After Thirty-Three left and the rumble finished its course, I went back to inspecting the shackles. They seem to use ward locks which I do have a skeleton key for, but unlocking them will activate the same alarm as breaking the array would. I might have a way to get out of these shackles before the numbers – or whatever they’re called – can get to me, but this plan is dependent on what is below me.

Taking a penny out of my inventory, I stare at it remorsefully for a few seconds before dropping it. 2.08 seconds later, I hear the coin plop which means I have twenty meters to fall before hitting water of unknown quality and depth. I figure my condition will only deteriorate as they continue to torture me, so I put the plan into action.

First, I bring two skeleton keys into my right hand out of the lockpicking set in my dagger and the dagger itself into my left. I position the dagger to cut the array on the left while making my way through the wards on the right.

When the shackle unlocks it rips the key from my hand, but I quickly sever the other array and catch it with my newly regained [Ferrokinesis]. I the lower the key to the lock on my right ankle while working on the left wrist with my newly freed right.

It is at this point that the rumbling that signals someone coming begins. It is followed by the fog turning hostile, forcing me to close my eyes and summon my school neckerchief to cover my mouth.

With the right ankle cuff unlocked, I swing into the stone wall on my left and store my knife and extra skeleton key back in my inventory. The wall is mortared smooth, which prevents me from rock climbing, but I had not planned on that anyways. The chain for my left arm begins to recede upwards; however, I release it before it can make this next part any more painful.

It didn’t need to. All my weight is caught by my left ankle after an eight-meter drop. I wallow in self pity just long enough for the rumbling to stop and a couple voices to echo about above me. I pull the skeleton key back out of my inventory and begin to work on the last shackle.

As I am working, a detection spell passes through me, but the fog should dissipate it enough for my [Stealth] to render it ineffective. Even if it did work, I quickly undo the last shackle. Holding on to the chain with my free hand, I store my gear away while preparing for the final jump.

Planting my feet on the wall, I leap out and flip into a shallow dive into the water eleven meters below me. Not a second too late, too, as a [Water Bullet] crashes into the wall behind me.

The water is no more than four meters deep, but the bottom is featureless, leaving me to swim around the perimeter until I find a grated drainage tunnel in the wall under where Eighteen and Thirty-Three would appear before me, where I presumed the entrance to be. I was too big – no – The holes in the grate were to small for me to fit through, and the grate itself was too sturdy for me to break through.

Nevertheless, I cast a [Light Barrier] around me and the grate to keep the water off it. I then cast two [Fireballs] on one of the bars to heat it up. Lastly, I push against it with my dagger, distorting it slightly. The gap still isn’t wide enough to fit me, but that is not my plan: I take of my bra and toss it around the bar when I hear something splash behind me, then I swim around to my right while casting [Conceal] and [Fade] on myself and activating [Stealth].

All I can do now is wait and hope they take the bait, quickly too, as I only have enough mana to last thirteen minutes. And thankfully, I don’t have to wait long: almost as soon as I had settled into place, an explosion rings out from the grate. As a side effect, the fog stopped attacking me, the magic within disrupted by the shockwave.

After ten minutes, I drop the spells but keep using [Stealth] and begin to meditate while floating. I kept that up for about an hour until my mana was half recharged. During that time, I didn’t hear anyone else coming down or going through the tunnel, so I go ahead any swim over to the entrance.

The tunnel is barely large enough for an average human to wade through, with the water coming up to my waist. There is a slight current that is only strong enough to make it troublesome to swim back but not impossible, if one were in good condition unlike me.

Not wanting to make any loud splashes or waste my already low energy reserves, I let the current carry me downstream. I pass a few intersections where more flows come in, but none of them are slow enough for me to make my way up them. Eventually, I come across another grate that has already been blown out.

By this time, I am in a proper culverted creek, though by the smell of it, it is used for sewage too. Shortly thereafter, I tee into a tunnel with a walkway on one side. Once I prop myself onto it, I navigate upstream with a [Candlelight] spell to ward of the dark.

It takes me a kilometer to find a ladder out of the sewers. I put on my school uniform and begin to climb up. Emerging into an alley from the manhole, I take in my surroundings. The buildings around me seem to be warehouses, which would put me in the port sector of Firenze to the northwest, unless of course they took me to another city entirely.

The alley itself is fairly clean with only a single scrap of white clothing in the middle. It seems to be a bra and contrary to my expectations of underwear thrown into alleyways, it is perfectly clean and undamaged. Now that I think about it, it looks familiar.

I walk over to give the bra a closer inspection. I pick it up, and when I remember where I last saw it, I place my bra in my inventory shortly before being hit in the back of the head and blacking out.

menus

Skills

Combat: Skip Step Evasion III Dagger Techniques IV Bow Techniques III Light Barrier II Light Beam III Lightning Rush II Fireball III Flame Wave I Ferrokinesis III Tracking I Fade IV Pickpocketing II Lockpicking III Silent Step II Blind I Civil: Examine III Analyze III Cartography I Court Etiquette II Reading VI Mana Detection III Candlelight II Ignition II Summon Water I Sprinting III Stealth IV Purify I Meditation I Night Vision I

Status

Identity: Name: Robin Age: 16 Sex: Female Job: Apprentice Light Thief Home: Capital Magic Academy dorm 18-201 Gauge Levels: HP: 24/94 SP: 10/76 MP: 500/623 LP: 100 PP: 10/10 XP: 1858 Summary Statistics: Level: 69 Combat Level: 37 Civil Level: 32 Rank: 34.9 STRength: 10.9 DEXterity: 20.8 STAmina: 11.3 INTeligence: 63.2 WISdom: 46.6 WILlpower: 19.4 CONviction: 3.2 FAIth: 37.6 CORrectness: 101.1 Tier: D- Equipped Items: Academy Uniform Blouse Academy Uniform Skirt Academy Uniform Kerchief Academy Uniform Vest Red Hair Ribbon The Divine Panties of Chastity Indestructible Cannot be removed by anyone other than the wearer even after death or on accident Under no circumstances will the wearer’s privates be revealed while equipped If anyone without sufficient mental resistance looking at the wearer nefariously gazes upon them, they will immediately lose interest Measurements: [[withheld]] …

Inventory

Equipment: ₣297.02 Thieves Dagger Standard Ironwood Longbow Plain Leather Quiver Plain Arrow ×15 Mild Poison Tipped Arrow ×5 Polishing Cloth Flask 300 ml Water Small Glass Jar Signet Ring Mold The Divine Sports Bra of Chastity Indestructible Cannot be removed by anyone other than the wearer even after death or on accident Under no circumstances will the wearer’s privates be revealed while equipped Automatically alerts the wearer of ‘Peeping Toms’ Thieves Guild Members' Badge Missing items Ordinary Iron Buckler Plain Black Cloak Simple Green Archer’s Hat Simple Green Huntress’s Blouse Simple Green Huntress’s Skirt Plain Leather Belt Plain Leather Archer’s Right Glove Plain Leather Archer’s Left Arm Guard Basic Hunting Dagger Plain Leather Boots Anti-appraisal Earing (low grade) Slightly modifies Appraisal readings Boosts mana pool by 5 MP Firenze Magic Academy Student ID