Chapter 43 - Blackmail (1/2)

As he reached the village, he found the rest of the team waiting for him at the teleportation point. But they seem to be busy watching something and suddenly gasped. All they suddenly saw Shadow Tyrant appear disappear in the video they are watching appear behind them.

”How did you do that? You teleported here in the middle of a fight!” exclaimed Little White Feet in surprise.

”I didn't disappear there and appear here. That was just my clone fighting them. Once I teleported the skill got cancelled,” replied Shadow.

”Yes, he has a clone skill. I saw him use it to fight Vultarc,” said Tang confirming Shadow's words.

”The Sirius Imperials are shouting again that you have been hacking and they even posted the video of you fight and you disappearing in the middle of it,” said Blinding showing them the post on the forums.

Balthazar opened the forums and could see that more complaints about him were sent to Metis Technologies, but he wasn't worried about that. What concerned him more was the video and that players may get antagonistic with him and the team because of the video.

”Can you guys contact the guy Blue Dart?” he asked looking at them.

”I have a friend at Sirius Imperials. He might be able to send a message to him,” replied Little White Feet.

”Ask him to tell Blue Dart that if they want the strategy for Corrupted Forest, he better contact me as soon as possible. Tell him that I also intend to trade him the bow and something else that would be useful to them.”

At the same time, Raging Blade and Dane who were killed got transported to the village graveyard. They made their way to the village pub which could be used as a meeting point. Blue Dart had also arrived at the village and joined the pub.

”Three of your best beer for me and my boys here,” said Blue Dart tossing a few coins to the bartender. He took three mugs from the NPC and sat beside his friends.

”So? How good was he?” asked Blue Dart.

”Jimmy was recording the fight. He just posted it on the forums,” replied Dane showing him the video. Blue Dart himself opened up the video and check it out.

”He seems to both faster and stronger than you. Did you send the video in the complaint against him?”

”We did. The only reply I got is that he didn't do anything unfair or no hacks were used in the fight. Even his disappearing act was included in the video we sent,” said Dane.

”If he is really that strong it would be of no use for us to fight him. It would be detrimental to our cause if we go against such a strong character at the beginning of the game.”

”Didn't boss say he could contact some GM from a friend of his. What did he say?”

”I didn't disturb him after the announcement. He will contact us, if he deems necessary,” replied Raging Blade.

”Why don't I check with him?” said Blue Dart contacting the guild leader, Blood Wolf. Blood Wolf was a veteran in V.R gaming who was involved in the V.R. games for more than 30 years. He had created the guild Sirius Imperials two decades ago and had brought made it into the well-known first-rate guild it is.

Having spent more than two decades as a guild leader he had a lot of contacts in the gaming industry. He invested a lot of resources into vita-nova as he believed that it would be a lot more profitable than any of the previous ones. As soon as he came to know that someone named Shadow Tyrant had managed to do a special quest, he wanted to know more about it. After he heard the announcement that Shadow Tyrant also managed to clear an elite instance dungeon, he used his means to find out more but the results weren't what he expected.

He was mulling over what to do regarding him, when he saw the fight posted on the forums. As he was watching the video, he received a call from Blue Dart.

”Hey, Blue. Is it about that guy, Shadow Tyrant?”

”You looked at the video, yet?” asked Blue Dart.

”Looking at it. He is indeed impressive. Any chance we can negotiate with him?”

”Negotiate? We suspect that he might be hacking, and his account would be banned anytime now.”

”No. He isn't hacking. It is more than that. He is a real-world expert who is playing the game. Every trick he did was done without any hacks. My guy refused to divulge his identity and actually warned me that it is best if we don't probe into it.”

”You sure?”

”Very sure. These kind of men don't take threats well in real life. I doubt he would be deterred by anything we do. Better to negotiate with him than fight. Work along that lines and tell the rest to not antagonize him. See you at the city,” said Blood Wolf cutting the call.

Blue Dart looked gloomy after the call. He turned to Dane and Raging Blade. ”It is not what we expected. He is asking us to not fight Shadow Tyrant and that the guy isn't hacking.”

”He isn't hacking? That is impossible.”

”Blood seems to be awful sure about it. He insists that we don't go picking fights with him and by his tone sounded a bit adamant about it.”

”Well, he sure can fight, and he is an assassin. He fought us directly and defeated us. If he decides to hunt us starts stealth killing, he could be a big pain,” agreed Dane.

He suddenly got a message from someone. ”It looks like that guys wants to contact you,” he said looking at Blue Dart.

”Tell him that we are at the pub. We can discuss it here,” said Blue Dart.

”You think he will come here. We have a lot of members around the place.”

”He will come. Why do you think they teleported to the village? Here, the guards protect them due to the reputation points they received. Even I managed to get only 5 reputation points from the quest for leather working. They definitely received a lot more reputation points than me. Fighting him at this point in the village would be suicidal and we might be place in prison even if he initiates the fight. So, everyone stays calm,” said Blue Dart as he continued to drink from his mug.

A few moments later, he saw a 6-feet tall man wearing a black mask approached the pub. All the members of his guild were looking at him angrily. He could easily guess that this was the player, Shadow Tyrant.

”You must be Shadow Tyrant. Please have a seat,” said Blue Dart pulling an empty chair to the table.

”Blue Dart, I presume,” said Balthazar shaking his hand. ”Nice to meet you.”

”I am sorry for the conflict, we had previously. It was just a misunderstanding among us. I believe that it is best that we end it here. Both Raging Blade and Dane also feel the same. I hope that Mr. Shadow Tyrant feels the same.,” said Blue Dart attempting to solve the bad blood between them.

”I am glad you think so. It would be tiresome if I had to keep killing members of your guild whenever I meet them. I would rather get on with my quests and enjoy the game a bit than killing these novices.”

”Don't be so shameless. Do you really want to see if you could survive if our entire guild hunts for you?” said Raging in anger. Though he was already killed by Shadow Tyrant, he could take it lying down when Balthazar called him a novice.

”I already proved that I can. But I can indulge you another round if you insist,” said Balthazar looking at him. He didn't like Raging Blade ever since he heard that he had forced Blinding to leave the team and threatened others using his guild name that he would kill anyone who teamed up with her.

He turned towards Blue Dart. ”I came here to talk it out. If it is going to continue in this fashion, I see no need for this.”

”Raging and Dane please take some time off. Let me discuss with him,” messaged Blue Dart to his peers.