The city of clockfall, a beautiful city with neo-gothic architecture is known for its prestigious ether engineering and above all is known for hosting the largest amount of users of ether manifestation, also called umes, the umes can access the power of ether floating in invisible particles around the world and in every living being, these umes access this power using a seed of ether that resides in their bodies, these seeds when created in their bodies take root, these roots are what decide what kind of ume you are.

  In this huge city is a person, more specifically a girl of no more than 15 years old who runs dodging people, this young woman is called Sherry Wolf, Sherry is a young brunette with short hair and average height, her slim and athletic body worthy of a dancer, she moves nimbly, dodging people and demi-humans who cross her path.

  —There she is!

  Sherry hears her pursuers scream a few feet behind her, without waiting or turning to see how close they are, the girl runs into an alley and jumps over the fence of a house into her backyard, knowing she must disappear or it's over for her, the girl grabs a black t-shirt, a pair of jeans, a black waistcoat and finally a black jacket with gold stripes that were hanging on the clotheslines of the house, as she pours some of her inner ether into her legs and jumps onto the rooftops of the houses.

  As she runs across the rooftops sherry takes advantage of the height gained to look for a secluded spot where she can change clothes, the girl's eyes land on a secluded alleyway behind an ostentatious building in which some sort of meeting seems to be taking place.

  —Perfect. —Sherry says in a low voice as she jumps across the buildings and then falls into one of the fire escapes of a building and rushes down without stopping to see if her pursuers are still behind her, she goes into the alley behind the building and making sure no one sees her she starts to take off her clothes.

  The girl, wincing in pain, removes her torn and bloodstained shirt from the brief exchange of blows she had with the high paladin she tried to kill, Sherry, even at her young age of 15, is a bounty hunter of the underworld. Even as a child, she makes her living by killing people who have a substantial bounty placed on them by some person or organization that would prefer that person dead.

  As Sherry tosses her torn clothes into a dumpster and puts on new ones, she curses her own arrogance for believing that this high paladin would be alone, she checks to make sure her precious arc is in her waistband since she lost her rapier while fleeing. Peeking out she catches a glimpse of 5 paladins led by the high paladin that our protagonist tried to kill.

  The tall paladin is a woman of tall stature, with beautiful white hair and white skin, her body is covered by a blue dress with golden edges. On her chest, shoulders and hips sits a white armour with golden edges. The woman's stunning blue eyes search the area for the girl who tried to kill her.

  —Shit, how did she find me so fast— Sherry curses as she watches the white-haired woman at the head of her manor. The woman, wearing the armour of a high paladin with clear signs of battle, scans the area with her piercing blue eyes looking for her prey, Sherry. Without waiting for roux to find her, the teenager turns back into the alleyway where she realises there is no escape route other than a door that would take her inside the ostentatious building.

  Knowing that this is her only chance to escape, Sherry enters the building, unaware that this decision will change her life forever. Inside the building she walks quietly so as not to draw the attention of the many people inside. She notices that everyone inside the building is dressed in elegant and sophisticated attire. However, what catches her attention is that among these people can be found humans, elves, some orcs, dwarves and even a draconian.

  Worried that her appearance might clash and draw unwanted attention, Sherry stands in front of a window that manages to reflect her and takes a closer look at herself.

  Sherry's t-shirt clings to her developing adolescent figure, and thanks to the fact that the leather jacket is actually her size, she looks more mature, appearing older than she actually is.

  She smiles as she notices that the clothes she stole from the clothesline fit her perfectly.

  —Thank you, Lady Lunar Fortune—Sherry says softly.

  She thanks her patron goddess who always seems to smile at her as Sherry inevitably sinks neck-deep in mud. Satisfied with her appearance she walks to a window at the front of the building and notices that her executioners are still there, she nervously decides to step into an elevator where three people are entering.

  —Excuse me, I'm going in— says Sherry as she runs to the elevator, she notices a handsome young man in his mid-twenties stop the elevator door for her to enter, she smiles to thank the young man for his help and with a “click” the doors close.

  Taking a breath, the runaway decides to observe her fellow elevator passengers, aware that it is best to keep an eye on those around her. First, there is the handsome boy who avoids her gaze. The teenager gives her a friendly smile, painting herself as a polite young woman, she notices that the boy is wearing a smart three-piece suit and what strikes the girl most is the boy's jade-coloured eyes.

  Sherry's gaze shifts to the other occupants as she moves to the back of the elevator, her gaze settles on the only woman besides herself currently in the elevator, said woman is a beautiful high elf, something that surprises Sherry as she knows high elves are somewhat ‘spatial’ when it comes to dealing with other species.

  Looking curiously at the high elf. Sherry notices that as her race indicates, she is huge in stature being the tallest person in the elevator at about 2 meters tall, the elf has very long green hair, purple eyes and pale skin, the woman also dresses elegantly. The runaway notices the stunning model-like body this woman has in comparison to Sherry's teenage body, a slight pang of jealousy stabs at Sherry's heart as she notices that this woman has a larger bust than herself.

  Pouting internally the teenager reminds herself that she still has years to develop, but something catches the teenager's attention, Sherry being a gambler from a young age has developed a good ability to read people's body language regardless of race, so the elf's expressions however hidden they may be, are obvious to the bounty hunter, she quickly notices two things, the elf's smile seems a little forced and that the elf is trying to move away from the fourth occupant of the elevator.

  Sherry's eyes hide her distaste for this occupant, who is dressed smartly like everyone else in the elevator. However, unlike Sherry and the other two, this man is fat, almost bald, has an overly sweet smile on his face and ‘casually’ brushes his hand against the elf's tall legs.

  Sherry at first tries to ignore the situation as the elevator rises, but as the seconds tick by, they feel like hours to her, making it impossible to ignore the high elf's discomfort, even more so knowing that elves detest being touched by non-elves. The situation in the elevator becomes tense when the man's hand becomes very ‘insistent’. Sherry turns to look at the blond boy, but he seems lost in thought and doesn't seem likely to intervene. As for the elf, she doesn't seem to know what to do against her stalker, cursing her poor morals the teenager moves towards the elf and the ugly fat man.

  Taking advantage of being the lowest person in the elevator and suppressing her ether as she always does to avoid detection during her hunts, sherry quickly moves to a space in between the elf and the man and ‘accidentally’ slams her shoulder into the man's hand that was brushing against the tall elf's legs. It seems that her manoeuvre worked, as the three occupants look at her in surprise that she was suddenly in the middle of the elf and the fat man.

  The man looks at the girl with annoyance and tries to settle back down to continue harassing the high elf, but sherry doesn't allow it, every attempt the man makes to move is blocked by the teenager's shoulder, the man already annoyed that his target is blocked subtly lets out a bit of his ether mixed with murderous intent as a discreet threat, the young blond and the high elf tense up expecting a confrontation right there in the lift. However, Sherry just rolls her eyes at the man's pathetic attempt at intimidation.

  —(Oh, by Lady Fortune, I've seen boys be more imposing than this guy)—Sherry thinks as she looks the man in the eye.

  Determined to teach him how to intimidate someone. Sherry's orange eyes contract into animalistic slits and her ether intensifies slightly from the roots surrounding her acular globes. The ether is intense enough to make Sherry's eyes glow a toxic orange reminiscent of a predator eyeing prey, making the girl's appearance feral and dangerous. She smiles slowly at the man giving him a glimpse of her teeth. The man immediately feels a shiver down his spine at the sight of the girl's appearance, immediately the man decides to desist from harassing the high elf, moving to a corner of the lift as far away from sherry as possible.

  —(Gutless coward)— The adolescent girl snorts as she interrupts her ether flow by returning her eyes to their original form.

  She turns to look at the other occupants and notices that they are also moving away from her —(shit I think I overdid it)— However, her thoughts are interrupted when the lift reaches its destination.

  Quickly the fat man walks quickly, almost running out of the elevator pushing Sherry out. Sherry comically regains her balance as the blond and the elf walk hurriedly, the elf throws an apologetic look at sherry as she walks quickly to what appears to be an office where there are several well dressed people waiting, turning to look at the blond. she notices that he also walks to another office that also has multiple people waiting for something.

  Sherry snorts underneath as she reminds herself that she only has to stay inside the building for a couple of hours while the paladins abandon their witch hunt. The young teenager straightens her clothes and appears dignified as she walks upstairs pretending to know where she is going. Curious Sherry notices that all the people upstairs seem tense; some seem to be talking to themselves, while others check their dimensional rings pulling out holo-plates, she wonders what kind of meeting is so important to have so many nervous umes in one building. Unknowingly distracted she bumps into a person causing the papers they were holding to fall out.

  Sherry looks up at the woman she collided with in bewilderment. The first thing she notices is her short dark green hair which is very different from the bright green hair of the elf in the elevator, she also notices that the girl's eyes are dark green, something that is certainly very peculiar.

  The girl is wearing a short black t-shirt with a green stripe that exposes her stomach, on her shoulders there are golden plates, the woman's trousers are of the same design as the t-shirt.

  —I'm so sorry— says Sherry as she helps the woman pick up her papers, as she picks up the papers she picks up a small square piece of paper with an equation of ether runes on it, the girl she collided with just makes a rude grimace as she finishes picking up the remaining papers.

  —You should watch where you're going — She says as she finishes arranging the papers back in her hands.

  —I'm sorry, I didn't notice you were in front of me. — Sherry says, feigning a shy smile, she notices that several people are already watching them and that makes the fugitive nervous.

  The woman looks at the paper in Sherry's hand and assumes that the young woman she bumped into is an applicant looking for the job. She doesn't realise that this is actually one of the papers she herself had in her things.

  —If you look for the office where they are interviewing people for the support teacher position, it's right there. —The woman says as she points to the office with the fewest people waiting.

  —Oh thank you very much, I was looking for that office, but I'm a bit absent-minded, hehehehe— Sherry lies as she laughs nervously and puts the paper in her pocket- Thank you very much, Miss?

  —My name is Leya Sage, and you should hurry up, the interviews are starting soon— The woman says curtly as she starts walking in another direction, Sherry just watches as she walks, noticing that this Leya is a beautiful woman, but with a bad attitude.

  She may have stolen a quick glance at the back of Leya discreetly as she entered the office. When the teenager enters the room she immediately sits down near a window, thankful to be in a high position, Sherry takes the opportunity to investigate if the paladins are still outside, hoping that their bruga hunting has ceased. To sherry's frustration and disbelief, it appears that the tall paladin has called for reinforcements, as there appear to be more paladins in the street than the ones originally chasing sherry, and to top it off they are searching the surrounding buildings.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  —(This is absurd, it's not like it was the first assassination attempt that woman must have suffered for them to be so hell bent on catching me)— Sherry thinks incredulously as she watches several paladins interrogate the civilians they see — (besides, why the hell are there so many paladins in this city if it's supposed to be a neutral city outside of the influence of the major church?)

  To Sherry's relief it seems that the paladins avoid entering the building she is currently in. Discreetly she moves away from the window and crosses her legs as she thinks of a way out of this mess. Time passes and slowly Sherry grows bored as there is nothing else to do but wait for the witch hunt to end.

  Bored and not knowing what to do she decides to look at the other people waiting in the office and notices that they are all looking at paper similar to the same paper she picked up off the floor when she bumped into that woman.

  Not wanting to look out of place, she pulls the paper out of her pocket and analyzes it, as she noticed originally this square paper is a formula of ether runes, While analyzing the equation Sherry is confused when she notices that the formula is not correct, as the runes that make up the formula contradict each other making the glyph they make up useless.

  Sherry curious and without much to do decides to fix the formula. Her eyes wander around the office and she notices that on a small table in the centre of the office there is a small, elegant box containing some ether crystal pens. Without much thought she reaches out to pick one up and then settles down to begin correcting the formula, humming as she concentrates on the runes.

  However, when sherry's pen touches the first rune it splits in two creating two different runes, this action triggers all the other runes to start changing to different runes, creating another problem and another useless glyph. This happens every time sherry touches a rune with her pen, she slowly begins to despair. After a while, already frustrated and angry, the bounty hunter decides that a stupid piece of paper wasn't going to win her over on this particular day.

  —(Okay, you want to be tough?) —Sherry takes a breath to calm herself as her face reflects determination— (I'll show you who's the real tough guy here).

  Concentrating she quickly notices that if the ether in the pen is not the same as the ether on the blade the runes change. Using every little ounce of knowledge gained while bounty hunting all over the neutral continent for 6 years, the teenager solves the formula bit by bit without noticing that the other people who are also trying to solve the formula are looking at her with amazement and envy.

  And without noticing it, about 10 minutes pass before Sherry finally gets the formula correct. With a proud smile she notices that the glyph begins to glow and small particles of ether come out of it, faintly illuminating the office and giving a beautiful spectacle to everyone who sees the young woman's achievement. After a few seconds the spectacle is interrupted when a very beautiful, stern looking woman enters the office.

  The woman with long purple hair that reaches down to her waist, wears an elegant white coat, along with a black dress shirt that hugs her model-like body that easily rivals that of the elevator elf, matched with a pair of dress trousers of the same colour. What's most striking about Sherry are those reddish crimson eyes that are hidden behind a pair of red glasses.

  In less than a second everyone in the room stands up and stands at attention. Of course Sherry imitates everyone, she feels that this woman looks familiar, but she ignores the feeling and decides to imitate everyone, without uttering a single word, the woman walks into the room with a firm step, her imposing aura makes everyone tremble. Even the gambler feels a shiver run down her spine as the woman's red eyes fall on her. She feels those crimson orbs penetrate her soul and search for answers that even Sherry herself doesn't know she has.

  Slowly she begins to feel dizzy and nauseous as she feels a strange pressure in her mind. Sherry feels a familiar tingling in her mind along with the feeling that this is not the first time she has gone through something like this, a few seconds later she realises that the woman is a visual class ume and that she is trying to invade her mind, Sherry quickly floods her inner roots with ether from her seed to expel the invading ether from the woman.

  The woman looks slightly surprised by Sherry's rejection, but quickly regains her serious countenance. However, in her eyes there is a certain curiosity for the girl who managed to repel her mental invasion. The woman turns around and walks into a door and closes it, everyone relaxes, but before anyone can say a word, out of the same door comes another person, this time a man of about 40 years old who indicates to a person to enter.

  All the other people sit back down to wait their turn, nervously glancing at each other and checking their holo-plates, but Sherry ignores them as she takes a breath to recover, having to push the woman out of her mind had left her exhausted. Without much grace she plops down on the couch, not noticing that the glyph sheet has disappeared from the table where she left it.

  She doesn't know how much time passed, but at some point of the 13 people that were in the room only she is left, without further ado the man calls her inside the office to take the interview, she feeling annoyed and just wanting the day to end, she stands up and straightens her clothes and without further delay enters the room.

  Inside the room is the woman who tried to invade her mind sitting in a chair behind an expensive and elegant looking oak desk, the woman gives off an imposing aura and demands respect which makes Sherry stand up straight. The man who invited her in walks behind the woman and stands elegantly and firmly.

  Sherry bows slightly to greet the woman and then walks to the only chair available to sit in, once seated she waits for the intimidating woman to speak, as the minutes tick by, the tension in the room builds so high you could cut it with a knife, the woman looks at Sherry as she taps the surface of the desk with one finger.

  —Well? —asks the woman as she looks at sherry, of course the teenager just looks at the woman with a puzzled look on her face as she waits for something to tell her what the woman wants, the woman looks at sherry and holds out her hand— your papers please.

  —Oh, yes, of course, my papers, sorry hehe— sherry exclaims as she extends her hand as if grabbing a lever in the air pulls down, in the air opens a small crack where sherry puts her hand and pulls out a holographic information plate and extends it to the woman.

  —(I hope the faceless one did her job, and those papers are as good as she bragged)— Sherry thinks nervously as she watches the woman slip her holo-plate into a slot in the desk.

  Those papers were used by Sherry to get into Clock City to try to kill the High Paladin, they were made by the most famous identity peddler in the criminal world known as Faceless, of course they're good Sherry just hopes they're good enough to fool the woman in front of her.

  Of course Sherry doesn't expect to get the job, she just wants to get it over with and get out as soon as the witch hunt behind her is over, but at the moment this is the only safe place she has and she doesn't want a scandal to break out if the woman in front of her realises her papers are fake and she ends up attracting the attention of the paladins.

  Besides, Sherry is sure that the woman in front of her is more dangerous than Alexandra Roux if her little trick in the next room is any clue.

  The woman carefully reads Sherry's information on her holo-screen while occasionally glancing sideways at Sherry who tries to keep her confident smile, after a few moments the woman pays the holo-screen and leans back on her hands, not realizing that this action causes her attributes to stand out, making Sherry blush.

  —Well, your papers state that your name is Sherry Wolf, you are 23 years old, from the city of Kalustra in the kingdom of Shadowheaven.— The woman says as she looks at Sherry— It also says that you are an orphan and that you have no living relatives, is that correct? — asks the woman in a polite but demanding voice.

  —That's correct ma'am— agrees Sherry without giving any more information, she prefers to let the woman do the talking for her and just fill in any gaps in the story ambiguously if necessary, —If it ain't broke don't fix it— thinks Sherry.

  —Your papers indicate that you formed your ether seed at the age of 10 and that you joined the local kalustra militia at the age of 13 where you discovered that your ume class was that of a summoner— The woman recites in her voice the information she read while her crimson eyes glow with intensity— There is also information that you were top of your class in glyph coding and creating ether objects at the militia academy, apart from the fact that you were an expert combatant in the use of swordsmanship and of course your summoning. However, it also indicates that your conjuration and melee skills are not that good, am I right or am I wrong?

  Sherry just nods her head as she looks at the woman, half of that information is true, she is good at fencing and fighting, not for nothing is she a bounty hunter. She's also an excellent summoner and of course she's good at glyphs. However, on the other hand she sucks at using ether spells and her hand-to-hand sucks.

  And that's where the truth ends as she never joined any militia, never been to kalustra more than a couple of times and actually awakened her seed at the age of 7, never attended any school, she is self taught and of course she is not 23 but 15 years old. But of course it's not something she dares to say out loud.

  —Now, it says here that after Kalustra was destroyed because of a dungeon rift you wandered the realms of the ‘lower planes’ teaching aether to lowly people— the woman takes her chin out of her hands and stands up straight as she looks at Sherry—Now here's the thing, what are you doing here?

  Sherry looks at the woman confused by the question as the woman continues to speak in a firm voice but with a hint of genuine curiosity.

  —Why would someone who would surely get a good job in the kingdom of shadowheaven come all the way to the other side of the continent for a job interview?

  —(Because I don't want to get killed by angry, vengeful paladins)— thinks Sherry sarcastically as she inhales and exhales dramatically as if recalling the tragedy of Kalustra, trying to buy time while she creates a story convincing enough not to get caught.

  —Well, the answer is... complicated— She pretends to catch her breath— After the fall of Kalustra I- I couldn't stay there for long— Sherry's voice sounds weak as she utters her false story, ’The few people I knew and befriended died trying to defend our city from the monsters.

  —That day we did everything we could to defend our home but it was all for nothing— Sherry looks towards the window of the room trying to keep the woman from looking into her eyes and discovering her false sadness— that day I lost what little family I had, the few people I loved were slaughtered mercilessly in front of my eyes and I couldn't stop it.

  Sherry pretends to wipe away tears that are actually sweat as she continues not to look at the woman or the man in the room. Taking a breath Sherry continues her impromptu tale praying to be bought.

  — After that, as you could read on my holo-plate, I wandered the ‘Lower Planes’ for a while with no fixed direction— Sherry looks down at the floor giving a weak look of appropriateness— I only taught classes to people who couldn't afford to enroll their children in a school of aether or combat because I didn't want them to be helpless if a tragedy like Kalustra happened again— Sherry finally turns to look at the two adults with a sad look full of fake melancholy.

  —(Please swallow it, swallow it, swallow it, swallow it all the way down)— Sherry thinks as she looks at the woman who continues to show no reaction as the man behind her looks at Sherry with sympathy.

  —You still haven't answered my question, why did you come all this way to look for a job as a support teacher? — The woman presses for answers — when at shadowheaven you would have a secure, high-paying position as a lead teacher— The woman asks shrewdly.

  Sherry notices that even though the woman is pressing her, the woman's harsh tone and demanding aura are being toned down. Knowing that this is her chance to get out of this messy situation, she decides to add more tragedy and sadness to her fake story, using a bit of truth from her own past.

  —Because I don't want to go back— she admits, clenching her fists as she grabs her stolen jeans— even though shadowheaven is the realm where I was born, it's also the place where I lost everything I had, going to those lands only reminds me of what I lost and will never get back.

  —(The best lies have a bit of truth in them)— reminds Sherry as she mixes her fictional tale with a few truths she has experienced— I am looking for this job because during my time teaching in the ”lower planes’ I learned that my true passion is teaching, I know I am young and so I am not worried about getting a full teaching position, being a support teacher is enough as long as I can continue to help young people grow in a healthy way.

  —(Please swallow it all the way down, swallow it all the way down, swallow it all the way down, swallow it all the way down)— prays Sherry as the woman turns to look at the man. After a few tense seconds it seems that the woman and the man come to a tactical agreement as her shoulders relax as she turns to look at Sherry and gives him a slight smile of kindness and compassion.

  —(That's right, good girl, swallow it all) — sherry smiles internally with a smile of triumph as the woman pulls out some sheets of paper and places them in front of sherry, sherry notices worriedly that they look like work papers— (don't fuck with me).

  —Well Miss Wolf, I think we are convinced that you will be an excellent teacher at the academy, please read the contract carefully and tell us if you have any problems— The woman takes out a pen and looks at Sherry with a smile without noticing that with every word she says, the younger girl is getting paler— your stay at our academy would be for 6 years, You would be working as a support teacher for the first year teachers until the students graduate in their 6th year, the academy will cover your travel and housing expenses and will provide you with anything you need as long as it has to do with the classes or with any research you have, of course this financial support comes separately from your base salary.

  Sherry looks at the paperwork in disbelief, she came here to avoid being captured or killed by her former target, she didn't come here to get a job!!! However, before she can make any excuse to escape her precarious situation, a young man appears and opens the door.

  —Deputy director astrid belicus, the high paladin keeps demanding to see you— he says it's urgent.

  —Tell the high paladin that, while his assassination attempt is a disgrace, it is not something that concerns the royal academy of combat and aether development [curam Ciealo] —she looks at the boy sternly— no one in this building knows anything and I will not allow him to interrupt a process as delicate as choosing the academy's staff— the boy, feeling intimidated, apologises as he closes the door to follow his superior's orders.

  Sherry freezes when she hears the name of the woman in front of her, this woman is perhaps one of the most powerful aether mages ever born in history, and if that wasn't enough she is also the deputy director of one of the 5 most important aether combat and development academies in the world that houses the best teachers that exist in the continent.

  Sherry finally understands that she is screwed, behind her she has a whole force of paladins wanting her head and ahead she has a job offer to a job where she will have to lie to maintain the facade of being a passionate teacher while deceiving the most intelligent people in the world.

  — So, teacher Wolf— Astrid turns to look at Sherry as she fixes her suit— Are the terms of the contract okay with you? —Astrid asks with a friendly smile.

  - (And shit something like this is fine with me!!!)- Sherry thinks desperately- I think it's perfect and please call me Sherry, I'll be in your care from today- she says with a hypocritical smile while she dies inside, Sherry takes the ether pen trembling and as if signing her death sentence, she puts her fake name in full on the paper.

  —Perfect master sherry, welcome to the academy curam Ciealo will no doubt be a valuable member of staff.

  "(lady lunar fortune why have you forsaken me?)"