Sophie grumbled as she walked through the streets of Nova Lux. Today was not a good day. For all that it had started off well enough. For the first time in two months she’d woken up in her own bed at the guild headquarters, after having returned from her latest quest. She’d been sent out, off to the south to scout out the Southern world boss – the Earthen Giant.

After failing her last task of scouting out the rumoured world boss in the west – The Red Dragon of the End – she’d briefly participated in a dungeon and a field boss raid, before heading off again. As important as public image was for Holy Empire, solidifying strength was currently more important for early game.

Thankfully she’d successfully completed this task, crossing the Southern wastelands to find the titanic world boss guarding a massive pass through the mountains. It was now the third officially confirmed world boss, after the Griffon of the East and the World serpent of the North. Only the Dragon of the West needed to officially be confirmed.

Having finally returned yesterday Sophie had been looking forward to taking a few days off, maybe logging off for a while and taking a shower in real life or browsing the stores of Nova Lux for any interesting items. Instead, she’d been interrupted while having breakfast this morning and given another task by the Spymaster.

While their paladin, The Son of Virtue had also recently returned from a crusade against an insurgent group, he wasn’t a good choice when it came to more covert operations, like this one. All other members were currently out, except Melissa, leaving her with the task.

A breach had been found in the eastern wall. Her task was to find and subjugate the intruder. Despite her grumbling about that being the task of the city guards she’d accepted. If a villainous player had broken into the city, then the everyday people, the new players and the NPCs could be in danger. That was something that she couldn’t allow. Holy Empire was there to protect the people.

Nothing had gone as expected for the rest of the day.

The breach hadn’t so much been a breach as a massive hole melted straight through the wall. Not ‘stone got so hot it melted’ melted, but more as in ‘solid wall just started melting like butter before a sun and then cooled again’ melted. The other side of the hole was directly connected to the lake. There was no boat.

If the estimated amount of mana required to achieve such a feat was anything of an indicator about the strength of a player, then they would be a relatively high level and an presented an equally threat.

Checking the wall with several standard guard issue magic tools, she discovered that whoever had broken in had managed to avoid every and absolutely every single alarm, tracking and identification spell imbedded in or placed on the wall, either through sheer dumb luck or absolute skill.

She put the magic tools away. They hadn’t helped at all, beyond telling her that the area had a greater than average concentration of magic than its surroundings. This left her with no hints, no clues and no leads about the person, beyond that the intruder could melt walls and possibly walk on water.

It seemed like a task that she would delegate to the guards later. In all likelihood they would spend a few days pretending to search, before putting the case in a box and storing it somewhere no one would ever find it. One such case was really quite inconsequential in a city full of players, each with their own unique skills and magic.

Using a messaging stone, she contacted the nearest guard station and got them send over two guards and a geomancer or earth mage to patch up the wall. She was about to confirm the location when her call was interrupted by an overriding message. She listened to it annoyed. Someone was messing with the statue of the Saint in the main square. Unfortunately it was not the first time. Some players a month ago had thought it would be a funny idea to graffiti on the statue. It had not ended well for them.

Sophie knew that Melissa would take out the perceived slight against her on everyone – on her, the others, the guards and the NPCs – even if it was just another player messing around. A shudder ran through her as she sprinted over the rooftops.

She had to stop whatever fool was putting everyone at risk. Though Melissa moved for the greater good of everyone, she sometimes had bad moments. Very bad moments. Sophie also didn’t want to spend another week blessing a new statue of the Saint, along with all the other clergy of Purity. The first time had been enough.

Calling forth more winds to carry her she rode through the air towards the main square. Arriving, she quickly saw what all the fuss was about.

The usually familiar marble statue of the benevolent winged Saint now had horns sprouting out of her forehead, while a haggard face was twisted in a mocking grin. Involuntarily, Sophie snorted as she noticed something ridiculous. Were those buckteeth? It was hard to tell. All the rest of the statue’s teeth were so crooked that it could have simply been accidental.

Reaching the end of the buildings Sophie dropped down into the main square, just as skimpy clothes replaced the statue’s regal robes. A twinge of irritation and anger blossomed, aimed at whoever was doing this. It was one thing to mess around. It was another to mess with other people’s work. There would also be thousands of online comments regarding this incident mocking and generally making fun at Holy Empire. Rival guilds would undoubtably jump on the chance to tear down Holy Empire’s reputation. She sighed. They’d just fought their last guild war a while back.

A pair of skeletal wings followed after the clothing change, but Sophie stopped paying close attention, instead focusing on looking for the culprit. She also noticed patrolling guard troops pushing through the crowd converging towards the statue. She followed suite. If a player was responsible for this, then they would probably be relatively close to the statue, as most magic skills required either direct contact with or close proximity to the affected object.

In the crowd she heard someone laugh and she looked up at the ever-changing statue to find a slight suggestive bulge between the statue’s legs. Sophie’s lips pulled together tightly. Mellissa would not be happy.

Pushing past another group of onlookers Sophie managed to finally get a good view of the entirety of the statue, just as statue’s feet curled into grotesque abominations. Like divine prophecy she felt her link with Purity lock onto something. Her eyes followed the link and found… It couldn’t be!

“SAM?”

The words left her mouth before she even had a chance to think. There was no way that that was Sam. Sam… Sam was dead. His face haunted her sometimes when she slept. His wide eyes, the hand reaching down to her… then the fall. Always the fall and the cold hard water.

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. She shouldn’t feel this way she knew. Sam was an NPC, a piece of code. She’d checked and checked again with her divine senses. He was without a doubt not a player.

Still, Sam had had a face. Sam was somebody she’d spent time with. He was someone she’d brought with her and someone she’d left there to die. The likelihood of him surviving the entire trip back was almost non-existent. Yet, she hoped. Those golden eyes. The wavy black hair. The stern face that seemed to light up with a gentle smile when he spoke.

The figure ran.

He… ran?

Sophie gave chase. Was it him? Why did he run? Did he hate her? Was it not him, but someone else? Was it a monster simply taking a form to haunt her? Was it the criminal that had broken in through the wall? Why sneak in and then make a scene though? Was it related to the case on the bridge the other day? She had to know.

Street after street she followed the fleeing figure, until it vanished in amongst the back alleys, byways and backstreets. Still, she knew where to go. Purity guided her, along with a sense of wrongness that accompanied it. It was the same feeling she got when she encountered a disease with Purity’s divine energy – an affliction that needed to be cleansed.

She closed in on it. For what they did, whatever they did, whoever they were, she would make them pay.