Devon entered the room, looking more refreshed than he had a few hours ago. He had brushed his hair, and his eyes had lost their previous lifelessness. When he walked, his movements flowed smoothly, a contrast to his stiff gait when he brought me to Astra.

He stopped and sniffed the air before staring at my bandaged hand and raising an eyebrow. "What happened?"

Astra answered before I could reply. "He has a gift for fire incantations. You should have seen it; should have smelled it!"

I frowned and waved my hands. "She tried to teach me the firestarter incantation, and something weird happens every time I try it. We found out why, though! It's my other skill."

"Other skill?" His eyes narrowed. "I recall you mentioning you gaining two skills. It's a passive, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it's called Ember Soul. I'm not exactly sure what it does, but the weird information I get when I think about it goes something like this: 'Blaze eternal, forever light the way to repel the dark.' Whatever that means, it boosts my affinity for fire, though!"

"And that's why you have bandages on your hands?"

"Yeah, this whole regeneration thing is insane. The burns healed so fast, it felt wrong—like that's not supposed to happen. Since my hand healed, I tried the incantation again; the same thing happened: bigger fire, more heat, and a burnt hand."

Devon shrugged. "Perks of being a Grimm. When you increase your constitution, you'll heal even faster. I take it the reason the room smells like burnt flesh, and ash is because of you self-immolating?"

"Uhm, yeah. That sounds really bad when you word it like that."

"You'll get used to it. A few wards we use require our blood as a component. You can't be a porcelain doll if you're going to be a Grimm."

The excitement I had felt for the last three hours dropped. Astra kept me thinking and distracted; I partly suspected she did it intentionally. Even if my hand looked horrifically damaged, the wonder of magic had made everything fun and exciting.

I didn't blame Devon. He probably wanted me to know that the job wasn't all rays of sunshine and cool fireballs.

"I understand," I replied.

Astra clapped her hands. "Don't ruin the fun, Devon. He's had enough bad things happen in the last day to fulfill your weird need for balance. Let him enjoy himself while he can. You're already about to drag him off to a hunt."

"Fine," he grunted. He turned and tossed something in my direction. "Pin that to the back of your cloak."

I caught the small object and opened my hand to a pin. The thing felt like metal and looked like silver. Inside a crescent moon sat a howling wolf's head above a slanted lumber axe.

"What's this?"

"It's your emblem. We all have one, so never lose it. If you ever go missing, we use these pins to help track you down. And the thing is enchanted to open some passages inside the Warren."

I placed it on the inner side of my cloak next to my heart. The cloak gave a strange feeling that felt like curiosity before settling down.

"Marvelous. Truly an amazing creation," Astra whispered. When I looked up, she stood inches away and nearly made me jump back.

"Huh? What is?"

She twirled around me, forcing me to stand still as she examined my body. Her eyes trailed up and down to my legs before roaming back up to my face. When she saw my confused look, she winked.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

After tapping her cheek lightly, she sat back down and pulled out another piece of vellum. Her fingers quickly dipped the quill into the inkwell and began sketching at an incredible speed. Before my eyes, a very realistic rendition of my cloak appeared on the paper, line by line.

She quickly blew on the page and set it on a nearby table next to other drawings.

"Your cloak—receiving a fully intact soul cloak is a rarity. Most of us usually piece together scraps from the Reds, while only a fortunate few have a complete cloak. Devon, when's the last time you saw the system offer someone a soul cloak?"

Devon kept silent for over a minute before turning away and walking to the door. "The last person to get one… was Elias."

"Oh…"

The heavy atmosphere made me squirm, and I got up to follow. Astra tapped my shoulders before I could push my chair in and handed me two scrolls wrapped in different coloured strings. One had a bright red string tied around the piece of vellum, while the other had black.

"Take these, open the red one when you have some free time. The black one, you only open if you're ever alone and in need of protection. Devon's taking you to the armoury, so keep these safe and store them in your pack when you get one, alright?"

"Thank you!"

I accepted the scrolls and waved goodbye while catching up to Devon. The tall man glanced towards the scrolls in my hands before walking out of the library and down the tunnel.

After a few minutes, I cleared my throat and probed a question. "We're going on a hunt, right? What are we hunting?"

"Don't know."

What? Why?

"What do you mean?"

"We've gotten reports sent to us by one of the scouting teams—suspicious activity inside the world of Orynx. A village in the Felstrad kingdom has undergone several accidents. Too many to be pure coincidence."

I stopped.

World of Orynx? He mentioned the nexus, but we're going to a different world? What the hell have you gotten yourself into, Cain?

"You mentioned the nexus and my world integrating… I didn't really understand what you meant, but you said the world of. Does this mean Grimms are interdimensional monster hunters?"

He stopped and then continued walking. "I forgot you wouldn't know the history of Grimms. Most pups have to study basic lore about the organization before joining." He paused, and we turned a corner down a tunnel that ended in a split path. "We hold jurisdiction over six worlds. Originally nine, but things happened, and now it's six. Orynx, the world we're going to is on the smaller side with only two continents. Felstrad is a minor kingdom on the western continent, but we keep watch over it due to certain resources."

Another massive lore dump of information struggled to settle into my mind. The concept of multiworlds felt foreign to my Earther beliefs.

There might be a chance of going back to Earth someday… No, don't think about that; focus on what you need to do.

We journeyed on for about ten more minutes, delving further into the cave system until we came upon a staircase leading to a massive metal door. Like the door leading to the library, when Devon placed his hand on the center of the door, black lines lit up as the door swung open.

Deep, brassy chimes rang through the air. After looking around for the source of the sound and finding none, I took in the room before us.

Lining the walls were weapons of every shape and size. The left wall had swords ranging from one the length of your arm to another longer than Devon. Axes hung from pegs on the far right next to the halberds and the spears.

Several wooden stands held pieces of armour while boxes and crates filled the corners of the room. Off to the sides, tables held smaller weapons and armour pieces while wooden barrels sat in the corner filled with multi-feathered arrows.

It feels like I've walked into a medieval fair's replica shop.

Devon stepped to the side and gestured around the room. "Have you ever used a weapon before? Any experience or training?"

My eyes roamed across the shiny metal and leather before shaking my head. "Not really, no. I've fought with wooden sticks as a kid, but using Elias' axe to kill the Granny was my first time using a weapon."

"No swords, then." He moved to the right side of the room containing the axes, spears, and other heavy weaponry. "Your strength isn't high enough for the heavier stuff, so we'll keep it light."

He reached up and unhooked an axe about as long as my arm. With a slightly curved shaft made of grey wood and wrapped in black leather, the axehead I recognized as a bearded axe. It looked sharp and made of iron.

After placing the axe on the table beside him, he grabbed a spear made of the same wood and metal. It was nearly my height with a polished sheen to its wood.

"Axe or spear. Try them both on the training dummy over there. I'll collect the rest of the supplies while you pick a weapon," he said.

Devon walked away and started lifting crates while digging through an assortment of stuff I didn't recognize. Several pieces of fur and leather strap came out of the pile, and I watched it sink to the floor as he moved swiftly around the room.

My eyes landed on the two very real weapons in front of me.