The Cobblestone Cradle welcomed us back with the disgusting aroma of rancid eggs. As we passed through the lobby, I stopped and asked the elderly innkeeper, “Can you bring a copy of the Gilded Boar's daily newsletter to my room when it's available?”
The innkeeper wrinkled her nose as if she was just now smelling what her chef was cooking. “What kind of establishment do you think this is?”
I tossed her two silver coins from my pocket. “One that emphasizes quality customer service.”
The frail woman scurried off like a rat with cheese while we retreated to our room. An infinite string of terrible possibilities tied knots in my mind. Paralyzed by a mountain of concerns, I sat at the edge of my bed on dirty sheets and gazed into the mirror.
Gingerly, Viessa unfastened the traveler's pack from her shoulders and removed her helmet and mask. Messy strands of silver hair clung to her cheeks as she let out an exhausted breath.
“Do you feel any stronger?” I asked, already knowing the answer from her unchanged status.
“No, I'm worn out.”
She collapsed on her bed and a fleet of cockroaches escaped from under her pillow. Viessa yelped, smashing her pillow at the bugs as they scattered off the mattress. Finally, she threw the pillow across the room. “I hate this place!”
A rogue cockroach broke away from the pack, scurrying by my boot. I scooped it up and held it between two fingers. “This room isn’t that bad. We've got beds, running water, and there aren't daily beatings.”
The roaches' shell vibrated against my fingertips, triggering a flood of suppressed memories to resurface.
“Stop, don't touch that disgusting insect.” Viessa covered her mouth, horrified.
“You’ve never eaten one?”
“No, you’d have to be insane.”
“When you’re starving, these little guys are nutritious little saviors packed full of protein,” I said, mind wandering back to the pit I had spent years of my childhood in, locked away in the darkness.
I stood up, opened the window, and flicked the roach outside. “Get some rest. We're moving at dusk.”
Viessa checked the sheets for more bugs before settling down, thankfully without further complaints. As the elf napped, I analyzed the system in the mirror.
“Shadow Weave,” I whispered, familiarizing myself with the strange energy as it coursed through my body.
Feeling the buzzing sensation stretch through my fingertips, I attempted to move a shadow in the room's corner.
The shadow wiggled halfway across the ground before it snapped back into the corner. My pulse quickened along with my heartbeat as I felt the ability sap my stamina. I reached out an open hand toward the shadow and tried again without a verbal incantation.
Shadow Weave.
This time, I pushed against the shadow, smearing it like wet paint up the dresser. I turned my hand inward, and the shadow whipped up, knocking a knob off the dresser.
Already pushing my limits, I pulled up a chair next to the window and took a seat. Half an hour passed while my stamina fully recovered.
What about its range?
Peering out the window, I extended my arm and concentrated on the slender shadow that belonged to a torch post nearly 30 yards away.
Shadow Weave.
With a flick of my wrist, I lightly jiggled the post's shadow, causing it to bend outward like rubber for a few seconds before my stamina was nearly drained.
I practiced on and off for two hours, taking 15-minute breaks between each session. Manipulating the shadows became easier with each subsequent use, although it exposed my stamina as the clear bottleneck.
It was no longer feasible to hoard my mastery points. I had wanted to test out Dreadshade and Abyssal Veil before spending them, but I had run out of time.
Scrolling the talent tree in the mirror, I spent one mastery point in Shadow Weave.
+Shadow Weave Mastery 1/5
Active Bonus: Weave multiple shadows at once.
Passive Bonus: Slightly reduces stamina costs and increases effective range.
Once more.
+Shadow Weave Mastery 2/5
Active Bonus: Weave complex patterns using shadows from multiple sources of darkness.
Passive Bonus: Moderately reduces stamina costs and slightly reduces incoming physical damage while shrouded in darkness.
Only two mastery points remained. Before committing any further, I turned my attention to the dresser.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Shadow Weave
The shade beneath the dresser burst forth, curling in my direction with ease and precision. I flicked a finger upward, and the silhouette rose from the ground, twirling like smoke into the air. Heart pumping, I slammed my hand over the dresser and the shadow lashed against the wood. Splinters exploded across the room, rousing Viessa from her slumber.
That's better.
Ignoring the elf's confusion as to why our dresser just imploded, I looked into the mirror again and spent the last two mastery points.
Agility Burst Mastery 1/5
Passive Bonus: Increases buff duration by 50%.
Karma's Gaze Mastery 3/5
Active Bonus: Reveals additional key data points upon scanning a target.
Passive Bonus: Positive karma points now apply bonus damage to targets with negative karma rating. Current bonus damage: +1580.
Too bad the relevance of the number 1580 was lost on me. It wasn't like Karma's Gaze displayed the damage of my attacks in a numerical format. Thus far, I gauged my damage by how much the target bled.
Viessa yawned. “What did you do to the dresser?”
“Nothing important. Get ready. We're leaving shortly. Unless you'd rather stay.”
The elf rubbed her stomach as she gathered her bulky armor set. “Will we be getting something to eat?”
“Don't wear that. Put on the dark leather armor set and the black hood and poncho we bought earlier.”
Viessa complied as I removed the bandage from my thigh and ran my fingertips across the scarred flesh. It was barely even tender, like the initial injury had occurred months ago rather than this morning. I changed into a dark hooded cloak and slid the icy Grimstone Mask over my face, nerves buzzing with excitement.
Two rapid knocks on the door startled Viessa as a folded paper appeared underneath the door's crack. I retrieved The Gilded Boar's daily newsletter and discovered the unnerving headline.
Unaffiliated Ranker Obtains Ultra Rare Loot
Beneath the headline was a summary of the raid report, which I skimmed until I spotted my name.
Duskblade contributes the raid's success to Cyprus—a novice B rank adventurer. “He met our shortcomings with sheer grit... Because of him, we're still alive,” Duskblade wrote in his detailed report. Additional praise was bestowed upon Pearl Banner's brave junior support members, Tobias and Oakley, who unfortunately perished along with veteran Twilight Ranger members Joel the Razor Archer and Callum the Fearless.
I skipped over their eulogies, grinding my teeth until I saw the bottom of the page and my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Against destiny's tide, a chaos shard was retrieved by the party. Bound by uniquely negotiated terms, Cyprus retains exclusive ownership of this coveted material. When pressed for details regarding the terms of Cyprus's participation, Duskblade said, “We all thought he was joking when he proposed his condition in lieu of a traditional loot-share. Of course, we agreed to it. The benefit was heavily in our favor.”
Sometimes luck shows no restraint. The odds of uncovering a chaos shard in a C grade dungeon are 25,000 to one. Based on past auction data, the chaos shard’s estimated value is between 2,500 to 5,000 gold. When inquired about listing it for auction, Cyprus declined, stating he had no plans to sell it.
Who is Cyprus?
The unaffiliated ranker joined the guild less than seven days ago. Since then, he's completed two contracts and raided one dungeon. Guild staff describe him as 'illiterate,' and 'professional,' but his personal history remains a mystery.
The Gilded Boar Adventurer's Guild looks forward to the potential of a new rising star in its midst.
Written By: Vesper the Guild's Pen
After staring at the newsletter for an inordinate amount of time, I finally crumpled it up and rightfully chucked it out the window. Apparently, Duskblade had a goddamn photographic memory. The overtly detailed report hammered home all my greatest hits, including how I de-throated a sect of goblins, denied Callum my healing potion, and defeated the last boss after I weakened it with a nut shot.
Although he left out the part where I blackmailed him, I wished he hadn't constantly referenced my speed and adaptability. It was like a cheat sheet for would be assassins. And the guild had basically given the green light by revealing my lack of backing. Novice. Unaffiliated. Illiterate. Two of the three were true, but now I was certain everyone would be flying out of the woodwork like a fleet of invisible guillotines ready to sever my neck at any moment.
Viessa tilted her head and waved her hand in front of my face. “Excuse me, are you diseased?”
“That's not a polite way to ask someone if they're OK,” I said.
“Well, you look quite ill. What did that paper say?” Viessa asked.
“Nothing good. I built a house on a volcano and now it's erupting.”
***
Night fell as we quietly left The Cobblestone Cradle out through the back. I adjusted Filter to display status information on every target, sweeping my eyes along the alley, making sure nobody was following us. We hadn't stayed long, but now that the news of the chaos shard had been blasted across Ingcaster, I knew we would have to stay on the move, never lingering in one place for too long.
Storm clouds rolled through the sky, blocking the moonlight. The alley was a narrow straight away, shrouded in darkness, wedged between a stretch of stone buildings. Countless streets connected to Oarwin, but we took a roundabout way, doubling back down desolate streets and zigzagging underneath the night's bountiful cover. We walked down a dirt stretch behind a row of abandoned houses, half of which were razed to their foundation.
Karma's Gaze gleamed the statuses of six individuals belonging to the Royal Guard patrolling an adjacent street. Clearly, they had beefed up the security near the slums. I signaled Viessa as we turned away from the meandering level twos.
“Can you climb?” I asked.
“Trees? Yes,” Viessa whispered, her voice muffled by the oversized cowl. “What are we even doing out here? And why are you forcing me to carry all our belongings?”
I pointed to the tonfa strapped on my shoulder. “Want to trade? This is heavier. Besides, you need the training.”
She shook her head as I pointed up at a three-story building. The structure teetered on the brink of collapse, its exposed wooden beams clinging to chipped blocks of stone. It looked like a loud sneeze could knock the entire thing over.
I climbed through a massive gap in the stone wall, entering the first floor. Rubble and wrecked furniture littered the damaged floorboards. On the far side of the room, I saw what used to be an extensive staircase. It looked like the whole place had fallen victim to a gang of wrecking balls.
I found my footing on a cracked step extending from the wall. Pulling myself up, I climbed to the second floor.
“Hurry up,” I said as Viessa struggled up, using a crooked stone block as leverage.
Broken glass crunched beneath my boots as I examined the second floor. I assumed this place used to be an inn, judging by the amount of mattress strewn across the floor and the rooms missing their walls.
I glanced up at the night sky through the nearly non-existent third floor. Only a quarter of the roof remained overheard. Thunder shook the walls and I thought the entire structure was about to come crumbling down.
“Where are we?” Viessa asked, panting as she finally reached the second floor.
“We're on the border of the slums. This will be our rendezvous point if anything goes wrong,” I said as I turned over a fallen cabinet and stashed away my tonfa. “Put the traveler's pack in here. We'll be back to change later.”
Viessa did as I asked. “I still don't understand what we're doing.”
“We're going fishing.”
