“I…cleaned?”

“You brain dead moron! I had a system!”

“My apologies, I will try and put them back…”

“Don’t bother, you’ll just…wait…you organized this rather well. I can actually find things easily! Normally I don’t accept assistants just because they don’t understand the method to my madness, but you follow the same train of thought!”

“What’s a train?”

“Oh, the human realm will have some in another couple thousand years…”

While Melakios stood there watching Nesune, she began to mumble about the papers and how they were organized.

“Hehe, you put these Soul Burst Runes in the same pile, and over here, you put the items which still have some use to them, together. These are also all my working Runes and Glyphs. So you can sense the Soul Energy, huh?”

“I guess so. More like see it, actually. I can also harness it like I did to make these Pseudo Cores.”

“Oh, those aren’t fake Cores. In fact, those are natural Cores. Natural Cores are condensed just like how yours were, but this happens one of several ways. One, is within a monster. Their inherent Soul Energy merges in a specific spot and attracts other Soul Energy it consumes. This is why monsters are so aggressive. The larger their Core, the more powerful they become.

Another way is to use these Runes and Glyphs. Runes are applied to items while Glyphs are more like Formations or arrays. Formations are focused on Soul Items to set up a pattern, while arrays are powered entirely by Glyphs. Either one can attract the nearby Soul Energy and create Cores that way. In fact, this is how most Soul Stones are made as well.

The final way is the rarest. Naturally. When a location has seen a lot of ‘something’, the Soul Energy condenses, weighed down by that ‘something’. Like on an old battlefield, a Forlorn Soldier Core would be created. Usually, there must be either a really strong soul, or a lot of the same kind of soul.”

“Kind of like the nine Demons all wanting revenge?”

“Exactly. I can teach you some Runes and Glyphs I know, along with some tips for future use. For example, a Core works better the more pure the emotion. Having a multitude of chaotic energy will make the Core full of impurities and may have undesirable side effects upon consuming.”

“Dang. It’s a good thing I haven’t tried this myself.”

“Indeed. Here, try writing some Runes, and let me see how you do. Remember to focus your Soul Energy…or…well, Soul Energy in general, to power the brush.”

For several hours, Nesune taught Melakios some easy to remember Runes and Glyphs. He wrote down and kept some for future reference and sold the rest. The paper used could disintegrate so blacksmiths could easily apply the Runes to weapons. Using the money, he bought supplies for Soul Masonry. He still had to collect the money for the bodies of the animals he killed before as well.

Bidding Nesune farewell, he walked back into the waiting room on the fourth floor. The clerk girl, Jenny, must have already ended her shift, as she was nowhere in sight. But a girl that looked similar to her, really similar, walked up.

“Hello again, Young Sir. Is there anything else we can help you with?”

“Umm…Have we met before?”

Immediately, the girl’s face contorted into a grimace as she said in a louder voice,

“Dammit, Jenny! You said this would be funny!”

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“How was I supposed to know he could see right through us?”

From behind the counter, Jenny suddenly materialized. This surprised Melakios as he clearly didn't realize she was there. At least he knew of the possibility of people hiding their soul energy now instead of later, when it really mattered.

“Hmm? Even your soul was hidden!”

However, instead of being upset, Jenny was giggling to herself. It was the Jenny look-a-like that was frowning.

“Hmph. You win this time, you little...”

“Enough, Minny. We apologize, it was just a little joke. Is there anything we can help with?”

“I would like to see the status of my contribution. I do believe Count Furfur said it would be taken care of.”

“Oh! You must be talking about the large shipment of animals, beasts, and monsters we received! Of course. Just go down to the first floor, and speak with a lady named Fanny.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Upon descending to the first floor, Melakios saw many people clamoring to the counter.

He caught a passing staff member and asked to speak with Fanny. The staff member gave him a stiff glare, but pointed to the line that had the most people.

This also happened to be the rowdiest line. Upon realizing it was extremely late, he decided to hurry things up.

He decided to cut in line.

He was awfully sorry, but he knew that if people found out about his location, he was going to be in trouble. He walked in an orderly fashion up to the counter. Most demons did not give the boy even a sideways glance. But upon reaching the counter, every one of them stared daggers at him.

Waiting for him at the front of the line was a weasel looking Demon with shifty eyes and creepy hand movements. The clerk girl he was talking to resembled the girls Jenny and Minny exceptionally well. This must be Fanny.

“Excuse me, but are you Fanny? Jenny sent me.”

The weasel man instantly turned and sneered at the boy, yelling,

“Excuse me, but aren’t you rude? Your daddy sent me! Get to the back of the line, pipsqueak.”

“Oh? My sister? Right this way.”

The clerk girl did a 180 on her attitude towards the weasel man and started to lead Melakios to a side door.

One of the Demons, a tough looking male that looked to be made of charcoal, started to stomp over to Melakios, ready to swing.

Melakios took one look and changed his aura.

“Despair and Repent.”

His words were barely spoken, but most of the Demons in the room had heard it and began to shake right there. Some even wet themselves.

Melakios’ aura had evolved, thanks to using it on the forest creatures all the time. It even affected the Terror Turtle, just how were these small fries to contend with such might?!

The charcoal Demon stopped in his tracks and fell to his knees. Being the target of such an oppressive feeling, he probably felt the most damaged. After Melakios left, someone went to check on the Demon, only to find out he had fainted and had foam coming from his mouth.