A black swan is an unpredictable event that is beyond what is normally expected of a situation and has potentially severe consequences. ~investopedia.com POV - Tad

I had just jinxed myself hadn’t I. These two were totally ominous. The Library wasn’t safe at all. I could feel an oppressive and dismissive gaze sweeping over me. I didn’t know what was happening but whatever it was, it wasn’t going to be good. Deep foreboding swept over me.

I quickly pulled up my Precocious Award and swiftly and regretfully allocated it to Body. Regretfully because, while it didn’t give me the least return of my Stats, it didn’t advance my desire to unlock magic. But I needed to be more resilient and fast. I was a soulful glass cannon. Except without the cannon part. I was almost totally inoffensive. I had [Dodge] and [Rage] and well, they would be about useful to me as a used tissue if it came to a confrontation. And I was feeling confronted already and they hadn’t even reached us.

“Dom!” I hissed.

“Hmmmm?” He was unconcerned. Perhaps I was jumping at shadows. No. My intuition was firing on all cylinders. We were in trouble. And the worst thing was I had no idea why.

I fired off my [Inspect] Skill.

>NAME:

?

?

>SPECIES:

Human

>LVL: ??

[Improve proficiency to view more and unlock deeper insight]

>NAME:

?

?

>SPECIES:

Human

>LVL: ??

[Improve proficiency to view more and unlock deeper insight]

Welp. I was underwhelmed. This was even less info than when I scanned Dom. At least I had got his name. But I could confirm that they were human I suppose. That was something at least. But it didn’t really give me any comfort. There would be no species loyalty here. And I could also see that they were not D Grade, not that it would make any difference even if they were. It was cold comfort at best. I was just Level 1. I was as helpless as a babe before them.

A wave of frustrated and bored annoyance just about flattened me, followed by one of dull anticipation with a muted lust for violence. Perhaps we could defuse this. Surely it is a case of mistaken identity.

And that was totally wishful thinking. We were definitely their goal.

They stopped directly in front of our alcove. Blocking all avenues of escape. In fact I couldn’t even see the door now. It was totally obscured by a slab of muscle and scars. He was massive. He dwarfed Dom and I had thought Dom was intimidating. But it wasn’t so much his size that gave me the heebie jeebies. It was his eyes. They were shifty, and they were empty. There wasn’t anyone nice home here. And with some indeterminate focal point he wasn’t even really looking at me. Yet I could feel his gaze. His intent. This was not good at all. In fact if I didn’t already know he was a human I would have thought he was some type of flesh golem. Maybe an undead one even.

I turned to his companion. She was even more scary. It was instinctive. You know, the way you can just look at someone and know you do, not, want to get on their bad side. That they would make you pay. Twice over and then make you thank them for it. This was adversity alright. The system must have heard my internal monologuing. Jugernautical? Hah. More like I was gimpicaughtical. I was super glad my undies were self cleaning.

And Dom was still oblivious. That must be nice. Well actually I wasn’t so sure. Was it better not to see the train that flattened you or rather to marinate in the dread curdling in your soul? At least you could try and prepare or avoid it. If you didn't notice it, well , that would be that. Thanks for coming, better luck next time old chap. And I was so marinating. I realised I had perked my time perception and dragging this dastardly moment out in some kind of masochistic self flagellation.

She was tall. And built. Really well built. Don’t get me wrong. I was not being bawdy, despite my flagelling. No, not in the slightest. In fact it would be fair to say that that it would have be the furtherest thing on my mind. My little monkey brain was gibbering at me to get away.

She was built like an inform athlete. She was totally glamorous with high cheekbones, perfectly arched brows and pursed lips. And she was totally and utterly infuriated. With me I presume. Or with Dom I suppose. It doesn’t have to be all me. I’ve probably been caught up in some drama he had instigated or was involved in. After all, I've only been here for a day or so. And I've done nothing at all of any note. I was not reassuring myself. Cold pale blue eyes scanned me and dismissed me as meaningless. Less than trash.

Dom was like a possum in the headlights. Wide eyed and frozen.

But not with fear.

No. The silly duffer. He was enthralled. How on earth could he be misreading these evil vibes so much. If I thought it was bad before, now it had just gotten worse, a whole lot of worse.

POV - Ivy

And I was having an utterly ghastly day. First of all sent to the back end of nowhere. The First Level! It was such a dead end. And not with so much as an ‘if you please.’ But that was not the worst. No, not by a System mile. My travelling companion easily topped my dreary destination and my gopher task by an order of magnitude. My minion. What a joke.

There I was, blissfully imagining that having a henchman to cater to my every need would be a novel and enjoyable experience. Well, it certainly was novel. But nowhere near enjoyable. Rather it was exceedingly distasteful. Never again I swore. No, Ladies don’t swear; I chided myself. And I was endeavouring to be a Lady. Even when under pressure. And I was definitely suffering under Sledgrick pressure. Never again, I promised. Yes, that was better. And a Lady should always keep her word. No, I would put him in the ground first. Genteely and with grace and poise of course.

What, for Systems sake, had Chase even been thinking? Sledgrick was simply a menace. I mean he’d turned up to meet me with a corpse draped over his shoulder! How uncouth. Even now I suspected he was carrying it around with him in his inventory. It had disappeared way too fast otherwise. He simply didn’t register that it was anything out of the ordinary. Just part of a day's work. Humdrum.

Yes, he was distasteful. I wanted to spit. But Ladies do not spit. Or snort. Or fart apparently. Oh, Excuse me. They do not phahrt. You even needed to say it correctly if you were a Lady. Ph-ahr-t. And just looking at Sledgrick made me feel bloated. And don’t get me started on trying to speak with him. He was simply indecipherable. This was totally incredible since we all were speaking Common. It was like the System was deliberately trying to inflame me. To pump me up. Yes, it was altogether ghastly.

We had finally arrived at this sorry excuse for a Library when, for once, something went unexpectedly right. The spies were still there. My Luck Stat had kicked in at last. The Bronze librarian pointed us straight to them.

They were Clay?

That was so unlikely it was almost unbelievable. Or it was an exceedingly cunning disguise. Yes, I would not be gulled. Not again. Being lumped with this lumox was enough already.

But how for Accension’s Sake did a Triad recruit a couple of Clay Tier newbies? And there was no way to spoof the System’s [Identify] skill. Unless this was something new of course. There was always that. I needed to keep an open mind. But these two didn’t look like fanatics on a suicidal mission. And what were they even hoping to achieve? They must have known any query regarding the Azure Potentate would trigger an immediate response. I didn’t even know what their query had been. But it had really shook up the gadwasp nest something fierce.

Perhaps they weren’t Triad. Perhaps they were agents of the Firm. And this was more the Firm’s modus operandi. Unreasonably complex, in fact, complex for complexities sake. Yes, that fitted. But we hadn’t had even a minor dust up with the Firm for well over four decades. Why would they be starting something now? That didn’t make sense. Especially here. The Firm had abandoned Level 1 over a year ago when the stragglers of the last Orientation had finished trickling in. Even now the Level was pretty much a ghost town. I doubted there would be even one hundred thousand left in the city. Pundits had postulated that some glitch had occurred and the projected abandonment of Level 1 was an error. I didn’t care one way or the other. I just wanted to do my job and go home.

I took another look at the two sorry sadsacks. The wimpy one was just about melting into the floor. What a poor excuse for a spy. It's a wonder he didn’t blow away; he was such a lightweight. Once again I triggered my [Inspect] Skill. I didn’t bother injecting any additional Essence into it but I did look a little deeper than their Tier. I didn’t need to know everything about this dweeb after all. Just why he was poking his nose into Azure business and, to satisfy my own curiosity, what he was asking to have stirred up such agitation up the chain?

>NAME:

Tad

Blank

>SPECIES:

Human

>TIER:

G

[CLAY]

>LEVEL:

1

He was still at Level 1? I had never ever seen a mature Level 1 human. Level 1 was for kids. Not adults. He was an all grown up baby. This was unbelievable. He should be wrapped up in cotton wool and shipped back to the crèche until he was ready for the wider System. No wonder he is wilting. Just my aura alone must be bearing down on him like the wrath of a Rift Break. And what a stupid name. Tad blank? More like totally blank. That fitted so much better. And it resonated. I was so right. I dismissed Totally Dweeby Guy as a person of interest.

I turned my attention to the second Clay Tier, the larger of the two. He was a much better looking specimen. Speciman. I intentionally uncorrected myself. He looked like a man's man. And that was my type of man too. I unabashedly liked my men to be manly. Firm muscles, good skin. Pleasing proportions. An open and guileless face. Nice.

I shook myself. I wasn’t here for a dalliance, I was here on business. Serious business. Unpleasant business. I glanced at Sledgrick. Yes, very unpleasant indeed.

But the way he was looking at me with those clear cornflower blue eyes, and wow, it was like churned animal discharge wouldn’t even melt in his mouth. I could resist. I triggered my [Inspect] again.

>NAME:

Nigel

Thomson

>SPECIES:

Human

>TIER:

G

[CLAY]

>LEVEL:

9

Peak Clay. Almost Bronze. A few more levels or so and he’d be the perfect boytoy. And when was the last time someone had looked at me like that? Like never? The shadow of my great great Grandmother loomed large over my shoulder. He was still looking at me. Even just the mention of Her name was enough to set even the most ardent of suitors to cowering. I savoured the moment.

Then Sledgrick happened.