Chapter 36

Autumn feigned sleep. The strange figure in the middle of the room was all she could focus on, even as her head was heavy with sleep.

Desperately hoping something would help calm her rampant thoughts, Autumn reached out with her senses.

'Look under what seems to be and find what actually is,' Autumn thought, using her limited mana as she focused on the strange figure.

It lasted for a split second, but that split second was all she needed for the image to be ingrained into her head.

A shadow haunter. A high leveled one that was purposely concealing its presence.

Autumn shivered, shadow haunters typically did not have much rational thought and acted on 'attack first, think never.'

'Can I really fight such a high leveled shadow haunter?' Autumn questioned herself.

Her heartbeat erratic, Autumn breathed deeply, still feigning sleep.

'If it wanted to kill me, it already would have. No, its more likely that it can't kill me. If adventurers can contract spirit animals, I don't see why they wouldn't find a way to control shadow haunters.'

'In that case…' Autumn paused.

She stood up, her wolf form's silhouette barely visible in the darkness. Instantly, she felt its attention on her.

Step by step she made her way closer. "I found you," she called out, "What do you want?"

The shadow shifted, clearly struggling to decide what to do. It was unclear whether it wanted to launch itself at Autumn or flee.

It suddenly stilled, and Autumn grew concerned.

She snarled, snapping her teeth together in warning.

After staring it down for what seemed to be forever, Autumn hesitantly approached it, and with a brush of her paw, disappeared into a wisp of smoke.

In its place was a grey stone with shining blue runes. Judging from the intricate swirls and runes that lined it, it was a very high ranking shadow haunter.

'But…there's something odd about this one.'

A faint shimmer covered the stone and reminded Autumn of her newly learned ability.

Directing the last of her mana towards the stone, Autumn watched as a faint red symbol took shape.

"What could it be?" Autumn questioned aloud.

"Hmm?" Ember asked, half awake.

'Now you wake up,' Autumn thought, rolling her eyes.

Yet, she replied, "nothing, go back to sleep."

Ember murmured a word of acknowledgment, turning a bit as she got comfortable.

Autumn shifted, carefully tucking the stone into the pocket of her clothes before shifting back and snuggling up beside Ember.

The next morning was peaceful, as if the previous night's events had never taken place. The weight of the soul stone in Autumn's pocket told her otherwise, though.

Autumn found herself unable to concentrate even on the tastiest foods that were presented to her.

Lapis studied her intently, "Is the food not to your liking?"

Autumn hadn't even realized she had zoned out, picking at her food. "No, nothing is wrong. I'm just a bit nervous about heading to Greyrose City."

Lapis nodded in understanding, "don't worry, most people won't pay much attention to you. Believe it or not, spirit animals are rather common there."

Autumn winced, "only the contracted ones."

The look on Ember's face told her she had the same thought.

Nevertheless, they quickly finished eating.

Autumn yawned, her full stomach and lack of sleep from the night before caused her eyes to droop tiredly.

"Let's get going. The faster we get to Greyrose, the faster I can sleep."

Sol rolled his eyes, "There's a lot of paperwork to be done in order to register you two. I'm afraid sleep is far away for you."

"You always find a way to ruin my mood," Autumn sighed.

"Rui is waiting for us at Greyrose City, so quit bickering and let's get moving."

The teleportation hall was surprisingly close. It was a tall, elaborate building that practically pulsed with energy.

"The entire building is made from condensed mana. It took many powerful mages to create and even more to maintain," Lapis provided them with a brief history.

"Is it edible?" Ember tilted her head.

Despite the odd question, Lapis answered seriously, "No, directly consuming the mana of another will cause some serious side effects."

Ember sighed in disappointment.

They stepped into the building, the wide space filled with crowds of people entering and exiting.

"If you can only use teleportation magic every 24 hours how come the teleportation hall can be used so often?" Autumn questioned.

"There isn't a time limit on it, but rather it takes about that long to regenerate enough mana to teleport again. Most of the energy cores adventurers gain go towards the teleportation hall in order to keep it running."

"Oh," Autumn nodded.

Ace pulled out a small black card, showing it to a worker at the side.

"Depending on how many stones you contribute, the higher your 'rank' becomes. Missions, competitions, and directly challenging another team are other ways it can increase. These cards represent your rank, and they can give you many benefits."

"Like skipping the line," Ember snickered.

"Yes, like skipping the line," Ace confirmed as they were escorted to the front.

"So, will Ember and I get the same cards as you?"

Ace shook his head, "Each person gets their own."

Autumn's shoulders sank in disappointment.

"I'm sure your ranks will rise quite quickly. They don't matter much anyways," Ace consoled.

"Let's get going then?" He tilted his head towards a large blocked off space. It was void of anything other than a large rune etched into the stone.