The moment the ledger was in his hand, a profound sense of urgency settled over Ren. The hard part was done, but the mission wasn't complete until he was back within the walls of the Elder's Pavilion. He was a trespasser in a silent fortress, and his energy, both mental and physical, was dangerously low. The strain of severing the bolts had left his mind feeling frayed, and he could feel the edges of his Aetheric cloak flickering, like a candle flame in a draft.
He didn't waste a moment. He gently placed the heavy safe door back into its frame. It fit perfectly, leaving no visible seam, no sign that it had been disturbed. The only evidence of his entry was the unlocked window and the missing ledger. He took a moment to carefully slide the window shut and re-engage the physical latch with a fine kinetic thread, restoring the room to its original state.
He turned to leave, his path planned, but paused. His eyes were drawn to the mahogany desk. On it, beside a crystal decanter of wine, sat a single sheet of official-looking parchment. It was not the ledger, but it was clearly important, left out for review. Curiosity, a dangerous indulgence, compelled him to look.
He didn't touch it. He stood a few feet away, his senses extending. The document was a requisition form, stamped with the seal of the Spirit Lumina Pagoda's Division of Applied Aetherics. It was a request for a fresh shipment of the Baron's high-grade ore. But it was the memo at the bottom, written in a precise, clinical script, that made his blood run cold.
Project 'Aegis' preliminary tests successful. The ore's conductive properties allow for the creation of a wide-spectrum resonance net capable of detecting Aetheric signatures, even those attempting passive camouflage. Field testing in a low-priority GAMA-affiliated institution is recommended to calibrate for anomalous signatures. The Eldorian Spirit Master Academy is the prime candidate.
Ren's mind reeled. The Pagoda wasn't just searching for him; they were actively developing technology specifically designed to counter his unique form of stealth. This wasn't a general surveillance tool; this was a custom-built trap. And they were planning to deploy it at his own academy. The hunters were not just watching; they were closing the net.
A new, cold resolve settled over him. This ledger was no longer just proof of a crime; it was a weapon to be used against an organization that saw him as an error to be erased.
He pushed the revelation from his mind, his focus returning to the immediate task of escape. He retraced his steps, his movements economical and silent. He slipped back out the window, using his kinetic adhesion to descend the wall with the same ghostly grace he had used to climb it.
He crossed the perfectly manicured garden, his feet making no sound. He reached the outer wall and prepared to scale it. It was then that he felt it.
A subtle shift in the monotonous hum of the security grid. A new, searching pulse of Aether, faint but distinct, swept across the grounds. It was a routine diagnostic sweep, but its timing was impeccable. It washed over him, and for a terrifying half-second, he felt his wavering chameleon's cloak flicker under the scrutiny. The cloak held, but it was a near thing. His reserves were too low. Another pass, and he would be discovered.
There was no time to climb. He needed to be out, now.
He pressed his hand against the base of the stone wall. He didn't try to sever it or loosen it. He recalled his training, the lesson of the training dummy, the art of Integrity Sundering. He felt for the internal structure of the wall, for its deepest, most foundational stress points.
With the last dregs of his mental fortitude, he unleashed a single, silent, focused pulse of resonant force—not an explosion, but a whisper, a precisely tuned vibration aimed at the very heart of the wall's structural integrity.
He turned and ran, not away from the wall, but along its base, using the last of his strength to put distance between himself and the point of impact.
He was fifty yards away when it happened. There was no crash, no explosion. Just a low, grinding groan. The section of the wall he had targeted simply... settled. It slumped downwards by a foot, its foundations turned to dust. A cascade of cracks raced up its surface, and a single, large triangular section of the massive stone barrier crumbled silently into a pile of rubble, creating a clear and obvious breach.
It was a catastrophic structural failure, an act of sabotage so profound it would take the Baron's engineers weeks to understand what had happened. It was a loud, messy, and spectacular diversion.
Alarms blared across the estate, searchlights snapping on, casting frantic beams across the gardens. Aether-infused guards began to shout, their attention drawn entirely to the impossible, gaping hole in their perimeter.
In the ensuing chaos, Ren, cloaked in the last vestiges of his Aetheric invisibility, slipped away into the darkness of the city, the stolen ledger pressed safely against his chest. He had left a trace, a massive one, but behind it, the ghost itself had vanished.