RETURN OF THE SHADOW

Shadow had prior experience in fighting underwater in the game. The fights underwater were a lot different from the normal ones. For starters, the movement speed and strength is significantly slowed down by the water.

Apart from that the water pressure, water flow, bouyancy and other effects are also simulated very naturally when needed. When diving and moving around it wasn't such a hard part, but fighting underwater would be quite difficult for most players as the ones who have actually experienced such things would always be low in number.

Shadow had many a battles underwater in his previous life with other players, let alone monsters which are lower levelled than him. Also even though elite monsters and humanoids improved their fighting slowly in fights, it was not comparable to fights with other players and tricks that they tried.

When Balthazar started the game in his previous life, magical breathing devices like his own Erdunol's goggles became common in use. To disable or break these magical devices was very hard. It wasn't the same thing now. Even the bandits used normal mechanical devices with air tanks.

So, the best way Balthazar could see was to land an attack or two on these devices breaking them and after that the bandit would simply have to try and get above the water surface to avoid drowning. During this time just holding the bandit back in water would cause HP loss to the bandit and in the hurry to get above water, the bandits are bound to provide enough chances to fatally injure them.

It was a simple trick, but could only be used as he had the goggles which were small but allowed him to breathe underwater. Being small the goggles provided a hard target for anyone and it provided a total of 30 minutes time underwater which was more than enough for him to defeat the few bandits that he could see. Apart from that Grenadier was also providing decent support by freezing a few bandits though it was still a bit hard for him to have a perfect hit rate, he improved in a decent manner.

While they were holding back the bandits, Roll came back to support Grenadier above water from any bandits who came close as he didn't have a breathing tool. The bandits in the water also started retreating and it looked like they would be soon be able to kill all the ones that they engaged them and go back to help the others as a loud boom sounded from above.

"We broke through. Needed to blow up 5 of the dynamite sticks at once, but it got us through the warehouse door," messaged Slaine in the chat. "Those were our last dynamites. Quickly get in and loot the warehouse," he continued.

"How could you use all of them? We might need some if they attack back," said Roll.

"The reinforcements are less than half a minute away. With the pics I sent them, they would barge into the camp," said Slaine as he posted a couple of pictures of the warehouse in the chat. There were a few stands filled with swords and other armaments along with a few chests.

"Check for any traps," said Shadow.

"Ya, one trap was triggered we are checking for more. Could use your help here," said Slaine.

"Then, you would have lost a few of the armaments too, right?" asked Shadow. He knew that any such warehouses which would have traps would definitely cause a few damages to the things around it.

"Yes, even the bomb blowing the door caused damage to other armaments by its side. The traps are simple. They are common tripwires and I already collected one," said Slaine. "But could definitely use your help in picking the door lock of the other warehouse."

"Ok. I am on the way back. It is good if one can check the tents and the area around the lake too. There is a good chance of finding diving tools in there," said Shadow as he got out of the lake and began to run towards the other warehouse behind Roll and Grenadier.

"Yes, we can do that. The area around is cleared of all bandits. The only problem is having enough players to take these back. Brick is already on the way with about thirty players above level 10, but might need more numbers to carry back the tools, if we open up the second warehouse," said Slaine.

"So, are any others coming?" asked Roll.

"These tools and armaments are all at level 10, at most. So, Rudra suggested that we take it easy and decided to put a halt on the number of members above level 10 to the 30 that are coming to reinforce us. Lizzie is putting together a group to help us transport but none of them reached level 10 and are to help only moving the loot back to the shop," said Slaine informing this to the entire group in the team chat.

"Ya. It is understandable to focus more in the city area. Just thought that with the players around the fort freed up, We could get more players here. You know, that the population of the town would surely grow," said Shadow a bit dejected about Rudra's view. He felt that he could surely put in more efforts into the town. Even though it is a small town, it would soon be upgraded to an intermediate town and it is always sensible to keep a good amount of strength in a town which has a good chance to upgrade.

"Yes, but Rudra is a bit concerned as Foedus Rex and Sirius Imperials are both at the White Heart City. Sirius Imperials are a bit friendly and intend to cooperate with us. Foedus Rex guys are crazy. They are a super guild and they have already had conflicts with both us and Sirius guys," said Slaine.

"Shit! Why? It is just the second day," said Shadow in anger. This wasn't expected by Shadow. He knew that Foedus Rex would be at White Heart City as a couple of their vice leaders would get started at a village near it. But they had always been tolerant of other guilds and didn't start unnecessary fights with new guilds.

Crimson Realm was considered a second rate in his previous life and hence, it didn't really care much and allowed them to co-exist. Foedus Rex just considered other guilds as healthy competition and only if they wanted any resources or lands occupied by other guilds, it would resort to force.

"We have caused quite a bit of ruckus and also got a few first clears. It kind of puts the impression that we are investing a lot and is also considered as a show strength. With two of the vice captains here, they might see it as a loss of face and are anxious and angry to prove themselves. So, anywhere they, find us, they start a fight," replied Slaine.

"How were the results?" asked Shadow.

"Those were just a few tussles between the a few members. Hardly worth mentioning, but Rudra is worried and wants to avoid fights with them. Their numbers are quite large and they could overwhelm us with numbers if they are able to get players from other cities. There is also another thing that is there which you didn't hear from me," said Slaine.

"So, secretive!! What is it?" asked Balthazar.

"Concentrate on the camp for now. Focus on picking the lock. You are the best that we got for that. I will tell you after the raid," said Slaine.

"Fine," said Shadow as he had already reached the second warehouse. He quickly set to opening the lock on the warehouse door. As he opened the door, a stink of dead fish wafted out. He went in to check the goods inside. There were rows of diving gear neatly lined along the racks of the walls of the warehouse, while there were tubs filled with dead fishes and other sea monsters on the ground. There were also few chests placed in the warehouse.

Shadow immediately sent the picture of the floor in the team. "Let us make taking the diving gear our priority. If use these, we may be able to explore underwater regions much easily," he said to Slaine as he started looking for the traps that Slaine warned him about.

He could only see a few tripwires connected to mines. He found one just by the door and two more in before a couple of chests. It was quite easy to disarm an amateur tripwire trap like the ones in the warehouse.

They were just wires which when pulled would pull the pins of mines placed at the diving gear. These were clearly meant to destroy the tools than let them fall into intruders hands. In a game such as vita-nova, this was much more disastrous than if they would be aimed at the players. This is because, an injured a player can be healed easily, but the gear destroyed can't be repaired back to the earlier state easily.

Trap disabling would be made into a skill on later upgrade of the game due to introduction of magical traps, but right now it was a lot simpler. The tripwires are only useful as long as they aren't noticed. Once noticed, they are quite easy to disable. To disarm them, Shadow had two options. He could either cut the wire without triggering the trap and can put the mine in his bag or slowly get to the mine and dig it out without disturbing the pin or letting it come out.

The second method is a two man job as they didn't have any tools like tape which could be used to hold the pin in its place. So, one player needs to hold the pin in its place while the other digs out the mine. Once, the mine is pulled out and wire is loose, the other end of the wire can be pulled out and the entire thing can be stored in the bag. This allows the mine to be easily reused too. This was the method used by Slaine.

The first one required a player to use some tool to cut the taut wire without triggering the mine. This required wire cutters or something that could corrode the wire like acid or a corrosive poison. Apart from that, in Balthazar's previous life someone managed to disarm using a pair of blade in place of cutter. He placed the two blades above and below the wire and grinded it slowly till it got cut without triggering the mine. Though this could be done by a single person, it required a lot of skill, patience and time.

They had no idea about the time that they would have before the bandits returned and already had Mob as a lookout with his summons. Though Mob could not see from the viewpoint of the summons, he would notice any health loss or status restriction effects on them. In this manner, he had them as bait.

Shadow is quite capable of disarming the tripwires alone but because of the time factor, he asked Roll to help hold the pin of the mine in place as he dug around the mine. In half a minute, the mine at the door was in his bag. At that time, the reinforcements also arrived. He immediately held the up at the entrance of the warehouse and told them about the two traps near two chests.

He got in the warehouse and opened one of the chests not blocked by the traps. It was filled with herbs such as white pondweed, obscure kelp and gerrika stalks. These were all plants found underwater in the lake. They were all higher leveled herbs but the first two could be considered common in underwater areas, where as he knew gerrika was an uncommon one which can be dried and powdered and when used along with blasting powder in dynamites doubles the usual blast damage.

In his eyes, it was a great harvest and one of them could be used immediately. He moved to another one and opened it finding blue serpent scales, lanstonian scales and parts of other monsters. He immediately realized that this warehouse was the storage for diving gear and resources claimed by the bandits from the lake.

"Dude, what did you find in the trunks there?" he messaged Slaine.

"They are filled with ammunition. Bolts, the entire lot of them. We are taking back the crossbow bolts and decided to move the bigger ones towards the three mounted guns. Can't use them without the guns and these are loaded in a strip. Even loading them in to the gun is going to take time," said Slaine. Though he was quite pleased with the weapons he found in the warehouse, the content of the trunk were quite disappointing. Crossbow bolts could also be bought from every weapons shop in every town and city. So, even if it saved some money, he wished it had been anything else.