“A low profile thief huh? You can do much more with your skills than what you’ve been doing up until now though” Said the man beside me. His name was Lorthan, and he was pretty tall when I compared him to myself. He had orangish brown hair, and a short beard of the same color. He was quite buff for a thief, and just by looking at the scars in his arms and face, you could realize he was a seasoned fighter.

“Well, I don’t really care about fame, and it’s not really good for a thief to be well known, so I rather keep a low profile if I can.” I told him. I don’t get this guy, he’s supposed to be the head of the guild, but he’s wearing the same type of clothes everyone else here is wearing; Pitch black shoes, dark blue pants, a gray shirt, and a dark robe with a hoodie. “Fair enough”. He said, as he signaled me to come inside the building.

Now this place was huge, it had only one entrance, and a narrow one at that. There were over a dozen people just walking around the area, guards I believe, and there were around six people regulating all entrances and exits. However, there were some thieves who just jumped straight up to the roof of the building, and they caught my eye. I couldn’t see much of them, but instead of wearing dark robes, they wore red cloaks and a white mask. “I see you’re interested in our special forces, hm? I’ll tell you more about them eventually, but for now, I’ll show you around the place”.

“First is the reception area, to get through here, you need to have a pass, one that looks like the one I’m giving you right now”. He said, as he took out an emerald green stone with a symbol engraved into it. “Don’t lose this, or you won’t be able to enter this place anymore, you’ll essentially be kicking yourself out of the guild if you do” He explained.

“Now let’s go inside!” He said, as he guided me to a massive hall with a red carpet in the middle and over fifty people working in desks on each side. “This is the mission hub, here you’ll find any kind of quest from getting a small ring to stealing from the land’s lord himself. The ones sitting on the desks are responsible for managing these quests, and they set a cash reward for every single one of them.” He explained.

However, as we exited the room, we heard the sound of bells ringing. “Ah, finally! Let’s go, Razer, I’ll show you how we operate, and I’ll give you the chance to prove yourself in this mission” Said Lorthan, as he started sprinting towards a room with a crimson red door. Once we entered the room though,I realized it was full of weapons. “Pick one and let’s go, they are waiting for us”.

A few hours later, we headed to the roof of one of the many churches in the town, admiring the amazing view the high location provided. "Enjoy this view, Razer, it'll likely be the last time you see it" Lorthan would say, his sight focused on the houses in front of the building they stood atop of.

"...Huh? What do you mean by that?" I questioned him, slowly walking away from him, worried about what he could've meant. "Well, I'll just get straight to the point; I've released a virus on the city. I'm sure you know of the one we ordered from that dark magician, had to pull a few strings and call in a lot of favors for it, but we got it, and I plan to take full advantage of it."

“You did what?!” I asked in pure disbelief. All thieves should put a limit on themselves, a figurative line that mustn’t be crossed, and this was mine. “I said I unleashed the virus. This is why I wanted to bring you with me, Razer. Sometimes, there isn’t a ‘good’ way to do things, and you will have to make a choice. Food is scarce, my men are starving to the point of dying! I’m using this virus to make stealing easier, we’ll take advantage of the chaos and steal food supplies from every single noble in this damn town. I’ve already killed many people, and if you stand in my way….I’ll kill you too” Threatened Lorthan, as I felt his deep yellow eyes stare into my soul, striking fear into me.

Fear, I hate fear. It’s a repulsive emotion that makes you weak, it poisons the mind and kills the soul. I've failed many times because of it, but not today. “I guess you’ll have to kill me, then.” I said, as I took out both of my daggers. “You say you fight for honor, you call yourself a thief…but when I look at you, I only see a fool”. He said, as he took out a shortsword and prepared to swing it at me…

I could feel it. I could feel my blood flowing down from my head, and I could hear drops of the crimson liquid fall on the roof we were fighting on, along with the sounds of Lorthan’s footsteps, which only seemed to get louder and louder as the fight dragged on. “Give up Razer, you can’t defeat me! I’ve already released the virus, and it’s only a matter of time before you die of blood loss” Said Lorthan with a devious grin across his face.

I could hear the screams of pain, and I could already see people falling to the ground on the streets, people who would soon die because of the virus. As much as I didn’t like it, he was right. I’d probably pass out in a few minutes due to blood loss, and if I don’t treat my wounds soon, I could die . If only I was stronger…if only I could help them…wait- the trumpet of thieves! I should still have it in my bag somewhere, but I need to buy myself some time in order to use it.

I threw one of my daggers at Lorthan, who blocked it with his shortsword. I quickly rushed towards him, as I attempted to kick him on his left ribs, only for him to block it with his arm. However, I stabbed him with my remaining dagger on his shoulder and punched him in the stomach, making him fall to the ground. I then grabbed the trumpet of thieves from my bag, and started blowing it as if it was a horn, hoping that’d be enough to use it’s power.

Please….please work..please work just this one time…

I could feel it. I could feel the mana all around me get sucked into the Trumpet of Thieves, as I continued to blow it as if it were a musical instrument. “Razer!! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Shouted Lorthan, the anger evident in his voice. He had wounds all over his body, which I had inflicted on him throughout our fight, and he could barely stand.

In spite of his condition however, he started walking up to me, clenching his teeth and fists, as drops of blood started falling to the ground. However, before he could get any closer to me, he was suddenly knocked back by an invisible force. I heard him scream in pain as he fell from the roof we were in, and I heard his now dead body fall to the ground.

As I continued to use the Trumpet, I started feeling the mana it absorbed as it moved through the wind and entered the bodies of those infected by the deadly virus Lorthan had unleashed previous to his death, and how it pushed it out of their bodies and healed the damaged tissue within them.

However, there was something more, something…divine. I could feel a divine presence, I didn’t know where it was, I didn’t know what it was, but I could feel it. And whatever that divine presence was, It was unfathomably powerful, so powerful in fact, that if you took the mana of every single mage in the mage’s association, you wouldn’t even have a sixth of the mana I was sensing.

“I declare thou worthy of thy Trumpet”

The moment I heard those words, I immediately recalled all of the stories I had heard throughout my travels. The legendary artifacts that were created during the hundred years blood war, each one of them representing one of the many deities spoken of in myths. The Trumpet of Thieves was one of those artifacts, and it is said to represent ‘Jinusu’, the deity of freedom.

It was over five hundred years ago, when blood was shed on the battlefield every day and no hope could be seen for the hundreds of thousands of people who suffered from malnutrition, illness, and depression all around the world. Many armies were running out of soldiers, and because of this, children as young as thirteen were forced to fight for their race in the hundred years blood war. However, A single person decided to stand alone against all of the darkness, against chaos. And during their fight, they created several artifacts that would later on be called “The Seven Divine Weapons, with one of them being the “Trumpet of Thieves”.

The Trumpet of Thieves was a horn-like tool that was created to steal the natural mana from one’s surroundings and absorb it, allowing the user to manipulate it and project their deepest desires, their strongest beliefs through the artifact. Virtually anything could be done with this, you could use powerful spells even if you were a warrior, you could defend against any attack even if you were a scout, and you could heal any wound even if you were a thief.

The horn shaped “Trumpet” had a dark blue color, with jade green markings symbolizing winds, and golden symbols resembling runes engraved on it. It was forged with one of the strongest and lightest materials in the hottest forge ever used. Legend says that whenever it's used, a deity that rules over mana is summoned, and that’s what allows the user of the artifact to easily manipulate the mana around them.

Unfortunately, the Trumpet of Thieves was lost soon after the death of its creator, and although there are many urban legends that speak about it, few have actually seen it in action, and even fewer have been in possession of it.

And so, it is seen only as a myth by the great majority of the population, and the few that know of its existence know nothing of its whereabouts. Many explorers have searched for it throughout the lands, but to no avail, as the Trumpet can only be found by those worthy enough to hold it.

How exactly did I manage to find it? I myself am not certain, but that’s a story for another time..

My trail of thought was suddenly stopped however, as I felt extreme levels of fatigue all over my body. And so, I layed limp on the rooftop, unable to move. I looked at the trumpet of thieves once again only to watch as it turned to ash, losing its once gracefull appearance and disappearing to never be seen again...

..just like me.