In a world of magic, common jail cells are woefully inadequate. Even if the bars are reinforced to withstand any amount of force, a [Thief] might have a skill to let them squeeze through. Even if there’s a magic barrier between the bars, one might teleport out by seeing through. For every type of skill or enchantment that might contain someone, there is always some kind of work around.

Thus, cells for high-level people are usually customized to their occupant, or sealed in a concrete cell, buried beneath the ground, with no windows or doors. A single magical light will illuminate the room, air will be magically recirculated, and an explosive defense system will activate upon any attempt to escape. Inhumane? Yes. Necessary? Unfortunately.

Inside one of these rooms, a prisoner patiently waits. He hasn’t been there for long, merely an hour… or six? Hard to tell. It hardly matters as at this moment, the wall slides away. In walks a dog-demihuman who returns a card to the prisoner.

“Mr. Bone, you’re free to go.”

“What?” Quasi says, “Are you sure?”

Rex slowly begins to nod at the question. It’s the first time that a prisoner has ever asked.

“Yes, would there be a reason that you would need to be detained?”

“Absolutely.”

Rex pauses.

“What reason?”

The man removes his upper shirt, flexes his muscles, and takes a pose with his leg on a chair.

“The world cannot handle this much fabulous!”

Rex scowls.

 

___________________________________________________________________

 

Jessica watches as the prison doors open and several [Guards] forcefully push a half-naked Quasi outside.

“Hey, you can be a bit more gentle!” Quasi calls back, only to be replied with a bag to the face, filled with all his stuff.

“Assholes!” he shakes his fist as the doors shut.

Jessica stands up from the ground and makes her way to the [Hero]. She shakes her head as he begins to undress in public before putting on all his enchanted gear.

“Hey Jess.” he calls out to her. “You know, you didn’t need to wait for me.”

The [Abess] sighs, “The last time I left you alone in a prison, you blew it up.”

“That was not my fault!” he counters, taking a moment to don his gear. He then reaches his hand out to Jessica.

“In every town or city we’ve stopped at, you’ve solved all your problems with violence. Why would it be any different here?” she asks while handing him his cane and ring, the two items that, if seen, would have them hunted by the entire city. Divine Rank items are, in a word, priceless. While the same could be said about Legendary items, possessing those are less likely to get you hunted by an entire city.

“Two towns and one other city is not an adequate number to reach such a conclusion.”

Jessica folds her arms across her chest “Really? How many towns and cities where you get into a fight is an acceptable number?”

Quasi opens his mouth to reply but immediately stops. He scratches his chin and then dons his mask.

“That’s a good question. I need to think about it.”

She rolls her eyes under her mask.

“Fine, whatever. Just tell me where we are going next? Is it the [Mercenary] guild? You said you need to accept a contract with a team.”

“Right, them. I think she called them Bladed Thorns. I guess we can do that first.”

Quasi nods at his words and begins walking.

She runs up next to him and matches his pace.

“Do you know where the guild even is?” she asks, somehow already knowing the answer.

“Nope, but I have a foolproof way of figuring that out.”

Jessica finds herself questioning this “foolproof” method when, after several minutes of walking, the two of them are strolling through a dark alleyway. Sitting on the sides, several people with questionable classes watch the two stroll through the dirty backstreet.

“You, kid!” Quasi yells. He points at a half-destroyed wagon. “Get over here. I have money!”

The kid, and everyone else in the alley, look at the man practically begging to be robbed. Even Jessica has trouble understanding the leaps of logic it took for Quasi to decide this action.

The child, a young boy of maybe eleven, peeks from the side of a broken-down wagon. Quasi flips a silver drachme in his hand. It spins in the air before landing on his palm. The [Hero] then flicks it again, knocking it back up as soon as it lands.

Jessica looks at the coin; it’s not a small sum he’s throwing around. It’s more than enough for lower-level [Thieves] to be interested.

The kid, almost hypnotized by the coin spinning through the air, slowly steps out from his hiding spot and approaches the masked man.

“Watcha need the kid for?” asks a grizzled man. Three others near him reveal themselves as they walk out from the shadows. One of them adjusts their cloak, revealing the club at his side.

Quasi looks at the men. “I need a guide for the city.”

The grizzled man smiles, revealing several broken and missing teeth. “I might be able to help you with that.”

“Nah, the kid will do fine, right?” Quasi asks, turning to the kid who has stopped in his tracks. The kid watches, attention split between the grizzled man and the coin still being flipped into the air. The conflicting emotions of desire and fear are prevalent on the childs face.

The grizzled man takes several steps towards Quasi. “No, no. I think it would be best that I show you around. It is rather dangerous to be wandering around with on--”

The man stops as he feels a hand touch his shoulder.

“Barbaras, the guild does not easily forgive threats to their members.”

The man named Barbaras looks at the hand on his shoulder. On the hand, near the knuckles is a circular black mark with multiple concentric shapes within.

“He serves Laverna?” Barbaras asks.

“He has her voice,” the woman replies.

The Grizzled man audibly gulps, realizing how close he had come to death.

The hand is removed from his shoulder. Barbaras doesn’t even glance behind him. He just starts walking away. His men had already fled by the time the hand had reached his shoulder. A Voice of the thieves guild. Hopefully, they will allow him to keep his life.

Quasi looks around. Every eye has wisely found somewhere else to stare, except for the kid and a woman garbed in black and covered in throwing knives and shurikens.

 

 

Quasi ignores her stare and looks at the kid, whose eyes are now filled with worship.

“So, kid, want to be a guide?”

_______________________________________

 

“Dennis, who was that woman?” Quasi asks, getting a confused look from the young boy he is following.

“You don’t know?” he asks.

Quasi shakes his head. “Nope, this is my first time in the city.”

“Ohhh… But you worship Laverna though, right?”

“More or less,” Quasi answers. He does technically have her blessing, which is actively hiding his status from prying eyes and skills.

Dennis nods. “That woman is an Ear of the [Thieves] guild, so she’s one of the stronger members.”

Quasi scratches the side of his neck. “Well, that’s a pretty easy naming convention to figure out. Anyways, she called me a Voice. Know anything about that?”

Dennis scratches his head, causing flecks of… something to fall on the cobblestone road. “It’s the guild’s ranking. The fingers, hands, and arms of Laverna are most of the members of the [Thieves] guild. Then there are the Ears and Noses of Laverna. Those people are leaders who direct the members. The Voices of Laverna are the ones who direct the guild. They’re the strongest ones.”

“I see,” Quasi whispers. He doesn’t.

Really? I’ve only just entered the city and I’m somehow one of the big bosses of the [Thieves] guild? The fuck is this shit…

“Do you know where the guild makes its base?”

“The guildhall?” The kid shrugs. “Somewhere underground I think. I’m too young to be a member, so I don’t know where it is. I can ask my friends when they finish school.”

“School?” Jessica voices.

Dennis makes a disgusted face. “Yeah, school. I hate school. That Aodean guy made a bunch of schools for kids. If you go there and learn, then you can get food, but it’s super boring. They just talk about stupid stuff like numbers and words.”

Quasi snorts and smiles. He remembers hating school when he was younger too. Granted, that was in middle school after a bunch of other kids saw his mom in a rather popular video.

“Who is this Aodean?” Jessica asks with a smile.

“Umm… he’s a [Hero] that makes laws. People really like him because he helps everyone, though… except for the [Merchants] Guild and the, um,” Dennis looks around, making sure nobody is nearby. ”[Assassins] Guild.” he whispers.

“Sounds like he has some powerful enemies,” Quasi murmurs.

“He does, but all the other guilds like him. Even the [Thieves] guild.” Dennis’s eyes sparkle at an idea. “Actually, if you want to find out where they have their guildhall, just go to an orphanage. There’s always an Arm of the guild nearby for protection. I think Aodean even pays them!”

Yeah, I’ll probably have to, at least to figure out how I was found out. The only mark visible on my body should be Coyote’s. The others are hidden beneath enchanted ink.

“We’re here,” Dennis points.

Looking up, Quasi finds the [Mercenary] Guild. Compared to the previous one he was at, this one looks larger and more professional.

Quasi flips a coin to Dennis.

The kid barely catches it. The kid’s eyes widen.

“Wait, this is a Gold Drachme,” he murmurs in wonder.

Quasi ignores the kid as he makes his way up the stairs and to the entrance.

 

_________________________________________________________________________

 

Rex strolls into Camelot’s armory. Inside are many items of value, most, but not all of them, weapons. Smuggled weapons and crates are stored to the side, such as Illegaly enchanted items, dangerously modified vehicles, and even golems. Over the years, many items have been confiscated, many of which cannot be returned due to their illegal nature. For example, Rex passes by an inactive [Blood Golem], created by a [Mage] who cobbled it together from corpses. Further down he passes by a shipment of Plague Arrows, enchanted arrows that infect a target and… Well, it’s in the name. Just a single arrow could cause the death of a village without immediate treatment.

He passes other illegal items, including a recently modified Golem carriage that had the enchantments limiting its speed removed. The previous owner had ended up killing several people after it failed to brake in time.

Eventually, Rex nears an empty space within the clutter where half a dozen [Enchanters] and [Engineers] are examining the massive undead known as Gun Widow.

“Report. What do we know about it?”

“It’s a fantastic design. This [Necromancer] is a genius!” the lead [Engineer] effuses.

“I agree!” an [Enchanter] adds “ The enchantments on this golem are beyond me. There are too many layers to the enchantments, the intents of which I cannot discern.”

“Yeah, it’s really good stuff.” another [Enchanter] comments.

Rex grunts. “Can it be controlled by anyone else?”

“Possibly?” an [Enchanter] speculates. “We can’t seem to find the control matrix, but with enough time--”

“Impossible,” an [Engineer] cuts him off.

Rex raises an eyebrow. He gestures to the [Engineer]. “Explain why not.”

“It’s because of the nature of its construction. Yes, it’s a golem, but it is undead as well. With time, it will break down under sunlight unless we have a [Necromancer] who could constantly fix it or an extremely high level [Engineer].”

Rex turns to the [Enchanter] next. “You said it could be controlled.”

The [Enchanter] nods. “The person supplying the golem mana controls the golem. If we can locate the control matrix, it may be possible to break the original necromancer’s connection supplying the undead with mana and then forge a new connection with someone else.”

“I can hear a but coming.”

He sighs. “Yes. But, the [Necromancer] who controls it, Bone or whatever silly moniker he was using, must have an inordinately high mana regeneration, roughly equivalent to that of several [Archmages].”

“What.” Rex makes it sound like less of a question than a statement.

The [Enchanter] shuffles his feet. “The minimum mana upkeep cost for the undead, without skills to aid, is almost twenty mana per second.”

Rex grunts. “And with skills?”

The [Enchanter] shakes his head. “This is, though a golem, still undead. The only classes that would have the skills necessary to reduce that cost would be [Necromancers].”

Rex sighs. It looks like he isn’t going to be getting a raise anytime soon.

“All right then. Since we can’t use it, we can just dismantle it.”

At his words, the huge undead shifts its body. The barrel moves and tilts downward, pointing directly at Rex’s face.

“I forgot to mention, but the undead has limited sentience as well,” the [Enchanter] says.

 

___________________________________________________________

Camelot houses the main branches of several guilds from across the continent. They serve as some of the main hubs, from which the higher operatives manage. They also transfer funding to guilds based on how influential they and their members are.

For this reason, the guilds in Camelot are heavily enchanted and built to last.

A loud thud echoes from the guild’s entrance, followed by a pained scream. The members sitting near the door look over.

The door slowly opens and a masked, limping man enters the guild. He uses a cane to keep himself from falling while he looks at everyone else.

“The, uh, guild door passed my test. Outstanding craftsmanship.” He slaps the door. ”Nice, solid… wood.”