Diamond Run

Familiar of Zero, Tristaine

Ten minutes passed before Adrian's left eye could focus properly again. The throbbing in his head had dulled to a manageable ache. He touched his nose gingerly, the bleeding had stopped as well.

He glanced down at the diamond in his palm. The light caught its facets, sending tiny rainbows dancing across the alley walls.

Beautiful, but also dangerous to carry around so openly. Any thief with half a brain would try to rob him. Adrian frowned. The Netherite armor in his Pearl would offer better protection than walking around unarmored, but after what happened with the diamond...

No.

The strain might knock him unconscious or worse. He needed something simpler.

Iron? But that might injure him too much, and he still had nearly a stack of leather in the Pearl, so that could work just fine.

He pulled leather from his storage and crafted it into four basic armor pieces. They looked ridiculous at first glance, and absolutely no one would believe they were real. Taking a deep breath, Adrian focused on the boots first. He visualized the crafting grid, then pushed the leather boots to occupy all slots simultaneously.

A sharp pain stabbed behind his eyes, but nothing like the diamond's conversion.

The cubic boots warped and twisted in the Pearl until they were spat out as natural-looking leather boots in his hands. They even had proper stitching and soles.

Adrian smiled and repeated the process with the rest of the armor. Each piece caused less strain than the last. Soon he had put on a complete set of leather armor that could have come from any tanner's shop.

The chest piece even had useful pouches sewn into it!

He tucked the diamond into one of the pouches and stepped out of the alley.

A middle-aged man in worker's clothes walked past. "Excuse me," Adrian called out. "Could you direct me to a jeweler?"

The man looked up... and up... and up. His eyes widened at Adrian's height. Most people here barely reached Adrian's shoulders.

After a moment of startled silence, the man rattled off directions: "Head down this street until you reach the fountain, then turn left at the bakery. Take the second right after that, and you'll find Madame Laurent's shop. Can't miss it, it's got a big purple sun shade out front."

Adrian thanked the man and followed the directions through the busy streets. He could smell fresh bread from a nearby bakery, and his stomach immediately growled loudly in response.

He'd need to find more food soon...

The purple sun shade came into view exactly where the man said it would be. Madame Laurent's shop occupied most of the building's first floor, with large windows displaying necklaces and rings on velvet cushions.

Two guards in matching blue uniforms stood at attention by the entrance. They watched Adrian carefully as he approached, hands resting on their sword hilts.

The inside of the shop was a lot more busy than he expected. Noble women chatted as they looked at jewelry cases and well-dressed merchants haggled with employees at various counters. Adrian counted six more guards positioned around the room. Makes sense for a place dealing with precious gems and metals.

A young woman in an expensive-looking dress approached him. "Welcome to Madame Laurent's. How may I assist you today?"

"I'd like to speak with someone about selling a diamond."

She gave his leather armor a skeptical look but maintained her professional smile. "Of course. Please follow me to the assessment counter."

She led him to a desk where an older man sat examining gems through a magnifying glass. Jeweler's tools and scales were scattered on the desk.

"Master Renard, this gentleman wishes to sell a diamond."

The appraiser looked up from his work, eyes narrowing slightly at Adrian's appearance. "Very well. Please, show me what you have."

Adrian reached into his chest pouch and pulled out the diamond. The moment it caught the light, all conversation in the nearby area stopped.

Master Renard's magnifying glass clattered to the desk. The young woman gasped.

"W-Where..." Master Renard cleared his throat. "Where did you get this from?"

Two guards moved closer, hands on their weapons.

"It's a family heirloom," Adrian said calmly. "I've fallen on hard times and need to sell it."

The appraiser stared at him. "Please wait here."

He stood up and hurried through a door behind the counter, taking the diamond with him.

The guards didn't move from their positions. The young woman wrung her hands nervously.

Five minutes later, an elderly woman in an long purple dress walked out from the back room.

"I am Madame Laurent. Please, come with me to my office. We have much to discuss."

Adrian followed Madame Laurent through a side door into a well-furnished office, and the entire time he was scolding himself internally. How could he have been so ignorant? A diamond this size would raise every red flag imaginable. He should have broken it into smaller pieces first, at least that way people wouldn't question why had had such a big diamond.

I really need to consult the human memories more carefully before I make such big decisions…

Bookshelves lined the walls, and Master Renard hunched over a large desk, still examining the diamond. Adrian's enhanced hearing picked up the man's excited muttering.

"Please, sit." Madame Laurent gestured to a cushioned chair.

Adrian sat down, cringing slightly as the chair creaked under his weight. Two guards positioned themselves by the door. Great. Just great. He was boxed in, and if things went wrong, he'd have to fight his way out. Not ideal in the middle of the capital.

"Would you care for some tea?" She asked, taking her seat behind the desk.

"No, thank you." The last thing he needed was to accidentally break one of their fancy cups with his strength.

"Very well." She folded her hands on the desk. "I must admit, in my forty years of business, I've never seen a diamond of this size and quality. Master Renard tells me it's completely flawless."

Of course it was flawless. It came from a video game. Adrian wanted to bash his head against the wall. He should have deliberately damaged it first somehow, made it look more natural. But no, he just had to walk in here with a literally perfect gem.

"Yes, I believe so," he said, somehow managing to keep his voice steady.

"May I ask where you acquired such a rare diamond?"

"Family heirloom," Adrian repeated his earlier story, knowing how weak it sounded. "My grandfather left it to me."

"I see." She was clearly skeptical but looked deeply into his eyes. Adrian maintained eye contact, grateful that at least his blue eyes looked human enough. "And your grandfather was...?"

"A merchant. He traveled extensively." The lie felt pathetically transparent. What kind of merchant would leave such a valuable diamond to gather dust instead of selling it? He really needed a better story, but he had absolutely no idea what non-nobility family could possibly own such a diamond and not want to sell it. Changing it now would only make him look more suspicious anyhow.

"Hmm." She stared out of the office's windows. "You're not nobility, I assume?"

"No. I work as a mercenary."

"A mercenary." She raised an eyebrow. "With a diamond worth more than most noble estates?"

Master Renard cleared his throat. "Madame, the crystal structure is unlike anything I've ever seen. The clarity... it shouldn't be possible."

"What are you implying?" He asked, while mentally preparing escape routes. The window was three stories up, but he could easily survive the fall. The door had two guards, but they were hopefully only normal humans...

Madame Laurent clasped her hands together. "Young man, a diamond of this size and quality has never been recorded in Tristain's history. Not in any kingdom's history, as far as I'm aware. Do you understand my position?"

"You think I stole it?"

"Did you?"

"No."

She sighed. "Then you won't mind if we verify your story? The guard captain can send someone to contact your family-"

"That won't be possible," Adrian cut in, seizing the only excuse that might work. "They're dead. All of them."

A moment of silence filled the room. Adrian could pick up increased heartbeats from the guards. They were getting nervous too.

"I see." Madame Laurent's expression softened slightly. "I apologize for your loss. But surely you understand my caution? This diamond... it raises questions."

Adrian opened his mouth to respond, but paused when he heard multiple sets of boots rushing up the stairs and voices discussing "suspicious individual" and "manticore support".

"The diamond," a woman's voice said from the stairwell. "Captain, he brought in a diamond larger than any recorded in-"

Time was up.

"I'll be taking this back." He snatched the diamond from Master Renard's hands, and his bones shifted, scales replaced skin, and suddenly an eight-foot long reptilian monster filled the office.

Madame Laurent screamed. The guards drew their swords. Master Renard fell backwards over his chair.

Too late.

Adrian's tail smashed through the window, sending glass everywhere as he dove through with a miniature bucket in claw.

A cubic block of water appeared beneath him just before impact. The Minecraft physics kicked in, completely negating his fall damage. He sprinted on all four feet down the street as people scattered in terror, and above him, five Manticore Knights took flight from the rooftops. The beasts roared, lion-like faces snarling as their bat wings spread wide.

"Stop right there!" A knight raised his wand.

Adrian darted sideways and crashed through the nearest door. A young woman stood frozen in her kitchen, bread hanging from her mouth. The bread dropped as Adrian barreled past her dining table.

"Sorry about the door!" He called back, smashing through her back wall into an alley.

"IT TALKS?" Someone screamed.

More shouts from above. Adrian zigzagged between buildings, crashing through walls whenever he needed to break line of sight. He burst into a nobleman's study, scattered papers everywhere, and kept running.

"My research!" The nobleman wailed.

"Sorry!" Adrian yelled, already smashing through the next wall.

A burst of explosive air whizzed past his head. Too close. He needed better cover.

Adrian jumped through a bakery's open windows, sending flour everywhere. The white cloud provided perfect cover as he changed direction and burst into the adjacent house.

An elderly couple sat at breakfast. The husband dropped his tea cup.

"Fuck!" Adrian smashed through their back door.

He kept running, ducking into narrower alleys where the Manticores couldn't follow easily. After several minutes of this, the sounds of pursuit grew distant.

Adrian transformed back to human form and caught his breath. A mercenary stood nearby, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Excuse me," Adrian asked casually. "Would you happen to know where I could find an old sword shop? Run by an elderly gentleman?"

The mercenary pointed shakily down the street. "T-two blocks that way. Look for the rusty sword sign."

"Thanks!"

Adrian transformed back into his true body right as the Manticore Knights spotted him from the skies.

"THERE IT IS!"

"Sorry about this too!" Adrian called to the stunned mercenary before going through another home.

A mother was reading to her children in the living room. They all froze as Adrian burst in.

"Don't mind me, just passing through!" He smashed out through their kitchen.

The kids started cheering. "Do it again!"

"Maybe later!" Adrian yelled back.

Two blocks to go. He could make it.

A blast of wind magic tore chunks from the street behind him. The Manticore Knights were getting better at predicting his movements. Adrian needed to end this chase soon.

He spotted the rusty sword sign ahead, swinging in the morning breeze.

But five Manticores circled overhead, and more guards were overflowing the streets. He couldn't just crash through the shop's front door, they'd box him in immediately.

Adrian ducked into a side alley and transformed back to human form. The knights would be looking for a monster, not a tall man in leather armor.

Maybe they'd miss him like this? He walked out onto the main street, acting like he belonged there.

"It went that way!" He shouted, pointing down a different street.

The Manticores banked hard, following the false lead. Adrian smiled. Now he just needed to-

"You there! Stop!"

Adrian turned. A squad of guards approached from behind, led by a balding man in blue robes. The man carried a wooden staff that crackled with fire magic.

Professor Colbert. Of course the academy would send him.

"Hands where I can see them," Colbert commanded.

Adrian raised his hands slowly, watching the professor's staff. If Colbert recognized him...

The rusty sword sign creaked in the wind. Just twenty feet away.

Colbert stepped closer, studying Adrian's face. The professor's eyes narrowed in recognition.

"You..." Colbert's staff burst into flames. "MURDERER!"

Adrian dove left as a stream of fire scorched the cobblestones where he stood. His body shifted mid-roll to his true form. The guards stumbled back at the sight of his transformation.

"Kill it!" Colbert roared.

Adrian sprayed webbing from his mouth glands before they could react. The sticky strands crystallized as they hit the guards, trapping them in Minecraft cobwebs. The men struggled uselessly against the blocks, moving in slow motion.

But Colbert had jumped clear. The professor's staff glowed bright red as he channeled more fire magic.

"For Louise!"

A massive fiery snake rushed toward Adrian. He spun and smashed through the sword shop's door, wood splintering around him. The fire blast followed him inside.

An old man behind the counter yelped and ducked as Adrian crashed into a weapon rack. Swords clattered to the floor around him.

"Where's the talking sword?" Adrian demanded.

"What?" The old man peeked up from behind the counter.

"Derflinger! The magic-eating sword!"

More flames poured through the doorway. Adrian jumped behind a shelf as fire consumed half the shop.

The old man pointed to a barrel of rusty blades in the corner. "In there! Take it and leave!"

Adrian knocked the barrel over with his tail. Dozens of old swords spilled across the floor.

"Hey! Who's making all this noise?" A muffled voice came from one of the blades. "I was napping!"

Found it.

Adrian grabbed the talking sword and shifted back to human form. The blade felt warm in his hand, almost alive.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Derflinger spoke from the rusty metal. "I was having such a nice- wait, why are you glowing?"

Adrian could hear the Manticore Knights landing outside, and Colbert's fire magic was spreading through the shop. He needed to leave NOW. It was regrettable that he didn't get information related to Void Magic, but he could always return to this world in the future since he was fully attuned.

An emergency dimensional jump would surely have a cost compared to the standard jump that took five seconds, but staying meant near-certain death. He triggered the emergency protocol.

Massive amounts of blue light poured from his eyes, seeming to consume them entirely. The Dimensional Travel Node burned in his head like molten metal.

"DIE!" Colbert appeared through the flames with his staff raised high in the air.

Another fire snake split the air as it rushed toward them.

"What in Brimir's name is happening?" Derflinger yelled. "Why are your eyes doing that? And why is everything getting all weird and- WAAAAAH!"

Reality twisted, and Adrian's consciousness instantly winked out. The fire snake dissipated inches from his face as space itself bent around his unconscious body, pulling them through dimensions.