The sun is going down. This is the perfect time to implement my plan. At first I stash away nine magic scrolls of fireball. I kept them in case I would need them sometimes, like today. I can feel that there is going to be trouble. These kinds of nagging feeling came more often as I got stronger. I am still unsure whether it is caused by the path of blood or the path of the soul.

I put on my robe and take a second one with me, in case this one gets damaged too heavily. None of my goals is walking back into the tower partially naked, or into a cloth store.

Then I safely stash away the seed and the parchment in my robe.

Opening my door, I see an empty corridor. Silently and with much care, I leave the tower. After wandering around the district a bit, I break into a full sprint. Behind me, I hear some silent whispers.

„Quick he’s escaping, we have to kill him! The Boss said that he made a killing with selling scrolls,“ says the goon, running after me. Another person is following him.

After ten minutes of sprinting, I manage to lose them.

„Pooh, that was dangerous, but they don’t seem to be second stage apprentices,“ I say to myself, while catching my breath. It also seems like they are only on the lookout.

Leaving them behind, I make my way towards the west side of town. Not many people are still out on the streets at this time of the day, thus I stick to side street and small alleys. I don’t want to meet too many people.

While walking I organize my thoughts. First the ambushers, they are most likely related to that Isaac guy. I can leave them for later, now the restaurant is more important.

Finishing my thought, I arrive in front of a restaurant. My target is ‚Luke’s Eatery‘. One of the windows is open. This guy is pretty unlucky. I overheard some other apprentices talking about the restaurant while waiting to receive my golden apple. They complained about something, but it has something to do with him working all alone. Perfect for me to sneak in. Inside, I find myself in a middle-sized storeroom. It is mostly empty, a few vegetables lying in the corner. Leaving the room I search the other rooms. One is the kitchen. With only three stoves and an oven-like apparatus. Next is a locked door. I suppose this is the main storage room. Next is the dining area. Nothing fancy, only 6-7 tables with some chairs.

Then I find the room I had been searching for. The bedroom. Slowly opening the door, I walk in. He is already asleep. The room is not big, it has space for a bed a closet and a desk. Walking beside the bed I see my target for tonight’s operation. Luke, the owner of the eatery.

He is deep in a slumber. I take out my scroll of enslavement and cast it on him. Before that though I pick up a pillow and stuff it into his face. Getting your soul ripped open is a very painful process.

Heavy groans and muffled screams later, his soul is ready for the seed. I put the blood-red seed on top of his head and chant a small incarnation to bind it into his soul. Then with the last part of the spell, I heal his soul slowly. It takes me three hours of constant focus to patch the scar. Then he wakes up drenched in sweat.

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„ Wha- What? Where- Who are you, what do you want? I don’t have any money,“ Luke stuttered. Is this not the first time he is robbed?

My answer must have sounded like the devil’s deal. „You see, dear Luke, I don’t need your money. I just need your soul. You might feel a little weird, but that’s just the process of the seed integrating into you. It should be finished before tomorrow morning.“ The spell did talk about it, not much tough.

„B-but why me? I am a nobody,“ Luke stuttered out with great difficulty.

„There Mr. Luke you are wrong. You are a cook. Someone, I need, you see? The people around here are not good at cooking, so I need to teach someone how to cook properly. That I also need a hideout is just a coincidence. Now don’t talk. I will make you a great cook. The seed has the added benefit of making you a bit smarter,“ I say. So you can make better dishes for me, I silently added.

Continuing to sweeten the deal for him I say: „I will leave some recipes on your desk, don’t worry they are unique. Now I need you to compile the local gangs and the restaurants, who have a similar situation to you. They are alone and are the cook at the same time. Understood? I don’t expect a lot, so don’t fret, just some rumours and a general picture should be fine. You live here after all.“

Luke weakly nodded. Ah good the seed is slowly taking effect.

„And make a small cellar, it doesn’t have to be big. I also left a gold coin for you to use. Make the restaurant a bit fancier, buy some spices and make a cellar,“ I say. Then I knocked him out and leave the room. Here, I might have miscalculated a bit. I have no idea how much spices cost. A gold coin wouldn’t be enough if they were expensive. Not my problem though.

„I hope my investment is going to pay off in the future,“ I say to myself. I am not talking about the money aspect here. I don’t expect a lot from a small restaurant.

I then make my way back.

Shortly before I arrive, I see some people creeping around. They seem to be my friends from a few hours ago. Their spacing around is filled with anxiousness.

Now a fight is not something I want. I am still weak and don’t have any spells engraved in my soul, thus I make a plan. I take four of the fireball scrolls and bind them together with a stick in between. A nice feature of the stick is that, when infused with magic, it slowly releases it into the air. With this I make a makeshift time bomb. This bomb, I leave near my original route, then I circle back and wait for it to go off.

Five minutes later I hear a deafening BOOM. The bomb has gone off. Now that my pursuers are distracted, I run full speed towards the tower. Inside they won’t dare to attack me.

At the last corner, I suddenly catch a glimpse of a figure running towards me. I don’t take any chances and throw two fireball scrolls in their face.

The man has to dodge them. The time is barely enough for me to run around the corner, shortly after I enter the tower.

Now leaning against a wall, I catch my breath.

„Wow, that was a display! I knew that they wanted to attack someone, but was not sure whom. Congrats by the way for making it back.“ The speaker is Nelton, the self-proclaimed information broker. He has another person accompanying him. He is in a very similar robe than Isaac is usually wearing. Lavish, filled with gold and silver. In my opinion, it is too dazzling and useless. Feels like a Nuovo-rich trying to blend in with his new fronds and failing miserably at it.

„Well, he might be useful in the future,“ the man says to Nelton and then leaves. In terms of arrogance, he is an equal to Isaac.

Nelton then explained to me, that that person was the Apprentice leader Allister. He and Isaac are considered enemies. Maybe I will be contacted by him for cooperation.

Nelson leaves me with one last sentence. „See you later, Osric. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.“ Yeah, that is mostly bullshit, but alright.

Having this stage of my plan finally behind me felt good.

Back into my room, I notice that I am covered in sweat. It seems like the situation was more perilous than expected. Next time I will need to be more careful. This time the bomb worked, next time, maybe not.

Very exhausted I slump onto my bed and immediately enter the land of dreams.