“Mr. Elmer, I say once again, is this a job that is within your range of expertise, or would you prefer to take on a different sort?”

The resurfacing of those words peeled Elmer from his mind, and brought his eyes, which had been placed, but unfocused, on the agreement paper before him, back to the plain expression that made up Ms. Edna’s face.

He had no expertise, and she no doubt knew that as she must have read the form he had filled for the bounty hunter licensing. So what was she expecting him to say as an answer to that question?

‘No?’

Or was she banking on him reconsidering taking on a job in its entirety?

There was no way he could do that. Taking on a job was a crucial point that he needed to cross as an Ascender in search of a way to retrieve the soul of his sister.

Elmer had thought about it for a while when he had been on his way here. He had no clue as to where to begin the search for The Warlock’s Torch or what it looks like, and he could not even recall who had told him about it—trying to do that always brought him crunching headaches. To drop a question about such an artifact on Ms. Edna would do little good to him by bringing out her suspicious nature.

So he came up with a plan to take a bounty hunting job, and when completed he would ask Ms. Edna about The Warlock’s Torch while acting as though he had stumbled across some sort of information on it during the job.

Chancing upon the knowledge of a mystic artifact during a job meant for those who had tapped into the supernatural should prove to be the perfect cover up. And also, he needed the money. The experience that would come from such an adventure would only be there as the icing on a cake—as Miss Sally always used to say to him.

Moreover, Ms. Edna had classified it as a low grade job. If its classification was in any way similar to what Elmer’s brain had interpreted it as, then shouldn’t he be able to handle a job of such a class?

He had taken on a Lost by himself, luck or not, and as those things were creatures whose only purposes were to attack Ascenders of whom their pathways were in contrast with the particular city they inhabited, then they surely weren’t weak.

Well, the one he had had a tussle with wasn’t. It was fast, and so strong that it had sliced a tree in half, and he had—

Elmer’s thoughts froze for a while.

Now that he tried putting more reasoning into it, how had he been able to survive against such a creature?

That night—and even till now—he had not felt any changes in his body, in his speed or strength, so the Lost should have been able to kill him from the get go with how fast it had been moving. But somehow—somehow, he had been able to avoid all its attacks. How come?

“Mr. Elmer!” Ms. Edna shouted a call, and Elmer’s eyes darted for a second before finding the clerk’s face. Though, this time it was not plain as it had been before. Her lips were pinched softly together, and a slightly harried guise was what made up her expression. “Please keep your thoughts brief,” she said. “My time here has long run out. Give me your answer so I can leave.”

Elmer inhaled sharply and quickly lowered his head while using a finger to hold his glasses in place by its bridge. “My apologies, Ms. Edna. I’m truly sorry.”

He had not been this way before—putting excessive thoughts into things. If he’d wanted to know something, he’d just go ahead and ask. If he’d wanted to do something, he’d just go ahead and get it done.

But he had noticed that ever since he’d come into this city he had been growing more and more unusual.

His life, his moral decisions, they were both continually deviating from how it had always been before, and now he found himself wondering if it was this city that was instigating such a drastic change in him.

“Do not worry about it,” Ms. Edna told Elmer as his bow receded, and tapped on the agreement paper she had brought to his presence. “Just make your decision.”

There was none to make. His answer was obvious.

“Yes,” Elmer said. “I will be taking on the job.”

Ms. Edna closed her eyes and exhaled before reopening them. “Alright,” she muttered. “Sign here.” She pointed at an empty space opposite a signed one at the end of the agreement paper.

“Before I do that,” Elmer said as he took hold of the pen Ms. Edna had offered him, “I have a question.”

Ms. Edna shot her eyes at him. “What’s your question, Mr. Elmer?”

“To be honest, I have two.” He had more than two, if he was to be truly honest. But he was already holding the woman here for far longer than he had intended. Two questions should suffice for now.

Ms. Edna groaned while she leaned back on her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “You seem to want to keep me here forever.”

“You once said you would answer whatever questions I have.”

“I also mentioned I would only be able to do such while I was on duty.”

“You’re still on duty now,” Elmer argued.

“You are the one keeping me here, if you haven’t noticed.”

Elmer pinched his eyes for a moment. His body hadn’t forgotten its tiredness. “They are brief questions.”

Ms. Edna took a deep breath and let it out, then removed her glasses and put them on the desk. “Ask, Mr. Elmer. I’ll answer what I can.”

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She was a fantastic woman, Elmer allowed himself a thought for a moment. Even though she could just ignore him and take her leave, she chose to remain and put up with his antics. And she did not even look to be in any way angry, she just seemed a bit frustrated.

Ms. Edna Smyth truly was as courtly as a woman could be.

Elmer’s right thumb caressed the pen he held, while the forefinger of his left hand pointed at the agreement form static on the desk before him. “You said the job Lev put up was a low grade job. What does that mean?”

Ms. Edna’s chin dropped slightly and she topped it off by raising a brow as if she was saying: ‘that’s your question?’

With a sigh she said in a passive tone, “It’s exactly what it sounds like Mr. Elmer.”

But he knew that. A low grade job was what it was: a low grade job. There were no two ways about it. So maybe he should have put forth his question to the clerk in a different way that would enlighten her on the sort of answer he sought.

Well, he still had the leeway to do that.

“Pardon me, Ms. Edna. Let me rephrase. Why is this job classified as a low grade job? What I want to know are the reasons that govern what sort of classification a job is given.”

The muscles of Elmer’s legs twitched, and he indistinctly shuffled to his side on his feet to relax the strain that had been placed on them. There was no place to sit, it wasn’t his fault.

Ms. Edna cleared her throat. “You’re a very curious person, aren’t you, Mr. Elmer?”

He had little to no choice in that regard. Everything there was to learn, he had to learn. Everything there was to seek, he had to seek. Somewhere within all that knowledge he hoped—and was still hoping—to find something that would help bring his sister back to him. Every knowledge would play a part, the classification of a job was no different.

“I am.” He denied it not.

Ms. Edna’s lips went softly to the side as though she was happy that he was, but her mouth only took that smile for a second before she raised three fingers, showing them to him.

“Bounty hunting jobs are classified under three categories.” Elmer nodded, then she dropped a finger at a time as she said, “There are the low grade jobs, the high grade jobs, and the special grade jobs.” All her previously showcased fingers curled into a knuckle before she lowered her hand onto the desk.

Low grade, high grade, special grade…? Elmer wandered into his thoughts briefly. I wonder what sort of horrors a job would have to be considered a special grade…

“Any job that requires little to no experience to undertake are the ones that are classified as low grade jobs. Just think of it as something a policeman could handle if only it was not related to the supernatural. It ranges from petty things like hunting thieves that have stolen essence ingredients to exorcism rituals for ghosts, curses, and even the weaker sorts of wraiths.”

Exorcism rituals… The last word stuck with Elmer the most. He had known that he would have to do things such as these as an Ascender, though the thought that he had to do the same thing that had been done to his sister to others—it didn’t matter if they were curses or not—hardened his stomach.

He hated the word: ‘ritual’. He didn’t want to have anything to do with it. But at the moment, it mattered very little what he wanted.

If he was to bring Mabel’s soul back from those who had rid her of it, then he had to be prepared to do the same things they did. He had to act like they did, think like they did, become them in all entirety. That was the only way he would get Mabel back.

“Let me use your friend’s job posting for an example,” Ms. Edna continued, drawing Elmer from his contrasting thoughts and back to her. “All his job requires is a straightforward exorcism of the curse that is plaguing him. And what it takes to do that is just by placing a purgation talisman on the exact spot the ritual to curse him had taken place.”

Elmer was somewhat taken aback. It seemed quite easy. But if it was so, then how come the job offer was still available even after three days?

Surely, bounty hunters should be flocking toward low grade jobs such as Lev’s since it was a very easy way to make money. At least, that was what he would be doing continuously if he was just in this only for the money.

“Take note that all I have said about Mr. Lev’s job posting is all based on the information I received from him, which was hardly any. I only gather very little but enough details on the job being put up to be able to classify them accordingly. If you take on the job you’ll have to confirm the facts of your friend and employer’s situation from him to know what exactly you would be dealing with. But the classification is never wrong, rest assured.”

Ms. Edna took a break to clear her throat, but when she was about to continue Elmer butted in, pouring out the thoughts that were holding him captive.

“Then how come Lev’s job is still up even after three days?” said Elmer. “If low grade jobs were so easy to take on, wouldn’t bounty hunters undertake them quickly as it's an easier way to make money?”

“True,” Ms. Edna replied. “That is why only Baseborns can take on the low grade jobs.”

Baseborns… This word made up the second question Elmer had hoped to ask Ms. Edna about. It had bothered him a few times ever since the moment she’d called him that on his first day here.

What was a baseborn? Why had she called him a baseborn? He had those questions storm his mind sometimes. And since she’d brought it up now, then maybe it would be better if he used this moment to make her lump in her answer with that of the classification of the bounty jobs, that way he would delay her less.

“Baseborn?” Elmer asked with creasing eyebrows.

“Yes.” Ms. Edna nodded. “Baseborns, like you.”

“I recall you referred to me by that on my first day here as well. I’m sorry, but I don’t know what that means.”

“I know.” Ms. Edna sighed. “You didn’t become an Ascender by going directly through the Church or its college so there’s no way you would know these things. All you’ll have to learn on your own. Think of it as some sort of punishment for doing things illegally.”

So it really was possible to become an Ascender through the Church’s college… Elmer’s earlobes throbbed. Forgive me for doubting you, Pip…

Still…

That’s a low thing to do by the Church, not educating Ascenders because they went about things illegally, it’s like sending them out to die… Though, I’m sort of glad it’s that way, if not, at this moment, Ms. Edna would have noticed that I went about my certification illegally due to my lack of knowledge… Elmer sighed.

Ms. Edna resumed, “The Church knew a lot of people were oblivious of the right way to become Ascenders, that is why the certification was brought about, so ignorant people like you could still have a shot at being recognized by the Church and not lumped in with the corrupted ones.”

“The corrupted ones?” Elmer mumbled instinctively. Given the criteria, he was one of them in truth. He still hadn’t gone through the Church.

“Yes,” said Ms. Edna. “Jobs required to hunt these sorts are what are usually classified as high grade jobs.”

Elmer pinched his eyes again in between her talk. He was getting a bit too dizzy.

Ms. Edna’s words resumed their flight into his ears without regard for the slight tiredness shadowing him, “The same way the bounty hunting jobs are classified based on grades, so are Ascenders ranked as well, but instead in Echelons. There’s the Baseborn Echelon, one which you are currently a part of, then there’s the Lower Echelon, and the Upper Echelon.”