Quill stared at the sack of Ghoulshrooms he had with him.

  He’d taken a sample of the Ghoulshrooms he found in the Dungeon and brought it back with him, and now he was passing through the gates of the academy in hopes of sending it to Haref for examination.

  It was weird enough that the tunnels below the city were infested with Ghoulshrooms in the first place, and now the Dungeon was showing signs of infection. Quill wasn't stupid enough to discard it all to coincidence. Something was going on down there, and he needed Haref's expertise in alchemy.

  Quill nodded to the guards as he walked past the gates. For the first time in a little over three weeks, he was finally walking again on the outside grounds of Fey.

  The Azure and Amber suns shone from high above, showering the city below in autumn weather. Now that the Gilhem entrance examinations were a few weeks behind, the city once again had settled into a peaceful silence, though the heart of the city was still filled with people.

  “Should we be really out here?” Rhena said, shaking under the academy robes. It was particularly cold at this time of day, and she was shivering down to her legs.

  “We have to.” Quill passed through the busy street, pulling the Meldhide Cloak’s hood over his face. It was probably not a good idea to be outside the academy grounds, especially when his bounty was still up, but he had already waited a few days and yet came out empty-handed.

  Quill gripped the sack in his hand. As a lifelong scholar who pursued nothing but knowledge and understanding, it was eating away at him that he had no answers to what was happening down under. If he ignored it altogether, it might’ve been safer, but ignorance killed more mages than bravery ever did.

  “I’m really excited to see your sister, Fenith.” Narrah walked beside Quill, a grin on her face as she strutted down the stone-paved road. “What's she like?”

  “She's… very kind.” Quill said.

  “We’re heading to the former Chancellor's townhouse, right?” Rognor stood on Quill's other end. “I heard he was one of the best Alchemists in the city.”

  Quill nodded in turn. Although Haref wasn't a combat mage, he was revered for his expertise in dissecting magical beasts and plants and putting their bodies to use in the context of Alchemy. He had only taken a glimpse of his laboratory before, and it was all filled with nothing but flasks and vials.

  As Quill passed by high elves on the street, he couldn't help but feel the attention drawn to him and him alone. It couldn't be helped. Most of the city must have heard the news that he was now under the protection of the academy, and because of that, the widespread attention was too much for the Meldhide Cloak to keep hiding him.

  If your name and face were known widely enough, the Meldhide Cloak did nothing more than a standard cloak. Quill had passed through these streets before, and it wasn't the case then, but the people around him now were staring at him with disdain and fear.

  Most of the townspeople shifted their gaze away, walking around him as if afraid to catch him in a bad mood. Others scoffed and stared with hate, though they couldn't do anything to an academy mage even if they wanted to.

  The name of the Circle had been emblazoned on Quill's tunic, something that reminded him that he was safe even outside academy grounds. Still, it was safer to come out prepared, so he asked Rhena, Rognor, and Narrah to come with him.

  They passed through the busy streets, winding through the crowd before finally arriving at Haref's townhouse. A yard was fenced by stone walls, and at once Quill and Rhena jumped over the walls with no hesitation, and they urged Rognor and Narrah to follow.

  “I don't think we should be entering people's homes unannounced.” Narrah landed with a thud, and Rognor landed right behind, almost shaking the earth. “I think it sets a bad example for academy mages.”

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  “I agree…” Rognor said, but Rhena only shrugged her shoulders before they started to the front porch.

  “Old man!” Rhena shouted at the top of her lungs, ramming her fist against the door. She waited a few seconds before she tried again, but the moment she did, the door clicked open to reveal Haref right behind.

  “What do you want–Rhena? Fenith?” Haref rubbed his eyes as if trying to see more clearly. He was clearly drinking the night before, as he always did, but the more seconds passed, the more his face sprang to life. “What are you doing here?”

  “What, we’re not allowed to visit you now?” Rhena stood in place before turning behind, introducing Rognor and Narrah to Haref. Haref, in turn, introduced himself as the esteemed former Chancellor before then turning to Quill.

  “So you made some friends.” Haref rubbed his bearded chin as if thinking of something. “I didn't think you were capable. I always mistook you for a hermit who spent all his time reading.”

  Yereth then appeared from behind Haref. Her face carried with her a mix of emotions, and she couldn't choose which one to pick before she wrapped her arms around Quill.

  “I always knew you could do it.” Yereth pushed and patted his shoulders. “Mother and father would be proud to see how far you’ve come now.”

  “Yes…” Quill pushed down the discomfort piling in his throat before they entered the townhouse. It was the same house with nothing having changed, though it did look cleaner and tidier. It must've been because of Yereth, now serving Haref as a full-time caretaker.

  And it was a surprise to learn then that Yereth had been studying Alchemy under the guidance of Haref himself. Quill blinked at the information; he didn't expect to hear that from her. But it was true, and she was getting the grasp of making basic pills and elixirs, more than she ever understood magic.

  “It's actually very easy.” Yereth pulled chairs for all five of them, while Haref had stared at the sack in Quill's hand but said nothing. “It's much like the process of making medicine, mixing magical ingredients to bring out their innate magic and turn that into a workable concoction.”

  Quill couldn't help but smile as he listened to her talking about the process. He wasn't really interested all that much, but it made him happy that Yereth finally found something she wanted to push herself towards. “I’m proud of you. Really.”

  After a few more banters and little bits of catching up, Haref finally brought it out. “So what are you here for? I’m assuming it's something to do with that.” He pointed at the sack in Quill's hand.

  Quill only nodded, handing it over to him so he could see what was inside. “We entered the academy Dungeon a few days ago, and we found those Ghoulshrooms growing underneath. Is it a coincidence?”

  “That is strange. Ghoulshrooms are rare enough as they are.” Haref opened the bag before he started towards his office, urging Quill and the rest to follow before closing the door behind with a click.

  The office was nothing much out of the ordinary, with shelves of books on either side flanking the table right at the very end of the room. Haref then led them to the door behind the table, opening it into a similar room, but this time, there were vials and flasks and other tools scattered all around long desks and counters.

  It was Haref's laboratory. Haref immediately went to work and produced samples from the Ghoulshrooms, picking them apart and dropping them into flasks before mixing liquids with them. Many of the tools here were made by dwarven craftsmen, and one in particular was used like a telescope, but it was for zooming into smaller subjects.

  “Well, what is it?” Rhena leaned over, trying to interpret the bubbling of the liquids as if she were an Alchemist herself. Haref only shushed her.

  “This Ghoulshroom shares the same network with the infestation from the tunnels.” Haref moved from the contraption on the table before he pulled the flask containing the Ghoulshroom sample and set it on a tray.

  “So the infestation from the tunnels has worsened, and now it has grown so much that it started corrupting the Dungeon.” Quill pursed his lips. That was almost impossible.

  The Dungeon was a living being, and it was supposed to have its own way to prevent infections and diseases, much like an immune system. Add to the fact that the Dungeon was a few hundred meters away from the closest tunnel, it shouldn't have been infected at all.

  But it was. Haref had already confirmed that it was. So either the Dungeon had a weakened point that allowed the Ghoulshrooms to start taking over, or the Ghoulshrooms were just so rampant and large that the Dungeon itself couldn't handle the size of corruption.

  Ghoulshrooms weren't like normal plants nor fungi–they were more like the reincarnation of corruption itself, a blight that eats away and corrupts life itself.

  And in that case, the world below them might as well have been rotting.

  “You shouldn't know this, but the problem is bigger than it seems.” Haref turned to Quill, a grim expression apparent on his face. “Two City Watch guards were sent to survey the tunnels a few weeks ago, but none of them returned alive.”

  Now that was surprising. Quill had never heard of that before. Maybe he was too preoccupied with his studies, but even Rognor and Narrah seemed surprised. Just before Quill could ask another question about the guards, a knock from outside suddenly rang in his ears.

  Thanks for reading!