As Lux opened the door, he immediately examined the room. It was more like a small hall than a simple room. His gaze moved to a large black stone table, around which about five chairs were stacked. Lux placed the information folders on the table and took one black chair from the pile. He set it down and sat on it.
At once, his eyes wandered through the rest of the room. The ceiling was black, fitted with bright white lights, while the floor was made of polished, shimmering metal, like in a garage. The reflections of the lights on the floor made Lux feel as if he were back in his grandfather's old garage. Unfortunately, he was not.
Lux sighed.
In one corner of the room stood a bed, supported from below by wood and covered with white sheets. Next to the bed, a little farther away, stood a white drawer table. In the middle of the room was a large white board. It was digital. You could write on it, place images, and even play videos.
Lux liked the room. It had everything he needed.
Now all that was missing was the information.
He had three days to study everything. On top of that, Lux planned to take a look at his abilities. He could only vaguely remember their names.
"What was it again?""Something like… steal and… uh…"
Lux thought for a moment until the name surfaced in his mind.
"Ah. It was something like shadow. Interesting. That sounds promising."
With that, Lux got to work and opened the folder he had received from the Fireslicer.
When he opened the blue folder, four white sheets slipped out. Lux examined each page briefly, skimming over them. He focused on the headline.
"Hm. Volum. So this is the center I have to break into."
He did not read the details yet. There was a lot of text, so he set the first page aside and picked up the second.
"The Bottle of Form. So that is the target object. Okay."
He set that page aside as well. Then he picked up two pages at once, one in each hand, and read them together.
One page said, "Wiel the Region."
The other contained only weapon names and a short line of text. Lux read it.
"Mark all weapons you need."
Lux looked through the list. There were assault rifles, knives, and handguns. He made a decision.
He did not want to hurt innocent people. No. That was not who he was. He was a thief, yes, but not a murderer. At least, that was what he believed. A few hours ago, he had blown up several cars. Lux simply hoped that everyone had survived.
He shook his head.
"Alright. A few handguns cannot hurt."
Inside the folder lay a gray pen. Lux picked it up and wrote on the weapons page.
"About six handguns and a few bulletproof vests should be enough."
With a satisfied expression, Lux placed a dot at the end of the sentence and slid the page to the edge of the table.
Now it was time to read the information.
Wiel was a region. Lux read through the page. There was some information about the area, but by the time he finished, he realized how useless it all was.
He muttered, "Wow. They are really well organized."
Lux sighed again and added, "They are giving me completely useless information."
He took a deep breath and pulled out the page about the Volum building.
"Alright. These are the informations we cannot afford to be useless, got it," Lux thought.
Then he began to read.
"[The Volum is a building with various magical exhibitions. But the most valuable one is the Bottle of Form, one of the most expensive exhibits in all of Tria-]"
Lux stopped.
"Tria? Is that the name of this world? Where do I get more information about Tria? I will have to ask."
He paused his thoughts and continued reading.
"(Since it was discovered forty years ago, 330 thieves have tried to steal it. All of them died…)"
Lux's eyes widened more than ever before. His breathing slowed until it completely stopped. Then he took a deep breath and read the number again.
"Three hundred and thirty? People died because of this bottle? What can it even do?"
When Lux realized the text had ended, he assumed the last page would finally contain more information about the Bottle of Form. Still, he hesitated. Would it really be smart to reveal the full power of the bottle? If Lux succeeded, he could potentially use it himself and never hand it over.
But then Lux remembered what the Red Lion was capable of.
With a quiet sigh, he picked up the last page and read it carefully.
"[The Bottle of Form. A gift from the gods. It is said that whoever drinks it will be transformed into a human. It is stored in the Volum. It is guarded by around 200 guards, making it essentially an impossible task.The bottle is so valuable that the strongest thief groups in all of Tria have attempted to steal it, all without success. It is one of the few artifacts that has never been stolen and remains, to this day, the third most secure object in Tria.Location: Wiel, the region of trade and commerce.Location: Volum, a massive building with many smaller exhibitions.]"
Well. That was at least some information.
Lux rubbed his eyes, stood up from the chair, and let out a dry laugh.
"Yeah. I am completely screwed."
Lux thought for a moment, processing everything. He would receive more information in a few hours and decided not to ask for more right now.
Still, a heavy weight pressed down on him.
Three hundred and thirty people had died because of this bottle.
Well… he did not have a choice anyway.
So Lux moved on.
Lux thought that he might finally have one or two free hours.
Maybe now… he could finally test his abilities.
A few seconds passed, and Lux walked toward the door. He looked one last time at his new office, then opened it. Two Fireslicers were waiting outside, clearly there to keep an eye on him. Lux assumed they were making sure he would not try to run away. He did not really care.
He waved at them casually and walked down the corridor. Without any trouble, Lux passed hundreds of small doors. He was searching for a destination, something like a sports hall or whatever this place had.
After about two minutes of walking without any sense of direction, he gave up searching on his own and spoke to a Fireslicer standing nearby.
"Uh, excuse me. Can I speak with Red Lion?"
The Fireslicer lowered his assault rifle toward the floor and thought for a moment.
"It is fine. Follow me."
Lux obediently walked behind him, though for a brief moment, the thought of taking the Fireslicer out from behind crossed his mind. He did not know where that thought came from, but he knew it would mean certain death, so he let it go.
After a while, Lux was brought to Red Lion's large door and was led inside.
The room was pitch black.
A tight feeling formed in Lux's chest. As he examined the darkness, he saw them. Two fiery red eyes glowing inside the cave like hollow. No body was visible. Only the eyes.
It was Red Lion. His body was completely hidden by the darkness.
All Lux heard from the cave was a deep, rumbling growl.
"Speak."
Cold sweat ran down Lux's forehead. He wanted to get out of here immediately, but he gathered his courage and asked his question.
"Is there somewhere I can train? I mean, like a hall, or… well—"
He was interrupted by a boss like laugh.
"Or fight?" Red Lion said. "Go to the third large door. It is a long hall with training dummies and training units. It is very popular, so do not expect to be alone. Now leave me."
The lion's eyes gleamed like fire.
Lux immediately stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.
"Phew…"
He let out a heavy breath.
"So… large door three?"
As Lux walked down the long corridor, he noticed a small mirror on the wall. He stopped and looked at himself for the first time.
"I look exactly the same… and—?"
He did not finish the sentence.
Two lines of text, glowing black and white, appeared above him. They were only visible in the mirror. In reality, there was nothing there.
[Steal][Like a Shadow]
"Are those my abilities?" Lux asked, but of course, there was no answer.
Since he did not have much time, Lux looked away after a few seconds and continued walking. After a while, he reached a large door and opened it without any trouble. He noticed that the guards were positioned deeper in the corridor, far behind him. It was just a feeling, but it seemed like something important was hidden behind doors four or five. Lux would probably never find out.
He sighed and stepped through the door.
Light engulfed him.
A massive sports hall appeared before him. He could hear people talking, training, and the sound of blows colliding. Lux examined the hall. It was made of massive gray stone and stretched across many meters. The ceiling was open, and sunlight poured in from above.
There were various parkour courses, combat areas, and training dummies.
Lux looked around and walked up to one of the training dummies. He stared at it. It stared back.
Without saying a word, Lux smiled.
"Well, I have never done something like this before."
He awkwardly raised one hand and scratched the back of his neck.
Suddenly, Lux flinched when the training dummy answered in a high pitched voice.
"It is okay."
"Wah!"
"Why are you talking?" Lux said, no longer relaxed. His stance became firm, and he was ready to strike.
The training dummy spoke again.
"No, it is okay. You can do it."
Lux relaxed a little.
"It is only single words you can say, right?"
Once again, the dummy replied.
"It is okay."
Lux had been startled when it started talking, but it soon became clear that it was not alive.
Lux steadied himself, raised both hands, and covered his face with his arms. Before striking, he spoke quietly.
"If you are alive, I am sorry."
Then he punched.