Chapter 2 – Hidden Within

Everything was set in place.

Max waited for the perfect moment when the stall was busiest.

Illias gave him a massive, gap toothed grin from the other side of the street.

It didn’t long until the moment they had been waiting for arrived.

A rush of noble kids and the large entourages that followed surged toward the merchant stall. All dressed in finery, silk, gold, jewelry, and gaudy everything. Even their shoes were likely worth more than everything Max had in his possession, including the borrowed cloak.

Each one demanded attention from the merchant and the guards.

He could hear them laugh and bemoan how bad the Skill Shards were, one going so far as to call the Class Shards the last thing he would consider even if it came at the cost of having no class at all.

Max’s anger grew with every word they said.

I need to do it now or I’m going to do something stupid to these sheltered idiots.

He raised his hand to catch Illias’s attention and then dropped it. The boy practically fistpumped out of joy and launched himself toward the mass of kid nobles and their entourage of more kids around their age. They likely had protectors around them, but none that were exactly close enough to stop someone as near as Illias and as non-threatening as him.

The red-headed boy crashed into the group, sending four of them tumbling into the merchant’s stall.

Max moved without waiting to make out what the shouts and curses were exactly or to watch the guards reaction. His eyes were solely focused on the shiny crystals that had scattered on the ground. He targeted the furthest one between them all.

Never breaking his stride as he got low and swept his target off the ground.

He felt his heart beat out of his chest.

Max kept his head down and felt the pulsing cold of the Skill Shard in his palms. He activated his System Inventory and sent it in without another second of hesitation–

A hand grabbed his shoulder.

Max tried to shrug it off, but found it impossible. He turned around to find a guard standing above him.

“Let me see your hands,” the guard said, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

Max shook and trembled. He struggled to bring his hands up even if they were empty. At any second the guard would take his head off, stab him through the chest, or worse, drag him off to the jail house like Caretaker Isabella had said.

His palms were empty.

The guard frowned and began to pat Max down. He found nothing. The man shook his head and left.

Max felt relief flood his senses.

He turned around and ran into the alleyway, swinging around for another attempt. Confidence flooded his senses as his System Inventory skill actually worked. He just hoped he had enough space to fit two of the large crystals. They were bigger than he expected once he finally got close enough to grab one.

By the time he made it back, everyone was looking away from the stall, including the guards and the merchant.

Shit…

The nobles were beating Illias.

Max considered helping. Illias was a small boy and probably couldn’t take much more of the hits, yet on the other side, his whole life depended on this moment. Him grabbing the Skill and Class Shards would allow him to become more than what he was right now. It was an opportunity he could not let escape him. He moved closer and slunk in low behind the stall instead of in front like last time. His eyes found the section that had Class Shards written on it in calligraphy and grabbed one.

No one noticed him vanish back through the alley.

He tried to send it to his System Inventory–

System Inventory full

Please level System Inventory skill to increase allotted Spacial Pocket:

Current Size: Six cubic inches

Next Level: Eight Cubic inches

Max cursed and hid it in his cloak. He had to figure out how to use it as soon as possible before someone caught him. He knew it was unrealistic to think, but his mind kept screaming that something wrong was going to happen the second he stepped away. He wanted to use the Class Shard now. There were a million possibilities of things going wrong this instant if he wasn’t careful.

He shook his head and kept running in a full sprint to get away from the scene of his crime.

I got them! I actually got them! Now I have to figure out how to use them…

Hope Illias is fine.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Max stopped for a brief moment and looked back.

He swore to somehow pay Illias for what he did for him. This was not a moment he would forget from the smaller kid for a long time coming.

Max turned around–

He grunted as he crunched his nose into what felt like a solid wall. He fell to the ground covering his face in pain, tears swelling in his eyes and streaking down his face.

“Don’t you know it’s impossible to hide a Class or a Skill Shard?” a feminine voice said.

That sobered Max up real quick.

His eyes widened and cleared, focusing on the figure standing before him. A tall lady in leather armor and a black cape stood in front of him. Her cold black pupils studied him for a moment without a single expression on her face.

“Did you really think you could escape?”

Max gaped.

Her armor was not pristine like the guards and fake guardians. They were covered in cuts and damage, yet they were high enough tier to still be preferable to new armor. Max had crashed into the armor and smashed his nose into her body hard enough to bleed and yet she hadn’t even shifted slightly.

That meant only one thing.

She was strong, impossibly strong.

A small smile cracked her stoic expression, nothing more than a tug on the corner of her lips. “Scared aren’t you? Should have thought about it before doing something so stupid. Who is dumb enough to steal a Class Shard? You apparently.”

Max blinked.

C-Class Shard…? She didn’t mention the Skill Shard.

“What Class Shard?” he tried to fish for information in case she was setting him up.

“The one in your pocket. That thing radiates mana like a ball of fire, and unless you happen to be a Fire Mage or have a particularly powerful Fire Patron Inheritance… The Class Shard’s in your cloak right now. The merchant was complaining about a Skill Shard too, but you don’t have it… and, quite frankly, I think he’s trying to get one on them noble brats.”

Skill Acquired

Theft – Level 1

Skill level Up!

Skill level Up!

Skill level Up!

…