Hector turned around and stood face to face with another man. How did he sneak up on him?


    The white suit the stranger wore contrasted with his bald head. There was a notable gold shine in his smile. The tie was of a red color, and he held a butterfly knife in his hand.


    The two stared at each other, their eyes met as the man twirled the knife in his hand. He folded the knife with a metallic click and tucked it behind him.


    "I was not expecting to meet someone else''s face," the man said and held out his hand. "The name''s Sebastian. A pleasure to meet you..."


    "Hector," Hector replied and shook his hand. It was rough, calloused, and cold. He pulled his hand back and flicked his gaze to the hand behind Sebastian''s back.


    "It''s... nice to meet someone who hasn''t lost their mind," he added after a pause, guiding his eyes to meet Sebastian''s again.


    Hector slid his hand into the pocket of his charcoal suit and gripped the compass. It wasn''t a weapon, but Sebastian didn''t have to know that. In a pinch, he could drop the grimoire and swing the lantern, though that was a last resort.


    Sebastian pulled his hand away from his back and kept a thumb in his pocket. "I''m curious, Hector. Why haven''t you turned into one of those things?"


    "I could ask you the same question. I have my means, and I assume the same can be applied to you."


    The gold glinted in the light as the man''s smile widened. "You guessed right. We both have our secrets, don''t we?"


    "I have a proposal for you, Hector." Sebastian said and pulled out four shards, each held in between a finger, from his pocket. Did he have a source of shards? He didn''t look the type to kill a Strix, and he didn''t wear the armor the one from the tower had.


    Sebastian smiled. "I think we both know what these are. Why don''t you tell me what I want to hear, and these shards can become yours?"


    Hector understood the art of negotiation, the push and pull of leverage from one hand to another. It was important to conceal the extent of your desires, and he knew what Sebastian wanted. There was an opportunity here, one he could exploit.


    He was certain the poppet could apply to Sebastian from the wording. The words mentioned the wielder, not Hector''s name, in the description.


    Hector wanted to test if a used poppet someone else was carrying would increase the percentage for him.


    He held a clean poppet in his hand and showed it to Sebastian. "This what you''re looking for. It can be yours for three shards."


    "Three shards?" Sebastian asked with another gold smile. "What makes that worth three shards? Why not make it four?"


    "It will degrade with use," Hector said, then flashed him the figurine with a black dot. "I could make more, but it would cost me a bit. We can both benefit from this arrangement."


    Hector also believed it would benefit him more to have a connection with this man. For one, he had survived the Faceless, which made him notable in Hector''s eyes. The second reason was for cooperation. He was not arrogant enough to believe he could do everything on his own.


    At one point, he would need help, and it would be better to build a basis for cooperation here. Sebastian appeared like a competent man, someone he could work with. Hector could see the ambition in the man''s eyes, and he was very familiar with that.


    More importantly, he required information. Without information—without data—he was blind. A regular meeting would mean a flow of information or news in general. He wasn''t the only one here, and he''d rather be aware of his potential friends or enemies before they became aware of him.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Sebastian stared at Hector for a long moment, then rubbed his chin with unfocused eyes.


    "You''re a clever man, Hector," Sebastian said and held the three shards out. Hector took the shards, then placed the poppet on his palm. "I enjoy working with smart people. I believe this could be the start of a bright arrangement for the both of us. Where would I find you if I used this one?"


    "I''ll be standing right here. I''ll know when you use it." The poppet would break, and Hector would know that from his frequent visits to the Pillar.


    Hector watched as Sebastian approached the Pillar and used it; his smile widening as he looked at the black stone. The gold words were blurry to Hector; it was a privacy measure. He wouldn''t be able to spy on him.


    Sebastian gave him one last smile, with that gold tooth drawing his attention, then walked down a neighboring street and rounded a corner. Did the Pillar give the man details about his poppet?


    Hector wouldn''t lower his guard in front of him. He knew better than that.


    Hopefully, Sebastian realized the benefits in cooperating. It would be inconvenient to burn the bridge if he didn''t have as much common sense.


    He let out a sigh and felt a bit tired from the interaction. There should be more of them around since the number of Aspirants was increasing, and he would do well to make himself scarce.


    Humans tended to become unpredictable without accountability.


    Hector turned his attention to his new shards. Speaking of shards, he had enough to increase his grade, didn''t he?


    He deposited the shards into the Pillar and selected meld.


    Shards: (4)(+3)


    Meld selected.


    Grade: 2 (3%)(+43%)


    The weighty sensation washed over Hector again. It was exhilarating, like he was being improved, like he was better than a moment ago, then it was gone just as fast.


    Grade 2 (3%)


    Shards: (-)


    Pending Improvements: 1


    Trial Status:


    Aspirants: (218/1000)


    Proficiencies:


    Strands: Grade 1 (13%)


    1: Shape: -


    Artifacts:


    The Unwritten Grimoire: Grade 1 (1%)


    Unused Pages: (5/5)


    Paper Poppets: Grade 1 (20%)


    Poppets: (2/2) (1)


    Permissions


    Hector had a general idea what he wanted to spend the improvement on. The largest weakness he had with the Strix was the time it took to repair the strand. Yes, it would regenerate on its own, but that took far too long in situations where a minute meant determined an outcome.


    Improvement selected.


    Activating Improvement protocols...


    If he could reconstruct a strand in seconds; if he could modify the shape of a strand in a minute, that would give him an edge over his future encounters. He chose that concept as his next improvement.


    Proficiency Realized: Strand Manipulation


    Strand Manipulation: Grade 1 (1%)


    (1) The mind will begin to build the necessary pathways to manipulate strands. This proficiency represents the ability to manipulate, repair, and shape strands. The familiarity and ease of this will increase with the grade.


    That brought his attention to his artifacts. The pool of poppets had a number next to them. One? Most likely the one poppet that Sebastian had. Convenient.


    The grimoire needed work, too. He had neglected that and his strand for a bit. Where would he find a source? All of that would be pointless without a source. He could use his lantern, but he didn''t see any other light sources. He doubted that star would last forever, judging by the way it appeared dimmer than earlier.


    Hector tore his attention away from the Pillar and towards the rows of buildings surrounding the plaza. They should be promising; who knew what they had in them?


    One of them caught his attention. It was a gray single level home. He caught his attention because he felt a slight tug towards it, a tug from his compass. He fished it out of his pocket.


    The red arrow encased in the black compass pointed directly to the building. Odd. The gray one still pointed to the Pillar, so it should be functional.


    The pull was stronger when he was focused on the house. He made his way towards the gray house.


    Hector found the peace strange. It was normal, almost too normal. No Faceless stumbling after him, no Hounds devouring the Faceless, or Strix''s stalking the skies. Was it because of the light?


    The door to the gray house was locked. Unfortunate. He circled the building, entering an alleyway and approached the rear. To his luck, there was a backdoor. There was an issue; The bottom of the door had a black substance seeping through the thin cracks.


    Hector had always been a cautious man, he wasn''t in a rush to open the door.


    He sat down in front of the door and worked on his strand. This time, he manually fashioned the translucent material into a flat needle. It was a more effective weapon than a sphere if he spun it, and far more stable than the incomplete pyramid. Plus, it was easier to repair.


    He didn''t have the luxury of having the natural, regenerative properties of a pre-configured strand; his mind wouldn''t acknowledge the needle until it was finished. It took a bit longer than he expected.


    If encountered anything, he would break the lantern and use the rune inside of it.


    With the new strand in hand, Hector opened the door.