Asher spent the next hour learning all he could about Eight and the Guild from Draken before the gang leader told him he had other business he needed to attend to. He welcomed Asher to stop by again later if he wanted to continue their chat, but asked him to please set up an appointment first.

To Asher's shock, Draken surprised him by actually reaching out to shake his hand. While doing so wasn't an entirely foreign concept in this world, prolonged physical contact with others was a gesture more so reserved for family members or those one had a particularly close relationship with, as there were any number of dangerous skills that required a firm touch to activate. He didn't know if this was Draken's way of apologizing for failing to show up with the rest of the coalition, or him trying to show that he wanted them to forge a strong, working relationship with one another. Either way, he barely had time to think before he accepted the handshake almost by reflex.

In that split second, Asher hesitated for only a moment before activating Eternal Mark and placing a mark on Draken. The gang leader had been nothing but respectful to him up until now, and he felt a little bad about betraying the man's trust like this, but it wasn't as if his skill was harmful in any way. He could always remove the mark at any point without Draken even knowing it was there in the first place, and he had a hunch that having a mark on such a powerful man would come in handy someday.

After his frantic search for Rosh within Loratta's crumbling compound and the discovery that he could Recall to his already placed marks, he'd come to the realization that he should be using his Eternal Mark more liberally. Four was his current limit, but immediately after placing this mark, he received a welcome surprise.

Eternal Mark - lvl 15

At this point, he had marks on Brian, Samantha, Kree, and Draken. Yet placing a fourth mark on Draken didn't give him that same, bloated feeling he'd received back during testing. From that alone, he was pretty confident that he could squeeze out at least one more mark now that his skill had gone up to level 15.

Making sure Kree was still behind him, Asher left Draken's base of operations and headed toward an inn the man had recommended. Seeing as it was within Draken's territory, Asher felt relatively safe about letting Kree stay there. It wasn't until he'd taken care of food and lodging for the thief for the next week that Asher brought him up to the small room he'd rented and sat him on the bed.

"Listen, I know I said my only demand was that I not kill anyone…" Kree started, clearly looking alarmed at the fact that Asher had only bothered to rent a room with a single bed.

"I won't be staying with you," Asher said, rolling his eyes at the clearly relieved look on Kree's face. "I've got my own place for the night, and I've got my own stuff to take care of, so I'll only be checking in sporadically. But I already have a job for you. I'll admit it's a bit dangerous, so I'll double your pay. With a bonus depending on how well you can carry it out."

Kree looked a bit pensive at the sound of danger, but his eyes all but bugged out of his head when he heard he'd be earning two hundred shards a day, with a potential for more. "What do you need?"

"I got a lot of information from Draken regarding the Guild, but even he admitted that he tries to keep his nose clean from the darker sides of the city. What I need is for you to go sleuthing around and find me some of their members, preferably higher ranked ones. Think you can manage that?"

Even as he made the ask, Asher winced as he realized he was repeating the exact same steps that had led to Rosh getting kidnapped and tortured at Loratta's hand. And if Kree ended up getting discovered, he had a feeling the Guild would be even less tolerant than Loratta had been.

But to his surprise, Kree eagerly nodded, all but jumping at the opportunity.

"Sleuthing, I can do," he grinned, looking relieved Asher hadn't asked him to try and fight someone. "In fact, it was a few months back, but the Guild actually reached out to offer me a chance to try and join their ranks when word of my element started getting around. I turned them down of course, because I don't kill, but I think I know where I can start looking. They gave me an address and said if I was ever interested, I could check it out."

"Seriously?" Asher blinked, unable to believe his luck. Granted, there was a good chance the Guild had moved their testing grounds since they'd approached Kree, but at least it was a start. He supposed it made sense that a bunch of assassins would take interest in a man capable of transforming himself into a shadow. "That's great! Just be careful, alright? Like I said, I can track your position, and I'll even know if you get hurt. But I'd rather not have to bail you out. I'm good at killing, not so much retrieving."

"Got it," Kree nodded, looking a bit surprised at his concern. "If I learn something, how should I get into contact with you?"

"I'll come to you every so often," Asher said, deciding it would be easier than trying to coordinate regular meetups or anything like that. "It might be a few days until we next meet, so take these for now." Tossing him six hundred shards, Asher had to stifle a chuckle as Kree just stared at him with his mouth agape, silently absorbing the shards into his body.

"Stay safe, and good luck," Asher repeated, nodding as he closed the door behind him and took off on his second errand.

Time to pay Rosh a quick visit.

The ground floor of the inn was loud and filled with people stopping by for an early dinner, and Asher spotted what looked like more than one of Draken's elites enjoying a drink as they laughed with friends. The elites were always easy to pick out, as they tended to look like battle-hardened warriors most of the time, and the few that didn't almost always had three elements to their name, showing they were more dangerous than they looked.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Identify - Lvl 18

Guess I should make sure I have enough shards to evolve my skills as they hit the level cap, Asher realized, thinking about how Complete Resilience was already waiting patiently for him to dump a hundred thousand shards into it as well. I don't really have the time to farm heavy boars right now, so hopefully some of the Guild members I end up taking care of like to hoard shards.

Slipping out into the far quieter street, Asher followed Draken's directions, quickly finding himself at a completely different inn a good mile down the road. He'd contemplated placing Kree in this one originally, but after everything he'd put Rosh through with Loratta, he wasn't about to drag the man straight into another giant mess without at least asking him first.

Deciding to at least have a little bit of fun while he was here, Asher couldn't help but walk around to the back of the inn and finding the wall corresponding to Rosh's room. Draken had gone so far as to even tell him the room he'd put Rosh up in, so Asher grinned as, after poking a head in to make sure it truly was Rosh's room and that he wouldn't be interrupting anything, he stepped in and let his skill drop. Throwing up his Spatial Lock, he made it so noise wouldn't pass through the skill before he called out perhaps a tad louder than necessary.

"Hey there!"

Asher tried not to laugh as Rosh actually screamed, smacking his knees into the desk he was working at as he tried to leap from his chair and all but toppled over. Asher managed to catch the man just in time, and Rosh stared up at him, blinking as he realized who had broken into his room.

"Asher?!" he gasped, quickly righting himself and giving him both an annoyed glare and relieved smile. "Thank the realms you're alright! I thought you were dead, and I couldn't believe it when I got your letter! …but did you really have to scare me like that? The room has a door you know! What if you gave me a heart attack after going through all that effort to save me from Loratta?"

"It's good to see you too, Rosh," Asher smiled. He wasn't sure if it was just Brian and Samantha rubbing off on him, but Asher surprised the former instructor by pulling him in for a quick hug. Rosh was one of the few friends he'd actually made in this world after all, and the last time he'd seen him the man had only just recovered from being tortured. "I hear you're working for Draken now?"

"Yes! Would you believe he pays a fair wage, and doesn't ask me to stick my neck out for him?" Rosh drawled, trying his best to look annoyed, before being betrayed by his own smile. "Turns out when you run what's now the largest gang in the city, there are a lot of moving parts you need to keep track of. He doesn't even care about my element, he hired me because of my experience with logistics. Can you believe that?!"

"That's great, Rosh," Asher laughed, happy to see the man so excited to have a life again. "I know I apologized in the moment when I found you, but we didn't have all that much time together before Loratta's compound started collapsing. I just wanted to apologize again-"

"Asher, before you came along, I was stuck trailing after Latch and pointing out people for him to stab," Rosh scoffed. "I'll admit getting kidnapped and tortured was less than pleasant, but I told you, I have evolved pain resistance, and I knew I'd be able to heal just about anything Loratta did to me once you figured out a way to get me out of there. I'd go through that all over again if it meant ending up here, once again working an actual job and being off the streets. In fact, I kind of have to stay off the streets," Rosh admitted, clearing his throat and looking embarrassed. "The one downside to everything that happened was that Loratta took my amulet away during all the torture, and I imagine it was crushed in the compound's collapse. Until Draken can find me a new one, I need to stay out of sight. Never know who might be wandering around with a skill that would let them see my forbidden element."

Hearing that Rosh never doubted he'd find a way to get him out of Loratta's clutches was almost enough to bring a tear to his eye, and Asher blinked as he realized there was at least one way he could show how sorry he was.

"You know, I may or may not have picked up an old trinket after taking down Loratta," he said, slowly taking off his new necklace and holding it out to him. "Remember how this all started because I asked you to find an artifact capable of hiding my elements from a truthseeker?"

Rosh's eyes went wide as he realized what he was getting at, and he gingerly reached out to accept the offered necklace. Slipping it on over his neck, he gasped as he received the notification of the skill.

"Tier two?!" he exclaimed, his eyes following the invisible text only he could see. "Asher, this will hold up against just about anything! After everything we went through to get it, you're just going to give it to me?"

"Don't forget, I have a weird skill that can copy artifacts," he reminded Rosh, seeing the spark of recognition in his eyes as he remembered lending Asher his original amulet for a brief moment for him to copy. "I've already copied the necklace, so there's really no point in me holding onto it at this point. Giving it to you is the least I can do."

Rosh was at a complete loss for words as he fingered the enchanted necklace, staring at the fine, black chains with an expression bordering on love. After a long moment, he looked up, wiping away the tears in his eyes. So long as he wore that necklace, the fact that he was in possession of a forbidden element was all but irrelevant. For the first time since Loratta had forced him to take it into his body, he was finally free of the burden.

"I'd rather not be pulled into another war between gangs," Rosh said, laughing and sobbing at the same time as he was overcome with emotion. "But if you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to ask, alright?"

"You'll be the first person I'll go to," Asher smiled, the sight of his friend experiencing such relief filling his own chest with warmth.

"Well now, that's enough of that!" Rosh said after a moment, clearing his throat and doing his best to control himself as he shook his head and slapped his cheeks a few times. "I shouldn't be crying! We should be celebrating! After all these years, I finally have my full life back!"

"I can probably squeeze in time for one drink," Asher grinned as he dropped his Spatial Lock. He wasn't much of a drinker, but he couldn't very well turn Rosh down in the state he was in.

"You're damn right you can," Rosh said, grabbing his arm and flinging the door open. "Innkeeper, two mugs of your finest ale!" he shouted, not caring in the slightest about the strange looks the two of them were getting.

"Tonight is a night for celebration!"

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