an item like the eye?

It was really too bad they had met in such a way because he'd love to be able to go back and ask what they were up to, but he guessed he would just have to settle for telling Lucas about it later. Lucas seemed to know almost everything that happened in the Holy Domain, so Lake didn't see why this would be any different.

Standing up, Lake started to think of ways to tell how much faster he was now. Up until now, he just ran and guessed how much faster he was, but now that his Perception had doubled, he was pretty sure he would have no problems going his full speed; but going that fast was a problem all on its own.

For example, he already kicked up a large amount of dust and made a loud whistling noise if he ran without Mute activated but moving at his full speed as he'd done a few times in the past he destroyed everything his feet touched, and he was actually a bit faster now so his clothes probably wouldn't last long.

"I can just hold off on the test until I get back to the guild." Lake really didn't have anything else he needed to do today, and if he went home now, he and Lucas might have a chance to talk before Lucas had to go to his meeting, which would give Lake a chance to ask about the fortress he'd found.

Lake had lost his current location, so he used his arrow to find which direction he needed to go to get home before starting his run. He turned out to be pretty close to the city, and before even an hour passed, he was back in Lucas' office using Detector to see if Lucas was back yet.

When Detector failed to find Lucas, Lake looked at the shelf that held the journals and saw none of the ones they'd gathered today were on it. "I guess I beat him back." There was always the chance Lucas had just gone straight to his meeting, but Lake didn't think that was the case because Lucas probably wouldn't want to walk around with the journals if he didn't have to.

With nothing else planned for today and wanting to get the items Lucas had, Lake decided to take a seat and wait for him to return, knowing it probably wouldn't take too long. After twenty minutes passed, Lake saw the elevator open, and Lucas stepped off and said. "Welcome back." as the man noticed him.

"Is there a reason you're already back, or were you just done for the day?" Lake could tell Lucas was afraid he'd caused some trouble, but he didn't think that was the case, so he said. "I found something weird and wanted to ask if you knew about it before you had to go to you're meeting."

Getting a nod from Lucas, Lake went ahead and described the fortress he found before finishing up by asking. "Do you know what they're doing out there?"

"No, this is the first I've heard about them. Was there anything you saw that could make them Demon worshipers?" Thinking about this question for a while to replay the things he'd seen while inside, Lake eventually shook his head and said. "I don't think so." freewebnov(e)l.com

"Here, show me on the map where it was." After Lucas said this, he took the map out and set it on the table. Using Detector to find the location of the fortress on the map, Lake pointed it out and said. "It was on this hill here."

"Okay, I'll have people go and figure out what they're doing. Were you able to get the item that's marked on the map there?" Nodding, Lake said. "Yeah, I was just about to bring it to Felg; do you want me to bring the other things to him while I'm at it?"