“You’re late.” Haref shifted his eyeglasses, reflecting the orange of the lamp by the desk. The office itself was small and cozy, filled with nothing but shelves upon shelves of disorganized books and scrolls.

  “There was a complication.” Quill took a few steps forward, his shadows spilling over the pile of papers stacked all around, before he dropped the bag of Ghoulshrooms to the table. “As requested.”

  Haref stood up before wrapping around. He bent his neck before inspecting the sack, and from the look on his face, he was more or less satisfied. He pulled the sack and carried it into the room behind the office before closing it again with a , returning with an unusual pouch.

  Quill's breath quickened at the sight of the . It was a Binding item no bigger than a pouch, but it was one magical thing nonetheless. Most would do any task even for a chance to get the smallest of Holders. After all, it was the only container capable of holding an infinite amount of things, only limited by size.

  Haref rubbed his beard with a smug look before he dropped it on the desk. “A deal’s a deal, young mage.”

  “Thank you.” Quill picked up the Holder.

  “I put a little of something inside.”

  It was made of fine wool, soft to the touch even at the stitched marks around the Forgemasters’ symbol. Quill pulled the string to peek inside, and there was only a black pool of nothingness staring back at him in return, and when he dipped his hand inside, coins were scathing his fingers.

  Quill pulled a coin out from the Holder. It was a gold piece, totaling five inside the pouch. Quill appreciated the thought enough, but he couldn't help but feel like it should've been something else, not just measly coins from a wealthy noble.

  Quill pocketed the gold back in the Holder before he turned again to Haref. “There's something else I need to report… There's an infestation down there.”

  “I’m well aware.” Haref sank back to the comfort of his seat before taking a pen to the papers. “I wouldn't have sent you down there if there was nothing. Rest assured, the city is keeping the population under control. I’d hardly call it an infestation.”

  “A Flesh Golem followed us.” Quill said, and Haref nearly coughed.

  “I swore I didn't peg you as a comedian, young mage.” Haref said.

  Quill only stared at him.

  “You’re serious.” Haref turned down before he started writing on the papers. The two suns bleed behind the windowpane, casting orange and blue rays over Quill's skin. There was an awkward silence looming over the air. Quill had known Haref for a while now, and his silence only meant that he was thinking.

  “A Flesh Golem doesn't just spawn in the middle of a city.” Haref continued writing on the paper, the swish of his pen tickling Quill's ears. “It might be possible with a large colony, but even then, there are only specific cases that have been documented. Something is going on down there, and the dogs from the City Watch haven't been monitoring it. What happened to it?”

  “We killed it.” Quill rummaged through the pack behind him before fishing out a damp piece of the Flesh Golem’s skin.

  “You killed it?” Haref said.

  “Yes.”

  Haref burst into a laugh before he then pulled the Flesh Golem's sample from Quill's hands. “I’ll report this to the city council. Is that okay with you?”

  “Just leave my name out.” Quill turned and excused himself back to the main hall. He started his way through the stairs before climbing the second floor, humming as he did, celebrating in his new Holder.

  But there was still something that didn't sit right with him, one thing that he hadn't told Haref about.

  Back when he was in the tunnels, he had heard a strange voice right inside his head. It was different from the shriek of a Sporeghoul or the roar of the Flesh Golem, something that called to him once and only once. It wasn't from his ears. It was from his head. It was as if someone was last back in the tunnels, calling to him.

  Quill pushed off the last flight of stairs. Darkness greeted him on the upper floor, the outside light from the windows fading fast. He turned the knob on the table lamp before it sparked a flame, and he immediately went ahead and started for the bookshelves.

  It was hard for Quill to find something he had next to no knowledge of. He had read many, many books in the past, but none of them ever mentioned a strange voice. He pulled one book after another, hoping that something here might give him the answer to what that voice was, piling them in his hands before he then stacked them on the table.

  One by one he read over them, the dusk turning into late evening. He spent hours reading through book after book, but at the end of it, nothing bore him fruit.

  Quill sighed. He stretched his arms high in the air before leaning on the sofa.

  He shook the thought off.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  There was no way he could defeat a horde of Sporeghouls at his current level, let alone fight a Flesh Golem. He would only end up wasting his time seeking answers that might just end up being hallucinations in the end. After all, Ghoulshrooms were known to share areas with Dreamcaps, having spores that had a strange effect on the mind.

  Quill clutched his chest. It was a strange feeling, really. The familiarity in the voice was grating, but there was a wall he couldn't surpass, almost as if he was talking to a long lost brother he never had, only separated by an impenetrable and blurred glass window.

  Quill sighed before taking the books back to the bookshelves. Every minute spent wasting his time on an anomaly would’ve been wasted, and he was better off spending his time progressing his magic.

  The pulse of the Ghoulshroom Cores resonated inside his bag. He fished all ten of them before placing them on top of the table. They were taken from the Ghoulshrooms, with the Sporeghouls and Flesh Golem not having Cores of their own. Even then, the Cores shimmered with the same Black Aspect that he was so familiar with. It was strange to think of the Black Aspect coming from plants.

  Magic plants usually had Green Cores. It stems from the fact that plants represent nature. It was strange then how some magic plant species like Ghoulshrooms inherited the Aspect of decay and rot, while others like Dreamcaps took on the Aspect of Purple.

  For the next few minutes, Quill sat in silence in the lounge, only having the night owl on the roof and crickets for company. He closed his eyes, opening them to darkness before he then envisioned his Core, cradling it in his hands. He then woke back up to reality before he touched one of the harvested Ghoulshroom Cores.

  At once, the harvested Core melted at the touch of his fingertips. It was like ice turning to water before it seeped into his skin, almost as if it was acting like a sponge. He guided the feeling from his hand and into his chest, allowing it to wrap around his Core fully like a blanket, before a surge of warmth then pulsed inside him.

  Quill clutched his chest before a grin stretched on his face. He touched another Ghoulshroom Core, and then another, absorbing every single one of them into his body before merging it with his own Core. The same feeling flowed through him.

  He had fully absorbed the Cores.

  Quill breathed the night air in. It was the same feeling of waking up to the chirping of birds from a good night's sleep. He turned to the rest of the Cores on the table, and for a second, he was tempted to absorb them too, but he and Rhena had reached an agreement to split them evenly.

  The lingering feeling of warmth called Quill back to his interior. He now had to distribute the energy of the Cores he had absorbed to the five Attributes inside his Core. With a few minutes of thought, he poured three-quarters of the Magic Attribute and the remaining energy into the Agility Attribute. That was the right balance of early power while also taking into account long-term progression.

  As Quill was now, he desperately needed the increase in mana capacity in order to handle the weight of his Marble Puppets, but he also needed to be able to rely on himself. After all, Summoners were the most fragile in the earlier levels.

  Quill grinned at the increase in his Magic and Agility Attributes.

  He only needed a few more Cores before the Magic Attribute would advance to the Bronze tier, but even at this current level, it was more than enough to feel the difference.

  His Core had grown to house a larger mana pool, and his Mana Channels had improved to lessen the mana leaking out needlessly from his body. With this improvement, he could use his Marble Puppets for a few minutes longer without having to suffer Mana Fatigue.

  Quill clenched his fist. He couldn't feel the improvement to his Agility Attribute the same way that he felt the Magic Attribute, but his reaction speed and motor balance had improved now. The only way to see if it really made a noticeable difference was in a fight, and Quill couldn't wait for the next time.

  “I’m guessing these are mine, then.” Rhena snuck up behind the sofa, and Quill was all the more surprised by it. She picked up the remaining Cores from the table, her hair still wet over her clothes, fresh from the bath. “You do know that you stink?”

  “You were taking your time in there.” Quill pushed her away. He couldn't say that he wasn’t a little bit embarrassed, still smelling like rotten corpses and feces coming out from the tunnel.

  It was a hassle living a mortal life, needing to take a bath every day just to keep the flesh fresh and clean. Back then, Quill could go years and even decades without having to ever touch soap and water, and it was all thanks to his skeletal body.

  Quill stood up before something caught his eye, right at the corner of his vision. He hadn't noticed it before, but there was a strange tattoo stamped right onto the back of Rhena's nape. He knew what it was.

  It was a branded symbol of a slave.

  The past few chapters have focused on Quill's progression as a Summoner, expanding his versatility in the form of his Marble Puppets. We've also been introduced to Rhena, the stealthy, dark elf assassin with a mysterious past. "What? Another one?" That's right, my imaginary friend! (Smacks you on the face with a wet fish). The cast of characters will only continue to grow, and it's only going to get more lively from here on out.

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  As always, thanks for reading!