The Mimic in Monsterland

The girl hid behind a building near the construction site. The head gnome crafter on the project just left a little while ago. Only the muscle remained. She spent the last hour taking notes on the guard placements, patrol schedules, and their behaviors. The notes barely filled a page. “These guys are amateurs, I’m pretty sure they don’t even have one good scout among the lot of them.” She whispered to herself. “I just hope there aren’t any surprises inside the building.”

She hated that she was forced to case the joint and break in on the same night. These kinds of jobs normally require, at the bare minimum, a week of prep. But that wasn’t an option. She put her notebook away and climbed onto the rooftop of the building she was hiding behind. It was across the street from the construction site. She flattened herself on the roof, taking care to stay out of the moonlight.

A half-finished sign hung above the front entrance. The words on the sign were covered behind some cloth but she could make out an “E” at the front of it and “uild” at the end. She shrugged. Must be some new guild hall or an expansion. She didn’t really care to try to learn anymore. What the bluebloods got on with was of no consequence to her. At least not directly. Her head turned down toward what she did mind: The guards by front of the door. One looked half asleep while the other was more observant.

She shook her head. “These idiots are going to make it too easy.” She pulled herself to the other side of the roof, out of sight of the guards and any passerby, back into the light. She grabbed the building plans she nabbed from the crafter’s office this morning. Another poorly defended place. Her eyes strained in the dull moonlight as she looked over the plans one last time. They showed where hidden caches were planned to be built. “Main office, kitchen, and a gathering room. Main office is probably what I should focus on. Doubt the kitchen or gathering room will have much. Second floor, east wing. Got it.” She said with a nod, making a final adjustment to her hood.

After climbing off the roof, she made her way to the back side of the site, her best point of entry. She climbed up a tree nearby and looked for the guards placed back here. Two more posted here. But the guild hall had an expansive backyard to it, filled with covered objects of varying shapes and sizes. She didn’t know what they were, but they made for great hiding places.

According to her hastily written notes, one of the guards patrols the back area every so often. Leaving one at the back entrance. Only thing she wasn’t sure of was the patrolling guard's path. She only watched him patrol twice but both times felt random. Like he was going for a leisurely stroll. The haphazardness annoyed her. This is an easy job, how do you losers screw it up so much? But with how novice they were, she shouldn’t have any issue getting by them.

While she waited, she looked up at her status bars. Her health bar wasn’t full, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary. At this point, she wasn’t sure when the last time her health was full. Stamina was at 85%. Good. She tried to take it easy today in preparation for the heist. Picking a couple of pockets didn’t take much out of her. She didn’t bother looking at the mana bar. It’s not like she’d ever have the money to learn a spell.

After a couple of minutes, one of the guards said something and started walking into the field. The girl hopped out of the tree and landed silently behind one of the larger objects in the field. She weaved between the objects scattered around the ground, staying far away from the patrolling guard. The girl stopped for a moment when she heard the guard pause and giggle at something. She continued on when he walked away.

She finally arrived next to one of the covered objects close to the door. The guard yawned, leaning on the wall by the door. He wore a blank, tired expression. Time for the distraction. The girl pulled a small rock out of her pouch and threw it at one of the covered objects nearest to him. She waited for him to react.

The guard yawned again, louder this time. Did he… did he really not notice that? Wow. She grabbed another stone and threw it at the ground near the guard. The guard scratched his ass. Still nothing. Where the hell do you find idiots like these? In her frustration she almost forgot about the other guard who was roaming around. She heard his footsteps getting closer to her spot. Shit. Her head turned back and forth, preparing to make a break for it. Time to bail. She crouched down, getting ready to activate her ability and bolt out of there. Until the patrolling guard stopped his advance. And instead, rushed back to the door. The girl’s heart was pounding but she peered around the corner to see what was going on.

“Dude, check out this thing,” said the formerly patrolling guard.

“What?” The yawning guard responded in an annoyed tone.

“Just come on. It's right over here.” The guard pointed out toward the back field he just came from.

“Umm, the door.” The guard’s thumb pointed at the entrance.

“It's fine, it will just be a second. You gotta check the training doll back here. It's got boobs. It's awesome.”

The guard sighed. “Okay, you horny bastard. Only because I know you will bother me about it the whole night if I don’t.”

The two walked away from the door. The girl just shook her head in astonishment. How absolutely stupid. Men I swear.

She left her hiding place after the two walked far enough away. She slipped through the doorway and lunged at the first piece of furniture she could find. She slowed her breathing, and focused her aura back into herself.

This was now uncharted territory. She had no idea if there were guards placed inside the building. She was naturally good at controlling her aura and it helped keep her presence to a minimum, but it didn't make her invisible. And even if the guards were buffoons, they had eyes. She removed her hood for a moment and closed her eyes, straining her ears. Only one other heartbeat in the building from what she could tell. Someone in the main entrance hall.

After pulling her hood back up, she took the time to look around the room she was in. She was hiding behind a large counter placed near the wall. It had a few wooden weapons lying on top of it. The windows placed around the room let some light in. Some mannequins and other training gear were placed around. A large empty area was placed right in the center. Must be some sort or training room. She walked up to one of the mannequins, placing her hand on it. Maybe in a different life. She eyed the rest of the room and found a staircase on the far side, regaining focus on the task at hand.

The stairs were well made, they didn’t make any sounds as she put her weight on them. The whole building was surprisingly well constructed. The floors were level, no signs of leaking from the ceiling. Whatever they lack in security, they make up for in craftsmanship at least. The stairs led to a hallway on the second floor. She removed her hood again, listening for the man on the second floor. No change.

She entered the hallway, heading east. She was going to have to check each room. The girl had swiped only the plans for the rooms, not the entire floor plan to the building. Stealing those would have alerted the crafter beforehand. Which meant increased muscle on the site.

She walked up to the first door she came across.

And pushed the door open. It made a creak. A pit grew in her stomach. She removed her hood again and listened. The man was moving as she feared, but not up the stairs, he walked to the front door. Good. Probably didn’t hear. She darted through the door. The room was completely barren aside from a small candle lit in the corner and a window on the far side. The flame on the candle was quite dim, it didn’t really do a very good job lighting up the room at all. She checked the windows earlier but didn’t see any light from outside. Weird. What are they for?

The next couple doors were much the same. Each room was empty aside from the candles. She came upon a door that had a plaque to the side of it. It was too dark in the hallway to read what it said but she figured it was probably the office. She removed her hood again, trying to ascertain the location of the indoor guard. But she couldn’t hear anything now. Did he leave?

She listened for another few seconds, but got nothing. “Lazy jackass, leaving your post like that.” She opened the door, it was the first room to actually be furnished. The office was a much larger than the other rooms. Bigger than her own abode, that's for sure. There were a number of chairs lining each wall of the room and a desk as big as a bed at the far end. Three more chairs, placed in front of it, one massive chair was placed behind the desk. A large window overlooked the room from behind the desk. Another one of the dim candles sat on top of the desk.

Cautiously, she approached the desk and opened her bag, pulling out the plans for the office. She didn’t have the moon’s light to help her read them now. So she was stuck finagling the candle to give her more light. “Damn thing. Freaking bluebloods. Why waste money on worthless candles.”

She shook the blasted thing in frustration. And the candle’s light brightened. She stared at it in confusion. “Wha…”

“There, that better?”