One of us was the thief"
That's all he said before he backed off, the way he acted clearly showed how much it meant to him.
Then someone else ,
"my...one of my chronicles is missing "
Slowly, everyone focused on their runes, so far only two people had lost something.
Night hesitated before he summoned his own runes.
Chronicles - [Forgotten king's Blade], [Dark shroud], [Librarian's lost journal]
No matter how he searched, there was no sign of everbloom. He searched frantically for it, but it was gone. There was no way he could leave without it.
"One of mine is gone too".
The whole room silenced in an instant. Since he also had something stolen, it was clear he wasn't the thief. Yet, there was no way to know who it was.
And so, the whole base went dark with each person desperately doubtful of one another.
---
The next day, no one spoke to each other, as they went to complete their assigned task, each person was down.
Night's shadow came back, but he felt something about it had changed. Still, he couldn't help but ignore it.
Roan and Damian parted ways with him as they explored the area. This time, he made sure that the enchantment was activated, pouring a certain amount of aen into it.
Night moved towards the outer region. It was where, he knew was the most less dangerous place for him currently.
He followed the map he had drafted out earlier, making sure to not go close to any of the high danger zones; soon, he got to the border line, between the middle and outer region.
Even though it was still the same city, the atmosphere was entirely different. Everything seemed more dangerous, the destroyed buildings were far more haggard than most he had seen. It was hard to admit it but he knew he couldn't last long in this place.
still night crossed the border, then headed for high ground.
Just like he thought and felt, it wasn't easy to even try to escape the senses of the spawns there. even with the hide enchantment in place, it could not help him completely.
Even in this dangerous situation, he couldn't stop trying to figure out who i was.
The first thing he could try to figure out was, the theft trait's activation condition. Traits could defy the laws of the world but they still followed certain rules. like the laws of exchange which rarely occurred and most importantly usage conditions.
There must have been a way it was stolen. Thinking back, he didn't really summon it more than twice yesterday so, it was hard to say how it was stolen.
[lirarian's lost journal]
Night cleared his mind , he still had to draft a map, thinking about it now would only make it harder to find the truth.
---
A week passed by, the thief had not been caught, which made the relationship between everyone even dire. Even with the rotting atmosphere, one person still acted as the link who repaired all the weary strings.
mei
night felt bad about how he acted towards her, it was true she had a weird atmosphere around her, but it was still wrong.
Night already started believing that another party was involved with the heft, still it was hard to believe that such a trait could exist.
The days he had already spent were already too long, he wanted to repay silver by giving hd as many soul cores as possible before leaving but leaving wasn't an option now.
He knew his situation was a bit dire now,so he took a drastic decision.
using about twelve of the remaining scale beads, he made a sword, one which seemed very much like a chronicle. Then, he laid a bait by misleading the whole group into a red zone. He felt a bit , but it was one they could handle without most complications.
He made sure to land the killing blow, then brought out the sword, saying he received a tier VII awakened rank chronicle . Then proclaimed his right over the chronicle, only roan and keith had a problem with him keeping it.
If his plan worked well he knew that the thief would want the chronicle. When he got back to the base, he made his shadow slide onto the blade. A nd in a few hours, the sword was gone.he felt his connection with his shadow lead to the roof top,
standing alone on the rooftop of was mei, her black hair seemed to almost gleam under the radiance of the moonlights. Her pink eyes felt sharper than usual.
"Your the culprit, aren't you"
She smiled asked
"How did you find out"
It's your eyes, isn't it , you're able to see the soul of others, right ?.
She smirked,
"Is this why she cares about you so much? Even when you should be fuming or scared, you still remain as composed as ever.You're too pathetic this way,now you know would't it be best to kill you now.
IS that what you want to really say
Do you think saying that will change my mind, there's nothing stopping me from ,you know
if that was your goal from the start you would have done any of this....
You were stopping me from leaving were't you, that look in your eyes, they feel similar to silver's, everytime i left the base. You don't like me yet you don't want me to leave.
The only reason i can think of is silver.
"Its none of your business"
thank you, i trust you only have good intentions for her. but regardless, i still have to leave.
I have only on request,
"Is there any reason i should accept it"
Just stay by her side, for me, and don't die"
night turned back and walked away, it was time to leave.
"You're forgetting something" echoed in the air along with the sound of something flying at him.
Night caught just before it met him clearly in shock.
it was the everbloom he wasn't shocked she returned but about how she returned. The force she threw it with was enough to kill him. But she didn't. The moment he got to the edge of the rooftop night activated the hide enchantment as he jumped