Chapter 37

The teleportation hall flashed a bright light, the rune etched into the floor illuminating the entire room.

Autumn squeezed her eyes shut, still feeling the burn from the light even after. The light subsided, dizziness and nausea replacing it.

Autumn stumbled towards a wall, leaning against it. "Although I am fond of my breakfast, I don't think it would taste nearly as good coming back up. I think I'll stick to walking."

Ace chuckled, "you get used to it eventually."

"Vomiting or teleportation? Because I'd rather not do either anymore," Ember sighed, shutting her eyes as she sat down.

"Both," Ace replied humorously. His gaze turned serious, "but first, the two of you can't rest there. Many people are waiting for their turn, and unless you'd like to teleport again, I'd suggest leaving."

Autumn whined, "we just can't get a break, can we?" Nevertheless she took a few deep breaths before walking towards the door, helping up Ember along the way.

After a quick rest outside of the teleportation hall, the group walked towards a building along the end of the road.

"Wow," Ember commented, "and I thought the teleportation hall was huge."

"Of course. The central hall is where all adventurers come to take care of business. For us, we're here to register you both," Rui explained as he made his way over.

He wore an eye-catching silver badge—a snake peacefully curled around a dagger. Whereas other adventurer groups either didn't wear badges, or had dull copper ones, Rui attracted much attention.

"So, what does the badge represent? Do we get one? Can we skip lines with it?"

Rui raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. "It represents our adventurer group. Although it may not look it, it is actually a magical artifact."

Autumn's eyes shone in anticipation.

"Naturally, you and Ember would also receive one. No, you can't skip lines with it, but you can store mana in it for emergency use."

Autumnal let out a sigh of disappointment. "Mana isn't exactly something I have excess of at the moment, or in the near future, either."

Her eyes suddenly lit up as she recalled something. "Then, if a snake and dagger represents Phantom—our team, what team is this?" Autumn reached into her pocket and pulled out the ominous soul stone.

Rui smiled at her endless questions, yet it quickly faded when he realized what she held.

"Where did you get this?!" He whisper-yelled.

Autumn flinched, "I found it. Does it matter?"

Rui pressed his fingers against his temple.

"Yes," Ace replied solemnly. "This belongs to Angel's Trumpet."

"You mean-" Autumn gasped.

"Yes. The same organization Melany belonged to."

"She tried to prevent us from joining you last time, and I bet they were trying to get rid of us last night…" Autumn mumbled.

Lapis glanced at her, "if you're hiding something, we need to know."

Ember nodded, "yeah, what's this about 'last night?'"

"There was a shadow haunter in our room, a high leveled one. When I touched it, it turned to smoke and left this behind."

Ace frowned, "I've never heard of that happening before. Although it doesn't seem like anything happened to you, we should take precautions. Both of you need to be accompanied by one of us at all times."

"Since they were comfortable approaching you when you were together, it shows that we can't leave you alone even when you are next to each other. You can share a room with me, if you'd like," Lapis offered.

Autumn looked towards Ember before hesitantly nodding. 'This city is feeling more and more restrictive by the minute,' she thought.

"We can pick up this discussion later. For now, it's our turn." Ace beckoned towards the open reception desk.

Minutes passed like hours, and boredom was quickly setting in. A heavy atmosphere still loomed over them, and in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere, Ember spoke.

"Feel like a midday snack?"

"Actually," Autumn answered, her eyes lighting up, "I wouldn't mind that." Food would be a wonderful way to take her mind off the eminent danger.

"Great!" Ember snickered, pointing towards a large fish tank. That corner of the room was mostly empty, and the adventurers in the area were quite busy.

Autumn's eyes widened, before filling with anticipation. "Fishing? Even better."

Turning towards Ace, she tugged on his cloak. "We're going to check out the building. Don't worry, we'll stay nearby."

Ace nodded dismissively, his attention focused on the ever-increasing pile of papers.

Rui and the others had conveniently left before they were forced to help, leaving Ace swamped with work.

Autumn shifted into her wolf form, skillfully dodging metal boots and worn shoes.

She looked up at the fish tank, its size suddenly seeming a thousand times larger as it loomed over her.

"Ember! Give me a boost, please."

Ember nodded, holding out her hands and lifting Autumn to the aquarium lid.

Ember removed her cloak, handing it to Autumn who grasped it in her jaws.

Shifting, Ember tucked herself into the hood of her cloak. With a bit of a struggle, Autumn managed to pull her up. The glass of the aquarium provided minimal leverage for her paws, making the ordeal much more difficult.

The lid was easily removed, sliding back from the tank with minimal force.

Balancing precariously on the edge, Autumn and Ember peered into the water. A long snake like creature swam to the top, opening its jaws to reveal tiny, sharp teeth.

Ember gasped, "Is it a blue-finned eel? I haven't eaten one in ages!"

"They taste good?" Autumn questioned skeptically, bending down to examine it.

"Yeah, just be caref-"

Autumn plunged her snout into the water, closing her jaws around the eel before letting go in shock.

"-careful of getting stung," Ember finished with a sigh. "Thankfully, they're mainly ornamental creatures. The most they can do is make you jump a bit when they catch you off guard."

"I can see that," Autumn mumbled, swiping her tongue around her snout and shaking off the excess water.

Autumn readied herself to try again, but was stopped by a harsh voice.

"What do you think you're doing?!!?"