The Insider System

Chapter 60: Excursion

Getting back to Lucas's office Lake saw he was still not back so Lake sat down in the chair in front of Lucas's desk. Lake had never had the nerve to mark Lucas after what had happened when he tried to see his stats, so Lake could only wait for him to get back. This wasn't the first time Lake had to wait for something, so he didn't mind.

He knew Lucas was busy so the amount of time he was in his office was already impressive. Lake also had nothing to do really. He was holding off on leveling any more jobs because he didn't want to hit the max one day, and not be able to use any Unique jobs he might come across.

The only Unique job he had that hadn't hit ten was Archer but he didn't have a bow anymore so he would have to ask for one. Thinking about asking for a bow, Lake realized it would be stupid to leave without asking for a bunch of stuff. Lake was really going to need some armor eventually so he might as well see if he could have some.

He could just make up some story about needing it for the dungeon, and Lucas would probably say yes. Lake needed to take advantage of his position while he still could because once he left he was going to have to work for anything he got. Lake was looking forward to it though, because the work he would be doing also happened to be what he liked to do, steal.

Lake had been on best behavior since coming to the guild because there was really nothing worth stealing around that he couldn't just ask for. The only time he had seen anything worth taking was when he had been in the vault. Thinking of the vault, Lake remembered the mark he had placed to see what would happen if he checked it once he was out.

Looking up towards the top of the spire, Lake could see the mark was visible now that he thought about it. All he could tell right now though was it was somewhere above him and it was moving. It was some sort of pocket space so he wondered why it would need to move, couldn't it just stay still, was the moving some sort of security measure?

If that was the case it made him think it might be possible for people to enter if they knew where it was which he did. If he was able to map out the route could he just wait for it to pass and break in using magic. That would be a lot easier than going though the Master Lab which was the reason he had decided to give up on robbing the vault in the first place.

"Hello Lake, what are you here for, your date not go well?" Lake could tell this sarcastic voice belonged to Lucas. "Me and Joy aren't really dating, I was just helping Millie out." By now Lucas was no longer behind Lake, so Lake was able to see Lucas's face which was confused. "What are you talking about?"

Lake could see how Lucas could have a hard time connecting the dots so he said. "Millie likes Solomon and Solomon was eyeing Joy so I made it seem Joy was off the table. Don't want anything upsetting Millie." Lake was starting to think he was telling too many people Millie's secret, he had told everyone he spoke to.

"Man you really did a number on Solomon tonight in that case. I thought the barfing was bad enough." Lake just laughed, there was nothing to say to an accusation like this. "So are you here for something, or are you just gathering your energy for the stairs?" Lake was happy Lucas had asked, because he had multiple things to say.

"I was here to ask if I could get some armor. I would like to go deeper into the dungeon but I feel it's too dangerous with my current equipment." Lucas looked at him like he couldn't believe that was all he wanted to say. "Yeah no problem, but you should ask your servants to get stuff for you, not me."

If this had been all Lake had to say he would feel stupid right now but that was just the opener. Right when Lake was about to ask if he could go into the city he saw the journal Lucas had let him read was still on his desk, and it looked Like Lucas had been reading it because it was open. "Lucas, do you spend a lot of time reading this?"

Lucas looked down and saw Lake was asking about the journal. "Yeah if I could change anything it would be these journals getting stolen. The amount of otherworldly knowledge in them made them an amazing read." What Lucas said made Lake think of a skill he had written off almost instantly, Treasured.

If this skill worked the way he thought it would, he had a way to make Lucas let him out. When Lake had first read Treasured the only use he could think of was blackmail or ransoming back whatever he stole, but now he saw he could help people find things they lost because there was a good chance their most Treasured thing was something they missed.

"Lucas I would need your cooperation, but I think one of my skills would allow us to find them all." Lake was going to make it seem like he was just doing Lucas a favor, because asskissing would make sense from someone in Lake's position. "What would you need me to do?" Lake could tell this possibility had made Lucas excited.

"That amulet you wear, I would need you to take it off. After what happened last time I don't think trying to use my skills on you while you wear it is a good idea." Lucas reached up and held the amulet for a few seconds while he thought about his requests. "I agree but we should go somewhere more secure first. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a spy in this very room."

After Lucas said this Lake looked around, he thought maybe that was a paranoid thing to say unless people could turn invisible. If there was a job that gave skills like that, Lake needed to find out what it was. His guess was an Epic criminal job, so he bet it had been tampered with by one of the past Insiders.

Thief was a common job originally, so it was most people's first criminal job. Even people who didn't try to unlock it ended up with it one way or another. It was pretty easy to steal one thing so most people unlocked it as children, or at least that had been what the book Lake read about common jobs had said.

There was also another common criminal job called Pickpocket which Lake planned to get as soon as he was free. The way to unlock it was more difficult so it was less common and most people who had it were actually criminals. It apparently had a lot of sleight of hand skills that Lake would find useful when he started ripping people off.

"This is my bedroom, so the odds are no one but us is here." Lake looked around and saw Lucas's room was almost the same as his just a few extra pieces of equipment Lake assumed were for alchemy. "This is the first time I have used this skill, so I don't know what will happen so bear with me."

After Lake said this Lucas took the amulet off and said. "I'll know if you look at my stats so be warned." Lake had been planning on looking and he guessed Lucas had been able to see the glint in his eye. Lake knew the only way to play off him being caught was to act like a spoiled kid so he said. "Fine." in a pouty voice.

This made it seem like he was just curious, and had no bad intentions. "My stats are probably less impressive than you're thinking anyway." Lake didn't really know what Lucas would gain from saying that but it did make Lake less curious and maybe that was all Lucas wanted.

Activating Treasured Lake started looking around for the results, and seeing hundreds of dots he knew it had succeeded. "Lucas it worked but you're going to have to give me a minute to make sense of the results." After a few seconds of trying to count how many dots he was seeing Lake gave up and just focused on a few that seemed close.

The closest was the one in Lucas's office obviously but there were a few others Lake would bet were close enough to be in the city as well as one below them that Lake assumed was in the dungeon for some reason. Lake decided to not mention that one because his whole reason for doing this was to leave the guild.

"There are two in the city I think. Do you know the exact number because they're all over the place and I'm having a hard time counting them. There are clusters that are too close together for me to differentiate as well. I'm guessing that those are ex-members of the Mage guilds new headquarters."

"This is a hell of a skill you're using right now." Lucas was looking around like Lake was. Lake wasn't sure why but he doubted Lucas was somehow tapping into the feed. Maybe Lucas could just feel the power the skill was giving off. Lake wouldn't be surprised if that was possible. "Hey Lucas, do you want to go get one of the journals? I want to see how accurate this skill is, and I should be safe if I'm with you."