Elias shuffled out of his room, a b draped over his shoulders like a tattered cape. His hair was a mess, and a yawn stretched his face as he stumbled into their living room. His eyes squinted against the early m light filtering through the window, and he blinked sluggishly at the sight before him.

  Rael stood in front of a board, its surface covered in a web of hastily scrawled notes and lines eg various names and symbols. Words like Golden Token, Rite of Snty, and Misdire? stood out among the anized chaos.

  Elias rubbed his eyes, staring at the board as if it might rearraself into something more sensible. "M..." His voice trailed off before he straightened, his brows lifting. "Whoa. Did I wake up ih tury or something? You look like you're about to solve the murder of the Duke of Wherever."

  Rael gnced over his shoulder, a marker still in his hand. "Just pieg together what happe the church."

  Elias took a step closer, still clutg his b like a makeshift robe. "Alright, Sherlock, what's going on?"

  Rael reted the events at the church—the mysterious group's attack, the theft of the Golden Token of Vash'kar, and the uling implications of their precise retreat. His voice remained even, but the weight of the situation pressed into every word.

  By the end of the retelling, Elias's expression had transformed from sleepy curiosity to wide-eyed disbelief. "Wait, wait, wait—hold up." He dropped the b, fully awake now. "They have the Token already? The Token of Vash'kar? The thing we were pnning to get so we could rule this pce?"

  Rael apping the marker against the board. "That's right. And from the looks of it, they've phis move for a while. They were taoo ."

  Elias ran his hands through his hair, his face a picture of exaggerated panic. "But what about our pns to dominate Vash'kar? To bee the superpower of this pce? I had dreams, Rael! Big dreams!" He clutched his chest, gasping melodramatically. "How am I supposed to extort—cough—impose w and order oher NPd pyers now?"

  Rael's lips quirked into a faint smirk. "We're not out of the game yet. The Token only works if they perform the Rite of Snty in the church."

  Elias perked up, hope springing into his eyes. "So, you're saying there's a ce? Like, an actual ce?"

  "More than a ce," Rael said, his voice steady. "As long as the Rite isn't pleted, the Token is just a tri. We just o figure out their real pn and strike before they do."

  Elias nodded vigorously, his energy snapping bato pce. "Alright, then. Time to put on my best 'imposing officer of the w' fad get to work." He jabbed a thumb at himself. "This city isn't gonna domiself."

  Rael turned back to the board, his expression hardening as new es formed in his mind.

  His mind ed through the details. The heist at Vash'kar had been a calcuted strike, but what truly g him was the precision. The mysterious group had slipped through the Order's fingers with the Golden Token, but why? They couldn't possibly cim the city, any attempt at the Rite of Snty would be crushed by the Order. Their strength was unparalleled, especially this early in the game.

  Elias scratched his head, his earlier theatrics fading as he matched Rael's serious tone. "So, that's why you were up all night? Trying to piece this together?"

  "Yeah." Rael the board, where strings of thought ected suspicious guilds, supply s, and the fake cult's ret surge of resources. "Whoever they are, they've got a wide reach. The operation at the church wasn't a cheap stunt, they threw serious resources into this."

  "Maybe that expins the she," Elias said, his voice dropping. "All those items disappearing from the markets, stuff that suddenly became hard to find. You think it was them?"

  "It fits," Rael said, his expression unreadable. "And if they've been feeding those fake cultists and pushing market trends, they've got a lot more power thahought."

  He circled a spot on the board, his marker squeaking against the white surface. "But at least the theft will throw the city into a stalemate," he said. "The Order will dig in, and everyone else will think twice before making a move. Less pressure means we take our time, strengthen our position."

  Elias opened his mouth to respond, but a sharp, high-pitched him off. His phone. He g the s, his face going bnk before his eyes widened with disbelief.

  "Holy moly!!" The excmation burst from him, an unfiltered mix of shod panic.

  Rael turned, and Elias thrust his phone forward. The s dispyed the game's forums, the top posts all variations on the same theme.

  Golden Token Stolen!

  Thieves Escape with the Golden Token of Valcrest!

  Chaos in Hildebrand: Sacred token Missing!

  Another Heist? Elysford's Golden Token Vanished!

  Three cities in total, each rep the same camity. The Golden Tokens, the very keys to ruling the cities, had been stolen in a synized strike.

  Rael's pulse steadied, his thoughts aligning with a razor-sharp focus. "So it's not just Vash'kar. This is bigger, much bigger."

  Elias's voice dropped to a whisper, the weight of it crushing his usual levity. "What the hell are they pnning, Rael?"

  Rael didn't answer immediately. His eyes moved back to the board, the tangled web of clues and suspis. He didn't have the full picture yet, just fragments, half-truths, and questions.

  * * *

  Cipher sat fortably in his high-backed chair, shadows pooling in the dimly lit room. His fingers drummed a slow, steady rhythm against the armrest as he listeo the voi the other end of the call.

  "You were right," Krieg said, a mix of awe and irritation c his tohat guy actually saw through the distra."

  A faint smile pyed on Cipher's lips. "Of course he did. The Vash'kar operation had a fes. Just enough for a sharp mind to notice. But it's fine, Pn B wasn't necessary, so everythi smoothly."

  Krieg's voice held a note of caution. "When do we proceed with the phase?"

  "Not yet." Cipher's reply was measured, unhurried. "Let them stew for a bit. We're not in a rush. The more they try to piece things together, the more opportuhey'll give us."

  There was a brief pause before Cipher's voice took on a thoughtful edge. "By the way, has the diary shown any ges?"

  "No," Krieg responded, his toeady.

  Cipher's fingers stilled, a hint of curiosity threading through his expression. "Hmm. Keep a close eye on it. Let me know the moment anything shifts."

  "Uood." The call ended with a quiet click.

  Cipher remained motionless, the silence ing around him. His gaze drifted to the board on the wall, pages pinned ly, their edges worn. They formed a quiet mosaic of notes and patterns, each piece part of a rger, hidden part.

  He sighed, "No fun if I have all the cards," he murmured. His eyes glinted with somethiween amusement and anticipation. "A game needs fairness. Otherwise, where's the challenge?"

  The room offered no response, but Cipher didn't mind. He atient. He could wait for the pieces to move, knowing he already trolled the board.

  * * *

  Rael settled into his pod, the familiar hum of the maery surrounding him as he prepared to log into his sedary at. The system chimed softly in his ears, the interfaveloping his vision as the world of Ast loaded in.

  [Wele back, EzPz4040]

  Rael's lips curled into a wry smile at the username. He'd chosen it on a whim, back when he'd needed a quick cover to avoid revealing his main at to Sabrina. Pying the noob had been part of the pn, and the silly name had fit perfectly.

  He sighed, then shook his head. Maybe it was time to ge it, if only to spare himself the sedhand embarrassment.

  The world around him crystallized into focus. It had been a while since he'd logged into this at. The st time had been with Sabrina, back when they'd been farming mobs together. His fingers moved automatically, opening his friends list. Her name appeared, still highlighted as online: Level 36. She'd been grinding, it seemed. Good to see. His own level, a modest 20, looked almost out of pext to hers. He'd barely touched this character, but now it served a new purpose.

  Rael had logged into this at for three reasons.

  First, he needed information. The Golden Token's theft had thrown Vash'kar into chaos, but it wasn't the only city affected. The coordinated heists aultiple Order cities poier plot, and Sabrina, being an Ashford, might know something the public didn't. Her family's influence could grant insights others cked, and Rael needed every scrap of intel he could find.

  Sed, this at offered him a degree of freedom. Without the ever-present "Noctus" h above his head, he could move through crowds, listen in on versations, and gather information without attrag attention. Noctus had bee a o wat Vash'kar, and slipping uhe radar as EzPz4040 would make things a lot simpler.

  Lastly, there was the simple truth that he wanted a break. His main at bore the weight of expectations, strategies, and the stant push toward their guild's ambitions. This character was different. It had Dragonrite, a unique and fun opportunity to test the skill without the heavy mantle of leadership.

  He tapped Sabrina's name a a quick message, something casual about catg up. He expected a dey, but her response came within minutes. She sent him coordinates, and Rael mapped them instantly.

  His destination: Kahinor, the rgest western city uhe Order's trol. It was far enough from Vash'kar that no one would ect him to the chaos unfolding there.

  Rael moved swiftly to the eleport node, his steps quiet and deliberate. The low-level armor on this at felt light, almost flimsy pared to his usual gear. His on, the old bow he'd bartered from a fisherman, hung at his side.

  As he approached the node, his mind ran through his objectives. Sabrina first, get the y of the nd, see what she khen, he'd begin trag the trail of the group behind the heists. The sheer scale of their operation suggested deep resources and es. The fake cult, the suspicious guilds, the items they'd been offloading, all pieces of a rger puzzle.

  And Rael inteo solve it.

  The light of the teleport node enveloped him, and with a soft rush of wind and a shift in perspective, Rael vanished.