— Aster —

I was sitting on the roof right above the drop point when I pulled out the egg reexamining my mission.

Mission Rank:1 Type:Ghost Delivery

Time Elapsed:0:20:30 Time Remaining:4:34:30

Details:

Stage 1

Pick Up:

Retrieve package from Reds alley, will be dropped at 9:00PM by a man in a red shirt. Once red shirt has arrived indicates you are there, or drop will not happen.

(CAUTION DO NOT BE SEEN!).Package will then be dropped.

Stage 2

Drop Off:

Once the package is acquired, bring it to the magic hat shop and place the package on the counter by Midnight. (CAUTION DO NOT BE SEEN!)

Do not be seen by anyone. Being seen will result in failure, and possible punishment.

Right now I was trying to figure out how I was going to grab the package without being seen. I surveyed the roofs contemplating how to get back up to the roof after grabbing the package when something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. But when I looked nothing was there. “I could have sworn...” Right as I thought this I saw it again, a shimmer. I went up to where I saw the Shimmer finding clear glass-like handholds on the sides of the buildings. All the way from the bottom to the building's roofs. Hidden in plain sight was a way back to the road. I wonder if there are others? After a few minutes of looking around, I found another set of protrusions. I was excited If this is true everywhere… This will be a breeze.

I had some time so I decided to check out some of the other alleys. Each hidden handhold was tricky to spot, but nothing could be hidden from my eyes anymore. The brilliance of all their placement was impressive. Each was cleverly hidden next to a drainpipe or something that led to the roof so that it would give the illusion of climbing the object. So that's why our kind is so hard to catch’ as I ran around I suddenly heard The tone of a small bell. What was that?

Thinking it was the egg I pulled it out to see that there were only four minutes till the drop. Now I was nervous since I hadn't dropped a sign for the client. I had gone far from the original alley, so I ran back to the drop point. I made it with little time to spare. Just as I looked over the edge I saw a man in a red shirt and face covered by a large hat begin to walk down the alley. Now about to panic for lack of a better plan an idea formed ‘This better work.’

With a loud clang, a few feet in front of the man a knife stood between two stones. The man blinked looking at the knife, and up towards the roof. He was carefully looking for anything amiss. The man looked annoyed but after a few moments of not being able to find anything continue to walk down the alley. As the man passed the knife he dropped a small package next to it. The package was a small red box with twine around it. The box was twice the size of my hand. The man in the red shirt continued to walk as he left the alley. When he looked back the package was gone. He seemed impressed. As he turned the corner a black mass moved from behind a drain pipe.

I finally breathed after hiding behind the drain. I was sure the man would see me. I was panicked and threw more energy into the scarf deepening the shadows. I was still in shock at how lucky my throw was. I did not expect it to dramatically land, but it worked. After the man dropped the package I quickly jumped down to grab the package. Then Redshirt stopped and began to turn, I panicked jumping behind the drain pipe. Channeling energy through the scarf.

After the man was gone I made my way back to the roofs. As I reached the top I heard a ringing sound again. This time I realized I didn't actually hear it more or felt it in my mind. “What?” pulling myself on the roof I pulled out the egg to see if anything had changed. After looking for a minute I realized it was still the same, other than the time turning down to two hours and fifteen minutes and sixteen seconds remaining.

Must be some type of warning from the egg. I'll have to ask when I get back. I pushed the idea from my mind heading off to the shop. The shop would at least take two hours to get to from the drop point. I remembered my first mistakes taking the road and made sure to make as little noise as possible running across the roof. At first, my pace was at a brisk walk then after a few minutes, I began to pick up the pace since it was taking too long. I had barely made any noise, careful every step. I was about halfway to my destination when I heard *Ding*

Not stopping I pulled out the egg to look at the screen. Again nothing other than time 1 hour and fifty-five minutes and ten seconds remaining. I was putting the egg back when I missed my pocket, dropping the egg.

Terrified I watched the egg fall from the roof rolling down into the alley next to me. I ran after it without trying to be quiet, although I was still very quiet. Jumping for the egg just as it met the edge. Brushing my fingers just as it fell. The egg fell to the hard cobblestones below.

Don’t break. Don’t break. Don’t break. Don’t break.

It hit the ground with a thud.

Heading down toward the egg I was afraid of what I might find. It was perfectly fine no scratches or anything on it. . I climbed back up to go on my way. I reached the shop with an hour left to spare. Now how do I get in?

Searching around the shop I noticed a shimmer across one of the hats seems. There was a slight shine in the shape of a door on the hat. Must be a hidden escape route or something.

If I didn’t have the Cats Eye ability I would have never have found it. Once I reached the door I easily found a doorknob and tried to open it, it was locked. Examining the door closed I couldn’t find a way to unlock it from this site. I needed to take a step back. I thought about the problem remembering something

Placing my knife where the edge of the door was hidden I swiftly pulled up. Hearing a latch come open and pulled open the door. It was a simple latch system sometimes simples the best.

I found myself in the shop's storeroom. I knew the shop was empty as it was not a dual complex where one lived upstairs. The shop owner was so secure in his system that he left the shop unattended. I wasn't stupid I knew there were probably cameras so I wrapped myself in my scarf and poured energy absorbing the light around me. I still hadn’t figured out the timeline before it exploded with light. I was on a time limit as I searched for the cameras. I found a few but they all faced the counter. While staring at the cameras something odd seemed to happen. I saw the Shimmer again but this time it was different. It was like a cone of clear glass that came from the cameras. I could actually see exactly where the viewpoints saw. I made my way to the nearest camera and tried an idea I had. Bringing my scarf closer to the camera as I did the light dimmed and vanished once I removed it the light came back.

I used this to figure out a path to the counter. I only had about ten minutes left when I placed the package down. I'm done better get out of here.

Now that I had the path down it only took around seven minutes to get out the same way. Once I exited the door I heard a word ring throughout my head ‘Complete.’ It was similar to the bell I heard seeming to come from nowhere. I pulled out the egg. This time there was a change. A big complete past over the screen. So that's what that was. But what were the bells?

I put the egg away heading back to the Guild. Reaching the entrance to the guild. *Ding*

Again? I was sure the bells had something to do with the egg, but now I have no idea. I'll find out when I report the mission.

When I reached the guild I saw Delilah still here. She looked a little zoned out. “Do you live at the desk?”

Delilah snapped to attention and looked at me. “Just for a few more days.”

“?!...Really?!” I could not tell if she was being serious or not.

“So did you finish or fail?” She ignored the question.

Pulling out the egg I noticed it had gone from a dark gray to a beautiful azure. I had not noticed the color change in the dark. “You completed it!” Delilah pulled out her book and asked “Please hand over your book for a report.” I handed it over. Delilah began copying it to the much thicker ledger. “Little dramatic with the knife?”

I flinched. “That was a spur-of-the-moment thing.” I guess it really does detail the mission. Delilah finished writing handing back my book. I was curious since I hadn't checked my book yet. I took a peek.

Mission Rank:1Type:Ghost Delivery

Mission Status:Completed Time Remaining:00:02:30

Completion Details:

Indicated to be at drop point by thrown knife in front of dropper. Ghosted package away before dropper left the alley creating an air of mystery. Reached delivery point with no issues, fell once. Used door to enter and avoided detection by cameras by darkening the lights. Delivered package. Left via same method. Was not seen or observed.

Page 1 of 2 ->

I was flabbergasted. This was a very simple and accurate summary of the mission. It only seemed to mention random key points in vague but detailed language. “So vague.”

“That’s the point. If it gave all the details no one would ever take a mission. Especially members of this guild. You know, secrets of the trade and all.”

That solves one mystery. What about the bell? “What does the bell mean?”

She casually looked over “Open your status screen and you'll understand.”

When I opened my screen a second screen popped up. On the second screen were three skills: sneak cat's Eye and lock picking. There was a blinking plus sign next to the skill and the levels had risen.

Cats Eye 2 -> 4

Stealth 2 -> 4

Lock-picking 1 -> 2

Shadow 1 -> 2

I was staring at the screen delighted but a little confused “So the bells are levels... But why did sneak level so fast?”

“Stealth is a way of moving so you're using it all the time, so you do it without realizing it, and because you learned it here it will level much faster since those skills are more like slowly remembering than learning from scratch.”

I nodded “Makes sense.” closing my screen “So I've been wondering. I know why magicians don't do the Cats Eye stuff, what with the power flow being so strong, but what of the other jobs, Warrior, Ranger, Etc... The sharpness of vision would really help wouldn't it?”

She seemed surprised by my question. “Actually they do. But they use a different technique, not one hundred percent sure about how they use it. The Warriors use it to see the world in slow motion allowing them to adjust quickly, Rangers do something similar but they focus on something in the distance. Blacksmiths actually are similar to us but they use it to see into metal and how it flows or something.” After handing back the book Delilah picked her magazine back up “I think they can kind of see like us but only in narrow views or during battle. So it doesn’t really work for them.”

If that’s the case then “Why don't we make weapons invisible?”

“It's the material. It is possible, but it is very expensive, and too much movement will make it visible.” she stopped and then looked at me “You’ve seen the handholds, right?”

Nodding.

“They stay invisible because they never move, and our invisible lines are naturally like that since they are just a byproduct of certain magic.”

“Huh? So what you're saying is possible but difficult.”

“Pretty much. But also their weapons are extremely fragile.” She seemed to lose interest going back to her magazine. “So another mission or you calling it a day?”

I was tired, sore, drained, and my eyes hurt. “Does the eye fatigue ever go away?”

“When it reaches level ten.” she said in a calming voice “It becomes part of you and it will be as natural as breathing. Also, it kind of never fully turns off at that point.”

I was a little concerned about that last part but too tired to care. Heading for my room.