As she laid back on the bed in the inn Jessica reflected on the day. She knew she should call it a good day. The new high risk planning was certainly more rewarding than her previous style but had the cost been too high?

She would never forget Jion despite having never spoke to him. It was hard to convince herself not to take blame for his death because for all she knew they would have all died without her help she couldn't help thinking another plan, a less glory orientated one would have saved them all. As for the rewards she had known about the sword for quite some time and made sure the plan worked but the ring had been pure luck. Neither had technically come from the dungeon either. The ring was in the dungeon but only because somebody had taken it there so it was not dungeon loot. The numbers of adventurers coming into Liscor was bringing gold for everybody. There was money flowing like water all around the city and if she planned right she would receive enough of it to get back what she had spent. She just wished so many of them didn't have to die. It wasn't possible to intervene in all their plans however and that she did know. All this reminded her it was nearly time to check on her armour. Things were too risky without it.

It was called procrastination. Putting something off. She should have seen the mage 3 days ago but instead she had been sitting around in the inn. Lyron had said his lucky charm was running out of luck and they had argued about her running off. He didn't know why she had done it and she couldn't tell him. The money from the bounty had been useful so she had wasted time. Jessica knew what putting the mask back on meant. It meant somebody else would be in Liscor, not Jessica. She hadn't even managed to get a name put into the story yet either. The Unnamed adventurer thing was sticking. It was frustrating because she had actually levelled up for the first time in a while after wearing the mask and fighting the goblins. She was not going to level up again sitting around an inn eating barely edible food and drinking watered down ale. That and the story needed feeding. It was a bit like having a pet monster. You needed to feed it but didn't relish the thought. It was a task that had to be done. Little snacks like retelling didn't cut it anymore, a deed was needed. That meant wearing the mask. She had bought new clothes for both herselves. She didn't look so poor anymore and she would look a lot less tattered when she put on the mask. Now.. She had to get it now.

The chances of being followed were below 1%. Whoever it was that followed her as the masked adventurer didn't notice her as Jessica. That meant she could safely make her way to collect the armour. She concealed the new sword on her back under a loose fitting shirt. It wouldn't pass examination but didn't have to. Nobody would pay attention to Jessica and she entered the shadows on the way. When she finally came to the [Mages] house she was partially back in character. The hood covered her whole face and she was wearing the new clothes. She knocked and waited. There wasn't any other easy way in and she didn't want to alarm the [Mage] so the front door it was. the risk was low and she didn't wait long. Everill's assitant let her in and lead her through the house. There were twice as many lanterns as before lining the hallway. The study looked darker than before. There were more lights but somehow it was still darker. The bag was sitting on a table in a particularly dark corner of the room and Everill was in the opposite corner looking irritated. She put the wooden ring back on her finger and the silence consumed the world.

"You have no idea how annoying these things are now." Everill said as he walked towards the bag and Jessica's heart skipped a beat.

"It didn't quite work out how you wanted but I am sure it will be acceptable. As we discussed it was not possible to make the armour invisible even with the value of the ring. We certainly managed to conceal the shine and make the armour a lot less visible though. Sadly, the side effects are... Hmmm. That's your problem. Somehow I don't think you will be too displeased with the overall effect however. I still say it was a shame. For the work originally done on that armour what we did was almost a crime. You should have worn it proudly." He didn't understand her need to conceal the armour at all. Magic was meant to shine! Armour was meant to protect not hide. If you were going to enchant plates of armour why not large thick padded plate armour instead of this..

"Show me." She was talking and not yet wearing the mask, yet she still felt the pressure every time she opened her mouth. The need to minimise talking, the mask was taking on a life of it's own already and she had fallen into character without even putting it on.

"First.. The mask. This is of course the most noticable thing in the set but there was no way to minimise the side effects, even here. You will have to work with it." He opened a flap on the bag and removed the mask. Her eyes went wide. Something in the universe clicked into place. Under the hood, her face in shadows she smiled. This was right. This was how it was always meant to be and now she looked forwards to making her unname.

"And the rest acts in a similar way of course. We minimised it as much as possible but the interaction with the existing enchantment was a problem." Her smile widened. Each piece of armour was laid out for her to inspect, she hardly felt the need. She could see. She knew. She felt it in her core and couldn't wait. The mask was first and the world changed as she put it on. It was almost like her own personal world, what she saw fitted the silence she currently heard. Each piece of armour she fitted sent a chill through her body. The metal was cold but that wasn't it. She couldn't wait. The sword was removed from it's concealment and placed proudly on her belt as Everill eyed it appraisingly.

"That's new. Not bad. No where near as valuable as the ring though, are you selling it too?" No. She was not.

"I can probably put a similar enchantment on the blade to the armour if you want?" She did, however that would be more time and cost. It would have to wait. She finished adjusting herself and stood in front of the mirror. She hardly needed it as she could feel rather than see what she looked like.

"If you need further servi..." she had left. Not a word. It was hard to track her movements as she flowed through the darkness out of the house and Everill shuddered. He was glad she had gone. It had been a slow feeling but as she had put the armour on a feeling of unease had filled him. How could something you couldn't see effect you so much? He had no doubt she would be back and if she kept bringing in items like the ring and sword he was sure he would be happy to keep taking her money. Even it she did creep him out now. The whole room felt brighter now she was gone and he settled down for the first time since completing his work.

Steepham was looking for the so called unnamed adventurer. He was interested. She had just dissapeared and he couldn't find her. That in itself was unusual. She was good but not that good and he knew he could spot her no matter how hard she tried. She wasn't staying at any inn in the city but certainly hadn't left it. He had tracked all sorts of suspicious humans around Liscor over the last weeks. Nobody had seen her. He had watched the [Mages] house most nights and the adventurers guild. He had seen all sorts but not what he was looking for. His report had caused a slight interest from his guild. He had been ordered to gather more information should she become a relevant person to the guild. They did of course keep detailed files on most people of note in the city and that had been quite the task recently. With gold rank teams coming and going life in Liscor had been very busy for the [Assassins] guild. They were not impressed he couldn't find her. Personal pride was now on the line if he couldn't,

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Rot!" there she was. She had just appeared in front of him. This was far more impressive than the skills she had demonstrated in the adventurers guild. She seemed to carry the shadows with her. The worst part was he hadn't found her, she had found him. She had chosen to let him see her! Why? If she could move like this why let him follow her. He was even more interested now and made sure not to underestimate her stealth again. He wasn't going to lose,

"ROT!" Where did she go now? He could hardly believe what he was seeing, or rather not seeing. She was gone. One step was all it had taken but he couldn't get the image out of his mind. She had stepped in front of him, facing away. She knew where he was and chose to put her back to him. She had only turned just enough to send a shiver down his spine before she stepped away again. The guild were not going to like this. It was bad enough he hadn't found her for weeks but how was he going to explain this?

Somehow the smile felt better knowing he couldn't see it. She saw his face and knew what he saw. It had taken a while to find him, she had to trace all the places she would have looked for herself and almost ran him down as she left the [Mage]. He hadn't seen her! She felt the need to show off. Jessica would never have done this but SHE would. [Shadow Step] was almost a whole new skill now and she stepped out in front of him facing away. She felt his shock and smiled. She had to look. She turned her head just enough to catch the expression on his face and knew that was enough. [Shadow Step] back away from him. It was just as well nobody could see her face because the smile was not befitting the unnamed adventurer. For the first time in her life she was having fun. This wasn't hard work anymore, this change was all she could have wished for had she known to wish for it. A mugger lurked in a dark alley, watching a drunk leave an inn. She had never looked for trouble before but tonight it was part of the plan. What a crazy idea. A plan to look for trouble.

Drewth waited for his mark to go past. This one would be easy. Sadly the easy ones were never rich, but every copper counted. He brought his club up ready. One blow to the back of the head and he could take what he wanted and leave without risk. He brought his hands down in what should be a crushing blow.

Arnand didn't know which way home was. He was partially convinced he was staying at the inn he just left but also sure HIS inn served better food. He wanted better food right now so he had gone to find his inn. A gust of wind blew his hair sideways and he turned around to see what was there. Another drunk lay in the road, they must have fallen hard as they were bleeding from the head. Arnand carried on his search for better food.

Steepham had seen it all. It took him a while to catch up with her and a moment to realise she was letting him follow. He watched the mugger swing down at the helpless victim with curiosity. It was hardly his job but for some reason the masked woman had chosen to intervene and let him watch. The club had just vanished out of the air as far as the mugger was concerned, his hands had it, then they didn't. One punch laid him out. Steepham smiled to himself as he realisd the mugger had missed it all. She clearly wanted somebody to watch. he followed her back to the inn. The terrible inn where the silver rank Goblins Gift had first come telling tales of her. She stepped out of the shadows and opened the door, noise filled the air. The noise of drinking, of loud talk, of fighting the sound of ... silence. She walked in and not a voice was heard. A mug dropped to the floor.

Inside the inn Albron was bored. They hadn't been back into the dungeon since that first attempt and there had been no more sightings of the unnamed adventurer. He felt proud to be the one who had called her that. Goblins Gift had gotten quite a boost from telling stories of their adventure but the story was getting old. People were clearly tiring of him repeating the same thing over and over. He needed something new. He needed... The door opened and he turned to see...

[Barmaid] Tryana was working hard. The inn had never been so busy and just keeping the drinks flowing was pushing her to the limit. These lousy adventurers surely brought in the money but she was the one who had to put up with them. The noise, the slaps, the advances. The mess. Goblins Gift had hardly left their seats after returning from the dungeon and considering they were renting the rooms of the team who died going in before them she didn't blame them at all. The last thing Tryana needed was more excitement. The door opened and she glanced up to see what trouble was coming in this time. She dropped the drink she was holding.

The unnamed adventurer opened the door and stepped into the room. One step. It was all it took. a hush came over the room as she stood in the shadow of the well lit room. Her hood met the mask so that all that was visible was a shadow. The shiny mask was still there, but darkness covered it. A darkness that consumed the light in the room around the mask. Whisps of shadow emanated from under her hood and made something that looked like black smoke, if smoke consumed light. Just as the shine of the armour had almost been visible through her clothing the dark was emanating now. The room looked darker where she stood. Everybody in the room was just staring now. She walked towards Goblins Gift and watched with a satisfied feeling as for the first time ever Albron was speachless. She sat at the table next to him. There had been no free seat before she started the motion but there most certainly was when she finished. She raised a glass to Albron and the rest of his team then left. A pattern in the spilled drink on the table now spelt two words.

Albron raised his glass and chanted,

"For Jion!" and everybody in the whole inn cheered the same. He watched the sword on her belt as she left. None of Goblins gift remembered seeing her sword the first time but it had certainly not been this one, This one was enchanted and shone slightly against the shadow of the unnamed adventurer.

"She went back in! A sword this time. That's where she was, The unnamed adventurer has tamed the dungeon again and brought a magic sword!" He was happy. Albron was happy that she had returned to raise a glass for Jion and that he now had another story to tell. The silence of the inn was broken and every word was about what they had just seen. The unnamed adventurer had come into Liscor from the dungeon just to raise a glass for their fallen friend, that meant something special to all of Goblins Gift and they would never forget her for it. Even without the fact she had apparently brought the darkness from the deepest part of the dungeon out with her this time. Albron wondered if it was some strange curse, the result of a trap or monster she had faced.

The unnamed adventurer wasn't hiding. In fact she was doing her best to get seen as she made her way across the city and past the guardhouse. It would probably be easier in the daylight but at night, her natural state was now stealth. She was finaly truly worthy of her class. [Shadow Rogue], Now she understood.

"Look, Whoever plays white has an advantage, it's obvious." said a Drake guard relaxing after his shift, he glanced at the woman passing by. He saw the shadows following her. He saw the darkness that made her face.

"Ok, I'll be black."