Evolution: A Warlock’s Rise To Power

Tyrannical Kyp silently motioned to the four other players that were following him.

After he received an evolution crystal from Lucan, he used it to take Tango the Quad Kong to the next level.  Initially he was disappointed when the only noticeable changes to the massive four armed gorilla was that it had shrank in size.  Kyp had always enjoyed how Tango's large stature frightened his opponent.  Now tango was the same size as an ordinary person.  With a cloak thrown over him, most people wouldn't even be able to tell that he was a monster.

Tyrannical Kyp was currently inside of Tango's shadow directing his beast companion about while the four others that SuperSleuth had sent followed behind.

Tyrannical Kyp had been given an important mission that came directly from Lucan.  If he did well, he would get a cut of the earnings and a decent amount of experience points to send on spells and abilities.

Currently, Tango and the four stealth class players were sneaking through Avalon.  It was estimated that the drow would show up tomorrow night, so this was their last chance.

The majority of NPCs had left Baramore several days ago and a good number of players had already packed up and left for elsewhere.  But unlike the players, the NPCs couldn't afford to leave slowly, in many cases, they only took what was important and abandoned everything else.  Wealth was not as valuable as their lives.

For the past few days, Tyrannical Kyp and the four other acolytes with him had been staying a day ahead of the marching drow, they visited all the big cities that were in the path of the elven army doing their best to clear out anything of value before the drow arrived.

When Lucan sent them on this mission he made sure that they were aware that other players would have the same ideas.

In the beginning it wasn't that big of a deal.  The cities closest to where the drow army launched their initial attack had to flee the fastest, meaning that there was plenty of wealth to be split between interested parties.  If Tyrannical kyp came across some people inside a mansion he would just move on to the next one instead of fighting with them over loot.  And when people stumble onto Kyp and his teammates looting, they would move on as well.

But now things were changing, They had reached further into the country where the citizens had more time to prepare before they departed.  Less and less loot was being found, either because the original owners took it with them or other scavengers had already passed through.

"This is our last city."  Tyranncial Kyp said to the acolytes partied with him.

"I though we still had another three left."

"We did, but Lucan doesn't want us to go.  It likely won't be worth the time we waste on it."

"What are we going to do about our other mission?"  Asked a hunter.

"Don't you worry about that, Lucan has sent others ahead to deal with those cities and villages.  It is no longer our concern.  And don't worry, I have been informed that we will still be getting our full payment even though our mission is getting cut short."

"Okay."  The hunter said while the others nodded.  "Then that means this will be the last place where we have to salt the fields."

"Nope, it is even easier."  Tyrannical said while speaking from Tango's shadow.  "Lucan doesn't want us to salt the fields here.  He want's them to be left in pristine condition."

The hunter had a confused look on his face.  "I don't understand.  He had us salt the fields and poison the wells at those other cities and has sent others to do it in the cities and towns we are no longer visiting.  Why would he want us to leave a good place for those drow here?  It doesn't make any sense."

"You are thinking about it all wrong."  Kyp said.  "He isn't trying to drive them away.  He is trying to get them to stay.  Avalon is in the center of Baramore, far away from the borders.  He is forcing them to either stay on this island or head back underground.  Think about it.  Every place they have traveled through so far isn't fit for habitation since we salted the fields and poisoned the wells. Now they will find a good piece of land, and if they keep pushing forward they will find more unusable land.  They will be forced to hold up in the center of Baramore."

"I guess that is good for the neighboring countries."  Said an assassin that was part of the group. "But this also isn't the real world, while those things may be devastating outside, they can be fixed within six months inside the game.  Magic and other abilities can reshape the land and clean the water."

"An that is fine."  Tyrannical Kyp said.  "But during that time, the drow will be isolated.  Lucan will be able to take a close look at them to see if they would ever pose any threat to his goals."

"I get it."  Said the hunter.  "The drow will be cut off from the other countries and he will be able to observe them, make friendly contact, or even declare war on them.  During that time frame, they will be easier to control for whatever he wishes to achieve."

"That is right."  Said Tyrannical Kyp.  "But you guys don't need to be worry about that kind of stuff. We just need to get to looting.  There is bound to be plenty of good stuff inside of Avalon. Remember, don't be greedy, report everything you find.  We are being paid by Lucan so everything is his but if you see something you want, report it and you will get priority on that item if you are the one that found it.  Besides, even if Lucan doesn't want to give it up, he will definitely make it worth your while.  You won't walk away unsatisfied."

The others nodded before they each split off and headed towards a different area of the city. Tyrannical Kyp reminded them not to do anything stupid, even though he didn't think he would have to worry about them.  The four working with him were all high level trusted subordinates of SuperSleuth.

Tyrannical Kyp had only met the information broker a few times but he knew that he worked with highly confidential information, and only truly loyal people could work as his subordinates.

Kyp himself knew that working with Lucan would prove to be very beneficial for him.  He originally was an acolyte of Silent's.  He had taken on almost every mission Lucan had ever offered and had been rewarded greatly because of it.  He wasn't about to throw away great long term benefits for a quick buck.

He knew that he was strong and had a higher level than Lucan, but he wasn't stupid enough to think he could take on Lord Quilldrake in a confirmation.  Lucan wasn't like those high-ranking players that could dominate the leader boards and he didn't have unfathomable strength or crazy apocalypse level spells.  In fact, a lot of players on the forums considered Lucan magic to be a little boring and it was true that his damaging abilities couldn't be compared to other spells of the same.

Kyp just smirked to himself whenever he read those threads online.  What they said was true, but they didn't understand about how much freedom came with the spells that could be learned from Lucan.

Take Shadow Stalker for instance.  It was the spell that Tyrannical Kyp was currently using to stay inside of Tango's shadow.  It was a simple spell that on the surface didn't really do all that much, but in creative hands it was amazing.

Currently it was on of the most popular spells among Lucan's acolytes.  At first only assassins and stealth characters made use of it, but other classes took notice and tried it out, making it their own. Tyrannical kyp had even seen a knight make good use of it before.

He once saw a video of a knight that used the abilities to place himself inside the shadow of a large tower mounted crossbow during an invasion.  The epic cross bow was fired towards the enemie armies camp in the far distance and the knight was basically teleported into the enemies camp simply by riding the shadow of that large crossbow bolt.  Lucan's magic was plenty powerful when used by those with a bit of creativity.  And the man himself was certainly a master of his own art. Tyrannical Kyp had no desire to become his enemy. 

Besides, Lucan may even be using one of his many abilities to watch him this very moment.  Anyone who stole from his was just plain stupid.

Kyp focused his mind on work as the quad kong easily jumped over the fenced off wall and entered the building.  Trying the door, he was happy to find it locked.  Lucan had told him how to unlock the door to the magical research center, so Kyp was much happier to find it unlocked compared to finding the door half open.

Tango followed the instructions that Lucan had given to Kyp and easily infiltrated the room. Tyrannical Kyp quickly hopped out of Tango's shadow and the man and beast quickly combed through the room, looking for anything of value.

They were halfway through when they could hear voices coming from the hallway outside.  There were several voices.  Kyp was quick to detriment that none of them came from his teammates.