It's been almost four weeks since we found out about the odd activity in the slums. From what the informants say, there hasn't been anything else after the three of us went to check it out. Carlyle says that he has people watching it twenty four seven, but still nothing.

The days at the warehouse have been getting a little more lively. Garret and Adrian are sparring a lot more, Henry chose to duel it out with me. He says that I'm getting better but I need to put more time into it. Apparently he was trained by Carlyle a few years ago.

Francis's link is a little mind boggling. It takes a while to set up too, I can see why none of us, Henry, Anne, and I, were made apart of the link. The link doesn't last long either, maybe a little more than ten minutes at most. Not every single thought that the person thinks is sent, they can choose whether to send it or not which is helpful for the person who has to listen to maybe more than two people at a time.

But the person also has to be careful of how many messages that they send, else the link dies faster. It'd be bad if someone wasn't aware of how many they sent.

The people of this city really don't like to sleep at all do they?

I swear, I must be very lucky because no one has called me out yet. I wonder if I'm still as popular as I was a few weeks ago. I was gone for a visit, and then I didn't do anything this past two weeks. Oh well, no skin off my back. I'm not here to become an idol for these people.

I jump down and go into a roll. I don't really need to do that though, the fall by itself wouldn't break the legs of someone like me, especially if I use my body protection spell, which literally has no cast time. It's best used for things like this anyways, protecting against falls and blunt damage. Using it against magic isn't bad, the overall damage would be less but a barrier is obviously best.

"Hello." Anne greets me at the door.

"Been waiting for me?" I ask as the door shuts behind me.

"Yeah. Francis is ready to establish the link again. Everyone's waiting."

I trail behind Anne as she leads the way. The warehouse isn't as big as the one that we infiltrated before but it's still large enough that it'd take a little bit from this door to the other side and back if one were to go at a walking pace. The Twelve usually tend to stay very close to the front, no reason to go into the back if no one's using this place. That's just a waste of energy for everyone.

Unlike the other warehouses that I've seen, this one only has barrels while the others hold many boxes of different size and barrels as well. The barrels are stacked on top of each other, the largest stacks reach close to the pathways above. Either stacking the barrels in such a way that they resemble a triangle is effective or the people who did it were just bored, I don't mind too much other than the fact that I'm sometimes tempted to give it a little push. I've never bumped into one of these before so I don't know whether or not they're empty. Sitting on it doesn't tell you much if you don't tip it.

"Thirteenth." Francis says. "Give me your hand."

I've been through this before, there's no real need for him to say it every time but it's not a big deal. I casually give him my left hand. My master says that unless I'm shaking someone's hand I should give them my left hand, I'm right hand dominant. He says that it'll be easier for me if I ever need to fight because my right hand will be free. He also joked that it'll be easier for me to cut off my left hand/arm if I needed to rather than my right.

Francis sandwiches my hand between his. A dull blue light is radiating out from his hands. His almost child like face tightens as he establishes the link, his light violet hair floats like it's being brushed passed by the wind, revealing his long finger length ears. He's one eighth elf, his overall frame is closer to one too, very smooth looking and not very bulky. His ears, even if exposed, wouldn't give him away, after all those years his ears are more rounded like a humans.

"Done." he says wiping away the sweat on his head. Just looking at him now, one would think that this ability, for what it is, isn't worth his effort but he only needs to put that much into the person who's receiving the messages or thoughts. For someone like Anne, who'll be sending her thoughts over, it'll only take a second.

Can you hear this?

"Yeah." I say to Anne.

"Alright. Looks like there aren't any problems."

"There usually aren't Anne." Henry says.

Garret and Adrian are sparring again.

"Still, it's good to say something." Anne replies. "Francis needs to know if there's anything wrong with the connection."

Henry stands up. "Thirteenth, do you want to do a few practice rounds like those two over there?"

I nod. Henry's been helping me improve ever since I asked him to practice with me.

"I wanna watch." Hannah says. She doesn't need to say that, it's not like she needs permission or anything.

"I'm also going to watch." Anne says. She winks at me. I don't know if I'm missing something but I never thought Anne was interested in me... I'm just kidding. I know she'll help me out a bit. Sorry for cheating Henry, it's not like anything's on the line.

"Hey." Hannah says. "Why don't you guys make a bet?"

Whoops.

"Hoh?" Henry seems intrigued. "How about it Thirteenth? Why not make a bet?"

Because I might be getting outside help.

"He'll take you up on the offer." Anne says for me. "Loser has to patrol tonight."

"Who is on patrol?" I ask.

"Ehehe." Anne points to herself.

"So we make the loser miserable and you happy?" Henry says. "Doesn't sound very appealing to me."

"Carlyle says that there needs to be another person tonight." Hannah interjects. "Garret and Adrian will be leaving soon and I'm going with, there needs to be a second patrolman."

"Heh? This isn't as great as I was hoping for, but I guess it's fair for something like this." Henry backs up and gets into a fighting position. "I've actually got something to do after this so I can't be staying around for patrolling. I can't go easy on you."

"Fine by me." I say. "I can go a little more serious as well."

"Nice, you got that smile on your face." Henry says.

"You can't even see my face." I reply. Unless... his ability is to see through things! ...No, obviously not, he would've known what I looked like before I was revealed.

"I can see enough to know." he grips his fist. "Let's get started shall we?"

One step and he's already closed the distance, that look paired with those movements, seems like whatever he has to do, is very important.

I duck down low and sweep at his legs. He leaps over me onto the other side.

Roll to the right.

As if I were blown by the wind, I tumble to the right, a stun hits where I just was.

"I expected you to turn around and fight a bit." he says.

"Yeah, well," I almost glance over to Anne but stop myself. "I think that I'm favored in this match."

"Hm." he grunts and throws punches at me.

I block and swat away his attacks, his are slower than mine but have more strength behind them. My arms rattle upon stopping his blows. He launches a long arcing right, I move to grab it.

Duck under it, don't throw him.

Obeying her commands I fall under the punch and get behind him. Henry flicks his thumb, what seems like a blast of wind passes through and dust kicks up from the ground.

His special ability. He can only use it twice in a span of one minute. Max is twenty times per day.

Something with force and his thumbs huh? Maybe it's more than that, maybe it extends to his whole hand and the fingers are just for more fine controls. I'll have to be more wary about those, at least I have a thirty-

An invisible force pounds my body, I'm sent stumbling backwards. I assumed too much. That's bad. My master always told me never to do that, if I have to assume I have to assume the worst.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Impressed that you dodged the first one. Get a bad feeling?" he asks.

"More like I have a guardian angel or something." I say.

I lift my hand preparing to launch a few fireballs at him but then I realize that we're not in a good place for this. Instead I opt for a rock bullet.

"[Rock Bullet]!"

"[Stone Cannon]!"

They crash into each other, mine shatters on impact. Let's see if I can still do it. A singular, thin, yellow hexagonal shape appears before me, from each side another one pops out from it as if it were multiplying more and more come until it shields the entire front of my body. In another instant, three more, exactly like the first go on top of it.

The spell breaks through three, only being barely stopped by the last one.

"[Rock Bullet]!" I cast again.

"[Stone Cannon]!" he counters.

He's going to cast a lightning spell.

A small spark of electricity arcs from his body running along the ground. Thanks Anne. I ground my feet firmly and teleport. Appearing before Henry, both of my hands are pulled back, both coated with my mana and flames. He leans back, I've got him.

Just then, a wicked smile crosses his face, he grasps both my arms as they fly towards him, using it as leverage, he pulls me forward into his waiting knee.

Teleport away.

I can't if he's holding me. My jumbled mind responds futility, and there was a time where I thought he wasn't as good in close combat, how foolish.

Henry releases on of his arms and a green ball forms.

Let your body go limp.

I would've tried to jump up but my legs can't muster the strength so I follow her advice. Henry is surprised by the sudden force down and misses his shot.

I yank my arm free and teleport away. I rub my chin where his knee hit, my vision's still scrambled.

"That was really good." he compliments me. "Still a little stiff with those attacks." he says.

"I know..." I mutter.

"Looks like things are almost over." he waits a few seconds before doing anything. Why?

Ending the brief intermission, Henry creates an earth pillar under me.

Watch out for his-

The connection died.

"[Earth Prison]!"

Five thin pillars of earth trap me in place, three behind and two in front by my shoulders. I get myself ready to teleport out, my vision blurs again, delaying it. I refocus.

*BOOF*

I'm forcefully pushed against the stones, his ability again. I can't teleport if I can't focus my vision. My body rattles as it hit me. The green light's heading towards me. I don't want to lose yet, I can still learn a lot more.

"Fun's over." Henry says.

I forcibly teleport myself with my blurred vision, my body feels like it's going to collapse in on itself. The stun flies overhead and disperses on impact with the pillars. I look up at Henry, he's stunned, as if he couldn't believe what he just saw.

Ignoring it, I throw a stun and teleport above him throwing another one to the left side of him. He dodges to the right making both useless, "It's over." I say. I've already planned for that.

I fire a stun from behind him, I feel a force push against my legs and I fall on my stomach but not before I see his back lock up.

"Woah!" Hannah says. "That was a pretty good fight. I'm impressed that you won against Henry. [Dispel]."

Not without some help. I glance over to Anne who gives me a thumbs up. I can't say I wanted to patrol tonight but that doesn't mean I don't feel bad about the fight. Henry was dominating me most of the match.

"Good fight." Henry says dejectedly while holding out his hand.

"Good fight." I say grabbing his. "Although I don't really deserve this."

He tilts his head, "Why not?"

Anne frantically moves her hands and shakes her head.

"Because Anne gave me some tips during the fight." I tell him.

"Oh." he turns to Anne. "Is that so?" Henry shakes his head. "Still, I lost so I'll patrol tonight. Can you do me a favor?" he asks.

"Yeah, sure."

"There are two things that I wanted to buy today but I can't since I lost. They should be in the market right about now, I talked to a person there, could you go buy it for me?"

"What is it?" I ask.

"One is a really tasty fruit that I've only eaten once before, it only grows on the islands between all the continents, and the last one's a bracelet." he says.

"Who'll I be asking for these?"

"He's a beastman, bird race, got the wings. He'll be in the foods market but he'll sell both of them. His hair's green, the fruit will be big, like one that's enough to feed a family. When you see that, you'll know it's him, tell him that Henry sent you and he'll take them out. I asked him to keep the items on hold."

"How much?" I ask.

"Here, the money's all in there." a large fatty pouch is thrown to me. It feels very heavy. "Look inside if you want but be sure not to be tempted."

"Only tempted to look." I say while opening it. My eyes widen at the sight, so many gold coins all piled one atop of the other, most of the coins are silver but I've never seen so much golden ones.

"I'd like you to buy me a summoning scroll too." Anne says. "Here."

"Got it."

"Saved up a while for the items." Henry says ignoring Anne.

"What If I can only get one." I ask.

"Then get the bracelet. It's more important than the fruit."

----------

I changed out of my clothes and walked to the marketplace. I've got the pouch tied securely to my waist. I don't fear being pickpocketed since I'm not in the shadier parts of the city but it's never a bad idea to be on guard.

I wander aimlessly down the street only focusing on finding a birdman. Much like others of the beastman race, most look more human than their animal counterparts although there are some exceptions like Malburk, the lizardman from the first few days of school.

As I continue down I notice a familiar face. One of the clothing stores has their doors wide open and inside, with a bunch of clothes in hand is Axel. He hands over the money to the cashier and leaves. I quickly move out of the way. I guess he's finally buying those clothes I told him too, but maybe he bought a bit too much. There's easily over five pairs of pants and sweaters, he can barely carry them all.

They also look too small for him.

I'm interrupted by a tap from behind.

"Hey." a man says. "Would you like to buy an exotic fruit?"

Exotic fruit? I lean over to the side and see a pair of wings.

"Shouldn't you have someone else like a special client instead of a random stranger from the streets for that?" I ask.

"I did." the bird man says. "But he didn't show up by the arranged time."

"Henry?" I ask.

"Hoh. So you know the man."

"I was told to buy the items."

"Good!" he grabs me by the hand. "Please please, come over here." he runs behind his stand and takes out the items. A gigantic, round, blue hard looking fruit is taken out.

"He-here's the payment." I stumble on my words as I stay mesmerized at the size.

He tosses the bag onto a scale and looks inside. "Pretty impressive huh? He talked to me about it a month or so before. Was pretty dedicated to getting these things. I can understand the fruit, I just don't know why he'd want a bracelet like this but he insisted that I get it."

"I see. Does it have anything special about it?" I ask.

"Don't know. I was just told that he'd pay me lots if I got it for him."

"I see. Thank you. I'd like a scroll too please." he hands over a summoning scroll to me.

"Hehe. No, thank you for coming in his stead. If you ever need something please come to me."

After saying my goodbyes I picked up the fruit and bracelet and headed back towards my dorm room. I'll have to store the fruit somewhere, I'll hand Henry and Anne these tomorrow when I meet them.

Still, so much money for a bracelet. I wonder what it's for.