The next day, when the classes ended, Felix didn't walk to the cafeteria. He stopped at the edge of the courtyard, feeling the weight of the day on his shoulders. Lim wouldn't be there either, not after what had happened. He wouldn't be locked in his room, crying either. Felix knew that much about him. Lim would be working on something. Felix hoped so, anyway.

He walked past the larger buildings and toward the smallest one in Section VI. It was the first-year Stars' headquarters. Hardly any other Stars came here at this time. The first years were too timid to go near the building, and the older ones were too arrogant.

He opened the door. The hallways smelled of dust and old wood. Felix turned left and saw him.

There he was, Quinn, sitting alone. He was halfway through a cup of noodles, slurping quietly when he noticed Felix. His eyes widened in shock, his chopsticks frozen in the air.

Felix walked over and sat down across from him.

"Quinn," Felix said. His voice was even, calm.

Quinn swallowed. The chopsticks in his hand trembled before he set them down, his fingers moving slowly, cautiously.

"What?" Quinn said, his voice shaky. He gulped as if trying to regain control of himself. His hands gripped the edge of the table. Too hard, Felix thought. His knuckles were white. He was scared. Felix could see it.

"I'm not here for a fight," Felix said. "Relax."

Quinn nodded but didn't look any less nervous. Maybe it was the effects of his power. Felix had never talked to him before, but Quinn was strong. Strong, but timid.

"Have you noticed anything strange around the academy?" Felix asked.

Quinn stared at him, confused. His brow furrowed, and he blinked a few times as if trying to figure out why Felix was asking. His silence dragged on, and the air between them thickened.

"No," Quinn said, finally. He was about to stand up, his chair scraping the floor, but then he met Felix's gaze and froze. He sat back down, like a dog told to sit, without being told. He didn't dare move.

Felix watched him for a moment. Quinn's body language was strange, almost unnatural. He was stiff, his hands balled into fists now as if waiting for something bad to happen.

"Can you see ghosts, Quinn?" Felix asked, his voice low.

Quinn shook his head quickly. "No. I can only sense them" He tried to laugh, but it came out forced and shallow.

"Is there any relic that lets people see ghosts?" Felix asked.

Quinn paused. He seemed to be thinking hard like he was trying to make sense of Felix's question.

"No," he said slowly.

"There isn't. The power to see ghosts runs in the blood and the soul. You can't fake it. To try, you'd need to capture a ghost hunter's soul and turn that into a relic. But even then, you can't store a soul. Blood, maybe. But the soul changes the moment it's taken."

Felix nodded. It was what he needed to hear. Lim's glasses weren't a relic. They couldn't be. Felix had sensed nothing from them.

But how had Lim seen the ghost? Was someone playing tricks on him? Could it have been an illusion? Felix's mind raced.

"Do ghosts get hungry?" Felix asked suddenly.

"No," Quinn answered quickly. "They absorb mana through air. That's all."

Felix nodded again. He knew it was a stupid question, but he needed to ask.

He stood up and gave Quinn a small nod.

"Thanks for the answers"

Felix left the room. Quinn sat there, shaking. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

"His aura," Quinn whispered to himself. "It's like the Lord's."

The power to see ghosts ran in the family. When one begins to see it, it is said they wish they had gone blind. But as time passed, it beomes normal. The ghost hunter becomes stronger and resilient, but not free from the horror they witness.

"There is fear every time I see it, but as time passed I found peace in my horrors." That is what Quinn's father said. And he felt Felix was the same. Scared yet resilient.

******

Felix walked out into the cold air. The academy stood tall behind him. He headed toward the streets of Neon, away from the academy. He didn't want to be here anymore. The buildings felt too close, the walls too thick.

He wore a simple khaki shirt tucked into brown trousers and a small hat on his head. He didn't want to attract attention, and the commoner's clothes helped with that. But still, people stared.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Women, mostly. They said he was handsome. Felix didn't know what that meant. He had never seen his face. The stares unnerved him. It felt like they wanted to devour him as if they could see something he couldn't.

He quickened his pace, moving toward the far end of the town where there were fewer people. The buildings were smaller here, the streets quieter. It was better this way.

Felix passed shops with their wooden signs hanging in the breeze. Vendors called out to him, trying to lure him in with promises of cheap goods and deals. He ignored them. He wasn't looking for anything in particular. Just a sign. A small one, hidden among the clutter.

After fifteen minutes, he found it. A small one-story shop with a sign that read "Alluring Flowers." It looked ordinary, nothing special. But Felix knew better. The letter "s" if looked carefully with eyes enhanced with mana looked like a demon's tail.

He walked in. The scent of flowers hit him immediately. Roses, daisies, and others he didn't recognize.

"Welcome," the shopkeeper said. He was a man in his forties, dressed simply, like Felix. He smiled politely, and Felix nodded, glancing around.

Felix wasn't the only customer. There was another student from the Academy. Unlike Felix, he wore the uniform. He was fidgeting a lot as the florist packed a bunch of roses into a bouquet.

The florist smiled and winked at him.

"Hope it goes well."

The student just smiled, paid and dashed out.

Once the student was gone, Felix picked a purple flower and placed it on the counter. He didn't know the name of the flower, but it didn't matter.

The florist smiled. "Is this all?"

Felix didn't answer. Instead, he picked a petal from the flower and placed it on the counter. The petals darkened, turning from purple to black.

The florist's smile disappeared. He walked around the counter and locked the door.

"It's been a while since I've had a true customer," the man said. "Not many people come to Neon out of curiosity."

Felix sat down. "Curiosity kills the cat."

The florist chuckled. "True enough. So, who do you want information on?"

Felix pulled a piece of paper from his trousers and handed it to the florist. The man read it and chuckled.

"No picture?"

Felix shook his head. "You don't need one. She's dead."

The florist frowned. "I find people, not ghosts. Looking into dead people's lives isn't my job. Too much trouble."

Felix said nothing. He reached into his trousers and pulled out a pouch. He placed it on the counter with a clank. The florist opened it and his eyes widened. Gold coins, more than he'd seen in months, maybe years, filled the pouch.

"It's worth a million," Felix said, watching the man's reaction. "Do the job, and you'll get two more pouches just like this."

The florist wiped the drool from his mouth and straightened up. "It's hard, but doable."

He pulled out a piece of parchment covered in strange symbols. Felix didn't need instructions. He made a small cut on his finger and pressed it to the parchment. The blood smeared across the symbols, activating the contract.

The florist did the same, except his blood was purple.

"How much time?" Felix asked.

"Two weeks. Finding a person is easy. Looking at their past not so much. Also not when the academy itself has already started looking into it" the florist replied, his voice steady now.

Felix smiled and stood up. He opened the door and Before leaving, he turned to the man. "Was I ever here?"

"No," the florist said quickly. "You weren't."

Satisfied, Felix left the shop. The florist watched him go, his hand trembling as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"What is he?" the man whispered to himself.

He knew Felix wasn't like the others who wandered into his shop. Most were fools or unlucky travellers. But Felix—Felix was something else. He had broken the demonic spell on the door without even trying.

The florist looked at the contract again and sighed. He had two weeks. But something told him he had no choice in the matter. If he failed, it wouldn't just be the money he lost. It would be his life.

*****

Felix walked back toward the academy. As he crossed the street, he noticed a library. It called to him. He needed a book to pass the time. He stood on the curb, waiting for the clatter of carriages to pass, then stepped into the street.

He entered the building and walked to the second floor. There it was, a small, congested bookstore, with shelves full of disorganized books. From a glance he could tell, the books weren't well kept.

But he wanted to go in. After all, they do say old is gold. No one was inside the shop. Even the front desk was empty.

"Anyone?"

he said, but no one answered. He waited by the front desk but no one came. Bored, and impatient and walked towards the shelves and started taking out books. The books weren't just dirty but filled with dust. Each book taken out would throw dust at him, enough to make him sick.

At least clean your store.

Felix took one book out, and read the title. None of them caught his attention. Most of them were story books, which he read at the age of five. After looking through almost all of the shelves, he found one.

"The Art of Being A Bard? Bard?"

Felix had never seen a word called Bard in his life or read this book.

"Interesting choice."

Felix jumped back. He turned around. A small girl stood there, with a bright smile on her face. She twirled her brown hair and walked towards Felix.

"Do you want that?"

The girl asked, her eyes shining enough to light the room.

"Umm....yes," Felix said, still on his toes.

When did she get behind me?

His sixth sense didn't activate. That meant she wasn't hostile, but not ordinary as well. He always seemed to stumble at weird places and people.

The girl snatched the book from his hand. She wiped the dust off with a cloth. As if time had turned, the book returned brand-new. The girl noticed Felix's curiosity and nervousness.

"I ain't a witch or a legendary retired magician. This isn't any ordinary dust or book. The papers are made from Chalice tree and the dust too. The dust keeps the colour of the book. The writings don't wither away with time and water. The paper is too hard for insects to eat."

The girl said.

Felix had never heard of the Chalice tree or had seen this method of preserving books. There were other ways, much cleaner than this. But this was fascinating in its own way.

"How much?"

He asked.

"117 Lira"

Felix squinted. The book was more expensive than he thought even by his standards. Maybe it was because of the material. He read the author's name. It was the first time he had seen it.

The girl noticed his hesitation and scuffed.

"It's expensive cause this is the only copy left. The writing in a Chalice paper cannot be copied with magic. People these days are too lazy to do anything that cannot be done without magic."

"Then why don't you do it?" Felix asked.

"Cause I belong to one of those lazy people too." She smirked and eyed the purse in Felix's hand.

Felix sighed and handed her the money.

"Good doing business with you."

She packed the book in a bag. Felix took it and left. As he was leaving, he heard.

"Be sure to come here again. After all, it's been a while since someone decided to become a bard."

Felix walked out of the library, the book under his arm. The girl's words echoed in his head. Bard. What did that even mean? Was it a joke? He didn't know. All he knew was that the book felt heavier than it should.

As he made his way back to the academy, the sun had started to set. Shadows stretched across the street. The academy gates loomed ahead.

He slipped inside and made his way to his dorm, itching to turn the pages.