Seth was downcast as he walked out of the school. He was tempted to punch the professor to a pulp and get a refund but on second thought Seth himself wasn't the best with names and remembering so many was likely impossible However it wasn't his job to remember names, but it was the professors!

Anyway, Serene Mind helped Seth look it up in the library himself and he soon found the name of his target.

Emily and Emma were the two names and with all the necessary information gathered Seth could now initiate the plan.

He collected a letter from the post office and wrote a charming letter of marriage between Emma and the Baron. He assumed a stamp was meant to be there, but Seth had nothing of the sort, so he damaged the letter so that if a seal was to be placed it had long fallen off.

Done with his prep Seth dropped the letter by the servant's back door and walked away.

Seth was now done for the day and so he walked home to set up some final preparations and whilst he was doing that the servants of the manor were shocked to see a letter under their feet when they walked out the back door.

They quickly passed the letter up to the Lord and he unfolded the letter with a raised brow. It was not often that people had to pass messages so far and the letter wasn't the most effective means of doing so and the letter in front of him perfectly showed why.

Travelling so far they could get ruined as they get dropped, get rained on and just generally get slowly destroyed. The only reason people used it was in something like this, an official letter concerning something important.

He got out his letter knife and cut open what was left of the seal. Alex mostly did this out of habit, but another reason was he liked to look at the diamonds on the letter opener. They dazzled like the stars in the sky and Alex loved a good shine.

That is why Alex was even happier to find a sparkling necklace inside the letter, which somehow contained words that made him even happier. Alex punched the air in delight as he felt his ambitions had finally been realised, he looked through the rest of the letter and it contained the usual political waffle, so he placed the envelope back on his desk and got up with a slight hop in his step.

Like a dancer, he made his way towards his safe and opened it up with his mana signature. He took one last gaze at his new toy and reminded himself that he would need to wear it at the next party he went to, as a sign of appreciation and confirmation.

Alex couldn't help but feel that everything was going well these days as he continued his day. Seth sat in the bakery he was now quite fond of. Apart from a lovely piece of triangular bread on his plate, Seth also had a strange-looking pair of glasses on.

Seth was fiddling trying to turn them on and once he found the button the mana started to flow, and the function was achieved. Seth put them back on and looked in the direction of the manor.

Since he couldn't get any closer Seth could only determine the floor it was on, and it was definitely on the upper floors but what he couldn't tell was if it was low on the 4th floor or high up on the 3rd as where he sat too low to accurately guess.

So he needed to find a better vantage point. The bakery was 2 stories tall, and the 2nd floor was a flat but Seth wanted to get on the roof so he did what any person would do and asked.

"Hello, do you mind if I ask whether or not I could potentially get on the roof of the building? I want to take some photos."

The poor cashier had no clue as to what the answer was so she asked her manager and she frankly said, "No sorry we only rent the building so we only have keys for the first floor, You would have to ask the tenant on the second floor."

"Alright, thanks."

Seth walked away with a frown on his face. The people were lovely, but it didn't really help him. Seth wasn't one for quitting so he looked for nearby buildings where maybe he could get access to the roof or potentially he could just climb his way up.

Modern-day Seth would agree that climbing buildings was nigh impossible but in this new world wood was still very much the rage. You would think it was a major fire risk but enchantments from builders made wood itself a far better material and it was easy to supply so it stuck as the main building material.

So fires were a fairly regular occurrence, they just spread far slower. Thinking about that, Seth thought fires were a great distraction as many people usually rushed to stop the fire or help in some way. It was a big societal norm to help people put out the fires to stop them from spreading as fires would and could do far more damage to such a fire-risk city.

He kept that in mind for the future, a good distraction for the books.

Seth spotted a particularly nice frame and started shimming his way up the frame. Thanks to his now increased strength he slowly made progress until he reached the second-floor frame. He climbed up there where it hung over the sidewalk and took a breath.

Seth could only smile at onlookers as he was forced to put on a helpless expression. He tried his best to not look guilty of anything but considering where he was, he did look incredibly suspicious.

After a few breaths, Seth got back to climbing and before he knew it he was looking over the streets of Darter yet again. It reminded him of the time in his vault design heist. Seth did like the view, he liked the noise, and the smell, and it made him feel alive.

Breaking Seth out of his trance was someone who had just slipped on the sidewalk. Looking down Seth thought the person looked remarkably similar to Arabia, the bully of his home village.

He stared for quite a while and thanks to his vantage point she didn't notice his creepy behaviour.

Looking at her Seth got immediate nostalgia and it amplified his innate homesickness.

He wanted to go and speak to her. He wanted to catch up and maybe get some news about his parents. He wanted to see his parents.

But he couldn't, Seth told himself that over and over again.

It was too dangerous.

The Order may be there waiting to catch him.

He wasn't strong enough.

Seth went back to his normal plan. That's all he needed to do, get stronger and that would fix all his issues.

Seth looked back one last time as she disappeared around the street corner, and he then looked back at where the man was. He across the roofs as he made his way towards the closest point to the mansion possible and once he arrived above the bakery and the smell of bread returned Seth remembered something vital.

Looking down he saw his triangular bread left there, he had forgotten it!

A crime against humanity, Seth rushed himself to finish his job. He looked up, turned his glasses on and waited as his vision slowly shifted.

He looked at the windows and counted it was definitely 1 window down, so on the third floor. He double-checked and started speed-running down. Seth hoped they didn't throw away his bread. He was still hungry!

The situation continued and Seth's bread was still there when he came down. It tasted like all good bread and even better it was still warm.

The smile on Seth's face faded as the bread slowly got eaten but the journey was well worth it, and Seth's hunger was fought off for yet another day.

He packed up his glasses, making sure not to break them and he went home. All he needed to do now was finish his plan, brief his crew, and rob the manor.

He walked off with an expression of greed and anticipation, Seth's shoulders couldn't help but feel heavy, but he knew his goal and pain was gain, right?

The flowers fell as the cool breeze of autumn arrived, in this environment the people sang and danced. It was the day before the final battle, and it was the eve of a truce of war that had gone on for far too long.

Seth and his fellow associates were doing nothing about celebrating this time of peace, instead, they were preparing for a heist the city hadn't seen since its inception.

"Alright so do we all get the plan, and I don't mean sort of get it, I mean completely understand?"

"Yes"

"Right then. I'm going to say the last part one more time and you need to remember it as it's the easiest to slip up on. From the moment we finish the heist I am moving and so this group is over. You may be promoted to silver once I file my report on the heist and then you can start planning your own but remember don't overspend your earnings and triple-check your fence.

With that done I can only wish you guys the best of luck and a good night's rest; I'll see you in the morning."

With the speech over the three walked down to the warehouse where a few carriages could be seen. 3 mattresses were on the floor and clothes for the next day were beside them. Equipment was next to that; with potions and a weapon the group were ready for their heist.

Seth himself had his mind in overload and his heart full of fear.

Failure wasn't an option and a best night's sleep was the best action to take so he activated his Serene Mind for one last time and tried to fall asleep.

He couldn't, thoughts of corrections and quadruple-checking made falling to sleep an absolute pain, so Seth decided to do the only that was entertaining with his eyes closed.

He paid a visit to his soul island.

The waves were predictably rough and wore away at his experience-filled self, at this pace he wouldn't be able to perform at his best when the time came.

Serene Mind was the best ability when it came to these types of situations but even that wasn't a quick fix. He needed to deal with the source of his problem, the fear.

Seth wasn't stupid enough to think he could get over it in one single night but with enough thought maybe he could bore himself to sleep.

So he questioned his fear, wondered why it haunted him and it all came down to when he died.

The pain. The loneliness. Death itself was the embodiment of Seth's fears and Seth didn't even feel the courage to pick a fight with it.

He always hated fights and found them to be pointless.

So when he looked he thought about his emotions and he felt the fear of death, the trauma it had caused him, Seth didn't, no couldn't bring himself to fight it.

But he had.

Conflict in general was a massacre, but in war, heroes are born. Seth needed the war to happen, and Seth was a stubborn fool.

Lost in a dark sea, Seth saw himself in endless torment yet in this whirlpool of black blood a light appeared. Seth looked closer and he saw a memory of his inside this spirit.

It was a dark night and the cold moon hovered over a night sky covered in thousands of little white specks called stars. In this sky of wonder and curiosity, glowing orange lanterns started to cover the coldness of the night.

Seth remembered the day; it was the God of Fortunes festival. On this cold night, Seth felt such peace and so much warmth that he forgot of the cold fear of death.

Drowning in sorrow he forgot to see the colour the world could provide him and so he rushed for immortality without a second thought to look around and appreciate the view.

On the small hill, looking down on the city of Darter, Seth greeded for a chance to feel such emotion again.

Tranquillity.

Seth woke up the next day to a world that looked more vibrant than in the past. The warm colours of brown wood were everywhere in Darter, yet Seth had never looked long enough to appreciate the rustic appeal that it gave.

The air was cold and so fog appeared whenever Seth breathed out and like a child, Seth breathed out as long as possible until an unexpectedly warm sensation tickled the tip of his nose.

Joy, how long had it been since Seth last felt joy?

The answer was pleasant as it was sombre: with his parents.

Seth had perfected his goals now and he felt as though they weren't going to change that much from this point onwards.

His fear had slightly dissipated, and the world gained a shade of colour it had thought forever lost.

A smile was present on Seth's lips, not only for his reinvigorated spirit but for the gains to be had in his latest heist and everything was now ready.