In the middle of an enclosure of apes, I lie on my belly atop a brush-covered boulder, spying on the four people that seem to be seeking me.

From the Hex Church, we have Emily and Colin, who stand in the red-brick square beneath an unlit lantern that sits atop a black pole. They lean against a railing between the sea lion enclosure and some shrubbery with an evident focus on their faces. Each of them grips a gray feathered quill in their fingers and writes with careful movements. A small bottle of shiny crimson ink is balanced on Emily’s tome, which the two share. Scrawling in their tomes, a faint glow arises from the page.

‘I suppose the tomes would be beautiful if not so ominous.’

My gaze shifts to Preston and Mark, from The Consortium, who are trekking to the side of a building, nearing a silver box mounted upon the wall. Preston opens what looks to be a small door on the front of the box. The two stare at it for a moment until Mark reaches in with a finger extended. When he does this, the unlit lantern above Emily and Colin, along with several other lanterns surrounding the square, becomes lit. With the lanterns, the square is illuminated in soft light. Unlike the enclosure of apes, I presently find myself, which is almost totally dark.

Closing the small silver door, Preston and Mark return to Emily and Colin’s side.

“What are you doing?” Mark asks. He pushes himself up on his tiptoes to try and catch a glimpse of what Emily is writing.

Emily frowns at him, prompting him to lower himself. “We’re preparing,” she answers.

“Oh. What is this book made of an—'' Mark reaches toward the edge of the tome. A tiny coil of lightning burns the tip of his finger. “Goddamn!” he yells, putting his finger in his mouth.

‘Those tomes? What was that… are they the thing called technology or are they, perhaps, magic?’

“Never touch someone’s Spirit Tome,” Emily states, never looking up from her scribblings. “They aren’t meant to be touched by anyone except for the person they belong to.”

“Spirit tome?” Mark slurs, his pointer finger still in his mouth. “Is… is that a legitimate magical item?”

Colin rolls his eyes and scratches the area around the red fabric that is stitched to his cheek. “Why are you so excited? I’ve heard stories about the magical tech that The Consortium has.”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss that with external contractors,” he says, peering at the tome. “Can I ask where you got the book?”

Emily snickers. “Nope. We aren’t at liberty to discuss that with outsiders.”

‘So it is magic.’ I scrape the ground with my nails. They disperse into a puff of haze and then reform. ‘Should… should I just flee immediately?’ I glance at the apes that howl or throw things whenever I stir. ‘Nay, they would know if I attempted to do such a thing, and… besides they said it would be hard to find me… Truly, I am not actually that fast, so if I attempted to flee, they could feasibly intercept me...’ I nod to my ape acquaintances. ‘Aye, I shall linger here with the apes. Ah, and if an ape could be so kind, please remind me to raise my Agility point things in the future.’

While I am on the verge of dashing away, Preston has moved to the other side of Colin, gawking at the cloth sewed to his face. “Mind if I ask why both of you have that cloth sutured into your skin? Is it a religious thing?”

“Sorta,” Colin states curtly. Closing his tome, he looks at Emily. “I’m going to start attempting to probe the area with my own mana. If I mess up or overdo it, it’ll be your turn to try.”

Emily nods, her quill never resting. “I’ll find it for sure, and The Bishop will be impressed when I surprise him.”

Raising an eyebrow, he grunts, scratches his cheek, and pushes off the railing. “We were to locate its general area, not confront it,” he says, squinting at Emily before shutting his eyes. With his eyes shut, he begins to wander the area, taking deep breaths as he does so.

‘That somewhat reminds me of Terra’s mana technique. Well, I suppose all they have done is shut their eyes. That was as far as I was ever able to get…’

The five apes and I follow his movements as he moves about the area. Oddly, Colin sweats profusely despite not doing much at all. This goes on for a few minutes until he passes close to the edge of the ape enclosure. When he is nearest, one of the feisty apes picks up a rock and tosses it—the rock splashes the water.

Colin flinches, opens his eyes, peers at the rippling water, and then at the apes. “Fuckin’ monkeys.” He says, turning around and throwing up his arms. “I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong, but… it feels like there is a lot of mana in the air. Maybe I am messing up.”

‘Is it because they are not skilled at it or because Terra leaked her own mana as she said she would? Either way, as long as my ape acquaintances do not give my position away, this may work out.’

“I don’t think it’s inside any of the buildings, though. If it’s inside putting off this much mana, then we should all just start running for our lives now,” Colin says, allowing his arms to drop to his side.

Emily corks the small bottle of ink and shuts her tome, yet, I can see she uses one of her fingers to hold the page she has been writing in. “Maybe it’s somewhere in the bushes.” She kicks a bush near her.

‘They seem set on locating me, yet not confronting me. What is to stop me from fleeing after they locate me? Nay, they must have some type of scheme.’ I stare at the woman who is glaring at the plants as if they are an adversary she must vanquish at all costs. ‘I have witnessed looks such as the one that Emily woman has now in the past. It is the foolhardy expression of someone who is about to do something without investing a sufficient amount of thought.’

Seeing her going from bush to bush, kicking each of them, Preston raises his key ring. “Hey… I don’t like how this is going down,” he says, jingling the keys. “You guys say you aren’t confronting the thing, but then you go around rustlin’ the bushes.”

Mark nods. “Yeah. I don’t understand what you’re doing. If you know it’s somewhere around here, then it’s a job well done, right? Like, isn’t your supervisor or whatever supposed to be taking care of the rest? So why does it feel like you're trying to poke a beehive?”

“Well… gotta be sure it’s here, y’know,” Emily says. “Can’t assume something we aren’t absolutely sure about.”

“That’s it!” Colin grabs Emily's arm and drags her away from the two Consortium men. They stop in front of the ape enclosure.

“Em, what’re you doing? Are you trying to antagonize the monster? I didn’t say anything, but it seemed like it took you a while to formulate your hex, and the ink looked like it was some decent quality shit. It probably took you a long time to save up for that ink. What kind of fuckin’ hex did you make?”

“Relax.” Her eyes shift from left to right. “This is going to get us a leg up in both the church and The Bishop’s shortlist to the good life post-apocalypse.”

“Like I said earlier, we aren’t supposed to confront it.”

“Yeah, but if it attacks us first or we say it attacked us first, then there’s nothing we could have done about it.”

“You’re nuts! We’ve never even seen a monster before.” He looks back to make sure the two Consortium people cannot hear him. “We’ve never even used a real goddamn hex before and only got our tomes like last fuckin’ week,” he exclaims softly. “I already feel like I’m about to vomit and pass out from mana exhaustion after almost popping a blood vessel trying to probe two places! I know it seemed like I was going a long time, but I stopped probing like ten seconds after I started. I kept going because I didn’t wanna talk to those Consortium suits anymore, cause they are fuckin’ annoying, plus it’s embarrassing!” He pauses and points at his face. ”My stitched rune hasn’t even quit fuckin’ itching yet. I’m about to lose my damn mind if I don’t get some anti-itch cream in the next thirty goddamn minutes.”

“Chill out, princess. Have some of my cream; this is the prescription-grade stuff that everyone uses after their ceremonies,” Emily says, raising an arm to hand Colin a white tube. “As for everything else, that is all because you’re weak! I have double the Orenda stat you have, so I can make better hexes!”

“Yeah, well, double two is only four, so your Orenda isn’t as impressive as you’re making it sound,” Colin says, snatching the tube from Emily.

Emily snaps her fingers while shaking her head. “Just listen! No one in the church has killed a monster before, except maybe The Bishop, which means whoever does it first is going to be set apart from everyone else. If we’re lucky, they’ll even send us to the slaughterhouses to power level; every single cow slaughtered is free and effortless essence!”

“You’re uncomfortably enthusiastic about slaughtering farm animals.”

“If you act all squeamish about it, you won’t make it when the apocalypse happens,” she says, waving her hand. “But, for real, you know there is an even better outcome than that?”

He rolls his eyes. “I’ll humor you. What’s this even better outcome?”

“If I enslaved it!”

Her words make me raise a hand in disbelief. ‘Again! Why can I not just be left alone!? First children now this noddy woman! [2] Why does everyone wish to enslave me!’

“Enslave a monster?” Colin scoff. “Why!? Weren’t we told it’s more beneficial if we use our lifetime contract openings to enslave different types of spirits? I think they said spirits were complementary to our type of magic or something like that.”

“Sure, sure, except who knows when we’ll start seeing spirits. Just think if you could have such a huge advantage.” She waves her hand dismissively. “Anyway, that's just the best case, not what I expect to happen.”

Colin pinches the bridge of his nose. “...I’m not going to save you if things go to hell.”

“It won’t! I scribed the strongest hex they taught us with ink that cost me fuckin’ ten-grand! It’ll work.” She points at Colin’s tome with her right hand and rubs two fingers together with her left. “You probably used six benjamins worth of my ink, and I didn’t even say anything!”

“We only know like two hexes.” He scoffs. “You’re the stupidest person I’ve ever met. I’m not going to restrain you, but I’m also not going to stick my neck out.”

“Fine! You’ll thank me later when we’re ready to kick monster ass while most everyone else in this city is still debating if mana and the Cosmic System are even real.”

“It’ll be the first thing I thank you for, because…” He holds up the white tube. “This tube is empty!”

‘...This Emily woman is an issue; if I understand correctly, that tome might have some way to beguile or curse me. [1] People such as her can be as dangerous to everyone around them as they can be to themselves.’

“Hey, what’re you two whispering about?” Preston says with furrowed brows. “Look, do I need to get Lincoln and Pierce to come back? I’m starting to think they didn’t realize how close this thing actually was.”

“No!” Emily shouts, waving her hand at them.

She leaves Colin’s side and cautiously begins approaching and kicking more bushes and hedges throughout the square while Colin watches. Mark and Preston glance at one another with concerned expressions before moving to the opposite end of the square.

“Let’s not be too close in case she actually finds something,” Mark murmurs.

They both nod and remove long black sticks that then light up, illuminating the area further.

‘Oh! So lights come from those torches. I did not actually know.’

My gaze drifts back to Emily as she shakes some shrubbery. ’And thank the lord I did not hide in the hedges for once. Instead, I hid hither with my ape acquaintances.’ When I peer at the apes, they move from my bright eyesight. Realizing this, I close my eyelids to block the glow. ‘I nearly forgot about my beautiful new eyelids; I should have shut them sooner. They could have been a terrible mistake if that man, Colin, was more observant and not suffering from mana exhaustion.’

However, without the violet light, one ape becomes more daring and less reserved—its “oohing” increases and a couple of the others join it.

‘Tiny hairy person, prithee, shush!’ I scream in my mind. The ape only starts howling louder. My gaze shoots toward the four people; they all look toward the enclosure.

‘Hush!’ Reaching for a nearby stick with a few leaves attached, I softly slap the ape across its cheek. The entire crowd of apes becomes wholly silent as if in shock by what they just beheld. Until the ape I slapped slides to its posterior, rubs its face, and sulks like a child who has been scolded.

‘Apologies; I would rather not be discovered for such a silly reason!’

“What’s up with the snow monkeys?” Colin asks, raising his hand toward my ape acquaintances. “Are they always this fuckin’ noisy?”

“Nah, snow monkeys are ordinarily pretty chill. Ever seen one of those nature videos and documentaries with the monkeys that just sit in hot springs?” Mark says, pointing at some of the apes reclining on the steamy rocks. “Those are the same kind as in those; they even have their own little hot tubs here.”

“So you think something might be in their enclosures riling them up?”

“Uhm…” Mark shrugs and raises one of his hands toward the apes. “I mean, maybe? I just said they are typically chill, but I’m also not an expert on snow monkeys. I don’t even have a dog or cat, so who knows. Maybe they howl when they do their ‘monkey business.’”

Colin lets out a long sigh. “What are we going to do, Em, if it’s in one of the enclosures?”

“I don’t know.” Emily purses her lips. “How do they get in to clean the enclosures?”

Mark takes a sheet of paper out of his pocket and stares at it. “If you go around the other side, you can get in through a door and short hallway at the back.”

“Fine,” Emily says, pointing between Preston and herself. “Preston and I are going to go around and check the area; you two stay and make sure it doesn’t run away if it’s up there.”

“...Uh, I don’t think I will,” Preston says, glaring at Emily.

“Aren’t you the key guy?” Emily points at the ring of keys in Preston’s hand. “I need the keys.”

“I’m not above locking you in there if the monster rears its ugly head. I got a kid at home, so I’m not risking my life for something totally unnecessary.”

Emily frowns. “If the monster is there, I give you permission to shut the door on me.”

Preston stares at her for a long time. “Pierce said The Consortium doesn’t care what happens to outside contractors anyway, so it’s your funeral,” he says, shaking his head.

“Good to know I should never trust The Consortium, now let’s go.”

Preston glances at Mark, who shakes his head. “I’m only the assistant to the key holder, so this is on you.” Mark looks at Emily. “I’m still calling my bosses, though. This is giving me a bad vibe.”

Emily scoffs and walks away in a hurry. Preston, on the other hand, sighs and follows her around the back of the enclosure.

I shake my head. ‘I cannot dawdle any longer. I hoped to sneak away, yet it seems I should have taken my chances earlier. Perhaps if I cause some kind of distraction, it will deter them from approaching, and they will simply not notice my presence.’ My eyes move to the sulking ape as well as a second ape that is attempting to comfort his companion. ‘I believe my acquaintance here can assist me with that endeavor.’

Clutching a stick with my hand, I lightly poke the grumpy ape. At first, he ignores it, yet after a few more taps, he bares his teeth. Thus, I poke his teeth too. He slaps away the stick and screeches, opening his mouth wide, so I poke the edge of its mouth. It seizes the stick and snaps it into two. Picking up a pebble, I toss it, and it bounces off its forehead. This appears to be the most the creature’s patience can handle because it starts beating the rock and screeching. It lunges at me, causing me to flinch. But, just short of my form, it stops and skips backward, seemingly too disturbed by the haze to make good on its intimidations.

‘Apologies! I would like to avoid confronting unknown threats, so if thou makes a scene, then perhaps they will stay away from the enclosure.’

As the little ape makes a fuss, another ape dashes toward it and shrieks at it—this ape is the largest in the enclosure. It grabs a clump of the smaller ape by the hair on its head and yanks. It exposes its teeth, slaps the smaller ape, and bites it.

‘Gentle… gentleman or gentlewoman?’ I glance downwards and then back up. ‘Gentleman Ape! That is quite sufficient!’ I pick up the stick and tap Gentleman Ape atop his head.

Gentleman Ape releases the smaller ape, whirls around, and shrieks at me. He beats the ground and tosses rocks into the air to make an intimidating display. Finding a new stick, I use it to poke his nostril. Gentleman Ape’s eyes go wide as if he cannot believe I had the nerve to do such a thing. He leaps backward, grabs a handful of rocks, and flings it at the other four apes. This sets off the other three apes as they join Gentleman Ape’s performance, screeching and casting twigs into the air. Yet, the most they are able to do to me is muddy the kiln and raise my Erysichthon value, but naught more than a point or two.

‘That should be enough of a distraction. I hope it deters her from coming in, but if not…’ I stare at Gentleman Ape. ‘There is one other thing that I may do.’

Colin cracks open his tome, peering at my location with squinted eyes. As for myself, I unravel the tendrils and commence forming sable copepods. I rotate around to see the backside of the enclosure. It is simple enough—a platform made of stone with a cliff that leads to a snow-covered area above. Except if one were to closely examine the cliff, they would notice the outline of a door just below an unlit lantern fixed to the cliff.

At that moment, the lantern becomes illuminated, and then a vivid light seeps from the crack around the door. Two voices shush one another as the door opens slightly. I can see someone putting their eye to the crack, investigating the area before the door creaks open further. With the door open halfway, I can see Emily’s thin figure next to the stout Preston, who has a stiff, nervous expression.

“If something goes wrong, be ready to close the door after I’m through,” she whispers to Preston, who resists entering.

“Thought you said I could shut you in,” he whispers back.

“If you close that door when I’m only a fuckin’ foot away, I will haunt your entire family,” Emily snaps back in a low voice.

“I’ll think about it.” Preston sighs, reaching behind his back and removing what looks to be something I have become familiar with these past weeks.

‘A pistol!’ I shake my head. ‘Nay! This situation is worsening quickly! To be honest, their conversation and manner of speaking made me feel they were not so threatening...’

Preston puts a finger to his lips. “No more talking and no complaining if those pissed off monkeys bite the shit out of you,” he says, lowering his torch to the earth.

Emily clicks her tongue, opens her tome, and tiptoes through the door and onto the stone platform. The apes see this and start throwing rocks at her. Emily takes a few steps back and raises one hand to shield her eyes while balancing the opened tome in her other.

She grits her teeth angrily, yet she must not think I am aware of her presence because she does not say anything. When she takes a few steps back, the apes return to harassing me instead.

Watching Emily, I think back to the images shown to me by the Cosmic System when I received the Tenebrous Stealth skill. ‘...She is about to be near enough that she will almost certainly discover me!’

Achieved Novice Tenebrous Sneak [Grade 1]

With those thoughts, a blue wall appears as if saying, “Obviously thou fool.” Any chance of not being spotted is ruined when Gentleman Ape pushes a few twigs and branches, revealing the kiln for a moment. Now only ten feet away, Emily’s eyes widen. She looks down at the ground beneath her feet, pretending not to have spotted me. I can hear her clicking her teeth together as she contemplates what to do for a few seconds until she nods and her shoulders relax.

‘Thanks for thy advice, Terra; however, it seems ever more likely I shall have to fight.’ I slither the cattail between the legs of Gentleman Ape. ‘This night will likely be a rather long one.’

Dropping the hand she was using to shield her eyes, she puts two fingers together and touches the tome, taking a deep breath. A red glow springs from the tome, and burning red strands that resemble twine dig into the back of her hand.

‘I do not understand what is happening, but this farce has gone far enough; I shan’t stay idle any longer!’ My gaze shoots toward a familiar ape. ‘Prithee, forgive me, Gentleman Ape. I do not harbor any ill will toward thou nor ape kind, I swear it. I am merely doing what I must.’

Flicking my eyelids open, the apes scatter. Before he may flee, I seize Gentleman Ape by the nape with my tendrils and cast the screeching creature at Emily.