Kara stepped out of the shop where she had just sold a set of Sinbearers.
Of course, they hadn't been hers to begin with. Every single one of them had been stolen — lifted clean from other people's pockets, bags, or hands.
Her Progress sat at a healthy seventy percent thanks to weeks of theft. But over the past few days, she couldn't shake a strange, prickling sensation — like eyes boring into her back. The kind of feeling that made your skin itch.
She didn't know who it was, and that ignorance annoyed her more than the fact she was being watched at all. She wasn't stupid; what she did was illegal, and if the wrong person spotted her in the wrong moment, her life could be over.
If I find them…
Making sure she was swallowed up by the flow of the marketplace crowd, she extended her hand casually, drifting closer to the satchel of a rich-looking man. The moment her palm neared the bag, the prickling sensation returned — that silent alarm in her head that screamed you're being watched. But Kara didn't flinch, didn't glance around.
Instead, she focused. The moment she activated Shadowgrasp, weight materialized in her palm — coins. Dozens of Obol, cool and heavy against her skin. She slipped them into her own pouch in one smooth motion, and then she was gone, disappearing into a narrow alley before anyone could cast suspicion on her.
Before she vanished completely, she risked one glance toward the direction the sensation had come from.
A boy.
Not even looking at her.
And yet… she recognized him instantly.
A few days ago, she'd seen him when she left the Sinbearer repair shop. He had been standing nearby, just another face among the many. She'd ignored him then, just as she'd planned to now. After all, how much money could a child possibly carry?
But then she saw it.
Something on his back.
It looked like a cloak — tattered, damaged… but rare. Valuable. Even in that condition, it was the kind of item that could sell for more than she made in a month.
Sorry, little one… but today's your unlucky day.
She slipped into the crowd again, weaving closer without letting him see her face. Every second felt like an hour, the cloak drawing her in like a lure. When she was finally close enough to trigger Shadowgrasp—
Smack!
A hand clamped around her wrist. The grip was far stronger than she expected, unyielding like steel.
"What exactly were you trying to do?" the boy asked.
"Oh? Uh—nothing. I… I must've mistaken you for someone else." Kara forced out a laugh, trying to pull her wrist back.
"Really? You weren't about to steal from me? Like you stole from that rich man earlier?"
Her blood ran cold.
The boy — no, Lucien — had been watching her for days. First, he'd planned to approach her without using his Sinbearers… but then he'd thought of something better.
So it was him all along…
Kara's stomach tightened. She could feel heat rushing to her face. She was sweating now — caught red-handed.
"I could hand you over to those guards over there." Lucien jerked his thumb toward two uniformed Rank 1 guards leaning against a wall, just finishing their shift. "But maybe I won't… if you do me a favor."
"What favor?" she asked automatically. A little boy trying to negotiate with her? Ridiculous. But she didn't have time to think about that — she needed to figure out how to get out of this.
I could just run. He'd never catch me.
"Don't even think about running," Lucien said, as if he had plucked the thought right out of her skull. "The favor's simple. I just want that Sinbearer of yours." He pointed directly at Shadowgrasp.
"Impossible," Kara said instantly. "It's the only way I can make money. I can't give it to you."
"The guards are right there…" Lucien's tone tightened.
"Then go ahead. Report me. I still can't give you this Sinbearer." Kara's voice was firm. She meant every word.
"What? How important can that useless thing be to you?" Lucien shot back. His language was sharp enough to make her blink, but she didn't answer.
"If you can't give it to me… then how about we become partners?" Lucien offered.
"You and me? Partners? You're a kid. You'd get caught immediately."
"Then what's the real problem?" Lucien's eyes narrowed. He'd watched her for days — she never kept any Sinbearer she stole. She always sold them. And she always ended her day in the same area of the city, never wandering too far. At first, he'd assumed she just lived in poverty.
Could it be…?
"You're paying off a debt to someone, aren't you?" he guessed.
Her sharp intake of breath told him everything.
"To whom?" he pressed.
"None of your business!" Kara snapped.
"Is it an Obol lender?" Lucien asked. He knew exactly how they worked. Obol lenders — the city's legal criminals — loaned out obscene sums of money with impossible interest rates. When borrowers failed to repay, the punishment wasn't just repossession… it was removal. And most didn't survive that process.
Kara's silence was all the confirmation he needed.
"Can you get me in contact with them? I'll pay you thirty Obol," Lucien said. He had a plan — and for that plan, he needed Kara's cooperation.
"This is just a scam. I fell for it, and I regret it. Don't be stupid enough to do the same," Kara warned.
Lucien's lips curled into something that wasn't quite a smile. "Who do you think you are, giving me advice? Do I look like I'm as dumb as you, getting fleeced like that? Do you want the money or not? I don't have all day."
She hated his arrogance. But thirty Obol was thirty Obol. She took the coins.
"Fine. Come with me. But I'm warning you—"
"Yeah, yeah. Don't talk so much," Lucien interrupted, his tone calmer now.
"You're infuriating. By the way, what's your name?"
"Lucien."
He didn't ask hers. He didn't care. Names were irrelevant.
"And I'm Kara," she said anyway.
"I don't remember asking. I bought your cooperation — now do your job. You're starting to get on my nerves." Lucien's voice was edged with the kind of irritation that could easily turn lethal… but he wasn't the type to act on impulse. Not over something so small.
Kara led him through twisting streets and narrow side alleys until they reached a secluded back lane. Then she stopped in front of an unmarked door and pushed it open. A stairwell descended into darkness.
The doors inside weren't locked — but no sane person wandered down here by accident.
"From here, you're on your own. I don't have the strength to look that man in the face again," she said after a while, her expression curling in distaste. "Go straight down the hall, and at the end there's a door. That's his office."
She gestured to the right, down a corridor that seemed to stretch endlessly.
Lucien didn't say goodbye. He didn't even acknowledge her.
Alright then… let's get this over with.
He walked into the shadows.