By the time Kyrion was allowed to speak, he had been standing outside a rather stinky cell with a few occupants. He didn’t like the weird look some of the guards gave him and some of the prisoners. He knew that those particular guards were bloodthirsty and twisted.

“Can I get my own room?” Kyrion asked the voiceless with the stitched-together mouth.

The Voiceless was one of the few with no malice towards him or the others.

Another guard came and punched the boy in his face. Which should have accomplished nothing. Instead, Kyrion was knocked against the cell, his head banging against the bars as another guard restrained the other one.

Kyrion used the push that wouldn’t have worked on him if he’d resisted stealing the guard’s key to his manacles. He also didn’t force himself to the ground hard to exaggerate the push. Of course, this was one of the guards that had malice toward him, so it was only fitting that he robbed that one.

The voiceless guard opened the cell door as another pushed Kyrion in, ensuring the door was locked when they left.

Kyrion didn’t get up immediately. He realized what was going on the moment the manacles went across his wrists. If he showed them that the ones they placed on his wrist couldn’t handle all his mana, they’d just put something stronger on him, and he’d have more supervision.

Unlike the other occupants, he was the only one visibly restrained by manacles. Which meant he should probably find a corner and stay quiet. Sadly that wasn’t up to him.

A thin man with a goatee and jet black hair approached him. “What are you in for?”

“False charges.” Kyrion stated bluntly.

“Aren’t we all? What do they say you did then?”

“Mass murder, arson, assassination of some offical, Illegal entry, attacking a guard, and maiming said guard. The rest wasn’t worth noting.” Kyrion said bluntly as he casually slipped one hand out of the manacles, followed by the other.

The short man decided that what he did wasn’t up to half of what Kyiron was accused of doing. What’s worse was with Kyrion’s build, many of those accusations could have been true to a degree.

“What did you do, tiny man?” Kyrion asked.

“I was a thief. Took something from the wrong person and ended up here.” The shorter man all but whispered.

Kyrion looked at a red-haired man with an eyepatch.

“Ha! You must be a poser! For I, the great Red bear, am the one who did all those things!” The muscular man said. He was a few inches shorter than Kyrion, which wasn’t short by any means, and his bulky form was a bit unbalanced.

Kyrion walked up to the man and looked down at him. “If you really did do all those things that I’ve been accused of then I’ll kill you right now.”

Kyrion lied, but this man wasn’t going to be killed by him, but spreading false rumors were dangerous.

“Like I, the Great Alexander…!”

Kyrion punched the wall leaving a creator next to the imposter’s head before slipping his manacles back on. He then slammed his head into the wall dealing some surface damage to himself, before taking a seat under the debris, feigning unconsciousness. A welt on his face was starting to show. As though someone had struck him.

A guard came to check out the noise, saw the scene, and just hit the bars. “Oi! Don’t go causing any more racket!”

The guard left, and Kyrion shot right back up. “Well then. Poser. What are you really in for?”

“You can’t just use that word, it’s my word. I came up with it.” The impersonator said.

“I am ten seconds away from using you as a battering ram to break down this wall.” Kyrion stated in a serious tone.

“Fine, fine. I am just an actor. When I was practicing my lines in my home the guards came in and grabbed me.”

“What’s your name?”

“Meh Thod.” The actor said, a bit shaken.

“Good, now I don’t have to put you through any walls.”

Kyrion pointed to an old drunk man currently swimming on the floor.

“Excuse me sir? Why are you here?” Kyrion looked at the old man lying on the ground and grimaced before bowing.

“Got drunk, got angry, fun fight…hic.” The old man closed his eyes and began rolling around on the ground.

“When do they come back?” Kyrion asked.

“Once an hour until lights out.” The thief stated.

“I see.” Kyrion pulled out a doorknob and some chalk and drew a doorway, placing the doorknob against the door.

“Are you going to escape?” The thief asked.

“Who knows. Knock If the guards need me.” Kyrion walked into the doorway, and nothing happened.

“Escape isn’t that easy.” The drunk rolled over onto his back and laughed.

Kyrion grimaced and closed his eyes, finding that he was still connected to his core, so his mana wasn’t sealed, but the place was warded against magical interference.

Placing his hand to his black hair, Kyrion ruffled it, and its color shifted back to its straight and red form. A scowl adorned his face. They knew who he was, so what was the point of hiding? Meh Thod spoke first. The actor bowed. “You must be the real Red Bear.”

“Just a passing resemblance, I assure you.” Kyrion lied as his hands dug around in the rubble.

Kyrion sent a query to his earth spirit. “Can you scan this building? I’m looking for a way out. Preferably without tipping my hand and walking through the front door.”

“So this is a guard house cell. You sure ask me to scan the nicest places. Casting Grid…” Karl said with some sarcasm.

“I know right?”

“...” Karl did not reply.

“Karl?”

“Large mineral deposits detected. Possibility of another dungeon buried sixty feet below under layers of dirt and granite. I detect artificial lifeforms in said location, one humanoid. Lots of gems for material use. I recommend looting this area for minerals. This dungeon seems to be gold ranked. Middle-high practitioner level in difficulty. It will be hard if you go alone.”

“How do I get down?” Kyrion asked.

“I have already altered the runes to accept your ability to sink into the earth. This is very amateurish work. While down there you’ll have a solid six to eight hours to explore.”

“I see.” Kyrion crossed his arms and spoke aloud.

“You see what?” The thief asked.

“Tim? Can you fight?”

“That’s not my name.” The pickpocket grimaced.

“You look like a Tim, so you are now Tim. Unless you want to give me a birth name.” Kyrion waved his hand as though the matter was trivial.

“Fine…What do you want then?” Tim scowled.

“Can you fight? Are you a spirit master?”

“I’m a peak fledgling, I haven’t gotten what I needed to transition into practitioner yet. I can move shadows and use them to attack and hide.”

“How old are you?” Kyrion asked immediately

“Seventeen. Wait why does….”

Kyrion scratched his chin. “Have you been approached by any tailors?”

“Yes? But what would clothing makers have to teach me?”

“Figures. Anyhow, I have a great opportunity for you to earn some legal money. Though you won’t be getting any sleep here tonight.”

“You have a way out of here?” Tim asked.

“Not directly. This is literally what I said it is an opportunity to earn some money while here. When do the people come to let you loose?”

“The magistrate see’s new cases every five days. So if you did something serious then you’ll be here to rot until then. It’s their version of rehabilitation.”

“And if you’re innocent?” Kyrion asked.

“Didn’t say the system was perfect. The drunk will probably be gone by morning as public intoxication isn’t strictly magistite worthy. Neither are bar fights. He’s probably here until he sobers up. Same with the actor being picked up mistakenly. Given that you were probably the target.”

“And you?”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Five day’s they say I robbed a noble. They really want me to rot.”

“Did they confiscate what you took?”

“It’s possible they found it. But unlikely. Why am I telling you this?”

“I have a way to make it seem as though you were here the whole time while we go make some money. Do you have a way to store goods without them being visible?”

“No. I don’t just have this tunic, they confiscated all my weapons and armor. Didn’t they do the same to you?”

Kyrion looked at his loose-fitting clothes. All that had been taken was his cloak. They did check him thoroughly but didn’t take much. As Kyrion never kept much on him.

“Didn’t have much to get taken.” Kyrion tossed a seed into the air, and a plant grew from a ball in the ceiling.

“I highly doubt that.”

“Grab my hand and hold your breath.”

“I didn’t..”

A plant-like film covered the two, and then various vines grew on their bodies, forming into a skin-tight covering. The vines then fell to the ground and began to gain shape, becoming more like the two who had been covered.

During this process, Kyrion and Tim sunk into the ground and disappeared.

Twenty, thirty, fifty feet, sixty. Kyrion popped down inside a cave with very poor oxygen circulation. Immediately he used wind mana to filter it and convert it into something breathable.

Tim was actively wheezing as he struggled to his feet.

“Eat this.” Kyrion handed him a white berry.

“What’s this?” Tim asked.

“A fresh air fruit. It allows the consumer to breathe underwater or in areas with poor oxygen content for twelve hours. The effect fades gradually and you will need to take another before it completely fades.”

“Did you bring me down here to hold me over a barrel?” The rogue looked for a way out.

“Nope. I may need some assistance. I can give you two weeks worth of those berries right now.”

“Where am I going to keep them and how do I know they won’t go bad?”

“Question after question. Can’t you just give me some blind faith?”

The pickpocket looked at him skeptically.

“Fine. Do you know how to bind to equipment?” Kyrion pulled out a sack before drawing a ritual circle on the ground.

Tim began to cough.

“Eat the berry.”

Tim looked into Kyrion’s eye.

Kyrion consumed a white berry in front of him. “See? Not poisonous.”

Tim seemed to take that as truth and ate the berry. His symptoms immediately felt as he took a deep breath.

“So you’ll give me more than enough to survive.”

“Yes. Nod can you put your blood on the circle?”

Tim bit his thumb and let his blood drip into the circle.

“Now what?”

Kyrion threw a sack into the circle.” Send some mana into the circle and say bind.”

Tim sent some mana into the circle, causing it to emit a shadowy black flame. “Bind?”

The sack disappeared.

“Where did it go?”

“It’s bound to you. All you need to do is call for it and the bag will appear in your hand. The bag doesn’t increase in size like it would for someone with a matching affinity but it will let you haul some loot undetected. While someone can’t erase a binding they can keep you from calling it. Those manacles were tools capable of doing so.”

“But you weren’t as trapped by those things as you appeared.”

“There are tricks that I can’t teach you.” Kyrion rotated his wrist 360 degrees.

“Your double jointed.” Tim stated.

“It isn’t natural. Had to shatter my wrist multiple times to get it perfect.” Kyrion shrugged.

“Are you some type of surgeon?”

“What makes you ask that?” Kyrion narrowed his vision.

“The way you move and speak. I once knew a physician with similar mannerisms. I tried to steal medicine from him only to get caught. After a scolding he gave me what I needed for free.”

“Yet you’re still a thief.”

“I don’t steal from healers.” Tim stated.

“Good to know. I’ll hold you to that.” Kyrion pulled out a staff covered in a glowing moss that emitted enough light to fill the room. Various glittering crystals filled the room of various sizes, shapes, and colors.

“Did you get yourself arrested for this?” Tim asked.

“No. I just can’t sit still. When I sensed that there was something I could do to pass the time well.”

“So you’d rather spend your time mining gems and stuff over relaxing?”

“That isn’t relaxing. Like I said, my time is too precious for me to waste time in a stinky cell doing nothing.” Kyrion lied. He knew that his enemies were up to something, and if he could convince them to think he used a decoy to escape, then life would be much simpler.

“Why did you leave the other two up there?”

“A game of numbers. As you said they should be out shortly. Also, that old man is an expert rank spirit master. Either he drank something very hard or he’s pretending to be drunk. The other guy is just a normal human with some muscle. He is exactly who he said he was.”

“How can you tell that?”

“I can sense a vast well of power leaking subtlely from the old man’s body. Either he’s doing it on purpose as a warning or he’s lost control and can’t hide his core anymore. Thod, on the other hand, smelled as though he ate a hefty bit of asparagus.”

“Asparagus?”

“It has a distinct smell when the consumer is scared. That effect is reduced greatly when consumed by anyone with mana.”

“Wait. He didn’t!” Tim seemed to figure it out.

“Moving on. Do you know how to use a pickaxe?”

“I don’t but I’m willing to learn.”

“Good. You get to keep everything you mine.” Kyrion educated Tim on the ways of mining. It was eerily similar to farming. In Kyrion’s opinion, only more muscle and finesse were required when avoiding precious gems.

“I think I have a hold of it.”

“Good. I’ll lock us in until we clear out this area.” Kyrion raised his hands, and an earthen barrier rose from the ground cutting off the one exit from the area.

“What was that?”

“There are monsters down here. I’m putting up a barricaid so that we can work freely. We aren’t here to challenge the dungeon. We’re here to loot its untapped mines.”

“Are you sure there are no monsters?”

“Ninety percent sure. We can rotate watches, but I’d prefer it if you trusted my warning.” Kyrion began pacing around the tunnel, slowly expanding his senses to encompass the next few tunnels in the mine.

After the first four hours of work, Tim needed a break, and Kyrion was his turn to start mining. Unlike the pickpocket, Kyrion had an earth affinity, and with it, he could easily pull the stones from the wall, making an unorthodox but efficient method of obtaining rare gems. Though with this method, it was only a matter of time before he managed to clear the corridor.

“That has to be unfair.” Tim said as he sat on a boulder.

“Its why I let you go first. Should have been six or so hours. I’m going to check on the dummies.”

“Dummies?”

“The body doubles.” Kyrion sighed.

“Ah. Why?”

Kyrion closed his eyes and checked on his clones, only to find that they were mostly inoperable, which meant someone or something had killed them. That didn’t matter as much as he began to draw a square in the sand.

“This isn’t good.” Kyrion muttered as silvery mana flowed from his fingers.

“What isn’t good?”

The square began to glow and float out of the ground, and a scene appeared before him.

“What happened?” Tim watched the screen appear in both awe and worry.

“Something disabled our doubles. Yet my device is still in working order.”

“Device?”

“It’s a plant that can record and transmit sound and pictures. It’s something a friend of mine helped me develop. Sound was simple, the picture not so much.”

Tim looked at the scene in horror. Blood was everywhere, limbs and a few primarily whole corpses. One of which belonged to Tim, although it was just a severed head with no body. The old man lay slumped against a wall asleep while Meh Thod was sitting in front of them, panic in his eyes. Kyrion’s double had nothing remaining of it anywhere. It could have been taken.

“The guards killed me? No they tried to kill me. This has to be a lie right?” Tim began to panic.

“Doesn’t seem like it. We need to get out of the city.”

“But the kids. If they know who I am then they’re in danger.”

“Are you a father or something?” Kyrion stopped and eyed his peer.

“No, just some orphans I take care of. People don’t donate enough to the orphanage so I took it upon myself to help feed my family.” Tim stated.

Kyrion’s eyes seemed to roll audibly. “So you have baggage.”

“Who doesn’t?” Tim scowled.

“Why couldn’t you have been a simple pickpocket. Now I’m emotionally invested.”

“Sorry for having a reason to steal from the rich. They rarely even notice. And with what I have now I won’t have to steal ever again.” Tim hugged his visibly empty bag of gems.

“Please don’t say that.” Kyrion sighed.

“Why?”

“Because we need to find another way out. While I could go back the way we came doing so will require me to show myself and given that they thing that I’ve been captured then it’s safe to assume that a quick resurface would cause trouble.”

“How do you know so much about hiding from guards?”

“I have caused a bit of trouble in my time at school. You could call escaping such situations a common occurrence. What’s surprising is the fact that there is a dungeon here that isn’t frequented much. Gems don’t build up quickly which means whatever makes this place its home has been isolated for a long time. While escape is a necessary evil, exploration and looting could be a once in a lifetime chance at riches.”

“What about food? The berry’s won’t fill us up.”

“I have a month’s worth of rations that can be stretched if necessary. If worse comes to worse I’ll leap above ground. And we can sneak back into the capital.”

“So you can just escape. And yet you stay here and collect treasure? Why?”

“Because it’s a dangerous maneuver. Falling this far is easy. Traveling up is always tricky and if I miscalculate then squish.” Kyrion clapped his hands.

“I’d rather not be squished.” Tim stated.

“Uh huh. Do you have a weapon of choice?”

“I don’t fight often, but I know how to use a dagger for self defense.”

“Have you fought monsters before?”

“I’ve taken care of giant sewer rats before. My shadows were enough.”

Kyrion looked at the ceiling as a sheathed golden dagger appeared in his hands. “I’ll lead then stay behind me. The monsters here are in the middle practitioner rank. This will be tough alone but the two of us should be able to take them out.”

Tim took the blade and gave it a few test swings. “Lightweight and durable, but a bit too extravagant eh?”

Kyrion handed him a second golden dagger. “The owner of these shouldn’t mind.”

“So you got them from somebody?”

“That’s all I’ll say on the matter. We should get some rest.” A doorway appeared in the wall of the corridor, and Kyrion opened it.

“Oh. Is that what you were doing in the cell?” Tim seemed surprised.

“Yeah. There were wards to prevent me from doing so.”

“Well I’m glad they didn’t work then.” Tim said, a bit of worry creeping in.

“I guess you should be. Anyway, go on in, we start after breakfast.” Kyrion motioned for Tim to go on through the door.

“I don’t like this. But it’s better than dying.” Tim walked through and was led to a room.

And thus ended one of the longest days of Kyrion’s life.