Raz Hafsen wasn't just any common street thief. No, he was the best. At a young age he lucked into a class far beyond what he should have been capable of. The class became his moniker — Shadowhand.

He built a reputation on the street. He could lift anything from anyone. No questions asked. He worked for powerful politicians, guild officials, and, naturally, the criminal leaders who called Du'la'melio home. These days, he did more trading of information than simple theft, but he still picked pockets for fun. Why have the skills if he wasn't going to use them?

With his back to the wall near the city's northern gate, he examined his fingernails, looking nonchalant and bored. A group of people entered the city. Four people and a dog. He would have to be careful. His examination skill told him the man in the rich purple robes was far above his own level, and the dog had multiple classes.

He wasn't one to back down from a challenge though.

A quick skill and he melded into the background. When people looked at him, he would fade into the background of their awareness. It was a great skill for working in the city. Many common thieves chased invisibility, but he knew that was a fool's game. Invisibility would be a nightmare. If no one could see you, they would never get out of your way. In a busy city like Du'la'melio, he would be running into people left and right.

No, his meld skill left people subconsciously aware of him, so they stepped out of the way as he approached the group.

Raz kept a special eye on the dog. Dogs had great senses, and it would be the first to notice him if he made any mistakes. As he got close to the group, he heard the robed man talking to the others.

"Why don't you two take Jeremy and run along. You can register for the dungeon, and he can do whatever it is he does to stay employed by the guild. I assume there's a lot of begging involved. Gloria, why don't you join them too? It would be good for you to try out the dungeon. I'll find us some accommodations and register myself later."

They exchanged some more banter, the man, Jeremy, seemed to know how to get to the guild hall, and the four others split off.

Perfect, Raz thought. He had been eyeing up the man in the outrageously expensive Nether Silk Robes anyway. With gear and a level like that, he probably had a storage space, but people like that would usually keep something interesting on their person anyway.

The man was clearly a magician, so Raz didn't bother casting his usual distraction spell. A magician might resist it, or notice the effect take hold, which would have the opposite effect. No, this lift would be pure skill.

The man was whistling obnoxiously to himself when Raz passed. He came close, but didn't bump the man. He wasn't some amateur.

He turned down an alley and examined the pouch he had pulled off the man. It was a simple coin purse, but held an outrageous sum of gold coins. He would have felt bad if the man wasn't obviously wealthy.

That had been a little too easy. He used a little bit of transformation magic to change his appearance, and then left the alley. He spotted the man again. He was standing in front of an inn, examining it with a critical eye.

Time for Raz to really test himself.

"Excuse me, sir! Are you looking for a place to stay?"

The man turned brightly to Raz, giving him a pleasant smile.

"I am! Do you know this inn?"

"I'm quite familiar with most of the accommodations in the city. A man of your taste shouldn't waste his time with a place like this," Raz said. He really was familiar with the inns, and this one was less than reputable, so the man wouldn't find any deception in his words.

"Hmm. I guess I am traveling with Gloria now. Gregory and Cooper could probably sleep in a cardboard box, but maybe she would like something a little nicer. Very well! Do you have a recommendation for me? Mr…?"

"Hafsen. But please, all my friends call me Raz. I do know of a fine establishment not three blocks from here. Allow me to lead the way. To whom do I have the pleasure of showing around our fair city?" The man seemed a little higher class, so he put on the pomp. He never lied to people about his name. It was too hard to keep track of identities, and he never intended to see this man again, so it hardly mattered.

"Thank you Raz. I'm Olivander, but most of my friends call me infuriating. I never liked them much anyway, so just Olivander will do."

Raz knew his luck was bound to run out eventually. He controlled his face with the expertise he cultivated over years spent as a professional con man and middle man. Olivander Casumus. Walking into Du'la'melio like he was some traveling merchant.

It wasn't often he encountered an entirely new challenge but getting the coin purse back onto Olivander's waist without him noticing was going to be a challenge.

"Ha ha! Of course Olivander. With friends like those, who needs enemies?"

He did not miss the shadow that passed over Olivander's face, and he made a mental note. He intended to show Olivander to a fine inn, return his purse, and get as far away as he could manage, but it never hurt to get some information when he had the chance.

Olivander quickly returned to his pleasant smile.

"That is true. I have often found that I dislike having enemies. Would that I could turn them all into friends…but I digress. Please, lead on!"

Raz motioned and they set out towards the spires. The closer one came to the spires, the nicer the city became. The same was true of the skyfalls, but the spires were the focal point of the city. The inn Raz was thinking of was definitely one of the nicest ones, and he was glad he chose it after discovering the identity of his mark.

"What brings you to the city, Olivander?"

"I'm actually on a bit of a journey. I'm ultimately heading down to Mardareth, but on the way I managed to pick up a couple students. In my continuing effort to make them less awful, I thought the dungeon here in Du'la'melio would make for some excellent training."

"Of course. Certainly most of the people from out of town that I meet are trying their hands at the dungeon. Students you say? Are you a teacher?"

"Not much of one, I'm afraid. I'm a bit of a magician, and while I have trained others before, I didn't intend to do it again. Fate makes fools of us all eventually."

Doesn't it ever, Raz thought.

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"If you're looking for some more training for your students, there's a bounty on a rare monster out in the basin that might be a good match. What rank are they?"

He wanted to kick himself. He already knew what rank they were because he had seen them, and knew the guild contract would be a good match because he knew one of them was a dog.

"Both fresh Iron rank. What is the monster?"

"A fog behemoth."

"Hmm. Might be a little tough, but one of them is actually a dog! That would make it much easier to find the thing. Still, it could be rough. It sounds perfect. Thanks for the suggestion, Raz."

"Ahh, I'm glad it fits. It's not often a bounty goes up for something so rare, so I thought it was worth mentioning."

Stop digging a hole you idiot.

Olivander probably wouldn't think anything of it, unless Raz kept making a big deal out of it.

"Indeed. I think that makes this a lucky encounter."

They came to a wide and busy boulevard. Raz stopped Olivander from entering the road, holding his arm out and letting Olivander walk into it.

"Sorry, some of the drivers here will really run you down if you're not careful. You need to watch out on this street, and the wider boulevards connecting the spires to the skyfalls."

"Ah, I see. Thank you for the warning. I was a little lost in my thoughts."

They crossed without incident, and Raz made an internal sigh of relief. Olivander hadn't noticed him returning the coin purse, and they finally arrived at the inn.

"Here we are! The Golden Goose. It's the finest inn in this part of the city, and one of my personal favorites."

"Thank you, Raz. I appreciate your assistance."

"My pleasure. If you need anything while you're in the city, don't hesitate to look me up. It was a pleasure speaking with you."

They shook hands and Olivander walked towards the inn. As Raz turned to leave, Olivander called back to him.

"Oh, Raz?"

"Yes, Olivander?" he said, looking back.

"Thanks for returning my purse. To think, I was almost robbed by the infamous Shadowhand himself."

Then the former Arch-magus winked at him and walked into the inn.

* * *

When Olivander arrived at the guild hall, located in the same spire as the dungeon, he found Gregory, Cooper, and Gloria still waiting in line to register.

"Jeremy couldn't get you moved up the line?" Olivander asked.

"He said that would be against guild protocol and said we had to wait," Gregory said.

"Now you begin to see why I don't trust that man. Who actually follows the rules?"

"Olivander, I'm not sure that's the kind of attitude you should instill in your apprentices," Gloria said.

"I knew there was a reason I brought you along," he said, pointing at Gloria. "Sensibility."

Gloria just shook her head.

"You'll never believe what happened to me," Olivander continued, turning towards Gregory and Cooper. He knew they would appreciate a good story.

"What?"

"I was almost robbed by the infamous Shadowhand."

"What's a shadowhand?"

"Not what, who. Shadowhand is probably one of the most well-known criminals in the kingdom. He generally stays out of 'big' trouble, so he's never been arrested, that I know of. He mostly just steals from wealthy idiots and donates the money to charities."

"Wealthy idiots like you?" Gregory said.

"I like to think of us as a team, Gregory. You're the idiot, and I'm the wealthy one."

"What am I?"

"The adorable one!"

"I don't know why I asked to come with all of you," Gloria said, face in her hand.

"We all have to live with our mistakes, Gloria. It's just a fact of life. Now, I was recommended a fine contract for my favorite apprentices. I'm going to go get you two signed up, and then I think a quick tour of the city is in order!"

* * *

They found Jeremy after they finished up their business at the guild. He had finished well before them and was just reading a book Olivander had loaned him.

"Olivander, did you write this book?"

"What, don't be ridiculous. It says right here the author is Alexander Damascus."

Jeremy quirked an eyebrow. "It's a story about a grand wizard who saves the world from a demon that takes on the shape of a badger. It was fairly unhinged."

"Are you trying to imply something, Jeremy?"

"I think I'm past implication and onto accusation at this point."

"Who taught you such big words?"

"Are you trying to change the subject?"

"Oh look, a waterfall coming out of a hole in the sky! Isn't that interesting everyone?"

Gregory thought the conversation had been entertaining, but he was very impressed by the skyfall, as they called the waterfalls in Du'la'melio. It was easily the biggest waterfall he had ever seen. Though, growing up in a desert, that list was quite small.

The water cascaded down from the sky, and it produced a light mist that fed the plants in the park surrounding it. The water didn't so much come out of a hole in the sky as it seemed to come out of nothing.

"All this water comes from the dungeon? Or the Realm underneath the dungeon?" Gregory asked.

"In a manner of speaking. The water isn't actually being drawn from another Realm. At least, most of it isn't. It's a fairly complicated, but fascinating process. There's a whole dungeon water cycle in the city. The magic coming out of the Elemental Realm of Water is very good at moving water. There are massive scripts deep within the dungeon that take this magic and use it to collect water from all over the basin, and redeposit it here in the city.

"The whole point is that the dungeon needs to use up this magic before it does more harm to our world. These falls are tempered by the power that goes into clearing the dungeon, and is one of the reasons they regulate it so closely. When I go into the dungeon, the falls might actually turn off for a few minutes. The magic will be repurposed at that time to provide me with an appropriate challenge."

"Wait, I'm confused. What are they regulating? I thought it was to make sure too many people didn't challenge the dungeon."

"It's actually the opposite. If no one ran the dungeon for a few days, the scripts would start moving even more water. Instead of beautiful falls, you might end up with horrendous flooding in the city. Only so many people can actually challenge the dungeon in a day, since it has capacity limits, so they want to make sure they have enough powerful people going in to keep things relatively under control."

"So there are only so many slots for Iron or Copper rank challengers?"

"Precisely. After your father and I try it out, they'll probably increase the lower rank slots available for a few weeks, until the power builds back up."

They admired the falls for a little longer, exploring the park around it. Then they explored the district surrounding the Golden Goose Inn. After eating more food than they really should have, they turned in for the night.

Olivander made a mental note to find Raz sometime and thank him. He usually just portaled back to the Temerin Ranch at night, since they had suspiciously comfortable beds, but the Golden Goose was as luxurious as Raz had suggested. He sank into the plush bedding, and for the first night in a long time, forgot about all his problems.