Since the day when Arvin had first heard Lopt's voice, he could tell that he is a very mischievous god. He had done some pranks from time to time. But they are mostly harmless. So when Lopt asked Arvin to steal that big shield, he had his concerns about whether this is a prank or not. It was not like that he couldn't steal that shield, it was that whether it would be worth the trouble or not?

Arvin could easily cut off that shield from that statue's hands and steal it. But cutting off the shield could gather the attention of authorities. That could pose a problem while he is infiltrating the inner city. So it was debatable whether he should do it or not as if it is a prank then it is worth going through any trouble. Torn between what to do Arvin decided that it was better if he asks why does he need the shield? ​​

'Lopt why…' before Arvin could finish his sentence Lopt started speaking.

{I need that shield to help with your training. If you want to become an acolyte then you would need that shield.}

'Why?'

{When you will be becoming an acolyte, then there is a chance that someone might sense mana stones that you would use.}

'How?'

{Did you already forgot about those folks that you met back in the forest?}

'Those guys? What about them?'

{Arvin you have to understand some things. The technique that I taught you to hide your mana signature in addition to my interference, we could stay hidden even from people from higher floors. But when becoming an acolyte there is a chance that someone might sense your mana signature. That is why I need that shield.}

'What do you mean by your interference? I thought you can't do anything to influence the physical world.'

{I cant. But I can control my aura in your body. From that, I don't let any mana seep out of your body which makes it look like that you don't have any mana at all.}

'I don't understand.'

{In simple words I form a protective layer around you that helps in hiding your mana signature.}

'Hmm… So I have to steal that shield huh?'

{Yes. It is crucial for your breakthrough.}

'One more question… What will we do with it?' Arvin asked as he was still concerned.

{We will perform some rune magic on it.}

'Really?'

......….

Magicians or magus are the beings that use mana to perform supernatural feats. That book said that magus performs magic via magic circles or runes. That book specifically didn't mention what were magic circles. Arvin asked Lopt about it but his reply to this question was that he will eventually find out in the future.

Then that book started talking about runes. It talked about runes being a sacred language. From what Arvin was able to interpret, runic language is a character language, like Japanese, Chinese, Korean, etc. Like these languages, the runic language was made up of different types of characters. And here each character represents different power and each has different types of characteristics.

Although the book about the basics of magic was very fat book, it was sort of useless to Arvin. It was because the book had a lot of water damage. It was not Arvin's fault but it seems like Alman was not such a good caretaker of the books. Due to the extensive amount of water damage, Arvin was able to make out only a few words. That is why his knowledge of magic is still lacking.

But soon everything will change. When Lopt said that 'we would perform runic magic on it', he meant that he would help Arvin to cast runic magic on the shield. After all Lopt cant influence the physical world. But still, Arvin was curious about how Lopt will teach him to cast rune on that shield?....

Arvin found an inn that was close to that square with the statue. Getting confirmation from Lopt that he was not pranking him, he was relieved. Plus when Lopt mention that they would do runic magic on that shield got Arvin intrigued. He had heard so much about magic yet he had never seen it personally. But now all that was gonna change.

When the night time came, Arvin sneaked out of his room from his window. Then he made his way towards the square. When Arvin was checking into the room he talked to a man that was the owner of this inn. He told him that as this place is closer to the inner gate, guards usually patrol this place at night. So it was one of the safest inns. It was due to this Arvin was being extra vigilant.

When Arvin got to the square he saw that square was empty. Seeing that his coast is clear, Arvin made his way towards the shield. Arvin then started inspecting the statue. Arvin saw that this shield was welded on the arm of the statue. And from the thickness of the shield, he could feel that this shield is bound to be very heavy.

Arvin knocked on the statue and surprisingly that statue was hollow from inside. And that was a good thing as it would make it easier for him to cut through the arm. But then Arvin started seeing flaws in his way of thinking…

It was night time to streets were empty at this moment. There was total silence in the city right now. But if he uses his ax to cut the arm of the statue, which would make a loud noise. And even if he can pull it off silently, and the shield falls on the ground, then also there will a very loud noise.

Arvin thought that maybe he should find a saw or something like that to cut the arm. As he decided that he would need a saw or something, he starting inspecting the metal that was used to build the statue. After all, he had to know what kind of metal he wanted to cut with a saw. As Arvin was inspecting the statue, somewhere else in the outer city….

AAAOOOWWWW

A street dog of someplace in outer howled in sadness as he was hungry and he had nothing to eat. Following his footsteps, another dog also howled. Following the second dog's steps a third dog howled, then a fourth, fifth, and so on. And like this, the night of the outer city was filled with howling dogs.

Arvin heard these howls and just ignored them as he had better things to deal with. But unlike Arvin when Lopt heard these howls he started feeling nostalgia. And he remembered a song…

" Who let the dogs out?

Who, who, who, who, who?

Who let the dogs out?

Who, who, who, who, who?

Who let the dogs out? "

Lopt starting playing this song in Arvin's head. As soon as Arvin heard this song, he got startled and pushed the statue a little bit. Due to Arvin's extraordinary strength that slight push resulted in the statue falling on its back…

BANG!!

When the statue fell, it made a huge banging noise that shook the whole neighborhood. Arvin when saw what he had accidentally done, cursed Lopt in his mind. With explosive speed, he leaped over towards the statue and stored it in his inventory, and ran away from there.

Despite Arvin's superior physical stats, he was not fast enough to get out of there unseen. A man from the adjacent building saw him. It was pretty dark out there plus he was in his sleep so he didn't know what he saw. But according to that man, the man on the street that pushed down the statue made the statue vanish after touching it…

Arvin wasn't a fool. He knew that in the night it was possible that anyone could have spotted him. So he wore dark clothes that night for camouflage as well as he also his face with a black cloth.

With his precaution, although no one was able to see his face that didn't mean that he was not spotted. Many locals spotted a black hooded person running away. But it didn't matter that much as Arvin had already taken some precaution about it.

After causing the commotion, Arvin ran towards the opposite direction of the inner city. And after running when he reached a deserted place, he transformed into a Corgan and flew back to his inn. And this how his night ended….

...........

'WHAT THE F**K WAS THAT ABOUT?' Arvin screamed as soon as he entered his room.

{What? I thought you will love the irony of your situation and that song.}

'You startled me. It is because of you a commotion was raised. Your irony could have jeopardized my whole infiltration plan. What the hell were you thinking?'

{Don't worry about it. I know you would do just fine.}

'….'

{Don't worry no one saw you anyway.}

'Still, that was uncalled for.'

{Don't worry I will never do it again. I swear.}

'…' Arvin didn't say anything but deep inside he knew that this is not the end of Lopt's shenanigans.