Things were spiralling out of control, without a doubt. Jessica's masked persona had taken over and she had done things she would never have done as Jessica, including going back into the dungeon. The worst part was she was starting to believe the stories she heard. It was as if Jessica was hearing them, and believing them and then when she put on the mask she was was the story. This is how she found herself perched precariously over a large spike trap. Over confidence was the problem and proper planning was the solution, however at this point her strength was a limiting factor on how long she had to plan. She was braced between two impossibly sharp spike hanging down from the ceiling that had lowered. It had been a two part trap, first the spikes had dropped out of the ceiling and lowered towards the floor. Anybody that had survived that would then be quite surprised when the floor dropped revealing a second set of spikes coming up from the bottom of quite a deep pit. Nothing here was magical which is why she had almost missed it. The whole room was designed so every single brick, tile and piece of stone looked like it could be a trigger. Only careful examination of each one in turn would reveal if it was or not. Of course, finding the trigger activated the trap and had it not been for some incredibly quick reactions she might have been impaled rather than dodged between the first set of spikes. The floor drop had been a predicted second action at 67% so she was prepared and braced herself on the only stable thing she could, the ceiling spikes. If she could just hold on while she worked out what to do everything would be...

*click*

The trap began to reset. This would have been ok except that it was resetting in trigger order, ceiling spikes first. There would soon be nothing to hold onto so time and strength were both now an issue. She was calculating angles. Distances. Speed. This was in part easier because it was far more predictable but also harder as she couldn't practice or do test runs. Everything had to be exactly right first time or the unnamed adventurer would be a kebab and then probably a zombie. She had gone through far too much to end here. Taking into account the speed she would fall, the angle she would be able to push off with using the spike and the distance to the floor she was pretty confident she would die. Yes, the only way out was the ledge on the far side which took her further into the dungeon. It was not the plan to go into another room today and she didn't recognise the door that was in front of her. The ledge was also very thin. Not much handhold left and her feet were being pushed down, there was nothing left but try the 32% chance jump for the door ledge and that was the good side of the odds. 21% chance of managing to balance on the thin ledge and not topple backwards.

The time was now. Her feet pulled away from the spike they were wedged against and her whole body pivoted downwards as she kicked out in front of herself. Using her momentum and releasing her handhold at the exact right time she flipped towards the door ledge, with a half twist to get her back towards the door. She slammed into the door and dropped onto the ledge, her top half wobbled forwards and she took all her strength to tiptoe on the edge and push herself upright panting for breath. There was nothing for it but to grab the handle for balance.

*clack*

In a (4%) chance of fate the handle opened as she tried to brace herself against it and the door swung out away from the room. Her weight carried her into the new room as she fell slightly backwards and sideways into the unknown. The only way to remain balanced was to go with momentum and she cartwheeled into the room and finally planted her feet a short way into the room and stood still. It was hard not to pose the finish and now was probably a good time to work out where she was before she died.

The gold rank team had something not many others had. Luck. Magic luck to be exact. It was a powerful artifact that twisted fate in favour of the wearer and it was the only reason they were not dead. Bellagra the [Mage] had made it past so many traps but even such a powerful ring had limits and so it was that she and Urion found themselves without a healing potion pinned to the wall by shield spiders. Not a monster they would normally have had issue with but there had been so many of them. It had been pure luck (of course) they had made it this far but they had reached a point where something else was needed. Bellagra was holding back several with an [Entrapment] spell that was draining her mana at an alarming rate while Urion had one particularly large spider held back on his sword as it slashed at him with it's legs and two others pinned with arms and legs. His armour was starting to take quite a beating from the furious wrath of the spiders pinned and the one on the sword slid a bit further down with each passing second. It would take a miracle to get out of this they both knew.

That however was the thing about luck.

With a crash the door flew open and a shadowy figure cartwheeled into the room, flipping and twisting to land right in the middle of the battle. Urion would like to have said he saw them look around the room to take in what was happening but the strangers entire face was a whisp of shadows that crawled like an infinitely dark mist that drank the light it touched. Before either gold rank adventurer could open their mouths the stranger struck. A magical blade was taken from a belt in a movement so fluid it had carved a chunk out of the first spider and the leg from a second in the same motion. The stranger spun, leaving a whispy trial of shadows as the closest spider lashed out and sliced across the arm holding the blade. Bellagra was surprised to see not a stream of blood and hear a scream but the figure leaked shadows as the arm twisted back. The figure bent double and span removing the legs from several of the spiders. This was all the distraction Urion needed to finish off the spider on his sword now the other two where missing quite a few legs. The stranger began to disect the trapped spiders now and pretty soon the danger was passed. All three people stood in a pile of shield spider parts, blood and... and shadow. It leaked from the strangers clothes where blood should be falling. It pooled around where their face should be. Many strange events had saved Urion and Bellagra over the years since finding the ring but this was new even for them. It ranked highly with the most impressive entrances they had seen. Now they looked out the open door they could see a spiked pit taking the whole room with no visible way of passing, the stranger had either flown or jumped the full length of the pit.

The effect of the shadows bleeding from the figure was pretty terrifying. It wasn't a magical terror, just that feeling children got when they caught the side of a shadow under their bed from the corner of an eye. On careful inspection, which was hard in itself Bellagra could see the strange shadowy figure was a woman. Possibly. All three in the room stood still while spider blood dripped from weapons. The way forward was blocked by the shield spider nest, many bodies and a hastilly barricaded door. The way back lead to a large spike pit. The shadowy figure bowed slightly with a flourish that whisped shadows, turned and walked towards the spike pit. She grabbed the back of a shield spider and tore the hard shell away from flesh using the magical blade to help cut the back apart. As both the gold rank adventurers leant forwards to see what she was doing she gestured for them to stand back against the wall and she backed away to the barricaded door holding the hard shell on one hand and waited.

"Your timing was exceedingly fortuitous for us. Could we trouble you for your...." She ran. Shadows leaked through the room as the stranger ran directly towards the spike pit.

"You can't possibly jump that!" Urion shouted as the stranger jumped, but instead of trying to clear the distance she flipped the spider shell downwards and stepped onto it. As the strange vision of a shadow riding a shield spider shell reached nearly half way into the room she was losing height rapidly, the shell descended onto what turned out not to be a deep pit of spikes but the raising floor. An unpleasant high pitched scratching sound echoed through the dungeon as the figure skidded the remaining distance of the pit trap. As she came to a halt almost out of the room the floor clicked back into place at full height and the weight on top triggered the trap again. Shadows launched forwards like a diver about to leap into a river and twisted sideways as spikes plunged down from the ceiling piercing the air either side of the figure twisting through the air. She landed in a roll on the far side as a foot came up and kicked the far door open and she rolled out of the room.

The door slammed shut behind her and the floor dropped away. The remains of the shield spider that the stranger had rode through the room tumbled into the distance and was pierced by a spike at the bottom of the pit, giving away just how sharp and deadly they were.

"Well, that's something you don't see everyday." Bellagra whispered to Urion as they assesed their latest situation.

Her heart was pounding in her body. The only sound she could hear was her blood thumping around her ears, throbbing. She was frozen in position outside the door that had slammed shut behind her. The timing on her escape had been nearly perfect but that was closer than she liked to cut it. The whole thing seemed quite strange and she just wanted out now. That room was simple, non magical, predictable and still quite deadly. She also had no idea who the other two were. Nobody had gone into the dungeon that she had seen before her so they must have been there for a while but they looked like they knew what they were doing, trying to get out. Retreat to the surface was uneventful. The Drakes guarding the entrance didn't notice as a shadow slipped out of the dungeon past them. Her stealth was innate now, she actually had to try to be visible at night or the majority of people didn't see her. It's not that they couldn't but the overall effect of the magical leakage from her over enchanted armour was so unpleasant people didn't want to see. It was the thing you looked over your shoulder for late at night when you felt that creeping sensation behind you. The shadows were almost alive. She had intended to hide the shine of the armour and enhance her stealth but this was totally beyond anything she had ever imagined. The [Mage] who had enchanted the armour had apologised for such an unpleasant side effect, she had even managed to get the mask done too as some kind of discount. She felt like she had robbed him.

Even the monsters didn't attack her like this. She hadn't seen a goblin for some time and the other locals kept quite clear of her. It was actually making earning money killing them quite hard. Her money was very low. The bounty she had earned so far had paid in advance quite some time for Jessica at the very terrible inn but she needed something more. Not many people were on the roads now because of the goblin threat so if she wanted to earn some coin she needed to head out further from Liscor. The dungeon was dangerous to those who went too far but she knew a huge number of the traps now and how to avoid almost all of them and survive the rest. Sadly none of them contained anything of value she could sell.

The city was never quiet. Even in the darkest night people of all kinds were doing the things they did when it was dark. Not all of them were making an honest living. Things had gotten worse in the city. There was almost panic in the streets as more news came in about events around the lands and this tended to bring out the worst in people. The cart was heading towards the runners guild as the wheel hit a large rock and there was a loud crack, it tipped and the horses startled. It was only a few moments to quiet them and begin on the way again but another figure had crept out of the darkness and helped himself to items from the cart during the brief confusion. She walked slowly towards the figure who was hugging the shadows and trying to slip into the darkness. The biggest problem for him was that she was shadow. He stopped dead as he faced her. This was possibly the closest anybody had been to her since she had put the new armour on and he was not happy. She reached down for her sword and watched as his body crumpled to the ground untouched. Untouched by her at least. The falling criminal revealed another figure standing behind where he had been just moments before.

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"I'd like a word if you don't mind." said Steepham as a blade dissapeard from his hand back into the shadows surrounding him. "I know you can talk and my master is quite interested in your skills. I have to say I also have a certain personal interest in knowing more about you. You appear to have put my tracking skills to quite the test recently and I do not appreciate the game playing." She didn't know quite what to say but didn't want to be anywhere near the body in front of her now. She left.

Steepham cursed. Being an [Assassin] had certainly become more interesting since the unnamed adventurer had come to Liscor. She had a skill he didn't recognise that allowed her to virtually dissapear from right in front of his eyes and that was a skill both he and his master would like to know more about. Tracking her was more about prediction and feeling than being able to see. He made his way up to the top of the building across from where she had dissapeared. She wouldn't go up the obvious route or nearest escape and sure enough he found her perched watching where he had been.

"I would really appreciate it if you didn't keep doing that." she reached out towards him and Steepham ducked back. Normally he would have seen she didn't have a weapon in her hand and wasn't trying to hit him but in this instance he saw the tear in her sleeve and the shadows pouring out from it. The whisps of shadow surrounded his head and he realised what she was doing and swept out with his foot to trip her as she tried to escape. His foot met nothing but darkness as he cursed because yet again she had vanished.

Smells of the city passed as Steepham chased across rooftops. He knew where she was heading as she always did. He had lost her in the same place three times now. The inns were all bustling with people, adventurers and those trying to make money from them. It somewhat surprised him that a masked figure who literally leaked shadows could vanish in a crowd but somehow it happened, or at least it normally did. Tonight Steepham was not alone. He had arranged for six other [Assassins] to be in the crowd watching to see how she did her dissapearing trick. All they had to do was watch. A shout rang out from the street down below as one of the low level [Assassins] was surprised by the shadowy figure dropping down behind him. He reacted poorly and swung out with a blade. The unnamed adventurer reacted before he swung and simply sidestepped the move. Steepham decided to wait and watch. She didn't reach for her sword but the eager young [Assassin] had obviously decided he wanted to prove something and again lunged for her. Or at least he lunged for where she would have been as Steepham watched her step one way and end up elsewhere.

The fight below progressed and he watched with interest as she effortlessly avoided most attacks as if they had been posted to her the week before as a warning. What was more concerning was that Steepham realised six other figures were with him watching the fight. The not-with-him [Assassin] below began to get serious as a blade tipped with poison thrust towards the masked fighter in the first move to surprise her. Not so low level after all. He had been tricking her, making her think she knew what he could do and preparing for the single blow that would end her life. Steepham leapt from the building towards the two of them just too slow to stop the blade slashing across her chest. All turned to darkness. Sounds of other figures landing. Impacts. Slashes. Steepham dived out of the way at the last second as the smell of the poison on the blade alerted him just in time. He didn't dare draw a blade himself as he couldn't risk hitting one of the others. Absolute chaos erupted in what could only be described as a pool of liquid shadow. He could hear the would be victorious [Assassin] cursing and struck out with a kick which connected on the jaw. A fist punched him in the face from another direction. This was not going to go well if they remained and tried to fight so he whispered to retreat and left in what he could only remember as the direction of the alley now filled with shadow. Five figures retreated through the alley and Steepham smelled blood and poison.

She knew where he would be. He couldn't see, but neither could she. He was intent on killing her so the attacks were predictable again. She whirled with the magical sword and made contact with something. Sounds from behind as others tried to avoid fighting each other. She ran for the wall and kicked off with enough force to get high and grab a handhold on the top, she pulled herself up and over, dropping down the other side of the alley wall. It was all she could do to locate the special bag and start removing the armour to stow it. Finally the mask was placed near the top and Jessica stowed her pack on her back and ran out of the alley towards her inn. As she left the shadows she saw Steepham and five of his associates running the other way and stopped. She turned and walked back to the edge of the slowly dispersing shadow where the fight had taken place. There were no sounds of fighting now but she could smell the blood. As the shadows cleared she saw the bodies. One Assassin was dead from a blow with the poisonous blade. It had caught him in the neck of all places and the poison had gone directly to his heart. The other body was just that. A body. The head was further down the alley and had been cleanly sliced free by her magical blade. She stopped to search the body, being careful not to touch the blade in it's hand. She did take several other concealed weapons and a small flask containing the poison. There was also a small bag. She took it all and turned to the other body. He hadn't tried to hurt her and she suspected had actually tried to help. She closed his eyes and screamed.

The city guard were there in minutes. They recognised Jessica and she explained how she had been on her way back to the inn and come accross the scene with the bodies. The large blueish scaled Drake helped her back to the inn and then went about the business of dealing with the bodies.

"Looks like two [Assassins] to me." said a green scaled Drake whose tail was clipped at the tip, the rest of his body quite heavily scarred. "This is not going to be good when the captain hears about this."

Jessica went directly to her room in the inn, a short greeting to each of those who recognised her. The door was locked and she took the small bag in her hand and was about to open it when she realised what she was doing. Time to see the [Mage] again. She replace the torn clothing that had caused so much chaos outside and slipped into her armour. She left via the window unnoticed by the watch activity below and was at Everill's house in moments. She knew the way by road or roof now and little effor was needed to remain concealed on either.

"I need you to tell me if any of these are magical, and if so what they are." the masked woman said to Everill. He looked at her and shook his head.

"I know you don't have gold to pay me, do you wish to trade again? If none of this is of value you will owe me a substantial sum." she nodded in magical silence, used to not talking while the mask was on. She sat in the corner of the room while the [Mage] did his work in another. The study was quiet and she felt relaxed here. Far more relaxed than she did anywhere else while wearing the mask and probably more than she did as Jessica in the inn. It had been a long day, and night and the masked adventurer closed her eyes and sunk deep into the soft fabric of the chair. Her eyes closed as images of shadows flowing like water filled her mind and she dozed quietly dreams filled with tales of an unnamed adventurer.

"It seems you are in luck, again I might add. Two of the blades are highly magical.." She leapt to her feet with a start and memories of where she was crept back into her mind as she calmed down. The candles around the room were burned down and Everill had brought the recovered items back in on a wooden tray. She noted he was very careful with it.

"Must you always react so in my house? My dear, if you can't relax here I am not sure there is anywhere in the city you would feel safe. There are quite a few protective spells on this room alone. I trust you feel more rested now at least." she sat back into the chair and waited for Everill to continue. She was still wearing the ring but the silence had left for some time and only returned as he had entered the room with the tray. It seemed there was a range limit on the rings both she and Everill used to ensure privacy during their negotiations.

"Both the blades are of quite high level. They are enchanted for strength and sharpness and the work is very good. However, it was the bag that you should be impressed by. It is of course a bag of holding with some quite dangerous protections on it when you brought it to me. Inside I found a quantity of gold, some miscellaneous items, some non magical weapons and gemstone of quite some value. There was a sealed scroll too, however I was unable to read it due to the spell on the seal. It is not here to see anymore." Everill wiped at a smudge of black soot and ash on his face looking ever so slightly displeased.

"Due to the.. ahem. Complications my fee is substantial. You are however in the lucky position of being able to afford it with this haul. My only concern is that this does not appear to have come from the dungeon, I am not in the business of dealing with illicitly gained artifacts and would appreciate some assurance that these goods were legitimately obtained. Word has reached me that more than one [Assassin] was found by the city watch and the [Assissins] guild has only claimed one body. While these events themselves are concerning I trust you are not on the wrong side of our own guild? I would not be able to do business if these were from them.

She looked at him and shook her head. "They are from one not of this city. He tried to kill me with poison, the other was killed by accident during the stuggle." this seemed to satisfy Everill, he reacted as if she had confirmed what he already knew to be the case.

"Then I shall take the gemstone and all but five gold." he removed the ring, she knew this meant no haggling as anything she said now was not magically concealed to only him. The rest of the items were put into the bag and she noted the poison was nowhere to be seen. Everill took the two blades and retired to his work room. He would enchant them the same as the armour no doubt. Hopefully a little less aggressively as tonight had proven that the chest piece was as much a danger to her as anybody else when exposed. She would have to work on another layer that was more resistant to cuts. The bag of holding was only a small one but they were always a wonder, any adventurer would do almost anything to get one of their own. She reached into the back to find the other items that Everill hadn't bothered to discuss and brought out a small wooden carved figure. It looked slightly like a horse, it's front legs reared up and had a round base. There were a number of similar figures in the bag. She tossed it back in and left to return to her inn. The nap had done her good, but a proper nights sleep was needed.

Bellagra and Urion sat drinking quietly. The others around them were not quiet. The story of their escape from the dungeon had created quite an uproar on it's first few tellings but the night had warn on and they were not as excited by the retelling, having lived through it as it were. The unnamed adventurer as they had come to find she was known as had shadow for blood. Quite a few people had not believed that one. Some now argued she was actually a monster from the dungeon who was made of evil and shadow herself. Some said that Bellagra had been driven insane by the days they had been trapped in the dungeon.

The Twist of Fates might not have been a big team but they had certainly been a profitable one until now. They had used all their healing potions and come out of the dungeon without a scrap of gold.

"Maybe it ran out? Maybe we are finally out of luck? We have never come out without anything before." said Urion as Bellagra sipped quietly.

"Nothing? Are you crazy! You came out with the most valuable thing you could ever have left that dungeon with" said a man sitting at the table next to them. "You both came out with your lives."