Stealth at night in a town was quite different than in the open field or forest. Light sources came from various places and angles and often created sharp lines of shadow. I carefully circled the Mercenary Guild, looking for clues. I found him in an alley with a view to the front entrance. Warren was hidden but not hiding. He was making little movements and noises that gave away his presence and he seemed to be doing it on purpose. This was obviously suspicious, so I went even more carefully and kept looking. The second person was on a roof within sight of Warren (if that was even his name). This person was good. I only found them when I was close enough that Hearing Aid picked up a heartbeat where there shouldn’t have been one. Only then did I spot their outline and I was way too close. They hadn’t seen me and I carefully backed off to where I could see both. The person on the roof was easy to lose track of. I had some skill notifications, but I was not going to split my attention at this point.

Eventually, Warren made a signal and the person on the roof moved off. I decided to follow. Because they were so hard to follow with sight I actually mainly followed with Hearing Aid focused on them. They were quiet, but Hearing Aid was in the journeyman level of skills, much higher than Far Sight. They very carefully circled the Mercenary Guild. There were a couple of times I thought I had slipped up and they saw me, but apparently not. When they got back to Warren they caught his attention and made a signal and he moved off down the alley. The shadow figure followed from nearby roof tops. I shadowed the shadow. Eventually, they entered a smallish warehouse. It took me another fifteen minute to find an entrance I could use without the watchmen spotting me. It was an upper window to a small office which then let me out onto a mezzanine overlooking the action on the warehouse floor. I did spot the two bowmen also overlooking the action.

The action was Adrian Longstrider leaning over the table with another figure going over papers. Warren and his shadow were waiting to one side. Now that the shadow was not hiding I could tell it was female. Adrian dismissed the first figure and summoned Warren and his Shadow. Warren stepped forward.

“What happened?” asked Adrian.

“He didn’t show,” said Warren. “We waited the whole two hours and Tabs did a circuit of the Guild. Nothing.”

“Ok.” said Adrain, “wait over there for a minute.” He sat in the chair by the table and steepled his hands as if in thought. Then he raised his voice, “OK, Mister Level 9 Quarry Worker. You have just displayed some impressive Stealth and Perception abilities. But then you made a huge beginners blunder, in triggering the Spiritual Trap when you entered the building. The contradictions keep growing. I assume you are here to talk.” He indicated the chair opposite him. “Please come down and we can chat.”

Warren and the Shadow Girl, (Tabs?) had shocked expressions on their faces and were scanning the mezzanine, as were the archers. I pondered for a moment. Not about whether to go down, but whether Pip would be more use up here with the archers, or down there with the main players. I decided downstairs. I detached myself from the shadow I was hiding in and leapt over the handrail, dropping lightly to the stone floor of the warehouse. Before I left the shadow of the mezzanine Pip detached himself and moved along the edge. On my way to the table I picked up a spare chair and placed it where I could see all three and the main entrance was in my peripheral view. I had my back to one of the archers, but I figured they wouldn’t act without authority.

“You are quite the puzzle,” Adrian said. When I remained silent, he continued. “I have one question which is really puzzling me. I know nothing comes free, so in exchange I will offer some insight into one of my classes.”

I nodded for him to continue.

“The question that is going to keep me awake all night is, how come I can only identify you as a Level 9 Quarry Worker?” When I nodded for him to continue, he said, “My Identify skill is in the Master level, my Mental Perception is up there too and I have the Trainers Class, which gives me insight into people's abilities and classes. This means people who have Skills to mask their status or confuse it, generally don’t confuse me. Yet all my Skills are certain you are a Level 9 Quarry Worker. No hint of doubt there. You are obviously not a Level 9 Quarry Worker, so please explain the skill you are using, as it is effective, and something I have not come across yet.”

I paused, not sure how he would take this, or even if he would believe it. Eventually I said, “I actually don’t have any Skills to mask my status. Level 9 Quarry Worker is my highest class.”

There was stunned silence for a moment. Then Adrian just lost it. He burst out laughing, slapped his hand on the table and lost himself to laughter for several minutes. I had an amused smile on my face, as his laughter was infectious, but I really didn’t know how to react here. Warren looked confused and Tabs, just looked cross.

Eventually, he brought himself back under control. Still chuckling he said, “That is actually very clever. I could make that work for some people, even though it would involve a lot of effort. You're obviously not just a Level 9 Quarry Worker. Let me introduce ourselves again. I am Adrian Longstrider, no deception there and this is Warren Carter and this young lady is Tabitha Carter, Warren's sister. And you are?” He left the question hanging.

I saw no reason to hide my name. “I am Wiremu Hunter,” I answered.

“Hunter, from the Free Republic?” He asked. When I nodded he said, “That explains the Stealth and Perception. The Hunter Class.” This man was very knowledgeable and every time I opened my mouth I seemed to give him insights that I wasn't sure I wanted him having.

“Wiremu, I haven't laughed like that for a long time. You have made my night, so I am going to offer to train you in the Mask Status Skill, if you have the Ability levels. I am a Trainer, so it shouldn’t take long.”

“What do I need?” I asked.

“For Mask Status you need Mental Agility over 15 and an active mental skill, Intimidate, Persuade, Etc. You couldn’t have done what you did tonight without Mental Agility over 15. You can’t change the status, and it is obvious you are hiding something, but it is more robust against perception Skills.

If you have Mental Agility at 20 and Spiritual Agility at 15 you could get the more active Confuse Status or Manipulate Status. Confuse Status you need the same Mental Skill. There is a chance people will assume what they have seen is correct, but it may just be as obvious and mask Status.

For Manipulate Status you need an active Falsify ability like, Acting, Defraud, Mislead, Swindle, Seduce etc. Once Manipulate Status gets to the Apprentice level you can display what you like and it is effective against equal level skills, but can be broken through easier, if people realise they need to go deeper.”

I checked my Status. Tonight had levelled Hunter and Spy, as well as Stealth, Farsight and Hearing Aid. This meant I had four free Ability points and I could bump Spiritual Agility to 15 by using three of them. I figured it was worth it, and Deceive would be a good enough skill for Manipulate Status. I figured this was a key opportunity and I made the changes. This would also enable Spiritual Traps and I now knew they were useful as alarms as well. I would work on that once we left town.

“I would very much appreciate that,” I said.

“Very well, we will do it after our discussion. The main reason we wanted to talk is that Warren and Tabitha need to urgently leave town for an extended period. Your job ad seemed to be a good opportunity,” he said.

“I did tell you I'm just the messenger. I have no authority here.” I replied.

“Warren here is a competent Level 9 Warrior. He could probably get hired anyway. Tabitha is more difficult as she is a Level 10 Thief. She also has the Merchant Class, but it is still in the novice levels. Tabitha is the one who really needs to leave for a while as on her last job she bit off more than she should have.”

I saw Tabitha’s scowl get deeper as Adrian shared that information. “And what is it exactly you want me to do?” I asked.

“I want you to facilitate them joining the caravan,” he said. “And in compensation, if you can make it happen tomorrow I will train you in a skill tomorrow night. I strongly suggest Detect Spiritual Traps.”

I pondered it for a moment. There seemed to be no downside to it. If I couldn’t make it happen I was leaving and probably never coming back, and if I could manage it, I would have some new skills. “Two skills.” I said. I would get as much out of this trainer as I could.

His eyes narrowed as he thought. “Very well two skills.” he said, his eyes flicking to Tabitha. I got the impression that whatever arrangement they had between them just cost them more.

“OK I said I will see what I can do.” I said. “What Skills and abilities can I use to sell this to my boss?” I asked.

“Warren is a typical semi aggressive warrior with apprentice skills in Sword, Shield, Charge, Quick Cut and Shield Bash. Tabitha has Stealth in the Journeyman levels and Dark Sight in the upper Apprentice Levels, which is why you detecting her and following her without her seeing is impressive. Otherwise standard thief skills in Detecting and disarming traps, lockpicking etc.”

I nodded. I really needed to get out of here. I would have a very busy day tomorrow.

“Have you decided which Status skill you will try to learn?” Adrian continued.

“Manipulate Status,” I said.

“That is an interesting choice,'' he said. “Usually only those in the more subtle classes try to learn that. The Hustlers, Swindlers and Spies.”

I was careful not to react to any of that as I am sure he was testing all my reactions. It took almost an hour of him walking me through accessing my status through using my Mental Agility, specifically and then I had to incorporate some Spiritual Agility in the technique. Eventually I got it and I think it was only so quick because of the bonus from his Trainer class.

I left by the main door and hid nearby after making sure I wasn’t followed. Part of the manipulate Status skill meant I could order my skills so while I waited I rearranged them into Novice, Apprentice and Journeyman categories. Pip eventually joined me and I got an impression from him of a lot of people moving to and from a section of floor. I figured there was a basement entrance or tunnel. I got a few hours of sleep before morning training.