The heist, part 3: The complication

-Travis’ position-

‘Oh, right.’ Travis thought, getting up from his position. ‘Since it’s past midnight, that box from Rulebreaker should be opening now.’ without wasting a second, he got hold of his pack, and rummaged inside, soon bringing out the box. Focusing on it for a moment, he prompted a notification to open up. ‘Alright, then. Let’s see what kind of 'good' advice I'll get today. Activate.’

[Sufficient mana transferred. Consuming 1 use.]

The box opened quickly, and a flash of light appeared just like it did the day before. However, Travis was surprised when he suddenly felt something enter his hand. It was somewhat bigger than just a snippet of paper, and heavier by quite a bit, too.

As the light subsided, the box closed itself.

*Ting!*

[A new message is added to the log!]

Travis weighed the thing he received in his hand as he opened the notification, intending to read the new entry. However, what perplexed him was that the entire entry consisted of only four words.

[02. A piece of heaven]

-Meanwhile, by the Goldhilt's plot-

Violet looked at Leaf with her green and blue eyes. The situation was definitely not favorable for her. “I am not your enemy," she spoke slowly. 'I need to diffuse the situation quickly. Otherwise, she may connect the dots.'

“Doesn’t sound like a name to me,” Leaf replied, not budging from her position one bit.

“…you’re a Necromancer. That man is a Psion. If I wanted you caught or dead, you wouldn’t be standing there.”

“A Necromancer, am I? Maybe try to spout some sensible bullshit, whoever you are,” Leaf’s response was quick. However, a bit of uncertainty gnawed at the back of her mind. ‘…something’s off. I wasn’t here when I summoned Berry. How would she know it was me?’

“…I’m a member of ‘Red Crown', on a mission,” Violet lifted her hand, showing a dark tattoo on her left radius. It was reminiscent of a crown with two daggers sticking into it. “Judging by your summons, I assume you must belong to ‘Black Lotus’?”

“…?!” Leaf’s eyebrow visibly twitched after hearing the name. 'She's from a branch?' “…I thought your group operated in Galia?”

“I could say the same. Chis Empire is a little far from here.”

“Why are you here, then?”

“The reason for my being here does not concern you,” ‘…not directly, at least.’ Violet thought, hiding her daggers slowly. “I assume yours does not concern me, either.”

“...correct. Why were you following that man?” Leaf, unlike the other woman, didn’t hide her weapons, the bowstring still stretched.

“I have no ill intentions toward your companion,” Violet answered, straightening her position a little. “It’s just a coincidence that we went into Goldhilt’s mansion at similar times.”

‘She seems to be telling the truth.’ Leaf squinted her eyes for a moment before lowering her bow. Seeing her action, the other woman seemed to breathe a small sigh of relief. “…I see.”

Violet didn’t say a word more, instead taking her steps away, to Leaf’s right.

“…One last thing,” Leaf said a little louder. Violet halted her movements but didn't turn around. “How did you know it was me who summoned the bear?”

“…a wild guess,” the woman in a cowl answered and resumed her walk.

However, she suddenly stopped as a black bear appeared in front of her, its jaw slightly ajar as it was clearly not intent on letting her pass.

“How long have you been tailing us for?” Leaf asked, again preparing to shoot.

“…”

“Alright, the hard way it is.”

Leaf released the bowstring, the arrow quickly closing the distance between the two of them. However, her opponent was more capable than she anticipated, dodging the projectile without looking behind. Violet fluidly connected her steps and spun on her heels before shooting forward, passing by Leaf and escaping deep into the next street.

But she didn’t get far. Violet wasn’t even capable of detecting when the black bear appeared in front of her, already mid-swipe. Caught completely off-guard, she was hit cleanly in her head and sent flying to the side, slamming into a wall hard. Groaning, she **** herself up from her position, just barely able to dodge the second strike the bear sent at her. Rolling on the ground, she got a better hold of her daggers and used one of her skills.

‘<Flurry Strikes>.’ a skill that did exactly what it sounded like. For a brief second, her hand moved at a speed her eyes couldn’t catch up to, expertly moving on a predetermined patch that attacked any vital spots she had in range. However, on Leaf’s summon, searching for a vital spot was meaningless, so Violet only found herself striking at one spot over and over again. Still, as she got up and pounced back, she noticed how the bear was definitely hurt, suddenly going to its knee before dispersing into dust. ‘It’s not powerful in terms of HP.’ she realized. ‘Its attack power is rather low, too.’ Violet brought a hand to her head, quickly inspecting the slight blood flow that was already abating. ‘…is she weaker than I thought?’

No. Throw that thought out. Never underestimate your enemy. The woman in a cowl berated herself for a moment as she quickly took her steps away. Taking a look to her left, she just barely noticed one of the two crows in the sky, flying at a slight distance, close enough to see her, but far enough so that ranged attacks could be dodged. ‘She won’t let me go. I have to disappear into the n--‘ Suddenly, Violet felt something attack her from her right. The momentary surprise abated as she felt the spike of pain in her leg. Falling over, she quickly slashed at whatever had hit her, but the crow had already dispersed into smoke. The only thing left was a wound on her calve, blood flowing out of it at a constant rate. ‘I definitely won’t get away like this easily. I’ll have to fight.’ Violet gritted her teeth. ‘I have to even the playing field first.’ forcing herself up, the woman got into a side alley nearby.

-Leaf’s perspective-

It was easy. Too easy, even.

Attacking a fleeing opponent was never difficult, but this time, she was actually surprised. Sure, that woman did kill Berry, forcing Leaf to spend Lifeforce on re-summoning him, but considering that she seemed to be an Assassin, it wasn’t a big price to pay for crippling her. Still, Necromancer didn’t let the feeling of superiority last. It would be a fatal mistake if it lingered. She needed to keep her guard up, especially in a time like this.

‘She’s far faster than me even with her wound. Since she’s not moving from that alley, she must want to face me head-on.’ she thought, rushing forward. She passed by a few buildings, stepping on the cobbled road. So far, their fight has been mostly quiet, but Leaf knew that the moment that woman would begin fighting as if her life depended on it, it would easily get loud.

‘Jay, we need to finish this quickly. <Empowerment>.’ she stretched her hand, and a ball of shadows formed into a crow. As Leaf felt her power lessen by the second, Jay began emanating a slight purple glow. It was only barely visible at first sight – as if some veins of purple, glowing fluid started stretching on the bird’s feathers before subsiding. After a few seconds, the crow’s eye color turned to deep purple, and the bird itself seemed to grip her hand with more strength. ‘Throwing LP like this is definitely a shame.’ Leaf grimaced a little, throwing Jay upward and letting him land on her bun. ‘But losing this fight means that Travis will also be in danger.’

Reaching the alley, Leaf looked over the woman standing roughly 15 meters deep in. Her leg must've hurt quite a bit but the woman didn’t seem to care, stepping on it fully and bringing out a few knives.

“<Dagger Throw>,” Violet didn’t hesitate, throwing the small projectiles as soon as Leaf was in range, aiming at her legs.

But surprisingly, her opponent didn’t dodge. Rather, she pulled the bowstring, unbothered by the projectiles that grazed her legs, cutting her pants and skin a little.

Violet evaded the projectile, and just barely managed to sense the crow that was plummeting at her, trying to pierce her skull outright. Feeling her heart skip a beat, the Rogue lunged forward, trying to get to the Necromancer. The large bear appeared in the way, but Violet didn’t slow down. Not even caring for the pain in her calve, she jumped to the nearest wall and off of it, making her way above the bear's head and onto its back. Once there, she jumped forward, straight toward Leaf. Too startled to aim in time, Leaf could only attempt to backpedal, but Violet was too quick to reach her. Whilst falling to the ground, the Rogue got hold of Necromancer’s hands, pinning them to the ground. Quickly, she rose on her legs a little, looming over her opponent.

“Stop it,” Violet said in a somewhat commanding tone.

But Leaf didn’t answer, instead curling her legs up a little before kicking into the Rogue’s stomach. Surprised at her strength, Violet just barely managed to regain her balance as she got pushed back. However, the momentary surprise only got hold of her for a split second before she threw another dagger at the Necromancer and jumped into close-quarter combat again. Her opponent also pulled out a blade of her own.

Leaf grimaced a little, noticing how much faster the Rogue was than herself. It was not easy, but she was managing to barely dodge the flurry of strikes, she did let one or two brush her face a little.

‘Speed is one thing, but her strikes are very clean. She wastes little movement. That's quite a bit of technique she has.’ she had to admit. ‘But she doesn’t know who she’s dealing with. <Empowerement>.’ a small ball of darkness formed in Leaf’s free hand before she clenched her fist around it and swung. For a moment, her veins seemed to turn dark violet as she struck, for a split second faster than Violet.

The hit landed cleanly, pushing the Rogue back with a strength that almost made her lose her balance completely. Feeling the aftermath of the blow reverberate painfully in her chest, Violet felt numbness spread across her hands as she was almost starting to lose hold of her weapons.

But she couldn't just give up yet. She still had to fight.

She noticed how her opponent was looking ever so slightly to the side… was she looking at her summon? Anticipating the next strike, Violet quickly rushed to her left.

However.

A strong strike connected with her skull. Ringing sounded all over her head as she found it suddenly difficult to move her limbs. The world spun around as her knees gave out, and she fell to the ground, her face meeting head-on with the cobble. Darkness enveloped the entire world.

…

She wasn’t sure how long it took for her to regain her senses. Blood trickled from her nose slightly, but the flow was already drying up. Her body was numb, but the sensation started returning to her fingers.

Violet tried to move up to her elbows but suddenly felt her chest being gently pushed into the ground. It wasn’t an aggressive movement, but rather, a restricting one. Violet **** herself to look up and saw the elf woman kneeling by her, a knife in her hand.

“Not bad, kid,” Leaf said, spinning the blade a little. “Whoever taught you, did it well. But you clearly haven’t fought another person to the **** before,” she stuck the knife so close to Violet's face that the woman could nudge her nose at its blade.

“…why didn’t you kill me?”

“Take a wild guess, why won’t you,” Leaf chuckled lightly.

“…”

“Now, how about you try to answer my questions? I’d really like to get some sleep today.”

“…”

“How long have you been tailing us for?”

“…about 10 days.”

“…!” ‘That way longer than I expected… how could’ve my guys not have found her?’ “Why were you tailing us, exactly?”

“…I am supposed to watch over that man. He’s a student of a person from Red Crown. There’s been certain events happening around Forna, and they wanted to make sure nothing happens to him.”

“…’certain’ events? Care to elaborate?”

“…” Violet looked away from Leaf, seemingly regretting having said the previous words.

“Spill it out,” Necromancer said, pulling the knife from the ground and hovering it above Rogue’s hand for a moment. “I can’t kill you, but cutting a finger or two won’t end your life.” ‘If I kill her, I’ll be hearing a ton of shit from Delius later…’

“…Officers from all over the country were called to Poiri about two weeks ago to have their mana checked for any influences. From sources inside, we know that the supreme priest has formed an elite hunting squad and has been hunting in dungeons near Poiri. We suspect he’s preparing to launch a crusade against forbidden classes.”

“A crusade? I think I’d have been informed by my branch about it already.”

“That’s the point. We only know about it because we were investigating Forna’s internal affairs. And even then, this information is kept as top-secret. This is not like the crusades of old. This one will be done in utmost secrecy, at least initially.”

Leaf squinted her eyes before sighing. “You expect me to believe that?”

“It’s the truth. I don’t care if you believe it or not.”

‘...could she be telling the truth?’ a ponder entered Necromancer's mind. Those words were not easy to accept, but... 'She wouldn't be spewing bullshit to save her life. Not if she knows that I'm from a branch as well.'

“…there is also a second matter in this. The man you’re traveling with.”

“What about him?”

“You tell me, Necromancer,” Violet said, feeling the weight on her back subside slowly. Rising from her position, she soon assumed a similar pose to Leaf. “He’s not a normal Psion, and I’m sure you’ve noticed. Items just appearing in his hands? Him suddenly gaining a second wind out of the blue? Just earlier today, he literally walked through a wall.”

“So what? He knows a few tricks, it doesn’t mean he’s abnormal all of a sudden.”

“He knows more than just a few ‘tricks’, Necromancer,” Violet said, wiping the last remnants of blood from the side of her head. “A few days ago, he told you that the supreme priest of Forna is probably going out and hunting. How would he know that? He has no connections to anyone in Poiri, and the supreme priest’s hunts are kept top secret.”

“Where are you going with this?”

“What if his words weren’t all wrong?”

Leaf looked at Violet with a bit of ridicule. “You’re saying that such a thing as ‘godly interference’ is a thing?”

“Perhaps,” Violet shrugged a little. “Or perhaps he’s lying and is an Illusioner instead. Or… he’s a class that has not yet appeared in the world.”

“…? What do you mean?”

“I would like to make you a proposal, Necromancer.”

-5 minutes later-

The two women stood facing each other. A little tense moment started building up as the staring contest between them started prolonging a little.

“…I’ll be on my way,” Violet said. “Until we meet again, Necromancer.”

“Wait a minute. We haven’t finished,” Leaf said, her eyes growing a little valiant as her gaze focused on the entirety of the Rogue before her.

“…?” Violet frowned a little. “What do you me--“ she didn’t get to finish her sentence as Berry suddenly appeared behind her, hitting her head much harder than before.

Violet’s head went cleanly toward the wall to her right, her body following suit. Immediately, she slumped to the ground, motionlessly. Leaf came a little closer to her and inspected her vital signs. After confirming that the woman was indeed alive, she stretched upward and yawned a little, slowly taking her steps back to the road from where they came into the alley. Looking around a little, she formed a slight smirk, going toward the inn where she was spending the night with Travis.

‘I may not be able to kill her, but damn, knocking her out like that felt really good.’ she sighed with relief. ‘Still, I’ll have to relay the situation to Delius first thing in the morning…’

There were several things that she didn’t want to believe. Red Crown expanding its area of interest was definitely a red flag for other branches. Especially the way that woman spoke about it made it seem like they’d been at it for a few months by now, which she had definitely not heard of before. She could understand not hearing about the movements of different branches the moment they happened. It was natural since she wasn’t very high in her organization, and information also needed time to travel. Even then, however, her commander, Delius, would’ve definitely heard of such a thing, and he wasn’t a man to keep many secrets hidden. Especially when it was people like her, who were transporting things between requesters while staying under cover.

Opening the door to the room they rented, Leaf let out a quiet sigh. Immediately, she heard Travis’ voice, “...where have you been to?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?” she asked, getting over to her bed and sitting down, un-equipping the quiver on her back and placing it next to her backpack.

“You know, you took your bow and quiver, been gone for a good while… and your summon disappeared the moment I reached this place. I thought you might be in trouble or something, so I looked around a little, but couldn’t find you. So, I can’t help but be curious.”

“Oh,” Leaf made a sound and looked to her side momentarily. “I just took a stroll around. Since we did what we came to do, I wanted to stretch my legs a little,” she smiled momentarily. “How about we go and sleep now though? I’m kind of tired.”

“…yeah, same here,” he answered.

Taking a look at the woman’s equipment, he couldn’t help but frown, although his pondering expression went unnoticed by the woman who quickly got up to lock the door and snuffed out the candle on the table.

In the silence of the night, their rhythmic breaths were as quiet as ever, but only one of them went to sleep immediately.

Travis was lying under his sheets, not a bit of sleep on his eyelids. He wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t feel sleepy one bit. ‘This damnable skill.’ he thought, looking through dozens of his memories in a flash. Back in the mansion and on his way back, he didn’t have much time to think about what the skill had brought to the surface. Sure, some memories flashed regardless of whether he wanted them to or not, but his initial reaction was mostly out of surprise.

And now, he was beginning to learn to control what was happening. Before, the flood of information was so great that he felt like his head was going to explode. Images, voices, smells, and sensations were layered one on top of another. Some of them were stronger than others and were able to prevail on top, but all the rest were blended together into an incoherent mass.

Minutes passed by, Travis doing his best to try and focus on specific aspects of every memory that traveled in his mind. Slowly, methodically, he started unraveling and concentrating on the smallest of details. The scent of oil used for torches when he was a fledging Soldier on guard. The mass of the hammer when he attempted blacksmithing. The dancing fires that were fired by Aria in the Penalty Zone. The memories, one after another, were becoming clearer.

Travis focused on the freshest memories he had. He took in Leaf’s details, her posture, her clothing… her bow and quiver…

‘…she wasn’t just on a stroll. 4 arrows are missing.’ he thought. ‘Sleeves of her pants are also slightly cut… did she fight?’

…

‘Why did she lie?’ he asked himself. ‘If she was in trouble, why didn’t she send one of her summons to fetch me?’ he turned his head, looking at the elf woman across the room.

…

‘A Psion…?’ a thought rang in his head, and immediately, the situation with Crystal reappeared in front of his eyes. His heart jumped with fear as he clutched his hands into fists. ‘Could it be? The Psion who made the barrier around Crystal’s mind did something to Leaf?’ he shook at the thought.

He focused his eyes on Leaf’s outline again. With every beat of his heart, the passage of time was being marked. Sweat on his palms, he relaxed slightly, sitting up on the bed.

‘Calm down.’ he reminded himself of Kanya’s words. ‘Only a calm mind can cast spells properly. A breath in, a breath out.’ her tender voice rang in the depths of his mind.

‘<Suggestion>.’

<I'll sleep well today.>

In all honesty, he wasn’t sure if his spell would connect. However, as an invisible bolt of psionic energy traveled to Leaf’s mind, he could vaguely feel her mind. Taking a moment to bask in the feeling, he recalled just how it felt the last time he’d used the spell on her.

‘…it doesn’t seem like anything’s off…’ he sighed with relief. 'Could I have been... wrong?'

He looked to the ceiling. The shadows of the night appeared to consume the wood. Travis's breathing stabilized. His thoughts, however, drifted to another situation still vivid in his mind.

'Icla... could it be that something happened with the guards...?' he wondered for a moment before dismissing the thought. ‘We’ll have to rush back. Leaf said she would accompany me until Guill. Her not calling me to aid her tells me one thing.'

...

'I need to get stronger, quickly.'

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