Gold coins and jewellery filled the alleyway with a cacophony of jingling and clattering as the battered young man kept running. The sack over his shoulder had torn on one of the gates he had shimmied through, causing a little more of his ill-gotten gains to fall out with each bounding step. He almost slipped on a gaudy bracelet, the smooth and polished gemstones providing no traction as he stumbled, nearly causing him to lose the object clutched so desperately in his hands. It was the size of a brick but with twice the weight, and it glowed with a mysterious light that made his exposed skin tingle uncomfortably. For Quinn, it was his entire future. For the eight heavily-armed adventurers chasing him through the streets? It was a ruby. A magical ruby. A magical ruby that was worth 8 billion gold.
“Sorry–sorry–sorry–so–!” Quinn called out as he nimbly leapt over a group of huddled drunks, easily avoiding a swung bottle to the back for his trouble as he landed in the open street. It was 7 in the evening at the edge of the market district, and the sky was as black as coal. Chains of orderly airlamps illuminated the street below with their soft, cyan hue, revealing a labyrinth of commoners and half-assembled stalls for him to dodge through. The orderly bustle of working carts and traders wagons had long petered out, making way for groups of workers, revellers and thugs to slow his escape.
“Watch where you’re goi... hey, what in the gods is tha-” one of the drunkards was starting to say, but Quinn was too busy adjusting the sack as best he could to stop the treasure spilling out into the street. Some of the vagrants were already scrabbling over the slick cobblestones, pawing at the rolling coins and bouncing rings that followed after him from the alleyway. Unfortunately, what also followed was a furious, booming voice.
“STOP, THIEF!!” the two dreaded words that had followed him his entire life—an accusation and exclamation that he had heard hundreds of times, through innocence and guilt. It didn’t stop him then, and it wouldn’t stop him now, especially when he was guilty. Several bystanders attempted to get in his path, but each was left spinning as he ducked, jumped and even slid through the legs of one of his would-be captors. Their grasping hands and swinging fists met only air as Quinn put them all behind him in his bid for freedom. His small and lithe body had always been one of his greatest assets, but right now the only thing keeping him from the long sword of the law was his newest class skill.
10th level Class Skill: Alleycat’s Grace (uncommon)
Swift and nimble, always ready to cut and run.
Enhanced leaping and movement speed. Increased reaction speed. -15% stamina cost for movement and movement-based skills.
It had been a massive windfall when he finally reached the 10th level in his class. It came after his last “job” with a few of the other street rats, a light-handed scheme in the market district that got a little… dicy. Of the six rats that went in, only three got out of the district and into the maze of backstreets before getting snatched up by the royal enforcers. That was a fate Quinn had been running from all his life, because getting caught meant one of three things: conscription, imprisonment, or death.
Skidding to a stop around a quiet corner, he checked over his shoulder before breathing out in relief. The distant shouts and clanging of armour were briefly absent, but he didn’t have long before they would be on him again. Looking around to find a better escape route, he realised with dread that his mad scramble had led him into a narrow crossroads behind several tall housing blocks. The thin path ahead led to a sturdy brick wall with filth and debris piled against it, and the path back led to a clear alley between two wide, open streets. In other words, Quinn was cornered.
This wasn’t the first time he had found himself in this predicament, but years of running and hiding had turned him and Clay into very avid climbers. They had scaled and clambered through many of the burned-out husks of buildings and abandoned blocks, often setting up camp in the higher floors to lessen the chance of running into others like themselves. Unfortunately, he was without one of the most important tools for climbing; his hands. He could safely hold the ruby with both hands, but if he tried to run or climb with just one, he was sure he would lose it. Maybe even damage it, and he would rather turn himself in for conscription than fail his first class quest. Looking up, a wide grin split his face as he saw his salvation. A balcony, 5 floors off the ground with seemingly no way up to it. It looked impossible for someone on foot, carrying a giant ruby, and now a half-empty sack of noble’s valuables to get up there at all. It was time to see what an “alleycat” could really do.
He walked backwards as he closed his eyes, his mind slowly calming as he brought all of his focus to bear. There was nothing but him, the walls, and his destination. Without looking behind him, he turned the corner and kept walking at an angle, each footfall counted out in his head. Behind his eyes was a simplified model of his surroundings, and each long step back brought him closer to his leap of faith. The distance between the walls, the height of the balcony, and the place his acceleration would peak were all thought through before he had reached his fifteenth step back. At sixteen, he stopped, and for a brief, quiet moment, he was calm. He wasn’t afraid. He opened his eyes, and surged forwards.
Clay cursed under his breath as one of the hairs of his paintbrush broke away, blending rather poorly into the face of his brother. It looked as though a thick, vertical scar had split his lips and barely avoided slicing through his left eye, like his flesh was bit by blade, rather than beast. The face of a warrior he thought, stepping back to assess the addition; he knew he was being picky, but this painting was very important to him. This would be the very first painting that he would actually give away, instead of hiding away in his hoard. To his surprise, he found he actually liked the new scar, despite the strange feeling it gave him in his chest. It was like…
“It feels like I’m looking at the real you, little brother… the one without fear… the one without…”
Go-go-go-go-go-go-GO his mind screamed, every ounce of stamina in his body urging him onwards as he ran at a 45-degree angle towards the first wall. His fourteenth step barely took him into the thin alley, and his fifteenth launched him over two meters into the air. As his foot landed upon the rough mixture of brick and stone, he nimbly took two more fast, sideways steps before leaping once more. This jump had more horizontal force, effortlessly clearing the space between the narrow walls and gaining another meter and a half towards his freedom. Three more quick steps, then another jump. His impressive speed was slowly waning, but he kept pushing forward, fastly approaching his next hurdle. Just as he landed from his sixth jump, he reached the end of the alleyway. Leaning sideways to lessen the impact on his sore feet, he ran in a shallow curve up and along the back wall, and a final, desperate leap launched him straight towards the balcony. As he sailed through the air, he realised too late that he had been slightly slower than he predicted, the weight of the ruby a little too much to land with grace and dignity.
“Oooohf!” Quinn wheezed, his gut slamming into the balustrade of the stone terrace with enough speed to completely knock the wind out of him. Just before he landed he threw his arms forward, still clutching the ruby in aching hands as his feet swung uselessly in the air. Taking a calculated risk, he lowered the ruby as much as he could with one hand before letting it go, hearing a few high-pitched clinks like tapping on stained glass before all was silent. He thanked the gods it hadn’t shattered, and dragged himself over the guardrail and slumped to the barren floor of the small balcony. After a few stifled coughs, he let out a small chuckle that almost turned into a bout of maniacal cackling before he covered his mouth with his hands. He had done it. He had escaped that bloodbath of an auction with the most valuable item he had ever laid his eyes on. His jubilance was cut short as he realised he was missing something; his sack of “goodies”, as Clay would call it. With mounting dread, he heard a legion of footsteps stampeding below him, muffled and angry mutters accompanying them.
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Shit-shit-shit Quinn thought as he snatched the ruby from the ground and huddled into the corner of the balcony, wrapping his arms around it and gripping himself tight. If they wanted this ruby back, they would have to kill him first. Burying his face in his knees, he tried to focus on the voices below to find a way out of his situation.
“Look ‘ere, the rat lost some of the spoils durin’ the escape! Looks like they either went over or through that wall… ‘ey, what about that terrace up ‘ere?” one of the men was saying, causing his heart to almost leap out of his chest in panic.
“It looks that way to a rookie, but look at the spread of the valuables and the torn sack. They obviously made the trail of jewels on purpose, threw the lesser gains down this side street to throw us off the chase, then kept fleeing with the real prize in hand.” The only female voice interjected, causing a susurrus of murmurs and agreements from the other adventurers.
“Yeah, it’s obvious Doyle. Unless our thief can fly, there’s no way they’re getting to that balcony with the ruby. Did you see ‘em? They barely weighed more than the thing!” a deep voice laughed as others joined in, Quinn’s misshapen ears starting to burn with embarrassment as he looked down with disgust at his small, feeble frame.
“And if the thief could fly, we wouldn’t have had to chase ‘em through the streets like stray dogs after a butcher's cart, now would we, huh Doyle?” a soft, male voice chimed in, causing more laughter to echo through the quiet streets.
“Silence, you idiots!” the female voice called again, a clear note of frustration in her tone as the group fell silent.
“We were told to get just the ruby and the thief’s head, anything else is outside the concerns of our employer. Leave this for the enforcers to deal with. We spread out from here like a net, two to a group in case the thief has a few more rats to hide behind. And no mercy, got it?”.
“Yes Ma’am!” a chorus of ruthless affirmations rose in unison, their shared bloodlust sending shivers up Quinn's spine. The tension gripping his mind began to ease however, as the sounds of armor-clad feet spread out in all directions, before slowly fading away.
Quinn breathed out in a huff as he lolled to the side, the pain in his ribs drowned out by the pure exuberance coursing through his veins. Looking down, he gazed into the depths of the strange ruby, a wave of prickling warmth spreading across the skin that its crimson glow touched. He didn’t know what it was, or why he needed it, but that didn’t matter. With bated breath, he waited for the prompt from the heavens that would change everything.
Class Quest Complete: The Dragon Sin of Greed
You have stolen the Dragon’s Eye ruby, taking the first true step on the dragon’s path of avarice. Claim the world as your birthright.
Rewards: Level cap increased from 10 to 20
+10 Unassigned Ability Points
Random skill mutation (Time remaining: 23 hours, 59 minutes)
Before he could kiss the tingling ruby in celebration, a barrage of new prompts flicked across his eyes.
Level Up: Level 11
AP Gained: +2 Dexterity, +1 Luck, +1 unassigned Ability Point
Level Up: Level 12
AP Gained: +2 Dexterity, +1 Luck, +1 unassigned Ability Point
Level Up: Level 13
AP gained: +2 Dexterity, +1 Luck, +1 unassigned Ability Point
Level Up: Level 14
AP Gained: +2 Dexterity, +1 Luck, +1 unassigned Ability Point
Level Up: Level 15
AP gained: +2 Dexterity, +1 Luck, +1 unassigned Ability Point
Level 15 Class Skill will unlock in: 23 hours, 59 minutes
Achievement: Heavenly Harvest (epic)
Gain between 5 and 9 levels from a single instance of class experience gain.
+10% to Archetype main stat (Dexterity)
+5% to Archetype secondary stat (Luck)
Quinn’s mouth fell open, and he would have let go of the ruby in shock, if every muscle in his body hadn’t tightened further with each heavenly chime that buzzed in his head.
“5… fucking… levels?”
“Another achievement?”
“Is this really… real?” he whispered to himself, almost afraid that saying it aloud would cause his dream to turn to dust before his eyes. Five levels was the most experience he had ever heard of someone receiving all at once, and it was happening to him, a rat from the gutter. A thief.
Before today, Quinn had hated his class. It forced him to be a criminal, and no one seemed to care that neither he nor they could choose their class; the gods did. They branded him a thief, and thus he was forced to live like a thief. It didn’t matter what he did or how he did it, the gods would not give him a single drop of “XP” unless he was committing theft. It didn’t matter if he cooked, painted, sewed or fought, he was, quite literally, born to be a thief. His class name was Thief, it always would be. But for the first time in his entire life…
he was happy being the bad guy for once.
At least, that was what he desperately wanted to believe. That he was a good bad guy, a kind thief. An honest thief. That it was worth it.
“It was worth it…. right?”.
