As the panic spread throughout the whole city of Koria. At the far western part of the city—also known as the shelter for the poor—stood a very particular shack. It greatly differentiated from the rest because the old planks this place was made of were messily painted pink… Whoever made it gave more money for the paint than the whole shack was worth, all in an attempt to make this place look cute, which they failed terribly…

Inside this place lived one very unique girl. She had long, flowing blonde hair, undirtied and clean. Her yellow rabbit ears were upright, showing her excitement. While her same yellow-colored eyes—which just gained a smidge of gold in them—looked at the heavy bag in her lap.

“Mother was right!” She exclaimed. A beautiful smile coloring her face. “Always place your bet on a mysterious and handsome guy!”

Grinning in satisfaction, she yet again checked the bag in front of her.

There, she found ten platinum coins with a bunch of golden ones on the side. But mainly, the platinum! She used to work for a silver per day, cooking herself in the sun behind the stall for a cheap change…

Her gaze shifted to the side, at the silver ring with a purple crystal placed next to a note she’d already read. This ring… she could guess what it was but dared not to believe it.

Not knowing what to do, she grabbed the note yet again and started reading out loud, “I’ve made a promise, and I’m repaying it now. Grab your fortune, little rabbit. This might be the first one, but I promise you, it won’t be the last. Many more similar opportunities will come your way. Your only job is to grab them!”

“He knows about it…” She stared at the note in disbelief. Her golden Mana Core placed directly in her heart shook in satisfaction. It released faint wisps of gold mana into her body, causing an effect she thought only she knew about...

She didn’t know what to do. Should she be terrified that some stranger knew about her gift or be glad she finally got the first needed push? Did that strange silver-eyed human have some ulterior motive or not? The time she’d met him, he showed nothing suspicious. Hell, he looked unbelievably normal if she disregarded his looks.

Shaking her head, she grabbed the ring. Remembering the stories she’d heard of this artifact, without hesitation, she bit her finger and dropped some of her blood on the purple crystal. With a bit of struggle and half of her mana wasted, she understood how the storage ring worked. She placed all the coins inside, grabbed her dark coat, and walked outside the shack.

The first sight that greeted her was that of pure chaos. It was expected in the time of emergency. Even more so, considering her home was placed right next to the western wall—also called the first line of defense against the beasts coming from the forest.

She saw mercenaries going their way and preparing themselves for the battle to come. At the same time, some of the poor folk living nearby were getting dragged away by the soldiers rather violently, mostly likely because they refused to listen and retreat to the shelters.

It was hard not to feel a pang of sadness as she watched the poor woman getting forcefully kicked out of her own house. Well, a house that wasn’t better than her own shack. Just a bunch of planks placed together to provide the cover for the cold nights. But she could understand the woman’s plea. Like the rest in this forsaken part of the town, everyone here was a refuge from nearby villages, a people who lost everything they once had…

The rabbit girl gave her all to ignore the happenings around her. Even as soldiers ordered her to follow the escorted group, she just nodded and went her own way. Strangely, nobody stopped her. Going through the hurried mob, her steps never paused. Each person coming her way would stumble to the side or avoid her unintentionally.

It was truly a spectacle to watch as she cut through the sea of people, yet, nobody seemed to notice this as anything strange, except the girl herself…

Suddenly, her rabbit ears perked up. She was already nearing the center of the town—it seemed it was the place where soldiers had gathered most of the civilians. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a large group of armed men led by two individuals she easily recognized. The mercenary guild master and the town’s Mayor. They faced each other as they most likely discussed how to defend the city.

Frowning, her steps turned to the side. She still had to reach the eastern gate and leave this place. Not wanting to risk it, she chose to take a detour through a few narrow streets.

But after some time of walking, she paused. Her gaze fixated on the building next to her, or more precisely, at the window of a Koria’s library. What she noticed there was a brown-haired human climbing the window with a weirdly happy grin on his face.

Feeling her gaze, Davis stopped just as he was about to jump inside the building. Like a child caught doing something wrong, he matched her gaze and uttered weirdly, “Hello.”

“Hmm, hi,” she replied, her eyes narrowing. She proceeded to scan him thoughtfully, then noticed they had the same ring.

“Aha!” She exclaimed as she figured out what was going on, but her next words left Davis dumbfounded. “Need help?”

“No, I’m good,” he immediately replied then stared at her for a moment before urging her. “You should leave this place. It will get really dangerous.”

“I know. Um, you should tell your friend I said thanks for keeping his promise.”

“I will,” Davis replied, then jumped inside.

Feeling extremely weirded out by this exchange, the rabbit girl just turned around and left. Her next destination was… wherever her luck led to.

***

The moment Davis entered the library through the windows. He found himself inside a room he could only describe as a private study. It was cramped, with nothing more than a couple of tables filled with scrambled papers and ink bottles. He thought of storing those papers inside his ring but disregarded the idea immediately.

Instead, he slowly walked towards the door. Making sure his steps were quiet. The wooden flooring made it hard for him to feel the ground vibrations. So, he readied his spear, ready to stab whoever came his way.

However, just as he was about to near the door, hurried footsteps echoed from the other side. They were so loud that he didn’t even need any beforehand warnings.

Acting accordingly, he placed his back against the wall, his spear ready to ambush whoever came through. The doors burst open, but before he could throw a stab, a person dashed towards the window with three planks in their hands.

Davis frowned, looking at the guy wearing local guard clothing who was so panicking that he had missed his presence entirely.

Scanning the person once more, Davis’s frown deepened. It wasn’t the same guard from the library as the last time. This guy was the new one…

Lowering his spear, Davis neared from behind as the guard started nailing planks to the window frame he’d entered from. And instead of stabbing, he enchanted his right hand and stuck the guard behind his neck. The poor guy had his lights shut as he collapsed on the ground.

Davis sighed in relief. Looking under the leather cap, he saw this guard was just a young boy. Luckily, he hadn’t used a lethal force. This whole library ordeal wasn’t a thing he was very much fond of. In fact, if it weren’t for the librarian being a jackass and thrill, he wouldn’t have agreed on this.

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Deciding to leave him here, Davis again readied himself and crossed the already-opened door. The library of Koria was huge—which was strange considering it was just a small town. In a sense, finding the corridor full of doors wasn't that big of a surprise.

But none of these doors led to his destination. Rather, It was the stairs that led to the next floor, which he and Veles believed was part where serious books were stored—those filled with knowledge about magic and hopefully some maps.

Cautiously avoiding every door, Davis neared the stairs. And the moment he was about to take the first step, he paused.

“Where is that idiot?” The annoying voice yelled from behind the door he’d just passed.

Turning around, Davis leaned next to the door and kept listening.

“Should I look for him?” Davis recognized this to be the voice of a guard that kicked him and Veles out.

“Who cares!” Librarian snored. “Brat probably fled. Leave him and help me close the cellar door.”

Waiting a minute for them to go further away. Davis quietly opened the door. And as he’d expected, there was another set of stairs, this one leading underground.

He smiled. The stairs might be wooden, but the walls were made of stone. Without hesitation, he descended. They went in a spiral and were quite going deep. But once he reached the end, he was met with a big metallic door…

Nothing to lose. He touched it and poured a tiny piece of mana inside. Finding no enchantments or wards in place. He decided on the course of action.

Wanting to surprise those inside. Davis touched one part of the stone wall that held the door. His hand released the burst of mana, forcing the stone to eject the door’s metal frame. The whole thing flew forward, and Davis could only hear a loud “Ugh” from the cloud of dust his entrance had made.

Davis rushed inside. The first thing that gained his attention was the librarian who’d been hit by the whole weight of the door. His groans and curses were like music to his ear. But Davis then looked at the guard, who was in the middle of placing the wards to secure this place.

They quickly measured each other. Having an element of surprise, Davis leaped forward. A clear stab aimed at the guard’s chest. However, his target wasn’t an easy one.

A set of runes appeared at the guard’s wrists and ankles. They momentarily shone white before bursting into motes of light. Their purpose was apparent.

The guard, with impeccable speed, grabbed the hilt of his sword. And as he unsheathed it, the slash managed to deflect Davis’s stab with praiseworthy precision.

Stumbling backward. Davis almost cursed out loud. Using a spear inside an enclosed environment was a major pain in the ass. He could tell that this guy had used something that boosted his speed, which would most likely render his range advantage useless.

The next moment, Davis’s eyes went wide. The guard—who took a considerable distance away from him—raised his sword for a vertical slash. Not taking any chances, Davis also took a couple of steps back and neared the cellar wall.

Guard kept his sword raised as it glowed white, and his mouth released nonstop quiet murmurs.

Then, as the guard made a slashing motion, Davis disregarded Veles’s words that he should keep his abilities hidden. He stirred his Mana Core placed inside his heart. This forced a large chunk of rock to detach from the cellar’s wall. It obeyed his command and flew straight to intercept the slashing ark of mana the guard had launched.

The two attacks collided. Luckily, they were on par, thus canceling each other. However, Davis wasn’t done. This time, he spent a third of his mana. Not wanting to prolong this fight anymore, he made dozens of fist-sized rocks float beside him, alongside much of the rock’s debris. With a wave of his hand, he sent them all flying towards the guard.

There was nowhere to escape or dodge. The guard could only take the rocks head-on. His experience was on display as he reacted accordingly and immediately turned around to make sure and expose just the side of his body while his hand covered his skull.

But who said Davis was going to wait? After sending his attack, he dashed forward, going for another stab. But this time, his whole body was enchanted, bringing forth his full strength. And as the rocks clashed against the guard, his spear followed behind and sunk into the guard’s side. The guard, as a last resort, blindly swung his sword, unfortunately missing by a thin margin.

Davis’s clear and highly trained stab—practiced for days on a poor tree—proved efficiency by easily finding a way to the guard’s heart.

Davis removed his spread from the dead guard and looked to the side. The librarian who had gathered his wits was trembling in fear. At this moment, he looked extremely pathetic, just as Veles had said.

Wanting to get this over with, Davis walked near him, not showing a single trace of pity towards an old and powerless mana. In his mind, some people just deserve it.

“Y-You cannot do this!” Even in his current state, the librarian sounded as unpleasant as ever. “Do you know who I am? Who do I work for? This whole town is owned by His Roy-!”

“Does it look like I care?” Davis said as he forcefully placed his hand over his mouth.

Then Davis got dangerously close to him and glared at him. “You should be proud. Pissing off Veles isn’t that easy. You are the first person who really managed to annoy him.” Then he took a small vial containing the odorless black substance. “He said that it took him half of his mana to make this and I’m kind of interested in what’s going to happen.”

Davis could still remember how Veles looked when the librarian hurled insults at them. At first, Veles was calm and didn’t care much, but when words such as “Son of a whore” and “Lowborn mongrel” reached him, his demeanor completely changed. Even just recalling Veles’s face at that moment made Davis shudder in fright, it was the first time he’d seen him like that.

So, he could only imagine what this vial would do.

Not wasting any more time on this bastard. Davis forcefully opened his mouth and fed him the liquid. Then he took two steps back, curiously looking for the effect to kick in.

It sure did. The kneeling librarian’s eyes grew cloudy. Then something happened that chilled Davis to the bone.

“Ah,” the librarian muttered. His blank gaze looked in Davis’s direction, and then, in the most monotonous voice, he asked, “Can you kill me? Please?”

Davis had no time to answer before the librarian’s body lost all its strength. His previous eyes lost their color as they turned completely white. His body—now sprawled on the ground—rapidly aged, his hair fell off, and his skin wrinkled and dried up.

In less than a minute, the librarian’s body was mummified entirely. Davis, not daring to near it, felt a strange sense of dread assaulting his whole body. The whole cellar was filled with an unexplainable presence that sent chills down his spine. It was not eerie or malevolent, he couldn’t explain it properly, he just felt like there was something that shouldn’t be here…

This strange presence—whatever it was—suddenly vanished, leaving behind the black smoke on the corpse of the librarian that was turning his flesh into ash, at least that was what Davis could tell, considering he’d already retreated considerably.

He gulped and gave his all not to think about it, while also reminding himself not to mess with Veles too much. So, to get this experience out of his mind, he focused on the contents of the cellar.

“Yeah, let's get this done. Just don’t think about it…” he said. Finally, he got the bigger picture of this room.

Unlike how one would use a cellar to store food, this one was filled with numerous neatly made chests with a bunch of everyday furniture to the side. These chests, however, were placed throughout the cellar, with their number reaching at least twenty.

Also, the important detail that Davis had noticed was that despite his clash with the guard, not a single chest suffered any damage.

This brought a chance for them to be warded or further reinforced. Reminding himself of time limitations, Davis had no time to ponder on it. He touched the nearest one with his palm, a thin veil of mana covered the whole chest. Making a connection with his mana and storage ring, the chest vanished and was successfully placed inside the ring.

“I guess that works,” mumbled Davis. He kept repeating this process with the rest.

Surprisingly, it didn’t take much mana to store them. After he was done, he checked the cellar yet again, more accurately he checked where the librarian’s corpse should be. Yes should, considering not even the ashes were left behind. He rubbed his left forearm as he tried to suppress the chill from remerging yet again. He should just leave this place and forget about it.

His mission wasn’t done yet anyway. He immediately went to the second floor —the one he previously aimed for. It was like Veles predicted. The whole floor was filled with bookshelves that, on the first look, held slightly advanced knowledge—if one was to judge them by their covers.

Following a similar routine, he stored whole shelves inside his rings alongside books. Covering every single book with mana and then storing them would take considerably longer. Of course, it did cost a lot of mana, but the time was of the essence.

Still, this endeavor took him an entire twenty minutes. His mana reached dangerously low levels, the minimum he was comfortable with. Also, his storage ring was almost full to the brim.

Deciding to leave, Davis followed the same way he came from. From the backstreet near the library, he stealthy hid amongst panicked civilians, slowly making his way towards the already decided meeting point. Which actually took him some time. The soldiers exporting civilians did not lead them the way he needed to go. For this reason, he had to make detours between the buildings, a few times even raising suspicion of nearby soldiers.

Finally, reaching the point. He stood at one particular building near the eastern part of the city, awaiting Veles, who should’ve already been there…

“Where the hell is he?” Mumbled Davis, looking at the west, a direction from where the beasts would attack.

Davis frowned as the ground slightly shook, his gaze looking at the distant flying beasts hovering above the western wall.

Veles warned him how to proceed, but honestly, he was reluctant to do so. Something definitely went wrong…

“Ouch!” He yelled as something stung his shoulder. His gaze looked to the side only to see the cyan eyes of the owl looking at him. The bird seems annoyed and agitated. Strange how he could understand her expression.

Following another sharp strike with its beak, Vera annoyingly hooted.

Davis cringed at how human it sounded. “You want me to follow you?”

Vera nodded. Not taking no for an answer, she just spread her wings and flew. Davis could only shrug his shoulders and follow the bird.