As he had been told, it really was not a secret organization. All he had needed to do was mention the name of the place to the coachman and he had been brought there, no questions asked.

Elmer was standing before a two-story brick building with an eye carved onto the dark and opaque coated windows of its facade.

The eye had irregular edges and its pupil was in the design of an elaborate clock with only a hand which pointed up at twelve. Beneath the designs were engraved golden words that read: The Glowing Eye.

Elmer was a bit weirded out at the sight. It was not a secret organization, but its building sure had the look of one. And moreso…

Elmer glanced about, watching whoever was making their way to the path he was on, cross over to the other side, or board a carriage before they got to it. If only he was not here at the moment, the walkway of this building would have been befitting of the word: desolate.

Was there some special reason for that, or was it just a private walkway?

Elmer sighed, then he went ahead toward the dark wooden door and pushed it open.

As he walked into the building a cold air instantly whooshed onto his skin, clutching him with its icy hands and nipping at his flesh wherever they had the leeway to peer out of his clothes. It was as though the door he had passed through had pushed him into a completely different landscape, one smeared by winter and snow and ice. But the hard floor he was stepping on, and the soft glow of sunlight which poured into the room, rendered that thought false.

How in the world was the building so cold on a late-morning of autumn?

Elmer wrapped his arms around himself as he shrunk backwards and rested against the door. His legs quivered, his teeth rattled, his bones shook, and most of all, he was going to freeze to death if someone did not put an end to the absurdity that was this cold.

“Oh my!” A voice blew into his ears then, and all of a sudden, the cold petered out.

Elmer closed his eyes, following a huff, and slumped to the floor in response, his head falling back with a thud against the door as he constantly let out huge breaths through a gaping mouth.

“Safe,” he muttered.

“I’m so sorry,” the voice came again, mellow and quiet, and this time closer.

Elmer opened his eyes, pulling his sight from the relaxing darkness they were within and up to the woman, who was garbed in a white lace blouse and black skirt, leaning over him.

She had a lithe figure washed palely by alabaster skin, while on her head sat long red hair tangling about each other around her forehead. Her aged but young appearance prompted Elmer to believe she would be in her early thirties or some age close to that.

“Are you alright?” the woman asked, her voice laced with something akin to penitence.

Was she the one who had caused the cold? Elmer wondered, still rubbing his arms against each other while trying to chase away the slight chill that remained.

“I’m…” he trailed off for a brief second. “I’m fine.”

“You should have knocked,” she reprimanded him, as harsh as her mellow tone could allow—which was, in all honesty, not very much. “I didn’t know anyone would be coming,” the woman said as she straightened herself with an exhale and left his view, giving Elmer the freedom to make out the room he was in.

For a place where bounty hunters seemingly gathered, it was a rather plain and empty space, and nothing short of somber.

The bland walls were lined with unlit gas lamps. The waiting furniture—there was none. Elmer’s eyebrows creased at that.

How come?

Did the bounty hunters sit on the floor or something? Elmer tilted his head to the side as he plunged himself in thought, but no good came out of that.

“You could have frozen to death,” he heard the woman say again, and he turned his face to where she was now seated behind a long but arched desk made of mahogany.

The furrows of Elmer’s eyebrows loosened at the sight of the furniture—at least there was something—then they narrowed once again as he noticed the three doors carved into the wall a few steps behind her.

They all looked to be made from dark wood, but only two of the three were designed with symbols which reminded Elmer of the chains he had been bound with in his landlord’s home—although, they seemed to be of a different arrangement.

The first of the two symbol-carved doors to the left had its design in a linear manner, while the second had its in some sort of whirling form, winding about like a ball of spinning wind until it stopped in the middle of the door.

Elmer had seen a lot of these symbols now to not wonder what they were, and they seemed to be always close to the world of Ascenders.

He pushed himself up from the floor. “I’m sorry to have caused you problems,” he apologized as he trudged weakly toward the desk.

“Don’t be,” the woman said. “If I’m to be truthful it was my fault, and I would have offered you a cup of coffee as an apology, but I’m bad at making one.” She quickly wrapped something that looked like a pendant carved out of wood into a thick cloth and tossed it underneath the desk. “Or would you like a cup of tea instead? I’m somewhat good at that.” She looked up at him.

Elmer shook his head. “I’m fine.”

“Alright. So, who are you?” the lady asked as soon as Elmer got to where she was seated.

“I’m Elmer Hills,” he answered.

And the woman nodded before saying, “Edna Smyth. The clerk of The Glowing Eye bureau.”

“Nice to meet you, Miss…” Elmer trailed off, unsure of what title to refer to her with.

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

“Miss,” she said with a slight smile.

And Elmer cleared his throat. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Edna.”

“The pleasure is mine.” She took a second’s delay then asked, “What have you come here for?”

Elmer paused for a moment as his eyes fell upon the newspaper laid on the desk and the stack of papers beside it. “I’m…” He cleared his throat and took his eyes back to Miss Edna Smyth, his arms still wrapped around themselves. “I’m an Ascender.”

“I see,” Miss Edna said, seemingly unbothered by his words.

Elmer had been expecting some sort of different reaction. He did not know what exactly, but he had been expecting something at least. The woman seated across from him had such a plain expression that it was almost as though he had just repeated his name.

She pointed over his shoulders, and with a slight grimace of confusion Elmer turned around to see a large wooden board way down at the end of the room. It had some sort of posters made of parchment put up on it, but Elmer could not see what they were about well enough from where he was.

“Pick a job over there and return.”

A job…? Elmer’s grimace softened as his mind quickly put together the pieces. He suddenly heard a finger tapping on a wooden surface and he turned back to Miss Edna.

“I’ll have your license.” She outstretched her hand.

Elmer drew in his lips. “I’m sorry. License?”

She withdrew her hand with low embracing eyebrows and let out a breath. “A new baseborn. You should have said that when I asked who you were.” She put on the rectangular framed glasses that had been laying on the table, its black polyester spectacle chords dangling about her cheeks as she bent to the side and pulled open a drawer.

“Baseborn?” Elmer mumbled his thoughts without realizing, and Miss Edna stopped her fumbles with whatever was in the drawer as she put her eyes back on him.

“How did you become an Ascender?” she queried abruptly from her bent position after staring at him strangely for a few seconds.

Elmer was not sure what exactly that question meant—he was not even sure what all she had been saying meant. Was he going to be in some sort of trouble if he answered truthfully? His heart paced as he glanced about the desk, momentarily escaping the querying gaze of Miss Edna, while he searched for anything that would give him even a subtle hint of what his situation entailed. He found nothing.

“Elixir,” Elmer’s voice shook even though he had resolved to answer truthfully. “I drank the elixir. Isn’t that how it’s always done?”

“That’s not what I meant.” Miss Edna sat up straight. “I’ll rephrase. What process did you go through to become an Ascender?”

Elmer blinked as his chest tightened. Legal or illegal? That was her question. But, what was he to answer with? His mind clouded, causing him to stand still like a statue with a shut mouth and a restless gaze.

“Illegal,” Miss Edna Smyth said, quite suddenly, that her mellow tone was anything but that, and the restlessness of Elmer’s gaze ceased at once as he placed them upon the thin eyebrows which sat just above the rims of her glasses.

“Wait,” he quickly voiced out of impulse and fear, but now he needed to say something as Miss Edna’s brows raised in anticipation for his words. “What do you mean by illegal?”

An idea of what could get him out of this mess slithered into his head following his question. It pricked his skin at the thought of falling to such means, but he had no choice, and in truth, he was probably too far gone to turn back now.

“The process you went through to become an Ascender,” Miss Edna told him. “There are legal and illegal means, don’t you know that?”

Elmer shook his head. “I didn’t know that, not until now at least.” He rubbed his hands gently against his arms. He was getting good at this—painfully. “Pardon my ignorance. I'm from the countryside. I had not been lectured on such things, and I’ve only been in this city for a week.”

Miss Edna’s face creased. “A week?” She looked at him from head to toe. “Did you become an Ascender before you came into this city?”

Elmer shook his head with a downturned smile. “I only found out about the world of Ascenders when I came here.”

Her mouth slackened for a moment before she said, “May I see your crest?”

Elmer shuddered and instinctively slid his palm across his chest. He looked at Miss Edna then at his chest and sighed. It was going to work, right? The potion he had received from—

His head suddenly throbbed hard for a moment as though he had been hit by a drumstick, and forced him into a moan while he threw a hand to rub his temples.

“Are you okay?” Miss Edna asked from her seat across from him, her tone fairly piked in worry.

“I’m fine,” Elmer replied. “I think it’s just a little headache.”

“Oh my!” she suddenly exclaimed, startling Elmer as she pounced to her feet. “I’m so sorry.” Elmer looked up at her with a confused expression. “It must have slipped my mind,” she said. “I should have offered you a seat.”

Elmer looked sideways. “But there is none.”

“Still, I should have. Courtesy demands, doesn’t it?”

Elmer let out a breath. “You don’t need to bother. I'd prefer to go home and rest.”

Miss Edna stayed silent for a short while before clearing her throat and sitting back down. “In that regard, I apologize for taking your time. Let’s hurry it up then, shall we?” Elmer nodded, releasing his temples from his hand. He was glad that the headache had come then. It seemed to have worked in his favor. “What have you come for?” Miss Edna asked soon after.

“To become a bounty hunter,” Elmer told her without hesitation.

“Thought as much,” she said in a low voice. “But that would be impossible at the moment.”

Elmer’s face twitched and he leaned forward, placing his hands on the table. “Why?”

“I won’t blame you for not knowing about the legal processes taken to become an Ascender, but I still have to follow protocol. At present, you are not a certified Ascender, therefore I cannot let you become a bounty hunter.”

Elmer clenched his jaw. “But why?” His tone was almost harsh, just barely.

“Relax.” Miss Edna sighed. “Bounty hunters are given licenses signed by the emperor and the synod of Churches, what do you think would happen if just anyone got their hands on such a thing?”

Elmer fell silent, but his sweaty hands spoke in quivering words.

“That’s a lot of power to give to people who became Ascenders through illegal procedures, don’t you think?” Miss Edna continued. “But that doesn’t mean you can no longer be certified.” She leaned to the side, pulled open a drawer, and after some time she brought out a paper and turned it to face Elmer. “Fill this and take it to the Church. It usually takes between a month or more, but if you are deemed worthy of becoming an Ascender you’ll get the Church’s seal of approval, then you can return.”

Elmer’s heart squeezed like it was a ripened grape being pried of its juice. “A month is too long. Is there no way I can get certified quicker?” The words shook as they came out of his mouth.

“That’s up to the Church to decide,” Miss Edna told him. “Just make sure to get it done if you want to become a bounty hunter.” She gestured the paper at him. “Let’s hope the Church sees you as someone worthy.” Elmer hesitated for a brief second before he took hold of it.

He would have asked what would happen if he was not deemed worthy, but he already knew the answer to that—most likely.

“Morning is when bounty hunters come to take jobs, mostly very early, so I’m always here during that time, and get off by 2:00 P.M. I’m telling you this just in case you have any questions or you’ve gotten your certification. Don’t want you coming later during the day and meeting no one.” She gestured about the room. “The bureau is always like this. Bad, isn’t it?” She chuckled. “On the bright side, I have it all to myself.”

Elmer nodded with a smile, then shuffled a few steps back from the desk before looking into the paper. It was a data collection form, and its header had the design of an irregular but intricate gear-like emblem of a clock with one hand pointed up at where the number twelve was meant to be. Elmer suddenly became tired once again.

“Thank you.” He bowed at Miss Edna while he poured out a low breath. “I’ll be back. Hopefully soon.” He raised his eyes just in time to see her pull off her glasses and nod gently at him.