Arlyth stood up from the bed, looked at her shabby outfit and groaned. How was she supposed to grind in this? These rags offered no protection and would likely lead to killing her, and she realized she had no way of getting new gear because she was a wanted criminal here. Almost at the exact same time, a knock rang through the small room. Arlyth peered at the door, walking forward on unsure steps.

A voice rang out from the other side of the door, “Arlyth? Can I talk to you for a moment?” it was Mya. Arlyth heard the voice and let out a sigh of relief. She opened the door to let the woman in. Mya walked in with a box in her hands, it was a plain brown box, a cardboard cube with a lid on top. Mya went to the bed and sat with the box on her legs. She gestured for Arlyth to sit next to her, to which she obliged.

Arlyth sat down next to the middle aged woman on the small bed. Mya looked at her with sad but determined eyes and spoke. “Arlyth, my husband mentioned your current predicament and it got me thinking. Long ago before I was married and living the ‘good life’, I was an adventurer. I specialized in stealth with proficiency in bows and daggers. Seeing you had shook something inside of me and I realized that I saw myself in you. I’m sure this is weird coming from a woman you just met, I can tell by the look in your eye that you’re trying to see anything on my face to tell you if I’m lying.

“I wish I could set your heart at ease, dear. The world is an awful place and being a Sanguine only triples that. You will be welcomed in few and far between places. Keep your head down, do what you must and never take any foe lightly. I don’t know what you are fighting for but I hope it’s for a good reason.” As she finished her statement, Mya opened the box and handed it to Arlyth. Arlyth looked at the woman after she finished her little spiel, taking in all the details she hadn’t noticed before. She saw faint scars on the woman's arms and face, faded almost to nonexistence.

She looked down at the box and saw a red suit of leather clothes. Mya gestured to her to pull them out, as she did her analyze triggered; she was bombarded with four notifications all at once as she glanced into the box.

[Hardened Leather Combat Robe of Blind Misery]

Defense: 10

Quality: Uncommon

Durability: 250/250

Description: This is an item of the Blind Misery set (1/4), this garment comes from a line of assassins that truly were a menace to society.

Special Ability: Allows the user to protect from a blow directed anywhere on the back once a day.

[Hardened Leather Pants of Blind Misery]

Defense: 8

Quality: Uncommon

Durability: 200/200

Description: This is an item of the Blind Misery set (2/4), this set of pants comes from a line of assassins that plagued the ground they walked.

Special Ability: Allows the user to dash forward three feet once every hour.

[Hardened Leather Hood of Blind Misery]

Defense: 8

Quality: Uncommon

Durability: 200/200

Description: This is an item of the Blind Misery set (3/4), this hood comes from a line of assassins that lived in the shadows and often hid themselves.

Special Ability: Allows the user to obscure their face for two minutes every three hours.

[Hardened Leather Boots of Blind Misery]

Defense: 8

Quality: Uncommon

Durability: 200/200

Description: This is an item of the Blind Misery set (4/4), this pair of boots comes from a line of assassins that lived in the shadows and silenced their steps through the thickest of forests.

Special Ability: Allows the user to increase movement speed by 100% for 30 seconds every six hours.

After she read the four prompts for the four pieces of armor, she received another prompt.

Congratulations Traveler!

You’ve collected four out of four items of the set [Blind Misery]

While all four pieces of armor are equipped the following benefits are applied.

+10% to Stealth

+5% to Movement Speed

The armor was red, but almost too dark of a red to see the color. It was a full ensemble of leather clothing that fit snugly to avoid anything snagging, the hood went over her head and also wrapped around in the front, leaving room to be pulled up if ever needed. The body was a beautifully crafted robe that met in the middle with criss crossed line, it fit perfectly and had room to maneuver. It had a black belt that went across her stomach, the body was mainly black but had a design of a V in red with the point starting at her belt line and ending just under her breasts. The shirt was long sleeved and the sleeves followed the same black and red pattern that was just interchanging rows of the two colors all the way down.

There was a strange sort of tail that came down from the body that rested against her calves. Arlyth assumed this is why it was designated a combat robe. The pants were made of the dark red color and were just simple pants if it wasn’t for one exception, they had pockets. Arlyth almost felt more stunned about the fact that these fantasy assassin pants had pockets than she did the whole situation with Gizmo and Mya. Shaking the pocket thing from her mind, she then looked at the boots that were solid black and they looked exactly like some combat boots she used to wear, they went to just above her ankle with a shoelace following the length.

After Arlyth pulled each item out of the box one at a time and read the corresponding prompt to each, she was shocked into silence. She stared at Mya in stunned disbelief and asked “Why would you give this up to some stranger?”

Mya gave her a motherly smile back and said “You may be a stranger but something inside of me tells me you’re destined for great things. I see myself in you, the woman I used to be and I have never experienced this type of feeling before so, let's just call it a gut feeling. It’s also just collecting dust here while you can actually put it to good use.”

Arlyth took the armor and thanked Mya profusely for the gift as well as promising her to put it to good use. Mya gave a heartwarming smile after Arlyth said thanks a bunch of times. Mya left the room to leave Arlyth alone, putting the armor into her inventory she pulled up the character sheet to its equipment tab and added the armor to their respective slots.

The armor adorned itself on her body as was the case in EXO, a simple mental click on ‘equip’ and it just magically appears on your person. Arlyth was happy to note that her equipment tab still worked the same. She felt she was going to start needing to keep track of what was different and what wasn’t. She was sure Kye was a big reason for most of it interacting the same to which she was grateful for, she didn’t want to have to learn a new UI on top of being a permanent resident of EXO. The last thought sent a shudder down her spine and she pushed it away. Now wasn’t the time to get caught up in her feelings.

Arlyth looked at herself in the mirror that stood in one corner of the small bedroom and admired her new outfit, the only thing that came to mind was “Badass.” Something about this armor made her feel like she could take over the world. With that feeling flowing through her veins, she opened the door of the bedroom and proceeded out of the house.

Arlyth left a note in the kitchen telling Gizmo and Mya that she was extremely grateful for their help, hospitality and that she hopes she can see them again. She made sure her hood was up and she headed towards the exit of Newgarde. She didn’t stop once but she took in her surroundings the best that she could, she walked fast but not in such a way to make her stand out. She quickly approached the gate that led out of the city and saw two guards standing there on either side of the wide gate.

Arlyth thought better of trying to speak with either man, if they saw her hair or her ears she was guaranteed to spend a night in the cells so she went with what she felt plausible. She knew that someone leaving the city wasn’t as suspicious to guards as someone entering so she bolted. She ran as fast as she could out of the city and past the guards. Arlyth knew the guards wouldn’t chase as they weren’t supposed to leave their posts but as she passed she heard one of them shout “Hey! Goin’ out at nigh’ is dangerous!”

Arlyth scoffed at the comment as she continued running down the road before entering a dense forest. She reached a small clearing after about five minutes of running through the foliage. Hearing all the noises of the creatures that scurried about, Arlyth smiled, she didn’t care if it was dangerous or not, she was hungry, hungry for blood.