"I need to find a way to return this ring, or destroy it perhaps..?"
Magnus played with the cause of Klaris' death between his fingers.
It was a mystery to Magnus just how someone had locked onto Klaris just because the man tried to sell a ring that wasn't even stolen in actuality. It was a ring that was cloned and brought into reality from the Mirror World.
It shouldn't have affected anyone or anything.
"Unless," Magnus tried thinking of the ring as some mystical artefact with special effects that were unique.
Things started to open up to him as he did so, but there were no definitive answers to the mystery that bugged him.
"The Police mentioned multiple times that I had to return what I stole... Hmmm... Could this be a misunderstanding perhaps?" A lightbulb suddenly lit up in Magnus' mind as he muttered to himself.
"Did the actual ring get stolen at around the same time Klaris stole the Mirror World ring?" Magnus felt that such an answer was closer to the truth as he began crafting his plans.
'I need to make it look natural... As if it was an accident... I can even sacrifice Klaris' body... but Mirror World Thief is too good of a Blessing to waste just like that.'
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It has been three days since Detective Amini was put onto this case of Mysterious Thievery by an organisation he could not say no to.
"Hah," He sighed in exhaustion as he drank his sixth cup of coffee of the day, "At this rate, I'm going to lose my life. Some Otherworlder possessed that man's body."
He felt the Scroll in his pocket. It was like a guillotine hanging above his neck, ready to slice down at any time.
On top of that, even if the Scroll wasn't present, the organisation that forced him to work would kill him... But not in the literal sense.
His life as a private detective would end and he would become a slave detective instead.
"I would have preferred a case of Mysterious Murder instead as those leave more traces to track. Mysterious Thieves are always so traceless, it's irritating beyond the heavens!"
Slam!
In frustration, Amini slammed his table.
He felt like the world was going against him at that moment.
Until.
Knock, knock!
"Come in!" Amini growled, still filled with foul emotions which he desperately tried to snuff out.
He had to keep up appearances.
"Sir! Detective Sir! We've spotted your target in the streets of Thawsore just a few seconds ago! My men are trailing him at this very moment."
The excitement caused Amini's face to turn red at the sound of such a pleasant report.
"Finally!" He exclaimed as he grabbed his brown coat and stormed out of his hotel room. "Let's go! Tell your men to begin the chase. I will corner him myself! That bastard has been giving me the worst headaches of my life."
"Yes sir!"
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.
.
Klaris was walking the streets with a goal to reach in the next fifteen minutes. If he did not make it, he would perish, and his Blessing and Curse would go to waste.
"I just have to make it. I just have to make it to him." Klaris repeated to himself, endlessly and repetitively.
He had memories of being killed by his own Curse, but by some miracle of creation, he was alive once more and walking the streets of his hometown. In a sense, he was both relieved and not. He was relieved because he had the chance to live a second life.
He was not relieved, because he still had to deal with the police chasing after him.
"I cannot die a second time," He told himself resolutely. He had gone through tougher times than this.
He could feel the targeting gazes of his pursuers as he suddenly broke into a run.
"After him!" A distant voice called out.
It made Klaris want to run faster. Which he did with whatever strength he could muster.
Normally, free-running wasn't his forte. But a burning feeling in his wrist kept sending memories to him. How to run, jump, and roll, and what were his limits.
Knowing himself, he was able to take the chase into the winds and turns of Thawsore where physical ability was weakened in the absence of prophetic or tracking abilities. Those were the thoughts he was also being given by the person he had to run towards to survive.
'He saved my life, and he said he can save me again,' Klaris thought.
He eluded the cops as if he was a ghost, weaving between all the gaps in their formations. It was as if some third eye above was looking at the map for him, directing him to where he must run.
He knew where many of the policemen were, and he knew which streets they had decided to take. Hiding from the occasional policeman running on the rooftops had never been easier.
He kept at this until a man wearing a long brown trenchcoat appeared before him so suddenly.
'Here he is,' Klaris was surprised that he was expecting this man's arrival. From what he could tell, the man before him was of high status—a status he had only dreamt of for all his life.
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.
.
"There you are, Klaris." A smile could be seen on Amini's face as he spoke.
"Why are you chasing me?" Klaris asked, frustrated. He did not take anything from anyone. His Blessing could create a clone of something without causing any harm.
He felt as if it was all unfair.
"You know very well, you rascal. Return what you stole and we can all go peacefully!" Amini growled, unsheathing a rapier from within his trenchcoat. He had enough chitchat. There was a deadline to be met.
"Shit!" Klaris scrambled into a run, "You can't talk peace with your sword out!"
A small emerald glint suddenly caught Amini's eyes at that moment. It came from Klaris' finger as he scrambled away.
'The fucking ring!' He thought as his goals were laid bare before his eyes.
And so, Amini slashed at that hand at a speed faster than Klaris could react. Accurately and skillfully, he chopped off the finger that wore the ring he so needed.
"Yes!"Amini almost squealed in delight while Klaris yelped in pain.
Amini felt the scroll in his pocket suddenly dissolve. His Trial was complete.
A new scroll appeared before his eyes, blocking his vision for a moment. Amini took the scroll hurriedly and watched as Klaris turned a sharp corner.
With a few swift lunges, he made it to where Klaris had turned, but he suddenly lost track of the man. He activated his Blessing. Tracing a person's tracks was his speciality, and with the aid of his Blessing, he felt that nothing could be hidden from his eyes.
He was confident of such a task. That was why he only asked the police to chase after Klaris. There was no need for them to do everything themselves when they were so unreliable.
But unfortunately for Amini this time, he could only take the ring back. The Mysterious Thief he needed to capture for his records to be written down in history was...
"...Gone?" His pupils dilated in shock. "Impossible!"
It was as if Klaris vanished into thin air.
.
.
.
Magnus was still breathing heavily.
His Spirit Energy reserves had dropped by 10% in the span of a few minutes. Moreover, the chase was thrilling.
He had to act as Klaris' third eye, keeping track of the policemen from the rooftops and scouting the area that Klaris was going to run towards. And, at the end of it all, he had to be close enough to unsummon the man.
On that note, though, Magnus was surprised that he could do what he did to Klaris—which was returning the man's mind to himself while he was still in control.
"It only makes sense... This is the Hivemind, after all." Magnus chuckled as he glanced at the detective he just led by the nose. Satisfaction laced his gaze as he put on his hood and disappeared into a nearby building to cover up his traces.
"This should solve the problem temporarily. They got the ring, so the chase shouldn't be as demanding as it previously was, and there is no chance for it to get worse. I should have de-escalated the situation."
Magnus was nodding to himself as he bought himself some lunch sandwich for a dollar. The bread tasted like soggy dust, but it was better than nothing.
"I just have to keep watching out for the police whenever I let Klaris into the world and hope that whoever that detective is and the ones behind him don't pursue any further."
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.
.
After doing his best to cover up his traces based on what he knew, Magnus set off for higher altitudes. Hoping to discover the sub-Trial The Jester spoke of, he was very much willing to walk all the way there given his lack of monetary ability.
'Should I have worked as a corpse-disposer for a few more weeks?'
Magnus had this thought as he followed a few recreational hikers from a distance that kept on growing. Commuting would have made his life much much easier. The result of his earlier sprinting was showing. As well as the fact that his body was as pure as it got. His current body was an Earthling's raw and untransformed body.
That was why Magnus did what he did with Klaris. The man, although not the most able-bodied, was still a host to a greater amount of stamina than Magnus. He was able to navigate all those extra twists and turns that Magnus directed him to take. All while the latter took a more direct pathway to find a hiding spot where he could unsummon Klaris while remaining unseen.
In fact, Magnus was currently very tempted to switch with Klaris until he made it to the next town and just hide the man's face.
'You know what,' Magnus clutched his knees in exhaustion, 'I'll switch.'
Thus, after a short invocation, Klaris appeared in his place.
The hike became much easier after that.
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Back in Thawsore.
"Midseer?" Amini asked a carriage driver who had stopped in front of him.
"That's too far for me, Sir. I can only make it to Quarteridge." The driver answered.
"Quarteridge is alright," Amini nodded with a sigh as he boarded the carriage.
He has the ring he was tasked with retrieving, but he hadn't apprehended the thief. It left a sour taste in his mouth, but he had no choice to abandon the chase. He was pressed for time.
Thankfully, the carriage ride was smooth thanks to the advanced MagiTech moving along. Suspension systems, comfortable seats, and an air purifier were among the features of modern-day carriages.
"At least I'm still alive," Amini ended up thinking as he touched his neck. "But if I even see a glimpse of that rat-like bastard, I'm coming for him. And whoever was working with him."
Amini recognized how weird it was for Klaris to suddenly disappear like that. He also took note of his sudden appearance despite the police being unable to track him down at all.
It all pointed to a Blessing that was very likely not his.
He was gonna get to the bottom of this case. Although not now, perhaps in the future.