My master escorted Mr. Romano to the door —though it was more like he was politely rushing him— and then locked himself in his room for a considerable amount of time.

I wanted to know more about the supposed plan, but I only received some evasive comments about it. I spent some time reading a book until the sound of a door caught my attention. My master was heading out. He was dressed in his usual attire but carried a mysterious suitcase that seemed as heavy as if it were filled with stones. I could barely open my mouth before he extended his hand to hand me a small scroll.

—I need you to go to the address written at noon —he said and opened the door.

—"Isfel Bapte, specialized Berken in seals" —was the first thing I read on that sheet—. What is this?

—That's your role as Professor Cosmo's apprentice. You must present yourself to both, act as naturally as possible, and escort them until the end of the mission.

—What? How am I supposed to pass as the professor's apprentice? I don't think he's so old as to forget something so fundamental.

—I have reasons to believe Professor Cosmo will accept you.

—What? Is he your friend?—

—Let's say he's willing to take risks to clean the world of one or two more criminals.

—And what will you do?'

—I'll be close, Abigail, that's all you need to know. Southwest gate of Elker at noon, don't be late.

My master left without saying more, leaving me with that important task at hand. There were still a couple of hours before noon, and I tried to continue reading, but I'm the type of person who no longer feels comfortable doing something when they know they'll have to do something else soon. So, I dedicated my time to studying the role I had to play.

Isfel was the same age as me, a Berken specialized in seals. She met the professor when he returned to the Cassinger kingdom to continue his research, and since then, she has accompanied him as his apprentice. That was all the information my master had provided. I thought about how I should characterize her. Would she be shy? Outgoing? Would she constantly confront the professor, or would she be more submissive? That first paragraph stimulated my imagination so much that I overlooked the note in the margin where my master suggested acting just as I would with him, killing my inspiration as an actress.

I gathered the necessary materials and set out at the ideal time on my motheros to fulfill what my master had asked of me. I arrived almost exactly at noon at the southwest gate of the city, where the two people I would travel with were already waiting for me. One was Roben, a burly man clad in light armor made of plated leather, tall, brown-haired, with a square chin, no facial hair, and slightly tousled hair, giving him a youthful appearance despite being an adult. The other was Professor Cosmo, shorter than my master, about my height, graying and hunched. He constantly tensed his mouth and had some pronounced wrinkles around it. He wore a robe very fitting for any mentor, dark gray, somewhat outdated for our times but imposing as much respect as those long white robes worn by the wise.

When I arrived, Professor Cosmo was complaining vehemently about the customs of the Stavenger kingdom, talking in passing about the uncomfortable carriage and also about how rude the young people were. He had a deep, raspy voice, very characteristic of a grumbling elder, although he spoke with the vivacity of a young person. He gave me a casual look when I presented myself to them, nodded, greeted me very dignifiedly, and continued with his talk, including me in the dynamic with fleeting glances that demanded my attention to his words. His hunched posture and rigid hands already said a lot about his age, but the proportions of his body, head, chin, and broad back, demonstrated that at some point, he had served as a warrior or could have done so well. Also, his brown eyes revealed an energy that many young people lost at an early age due to work. That reminded me that he had lived in the Aradel kingdom, where the arts abound, and beauties are plentiful. It was not uncommon to see mature men from there being as energetic and jovial as any teenager. Roben just greeted me with a look so as not to interrupt the lecture Professor Cosmo was giving him about the transporters of the kingdom, but I sensed a very friendly warmth in him.

On the side, a carriage was waiting for us—pulled by two motheros—and its respective driver, a lower-ranking usshyer in whom I could not perceive any threat.

Professor and Roben boarded the carriage, but I decided it would be best to go alone with my mount while protecting the rear. The assassin could appear. It was also possible that some beast would attack us at any moment. I didn't know what to expect from that adventure, and I formulated a bunch of concerns as we progressed on that path.

I had to focus on my task, but uncertainty was my greatest enemy. I directed my attention to the landscape to try to stay alert, but I only ended up entangling my mind in a bunch of reflections about the beauty of the path, the vegetation, the distant mountain, and the clouds over it. That was just my way of avoiding letting nerves consume my head, although I must admit it was not the most prudent. Through sheer force of will, I managed to redirect the flow of my thoughts back to the situation of the Aventus guild, recalling some details about the murders that were diffuse until I began to connect them.

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My master was busy for a few days, as I have already said. He didn't want to reveal much about his exploits, although thanks to his notebook—which he conveniently left within my reach while he locked himself in his laboratory—I learned certain enlightening details about each of the crimes.

The first victim had been Mr. Odal, a renowned explorer in the western part of the kingdom who had been murdered in his sleep. I knew that an ally in the military allowed my master to delve into topics forbidden to the common citizen, so I was not surprised to read a brief summary of the characteristics of the corpse pointing to a shield as the fatal weapon, just like Roben's.

The victim of the second crime was a married couple of professors. About this case, my master did not write much, except for the quick sketch of the room where the victims were murdered, emphasizing the position they had fallen into. The professor had fallen backward, supposedly reaching for a book from his bookshelf. The professor had fallen face down, looking in the direction of her husband on the other side of the room. Both had been suddenly attacked with a dagger similar to Drigo's saber. The professor was beheaded, and the professor was stabbed through the heart.

The third crime victim was First Lieutenant Gormel, whose death the citizens learned of as a natural one. He had been killed in his sleep after a long season of fighting against beasts in the west of the city, so it was not surprising that he was caught off guard with an attack in his bed. There was a brief and fierce battle where walls, furniture, and doors were destroyed throughout the house. The noise generated was enough to attract the attention of the soldiers living in adjacent houses. Very little time passed between the start of the noise and the moment the first soldier entered the house, but he only found the lieutenant fainting in the living room. A subsequent investigation by the healers of the kingdom revealed the presence of a debilitating poison that contributed to the lieutenant's death along with bleeding from the wounds.

In all the murders, robbery was involved, but the perpetrator in that last one must have taken the lieutenant's Romular stones before starting the fight; otherwise, he wouldn't have had time to take them. The strange thing was that there were better things to steal, although they were somewhat more hidden than the Romular stones. The attack with poisoned daggers and the guild's background were enough to put Hermes as a suspect. There were testimonies from neighbors claiming to have seen him doing chores in his house at a time close to the crime; that prevented the matter from escalating further, but it did not reduce tensions.

The next crime was committed against Mr. Domes, a collector in the area who dedicated the fortune of his inheritance to his hobbies and philanthropy. His crime had aroused the anger of the inhabitants of the marginal area, those he helped, although their voices were not heard and were limited to vandalizing some establishments owned by the Aventus guild. His murder was the most irrelevant of all, as there was no major robbery involved, and Mr. Domes was not a conflictive or important person whose absence in the world could be desired by someone. It made no sense for anyone to kill him, except if their goal was to cause outrage.

I was thinking about all that when Professor Cosmo's strident dialogue pulled me out of my trance.

—It's due to the fluctuations of the shpabisshys! —he shouted as if he were defending a position on which his life depended—. That's how the structures of a seal are identified.

He continued talking, but his sentences lost strength as they moved away from that sudden declaration to the four winds. Then, it no longer seemed to me that he was fighting but simply talking in the tone of those who are passionate about explaining the subject of their domain. Even my master suffered from this effect with everything related to the sciences, although he did it much more discreetly than Professor Cosmo, raising the tone of his voice slightly and speaking faster.

Thinking about my master made me remember the mission he had entrusted me with. Then I felt extremely embarrassed for my lack of commitment to what was happening. This was not a simple stroll, but I had the responsibility to watch over these two men in the carriage.

I sharpened my senses—as my master would have told me to do—and analyzed the horizon as we advanced. My vision revealed the energy traces of creatures, some grazing the plains, and others flying through the skies. Their presence didn't matter as much as their power. Any energy trace of great magnitude could mean an evolved beast or an usshyer with ill intentions.

We moved along the main road toward the city of Reyas, but after only a few kilometers, we deviated towards the forest. Our destination was the slope of the second mountain of Elker, the one whose foothills connected to the Gaia forest. There were many large caves around there, several unexplored due to the presence of beasts in the area and the absence of interesting secrets. Every now and then, rumors arose about hidden treasures, but they were never fruitful. First, we ascended a very large hill—to avoid the forest and its dangers—and then descended towards a wooded plain that led us to that system of caves, a flat formation that seemed carved on the side of the mountain and gave rise to a small rocky shelter branching out into various paths.

We left the carriage at a safe distance with its driver and descended to the mysterious place while Professor Cosmo spoke to Roben about the topological characteristics of the area.

I believed —by mere rumors— that that place was only similar to a palace, but it turned out it was an old palace devoured by nature. It had belonged to an ancient civilization from a time when Arcturus had not blessed our world. Its occupants had metal tools and possessed a flourishing society. It was a place dedicated to trade, a prosperous and efficient place. Professor Cosmo explained it to us. Its architectural art had been lost many years ago, but one could recognize the columns, ceilings, and floors, even though the rocks had deformed their surfaces. Even the caves had a regular shape that indicated they had once been mere corridors.

Walking towards that place, I felt an intense aura in the vicinity. Such was its power that I instantly turned, trying to visualize its origin among the wave of shpabishyss sources coming from the forest. There were energy traces in the trees, some wandering on the ground, and others sneaking into the trunks and branches, but there was nothing that could have sent the intimidating signal I had felt.

The sensation disappeared completely, but my instincts demanded that I stay alert.