《Guild of Thieves》


 A Winter Night

    A Winter Night


    The apprentice thieves snuck into the dorm room. Despite the size of the room it was ill-furnished making it easy to maneuver around. All that was in the room were eight wooden beds that were so sturdy they could be considered part of the floor. Only a sliver of moonlight coming in from a small, broken window illuminated the room, but that was fine as it was unneeded. The floor was prone to creaking but once again, caution was unnecessary.


    A draft came from between the wallboards, waking up one of the residents.


    "Wha- what are you gu-" before he could finish talking a cloth was held to his face. He fell asleep again. The thieves continued until they had reached their target, Adrian Beaucroft.


    They bound and gagged him before leaning over him and whispering into his ear "Well Mr. Perfect, I think you know exactly whats going to happen next, don''t you?".


    Adrian looked at his aggressors with an abnormal calmness in his emerald eyes, the same look that reeked of superiority and aloofness. He had expected this to happen after he saw how Trozes had acted earlier that day.


    "This wouldn''t have had to happen if you just knew your place and didn''t interfere with the social heirachy. Scrya, Mark, Damian and I had a good thing going you know. But you ruined it, and you will die for it.". Mark and Damian came up to the bed holding wooden practice swords.


    WHACK!!!


    They began to beat down hard upon Adrian, with Trozes joining in midway. Adrian could tell which strikes were Trozes, they hurt the most. Scrya stayed back however. The mastermind wouldn''t bother dirtying his hands.


    By the time they were done Adrian had trouble breathing, and couldn''t have moved even without the bindings.


    "I think it''s time for us to finish this" stated Scrya.


    "Let''s just bring him to the Great Hall already, we are behind schedule." They lifted Adrian up and snuck out of the dormitory.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Between the dormitory and the main hall was a long trek out in the great outdoors. Adrian could feel Mark and Damian shivering from the cold and hear their teeth going off like a buzzsaw. were they could the thieves stuck to the foliage and were they couldn''t they hurried for cover like bugs from an overturned stone. Before long they had reached the entrance to the great hall.


    The Great Hall was a grand structure made of quartz and ivory. It was both magnificant and grandoise to all who viewed it, leaving many overwhelmed upon their first visit. On it''s walls were portraits of the greatest thieves of guild since it was founded, such as the founder himself, Prometheus, the First Thief, or Asrenon, current Guildmaster and a man capable of weilding light divinity better than the gods it was stolen from.


    At the end of the hall was a door. The door had been there since before Prometheus, and was what he used to found the Guild of Thieves. The Great Hall had been built around this gateway and shared both it''s colour scheme and artistic style, blending into the room perfectly. If you entered the passage you would enter the God Realms.


    The door was controlled by a little panel beside it which was operated with a series of dials. You could either choose a level of God Realm, split from 1-10 with 10 being the hardest, and enter directly leading you to a random God Realm of that level, or you could input coordinates to take you directly to your desired God Realm.


    They carried him into the Great Hall and layed him before the gate, allowing him to sit up and watch them operate them operate the panel.


    Scrya moved over to the panel and began operating it. What surprised Adrian wasn''t when Scrya selected a 10 Star God Realm, it was when he began imputting coordinates. He knew this was well organised, as could be seen by the lack of guards, but he didn''t realise they had access even to direct coordinates to a God Realm of this level, they were usually a heavily guarded secret.


    Getting bored of the calmness of Adrian, Trozes provocked him "As expected of Mr. Perfect, staying calm even when he is about to be thrown into such a dangerous place. perhaps you believe that you might even be able to survive if you are lucky. I''m afraid to tell you you''re fresh out of luck. These are the coordinates to a Great God''s realm." surprise and fear raced across Adrian''s eyes, disappearing just as fast.


    "So even you are capable of fear." continued Trozes."But should you not still be afraid? It''s this attitude that got you in this mess in the first place. I can offer you one last chance, become my servant for the rest of eternity, fulfilling my every whim and desire. I even have this Slave Contract right here, ready for you to sign. So what will it be? Subservience or death?".


    The look in Adrian''s eyes said it all.


    "I suppose this is an eternal farewell than. Take a good look at my face, it could be the last thing you see." Trozes says with a grin.


    Damian walks forth with the cloth. They throw his unconcious body into the gateway before making a run for it.

 The Darkest Colour is White

    Adrian awoke in a sea of cold. At first he was groggy but he soon regained his mind''s sharpness when he began to drown in the cold. He began crawling across the snow as he knew that the moment he stopped was the moment of his death.


    "Adam? Who has bound you? Come over here and I shall free you from your bindings." A mans voice called out from the distance.


    There were many possibilities as to who the voice belonged to, with the majority being dangerous and likely fatal but he still went towards the voice as it was his only hope of survival.


    Adrian slowly crawled over to the location of the voice, noticing that although the snow was the same colour, it felt darker the closer to the voice he got. Darker and darker the snow felt and as it got darker it got colder. When it got to the point were it was darker than sin, It was cold enough to freeze fire solid. Then it suddenly cleared again, and the white was bright once more.


    Before Adrian was a lone sword with a pocket watch hanging from the handle. The sword''s blade was like a diamond, carrying a faint blue tint. The handle was slick and there was no handguard, meaning the sword would look like a random piece of metal, if not for it''s beauty and craftmanship. The watch was golden, with an almost regal tint. It had roman numerals at numbers 12, 3, 6 and 9, but most importantly of all, it didn''t tick.


    Adrians first move was to use the swords edge to remove his bindings. The next thing he did was stretch as he was getting a cramp from all the crawling.


    "So you aren''t Adam after all. I suppose that makes sense though. He has been dead for a dozen millenia or so." sighed the voice. Adrian stared at the watch before starting


    "My name is Adrian, not Adam. Is the Adam you are refering to-" before Adrian finished the voice inturrupted him.


    "I am refering to the first human, Adam, you resemble him in all areas but the eyes. His were blue."


    Adrian stared at the pocket watch.


    "I greet you Chronos, the original God."


    "Hehe. What a smart child you are, what gave it away?"


    "The first part is knowing the original Adam. The stories say that at first their was you, Chronos, God of time. Then you created Gaia, Goddess of the earth, and between the two of you was birthed the first thousand gods. For a while you were satisfied, however, you noticed the gods were too unchanging, too eternal, so you created Mankind with the ability to change and grow. You created Adam and Eve, who resembled You and Gaia respectively, and thus humanity was born. Although you could just be making up the fact you know Adam, further evidence proves your identity."


    "Good child, please continue."


    "The next is the story of how the thousand overthrew you as the emperors of the universe. The thousand had grown envious of you and started a rebellion led by Nix, God of fate. In the end they were incapable of killing you and instead they split you into a thousand pieces, one for each of them, and proclaimed themselves ''The Great Gods''. Gaia fell into greif and became irrational, birthing countless new gods, and a new era of warring gods arrived. Although Nix currently holds the throne, wars are still waged between the God Realms. But the last bit isn''t important right now, what''s important is that this is one of the Great Gods realms and that pocket watch is a piece of you, Chronos."This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Adrian had finally finished explaining his deductions, exhausted after speaking for so long.


    "Hahaha. Very good indeed, young Adrian. This realm is infact owned by Winsvarya, God of winter, and one of the so called Great Gods. What I am curious about is how you got in here. It is guarded by a field that repels anyone who approches, using the darkness of peoples minds to freeze them into lifeless statues. That was the other reason I thought you were Adam, he was the only man I knew with a mind without inner demons. I suppose you are the second. Now I can guide you out of here, but you are going to need to take me along if you want to survive. I also recommend you bring the sword too. I was using Winvarya''s Divinity to create it in order to break free."


    Adrian picked up both the pocket watch and sword.      The pocket watch was put into his pants pockets but when it came to the sword...


    "Is there a sheath?" inquired Adrian.


    "It was just going to be used to break me free so I didn''t bother making a sheath. You are just going to have to carry it."


    Afterwards Adrian headed right as Chronos had said it was the way to the exit. Immediately after exiting Adrian felt the blackness yet again, but it was far easier to exit due to having access to functional legs.


    They continued on, trekking through knee-deep snow, until they finally reached the exit. The exit was a door identical to the one within the Great Hall, barring that it was open and looked like it lead to the eternal void. Guarding the door was a legion of what appeared to be 5000 Godbeasts. They were mainly wolf, standing on their hindlegs and with the hooves and antlers of a stag. They surrounded the exit, leaving no gaps. Adrian could not fight his way through either. Any one of them was capable of killing him ten times over, let alone 5000 of them.


    "Now this is were I come in. As you can see the pocket watch is split into minutes and hours, with a big and little hand, just like any normal watch. Instead of telling you the time, it allows you to wield time instead, with each minute and hour being a charge. It holds a maximum of 12 hours and 60 minutes at any one period. If you use a minute, it will take a lot of time to recharge, you don''t need to know the exact time as it is multiple times longer than the average human life span. What you need to do is use a minute to freeze time, and make a sprint for the exit. You will only have a single minute of frozen time, Got it?"


    "Got it."


    "Good. Begin when you are ready."


    Instead of starting immediately, Adrian began calculating the fastest route. He would have preferred to rest himself, but time was a luxury he didn''t have.


    (A/N: Okay so he might have the luxury thanks to the watch, but still, that would just be a waste. Also plot)


    There was a small period when there was only a single Godbeast before the gate, leaving it open for Adrian to squeeze through.


    He pressed the button on the stop watch.


    Adrian hurried to the exit as fast as he could, counting every second. He was ducking and weaving his way through the legion, fearing that contact with any of the statues might unfreeze them and cause major issues. by the time he reached 30 seconds he was only a third of the way, causing Adrian to speed up. He side stepped and rolled his way past the Godbeasts, bringing out all his skills as an apprentice thief. When time resumed he was at the gate with only one Godbeast between him and the exit. Instead of hesitating, Adrian lifted the sword and continued charging, taking the Godbeast by surprise and piercing it through the chest. Adrian didn''t stop his momentum and barged through the gate and back to the Great Hall.

 The First Flaw

    Adrian emerged into the Great Hall where the Godbeast disperced into raw divinity. There were guards this time, as there should normally be. Adrian wondered if the guards were aware of the happenings of last night. Perhaps they were the ones who were supposed to be on duty last night. Considerring how there was not any guards seen last night, it was safe to assume that most of them had been bribed, but there were some who were uncorrupted. He would find out later, he had his ways.


    "Adrian? What are you doing in the Godrealms? I didn''t see you on the roster. Are you injured in any way?" The guard asked Adrian with sincerity. It was safe to assume he wasn''t involved.


    "No I''m quite alright, thank you." replied Adrian.


    "As long as your fine that''s what matters."


    The other guard just stared at him with a hint of distaste on his face. Not incriminating, but definitely worth investigating this guards involvement.


    A commotion emerges from the entrance like a great wave as Asrenon, the Guildmaster enters followed by his entourage of clerks and yes-men. He was a tall and handsome man with long dark hair and a face you could make a sculpture out of. He looked like the archetype of a hero and was regarded by many as one. Adrian met him when he was transfered to the main branch of the guild. Asrenon just simply didn''t sit well with him.


    "Adrian. I heard you came back from the Godrealms and came by to check up on you." Asrenon said with a plastic smile. One of the guards must have alerted the Guildmaster of his return. Adrian''s guess was the shifty one, you don''t call the Guildmaster for an apprentices return.


    The Guildmaster looked at the sword in Adrian''s hand, then to the scattered divinity on the floor.


    "Unfortunately you seem to have broken the laws of this place. Entering the Godrealms unscheduled is in direct violation of the rules and will result in a fine. We will be taking the sword but you may keep the divinity."


    Adrian looked at the divinity on the floor. It looked like shattered glass upon the floor, with a milky tint reminiscent of their origin. He calculated how large it would be if it was made into a blade, it was enough to make a razor.


    "The Law states the penalty is 80% of your total gains is the fine for unscheduled thieving. You are taking more than 99%. Doesn''t that strike you as a little off?" Asked Adrian, already expecting the Guildmaster to continue attempting to obtain the sword. Asrenon''s smile grew, both in size and plasticness, but the malicious glint in his eye did not go unnoticed by Adrian.


    "I was only asking as it would be more convenient to keep the sword intact. Heh, how about we consider the rest as repayment for your student loans." Adrian heard the full stop. This was not a question but a statement.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Before Adrian could reply another person emerged from the gate. They were in a miserable state, with a broken arm, cuts all over and a large gash on their leg. Even worse was the person they were carrying. Adrian recognised the thief to be Jack Fraiser, a thief in his parent''s band. He also recognised the person being carried as his father.


    Adrian ran over to them, ignoring the Guildmaster as he inspected his father.


    Adrian''s father was closer to dead than alive, seeming more like a bag of flesh than a human. Adrian knew that the likelihood of his father surviving were slim. Dreading the answer he expected to come, Adrian asked "My mum went with you too didn''t she, where is she right now?"


    Jack glanced at Adrian before bursting into tears "I could only grab one of them, so I grabbed the closest person and ran as fast as I could. I''m sorry I couldn''t save them Adrian. I really am." The thief continued crying when Asrenon said "Tell me what happened, who attacked you, tell me the details."


    Jack took a moment to recollect himself.


    "I didn''t see much sir, it all happened in an instant. We were returning after having successfully stolen a large amount of divinity, we had just reached the exit when I saw a flash of green. They were on suddenly on us, killing and injuring us before we had a chance to retaliate. I knew we were in danger so I grabbed the nearest person and made one last rush for the exit. I say they were robbers sir, we were robbed."


    Adrian knew about robbers. Where thieves stole from the Gods in order to protect themselves from the wars between heavens, robbers stole from their fellow man in order to bring personal gain. Where a thief was good a robber was evil. They were almost as bad as heroes. Almost.


    Asrenon was also troubled by the news. Although the Beaucroft Band wasn''t a band of first-class thieves, they were well reputed for their skills and morals, being highly regarded amongst their peers. If robbers could beat them, even if it was an ambush, that was a worrying sign. It meant they were highly organised, and could threaten the guild, resulting in less divinity in the guild and more with the robbers.


    "We need to head back and respond to this new threat!" Proclaimed Asrenon "Everyone, we must have a meeting to discuss how to handle these robbers."


    One of the clerks stepped forward and said in a quivering voice "Si-sir should we n-not bring Mr. Beaucroft to get heal i-im-imediately?" Asrenon froze for a moment, before making a serious face and making a gesture meaning let it be done, his attitude alike that of an emperor.


    The universe decided at that moment Marvin Beaucroft should die. The clerk who had approached him was now unsure what to do, and ended up standing there awkwardly. Jack broke out sobbing once more but there was no tears. He had run dry ages ago. Adrian himself was in shock. He had just found out his mother had suddenly died and now he witnessed his father''s passing. The world faded into obscurity and Adrian felt isolated in the void.


    "There is nothing we can do to revive the dead." Asrenon sighed "Let us depart." with that Asrenon exited with his entourage, Adrian and his sword entirely out of mind. Adrian didn''t have the time to be pleased however, as he was still trapped within his head.


    He gathered the divinity on the floor and went back to his dormroom where he sat on his bed for the whole day thinking about his new goals, Revenge upon Trozes and his gang for their assasination attempt, and the robbers in green for the murder of his mother. He cried himself to sleep that night, for Adrian was human.


    He had developed a little demon within his heart that night. It was his first flaw.

 Adrian has Friends

    When Adrian woke up the next day he had already set aside his grief. He would not let it inhibit his life, only power his dedication. His dormmates were also waking up and all went over to offer their condolences. Word must have spread during Adrians period of mourning.


    Adrian accepted their condolences with a gentle smile. It was the subtle niceties that made society work and Adrian appreciated that. It was one of the things that set him apart from Trozes and his gang. Instead of brazenly changing the flow to obey his every whim like a tyrant, Adrian was more inclined to subtly shift it to it''s best path, like a shepard.


    As the roommates left the room they saw a notice posted in the corridor, alerting the apprentices that classes would be delayed due to a guild wide assembely. As they were just apprentices they did not have the right to attend, instead just chilling out in the dorm or going for a walk outside.


    Adrian was sitting in the lobby when one of his friends came up to him. It was Andrei, whose main personality trait was his denseness, like some sort of main character from a novel. He also seemed to treat girls the same way, and Adrian knew he had a fan club within the school. Besides his natural naivety he was quite alright to hang around, add on his morals and character and you had someone Adrian was proud to call his friend. He had light brown hair that was borderring onto blond, a handsome face radiating warmth and courage and was tall and well-toned.


    Instead of speaking niceties, Andrei just sat beside Adrian as a form of comfort, which suited Adrian just fine. Niceties were unnecessary between them as they had an understanding for each other.


    Andreis arrival acted as a signal as soon after Adrians other friends arrived. There was Sam, an energetic young girl who was very small for her age, only coming to Adrian''s chest. She was always energetic and full of sunshine, at least until someone like Trozes came along, than the sun hide away as the storms brewwed. The other time she gets agressive is when someone speaks badly about her father. Her hair was cut short so it rested on her neck, and was blonde in colour only, avoiding all the usual tropes that came with it. She came along with Emilia in tow. Emelia was the friend who Adrian liked most and had the highest hopes for. Unlike Andrei with his naivety and Sam who''s personality was bipolar, Emilias only flaw was her lack of confidence which could be easily resolved. Her appearence seemed to contrast Sam in every way possible. Where Sam was short yet larger than life, Emilia stood hunched over to make herself appear taller, despite being the same height as Adrian and Andrei. Her hair was also the reverse of Sam. Instead of being short and bright it was long and dark. If she gained a bit of confidence and stood a little straighter Adrian was sure she would become a well rounded individual.


    "We won''t give you the general "I am sorry for your loss" spiel. Just know that we sincerely wish too help you" announced Andrei.


    His friends knew him best after all. Although it was nice to revel in the sympathy of others what people needed was support. Adrian also knew this and unfortunately for his friends...Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    "I cannot let these events hold me back. They are out of my control. The best way to honour their memory is to keep on living." replied Adrian. He was the type to get over it independantly.


    Andrei looked over and offered "It''s good you came to this conclusion, but if you want to keep mourning for a short while thats fine too. I can give you a week before I start cheering you up, your short period is just too soon to get over it properly."


    Before Andrei could put his arm around Adrian, in a way that was a bit too close for comfort in Adrians opinion, Sam butted in "I''m sure Adrian will be fine. He is a monster of perfection in human skin, the fact that he even mourned in the first place is the first piece of evidence we have seen proving that he is human." even as she said this she had a smile on her face. It was just another part of their ongoing joke, probably Sam''s attempt to try and cheer Adrian up. Emilia also spoke up to support Adrian "I-if Adrian say it''s alright than it is. Since he says he doesn''t need more mourning time, than he doesn''t." Adrian just realised that Emilia might have more problems than he thought.


    After two hours of chatting, the thieves came to the dorms to alert them that class was ready. The apprentices moved on to the classrooms while there was some light snow.


    The classroom was an auditorium, designed to seat around 100 apprentices, and was normally packed to the brim. The teacher had not only a podium but a large stage, for the use of practical demonstrations. The seats were aranged in three rows and three columns, resulting in 11 person per cell. Adrian and his friends sat at the top left cell, followed by a group of girls who, from the looks of things were part of Andrei''s fan club.


    The teacher was already at the podium when the students enterred. He announced to the class "Most of you have heard the news of whar happened to the Beaucroft Band. We have made preperations against it, and that''s all you need to know. Some of you may be wonderring how this will impact our expedition. It won''t. We figured that since we will only be going to a 1 Star God Realm it is unlikely we will encounter robbers. None the less we still have to be prepared and as such our next few lessons will be about things to help you on the expedition. Today we will be discussing what to pack..." The lesson began and Adrian listened in. He knew what he was bringing but it never hurt to listen in case he overlooked something.


    The girls had seated themselves next to Andrei who was sitting in between both groups.


    "Did gou see it snowing outside?" The girls began.


    "I did." replied Andrei.


    "We were thinking of having a snow ball fight after class, care to join?" The girls were trying to approach him.


    "Sure, but be careful because when I''m done with you, you will be white all over!" Andrei declared. If it was anyone else the girls would have been disgusted, but with Andrei''s handsomeness combined with his heroic nature, the girls just giggled. Adrian remembered the time he once told Andrei how what he said sounded. Andrei just thought he was dirty minded and continued his dense ways.


    "So we also heard you snuck into the God Realms." said Sam. "Show us your loot."


    Adrian pulled out the sword, pocket watch and the divinity, hiding it so no one else could see it. Seeing the pocket watch reminded him to question Chronos about both the pocket watch and the sword when he had the time.


    "Nice job. Are you going to go too the smiths and get your divinity made into something?". The smiths were a group within the guild who instead of going to the God Realms to steal artifacts and divinity, took the stolen divinity and bent them to their desired tool, be it a cloak or sword or pretty much anything you could think of. You just needed the right type of divinity, and enough of it.


    "Yeah." Adrian answered. "After class I was thinking of seeing Ross."

 A Friendly Reunion

    After class when all the students had left the only people left in the room was Adrian and Trozes''s gang. Adrian had sent his friends off saying he had some matters to attend to after class. Mark and Damian were watching him in fear, as anyone would when they see the ghost of someone they killed. Trozes watched him with great fury and Scrya watched on with a look of amusement, like it was all some game.


    "Are you all surprised to see me?" Adrian asked the gang who were not ready to initiate the conversation. As Scrya was the only one who was able to talk replied.


    "Why yes I am, how was your vacation?"


    "A bit cold for my liking but I must thank you all the same, I did get quite a lot out if it. I even brought back some souveniers."


    Trozes, not known for his subtleness asked "Why didn''t you report us? You could have easily told them the truth of the incident, so why didn''t you."


    "Three reasons." Answered Adrian "A. You have clearly bribed the guards, who could easily make false testimonies on your behalf. B. The things obtained from a Great God''s realm are naturally precious and would be confiscated from me. Lastly..." Adrian reveals the sword and points it at them. "...when you go mysteriously missing I don''t want anyone suspecting me. And trust me, you will go missing. I will cut you down with the very blade I stole from the hellhole you threw me in. For ironies sake."


    Scrya asked Adrian "So back to point A, what makes you think we won''t fabricate something against you about going to a Great God''s realm?"


    "Simple. People will start asking questions. You do not want that, people may learn the truth. So instead we will play a game of cat and mouse, in the shadows of the guild, behind everyones backs."


    By this point Mark and Damian had a wet patch on their trousers. They were but poor commoners who had clung to the legs of the Nobles Trozes and Scrya, all in a hopes to create a path of greatness for themselves. They had originally not wanted to kill Adrian, but both Trozes and Scrya wanted it and all their hard work so far would be for nothing. In the end they thought, it would be fine as Adrian would be dead and out of the picture forever, out of sight and out of mind. Nope. They began regretting every decision they had made since joining the guild as apprentices. It was long past the point of no return.


    "One last question," began Scrya "Why bother explaining it to us."


    "So you know exactly what is going on," Adrian repied "and you fear every minute of it."Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    With a hmpf Scrya walked off, with Damian and Mark scampering behind. Trozes just stood there staring at Adrian, looking to decide if he should follow Scrya or bash Adrian''s head in. It took a while but he decided to follow Scrya, but not before punching the wall and leaving a gaping hole. The wall was wood and 20 cm thick. Adrian feared it would have been his head punched instead if not for the sword in his hand.


    Adrian headed towards the Smithery in order to seek out Rory. The Smithery was the workplace of all the guilds smiths. It was a large concrete building that was hideous to the eye. It was three stories high and seperated the smiths according to their ranks, with the higher floors having better workplaces and smiths. It was free access into the lobby on the first and second floor to the general public, with the third being reserved for guild personnel. An apprentice was not considered guild personnel as they had not signed any binding documents, only a crippling debt agreement, so Adrian could only access the second floor. This was fine as that was were Rory was located. When he got to the second stories lobby he asked the receptionist if he could see Rory. As he knew both Rory and the receptionist the process was quick and Rory came to get Adrian in no time at all. Rory was a big man with an even bigger smile, which he seemed to have passed on to his daughter Sam. It was through Sam that he knew Rory and learned of his trustworthiness, one of the main reasons he came here today.


    They sat down in Rory''s workshop when a server came in to offer them drinks. Adrian accepted the green tea and sipped on it when he said


    "I need you to keep this next part a secret, can you promise me that?"


    "I can."


    Adrian pulled out the sword and the divinity and said "I need a sheath for this sword."


    At first Rory wondered why it needed to be kept a secret but upon further investigation realised that the divinity was even purer than the eight star divinity he once had the fortune of working on.


    "W-where did you get this?" cried out Rory in alarm.


    Adrian had been expecting this and whispered "A Great God''s realm." Rory nearly died from the shock and nearly dropped the divinity from trembling too much. He looked at the sword and asked "Is that sword also from th-the Great God''s realm?"


    Adrian sipped his tea. "Yes"


    "Than why is it so weak, it should be much stronger than it is, being a Great God Artifact, the only type of weapon that is much weaker than the realm it comes from is-" Rory seemed to realise something as horror seemed to slowly spread across his face. "You have a growth type weapon. One from a Great God''s realm no less. You realise what this means don''t you.".


    Adrian knew exactely what it meant. Growth type weapons started out weaker than an artifact of the same level, but in the end grew many times more powerful in the end, with each level increasing the gap compared to their counterparts.


    (A/N: So the difference between a fully grown level 1 artifact and a normal level 1 artifact is much smaller to the gap between their level 5 equivalents)


    If Adrian had a Great God level growth artifact than he had the greatest weapon in the history of thievery, rivalled only by Prometheus''s flame.


    "I didn''t even realise what I had. This is why we need professionals." Adrian said with a dashing smile.


    "Alright, alright. Leave it here and come back in two days time, Got it?"


    "Yessir."


    "Off you go then." Rory was rushing Adrian out, excitement in his eyes as he was about to work on his biggest project ever.

 Creating Plans and Understanding

    Adrian left the Smithery and headed back to the dormatories, where he saw the remains of the largest snowball fight he had ever seen. He saw Andrei looking exhausted as he was being swarmed by those girls from earlier. It was safe to assume who lost this battle.


    Adrian managed to fend of the girls and drag Andrei back to the safety of the dorms, where Sam and Emilia were waiting for them. "So what did he say?" asked Sam.


    "Two days."


    "You better not forget then!" Threatened Sam. Andrei was looking at the battlefield with longing, before turning to Adrian and saying "If you have no reason for me being here I think I might just head back to-"


    "I do" Adrian cut in. "It is about potentially lethal information." He went on to telling his friends all about what happened that night, as well as his later meeting with Trozes''s gang after class. He left out Chronos as he didn''t think his friends would take too kindly to Adrian''s pocket god. People were not big fans of gods in these parts.


    "How could they even do such a thing on guild grounds?!" Sam was the first to outburst.


    "What do you want us to do?!" Followed closely by Andrei. Emilia was the only one to stay calm and asked "Why did you tell us this in the first place?"


    Adrian took a deep breath and began "I told you this so that you were aware and could make precautions against them acting against you, as they are likely to attack you to get me, and also so we can go on the offensive. Four versus four is much fairer than one against four, wouldn''t you agree?".


    "So when do we start?" Asked Andrei with great excitement.


    "There may be a some minor conflict beforehand, but the final confrontation is going to be at the expedition. It is the easiest way of safely eliminating the other side without having to worry about investigation, it can always just be passed off as an accident within the realm, plus it''s soon so neither side has to wait too long. If it wasn''t soon I fear what Trozes might do in his impatience." Saying that Adrian remembered the hole in the wall. He was going to have to prepare himself very carefully if he wanted to slay the giant.


    "So are we going to be proactive or reactive in our stratergy leading up to the expedition?" asked Emilia, ever the sensible one.


    "Proactive." replied Adrian "They already made the first move in their assasination attempt. Everything from here on out is simply self defence."


    "You still haven''t answered why."This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    "It is because being proactive means we create momentum, which may help us at the final confrontation. So here is what I am thinking, we start of with just myself playing the game, while you guys are preparing some surprises for them, then we slowly get even more aggresive with all of us joining in as we unleash surprise after surprise."


    Andrei holds him up, you keep on using the word surprise, what are you actually thinking?"


    "Well Andrei, I am glad you asked..."


    When Adrian left, his friends were all excited by the plans and had all rushed off to begin making preperations. This suited him just fine as he needed some private time in order to have a little chat with Chronos. Adrian found a nice deserted corner of the dormatory, where he looked around to make sure he was alone before pulling out the pocket watch. "You didn''t have to go through all this trouble you realise." stated Chronos "I have been talking telepathically with you all this time, I can''t exactly talk with the lack of mouth, and it is pretty easy for you to talk to me telepathically too. I am pretty much  just another artifact, and you can easily communicate with them in your mind, no?" He could, it was one of the skills required to wield an artifact.


    "So I just wasted my time trying to find somewhere isolated." said Adrian with a dead pan expression.


    "Don''t fret, it doesn''t mean we lose anything and besides, there are people who have the ability to read the telepathy who might get curious. Also I must say nice friends you got there, your plan is absolutely beautiful and your tale is quite sad, I cry every time."


    "You don''t talk like an ageless creator of all."


    "I try to keep with the times." Adrian was speechless.


    "So what else can the watch do, you only explained the minutes."


    "Besides the existence of myself, which would be great by itself, there are the hours. These are pretty simple, and currently have two main functions with more being added if you get enough pieces. The first is the ability to instantly refill your minutes, one hour equalling sixty minutes. The other is the ability to travel back sixty minutes in time. There is no button for this, it is triggered by your death."


    "So what you are saying is that if I die I revive in my body from exactly one hour earlier."


    "Yes."


    "So what do the minutes actually do than, do they just freeze time or can they do more."


    "Minutes allow you to wield a minutes worth of time however you please. Once again, if you gain more pieces you will be able to do more with that minute, possibly even making it last a century! It is pretty open and if you can''t do it with one try two. Be careful though because as I mentioned earlier, once you spend it it''s gone for the rest of your life unless-"


    "Let me guess, I get more pieces?"


    "Correct."


    "So what happens if I collect all the pieces?"


    "I will be complete again. Your guess is as good as mine as what that means, there isn''t exactly any precedent to work off." Adrian had a passing thought.


    "Would it be wise to use a minute against Trozes?"


    Chronos cut him off "Not at all, time is a valuble thing and someone like Trozes is not worth it. Save it for the reclamation of the other pieces. The only time outside of that would be if you were in a life threatening situation. It would be smarter to use a few minutes than be forced to use an hour." Adrian looked at the unmoving pocket watch.


    "Can you tell the time?"


    "Of course I can, if there was only one person in the world who could tell the time it would be me, I am literally the God of it. It is currently 6:14 PM."


    "I better start heading back soon then. It''s almost dinner time."

 The Food is Bad

    The dining hall was located on the lower floor of the dormitory. It was a mess of tables, with no semblence of order whatsoever. There were small round four person tables, large community tables with room for twenty and even tables built into the walls. At the end opposite the entrance was were the food was laden onto the only table with a tablecloth. The food itself was unappealing and lacked any nutritional value, it was boiled out alongside the flavour.


    Adrian grabbed a plate and loaded it up with boiled vegetables and boiled meat. The vegetables were boiled to the point of mush, all tasting the same, which was not chicken but just bland consistency, you knew it was in your mouth but that was it. It was all unrecognisable with the only way of telling your carrots and potatoes apart were the colour. The meat was just that, meat. It may have once had a name declaring its origin but that was lost in the pot, along with all things that make food, food, barring edibility. He had only been eating it for 2 months and was already sick of it. It made him shudder to imagine those completing a full 8 year apprenticeship and their suffering.


    Adrian sat in his normal seat, a small table pointing Adrian''s back towards the wall. Here he had a view of the entire happenings of the dining room. At the very centre of the room were Trozes and his gang seated at the head of a large table acting like kings. Once, the table was filled with people, all trying to get into Trozes good books. Now, few remain, unlike the times of old. Unlike before Adrian.


    He scanned the room, plotting and pondering all the different schemes he could employ to disturb them. He had come in late, as he saw only one other group, acting as most apprentices would do on a casual day. They were laughing and joking with each other, some trying to slyly misplace their slop onto another plate, there was even one boy flirting with a female peer.


    "Hmm" Adrian let out a small hum. "That could be interesting." He contemplated for a while before deciding to write a letter.


    He took out his pen and wrote in his most coquettish handwriting [Dear Trozes.


    I have been admiring you from afar for many years now before finally working up the courage to write this letter. Please come to the little clearing behind Brael in three days time.


    As much as I would like to confront you sooner I have a surprise that will take some time to propare.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    From your eagerly awaiting secret admirer.]


    Adrian added a few more touches such as love hearts and other signs of a love struck fool and left it in Trozes''s usual seat. He was careful not to be seen and was confident about his secrecy. This wasn''t enough. Although it would be quite spectacular it would need time to prepare and he needed something immediately to begin his operation. How was he going to attack them. He couldn''t do it physically as it would leave too much evidence, especially in such a public space. That left attacking them mentally, but how. The only thing in here that could be used as any form of assault was the horrible food. Although the food was not a bad idea, what was he going to do with it? Force feed them it every day? The Guild is already doing that! Throw it at them? That would only start a food fight and that is hardly a mental assault. He would have to get a bit creative with the food. He decided to smuggle out a moutain of food as, although it was against dorm policy, there was nobody willing to do so and as such security was lax.


    He brought the plates up to his room and got his friends to gather.


    "Is this the plan?" asked Andrei "To force feed them the food? As horrifying as that would be, The Guild already does that!"


    Adrian stares coolly at Andrei "I already made that joke, and it wasn''t funny the first time. What makes you think it would be funny this time?"


    "What!? What is my purpose as the comedic relief if you keep stealing all the jokes!? Here I was thinking we were friends and you do this to me-" Before Andrei could begin ranting Sam cut him off


    "Enough with the poor attempt at the comedic interlude and lets get down to business. What do you need us to do Adrian?"


    "I need a pot filled with water and a heating element capable of bringing it to boiling point."


    Instead if questioning him they set out immediately to find the required item. They hadn''t known each other long but they trusted him.


    It didn''t take long for them to bring back the required item. The pot was "borrowed" from the kitchen, water obtained from the tap and the heating element was a basic artifact found in all Apprentice Survival Kits. Adrian began to bring the water to a boil, before pouring the slop into the pot. It dissolved immediately, spreading through to create what appeared to be the thinnest and most unnappealing soup imaginable.


    "Is it just me," began Andrei "or am I impressed by the fact that the kitchen staff literally boil it one point away from liquifying." They all starred at the pot in amazement.


    "No. Not at all." answered Sam.


    "So what is the point of doing this?" asked Emilia


    Adrian turned the flame off. "The plan was to boil it until it became a liquid but..." he looks into the pot. "I didn''t expect it to be that quick. Now we just take this and start pouring it onto their clothes so that it feels extremely uncomfortable for them all day tommorow."


    They snuck around and poured it into all of Trozes gang''s launderies before finally heading to bed.


    The results were even better than they imagined.

 Affinities

    Adrian awoke to the horrified screams of those downstairs. He hoped it was a sign that the operation was a success. When he finally got downstairs he realised the cause of the commotion. It snuck up on you before violently assaulting your nose, an aroma so foul that only rabid animals could stand. It came from the direction of Trozes and his gang who were both trying to cover their noses while keeping their shirts as far away from their face which due to the long sleeves, was futile and hilarious to watch. When they saw Adrian they hurriedly attempted to surround him and pin him to the wall, which Adrian easily side stepped due to both his skill and their rashness.


    "Thi-this is unacceptable!" shouted Trozes "You have crossed the line with this!" Adrian looked on with a wide grin on his face, he had only just begin and already they were caught off balance. Resuming a serious face, Adrian stated


    "There are two major problems with your statement. One, you have no evidence it was me, after all, I don''t even have a motive do I. Two, the sheer irony of your accusation is astounding, and yet you probably don''t even realise due to your twisted perspective of the world, do you."


    Before Trozes could say anything at all Scrya tugged at his shirt and said with mock laughter "Hahaha. Of course, we appologise for accusing you, after all," Scrya glared at Trozes as he stressed "you have absolutely NO motive to do this." As Scrya tried to drag him away Trozes proclaimed.


    "Whoever did this, I will hunt you done and pulverise you until there is nothing left but a stain." He was staring at Adrian the entire time he spoke. Adrian did not back down and maintained his gaze the entire time, all while keeping his friendly grin.


    The apprentices migrated to the dining room for breakfast, were Adrian was waiting to see if Trozes took the bait. His friends came up to him and ask about the smell.


    "We did that, didn''t we?" asked Sam


    "Who would have thought that such flavourless food could carry such an odor, I wonder what other secrets it holds." said Andrei whimsically.


    (A/N: Although it has absolutely no relevence to the novel, the food is actually a cure for cancer, because the worse something tastes the better it is for you. Eat your vegetables.)


    "I left a little something for Trozes yesterday, we can talk after we see if he takes the bait." said Adrian in a quiet and soothing manner. They sat around him, with Emilia getting a bit too close for comfort, as they all try not to look too obvious in their spying.


    Before Trozes saw the letter, Scrya had already caught ahold of it and pocketed it. Adrian saw he had great profficiency in the manuever.


    "I never got to ask, but what normally happens to confessions targetted at Trozes, I assume he has been confessed to before, right?"


    "Was that your plan? That was never going to work, Scrya always finds a way to interfere, making it impossible for any successful confessions to occur." explained Andrei.


    "You forgot the important part." says Emilia


    "Are you refering to what Scrya does with the letters? What he does, Adrian, is he examines the handwriting of the letter to identify who wrote it, then he uses it as black mail to get them to do his bidding." replied AndreiIf you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    "Then what about confessions towards Mark and Damian? Or even towards himself?"


    "No one has ever confessed towards Mark and Damian, there is simply no interest in them. There has only been one confession towards Scrya, but I am not the best person to talk about that. Would you like to talk about it Emilia?" Emilia seemed to have difficulties talking were Sam cut in.


    "It might be better if Emilia doesn''t explain. Basically a few years back when puberty was all the rage, everyone was confessing to everyone. One person tried to confess to Scrya and well..."


    Emilia regained her voice "He simple laughed at her face. His eyes were so cold that the person developed a major trauma and had trouble associating with others. This went on for years and they only had one friend..."


    "And then the knight in shining armor came along and saved her from herself and then-"


    "Shut Up!!!"


    With that Sam burst out laughing. Adrian looked on to the clueless Andrei. Sometimes he wished he was naiv¨¦ and lacked social awareness. Ignorance is bliss after all.


    They headed off to class where all the seats were packed barring one. Everyone had migrated to the side opposite Trozes or, more accurately, the odor. The teacher walked in and sat down before catching a whiff of the odor.


    "Out! Get out of my classroom and get yourselves washed immediately! I cannot teach my class with you idiots smelling worse than sewerage!" The thief chased them out of the class to get them washed up.


    "Now that the nuiscences are no longer assaulting our nostrals lets begin todays lesson. Today we will be doing affinity testing, to see if their have been any improvements amongst you all. Normally I would dive right in but Mr. Beaucroft here was never done this before. Would you like me to explain?"


    "Yes Sir."


    "Very well than. As you know, we thieves steal Artifacts from gods in order to protect ourselves against their tyranny. These Artifacts come in many different forms and each is based around a certain typing, or divinity as we call it. Affinity is how well you can manipulate different types of divinity. Say you might have a high affinty in fire and a low affinity with ice. Even if you had two Artifacts of the same rating, a fire Artifact would be stronger in your hands than an ice one because you have higher affinity towards it and can draw out more power. Affinity is recorded in percentages. 100% affinity means you are equal to a god at weilding that divinity. It is possible to get over 100% affinity, like Guild Master Asrenon who has 300% affinity for light. That makes him three times better at using light than gods whose divinity involves light. It is also possible to increase your affinity. This is usually done by prolonged contact with Artifacts of that divinity. We measure it with this Artifact we stole from a Six Star God of order and records. Would you like to come up and try it Adrian?"


    "Yes Sir." with that Adrian went up to the stage and got ready to use the Artifact. It had a fairly simple design. It was composed of what appeared to be a book, a crystal ball and a screen. All you had to do was select a divinity to test in the book, put both hands on the crystal ball and than your affinity would appear on the screen.


    "What affinity would you lile to have tested Adrian?"


    "Please select winter."


    "Are you trying to compete with Scrya? He has the highest winter affinity in this class at an astounding 99%. That is really amazing and shows he has great talent. Not everyone can be a once in a century monster like the Guild Master."


    Adrian put his hands on the crystal ball. It was cool to the touch and extremely smooth.


    [999%]


    Everyone was staring with their mouths gaped open.


    "Are you sure that''s not 99.9%?"


    "The machine doesn''t do decimals!"


    "Mr. Perfect has done it again..."


    "I hope that is the amount but, it could be higher. The machine only reads three digits."


    "For a good reason. It is impossible to get higher than that! Look at the Guild Master, he is touted as the genius of the century and his is less than a third that amount."


    "Yes but this is Adrian we are talking about. It might really be a four digit number after all..."


    "Lets stop talking about it, it is making me feel bad about the 64% I was so proud of."


    "That is still a really good number! Stop comparing yourself to these monsters, it will only turn out badly for you."


    Almost simultaniously, the apprentices released depressed sighs. A knock was heard at the door. The teacher went over to hear what they had to say. When he returned he said


    "They are here to see you Adrian."

 The Will

    "So what can I do for you?" asked Adrian.


    "Are you one Mr A.Beaucroft?" asked the suited man.


    "Yes."


    Adrian examined his new companion, they were all wearing suits, and had a very criminal look, not the sort of person you would trust with your wallet.


    "What happened to Henry, I thought he was our family lawyer."


    "I have replaced Mr. Hoffler by order of the Guild. The reason being the delicacy of the whole robber incident and the need for a more...professional lawyer."


    "So what is this about than."


    "The Will. As the beneficiary you have inherited the following, A family estate in the city of Tyranl, the Artifacts your family had stolen over the years, the bank account and two thunderbirds by the name of Raf and Eya." The lawyer informed Adrian with a subtle condensation.


    This was almost everything they had, the only thing missing is the property for the base of operations for the Beaucroft Band.


    "So what is happening to the property in Hel Street?" The lawyer glanced at Adrian with a hint of disgust, thinking him to be green eyed.


    "It was in the will that it would go to the most senior surviving member of the Band. There was only one survivor and so he obtained it uncontested. In the end he decided to sell it and split the gains equally among all the families of the deceased."


    "How much is it being sold for?" asked Adrian.


    "$670,000"


    "And how much is in the account?" The lawyer feels something is off, this is not how those greedy scum usually operate.


    "$807,014.37"


    "Perfect. Is it possible for me to buy it right now directly?" the lawyer was dumbfounded. This whole conversation was completely off script, entering territory he had never ventured across his 25 year career.


    "As the cases lawyer I could make the transaction... Is that all?"


    "You are the one who brought me out here, so you should know if that is all. Now that you mention it however, could you use the rest of the money to pay of my student loans?" Now this was back in familiar territory for the lawyer.


    "You could, but the remaining amount would not be enough to cover all of it, if you didn''t purchase the property you could easily pay it off." The lawyer was testing him to see what type of person he was.


    "What if I sell the Artifacts to make up the rest of it." Most of the Artifacts left were modst likely of low quality as the few useful ones were in use that day and most likely robbed of them. He could always steal more. The lawyer was impressed. It was incredibly difficult for a civilian to get an Artifact. They were almost exclusive to the rich and powerful. Having even a single Artifact would be a matter of pride, so seeing them being sold so descisively had a major impact on the man. He knew how well off the Beaucrofts were, he had a list of their entire financial situation. They were well off, but nowhere near the level of the nobles. The decisiveness required to make this decision astounded him. He was impressed.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    "The Guild will be willing to alleiviate you of both your Artifacts and your debt."


    "Am I free to return to class?" At this point they had both gotten ready to leave. Instead of saying anything the lawyer offered his hand. They shook hands and went their own ways.


    When he enterred the class they were still testing affinities. The person getting tested was a girl with with short brown hair. Adrian recognised her as one of the girls with Andrei yesterday. She was testing her Affinity for Storms which showed 30%.


    This was considered average. Adrian went to the teacher and asked if he should rejoin the line for testing.


    "No Adrian. You can resume testing after class. I called over the Guild Elders and the Guild Leader to arrive after the lesson ends and spectate your results." So instead of joining the line Adrian sat down and waited for his friends to finish. They were towards the front of the line and finished quickly.


    Mocking tradgedy, Sam asked "So what is the news? When are you backing your bags? Oh Adrian, it was fun knowing you."


    Continueing the charade, Adrian answers "Alas, it is over for I. They had decided that I was too good for this place, and have banished me to the far off land of Dubou."


    On a roll, Sam continues "Not Dubou! That cestpit of filth and vermin. You must be strong Adrian. You need not worry, I will carry on your mortal legacy."


    Andrei was developing a mild depression "Why are my friends like this?"


    Emilia looked at him and said with mild sarcasim "I wonder why." Adrian stops joking around and states with a serious tone. "I have a proposal for you all. It is related to what happened when I went out. A lawyer came to talk to me about my parents will. In the end I now have possesion of the Beaucroft Band and the base along with it. I am suggesting that when we graduate in a fortnight you come with me to Tyran to start our own band."


    Emilia looks excited and almost shouts "Your inviting us to join the Beaucroft Band?!"


    "No," answers Adrian "the Beaucroft Band is disbanded. It makes no sense to continue on with the same name, especially after what happened. The stigma would follow the band and all would remember the incident, what we need is a new name and a new start. We found a new band."


    Andrei starts "I was originally planning on joining the guild. They may be arseholes but they offer some of the best conditions. It is the easiest ways of paying of the student debts too. But now I think I might join you and your new band. It might be a bit tougher, but at least I can trust the management there." Sam and Emilia agreed with him. They continued discussing until class ended were Adrian stayed behind. In came the Guild Elders and Leader. There were 12 Elders and the Guild Leader. Surprisingly they all arrived without their respective entourages. One of the Elders came up to Adrian. She was a kindly looking old woman with a kind smile and black hair that was greying at the roots. Despite her kind grandma vibes Adrian could tell she was a bitch. They all were, the lot of them, bastards to the core. All of them faked sincerity and kindly personas. Adrian could play ball.


    "Adrian, I was extremely upset when I heard the news of your parents. I never knew your mother but your father worked together with me when he just finished his apprenticeship. He was full of talent and had a bright future. A shame he is gone so soon. But we arn''t here for him, we are here for you, the greatest prodigy since Prometheus himself." There was general agreement to this statement. They got him onto the machine to test his Affinities. one after another, the machine showed 999%.


    "Do we have another machine with a higher limit?" asked one of the Elders


    "We never had a need for anything higher than three digits." replied another.


    They continued testing were Adrian maintained his record. By the time they finished testing Adrian had finished with a perfect score.


    "Adrian," began the Elder who knew his father "when you join the Guild we will be willing to give you the best resources for your growth and will raise you to make full use of your talents. Perhaps you will be the key to a new era, ending this war between Gods and Humanity. If only we got to you sooner, we could have created a true masterpiece."


    Adrian smiled kindly to the elderly woman while his thought were anything but. The reason he was homeschooled for so long, Adrian believed, was so he wouldn''t become their masterpiece. "Thank you, but I was planning to go independant. My parents taught me to work for my own future. I shouldn''t get preferrential treatment just due to Affinities." With that Adrian excused himself as politely as possible. He had more important places to be. It was dinner time.

 The Plan Resumes With Some Unexpected Help

    Adrian returned to the dorms when everyone was eating dinner. He got his slop before sitting together with his friends, who were chatting about how different plant classificasions and their stupidity like bananas being herbs and bamboo being grass.


    Andrei was the first person to notice Adrian. When he sat down Andrei immediately alerted him "You came back at a good time, Scrya has been acting suss for a while now. Now that your here I expect he might finally do whatever it is that has been keeping him so anxious."


    Sam, more curious about Adrian than Scrya, asked "So why did you have to stay behind? Did you see Dad after you finished?"


    "All the higher ups were brought in to watch my affinity testing, going through each and every affinity type, before finally offering me private tutoring and grooming. David said 48 hours, it has been 24. I will see him tommorow."


    "Hmpf. You better." Adrian could say one thing about the father-daughter duo, they were very close and protective of each other.


    Scrya, satisfied that the most important person was in the room finally made his move. He slyly pulled out an envolope and hid it on Trozes seat, with only the corner peeking out.


    "Hey Trozes, look what I found!" said Scrya, making a huge fuss. He pulled out the letter and began reading.


    "It would appear someone has a secret admirer, lets see what else it says~" he continued playfully.


    "NO!" Trozes shouted. He snatched the confession from Scrya''s hands and began reading to himself.


    "All I wanted to know was who it was from." stated Scrya. He was looking straight at Adrian, wearing a sardonic grin on his face. The only person fooled was Trozes.


    After the commotion they continued eating in peace. After a moment of awkward silence Andrei provoked conversation "So will the plan still run?"


    Adrian gave a curt response "Yes."


    "But they know who it''s from. They are going to come prepared."


    "We can''t avoid them, it would ruin everything. The point is to make them tilted. If we avoid them they will feel safe but if we get them despite their protection, it will be even more effective."


    "So how are we going to overcome their protection?" asked Emilia quietly.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    "If we can''t beat them with one use ten. If you can''t beat them with ten use a hundred." spoke Adrian with his infinite wisdom.


    "But there are only the four of us. We can''t get help due to the delicacy if the situation, so where does the hundered come in?"


    "Who said we can''t get help? We just need to make sure they don''t ask why we are doing this." The conversation drifted off as they waited for Trozes and co to leave. After they left, Adrian slowly went over to a large crowd on the other side of the canteen. This was the mainstream crowd, it''s members comprised of pretty much everyone who wasn''t with Trozes, Adrian or were social outcasts.


    "Adrian!" called out one of the girls in the group. It was one of the girls who were hitting on Andrei yesterday. "What brings you over to this side of the room?"


    Adrian friendlily replied "I need to ask you all a favor." Despite his tone they were all shocked, he wasn''t doing anything weird yet they all had one thought going through their head. Mr. Perfect was asking for a favor.


    One of the quicker ones asked "What do you need our help for? What can we do for you?" there was an emphasis on the "you". It hurt Adrian a little, as much as he was expecting it.


    A smarter member of the group asked "Does it have to do with that letter?" Adrian realised it would be a tad harder than he first thought to pull the wool over their eyes.


    Adrian replied "Something occured that quite frankly pissed me off."


    "First he asks for a favor, now he loses that friendly Adrian "Everything is Perfect" vibe, what''s next, flying pigs, a west rising sun?" the criwd seemed disturbed by his attitude. It made him wonder if they saw him as human. Probably not, he thought. Being human is all about making mistakes, and Mr Perfect doesn''t do those. Adrian sighed internally. He sighed internally. This was not arrogance, narcissism or pride. It was cold hard fact. That just made it all the worse.


    The smart one spoke up once more, taking representation of the group "So what exactly do you need us to do. We assume this is about Trozes?"


    Adrian replied in the affirmitive.


    "So what do you need us to do?"


    "First I need to know if your in or not. Only then can I tell you what I had in mind."


    "Now that is ringing alarm bells. If it''s like that I am gonna have to ask for some reason we should accept."


    "Firstly, this is an oppurtunity to screw Trozes over and I can''t see a person among you who would dislike the idea. He''s a bully and a tyrant after all. Secondly, finals are coming up and may very well influence your futures. I am willing to offer you all a copy of my notes."


    One of the loud obnoxious ones cried out "You give those out anyway."


    "I am referring to the other notes." This caused great murmuring amongst themselves. Adrian had two sets of notes, one he was willing to share to the public and his private ones for friends only. While the public ones were still top notch and incomparable to there own. His private ones were on a whole other level, the stuff of legends. Andrei, Sam and Emilia were already top students, but after recieving these notes, they excelled and surpassed all other students whom they were equal to. When asked why bother making two pairs when he should just create the one good copy Adrian replied "This is not a charity. I have no obligation to help you. Is it wrong to give my friends a leg up?" and no one questioned him after that. Would they not do the same thing? He already gave them a copy far better than their own. It was safe to say Trozes had never seen Adrians notes.


    "We agree to this proposel." spoke the smart one. She offered out her hand and Adrian took it.


    "Perfect. So here is the plan."

 The Gang Become Princesses

    The dorm was as it always, cold, creaky and a hundred years out of style. The gang were sleeping peacefully in their dorms, not caring for the Demon King they had recently provoked. After they were dismissed from class, they scrubbed themselves down for nearly an hour. They were not told to return to class, so they used the time to pop into the nearby town for supplies.


    They had bought things like caltrips, trip wires and concealed weapons with mechanisms for quick release. After Scrya mentioned that Adrian would also likely buy the same or similar things, they also bought some counters. Boots with iron caps and soles, Gloves with metal in the palms and a vest in a similar fashion, particularly thick around the vitals. It was all designed to look like normal clothing.


    After that they went back for dinner and went to bed, when they left the first comers were arriving. You would think they would be asleep and by all rights they should be and would be, if it wasn''t for that irritable scratching. They could all hear it as they shared a dorm, it was one of the reasons the group worked. Finally the source of the noise emerged from the wall. It was a rat burrowing through.


    It lifted it''s nose into the air, sniffing around to find what had drawn it here. Mark and Damian followed suit, unable to smell the source of their problems.


    "It''s probably the scheme of some arsehole trickster." explained Scrya "The same one who messed with our clothes.".


    Satisfied with the explaination the other four room mates lay down to atempt sleep once more. The gang minus Damian searched for whatever had baited the rat. Damian was trying and failing miserably to catch the rat.


    After this process went on for a good five minutes one of the room mates couldn''t hold it in any longer and burst out into laugheter at the seeming stupidity of Damian.


    Trozes sent the boy a silencing glare when he saw it. A second rat. His glare intensified, as if the force behind it would be enough to force it out of the room or even better yet, out of existance.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "I don''t think we are going to find whatever is drawing them." said Mark "Maybe we should just chase them away and block up the entrance.". They followed the plan and successfully chased away the rats, usimg the wire to create an impassable wall.


    They got back to bed and got all of five seconds of rest before the scratching returned. It was louder than last time, seeming to come from all around the room. Two more holes appeared, with the rats bringing what seemed to be the entire extended family with them, all seventeen of them.


    They say all things come in threes, and the tapping on the window. All eight inhabitants of the room were standing and chasing the rats out of the room. No matter how many times they chased them out they came back, bringing another with them. The scenario was not dissimilar to that of a hydra. Scrya had found the spikes and had created a ring around them. They were surrounded, and the spikes would do little in the face of the rats determination. The kept flowing out the holes into the sea of rats, soon they would be pressured and forced to make a move.


    As if waiting for this moment the windows burst open with a satisfying slam, and in they charged with the force of a thousand horses. It was like all the crows from a kilometre radius had flown into the room and honestly, this was not far from the truth as they had chased the rats all the way from the woods.


    The pressure of the rats combined with the introduction of the crows finally broke the dam as the rats flooded towards the room mates. All hell broke loose as the rats tried to avoid the swooping crowd, sweeping the other room mates into a corner, their attention on the gang. They tried to fight back but to no avail, there was simply to many of them. Seeing the others untargetted Scrya had an epiphany. "They didn''t hide a bait in the room. We are the bait. It was probably that damn sticky shit that was through our clothes. It must have seeped into our skin. These are probably all the rats from between here and town, all attracted to our scent."


    This knowledge could not save them as they were slowly overwhelmed by the horde, as the rats gnawed at the gang, piercing the skin and drawing blood.


    They finally overcome the rats with the help of the crows and could finally go to bed. They were bleeding all over and would likely scar but they had no time to worry as exhaustion worked as the night''s henchmen, dragging them down and entrapping them within slumber.


    When daylight broke them free from rest they awoke to an absolute mess. The floor was a mix of blood, spikes, corpses, feathers and bird shit. Not all the crowd had left the room, deciding to rest upon the furniture instead. Trozes was particularly popular as his bed was crowded with owls and, by extention, crow shit. They picked up the spikes and removed the wire.


    This was a job for the cleaners.

 The Showdown?!

    The apprentices watched in horror as Trozes entered the dining hall. He was an absolute mess, ruffled and scarred. He was giving of an aura that repelled all, concentrated towards Adrian. Everyone could feel it, the only ones unperturbed being Sam, Andrei and Adrian himself.


    "So what do you think that was about?" asked Andrei.


    "I don''t know." answered Sam "But I bet it''s good."


    "How about Andrei and I check out their room to see if we can find out anything?" suggested Adrian "Just a quick peek."


    "Why not just ask the other room mates?" asked Sam. Emilia motioned towards the residents of the room. Just looking at them darkened the room from their negativity.


    "How about not." Sam stated, answering her own question.


    They finished breakfast and the boys left the girls to investigate Trozes room.


    "What the hell happened here?" Andrei said, surveying the room.


    "I say we leave now, amd never mention this to anyone." Adrian slowly closing the door again.


    "The girls are going to ask what we found." Andrei slowly retreated from the room.


    "We tell them the truth. We tell them we glimpsed at hell." With that they finally left.


    Class had not started when they arrived. The instructor was directly behind them and ready to burst. He was the combat instructor, meaning today they had combat training.


    "This is the last combat lesson you will have before your finals. After those you will have a student expedition and then finally, graduation. I wish you good luck, you are one of the best batch of apprentices I have had the pleasure to taech over my years. To finish off the year we will do one on one combat. Weapons will be artifacts picked at random by myself. Partner up however you feel, lets move to the combat hall."


    They moved out in the half organised mess known to students throughout the world, with probes, stragglers and the main student body. The combat hall was simply a large wooden hall. Despite it''s simplicity it was made from wood taken from a nature gods realm and was harder than rock. There was a storage room filled with all sorts of toys able to make an enjoyable lesson but today all that mattered was the preprepared table covered in weapons.


    "So who wants to go first." the instructor asked the class.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "I want to go a round with Adrian sir." Adrian was unsuprised when he heard Trozes say that. He was likely aiming for revenge for whatever caused the destruction of their room.


    "Alrighty. You all know the rules, just grab a weapon and go at it quick-fast." the instructor was entering one of his moods, a particularly aggressive one.


    Adrian and Trozes both moved forward towards the table. Adrian managed to grab a lance while Trozes claimed an axe.


    "Did you think you were sneaky, too stupid to figure out your plan. We figured it out, know exactly what you did." Trozes spoke with an almost upright conviction. Great, thought Adrian, now I just need to figure out why they are so convinced it was me. "It was quite sneaky what you did. Whatever you put into our shirts is quite dangerous, not only is there the foul odor, it seeps into the skin creating a plague of rats-" before Trozes could finish the instructor interrupted "Enough of the trash talk, just start fighting already."


    Trozes lifted the axe up "I just wanted to let you know the reason behind your thrashing." He swung down were Adrian was standing two seconds earlier. The floor broke and splintered due to the strength of Trozes hit. Trying to take advantage of this oppurtunity Adrian went and swung his lance. A thrust would end this fight quickly. It hit Trozes square on the cheek, causing the wounds on his face to open, blood trickling out.


    The edge of the axe began to glow flouresent green. It was time to see what the lance could do.


    Adrian began by seeing what divinity made up the artifact. It was created by mixing war and storm divinities. Usually that would result in major offensive power. It doesn''t seem to have any long range capabilities. Contact is likely required too-


    Before he could continue Trozes begun attacking again, this time with a horizontal strike. Once again Adrian stepped back to avoid it when Trozes followed with a punch. Adrian quickly thrust out the lance to meet the punch. Trozes may be stronger but punching a spike was still a bad idea. The lance pierced into his fist, causing blood to spray everywhere. Before Adrian could pull out Trozes grabbed his lance. So that''s his plan thought Adrian, hold me in place so he can hit me with his axe which appears to have increased sharpness. Once hit he would likely be gravely injured, where Trozes would then proceed to crippling him. Unfortunately for Trozes, Adrian had his artifact ready.


    Lightning burst from the lance. It paralized Trozes, whose axe stalled midair. It wouldn''t last long, so Adrian had to work fast. He directly hit all of the wounds on Trozes causing them to reopen. He was aware of everything going on, the only thing he lost was movement. Everytime a wound was opened he got a little angrier. He resolved himself to beat the shit out of Adrian the second he could.


    Just before the paralization faded Adrian positioned his lance behind the axe. As Trozes swung Adrian guided its path towards Trozes''s leg. It struck true and deep. Adrian thought he heard bones cracking.


    "Wonderful! Good show heheh." cheered the instructor. His bloodlust had increased majorly due to the cruelty shown. It got so high that he simply didn''t care that Trozes leg was broken.


    "Sir, can I bring Trozes to get his leg checked?" asked Scrya who was worrying for his friends health.


    "Hmpf." the teacher just grunted in responce, but Scrya took it as an affirmative. He dragged Trozes away to find someone with a healing artifact.


    Adrian rejoined the group and everyone looked at him blaming him for excess viciousness, even though the target was Trozes. It wasn''t viciousness however. It was merely the means to a result, with only apathy.

 The Potentially Greatest Artifact

    The class continued as the instructor wanted another slaughter to occur. Unfortunately for him no one was willing to accomodate his wish. Everyone was relaxed as it was the final lesson and no one wanted to exert themselves so close to their exams in case it would impact the results. Adrian and Trozes being the exception due to their fued, Scrya going along with the injured Trozes and Mark and Damian being too weak.


    Class ended peacefully to the disappointment of the instructor, with the greatest injuries being shallow cuts and light bruises.


    "Ouch." said Andrei flatly, rubbing a bruise on his forearm. He had recieved it after holding back, trying to leave his opponent, female, uninjured.


    "So what did you find in their room?" asked Emilia innocently. The boys just looked at each other. Neither wanted to be the one to be the first talk, drawing their attention. The girls stared at Andrei, knowing he was the weaker link of the two.


    Unable to withstand the inquisition any longer he simply said "You need to see it yourselves to truly understand. No words can explain the horrors within. Be careful though, your dreams are unsafe."


    The conversation drifted off into an awkward place, no one sure what to say.


    "So what is everyone''s plan for the afternoon?" asked Sam innocently. Her expression was anything but.


    "I need to check on my artifact." answered Adrian. It was the correct one, as Sam broke into a cheshire grin. "Anyone want to check it out with me?"


    "No thanks." said Andrei with great reluctence. "I have an appointment." The so called appointment was an appology by the girl who caused the bruise, likely for the purpose of approaching him. With graduation approaching some of the girls were getting desperate. The girls agreed to go with him to the Smithery, having nothing else to do.


    They quickly ascended to Rory''s workshop where he was eagerly awaiting the arival of Adrian. The sword lay on the small coffee table in the corner of the room, which was used to occupy guests.


    "Adrian. Where did you find this thing?" rudely asked Rory, not even letting him step inside.


    "In the snow." He wasn''t wrong. Rory decided to drop the questioning and gestured towards the coffee table. The four of them all sat down, Rory and Sam on one side and Emilia and Adrian the other.


    Adrian admired the new sheath on his blade for a moment. It was completely white and seemed to be covered in scales. It was tighter than a normal sheath, which made sense due to the swords lack of guard. Upon closer investigation the scales where actually made of small diamond-like gemstones. It could probably be used as a weapon just by itself.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "So Rory." began Adrian. "What can you tell me about the sword?" At the mention of the sword Rory''s eyes glistened. It was the greatest artifact he had ever had the pleasure to with with. He desperatly wished he could keep it but, as he was thinking he looked at Sam, Adrian was his daughters friend and she would be upset if he stole from him. Not that he did that sort of thing, he was a man of principle, but for that weapon...


    "It is made solely from Winter Divinity, and ten star quality at that. The weapon itself however, is only a one star artifact. Despite that, its prowess is equal to a four star artifact. Its main ability is control over anything related to Winter. It has potential for growth."


    This last sentenced shocked Sam and Emilia. Among artfacts growth type were undoubtly the strongest. there main advantage was being stronger than anything else of the same level. If you had a two star growth artifact no other two star artifact could beat it. This strength difference was usually decided by how many stages it has grown and how many it could grow. Considering the fact that it started at one star and could progress to ten star...


    "Has there ever been a growth type artifact with this potential?" questioned Sam, who felt excited at the thought of witnessing the greatest ever.


    "Never. The highest is Prometheus''s Flame, but that only started at three stars." Emilia said excitedly. Her excitement was less about the weapon but instead who would wield it. A perfect weapon for a perfect person she thought. How perfect.


    Adrian ignored Emilia''s fervent stare and instead asked Rory "What is the growth method?"


    Rory sighed. "This is the bad part. This weapon appears to be quite...Evil. In order to grow it requires you to pierce the enemies heart and then kill them from the cold, using the hearts blood to temper the blade. The cold also seems to turn their corpses into Winter Puppets and, combined with the swords ability, you will have control over them. The most important part is they have to be alive."


    Just the thought of this made the girls shiver. It seemed like a cruel and painful process. Then again, winter was a cruel and painful process and as the main Divinity it somewhat made sense. for the weapon to emulate these characteristics. They wouldn''t want the weapon though. No matter how powerful it was just to evil. Not for Adrian however.


    "How much will this cost?" he asked, picking up the weapon.


    "This one is on the house. Just the chance to work with and observe a ten star artifact is well worth the time spent."


    With all business done they said there farewells before leaving the smithy.


    "So is there anything else to do?" asked Emilia in the hope of spending more time together.


    "We need to get prepared for tommorow. Can I ask you to go to our classmates and inform them of what they will need?" Adrian said, shutting down Emilia''s hopes. They quickly agreed and Adrian told


    them what they would need to do.


    "Why are you not coming with us?" asked Sam, it was a simple task that Adrian could easily do himself.


    "It would attract unwanted attention. Even your actions would be highly suspicous, if I were to do it the whole mission could be jeoperdised." with that the two girls headed back towards the Dormatory. What he didn''t mention was that he had a conversation with someone quite important on his immediate schedule.

 The Journey Ahead

    Exiting the Smithery, Adrian spoke a brief farewell to the girls before retreating to a quiet place. He found himself in the forest between the Guild and the nearby town. He pulled out the watch and thought ¡°We need to talk.¡±


    Chronos responded slowly ¡°What can I do for you boy?¡±


    ¡°I have a few questions for you. The first of which is how long were you in the Godrealm for.¡±


    Chronos spoke with patience ¡°Five millennia. You should already know that however.¡±


    ¡°Then why is it that in five thousand years I am the first to find you.¡±


    Instead of answering the question Chronos asked his own ¡°How much do you know about barriers?¡±


    Adrian stared down into the watch¡¯s unmoving face. He seemed to find the answer he was looking for.


    ¡°All barriers can be broken.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Even Aegis can be defeated or else I wouldn¡¯t be here. So instead of creating an infallible barrier, Winsvarya created a smart one. The only people who worried him where humans, he could always defend against those easily enough as a Great God, so he created a ¡®Anti-Human Barrier¡¯. Humans are that due to having flaws. It is what allows them to improve and the reason for their potential. I should know as the creator. So Winsvarya created a barrier that attacks people through their flaws, freezing them mentally and then shattering their minds, turning them into loyal slaves. I have seen many do so. I called out because Adam was pure hearted and in my senility I forgot about the normal human lifespan. Immortal isolation will do that to you. My point is you are an anomaly. You are inhuman and don¡¯t have flaws. At least until three days ago. That is how you survived.¡±


    ¡°So at what level must I be for us to start taking the next fragment?¡±


    ¡°I need you at the level where you reach the rank of Ten Star Thief without the use of the watch. At that point you should have the requirements to survive in the Great Godrealms and then we can begin hunting. The reason is simply that you will die otherwise. You were incredibly lucky last time and next time I can guarantee won¡¯t go so easily. The Great Gods will be vigilant from now on and their defences will be much more solid. Not only will they not use any mental traps but they will also move the doors much further away. It will be impossible to walk in and out with sheer luck. Just remember, use your time wisely. Trying to save a minute may waste an hour.¡±This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    With that the watch resumed silence, not even a tic to be heard. Adrian headed back to the Guild as the sun was setting. It lay on his back and the guards at the gate where impressed. It was not often they saw such a heroic sight. Adrian was given immediate entry without having to go through any checks. It was likely they forgot he was an apprentice.


    He made his way to the dining room when the smart girl tried to catch his eye. A subtle nod was all it took. The preparations were set and all they had to do was wait for tomorrow. Adrian glanced over to Scrya who was looking as chilly as ever. It was an aura around him and considering its general, unfocused flow, it was safe to say he had got away unnoticed.


    Adrian got his nameless food and made his way to his normal spot. Sam and Emilia were trying to comfort the visibly shaken Andrei.


    He was like a frightened rabbit about to die from panic. The girls moved away and the food on their plates stopped jiggling.


    Across the room he could hear the gaggle of girls giggling. They were all quite cheerful and celebrative.


    "Andrei. What did they do." a solid and unquestionable command.


    The food began to jiggle once more, more vigorously than the last time.


    "n-nothing." a whisper


    "Tell me the truth."


    The food was now on the verge of breaking apart.


    "No-nothing happened Adrian, could you pl-please stop asking."


    Like a parent to a child Adrian looked at Andrei and gently said.


    "It''s okay Andrei. You did nothing wrong, just tell me what they did."


    The food sprayed everywhere as Andrei stood up. He told Adrian in a resolved voice


    "Not here, not now, especially with them so close." There was an emphasis on them that Adrian didn''t know it referred too.


    Nobody paid attention to Andrei as they were all lost in their own cliques. Adrian sent an apologetic gesture to the girls as he motioned to the mess on the table.


    He found Andrei alone in his room curled up in a blanket. There was a single candle shedding light on the room, embracing him in a gentle light. Before Adrian could start Andrei said


    "I''m sure you already know what happened. You always do. Can you tell me why they did it? Why they did it too me? You saw how they where acting. Am I just some sort of trophy? A prize to be won? You were right and I should have listened but why didn''t you warn me?"


    "Even I couldn''t have guessed the extent they would go."


    "Really though, You who always knows everything? Why didn''t you stop this from happening?"


    "I didn''t know."


    Andrei was silent for a moment. He was too upset too cry.


    "Was it really so valuable? Was robbing me of my innocence really worth that much?"


    Andrei had developed Gynophobia. Another victim of robbers.