Cal exited the tower and immediately ran into one of the many, many city guards who were packing the area. He could see a few guild members dotting through the crowd to further keep the peace if necessary.

This distraction is a great idea for hiding my exit, but it’s not exactly helpful for finding Seris.

“Sir, please move out of the area.”

Cal glanced at the mortal guard who spoke to him and almost felt sorry that he did. The poor man was sweating furiously while staring at Cal like he was a wild animal about to maul him. This must be common for the guard since nearly everyone who left the tower could do that.

He gave the guard a slight nod and moved along to avoid giving the man a heart attack. His eyes darted about to see if anyone recognized him and to try to find Seris’s short form in the crowd.

The former didn’t seem likely since the only guild members nearby were the ones acting like extra muscle. The tower hadn’t been completely emptied, so it wouldn’t be too difficult to have everyone who had been on the ninth floor to be moved away.

As for the latter, Cal saw someone who looked like Karl getting pulled away by one of those guild members. He quickly shouldered his way through the crowd in that direction. He hoped Seris was nearby, and even if she wasn’t, Karl should have an idea where she was.

“—don’t understand. I can’t leave! Give me a few more minutes, and I’ll leave willingly!”

Cal frowned as he caught the last of Karl’s words. The man sounded far too distressed, and the guild member who was pulling him away clearly didn’t care for any of it.

“I don’t have time for this. You’re a guild member like me! You know as well as I do that I don’t have an option here. I need to clear the area before—”

“Karl,” Cal said calmly, cutting off the man’s sentence. “Where’s the girl that was with me in the restaurant?”

“You’re out! Appren—”

“No need for any of that,” Cal interrupted quickly. He stared daggers at Karl for nearly ruining the entire reason this crowd was created. He should have assumed Karl would have realized he wasn’t an Initiate after what happened.

“R-Right,” Karl stuttered. “She was sent Mystic Lane by a Master.”

“Oh,” Cal blinked. The Overseer had taken care of that too.

“Well, you got what you wanted to stay for. Time to go,” the guild member playing guard said gruffly before glancing at Cal. “… If you are an Initiate, please leave the area.”

“Of course,” Cal nodded immediately before patting Karl’s shoulder. He ignored the fear that grew in the man’s eyes with every pat. “I apologize for the trouble, Karl.”

“I-It’s no trouble at all!”

Cal smiled thinly and gave him a nod before leaving.

Karl didn’t wait out of the kindness of his heart. He was terrified that I would remember his attitude and blame him if I didn’t find Seris quickly.

Not for the first time, he wondered what he did to Tarn. The Overseer told him the goal of his action but not what it looked like. However, it was obvious that he had been terrifying.

Cal sighed and turned onto Silverfall Street. The Great Market was close to the center of the city, while the place he needed to go to was on the western edge. He observed the people going about their business and passed by the city’s administrative buildings.

He stopped at the entrance of a narrow, unnamed avenue that should lead straight to his destination. He narrowed his eyes and saw the other side a few miles away. It was definitely where he needed to go.

The aptly named Mystic Lane

The number of pedestrians walking around was reduced to zero. The narrow avenue was surrounded by the backsides of buildings, some of which were fairly filthy.

I don’t think this is the usual way to get to Mystic Lane.

Cal had never been there before, and all he knew was that it was located on the west side of Lumina. So he walked on whichever road went the most westward.

Thankfully, the trip through the odd avenue was uneventful. A small part of him was almost disappointed, but it was for the best.

I didn’t want to stay in Lumina for more than five hours. By then, those thirsty Sunfire Grains would need water.

Cal stepped onto Mystic Lane and immediately felt underwhelmed. It was no different than any other street in the city.

Why was it given so much praise by the Initiates in the core guild?

A few groups of guild members were walking around, and unlike in Starlit Joy, he actually recognized some of these people. Not that he knew anybody’s names, but he was aware of them as hangers-on.

The problem was that the ones he could recognize were grouped around one person in each group. And he had no idea who they were.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Cal saw some look at him when they became aware of his presence. He had a suspicion of who they were. After a slight nod, he picked the shop nearby and headed toward it.

The ones I don’t recognize might be Apprentices. It would make sense why some Initiates were so eager to come here.

He had no idea what they were doing in the city—assuming they were actually Apprentices—but he also had little interest in finding out at the moment.

Dreamweaver’s Spells

Cal frowned as he mouthed the name of the store. It seemed familiar for some reason, but that shouldn’t be possible. He shook his head and entered.

He was going to find Seris the tedious way. Checking every store wouldn’t take too long anyway. It wasn’t like there were too many—

“Welcome,” a familiar, bored voice droned from behind the counter. “Select the spells you desire and fulfill your dreams.”

Cal immediately reversed course and ensured he hadn’t somehow ended up on the tenth floor of the Great Tower.

Given that he could see the sky, he was not in the tower. He entered the shop again. This time, the girl was staring at him instead of zoning out.

“It’s you!”

“I’m the one that should be saying that, kid,” Cal retorted instantly. “What are you doing here?”

The girl looked affronted. “I own this shop!”

“You!?” Cal knew arguing with a kid wasn’t a good look, even if nobody could witness it. But he couldn’t help it.

“Do you see anyone else here?”

Cal was hit with flashbacks of his interaction with her in the tower. He suddenly regained the resolve he had back then. Put it aside and prevent getting pulled into a time-wasting mess.

“Forget it. Have you seen a girl a little older than you? Not much taller either, and with—”

“B-Boss?!”

Cal turned to see Seris with a booklet in her hands. “Glad to see you’re fine, Seris. This trip didn’t turn out as I wished.”

… Whoever brought her here must have done so because of the girl at the counter. I doubt there is anyone near the same age.

“I thought it was pretty great!” Seris’s eyes grew wide. “I mean, it was fine, boss! Er, no, sir? Or should I call you Master—”

“Alright, stop,” Cal rubbed his forehead in frustration. “Enough with the titles. Just call me Cal.”

“You’re sure?” Her eyes gleamed.

“Yes, now, what do you have in your hands?” Cal pushed past the issue firmly.

“Cal, you won’t believe what I found. Elara told me I could browse the shop while waiting for you, Cal. And I think I found the perfect spell for you, Cal!”

He stared at her blankly. After a pause, he asked, “Are you finished overusing my name?”

Well, that’s one way to know Seris isn’t terrified of me. She might have missed what I did to Tarn.

“I swear I’m done,” Seris smiled as she pushed the booklet to him.

Cal accepted it and flipped through the pages, his eyebrows rising at what he read.

Blazing Furrow

Description: A spell that creates a line of fire along the ground, burning everything in its path.

Effect: Burn large swaths of land. Burn large swaths of enemies.

Warning: Requires a high fire element affinity to use.

Whoever created the spell was more than a little focused on burning many things with one cast.

“So, this is for me?” Cal said with a deadpan, not surprised when Seris nodded rapidly. “Are you sure it isn’t for Tavia?”

“Of course not. She already has a cool fire spell.”

I should have known Tavia’s pyro show had gotten her attention. And the first thing she wants me to get is something that can burn my field to the ground.

“Unfortunately, I can’t,” he said, handing the booklet back to a disappointed Seris. “I’m not good at fire spells like Tavia is. And who is Elara? The person who dropped you off?”

“She’s Elara,” Seris pointed behind him, “And if it’s not fire, I bet it’s water, right? I'll pick out a good one, Cal!” She wandered back into the larger-than-expected shop.

Cal let her do as she wished. He had already turned to face the girl, who had an annoying smirk on her face. He didn’t like being the oldest by far in the room.

“So, Elara. One day, I want to understand how you own this shop… and the one in the Great Market, but today is not that day. I’m in a rush, and I need to absorb an Earth Simulacrum before I leave.”

She pointed with her thumb at the hallway to the side. “Same as before. It comes free with the purchase of an earth spell. The cheapest one here is ninety silver.”

Cal placed a gold coin on the counter. “That should do it. And since you’re the… owner, make sure Seris stays inside.”

“She isn’t a toddler,” Elara scowled, taking offense in Seris’s place.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Cal chuckled as he walked into the hallway.

“Remember not to hurt yourself this time!”

That lessened the smile on Cal’s face. He preferred to forget about the time when he almost died to a simulacrum.

The privacy area was similar to the shop in the tower, with the same number of rooms available.

Once again, he picked one at random and entered, closing the door behind him and heading straight to the four wall cutouts. He placed his hand on the earth symbol and waited.

He stared at the opaque barrier that appeared over a cutout. It didn’t take long before he finally heard a change.

It’s almost like a rumble. I can feel it through my body.

The barrier disappeared, and an earth simulacrum was revealed to him.

Out of the three he had seen so far, this was the most ‘plain,’ though that was only relative. It still looked amazing to his eyes. It was a rugged, textured stone that looked heavy. It had an earthy brown color with veins of green running through it, resembling vines.

Cal repeated the process for a safe absorption—forming a clean path to his mana core, then steadily absorbing it. He hoped it would be similar to the process with the water simulacrum, but he had to prepare for the worst.

He reached out carefully, his hand pulsing a soft white with mana. The plan was to sip at the simulacrum until his mana core could handle larger doses.

That was the plan. And again, the plan failed.

The earth simulacrum jumped into his hand—just like its water counterpart. Thankfully, the similarities continued.

The earth element happily rushed to his mana core, eager to be absorbed.

Earth Simulacrum absorbed.

You can now access the earth element.

Your affinity is…

…

…

High earth affinity detected.

You are restricted to earth spells that require up to high affinity.

Simulacrum absorption has activated an ability of [Farmer (Special)].

Trait choices available. Choose one.

[Stone Skin] - Temporarily harden your skin to the toughness of stone, drastically reducing physical damage taken. Duration of the trait is until mana is exhausted. Limited to 1 use per day.

[Quicksand Mastery] - Gain the ability to create and manipulate quicksand. This trait has no limitation on use.

[Harvest Guardian] - Summon a golem made of earth and stone to assist you. This golem can help with heavy lifting, protect your fields from intruders, and fight alongside you in battles. Duration of the trait is until destruction. Limited to 1 active golem.

WARNING

You have a previous unpicked option. Only one option can be furloughed. Select your reward or the earth element trait within the next minute. Failure to do so will cause one to be lost permanently.