Five days passed.
For Kaelen, this was a period of calculated inaction and observation. For the Rag Market, it was
chaos.
On the morning of the second day, the City Watch had come.
It wasn't the usual lazy patrol of two guards shaking down a merchant. It was a phalanx of
twenty men in boiled leather and steel, moving with brutal, practiced efficiency. They didn't
"patrol." They raided.
[EVENT: 'THE SUMP' (RED-RUSTLER HIDEOUT) RAIDED BY CITY WATCH.] [CASUALTIES
(RED-RUSTLER): 14 (NEUTRALIZED), 8 (CAPTURED)] [CASUALTIES (CITY WATCH): 2
(INJURED)] [NOTABLE: SUB-BOSS 'GUTTER-FANG' - CAPTURED.]
The slum was "pacified." The Red-Rustlers, as a functional organization in this district, were
decapitated. The power vacuum was instantly filled by the iron-grey uniforms of the Watch, who
established a temporary checkpoint at the market's main entrance.
Kaelen watched it all from a distance. The System's notification simply confirmed what he
observed: his information, filtered through Mog, had been stunningly effective.
[ANALYSIS: 'ASSET: MOG' HAS CONNECTIONS OUTSIDE THE SLUM HIERARCHY
(PROBABILITY: 99%).] [ANALYSIS: 'ASSET: MOG' LIKELY SOLD INTEL TO A WATCH
CAPTAIN OR RIVAL GANG (PROBABILITY: 85%).] [CONCLUSION: 'ASSET: MOG'S' VALUE
AS A PROCUREMENT AGENT HAS INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY.]
Kaelen's other asset, Elara, was a different story. The visible, heavy-handed presence of the
Watch terrified her, but in a different way. It was an orderly fear, not the chaotic terror of the
gangs. She kept Kaelen inside, not because of a specific threat, but because of a generalized
anxiety.
This immobility was acceptable. For now. Kaelen spent the time solidifying his new operational
parameters. He could no longer use Elara as his escort. His "child" cover was, for the first time,
a true liability.
[NEW PROTOCOL: 'NIGHT OPERATIONS' - PRIMARY.] [OBJECTIVE: ESTABLISH A
SECURE, REPEATABLE CONTACT METHOD WITH 'ASSET: MOG'.] [PHASE 2:
'SELF-INVESTMENT' - READY TO INITIATE.]
He had his shopping list.
[SYSTEM QUERY: MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR MAGE-CLASS ACTIVATION (TIER 0)?]
[RESPONSE: 1x 'BASIC MANA-CHANNELING' SCROLL (KNOWLEDGE). 1x 'STATIC-STONE'
(CATALYST). 1x 'WHISPER-BLOOM PETAL' (REAGENT).] [ESTIMATED COST: 2-3 SILVER.]
His entire net worth. An investment, not an expense.
On the sixth night, Kaelen moved.
Elara was asleep. The shack was silent. The Watch patrol was on the far side of the market.
[MANA: 50/50 -> 48] [ACTIVATING [SHADOW'S VEIL] (LEVEL 1)...]
He slipped into the night. He did not go to Mog's stall. He went to the "dead-drop" he had
selected: a collapsed tannery two blocks away. It was a ruin of rotting vats and broken beams,
reeking of chemicals—a perfect place for a secret meet.
He placed a small, sharp-edged piece of grey flint on the tannery's broken door-frame. This was
the "signal."
He then moved through the shadows to the Rag Market. Mog's stall was shuttered and dark.
Kaelen placed an identical piece of grey flint on the stall's main lock. The signal was set. 'I have product. Meet at the rendezvous.'
He returned to the tannery, not entering, but climbing into the rafters of the adjacent building. He
found a perch, a dark pocket of shadow overlooking the entire tannery entrance, and he waited.
[STATUS: OBSERVING. VANTAGE POINT: SECURE.] [MANA: 40/50]
Three hours passed. The slum was dead silent. Then, a shape moved.
[ASSET: 'ONE-EYE' MOG' (LEVEL 3)] [STATUS: PARANOID (95%), FEARFUL (90%), ARMED
(1x RUSTED CLEAVER)]
Mog didn't approach the tannery. He scouted it. He spent twenty minutes circling, his good eye
darting into every shadow. He was a man who knew he was being hunted.
"Wisp?" he finally rasped, his voice swallowed by the ruins. "Are you here? Show yourself,
damn you!"
Kaelen dropped from his perch, not in front of Mog, but ten feet behind him.
[MANA: 38/50]
"Mog," he said.
The old man spun, the cleaver coming up. He almost screamed, but terror choked the sound.
He saw a four-year-old child standing in the moonlight, his yellow eyes glowing with a faint,
unnatural light.
[STATUS: TERROR (98%)]
"Gods... gods..." Mog whimpered, stumbling back. "You're... you're a demon."
"The Watch was effective," Kaelen stated. It was not a question. "Effective?" Mog hissed, his
fear turning to a brief, hysterical anger. "They butchered them! Gutter-Fang's whole crew!
They... they paid me, wisp. Paid me in Watch-Script. Gold. More than I've seen in ten years."
[ANALYSIS: ASSET IS 'LIQUID' (HIGH CAPITAL). ASSET IS 'COMPROMISED'
(WATCH-AFFILIATED). LEVERAGE: MAXIMUM.]
"But they're watching me now," Mog moaned. "Everyone is. The last of the Rustlers... they think
I'm a rat. Because I am!" "You are an asset," Kaelen corrected, his voice flat. "You are my
procurement agent."
"I'm dead!" "You are profitable," Kaelen said. "I have new information. The Red-Rustlers who
escaped. Three of them. They are in the old cistern. They plan to kill you tomorrow night."
Mog's face went white. The cleaver slipped from his trembling fingers and clattered on the
stones. "No... how...?" "This information is my payment," Kaelen said. "For what you will get
me."
Mog stared, his mind finally understanding the transaction. "What... what do you want? More
silver? Gold?" "No." Kaelen held out his small, grey hand. "I want a scroll. 'Basic
Mana-Channeling'."
The word 'scroll' stopped Mog's panic cold. The word 'mana' replaced it with a deeper, more
profound dread. "That's... no. I deal in scrap. I deal in information. I don't... that's magic, wisp.
That's Temple-and-Guild business. They'd kill me for just asking."
"You have gold," Kaelen said. "You have Watch-Script. You are a 'rat' for the City Watch. They
have a Quartermaster. He will have access to confiscated goods. You will find a way." He
pressed on. "I also need a 'Static-Stone' and one 'Whisper-Bloom' petal."
Mog was shaking his head, backing away. "You're insane. You're a child. You can't..." "Tomorrow
night, Mog," Kaelen said, his voice cutting through the man's denial. "The cistern. Three men.
They know where you sleep. Or... you can have your 'Watch' friends waiting for them. And you
will have my items."
It was a perfect, closed loop of logic. Mog's survival was now contingent on obeying.
"This is a death sentence," Mog whispered. "This is a business transaction," Kaelen replied.
"One week." "I... I can't... a week?" "Or tomorrow night. Your choice."
Kaelen didn't wait for an answer. He activated [SHADOW'S VEIL] and stepped back. His form
dissolved into the darkness.
[MANA: 35/50]
Mog was left alone in the ruins, shaking, his face a mask of pure terror. He was trapped.
[OBJECTIVE: 'PROCUREMENT ORDER' - PLACED.] [ASSET (MOG): CONTROL
ESTABLISHED (95% - VIA FEAR/SURVIVAL LEVERAGE).] [PHASE 2: INITIATED.]