From Player To Npc

"End her enslavement contract? I hope you don't mean by killing her because I can't allow that." [Grud]

"Of course not. There are ways to end it without endangering the one under its effects."[Shingi]

Grud turned to look towards his little Fairy friend. He waited for a response from her.

"Are… are you sure you can do it?" [Azalea]

"I don't tend to give empty suggestions. But I need to examine your collar to see its grade." [Shingi]

Their quality worked similarly to how the enslavement runes, so the color of the gem used on the collar showed its grade. He had noticed it having a dark red gemstone, a sign of a top grade slave collar, with only one with white gem being above them.

But that didn't mean it was impossible to stop its effects.

He had to examine it up and close as its creator of these collars could make some personal adjustments to possibly benefit their design. If this was the case, this could be used as a flaw of the typical design, giving him a way to break it.

He had encountered many Slavers in the past, or people having monsters enslaved by others, and could tell that the color of this collar was darker than usual, meaning its design got tempered from the original the System gave them.

Grud kept looking towards Azalea with a look that let her know that the decision was here. She had her left hand over to the collar, and she seemed to recall some memories that brought sadness to her face.

"I accept." [Azalea]

Shingi walked towards her but stopped as the now conscious Durg put his massive arm in front of Shingi to stop him from moving further.

"Little boy, help little one. No help, little boy be eat meat." [Durg]

Shingi nodded as Durg let him move closer to Azalea.

"Let's sit and try to stay still. I am just going to take a look for now." [Shingi] 

They both sat down as Shingi tried to examine some small carvings that there were on the gem. They were almost like runes, but not as complicated, but not as simple as usual Enchantments. He started using VISUALIZATION to make a bigger version of it next to him, and he noticed that this skill worked better than ever.

It was faster and more detailed than ever, and he soon could tell why.

It drew the Tower's energy and using it to help itself, and even bettering itself without Shingi thinking about it.

In a matter of a couple of minutes, he had a perfect copy of the gems 'enchantment' that was increased to the size of a basketball. He then cast MAJOR ILLUSION to make an illusion of that so that everyone else could see it, especially Little Phoenix.

"What is this? Why do you show us this?" [Grud]

"This is what makes the collar work. Every function of it is because of that, but trying to temper with it can cause an explosion that would kill the one wearing it. That is if one doesn't know what he does. And this…" [Shingi]

He snapped his finger as a similar illusion appeared next to the one he already had, but a perceptive one could notice a couple of differences between the two.

"… is the original one. The people creating them tend to change them, increasing their power but giving them some unwanted openings. We can use this to bring it all down without triggering the explosion." [Shingi]

The reason he showed the two illusions wasn't just to explain the situation to his party but also to earn some of the trust of Grud by showing he knew what he was doing.

"We will have to work on some simulations first, but this will take some time, so we should find a safer place first." [Shingi]

"We can help with that. Can't we, Grud?" [Azalea]

Grud seemed to be deep thought as he still didn't fully trust Shingi, especially his party.

"Follow me. But you better follow the end of your deal and don't make me regret it." [Grud] 

Both Ogres stood as Azalea flew and sat on the right shoulder of Durg. The three of them had an evident close bond. Durg also picked up the bodies of the wolves they killed, as it would be a waste to let them here.

They were ordinary wolves, designed for their bodies to remain after being killed as a possible food source, among other beasts.

They moved in a particular direction, which Shingi couldn't tell which one was in, as the sky wasn't that detailed yet at those low floors.

After almost half an hour of walking, the Ogres brothers stopped, but there wasn't any house, cave, or anything close to a safe place nearby, just a more open field.

But it was then that Shingi noticed it.

There was an illusion field surrounding a small part of the area in front of him.

Whatever was in the field was invisible, and if one stepped in the field's area, he would be under the effect of the illusion, not seeing what was there, but they designed the illusion for him or her to see.

This was the same one as the one hiding in the village of the Centaurs, but the one in front of them was on a smaller scale.

Usually, one couldn't detect this, but with Shingi's Master Rank MANA SENSE, few things could hide from it if he focused enough.

Azalea put her hand over the field, closed her eyes, said under her breath a few words, and the field disappeared. There was a small cabin that Shingi was sure it wasn't supposed to be here and got recently built.

"Let's go inside. Touch nothing unless you are told to." [Grud]

The Cabin was designed to be used for some of the sizes of Ogres, so Shingi and the rest had enough space in there.

There was some small furniture, probably designed for Azalea. Shingi could tell that this wasn't a professional job but wasn't one of a beginner.

"Did you may make all of that?" [Shingi]

"We found ways to better our lives." [Grud]

Shingi didn't press on for him to give him a more straightforward answer. Azalea muttered a few words as the particular field was up once more and didn't affect them since they didn't pass through it, just were in it.

Shingi and Little Phoenix started studying the two 'enchantments' they had and found their differences and a way to break the one of Azalea's collars.

Since it was an illusion created by Shingi himself, they couldn't simulate with it what would really happen unless Shingi was aware of the possible result of their actions. In the past, he was just a Warrior, so he never could destroy one himself, but he has seen many others do it on people he saved and wanted to free.

It would not be easy, as this was at the top of the grades, but Shingi was confident they could pull it off.

Little Phoenix helped more than expected, but this was the case because she had evolved her ENCHANTMENT APPRAISAL into RUNE APPRAISAL a little after her profession changed to RUNEMASTER (Apprentice State). If she was a full RUNEMASTER, this could be a lot easier, but she still was getting used to the way runes worked. 

She couldn't design a Rune from scratch but could create one out of a design of others and also decrypt runes and how they worked.

They found out that the changes that happened from the original design were having only a special extra effect; to seal the mana of the Fairy.

The Seal could get activated and deactivated, but currently, it was enabled, meaning that Azalea couldn't use any Mana or Mana-related skills.

Shingi and the rest saw them use Healing Magic on the Ogres, but Shingi knew it wasn't a normal healing spell. She had used the Tower's Energy instead of her.

Shingi had tried to control the Tower's energy, but his MANA MANIPULATION did not affect it, even if it was at Master Rank. There were some similarities to mana, but also some significant differences to what Shingi knew about mana. It was almost like something else was in it, something 'living.'

He couldn't pinpoint the differences, but she probably knew more about it if this Fairy could use it.

"Have you guys encountered the guardian of the floor?" [Shingi]

"You mean Ferash? Yes, we had some time ago. She is annoying, but at least she doesn't hunt us."[Grud]

Shingi didn't expect to learn that the Boss of the floor was a female one. But in the Centaur race, gender wasn't a factor for potential strength or status one could have.

"I notice you use a similar field like their village." [Shingi]

"Are you just going to do what you are here for or chat?" [Grud]

Grud didn't enjoy answering questions, especially to one he didn't trust, and he didn't hide it.

"We have a way. It can be risky, but Azalea can increase the chance for it to work."[Shingi]

He brought the illusion of Azalea's 'enchantment' in front of Grud to see it better.

He could change the color of part of it to indicate that part, which was what he had done while he explained how this got changed.

"… so what we are going to do is try to get some of Phoenix's Dark Element mana inside using one of the openings the changes had created. But if her mana comes in touch with the 'enchantment, ' it will trigger the self-destruction. This is where our mutual friend comes to play. She can use the Tower's energy, and if I am correct, it will slow down  the explosion, and once we destroy it from inside, the blast will get stopped either way." [Shingi]

"So you want us to trust a Blessed One to do the job?" [Grud]

Shingi shook his head since this wasn't the case.

"We are doing to use her mana since Dark Element is the best-suited one, but I'm the one who will control it." [Shingi]

Little Phoenix's control over Dark Element would be better than Shingi usually since it was one of her Elements. But she didn't train as much as Shingi or Mizuneko had, as she was busy becoming a better ENCHANTER and later RUNEMASTER. She still wasn't as good as Shingi, even if someone would consider her MANA MANIPULATION to be Master Rank, since it passed level 40, but not by much.

"So, what do you think? Do you agree with my plan?" [Shingi]

He turned to look both at Azalea and Grud. Durg had taken a nap at a corner.

"She is the one to decide. But if she agrees and something goes wrong, your head will get far away from your body." [Grud]

Azalea seemed to be deep in thought about what to do. Little Phoenix went next to her and wanted to put her hand over Azalea's shoulder, but she could feel the piercing stare of Grud and didn't do it in the end.

"You can trust us. He knows what he is doing better than anyone. He has done some pretty amazing things the time I know him that one would consider impossible." [Little Phoenix]

Azalea looked towards her and then towards Shingi, and finally towards Grud.

"I will do it." [Azalea]