Chapter 16: The Enemy and the Thief

I was walking through Lumbridge, keen to learn more about RuneScape. I was eager to find more skills and do a few more things. Duke Horacio waved at me as I passed him in the busy street. Osrie1 wished to stay behind, mining. I already had my fair share of tin and copper ore in my bag, and I planned to smelt it in the public furnace later. For now though, I decided to explore in the shop up ahead, and to go even further, to explore a few more buildings.

I stepped in the Lumbridge shop, looking automatically up at the newspaper stands to check whether today's issue of the Lumbridge Paper had been published. All that was on there was a large sign tacked up on the top shelf saying 'Come back later tonight for the latest Lumbridge Paper!' I looked at the crazy-paving tiles sadly. I decided to set off into the shop to look at the merchandise on the shelves.

I took out the amount of money I had out of my money pouch. I had 17gp on me. I used to have 21gp, but I spent 4gp on my cooked breakfast. And it was quite cheap for its quality, I thought.

I saw a large array of items stacked all over the shop. The cracked, but very pretty vase that cost 100gp was still there. A man in white robes was examining it curiously. That man looked familiar, I was sure I had met him before. But I pushed the thought out of my head. There was a big pile of what looked like bones on a nearby shelf. One set of bones cost 6gp. I grimaced at the expensive bones.

There was a tiny bottle of black, swirling stuff, that didn't look like liquid, but didn't look like gas either. Strange black shapes were moving about in the strange substance, disappearing seconds later. It was labelled 'unknown substance, very rare' and I nearly screamed at the price tag. I never even dreamed that something could be so expensive!! It cost something like 32mil!!

I was still thinking about the little bottle of unknown substance that was so expensive when I passed something that caught my eye. It was a large box labelled 'seeds' in a corner of the shop. Inside, there were smaller boxes, with different labels and price tags on them (like one was called 'watermelon seeds' and it cost 24gp for each seed). I wasn't sure why the shop would be selling seeds. But then, a strange man passed me.

This man wore silky, black clothing, and he wore a long, black cape, and a black hood. He wore black boots, and had a strange black mask that covered around his eyes, so I could only see the piercing greens of them. He eyed me suspiciously, and then he picked up a nearby bar of silver with a price tag of 36gp on it, and headed towards the door. I followed him.

"Excuse me, but you didn't pay for that silver," I said anxiously. He just shot me a filthy look.

"Of course I didn't pay for it, that isn't the point of stealing!!" he said in a wheezy whisper. "I am the master thief, and I am level 132 in thievery." I gawped at him.

"I didn't know that there was such a skill," I mumbled. He laughed unkindly at me.

"Well, you were wrong!!! If you want more information, I would ask Phileas. He used to be quite a high level in thievery in his youth," wheezed the master thief, slipping out of sight in a narrow alley. He blended in with the shadows, and I saw him no more.

I stepped towards the kindly man giving advice to a brand new person, hardly daring to believe that he used to steal when he was young. He waved a new person off, who stepped nervously towards the castle. I tapped him on the back. He turned around, and he beamed when he saw me.

"Mainiac97!! How brilliant it is to see you, my friend!! What can I help you with, then? How are you managing?" he grinned.

"Hi, I am managing fine, thank you. I want to ask you something, though-can you explain more about the thieving skill?" I asked him, trying to keep my voice balanced. His grin disappeared instantly. He coughed, and started fiddling with his staff with a large question mark on it.

"The last person who asked me that turned into the most wanted man in the world. He stole a rare and valuable bank medallion, which made him extremely wanted. They placed a 22mil price on his head. He was the most wanted person in RuneScape at the time. He stole everything he could get his hands on, and his thieving level rose higher and higher, and he stole more valuable objects….the cycle never ended. But then, a plucky adventurer named Zezima had a fight with him, and he won. The person was resigned to hiding, waiting for his long-lost master, stealing every day objects to survive. But I always feel guilty for giving him the secret of thieving." He sighed unhappily, looking deep into my blue eyes.

"He had a charm around him. I felt it was best I gave him the right information, since he was a curious young lad. But he double-crossed me, and used the wretched skill for his own need. He became rich, and he grew even richer by stealing even more. I once was good in the skill, before I realised how terrible it was." He looked sadly into my eyes.

"What was the thief's name?" I asked.

"Oh, his name was James, and about telling you about the skill, I'm afraid I won't. You might turn out just like James," Phileas said simply, and walked off, leaving me in my spot, thunderstruck.

Was it the James I had met on Tutorial Island? The one who tried to rob the bank, the one who knew terrible, evil magic? My head swam with terrible ideas, before I came to earth. There were a lot of James's in the world, maybe it was a different one. I could only guess. And I was disappointed. I wanted to find out about thieving, and I didn't want to use it. Sweeping these thoughts out of my head, I stepped past the shop, thinking I would go back in to buy the paper later that evening.

I saw the road led four ways. The first way was the one I had come from. The second one led towards a small, wooden bridge that led over the river. The third one was the one straight ahead that led to the windmill, and the farm full of sheep. And the last one was the one to my left that led towards a mud path. I saw some goblins lolling around the mud path, leering at people who passed, sometimes attacking a small and weak-looking person. I decided to go to the big building straight ahead of me. The door was ajar, and I crept inside.

I saw a big bustle of commotion. There were several punching bags nearby. People were hitting the brown ones with swords, while others punched them. On the blue bags people were casting spells at it. On the far end there were large targets, with people standing behind a red line, and shooting arrows at the targets. The floor was made of marble, and there were nearby chairs, where people sat, rubbing sweat off their heads, wiping them with their cloths.

There was a nearby man who was hitting the punching bag with such force that it was ripping up. The man wore fantastic armour-armour that looked like it had come straight from hell. He wore a red helmet with horns coming out of the top, and a red chain body that had smaller horns coming out of the sides. His red, spiky sword and a large orange shield with a claw pattern on it lay next to him, forgotten. I saw the same shield in the duke's room!! He hit the punch bag with such force it buckled up, and fell of its rope that bound it to the ceiling. It collapsed, and the man smiled. He picked up his shield and his sword, and set off towards the door. I stopped him by standing in his way.

"Get out of the way, little noob, or I shall slit your throat with this sword," the man said quietly.

"What is the name of that red armour?" I asked quietly. His eyes narrowed.

"It is called dragon armour, metal designed to protect yourself from dragon fire. It isn't as if you are ever going to wear it," the man sniggered. I was offended.

"Maybe I'll wear it when I'm as strong as you!!" I retorted. He just laughed loudly.

"My name is Madrey1, by the way. And I think you should get out of my way, little noob," he said, grabbing me by the scruff of the neck, and throwing me head-first into a tree.

I saw him walk down the wooden bridge, round the corner and out of sight. I felt anger pulse through my heart. He was so obnoxious, and just because he had flashy dragon armour that didn't mean he could bully me!! But then, I heard a very loud roar. The ground shook, and nearby people started running.

The roar seemed to have come from a cellar in a nearby house. The cellar reminded me of the entrance to tutorial dungeon from the quest master's house. The door was open, and a level 4 man was standing outside, looking terrified. I stepped towards the cellar, and I asked the man if I could go in. He nodded frantically, and ran off in the direction of the castle. I started climbing down the wooden ladder, scared and curious what I would find at the bottom.