Chapter 20: Getting Ready (1/2)

Chapter 20: Getting Ready

"We have to leave this place soon," said Aldrich He gave a lingering look at the Sign he had inscribed He could not stay here even if it n and the safety of the Nexus

There would be investigations about Ghost's death soon enough, and this part of the Variant forest was shallow enough that search parties would roam here

For the next several days at least, Aldrich needed to vacate this place

That meant no easy access to the Nexus

No quick refills on his [Restoration Flask] and access to crafting

Not until he got another Sign which he would get upon co the first Trial Quest

"You three," Aldrich clapped his hands and commanded the Strikers "Scatter some of Ghost's remains here and there Litter this place with your tracks and claw marks"

Like this, Aldrich could ensure that anybody that found this place and Ghost's remains would just think he had died to Variants There would be no additional line of investigation past that

Beyond that, Aldrich had to think about where he wanted to go now There was no way he was going back to Blackwater, ith being supposed to be dead and all

The ansas Haven city There, he would find

And at least in Haven, a city of 300,000, he could find anonyather infor in the Variant forest outside its walls

Wait until Seth Solar and the rest of his dwindling crew cahts where he could pick them out in the city, away fro to Haven

Aldrich picked up Ghost's bag and tore it open, trying to find anything useful He found packs of pills and used syringes, and these, he tossed away

What was useful was Ghost's Eye-Phone

The only probleerprints, and Aldrich had not raised the man as an undead, nor would he have deemed that scum to be fit by his side

But he had an idea

He snapped his finger

"Here, boy" He waved the Strikers over, and the massive, tusked wolf creatures came to his side

"I have never seen monsters like these," said Valera in wonder "They look to be dire wolves, and yet, they possess tusks like great boars And their eyes see to squids We truly are in a different world"

"You'll see things a lot stranger than this, trust round "Voers if you can"

The Strikers all heaved their chests Two of the Strikers dry heaved out a pile of bloody and ed to throw up a few intact fingers

"Perfect," said Aldrich as he patted the Striker on the head He took an index finger and wiped it on his bodysuit and then, after tapping Ghost's Eye-Phone active and er on the screen

The Eye-Phone registered Ghost's bionition identification to access

"Hm," said Aldrich as he stared at the locked phone He had wanted to access the phone for any potential infor Seth Solar and the rest of his crew, h-end taxi service that could pass through security checks, but it looked like those options were not up for grabs yet

The key as yet

In this era of Variants, walled cities were a necessity, and Haven was one of the walled cities, there were tiers Haven ranked at tier 3 - the lowest of them all Still, a walled city was infinitely better than the nomadic settlements in the Wastelands that constantly had to run away from Variant attacks

That here the poor went Or villains on the run Where Adaood place to live, to say the very least

Compared to that, Haven ell, a haven

But because it was tier 3, it h hero presence to ward off Variant attacks, but it did not have enough authority to get rid of a developed criminal underbelly

Hence why Ghost could so easily pick up highly illegal designer drugs like X

Inside Haven, Aldrich no doubt figured that there were blackGhost's phone locks

These sae CIDs (Citizen Identifications) for Aldrich and Valera because Aldrich was technically dead and needed a new identity while Valera had no identity to begin with

As for the rest of the Undead, Aldrich had to admit he had an issue at hand

There was no way he was bringing them into any reame, any non-chosen undead were just despawned after co friendly areas One had to resummon them afterwards

But in the real world, Aldrich had his summons indefinitely Granted, this was ame, but it presented the problem of where to keep the undead

For now, all he could think of was hiding theured he would find a better solution later

In particular, he theorized about beco a Lich

Liches could store undead within an orb inside of their being and thus continuously carry units with the a Necromancer, a Lich hat first popped into many people's heads They were the premiere Necromancers, and it was no less true in Elden World where their racial abilities seemed almost tailor ame, player characters could not be undead, so there was no official way to becoher evolutions

Lore stated that soh sacrificial rituals, but the exact details of such rituals were not described into think about later What wasto Haven

Without easy transportation, Aldrich would have to go to the city by foot Thatthe main road was far too conspicuous And deeper in the forest, there were stronger threats

Most Variants were at the E to D rank in the forest, but there were so about

The difference between E and D was not hly noticeable

In a one on one battle, Aldrich would lose against a C rank Variant nine tiainst Aldrich such as, say, a reliance on poison he was immune to

The sheer physical stats of a C rank Variant were just too overwhelo toe to toe with heavy battle tanks with sheer physical stats alone One punch from them would pulp Aldrich into paste, especially with his poor health pool

But Aldrich now had Valera whose class and stats were entirely specialized towards taking hits and dishi+ng thee a C rank Variant if he played his cards right

"What is that?" said Valera as she peered down at the Eye-Phone

"This?" said Aldrich "Right, you're unused to this world In this world, technology has progressed quite far One such product of this advanced technology is this If I had to explain it to you, it's essentially a co crystal all combined into one

"Iave her the phone, and she squinted as she looked at it, turning it sideways and upside down like she was a 100-year-old grandma who had no idea how to operate tech "How do you use this…this artifact?"

"It's called an Eye-Phone," said Aldrich "And we can't use it It was locked to someone I killed You could say it was Bound to them"

In Elden World, Bound items were usable only by a specific individual as they were imprinted to their souls The [Restorative Flask] was one exa can cast communications, contain information, record events, and even bind to souls? Marvelous," said Valera "And I cannot even sense even a bit of ic from it There must be a concealment spell upon it as well"

"No concealic nobody does in this world," said Aldrich

"Truly?" Valera looked shocked Coic dictated basically every facet of life, this was not surprising "nobody?"

"Yes," said Aldrich "We are the only ones that can usethis neorld shall be no challenge at all!" said Valera

"Don't get too hasty The only race that exists in this world are humans, but they have evolved They each have unique powers that are highly unpredictable