The Academy was dark and noisy after the power grid broke. Even though the mana lamps were dead, the instructors were shouting and the Sentinel Statues were being reset by hand.
David Silver walked through the darkness of the East Quad and pulled his hood low. He did his best to look like a terrified student who only wanted to know if the cafeteria was still open.
His Static Core was purring like a well fed monster. The incident in the Grotto had done more than just blow the fuses. It had left David with a headache that felt like a drum set was playing inside his head.
"I need to stop doing that," David whispered.
A group of Inquisitors hurried past him with glowing mana torches. David watched as Teacher Rain followed them. She was overseeing the repair crews.
"Every time I try to be low profile, I end up making the front page," David thought as he looked away.
[System Note: Technically, there are no gossip scrolls today because the printing presses are powered by the mana-grid you just disintegrated. You’ve successfully delayed your own infamy by sheer collateral damage. It’s almost impressive.]
David felt a tug on his cloak. He did not turn around because his Flash Step instincts told him who it was. A small messenger boy from the Below Floors stood in the shadow of a pillar. The boy handed David a black card with a silver spiderweb.
It was Madame Joyce’s personal summons. David took the card and it turned into ash the moment he touched it. Madame Joyce did not like to be kept waiting.
The journey to the Lower City was easy. The Academy’s defensive wards were flickering and David slipped through a gap in the wall. Within the hour, he was back in the greasy embrace of the Below Floors.
Madame Joyce’s private den had soft light from candles. This was different from the magical lights he saw before. Joyce sat behind her desk and her silver pipe was unlit. Her violet eyes were fixed on a vial of black liquid.
David stood by the door and his Void Shimmer blurred his face. "You’re late, Wraith," she said. Her voice was a cool blade. "I was wondering if the Void Rot had finally finished its meal."
David did not move. "It takes more than a Tier 5 toxin to kill a ghost, Joyce. Though I suspect you already knew that when you gave it to me."
Joyce let out a sharp and melodic laugh. She leaned forward and the candlelight caught the gleam in her eyes. David swallowed hard as his eyes roamed that endowed area.
"It was a test, David," she said. "And you didn’t just pass. You rewrote the curriculum. No one survives the Rot without an Internal Sovereign core. You are something ancient."
"Is that why you summoned me?" David asked.
"I summoned you because I have a job that requires a scalpel," Joyce said.
She slid a map of the Obsidian Vaults across the desk. Her chest jiggled in the process. These vaults were beneath the city’s Central Bank. The Council kept their most sensitive items there. "Specifically, the Solstice Compass."
David looked at the map. The vaults were full of mechanical traps and Tier 7 Gorgon Locks. These locks could petrify a thief’s soul.
"The Solstice Compass," David said. "Why do you want it?"
"It is a family heirloom," Joyce said. Her gaze lingered on David. "And it is the only map that can navigate the Dead Zone rifts. If you want to reach the Engine’s heart, you need that compass."
David knew she was right. Barnaby had mentioned it. It was a key.
"The vaults are impossible to breach," David said. "I am a combatant, Joyce. Not a rogue."
"Then you’d better start practicing," Joyce said.
She tossed a leather roll onto the desk. Inside were lock picks and training gears. "You have one week. If you can’t open a Gorgon Lock by then, do not bother coming back."
David spent the next three days in a warehouse near the docks. He sat on a crate with a Tier 4 Iron Biter lock. It was a complex machine that required a thief to sense pins through lead.
"This is stupid," David muttered. His fingers were cramping. "I can vaporize a cliff, but I can’t open a box? This is humbling."
[System Note: Your ’Physical Impact’ is Tier 5, but your ’Dexterity’ is currently that of a very angry toddler. Suggestion: Apply the Multiplier to the ’Lock-picking’ and ’Trap Detection’ sub-routines.]
"Ten minutes," David said. "If I can’t master this in ten minutes of overclocked time, I am just going to punch the vault door."
[Initializing Rogue-Art Training...]
[Multiplier Status: 100,000x!]
David closed his eyes and touched the lock. The world slowed down. Inside David’s mind, ten minutes became centuries. He did not just pick the lock. He lived inside the gears.
Because of the multiplier, David experienced the mechanical world in a way no human could. He felt the friction of the pins. He heard the vibration of the mana threads.
In the first microsecond, he broke a pick. He learned the feather touch. By the tenth microsecond, he mastered the Iron Biter. He realized every lock had a heartbeat. By the fiftieth microsecond, he moved onto the Gorgon Locks. He learned to Ghost Step his mana through the tumblers so the anti-magic did not trigger.
David’s fingers were moving with a blur of divine precision. He was a Ghost Hand. He could feel the gears of the entire warehouse.
[Proficiency: Lock-picking ➔ 100.00% (MAX)]
[Proficiency: Trap Detection ➔ 100.00% (MAX)]
[New Skill Unlocked: Ghost-Hand Intuition (Divine Tier).]
David snapped his eyes open. He was covered in sweat and his heart was hammering. He looked at the Iron Biter lock. He did not even use a pick. David placed his hand on the top of the lock. He felt the gears through the metal. He sensed the exact position of the five pins. With a pulse of mana, he forced the lock to think it had been opened by its own key.
CLICK!
The heavy steel bolt slid back.
"Relatable humor, David," he whispered. "You just spent fifty virtual years learning how to commit a felony. Your parents would be confused."
He stood up and looked around. His vision was different. He could see the gears of reality. He looked at a crane and saw the stress points in the winch. He looked at the floorboards and sensed a hidden trapdoor.
"Ghost Hand," David murmured. "I can feel the world’s plumbing."
[Status Update: You have reached ’Master Rogue’ proficiency. You can now sense the internal mechanics of any non-living object within a 50-foot radius.]
"Good," David said. "Because if Joyce wants that compass, I am going to have to Ghost Hand my way through the most guarded basement in the Empire."
He gathered his tools, but he knew he didn’t need them. His hands were the tools. He felt a new confidence. It was not explosive power, but surgical precision.
As he walked out, he saw Academy Sentinels. He didn’t run. He looked at the basalt statues and saw the internal mana crystals and gear rotations. One flick on the third gear was all it would take to turn the Sentinel into a lawn ornament.
He disappeared into the shadows. The Weaver had given him a debt, but David Silver was about to show her that a ghost with fifty years of practice can pick any lock.
The Obsidian Vaults were waiting. David was ready to stop being a Vessel and start being the one who decided what stays locked up. He had the keys to the kingdom now.