Shit! Shit shit shit shit shit! I can’t fail this! I can’t!

  As I sprint through the winding streets, my thoughts are focused on one thing and one thing only.

  If I don’t complete this, I’ll have the penalty for failing! I can’t afford to lose five skill credits! That doesn’t even take into account the two and a half bronze rings! I don’t have that many, so I have no idea what will happen!

  “Delilah! How long?”

  At this point, I’m on the verge of panicking. My legs are already starting to throb, my lungs burning, and my heart beating so hard that I feel like it’s about to burst from my chest.

  “Eleven minutes, 32 seconds!”

  I mostly ignore the directional sense in my mind in favor of taking some of the streets and alleys that I recognize from earlier. I don’t entirely ignore it, I just use it as a general guideline to get to the familiar paths. I haven’t gotten lost yet, so there haven’t really been any delays.

  “I think we’re making good time! There should only be a few more turns!”

  Sure enough, it’s only four turns with no more than fifty yards between each of them before we get back to the Society’s main entrance. My lungs are pumping like bellows, my heart thumping at an incredible rate. The pain caused by simply breathing sends sharp waves of agony through me. The muscles in my legs feel like they’re on fire, but I keep running.

  “Time!”

  My mental shout comes out a bit more forcefully than I intended it to, using the only word that I’m able to think of with my body aching all over.

  “Four minutes, eleven seconds!”

  Relief washing through my emotions, I slow down as I make my way through the entrance, though I don’t stop running. I pass by the few dilapidated dwellings between the archway and the task board, then take a right turn into the boss’ building. After opening the door with gusto, I bolt inside, ignore the receptionist, and pound on Hadrix’s office.

  “Excuse me! The boss does not want to be disturbed!”

  The woman at the desk reaches to pull me away, but the loud sound does as I intended, it grabs Boss’ attention, as he emerges with an angry gleam in his eyes. The anger disappears when he spots me, though there is clearly some annoyance remaining.

  “Come in, Luck.”

  “Yes— hih… hih— Yes, sir!”

  Ignoring my labored breathing, I start summoning my box as soon as I enter, without waiting to sit down first. As soon as it appears I grab the package, setting it on the desk. A slight buzzing comes from my Heart Scroll, though I’m unsure if I was successful or not.

  I’ll check that later, I just hope I didn’t fail.

  Boss’ eyebrow quirks upward as he sees me panting in pain and the package already placed upon his wooden workstation.

  “I see you were… successful. With such fervor as yours, you may yet advance up the ranks of the Society.”

  Hadrix closes the door as I begin to catch my breath, he slowly walks over to his well-crafted chair. After he sits down, he gestures to the other seat.

  “Please, sit. You’ve done an excellent job tonight. Commendable, even. For your dedication, you’ve well earned this.”

  With that statement, he passes me a copper disk with three wavy lines imprinted upon it. A bath token. Though it’s the lowest rank one that you can get.

  Only copper? For all that work? I guess that’s to be expected though. After all, most of the work was self-inflicted. He never mentioned a time limit, it was only my quest that imposed the restriction. At least I get to clean myself properly.

  Those thoughts also remain in my head as he continues speaking.

  “Now, seeing as how this is not my own seal, I’ve no idea if you’ve broken into it and stolen anything. So, stay seated as I inspect the contents.”

  He takes his letter opener, gently slicing through the center of the paper that makes sure the box remains shut. As he opens the container, a wave of terrifying energy floods the room, causing the light in the room to dim considerably.

  I take a sneak peak at the contents, seeing ten orbs lined up on a red velvet base. The tiny balls are blacker than black, seemingly absorbing the light. When I look back to Hadrix, he’s smiling while staring at me as I was lost gazing into the midnight marbles.

  “Do you know what these are, boy?”

  His smile only widens as my eyes do the same, recognition clear within them.

  “They’re… um… they’re Resonances…”

  My mouth hangs agape as I process what I’m seeing. My breathing, now under control, stops entirely. This, of course, does nothing to help the ache that remains in my lungs.

  “But I don’t know which attunement they are…”

  Hadrix’s smile turns into a slight frown before I belatedly remember to add “Boss!” This seems to satisfy him, as he nods once, his expression slowly returning to the one he had previously adopted.

  “Indeed, they are Resonances. They are of two attunements, though.”

  He lets the silence hang in the air after his cryptic statement, continuing to leave the box open.

  He probably knows how unsettling this is for me… I wish he’d stop pausing, though.

  Seeing that I’m not going to ask which attunements they are, he once again begins speaking, with the slightest tinge of annoyance creeping into his voice.

  “They are simultaneously death and tenebrae attuned. Do you know what Resonances can be used for?”

  “No, sir. I… uh… don’t?”

  He smiles with no mirth nor warmth.

  “They can be used for a variety of things. If one were to absorb let’s say… a Flame Resonance, it could unlock a hidden skill upgrade that has some effect related to flames. If they were to throw the Flame Resonance at the ground, it would burst into a fiery explosion. If they swallowed the Flame Resonance…”

  His pause is a bit briefer than before, but not by much.

  “Let’s just say it would not be pretty.”

  His statement is punctuated by his smile transforming into a malevolent grin, as he clearly doesn’t agree with his own words.

  What a fucking sadistic bastard. I bet he’s imagining the result in his head, the twisted prick.

  As I find myself doing more and more frequently as of late, I keep my thoughts firmly planted within my mind.

  “That is not everything they’re used for, but I imagine that you can reach the proper assumptions about what these Resonances that I’ve acquired are capable of. They did not come cheaply, so we should both be glad that you did not steal any.”

  His grin turns malicious as his implied threat sinks in, most likely causing a fearful look to appear on my face.

  “Now! I believe our business is concluded! I will be utilizing you for special tasks like this in the future. Close the door on your way out.”

  I stand, exiting the room quickly and quietly doing what I was commanded. The receptionist openly glares at me as I walk through the room to the outside. It’s clear she doesn’t approve of my actions so far, but I honestly couldn’t care less about her opinion.

  “Father… who was the pale man? He scares me…”

  Realizing that I had forgotten that I was sharing my senses with Koa, I reply with a calm, soothing tone.

  “It’s okay, Koa. One day, you will get to kill that man. Brick will be avenged.”

  My resolve hardens further with my statement, as it is wont to do.

  “Who is Brick, Father?”

  A pang of guilt stabs into my heart as I relive the events of that terrible night. I really don’t want to burden my child with the pain of my loss, so I choose not to answer her directly.

  “I’ll tell you some other time, okay Koa?”

  “Okay! Meany Meowy is back.”

  Surely enough, Delilah has joined us. She immediately sends an eyeroll through the bond, to which Koa responds by sending the mental image of Delilah without any fur. I just chuckle at the two’s antics.

  “Human, you should take a trip to the bath now. You reek of sweat. On top of that, I can still smell that awful alchemy on you. If I were to have to deal with it for much longer, I would definitely be displeased. You wouldn’t want me to be unhappy, would you?”

  Delilah’s helpful comment reminds me that I should indeed go take a bath, so I start heading to the Traveler’s District. It appears that there are only a couple of hours until sunset, so there’s no better time than now.

  “Let’s go then.” My tone has little enthusiasm, as my body still feels like I was run over by a cart, chewed up by a dragon, and spat down the mountain the dragon lives on.

  “I think I’ll pass, Human. I shall await you at the shed. Oh, and I’d recommend you stop sharing your senses with the child before entering the bath. Scarring her for life would not be permissible by the Maxetheri of the entarin. Nor me. You would not want to find out how sharp my claws are, Human. Keep that in mind.”

  A feeling of confusion comes across Koa’s corner of the connection we all share. One that I am not willing to entertain.

  “Wha—”

  “It’s something that you shouldn’t ever have to find out about, Koa. Don’t worry your innocent little mind over it, okay?”

  I quickly shut down any questions regarding that train of thought with a distinct finality.

  “Okay, Father!”

  As Delilah scampers off, I continue toward the bathhouse. I make idle chatter with my… daughter? as we go.

  “So, Koa, are you excited for tomorrow?”

  Having already decided what we’ll be doing for the day, I pose the question, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to have an answer quite yet.

  This should prove to be a helpful distraction.

  “What’s happening tomorrow?”

  Even though she doesn’t even know what we’re going to do, the link between us is already conveying eagerness. I smile warmly at her innocence as it fills my heart with love for the adorable soul within my weapon.

  “I’m taking tomorrow off! We’re going to sell what’s left of the hoglin parts and try to find another one to hunt for the repeatable quest! Doesn’t that sound exciting?”

  “Yay!!! Hunting! More aether! Thank you, Father! Thank-you-thank-you-thank-you!”

  I chuckle a bit, letting my mirth bleed into the tone of my response.

  “No need to thank me! I’m doing it for myself, too. I got a lot of Skill Aether from the first one, plus quite a bit of hoglin meat. Oh yeah! I almost forgot about the Search Resonance! Now that I know what it’s used for, I probably shouldn’t sell it. Skill upgrades are just too valuable to miss out on.”

  By the time we reach this point in the conversation, we make it to the bathhouse. I wait in the copper token line for another 30 or 45 minutes before making it inside. Most people can only afford the lowest tier for their baths, so it’s understandable that there would be a long queue. That doesn’t make the time any less tedious, though.

  “Well, Koa. It’s time to stop sharing. It would probably be best if you don’t say anything until I give you access to my senses again. Okay?”

  “Okay, Father!”

  I hand my token to the elderly human woman behind the front desk. She points over her shoulder at a specific doorway. As I pass through the curtain covering the entry, I see ten small wooden tubs. Nine of them have naked men in them, the tenth one being the farthest into the room.

  As I walk past the other occupants of the space, I respectfully keep my eyes glued to the floor. When I reach my tub, I see a clearly used bar of soap and a wet towel beside the tub.

  There’s a pubic hair on this soap…

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.