While the carriage rolled along through the city, Roderick reflected on the evening's success. His current Path had given him much grief, but now he felt like he had an idea of how to take the next step, if not the next several.

Thinking about that, he summoned his Status.

Name

Current Path

Steps

Roderick

Karmic Infiltrator (4)

Mask: When assuming another identity people are more likely to ignore any inconsistencies.

Adaptive: Pick up mannerisms and quirks of speech more easily when imitating the people surrounding you.

Reading of Fate: Understand relationships between people easier while reading their karmic strings (requires the ability to see karmic strings).

Karmic Overlay: Build karmic ties more quickly when assuming another identity, making others trust you faster (requires fundamental ability to alter karmic strings).

Finished Path

Description

Cornerstone Step

Gambler of Fate

You have walked the path of a gambler to the end. When embarking upon a new path retain the Cornerstone Step “Roll of the Dice”.

Roll of the Dice: Randomize the Fate of every person near you (yourself included). This effect persists until you leave the area or perish.

Ethereal Merchant

You have walked the path of a merchant to the end. When embarking upon a new path retain the Cornerstone Step “A Bargain Struck”.

A Bargain Struck: Enter a bargain with a willing person or group. Anything can be part of the bargain, not merely goods and services. Failing to adhere to the stated terms will put the offender in karmic debt.

Diviner of the hidden Tapestry

You have walked the path of a diviner to the end. When embarking upon a new path retain the Cornerstone Step “Gaze upon the Tapestry”.

Gaze upon the Tapestry: You are able to see the karmic strings and fate that bind every person in this realm.

Taking the Path of an Infiltrator had been a gamble on his part, but he felt it was justified. He had other options, of course; there were always a number of Mage or Warrior-related Paths he could take, but if he was honest, fighting was not something he was particularly talented in.

Taking out two intoxicated dock workers while having the benefit of surprise was one thing; fighting someone on the Path of a Warrior, or even someone who had already completed multiple Warrior adjacent Paths, was another. He could hold his own in a quick and brutal scuffle, where daggers and fists shone, and he could probably turn around a bad situation using some tricks he had learned over the years, not the least of them “Roll of the Dice,” but if he was in a situation where that was needed, something had probably gone wrong.

No, it was better if he just wasn't noticed in the first place. If he could fit into any situation, there was no need for excessive violence. That is where he could make use of his other abilities, “Gaze upon the Tapestry” feeding him information, showing who to avoid and who to target, “A Bargain Struck” allowing him to take advantage of the situation by making deals through which he gained more than he lost.

Perhaps his next Path would be that of a Thief, a Rogue, or even an Assassin. Something that could make use of his unnatural dexterity, that would make it even easier to fade into the background and remain unseen.

Roderick was brought out of his musings when the carriage stopped; they had arrived. He opened the door and hopped out, taking in his estate. It was on the smaller side of houses, all things considered, but nonetheless expensive enough to warrant its place on this side of The Wall. Stone reliefs decorated the walls and the doors were made of beautiful dark wood that was imported from the south.

Jonathan informed him that he would park the carriage and settle the horses, so Roderick went around the back and entered by himself. The estate was quiet during this time in the night, and even during the day, there were only three servants to keep it lively. Jonathan, of course, who had traveled alongside Roderick for nigh on two decades now and who would follow him once he left the city, as well as two that Roderick had hired two weeks ago when he had arrived here. Rose kept the house reasonably clean, and Mark cooked the food.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

Roderick had bought the estate more than 30 years ago when he first came through this city, though as far as anyone else was concerned, the current resident was Roderick junior, rather than the man himself. Otherwise, a perceptive observer might have asked why he looked to be in his mid-twenties and talking about his abilities was one of the things he avoided as much as he could.

He was fairly certain that Jonathan had an idea of at least a couple of Roderick's abilities, but neither of them talked about it and as far as he was concerned, that was how it could and should stay.

The merchant made his way up to his room where he found a meal that Mark must have prepared was placed in front of his door. He smiled before eating and finally falling asleep.

When Roderick woke up it was halfway between morning and noon. He left his bed and dressed himself, whereupon he went downstairs in the search for food.

Jonathan was awake, of course, though Roderick was almost certain that the man needed to sleep sometimes, and greeted him while looking up from his book. “Ah master Roderick what a fine morning today. I shall tell Mark to prepare your breakfast.”

“Good morning to you Jonathan, do so please. Though make sure that the portion is not too big, I ate just before I fell asleep tonight.”

While Jonathan made his way towards the kitchen, Roderick picked up a book himself. He had learned to read late in his life, but since then he made sure to always have a book handy. It was a rule that had proven quite beneficial over the years. Mostly he informed himself about the Arcane, though without ever having taken a Mage or Arcanist Path he knew cantrips at best. Lighting a campfire or conjuring a pocketful of sand were both things that had made his life easier in the past, however, so he kept at it.

Soon after, the food came and went, and Roderick made his way to leave: “Jonathan, I will go to the bathhouse and after that I'll have a meeting with a client. This evening is reserved for my special client again, so I shall probably not return until tonight. Be ready to pick me up at the usual place, though should I fail to show up, don't worry, the meeting might very well get … out of hand.”

Roderick was fairly certain the other servants thought he was meeting a clandestine lover, but he could hardly talk about his real intentions with them listening. Jonathan merely raised his eyebrows when Roderick mentioned the possibility of being gone all night and answered all the same: “Very well, good luck with your meetings master Roderick. Should you have need of me I shall be here until tonight.”

With that, Roderick stepped out onto the street and made his way to the bathhouse. On his way there he had the feeling that someone was watching him, and gazing at his own karma, a dozen new strings had been added. They were incredibly dull, which meant that only one person was aware of the other, no real relationship had been formed yet.

Roderick frowned, this could very well mean trouble. Had somebody seen him yesterday when he killed the muggers or maybe even when he made his way over the wall? He shook his head, he had no time for this today, tomorrow he could perform a divination to see if it would become a problem. When he came to the bathhouse he gave the clerk some coin and continued on with his day, keeping an eye on the inert karmic strings.

Come evening, Roderick was again on his way to the lower part of the city. He kept his head down and no guards attempted to stop him when he left the richer districts. Unlike the other way around, it was not much regulated who left those, especially with him looking the part. Honestly he was fairly excited for this evening. Depending on the position he could attain in Tyrus's gang he might very well advance his path by a full step and he had just left an incredibly dull hour-long meeting discussing the prices of exotic fabrics.

This part of being a merchant never interested him much, no it was the truly rare items he sold, the truly magical bargains he struck that led to him choosing that Path, but alas he had to play his part.

While the sun was still lighting the way, the alleyways didn't seem quite so sinister and some children were even still running around, chasing a poor cat.

Even in this neighborhood few people would dare attack someone in the daylight, much less in front of potential observers. While the guard patrols were sporadic here, it was not truly lawless. Many of the gangs made sure that the civilians in their territories had protection, after all, those civilians guaranteed that the money was flowing.

Roderick arrived in front of the Silken Touch just as the sun set. It was clearly a brothel, though a rather well-kept one for these parts. The facade of the building was not crumbling, and the near vicinity was free of both the homeless and the ever-present trash.

In front of the building, two stern-looking men were standing guard, who stopped Roderick when he tried to enter. “Silken Touch is closed today, ya gonna have to look somewhere else.”

Roderick nodded at that, “Roderick's the name. Erik invited me in, we gamble in the Drunken Sailor. He told me I could find dice here, and maybe a job.”

In response to that, the man's face softened “Aye, many people looking for work these days, and Tyrus is always looking for more muscle,” at that his eyes swept over Roderick and he nodded satisfied, “Gonna go get Erik just to make sure, but then ya can go in.”

He entered the establishment, and Roderick made some conversation with his partner. The man seemed alright, having lost his prior job due to an injury to the shoulder and now making enough money for his family by taking the odd job Tyrus had available.

Soon Erik made his way to the entrance, “Aye, that's Roderick alright. Come on, follow me inside, I'm gonna show ya around.”

The room they entered was a bar and it had definitely been cleaned just a while ago. Barely dressed women made their rounds, ensuring that the booze flowed freely, while giggling exaggeratedly whenever one of the men made a comment that could even remotely be considered witty.

All in all, there were 9 men, Tyrus's son immediately apparent due to his expensive clothes. Some of them seemed to be plenty drunk already, slurring their words and groping any of the barmaids in their vicinity. Roderick smiled, this was gonna be easy.

He made his way over to a table, where Erik introduced him to three of his colleagues and soon both booze and coin began to flow.

Just as one man was in the middle of recounting an obviously fake story, something alerted Roderick, who started cautiously looking around. “So there I was, all 13 bandits knocked out and the caravan saved, “ the man continued, when suddenly the door was thrown open, alongside with one of the two guards who landed heavily on a table.

That was when Roderick noticed what had set him off in the first place. The new karmic strings seemed to end just outside of the establishment; whoever was looking for him had arrived.

The whole place was suddenly silent, just as a group of men entered.

They were all wearing a sword at their waist, accompanied with leather armor, that covered their whole bodies. The most striking thing, however, were the white capes that seemed to shine even in the dim light each of them wore; the sign that these were templars of the goddess Mardell.

As the room erupted in noise and weapons were produced by both the gang members and the brothel staff Roderick was left thinking. To his knowledge he had not provoked Mardell's ire, there was no reason these templars should be hostile, but he made a point of never assuming someone would not want to kill him.

They were too many to fight, however, and should blood be spilled tonight the whole situation could escalate quickly. That meant he had few ways of resolving this situation without placing himself in harm's way. He grimaced, this was definitely going to leave him sore for days, but it seemed that it was time to flex a few of his abilities.

Plunging deeper into the strings of karma than any mortal ever should, he carefully took hold of every present person's karma. His eyes, usually a piercing green, turned milky white and sparks seemed to rise out of them. Just as someone was about to make the mistake of attacking a full squad of templars, Roderick took all those strings of karma, twisted and then pulled.

His next word seemed to permeate the room, being heard by everyone despite being spoken softly: “Stop.”

Following that, all movement ceased, it seemed like the people were frozen in time. An eerie silence descended and Roderick's face took on an unhinged grin that was only partly due to the performance. He slowly stood up, the only sound in the whole establishment his chair scratching on the floor.

Every eye turned to him and the show was on. It was time for Shock and Awe.