Daniel memorised the sorceress’ face. He would have to be discreet in asking around for her. Getting his heart ripped out wasn’t the most appealing of options.

“Have you seen her yourself?” Daniel asked as they walked outside the castle, warriors carefully monitoring their every step.

“No. Most who saw her did not survive. Ashkarn must have blessed me that day - I was out on a training expedition,” Gwynn looked to the sky, placing his fist on his chest, next to his heart.

“Just between you and me - you don’t look strong enough to be doing all of this. Then again, I can’t judge you. The things I’d do to level up when I was a boy,” he laughed, clapping Daniel on the shoulder. He winced.

Stepping outside the illusion was easy enough. In case he was to visit again in the future, Gwynn showed him the right way to enter. It was to put both your hands on the cliffside while chanting “Eternal glory to Ashkarn”, which seemed a bit simple to Daniel. But, considering you couldn’t go a minute without seeing a guard, their defences weren’t lacking one bit.

The journey back home was uneventful. First, he returned to the witch’s hut to pick up her package. Although he could’ve chosen to never see her again, there was no saying she wouldn’t put a nasty curse on him for refusing his end of the bargain. He didn’t linger for a second longer than he had to.

When he finally arrived at the city, nightfall had taken hold of it. Morvina’s worshippers could be seen on every corner, though out here, closer to the gates, they didn’t look as welcoming. In fact, he saw one of them nearly shank a passerby, furiously demanding the woman give up her belongings. When the same person saw Daniel, he cupped his hands in respect, afterwards putting a finger to his lips.

“Dear priest, I’ll leave behind an offering at the church. I’ve three kids and a wife, I’m sure you understand.”

If Daniel was a good person, he would’ve gone up to him and demanded the robber to stop, but a single thought made him reconsider. It was a naive one, but what if the man wasn’t lying? If Daniel stopped him here, would his children starve?

On the other side was a woman who he didn’t know, trembling in fear as she handed over a pouch of money. Perhaps she was rich, or perhaps that was coin meant to buy medicine for her sickly grandfather.

No, if Daniel was truly a good person, he would mediate the situation, ask why the church wasn’t willing to support a holy man in need. He would try to find the man a job using his connections and see how his children were faring.

As it was, he looked at the scene and continued to trod along the paved path. He had earned levels, earned some amount of strength, which gave him the chance to impact the world. And then, when it actually mattered, Daniel found himself feeling apathy. Whenever he thought about spending time helping the people involved, a thought at the back of his head reminded him of Velkir and the other bounty targets. It whispered to him that he was greater than this, that he had better uses of his time. He was bound for greatness - being the ruler of the underworld and holding limitless power at his fingers was only the beginning.

Ten minutes later, he raced back to the street where the robbery had taken place, but there was no one there anymore. The more he had thought about it, the more the apathy that haunted him faded away. Unfortunately, the moment for compassion had slipped through his fingers, and his thoughts taunted him for being a hypocrite.

The encounter should’ve haunted his nightmares and tore away at Daniel’s consciousness, but the moment he arrived at his house and fell into the comfortable bed, every negative thought faded away. The world was slowly but surely leaving its mark on him, and no matter how much he resisted, he would always find himself a changed man.

Despite the adventure-filled days, it was surprisingly easy to fall back into a routine. The first thing Daniel did upon waking up was brush his teeth. He had made a makeshift toothbrush and purchased a few powders and pastes from the market. Spitting out the water into the incinerating toilet, he fashioned himself a hearty egg breakfast and stepped outside.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

He picked up the noble’s clothes he had paid to be washed yesterday and returned once again to have his other two robes washed. Then, after a nice bath, his feet mindlessly carried him to the teahouse. To his surprise, Finnean was already sitting there, sipping away at his tea as he poured over some papers.

“The great adventurer returns. Find anything useful for your grand quest?” Finnean asked, mockingly raising his eyebrow.

“Yeah. Plenty,” Daniel responded, sinking into his memories

“I’m glad. Now, take this before anyone says I scammed you.”

Finnean reached into a small bag and pulled out a filled coin purse. “200 crowns,” he said as Daniel opened it, marvelling at the iron coinage.

“What for?”

“Well, we won the competition. We brought in a wyvern, which had a small bounty on its head, and enough beasts to fill an entire warehouse. It was probably way more, but the guilds take a cut of everything. Still, a bit of pocket change never hurts.”

Frankly, Daniel was offended that the entire pouch, which had more money than he had ever earned, was pocket change to Finnean. Then again, it wasn’t even enough for a small magical item. He cautiously stuffed the pouch into his pockets, remembering yesterday’s robber.

“Changed your thoughts about Velkir?” Daniel asked after a moment of silence.

“The wyvern was tough, but it was also dumb. From what I know, Velkir is as smart as any one of us and possesses numerous magical abilities. Though, a Paladin and dawn’s warriors are much more reliable than what we had,” Finnean responded, calmly sipping his tea.

“I’ll join the expedition as a backup. Convincing them to allow me to join is going to be hard enough already, and my puppets will make me a target the moment I use them. So, instead, we might as well go all out,” he grinned, his eyes gleaming.

“How so?”

“I’ll be playing dress-up with the best of my puppets. Don’t worry, we’re going to be the shining examples of devout worshippers. I’ll even refresh my memory on some light spells. It’ll be great,” Finnean said, a wide smile plastered on his face.

To Daniel, it looked like Finnean was more excited about creating convincing outfits than fighting the thing. Either way, he was glad to have someone he could trust on the expedition.

Now that he had money, he could consider some other projects. Namely, the Ritual of Sanctity.

“An obsidian dagger - fairly standard for rituals of all sorts. The clear liquid should be Dead Man’s Regret. I’ll spare you the details on how it’s concocted, but it isn’t pleasant. No clue what the incense is, and I’d consider myself well-educated. Better than most, in fact.” Finnean said after Daniel described the ingredients for the ritual. He was a bit sceptical about doing so, but it was taken from another world, so Finnean shouldn’t recognize it.

“I can get you the dagger, the liquid, and Mana-Cloud incense for 150 crowns. Dead Man’s Regret is highly illegal, but I’ve got contacts here and there,” he casually said. The price made Daniel wince. And here he was, feeling rich for once in his life.

“Mana-Cloud?”

“It’s the most common incense to use in rituals. Fills the air around you with mana, making any spell more potent and responsive. Also, colour me impressed. I know most... exotic and unique rituals like the back of my hand, and it’s the first time I’m hearing of something like this,” he whistled. Daniel hastily looked all around them, making sure no one was listening in. Getting accused of being a cultist was the last thing on his to-do list.

“Sounds good. Can you get them before the expedition?” Daniel asked.

“Unlikely. I haven’t spoken to my contact in a while. Regardless, whatever you’re planning to do, just make sure you do it in secret.” Finnean didn’t have to repeat that twice.

They continued their daily chat for some time before Finnean had to return to the guild. He wasn’t sure what they had left to teach him, but, just as Finnean didn’t get involved in Daniel’s personal matters, Daniel wouldn’t get involved in his.

For a while, he sat at the teahouse, watching the people pass by. Then, he stood up with a sigh. He had been avoiding the matter for the better half of the morning, but it was finally time to fulfil his promise to the witch. However, before he could do so, one thing stood in his way. Daniel knew absolutely nothing about her besides her name.