“Done,” Zane patted down the fresh soil with his shovel. Finishing his first agenda of the day. Burying a suitcase of guns and bullets under a tree near Hailyfield Town. It wasn’t too close to draw suspicion and it wasn’t too far to be of inconvenience. Zane didn’t even mark the tree as he made a new warp point right on top of the buried weapon stash, replacing the one near Anansi Forest. The one where he almost got eaten by a giant spider. Thankfully, his return through the warp point close to the forest was uneventful. He was just glad that the giant spider didn’t wait for him to come back.

“What’s next?” he dusted off his hands and looked around him with half a smile. The close to death experience last time wasn’t enough to deter Zane back here as he made a mental note to be more extra careful this time.

“First thing first. There’s a debt that I need to pay,” he went off. Returning back to Hailyfield Town and visited the Arcane Society.

Zane knocked on the door and he heard rushing steps from behind it. The door was quick to open and the sight of an old man smiling warmly greeted him. Langdon gave him a hug as if he was a grandfather meeting his grandson in the summer holiday.

“I’m glad you’re still alive,” Langdon said. Parting away with Zane and looking at the earthling from top to bottom. “You can’t imagine how worried I was when you suddenly vanished.”

“Wait, what?” the caring words came out rather strangely through Langdon’s mouth. And Zane was quick to notice. “Did you put some sort of tracker spell on me?” Zane backed away a few steps as he saw Langdon’s face fell for a brief second there.

“Oh, you must have misheard me,” the old man smiled.

“When I heard from the guards that you didn’t come back after venturing out, I assume you have fallen to the beast of the forest,” Langdon said. “But let’s not dwell on the past, what matters is you’re here and you’re safe and sound.”

This sneaking President definitely did something to him. But rather than saying it out loud, he might as well play a fool as he was still far from being strong in contending against the wolf in sheep’s skin. Despite the amicable vibe Langdon was giving, Zane had a hunch that the man could be ruthless when it was needed. And he had no intention of testing that water.

“Oh, yea. I almost forgot,” Zane rummaged through his backpack and took out a box and several power banks. The sight of these foreign items made Langdon’s eyes twinkle.

“Is this?” Langdon had no words for the thing that hid inside that small rectangular box.

“Yea, it’s the payment for the earrings. It’s a new smartphone similar to mine,” Zane unboxed the gadget from the sleek package and showed the rope of how to use it to Langdon. The unfamiliar letters made the President of Arcane Society illiterate so Zane had to incorporate different meanings to the different thumbnails on the screen.

And for an old man, Langdon was a fast learner. Knowing the basics just after a few explanations from Zane. He was smiling throughout the whole guide like a kid who found a new toy.

Zane further explained the use of the power banks he brought along. Telling Langdon that the phone was powered by electricity.

“You’re saying this smartphone is power not by mana but by the lightning element?” Langdon asked. Trying to get a grip over such facts. And being a wizard, he had an open mind, making him trust Zane’s word easier to such possibility.

“Not exactly lightning, but just the tiniest part of it. Like very little. Not to the point of using it to kill someone,” Zane explained.

“I see,” Langdon nodded. “It’s just like the wind blowing the ship’s sail, or the river current moving the waterwheel.”

Yet the smile vanished as Langdon thought of an immediate problem. “But with these power banks you gave me, the smartphone would approximately last for only twelve to fifteen days,” Langdon said.

“It’s fine. I don’t mind charging the power banks when they’re empty,” Zane said.

“I’m grateful for that, Zane, but do you think I could fill these power banks on my own?” the wizard already had a few ideas in mind.

“For safety reasons, I advise you not to use any lightning spell on these things,” Zane advised. “They have the tendency to blow up and you won’t like being blown up by a power bank.”

“Interesting,” Langdon said. Rather than fear, the mention of blowing up only got the wizard more curious about the power bank. “From the way you describe it, these power banks are no different from an arcane crystal. Sharing the same principle, the crystal also blows up when they’re overfilled.”

The wizard kept stroking his hefty beard while thinking of a method of solving this problem. “Since your people utilize lightning in these contraptions, you wouldn’t happen to have a lightning meter would you?”

Zane hid his surprise as the wizard was sharp. And perhaps he could leverage this to his advantage. “I do, but…” he trailed his words off.

“Place your price. Whatever it is I’m willing to pay,” said the wizard.

“I’m not asking for Rios or gold coins, but do you know anything about space storage?” Zane brought up his main problem. The convenience of storing things. If it was in the game, storage was not a problem. Storing ninety-nine of the same item in a single slot was the norm. But here, it became a problem. The backpack behind him wasn’t enough for him to go for adventure.

“Ah,” Langdon realized what Zane wanted. He went behind his desk and rummaged through his drawer, taking out a small sling bag. “You must mean a Bag of Holding,” Langdon showed it to him. And this time it was the earthling who had stars in his eyes.

It was a plain-looking leather sack, fashioned into a slingback. The size was even smaller than a lady’s handbag. Zane’s hands unknowingly reached out for it. Yet Langdon pulled it back.

“Unfortunately, I can’t part with such treasure,” Langdon said. His words were enough for an answer for Zane. “There’s a lot of things I store in here and being a rare commodity it’s hard to get.”

Zane was downcast. It made sense for something so convenient to be so expensive and rare. But he remembered a particular trait of his. “You wouldn’t know any beast that could drop this kind of item would you?” Zane asked with hope.

Langdon sighed. Realizing the intention behind Zane’s eyes. “I have a hunch that even if I didn’t tell you, you would have found it out on your own. So I might as well be the one that tells you,” Langdon said. Looking rather dejected. “There is a thing that can drop this type of item. But facing against it is another story . . . So let me remind you this, before you do anything foolish, please prepare yourself to the fullest before engaging with this madness.”

Langdon gave a warning as Zane waited with bated breath.

“To have a sliver of a chance of getting a Bag of Holding, you need to kill a Draugr King.”

* * *

In a library, a lone woman sat at one of the empty desks. She was humming, bobbing her head as her eyes enjoyed the feast of words in this new book she got from a traveling merchant. It was about a tale of adventure of a village boy rising to prominence. Becoming a hero with a twist at the end which she was still far from reading it. But before she delve further into the world of words, someone had to block her means of happiness.

“Salve,” Zane said hi. Standing beside the table with a fake smile.

“Salve?” Maecy replied with a questioning look. Zane gave her the earring and the link was established.

“Back so soon?” Maecy asked.

“Well, Maecy I kinda almost die, you know,” Zane said. Shocking the librarian who was enjoying her literature. He further explained what happened at Anansi Forest from the swarm of black spiderlings and the appearance of the Last Child of Anansi.

“You’ve fought Anansi’s Last Child?” she covered her gaping mouth, disbelieving in what she just heard.

“There’s no fight, Maecy. I ran . . . I ran for my fucking life,” Zane said. Looking coldly at her.

“But that’s impossible! From the stories I’ve heard, no one escapes the thread of Anansi’s Last Child,” Maecy said.

She got that right. If wasn’t for warp, he wouldn’t have been able to escape that sticky thread of it.

“That’s not the main point here, Maecy. Because the main problem here is you almost send me to my death,” Zane said. “Didn’t I ask for a training ground that doesn’t involve myself from getting killed?”

“Oh,” it hit her. She was a bit clueless at times, but with Zane mentioning upfront she now realized what she’d done. “I’m sorry, sir, but from the records I have here, no one met Anansi’s Last Child unless they went near its burrow which is quite far deep in the forest.”

Zane narrowed his eyes. “Then I guess you better update your records as that giant spider was even waiting at the edge of the forest near the main road,” Zane said.

“Impossible! Are you sure about this?” Maecy sensed a grave situation if this bit of information was correct.

“Well I can tell you that I didn’t lie, but perhaps you can issue a quest for scouts to investigate,” Zane proposed.

“If what you said is true, then I doubt anyone would be brave enough to wander near that forest anymore,” Maecy said. Silently thinking of the problem at hand as she had deep furrows in her brow.

“Um, sorry to bother you about this, Maecy, but I came here for something else,” Zane said. Prompting the librarian to glance at him.

“I need to know where I can find a Draugr King,” he casually said.

“Excuse me?” she was utterly confused. And Zane explained to her everything of why he needed to find the whereabouts of a Draugr King.

She pulled out a thick book and told him everything about the place where the dead roamed free. The lore behind it was extensive and Zane had to say he was rather impressed, and having an objective in mind, Zane was about to leave, but Maecy grabbed his hand arm.

“Sir, I know I made a mistake. But this time I’m really sure that going to the Valley of Shade is absolutely suicidal,” Maecy warned.

Zane glanced at her with a grin. “Then I better be prepared.”