He held his breath and didn’t move a muscle. He was hanging from the rafters whilst the mage guards moved at a casual pace underneath him. They didn’t notice him thanks to his [Shadow Presence] skill. But if he would breathe they might notice the disturbance in the air.

The urge to breathe started to become stronger and stronger, but he exercised his willpower to keep control over his reflexes.

Finally, the guards went through the door at the end of the hallway and closed the door behind them. He waited for five counts and then smoothly let himself down from the rafters back onto the floor. He would have some time now before they would return.

His steps [Muffled] he walked to the door and studied it again. He had been at this door to the Mage’s workshop many times, studying the defenses on that door. At first look, it would appear like an ordinary high-quality wooden door. But if you were to perceive it with [Trap Sense] you would notice that there were three layers of defense on this door.

He had brought countermeasures for each ward on this door, but he wanted to check one last time before actually starting his entry, that he hadn’t missed anything. The mage was out of town on a ship somewhere on the great ocean, so when he would receive the lash back from his wards collapsing it would take him a precious few seconds to realize what happened and to open up a scrying channel to his guards to alert them.

Taking a deep breath he steadied his resolve and opened his bag of holding. From it, he took a ring, a container, and a ball. He took off his gloves and put them in the bag of holding and put on the ring. After putting the ball under his armpit he opened the small container. Shimmering dust sparkled with the magic contained within. This dust had cost him an arm and a leg to procure, but it was invaluable to dispersing magical signals, so the guards here wouldn’t be alerted until the mage would be able to send a signal.

Taking a deep breath he blew the dust from the container towards the door. It attached itself to the shields and the mana cords that would lead to the alarm anchors in the mansion. A spectacular light show to behold, but it would only last for a few moments. He had to move fast now. 

Balling his fist, he pulled back before he put all his strength into punching the first shield with the ring angled for contact with the shield. A flash of light raced from the ring across the shield, igniting the dust particles, he felt his mana draining fast, sapped from the action the ring had performed. The flash traveled outwards rapidly, when it arrived at the mana cords it was all reflected back to one point in the middle of the shield where it amassed to a small super bright spot. After a moment of shimmering and flashes of sparkles, the shield popped out of existence and the manacords wisped away.

The remaining magic dust that hadn’t burned up slowly fell down and settled on the second shield and he repeated the procedure. But now as he hit the shield, the ring crumbled into grey dust, having sapped all of his remaining mana, the dust dissolved into smoke before it could hit the ground. An acrid smell hit his nose, that of burned bone or singed hair, he wasn’t entirely sure, but he had no time to linger on such questions. Time is of the essence.

With the second shield destroyed only the third shield remained. Taking a deep breath and with a casual underhand toss, he threw the ball at the shield, and as the ball hit the shield it parted in many tiny hexagon shell fragments that embedded themselves into the shield. The fragments blazed to life with pure mana which overwhelmed the shield which exploded in a large fireball that filled the entire corridor with a roaring flame that hit the doors and rolled back.

His clothes protected him from the sudden fire blast, but his eyes still stung from the intensity of the fire. After the fire had burned out, having turned the once white Marmor decorated hallway in a soot-covered ruin, with bits and pieces of tapestry and furniture still burning he rubbed his eyes and let out the deep breath he had been holding whilst the fire raged. It would have been a bad idea to inhale those flames, something he had learned by seeing his old friend suffocating because his lungs had scarred over.

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With a quick step, he stepped towards the door, small scraps of his clothing falling off as their protection had been spent and the fabric losing its structural integrity. A hairbreadth away from the doorknob his hand froze, unsure if he really had tackled all defenses, but he had no time to waste anymore. He pushed through and turned the knob, the door opening without issue, he let his breath go, which he hadn’t realized he had been holding. He could hear footsteps running up the stairs. His time was running out he reminded himself, and with two quick steps, he was in the mage’s sanctum.

Looking around his eyes glossed over expensive-looking crystals, golden containers, and an assortment of wands that he would have loved to obtain, but his target was a special order from a client. His eyes fell upon an unassuming pouch that was stitched with runes of containment. With a few quick steps, he was near the pouch and snatched it up. He undid the strings to check the contents, but as he had barely loosened the strings he heard the hallway door splintering open. Closing his fist over the pouch he looked around the sanctum and saw closed shutters on the far wall.

Hoping the protections were only pointed outwards he sprinted towards the shutters and threw his body sideways against them and felt them snapping open. The shields on the windows were triggered by his body passing through and burned, froze, and shocked him as he went through them, unable to stop himself mid-jump. His mind blanked out from the scorching pain that went through his body as he fell the four stories down towards the street as a limp doll.

He hit the street shoulder first, and his [Last escape] skill triggered making him roll and get up his feet, his mind cleared, despite his arm hanging limp from his side and his body being partially frozen, his skin in places burned down to the flesh, and his muscles still randomly convulsing from the electricity. He checked his hand and saw he still held the pouch.

He started running down the street on his bare feet and checked over his shoulder. He saw a guard looking out the window he had just fallen from and saw him climbing on the ledge, ready to jump down after him. He tried to put more speed in his escape, trying to force struggling muscles to do his bidding. He heard the metallic boots hitting the streets behind him with a loud clang. His lungs were burning in his chest as he tried to make it to his escape route. As he had barely taken ten steps the guards were upon him. He felt cold metal slice through his chest, it didn’t hurt, strangely enough, his momentum carried him off the sword just as fast as it had entered him and he felt something tearing inside him. 

He hit the street stumbling near a drain. Now the pain flared up and he tried to scream, but only a wet gurgle escaped his throat. He tried to breathe in but he couldn’t get any air. His panic rose as he felt his body twitching in an attempt to get a breath in, as the guards assembled around him, one of them wiping down his blade with a cloth.

The contents of his newly acquired pouch had spilled out, and an assortment of gem splinters lay strewn before his eyes. He saw them glistening in the starlight as it seemed as if his vision grew darker around the edges. He tried to reach for them with a shaky hand, but an iron boot stepped on his hand, and leather-gloved hands started picking up the splinters carefully. His vision dimmed and he saw how his blood slowly trickled towards the drain, carrying with it one very tiny gem fragment, barely larger than a grain of sand.

As his vision was nothing more than a small speck of light he saw how the grain went over the edge. Darkness was now all over him and he felt a warmth slowly spreading through him.

[Ritual of reactivation started]

[Ritual 1 out of 4 completed: Voluntary Sacrifice]

[Three days remaining for ritual completion]

Surprise shot through his mind before the final notification shot through this mind, but sadly nobody would be there this time to resurrect him, as the guards would surely make sure his body would be disposed of beyond means of recovery.

[You have died]