Chapter 1:

Sulphuric Heist

Heavy snow fell unto the city of Aslagard, blanketing it in a sheet of white that complemented the many royal azure walls that carved it into sections. The cold colors of the streets clashed heavily with the warm sun peeking through the clouds. It was as if summer and winter had both arrived that day.

Despite the brutal cold, the citizens paid no mind to their garments. They all walked through its streets wearing only thin clothing, and their children didn’t even bother themselves with wearing shoes as they ran through the ankle-deep snow. The crackle of crushed snow combined with the strong wind to create the melody the city had come to be known for. A harsh, unrelenting, and yet relaxed tune.

If the citizens represented the city’s relaxed side, then its soldiers carried the very incarnation of winter in their veins. Every day they patrolled the city, ignoring the citizens but ruthlessly scrutinizing every action any outsider would take inside.

The steel they wore had numerous magical markings running across them, with one great crystal of the same color along with the emblem of the city on their breastplate. Their armor concealed every inch of their body, leaving only the image of a soulless automaton behind.

The city guards were invisible to the citizens’ eyes, but their presence would be like a guillotine, ready to sever the necks of outsiders at a moment’s notice.

Such was the city of Aslagard, unwelcoming and cold in its welcome but warm in its embrace as its otherworldly shine envelopes all who live within it.

Using this serene beauty as a cover, four people snuck into the city from different cardinal positions.

One fit in perfectly with the citizens. The temptations of the city sailed past his gaze as he followed the steps of his mission. Once he saw a lull in the guards’ patrols, he snuck into the back alleys and made for the meeting place. He would arrive first.

The second member performed much less diligently, allowing himself to be distracted by the city’s wonders. Its streets so beautiful, its people so welcoming that he had failed to realize that two guards had already begun to tail him through the crowds of people. He might not arrive at the meeting at all.

The two remaining members would also delay their arrival, but they did so with a particular purpose in mind. They visited schools, shops, museums, the grand cathedral. All prominent landmarks in the city. They could not enter these locations personally, as they were under the constant watch of the guards. Still, they had managed to cleverly sneak in a few surprises into the bags of the unsuspecting townsfolk mingling around in those areas.

Once done, the two met up with the one who had arrived early. There, they sat and waited for the fourth member to come.

---

In a remote corner, hidden from the rest of the city, stood three people, anxiously waiting. They wore clothes identical to each other, none of which were appropriate for the cold weather they found themselves in.

One member of the group was a relatively tall man with short brown hair. His only distinguishing trait was the black collar marked with red symbols that hung unto his neck.

“Tick, tock. Tick, tock.” Said the second man. His eyes were affixed to his pocket watch even as the harsh wind kept fluttering his black hair around.

“Perhaps the guards apprehended Tor on his way here?” The tall man next to him suggested.

The man scoffed and shook his head in annoyance.

“Knowing him, he probably was.” The third person of the group, a woman with brunette hair and cerulean eyes, said.

“Doesn’t that put us in danger as well?” Asked the tall man.

“No way, newbie, no way. Ain’t got nothing on him worth a second glance. Anything vital, it’s with Valerria and me.” The man said as he stepped back and forth, treading through the path he had created in the snow.

“Tick, tock, tick tock.” The man said with an increased sense of irritation.

“Can’t you just wait for him like a normal person would?” She asked.

“This is MY normal, Valerria! Do not interrupt my ritual!” The man snapped.

“I’ll go check the nearby streets for him.” The tall man said and walked away.

“Ten minutes.” The man said without looking away from his watch.

“Don’t expect us to come looking for you if anything happens to you. You stick out like a sore thumb, Collar.” Valerria said.

The man named Collar simply waved dismissively at her warning and disappeared behind a corner. Once out of sight, the man took a deep breath and proceeded to readjust his collar.

Raise it, lower it, push it forwards, backwards, wiggle it around. No matter how much he fiddled with it, no matter how much he fought its grip, all that he was left feeling at the end was the familiar embrace of the thorns that had pierced and logged themselves into his throat ten long years ago.

Collar took his hand away as a sharp pain shot from his fingers. Just as he expected them to, his fingers were bleeding. Collar had touched it for too long. They didn’t like it when he did that.

“Soon now.” He whispered before proceeding to look for his companion.

Collar quickly checked all the other back alleys in the area for signs of Tor, only to be greeted by empty walls. This meant that Tor was still in the streets, where the guards were patrolling.

Collar headed for the city’s central alley, the sound of crunching snow beneath his feet giving way to the sound of bustling city life. Waiting for a large crowd of citizens to walk by, he stepped out of the back alley and joined them to blend in as naturally as possible.

He thought himself safe, but that quickly changed as he felt someone’s gaze latch unto his neck like a leech. For an outsider like him, even turning around to check was too risky. The most likely culprits were the city guards, following him to see if he did not fit in and if he presented a danger. The best thing he could now do was to continue as usual and pretend he was unaware of the attention thrust upon him.

The man continued walking down the street, his stalker’s attention not faltering for a second even after he passed multiple city blocks. Collar had been informed of the nature of the city, but this much scrutiny exceeded even that. He had not been tailed when he first entered the city either. Was something putting the soldiers on high alert?

Forget finding Tor; he would not even be able to return to his group while tailed. Collar wracked his head over how he could lose their attention without rousing any more suspicion, not realizing he had already run out of time.

He could hear the two guards behind him, who before had walked slow and methodical, now hurrying their pace.

“Hey, you.” One of the guards asked as the other grabbed Collar’s shoulder.

“Yes?”

“You have been chosen for a random search. Come with us.”

“Is this necessary? I’ve already been searched when I arrived.” Asked Collar.

“Yes. This is the standard. Surely you can spare an hour of your time?”

“That is if you wish to remain in our city.” The second guard continued.

Collar begrudgingly followed the two men when faint beeping noises suddenly came from the two guards’ armor.

“Yes?” One of them spoke as if answering a call.

The guards stood still, listening to a voice that only they could hear.

“Confirmed, we’re coming as fast as we can.” One of the guards answered.

“What about him? He could be the culprit.”

“The report came from the eastern district. This guy entered through the northern gate. There’s not enough time for him to be the one responsible.”

“I still say we search him. Make sure he has nothing on him.”

“Agreed.”

Collar reached for his bag only for the guards to rip it out of his hands. The guard lifted his hand over the bag, and a blue light shot from his gauntlet, enveloping the bag. Thin blue lines of a different hue danced across the light, delineating the shapes of all the items present inside the bag.

The other guard raised his hand at Collar and fired the same blue light at him.

After a few seconds, the lights retracted back into the gauntlets.

“Nothing too suspicious. Normally we would take you in for questioning, but we don’t have the time to escort you ourselves. Head to the guard station of this district and inform them that you are to be questioned. Do not be late, or we will find you, and you will regret it.”

“Of course.” Collar nodded, his voice shaking slightly.

The guards stormed past Collar without another word, leaving him alone. His hand moved to his collar on instinct,

With that interruption done, Collar returned to the task of finding Tor. The encounter with the guards was not all bad. It had let him know that the guards were too busy at the moment to watch or arrest him.

Armed with this knowledge, he did something only children were permitted to do within the city’s walls. He ran. The citizens would certainly report him for thIs later, but he couldn’t afford to go slowly anymore. With the guards on such high alert, he needed to find Tor and get back as soon as possible.

He checked every street corner, every stall he found. He even asked around for Tor, only for people to shake their heads. At this point, Collar doubted that Tor was still in the streets. If he was about to be taken in for questioning, what chance did Tor stand to avoid the same fate?

Collar was just about ready to give up and return to the group when he heard the sounds of an argument.

“I am not paying five gold pieces for this!”

Collar recognized the voice.

The tall man hurried to the scene to find the sight of a man of similar height and larger build to himself but red hair instead of brown arguing with a merchant over his wares. A bunch of shoes laid strewn across the street in between the two.

It was Tor.

“This pair is of great import, and you just ruined them! Be grateful I am not charging you twenty pieces!”

“You don’t fool me! I know that’s not how that works!” Tor yelled back.

The tall man stared for a second, astonished at how Tor could have possibly escaped the guard’s suspicion while acting like this.

Collar rubbed his forehead. Why did he have to go through all of this? And over a pair of shoes of all things? He took a glance at them. Whatever quality they might have possessed was now unrecognizable as Tor had somehow succeeded and piercing and ripping them. Looking at the hole he had made, it was safe to guess that Tor punched through them with his toes as he put his foot through.

“You either pay, or I call the guards!” The merchant threatened.

Collar’s eyes went wide.

“Excuse me, good sir, may I intervene?” Collar asked with a slightly hurried tone.

Tor looked back to see Collar approaching him.

“Oh hey, good to see yo-... you.”

Though initially happy to see his companion, Tor quickly became embarrassed to have the new guy already ruin his opinion of him.

“Huh? And who are you?” Asked the merchant.

“I, like my good man over here, are fellow retainers to the local lord. I must apologize, we are both hired only very recently, and this is our first official trek into the city.”

“The local lord, you say?” The merchant’s words softened as he considered his position.

He glanced at the clothes of the two men. They dressed in fine leather jackets, leggings, and linen shirts, a look befitting retainers of a noble at the very least. This was a paltry justification on its own, but in cities of Aslagard’s ilk, you needn’t more, for all those that lied of their lord would meet with a fate worse than death before dawn the next day.

“Well, I still require payment for the damages. Thirty gold coins at least.”

“Wait, you told me twen-”

“And you shall receive all thirty of them. The two of us will inform our lordship, and you, sir, will receive full compensation.”

The merchant looked unsure of the offer presented. Even with laws so strict, letting these two leave without paying first went against his every instinct.

“How do I know that you are a man of your word? What if you two just run off and never mention me?”

“I can assure you, the fifty gold coins you will receive as recompense will pale in the face of the damage our cowardice and dishonesty would cause to the name of our lord if we were to run.”

The merchant’s face perked up at the mention of the sum. The servant knew how to soothe things over, at least.

“Fine enough, I suppose. I can trust that you two won’t choose hypothermia over a scolding. ”

Collar bowed respectfully. Tor looked apprehensive but followed the tall man’s example.

“Of course. Thank you for your understanding.”

The tall man tugged on Tor’s shirt, signaling him to leave.

“One more thing.” The merchant interrupted. “That collar around your neck. I was not aware that the lord of this city dealt in slaves.”

Collar froze. The people of the city were too sheltered to know the meaning of his collar, but this man was a trader, a profession that has you travel the breadth of the world. Of course, he would know.

Collar’s mouth slowly opened.

“Do not jest, sir. Our lord would not go against the laws of our beloved Empress. His lordship has simply purchased my freedom. My collar too will soon be released from my neck by his magicians.”

Collar’s words were sluggish as if they were stuck to his tongue, and he had to pry them off one by one.

The merchant looked apprehensive at his words as he examined Collar’s expression in great detail.

“Congratulations on your newly found freedom then, I suppose.” The merchant said with a tinge of hesitation in his words.

“Thank you.” Collar said and bowed once again.

With the altercation done, Collar turned to Tor.

“Let us return to his lordship. He must certainly be wondering where we are right about now.”

Tor looked confused at Collar’s words for a couple of seconds when the meaning behind the words finally hit him.

“Right, right! Let’s go!”

The two men made for their squad’s meeting spot. Once out of sight of the merchant, Collar let out a sigh of relief. Seeing this, Tor threw his arm around Collar’s neck.

“Quick thinking there, man! Stopped me from having to beat up the bastard! He was so pushy over those damn shoes!” Tor tried to sound tough.

Collar walked away from Tor, leaving his arm to fall and slump at his side.

“Don’t put yourself in situations like that again. We were fortunate the merchant did not call the guards on us right then and there.”

“There was no chance of that. Your bluff was perfect!”

Collar turned back to Tor and pointed towards the contraption strapped to his neck.

“Think again. Why would the lord of the city send out his new retainer without removing his slave collar first? Do you realize what kind of complications and trouble that would bring him?”

“Ah damn, my bad. I hadn’t worked with slaves before, so I didn’t consider it.”

Collar stared at Tor for a good second before turning around and walking away.

“Oh wait, I didn’t mean it like that!” Tor quickly apologized and ran after Collar.

“What’s your expertise in this supposed to be again?” Asked Collar.

“Fighting and roughing up whoever gets in our way! You already know that man!”

Collar smirked slightly.

“And here I thought it was your incredible way of words that earned you the job.”

Tor frowned but chose to say nothing in response.

On their way back, a thought suddenly entered Collar’s mind.

“How did you make it this far without being caught? The guards were hounding me the moment I started looking for you.”

“Oh, they tailed me from the moment I entered the city. I thought I was a goner, honestly, but then they got a call about an emergency or something, so they left me alone.”

“Same as with me.” Collar muttered under his breath.

“Did you say something?”

“No. Nothing important anyway. Let’s just keep going.”

The two men continued to the meeting spot without exchanging any more words. As they arrived before the rest of the group, the man with the pocket watch threw up his hands, exasperated.

“Does time have no meaning to you, Tor? Or do you just enjoy lowering our chances of success and increasing my chances of having a stroke?”

“Well, sorry, okay? I was-”

“Just finishing helping apprehend a couple of robbers.” Collar spoke over Tor.

“You what?” Asked the man.

“Collar, what are you-”

“A merchant got robbed in broad daylight. He would have called the guards had Tor not been quick on his feet and caught the thieves himself. I arrived just in time to watch Tor receive his due praise.”

The two raised their eyebrows at Collar’s words.

“Well, what do you know? I guess you’ve got your good moments too.” Valerria laughed.

“A waste of time. I expect no more excursions from you. Now come, the rest are waiting for us.” Said the man.

As the two left ahead, Tor shot Collar a questioning look.

“Yon looked ready to spend an hour just ripping into you. It’s better for both of us if we avoid it, no?”

“I...yeah, that’s exactly what he was about to do. Thank you.” Said Tor.

Collar gave a quick nod in acknowledgment.

With the dispute settled, the four headed off into a remote corner where nobody could walk in on them.

Yon walked up to a wall and pulled out his watch.

“We’re fifteen minutes late.”

“Not much.” Said Valerria.

“Valerria, Valerria! I do not tolerate any kind of delay!”

Yon turned around to the group.

“But ah, for this mission, I’ll make an exception. We have a big, big, big bust to make, and opportunities like this don’t appear every day!”

“What’s the hit?” Asked Collar.

“Getting to that, but first, let’s welcome the rest of the team.”

Yon took his pocket watch and placed it against the wall behind him. Blue carvings began to sprout from the watch and spread across the wall, forming a circular pattern. The space within the circle started to glow blue. A hand reached out through that glow.

“A gateway.” Collar noted.

“Makes sneaking in large groups of people much easier.” Yon said proudly.

One by one, each team member stepped out of the gateway in the wall, five of them in total, and formed a line in front of the four already present.

“Since this is your first job, allow me to introduce you to the rest of the team.” Said Yon.

Yon pointed to the first member, a lanky-looking reptilian with cobalt eyes, royal azure skin, and a tail as long as his torso.

“This is Skass. He’s our demolitions’ procurer.

“Why is he here with us if that’s his specialization?” Asked Collar.

“He has other talents.” Said Valerria while winking at the two.

Collar stared awkwardly as she received an annoyed hiss from Skass.

Yon faked a cough to draw everyone’s attention back to him.

“As you might have been able to tell from their color, his scales possess the same magic nullification property as the walls of this city.”

“To a certain extent. I don’t have the same strength as the walls, so don’t expect me to block any of the guards for you.” Skass added.

Yon moved on to the following three members. Immediately, Collar noticed a strange air about the three people in front of him. They were two women and a man, all with distinct features from each other. Despite being able to tell the three apart from each other, whenever Collar tried to look at any one of them individually, he could never tell what their appearance was. It was like staring at a painting in your dream, its details waning and changing with every whim of your mind.

“These three are our stealth experts. Or should I say, stealth expert.”

“They’re a single individual.” Collar noted.

“Sharp.” The three said in unison.

“I suppose that’s not bad, but if that’s all you got, then you won’t be of much use besides blending into crowds.”

The three smirked and approached Collar. The two women ran their fingers through his short brown hair. Dizziness set in as Collar’s eyes tried to close against his will. Instinctively Collar backed away from the two only to run back first into the third body, that of the man. As he did, Collar lost the feeling in his legs, being left with only the support of the man behind him to remain standing.

“We are no mere Mirage. Your eyes are not the only sense we can drive mad.” The three said in unison.

The man let Collar go, causing the dizziness and paralysis to wear off instantly.

Collar pulled away from the three and turned back to the group. There he expected to see the last team member only to find the place where they had stood empty.

“Impressed?” Collar heard a voice come from inside his head.

The tall man looked around for the source of the voice, but he could not find it anywhere.

“Stop moving, you’re making me dizzy.” The voice continued.

Collar acquiesced, though the slight shaking of his body betrayed a sense of anxiousness. He heard a faint giggle as the person climbed out of Collar’s ear and made her way to his shoulder. From there, the person jumped down, returning to her original size mid-air.

The shifter was a short girl with a long dark grey scarf tied around her neck that matched her short hair.

“My name is Shinko. Nice to meet you!” She said and reached out her hand to Collar.

“Don’t do that again.”

“Oh, sure. Sorry about that!” Shinko said before returning to the group.

“And what about you, new guy? What can you do?” Asked Skass.

Collar turned to Tor.

“Uh, want something from me?”

All he received back as a reply was Collar’s hand around his neck. In turn, Tor grabbed Collar’s arm and tried to free himself. Only after a large amount of effort was Tor able to break free of Collar’s grip.

“You can call me Collar, and I guess you could say I am a little strong.” Said Collar.

“What the hell, man? A warning would have been appreciated!” Tor complained.

“That doesn’t seem to be the trend here.” Collar replied.

The group laughed while Tor rubbed his aching neck.

“While you’re at it, mind telling me the hell kind of name Collar is supposed to be?” Skass asked next.

Collar glanced at his namesake tied around his neck.

“They had a very poor sense of humor when I was assigned my new name.” Collar answered.

“You’re free now, aren’t you? Why not use your real name?” Asked Skass.

Collar hesitated for a second.

“It’s not mine anymore.”

Skass gave a small solemn nod. Everyone looked ready to move on from Collar.

All but one.

“You must have had a real workout to get this strong. What did your masters use you for before you broke out?” Shinko asked excitedly.

Collar stayed silent initially, surprised by the girl’s boldness.

“Manual labor.” His answer came delayed.

“Come on, details!” Shinko prodded.

“Clearly, he doesn’t want to share.” Valerria chastised. ”But if I had to guess.” She continued “I’d say pulling trains across the country. I hear that they don’t have the technology to power them efficiently over there, so they just use powerful slaves to do it instead.”

“Oh, that’s impressive! What’s the heaviest you’ve ever pulled?” Said Shinko.

Faced with ever more probing questions, Collar decided to remain silent.

“Maybe we should save the questions for later, don’t you think so?” Asked Tor.

“Oh, yeah. Sure, I guess I can wait.” Said Shinko.

Tor glanced in Collar’s direction. Though barely visible, a look of gratitude still showed on Collar’s face.

With the introductions done, Yon clapped his hands to regain everyone’s attention.

“Good good, everyone knows each other. Let’s move on to the reason we are all here today. Tor, map, please!”

As requested, Tor reached into Valerria’s bag and handed Yon the item. Yon unfolded the map and placed it on the ground for the entire group to see. Upon the map laid a drawn depiction of the city of Aslagard, red crosses marking down several key locations on the map. Yon pointed to one marking the alleyways in one of the outer sections of the city.

“Look at this, gentlemen. This is where we are right now, the second sector of the city, the business sector. This is the last one we can walk through without a permit.”

Yon then pointed to the marked location in the center of the city.

“And that is our destination, the local lord’s estate. That is where he keeps his valuables. Jewels, gold, everything.”

“Which we can’t take.” Added Valerria.

Yon nodded.

“That treasure is most likely being tracked by magic at all times. Snatch it, and we would be hunted down, no matter where we would hide in the empire. Even if Skass were to grab and hold all the gold, the moment any of it leaves his touch, the magic would go back into effect and betray our location to their forces.”

Before continuing, Yon pulled out a piece of paper and tossed it on the map. On it was written all the recent purchases made by the lord of the city.

“But, what if among that treasure was an item acquired so soon that they have not had enough time to bind the tracking magic to it?”

“We’re talking about a magical artifact, bought only two weeks ago. Due to its...nature, binding any sort of magic to it would take months, at very least.” Valerria continued.

She handed everyone a picture of the item. It was the skull of a leviathan. Various engravings were carved into it for the purpose of channeling its raw power into various, specific uses. Just holding the picture made Collar’s hair stand on edge. Every single engraving was there to turn the skull into a terrifying weapon.

“Do you realize what this particular skull is capable of? Mishandle it, and we’ll unleash hell on the empire.” Asked Collar.

“Does it matter? It does not matter, fool. All that matters is how much we can sell it for.” The three mirages answered.

Collar’s expression remained largely unchanged, though from the corner of his eye he shot the three a glare.`

“What it says is correct. Its usage is immaterial. All you need to know is that it cost our dear lord eleven thousand gold coins.”

“Damn…” Breathed Tor.

“What of the other markings you drew?” Collar asked.

“Those, little Collar, are weak points in the security of the city. That’s what we will use to sneak further into the city. We can’t readily pass through the city’s sections we are in without exploiting them.” Said Valerria.

“Speaking of which, the first one should be happening soon.” Added Yon.

“What?”

Yon folded the map and placed it back into the bag. He then pulled out his pocket watch once again.

“Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Unlike you lousy lot, I am always-”

A tremor shook the ground beneath the group. The sound of an explosion reverberated through the entire city.

“-punctual.” Yon closed his watch.