Chapter Sixteen – Class of the Enemy

I stepped into the Rogue’s Den, feeling a sense of trepidation. Or maybe it was just good old fear.

The NPC rogues hovering around on dirty tables, almost all universally holding at least one knife did little to assuage my worries. They were angry and rough-looking to a man, but none of them seemed particularly interested in me. They would glance at me, sneer, and return to their card game, or dice, or frothy mug of liquid quickly enough.

I stared at the amber-colored liquid in those mugs wondering what it tasted like. Looking around the room a lot of the NPCs all seemed to be drinking it.

No. I had to focus. Get the job that could help me escape danger more efficiently now, and acquire a tasty frothy drink later.

“Place always gives me the creeps,” Akwa said. “That’s why I chose Paladin!”

I eyed her curiously. “You’ve been here before?”

“Uhh… yeah. Quest sent me in here at one point. No big deal,” she said defensively.

I glanced at Bellcandy and we both shared a shrug before moving on. Paladin wasn’t a class offered in Variak and could only be obtained by going to Pel’Bramont, but Akwa had confessed that she’d only just gotten her class recently before coming to Variak in an effort to visit all five of the starting city locations, which wasn’t incredibly difficult since they were all connected by fast methods of travel called boats or airships. I’d never seen either of these things but both sounded amazing.

I stepped forward towards the back door, where a thin man leaned casually, playing with his knives. He was standing as if he had nowhere in particular to be but his demeanor held a certain edge of readiness.

His nameplate showed him to be an NPC by the name of Vicious Kyle.

“Are we… sure I need to come here to become a Rogue?” I asked, feeling nervous as I looked up at the man. He seemed more intimidating with every step.

“Better than owing tribute to Variak. You get to keep everything you might steal. If you go the city-sanctioned route then you’re more like a spy assassin for the crown and all of your quests involve killing NPCs. Better this way, because you can level up by stealing,” Akwa supplied helpfully.

“How do you know that? I thought you’d only been here once?” I asked.

She shrugged again. “I looked it up.”

“Looked it up–!?”

“Hey! The hell are you doin’ here?” Vicious Kyle interrupted as I stepped into an arbitrary radius that made the NPC interact with me.

Even as I flinched at the sudden… well… viciousness of the man, I could feel the automated voice repeating lines. I was in no danger from this lithe, oily creature. He was here to give me a class, menacing as he may seem.

“No admittance to the den allowed, unless ya prove yourself, y’hear?” he said with a sly grin. I only then realized that he was standing in front of a door that led even deeper into this strange place.

I gathered my courage and stepped up to Vicious Kyle. I needed this.

The Rogue class would give me a ten percent dexterity boost and the moment I found out I could level the class by stealing, instead of killing my kin, I’d jumped on board fully. I’d considered being a healer since they could gain levels merely by healing but thought better of it. Simply choosing to be a healer meant I would need to be around fights in order to level. I didn’t want that.

Then again… I wasn’t sure if anyone else knew that I could steal Soulbound items from players. If my steal skill was any indication I typically shouldn’t be able to do that.

Of course, all of the classes could be leveled by killing monsters, but only rogue in particular gave me boosts in speed and advantages for hiding and getting out of fights if I needed to.

“How would I prove myself?”

An NPC Box appeared, very similar to the one that had appeared when I’d first become a builder. This one had no monetary requirements though. “Accept your first dagger and the path of the rogue? *ALERT* Once chosen this path cannot be abandoned aside from divine intervention. Choose Wisely!”

Below there were two options. Accept and Deny.

Did I want to commit to this? Actually, was I truly committing? Divine Intervention… did that mean Francis could remove the class if I decided I didn’t want it anymore?

“Are you sure you want to go this route, Gell?” Akwa asked. “Being a rogue does mean that someday you might be asked to kill things. As a healer, you never would.”

As a healer, I’d be a target. I knew that for certain because every time a group of adventurers had visited my dungeon home that was exactly what I’d done.

I hit accept. No regrets. No doubting myself. I would be Gell, the Jellyfae Thief and possible PK from now on! I grinned as a cascade of fanfares echoed through my ears and four NPC boxes appeared layered atop one another.

Rogue Class gained!

+10% to Dexterity

+5% to Charisma

+5% to Luck

+10% base theft rate

Gained the ability Sprint!

Gained the ability Backstab!

Gained the ability Stealth!

The next few screens each had different descriptions of the new abilities I’d learned but the last one drew my attention the most.

“Congratulations! You’ve become a rogue. Sneakiness and guile will forever remain your bedfellows, and trust will never come easily for those around you.”

“Wait what!?” I screamed, turning to glare at Akwa. “Y-you never said people around me wouldn’t trust me!”

She blinked back at me. “H-huh?”

“The NPC Box! It says people won’t trust me! You never said that!” I shouted again, gritting my teeth in frustration.

“I… Gell that’s… that’s just a–! It’s not really saying people won’t trust you,” Bellcandy said, drawing my panicked attention. “It’s just a general idea of how real rogues are perceived. Here in Tread the Sky, a rogue is just another class. No one would have any more or less trouble trusting you.”

“Are you sure!?” I asked, my worry fading a little. “I’m already… different. I want to make more friends like Amy told me to. That way I’ll never be alone.”

“-ave what it takes to be a master thief?” I blinked in surprise as Vicious Kyle danced his way over to me, spindly arms flourishing a fan of knives before making them disappear.

Had he been talking this entire time? I sighed feeling a little sad. It was times like this that I wondered if maybe I was being a little too rigid in my stance against killing monsters. NPC’s could be so much more. They could be real, like Miss Tutorial. Like… like me. What kind of idiot designed them so they would continue talking even while no one was listening to them?

An idea began to form in my mind. What if… I could learn to be a false god? If I could learn how they built this world then maybe I could understand how to touch it without possibly bringing it down?

“Gell. Being a rogue in our world would make you less trustworthy. Here you’re just another DPS class. People don’t think of you as untrustworthy, they think of you as a strong single target damage dealer. Do you understand?”

I hesitated. “You mean… sort of like how Half Bold had a super long name but everyone just referred to him as BM?”

Bellcandy blinked. “Half Bold? Oh wow, I almost forgot about that guy. Uhm. Not really? More like how people just refer to me as healz. It’s what you can do that people care about. No one is going to judge you for your class. Not here anyway.”

I blinked at that. There was a hint of bitterness there. “They… would judge you in your world?”

“Some people do,” he hissed. I thought I heard him mutter something that sounded like “Dull Beauty,” but he didn’t seem to want to keep talking about it.

“I… guess it’s too late to back out now, anyway. Thanks, Bellcandy,” I said before turning back to Vicious Kyle. The man was posed strangely, looking at me expectantly but just waiting for a response.

“Good.” Vicious Kyle responded to me as if I’d been talking to him. “Can always use another knife in the dark. Your first task is simple. Steal somethin’. Come back and show me. Better make it at least a little valuable too.”

I blinked. Well, that was easy enough. The NPC box that appeared said almost exactly that, so I accepted the quest before pulling out the dagger I’d stolen from Red Thorn what felt like ages ago.

Akwa let out a short breath as she saw it before clamming up. She continued to gaze at the dagger with naked desire though.

“You uhm… want this?” I asked curiously. I didn’t think Paladins could use daggers but maybe she just liked them.

She turned back to me, shaking herself. “Oh. Uhm. No. That’s okay. It’s just… a really nice dagger. I wouldn’t turn it in for a first level quest. Or any quest really. The bonus will not be worth it.”

I mentally agreed before nodding to her. “Yeah. I’ve never really considered selling this. It belonged to Red Thorn.”

I examined the dagger and the usual NPC box that described items appeared. As expected, I couldn’t use the dagger at all and wouldn’t be able to for quite some time.

“Rose”

One half of a two-part set.

“Forged with Dread Ruby as a pair beneath the Prison of Gebble by the dark smith before he used it to take his own life. It is said that he will haunt Gebble until Rose’s other half, Thorn is buried in the chest of the woman who betrayed him.”

Unique

Exquisite Ebony Dagger of the Hawk

Damage: 179

Level Requirement: 20

I blinked in recognition. Dread Ruby was a ridiculously expensive building component. I’d seen them on the auction house while scrolling through the items for sale there. I couldn’t use them yet but later on down the line, builders could use them to make demonic fire traps for guild halls.

As for the scary description, I’d discovered that a lot of items had strange backstories like that. As usual in Tread the Sky, they typically amounted to nothing more than a bit of added flavor to weapons or locations.

I bet Red Thorn had bought them at the Auction House.

“You’re right. I guess I’ll have to go and steal something. I’ve traded or sold everything else I had stolen,” I said. Something about this whole situation felt off. I was being given a task by a shady under dweller who was supposedly evil, but he was just giving me tasks. Presumably, he would just give anyone who entered tasks.

I turned to Akwa and grinned maliciously. “Akwa… I don’t really want to leave the city or anything. You got anything valuable rooting around in your bags?”

Her eyes widened. “Nooo. Oh no, you don–! Hey! Gell, I will call the guards! I swear I’ll hit my catch!”

Ten minutes, two completed quests, and one very annoyed Akwa later, we left the Rogue’s Den. The second quest had been to steal something of value greater than five silver. Wouldn’t you know it, Akwa had a whole bunch of items around that level? I’d managed to snag a superior potion of stamina from her. She acted annoyed but I could tell she was amused with the whole thing.

“Alright!” I exclaimed happily, ready to get started on my hunt for Bugbear. “Bellcandy, are you sure Dull Beauty doesn’t want to come?”

Bellcandy’s mood immediately darkened. “She… doesn’t.”

Well, that was informative. I guessed it would be just me, Akwa, and Bellcandy. Maybe Iron or Amy would join in later.

“Alright then. Are… you okay Bellcandy?” I asked, suddenly concerned. “Did I do something wrong?”

Bellcandy… glared at me for a moment before relaxing and sighing. I’d honestly never seen him anything but happy and carefree before today. We hadn’t exactly interacted all that much before I’d watched Red Thorn kill him in the Twisted Wronkle Woods but I had known him long enough to know that this dismal mood wasn’t normal for him. The expression worried me.

“It’s not you, Gell. It has nothing to do with you, so don’t worry about it,” he said, folding his short little arms in front of his chest.

Not about me…? I mean… yeah. Other people had their own things going on. I knew that. Iron and Amy had their decrepit bodies to care for. I guessed Akwa and Bellcandy did too, but this was my world. I wanted to know everything! So… what could make Bellcandy go from his usual, happy self, to this dour angry person?

“Tell me! Please, tell me? Tellme-tellme-tellme!” I exclaimed.

He sighed, but grinned at me, weakly. Exasperated? “Maybe some other time, Gell.”

I beamed back at him, glad to see him at least trying to look happy.

“Alright. In that case, are we ready to go!? I want to find Bugbear today!” I shouted, feeling more excited than I had in a while. I was going on an adventure! Out into the Great-Open! It wasn’t like it had been back in Dungeon Home but… I was thrilled in a way I hadn’t felt since reaching Variak.

The two of them gave halfhearted cheers. Akwa made an attempt at stealing from my bag which I deftly thwarted with a smack at her grubby paws. She grinned at me, and I grinned back.

I was going to find my friend.

I pulled up my safe points menu and selected the Shady Woods Copse.

“Pay one silver to “Red Thorn” to teleport yourself and your party to the Shady Woods Copse?”

I grimaced. Right. That.