The gears in Tom’s mind began to turn as he recalled the sequence of events in his mind’s eye, piecing together the likely conclusion.

‘He wasn’t trying to attack me, he wanted the coin pouch in my robe pocket.’

“Thief!” The woman repeated, interrupting Tom’s train of thought. Annoyed, he angled his gaze behind, wondering why she was so agitated when he had clearly subdued the petty criminal.

To his complete bewilderment, a blonde haired woman in her late twenties met his gaze, eyes clearly alit with fiery rage. Rage that was most definitely directed at him for the woman had brandished her index finger, pointing directly at him.

‘She is angry. Angry at me. Why?’

The illuminating light of realisation flickered in Tom’s gaze as he considered his position.

‘She’s in league with the thief, isn’t she?’

“Blast it all,” Tom protested under his breath, his pulse quickening as he understood the full breadth of the predicament he’d found himself in. Tom couldn’t afford to get caught here—- not moments after he’d gotten his freedom back.

Mentally uttering a word of apology for what he was about to do, Tom’s gaze firmed. Both his hands shot out, shoving the passerby dressed in a cream tunic and black breeches that had witnessed his actions earlier. From the man’s shocked expression earlier, he had definitely not witnessed the real thief’s actions and Tom couldn’t even blame him— if he had been a little less vigilant, he too would have missed the thief’s deft touch.

The passerby yelped in panic as he was sent careening into another, a young lady that seemed to be in her early twenties. Tom had been gentle with his push, so he expected no lasting harm to befall the two, but their startled cries gave him a much needed distraction. Adjusting his gait to take long, forceful steps, Tom began to muscle his way past the thick crowd.

“Coming through!” Tom bellowed, loudly enough for those in his immediate vicinity to wince.

“Out of the way, out of the way!” he shouted out as he forcefully cut past others and used his slender frame to adroitly navigate a path through particularly dense clusters in the crowd of people.

There were more than a few cries of protest, but most people didn’t seem too inclined to let the situation devolve to fisticuffs. In fact, most didn’t seem all that bothered; almost as if they were used to situations like these.

Palpable relief was visible on Tom’s visage as he finally managed to break free from the tightly packed section of the crowd, stepping into the seemingly less frequented stretch of the Nameless District’s main street.

He only allowed himself a quick glimpse at his surroundings to sate his curiosity, noting the more mundane selection of goods on display— basic provisions, clothing, household items, a variety of herbs and a selection of tools that seemed like they would be especially useful in a dungeon; namely pickaxes, shovels and pry bars.

‘I left the good stuff behind, I guess. Well, not like it matters.’

Tom took off into a mad dash, his surroundings blurring as he propelled himself forward without any hesitation. Instead of accommodating any pedestrians, he simply barrelled forward with the expectation that anyone in his way would be compelled to move aside; slowing down only when he spotted an exit— an alleyway that opened up in the gap between two small stores, hopefully leading deeper into the city’s interior.

The sound of rapid footfall landing behind him further hastened his decision; Tom had no idea why his pursuers were so persistent, but the least he could do was try to dampen their resolve a little.

The sound of shattering grass rang out as Tom toppled a heavy wooden display rack that stocked a collection of stained glass bottles that had been placed outside one of the two shops that served as a gateway to the alley.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Leaving behind a cursing shopkeeper, Tom redoubled his efforts in getting as far away from the place as possible.

The minutes passed, the scenery changing from shops to ramshackle residential huts and shacks. The accommodations were too small for anything beyond sleeping and maybe eating in. Coupled with the rush he’d seen on the market street earlier, Tom wasn’t really expecting many people to be sleeping in, but it was still a little eerie to see the residential alleyway completely deserted. Otherwise the thin wooden walls would leak at least some sound, instead of the complete silence that blanketed the area.

A byway in the form of a small dirt road opened up between what seemed to be a defunct store and a residential hut. Littered with small pebbles and clumps of dried out grass, it seemed that this particular pathway hadn’t been used in a while. Liking the thought of that, Tom slipped into the byway.

Sandwiched between the sides and backs of residential buildings, Tom was forced to take a left turn. Well, the alternative was to smash through a wooden hut, which would most definitely give away his location.

What he hadn’t expected was the sight he was confronted with upon taking that turn. Slowing down to the jog, Tom came out of the other end of the byway, only to be confronted by a…wall. A massive reinforced metal wall loomed above him, its imposing curvature casting a shadow over the Nameless District. Thirty metres of brick and metal shielded the Academic City, Renovia, from the outside world— its sheer magnitude dwarfing every other structure in the city by far. Tom had been so focused on escaping he hadn’t considered his destination. Though he hadn’t exactly got much time to sightsee, either.

Thankfully there were no guards stationed at the border, not that there was any need for them; only ten metres of barren land that separated Tom from the effectively impenetrable wall.

‘Well, at least I got away.”

The sound of rapid footsteps bouncing off the ground sounded out behind him.

Tom’s expression hardened, his eyes glimmering with indignation.

‘Enough was bloody enough.’

“Fool’s Gold, Mimic,” Tom whispered under his breath, watching calmly as a replica of the [Revenant Claw] phased into reality, the [Deck Cards] in his left hand getting sucked into the gauntlet.

His right hand stretched into his inventory, withdrawing one of two [Nether Blade’s] in his possession.

Seconds later, his pursuers finally revealed themselves.

The thief he had subdued earlier. The blonde woman who had framed him. And a third, black haired man with a nasty scar running down his right cheek.

“What do you want?” Tom questioned, his voice uncharacteristically low as he tightly gripped a blade that would make anyone else at his level go insane.

The de facto leader of the group, namely, the black haired man that had a card palmed in his left hand and a serrated long dagger in his right. At least Tom assumed that he was the leader, the self-assuredness and confidence in his gait as he stepped in front of his two compatriots echoing a calm that made him seem in control of the situation.

“You….,” The black-haired man began. “...are from the Noble District.”

Once again, his words were spoken with absolute certainty.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tom retorted, clearly not intimidated by the man. Not after the sort of people he had dealt with and fooled.

“I saw you enter the town from the main gateway,” The thief cried out, the anger in his tone palpable. Apparently he hadn’t been coping well after taking a knee to his abdomen.

“I was summoned by a noble for my speciality. If you try anything funny, the lord will hear about it,” Tom deflected, the lie flowing with a pompous tone that made it hard to doubt its veracity.

The black haired man chuckled. “You don’t get it, do you? The people who are summoned to the Noble District go through us by paying a tribute when they return. And you? I’ve never seen your face before.”

Tom’s expression darkened.

“You must have really messed up if they threw you back here with the common rabble,” The blonde woman’s sinister voice rang out, grating at his ears.

“Do you want to fight?” Tom asked, unfazed.

“Fight?” The black haired man muttered aloud, musing upon the rhetorical question. “Well, I really don’t think you’re anyone important but… do you know why this place is called the lawless district?”

Tom remained silent.

“Well you see, the nobles don’t really care what happens here as long as they get their taxes on time. We’re mostly from different parts of the Syrelore Kingdom after all, so they don’t really see us as their subjects,” he explained, his tone not betraying the hostility Tom was expecting.”The situation, of course, takes a turn if someone turns up dead. Having Royal Knights crawling around this area hurts my business interests, so I’d rather we resolve this amicably.”

“Resolve?” Tom muttered aloud, the question in his tone obvious.

“We were just out for your money, but you hurt my friend Aelek here. Leave the sword and that gauntlet here and we’ll let this slide,” The black haired man proposed.

“Zakeran!” The thief, Aelek, protested, clearly unsatisfied with the resolution.

“Shut up, Aelek,” The blonde woman interjected.

“So? What will it be?” Zakeran asked, the threat in his tone obvious.

Tom gazed into Zakeran’s eyes unblinkingly.

“Blade Manifestation,” Tom bellowed, his actions intended to serve as his response.