Chương 87: 81. Butcher's hook

Another two weeks were spent on the new routine, with Ophelia learning from Myhur and then training in magic with me later in the evenings. I spent the time I'd bought researching the journals I found in the pouch and doing something about my aura, as it was becoming hard for normal people to be around me. Thankfully, the combination of contact lenses or dark glasses and my conscious control of my presence seemed to do the trick.

I did check the weapon from the pouch, which turned out to be a two-handed axe, causing any wound dealt by it to rot and bleed. It was good, but useless for me, so I would sell or trade it whenever I got the chance. For now, what I was primarily interested in were the journals. They described a clan of relatively powerful soul mages. The pouch must have been stolen, as the more I read, the harder it was to connect them with the family who owned the thing when I got it.

But most of all, it contained the information I was looking for. Well, more or less, at least. The tomb of the Butcher was never found, so I never expected to just have its coordinates. What I found was that the original owner of the pouch, being a soul mage, was interested in finding the tomb. As someone who lived in a time when it would have been built, they managed to put the overall possible location of the place at roughly the modern-day state of Georgia.

The key would most likely awaken after coming into contact with ambient mana. As to what the key was, it was theorized to be the very artifact that became a symbol for the mad mage: the Butcher's Hook. A weapon said to be capable of pulling a victim's soul out of their body if a killing blow was dealt with it. Aside from the terror caused by damage to one's spirit, the primary use was to change the lengthy sacrificial ritual into a brief killing blow with a weapon.

Of course, I doubted that it was that easy, but that's what they said in the few remaining stories about the Butcher. A few days ago, I contacted Q'Shar and asked for surveillance of Georgia for any strange happenings. The biggest problem was that it was a soul-related weapon, and that meant that almost anything could happen. Souls were extremely complicated, so all the instructions I could give were "look for anything unusual," and since then, we have already had five false reports.

One was from some drunk kids, and another was of an actual ritualistic murder near South Carolina. Although not optimal, with medium-sized veins, mana should reach the Hook sooner rather than later, regardless of its location. But today wasn't the day to go and look for it. Today was spell day. I already got Bone Spear, Force Explosion, and Death Surge down. Now, working on Blink was a pain, though, as with all space magic.

It was around midday, and I was relaxing my brain after a few hours of practicing the spells. As usual, I was scrolling mindlessly through videos on my phone, and, as usual, it was the strange side of social media that fascinated me the most. However, I could see a slight shift. Where previously most of it was people screaming at the camera about governments' plans to control their minds and reptilians poisoning their food, now the topics were different. This time, the conspiracy theorists had more concrete events.

They raved about a few cult murders where the perpetrators drew pentagrams on the walls and wrote some demonic names. The pentagrams were really nicely done, I had to say. Another was a case of a maniac who would break in and use a syringe to steal people's blood. I furrowed my eyebrows. There was a lot of bullshit, but the overall violence of the news had increased. I guess mana was having its effect all around. Another part of the news was ghost encounters. I watched as someone read a story from their phone.

It sounded like bullshit, but it did describe a proper haunting. Not interesting enough for me to get involved, but it was there.

"So, guys, what do you think? I personally rate it…

'Ghostly wail' on the spoooooky scale," said the woman. I groaned as a message from Ophelia popped up on my screen. She wrote to say she wouldn't be coming to today's spell practice due to some family business she needed to deal with. I raised my eyebrows at the news. I considered checking up on her, but then again, she was an adult. So for now, I would not get involved. Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. As a result, I had the evening free.

I planned to spend it on my favorite pastime, which was studying ancient texts and spells. But that day, it seemed, my phone wouldn't let me rest as it rang once again. It was Q'Shar.

"I think we found it," came an excited voice from the other side. I immediately knew what it was that he was talking about: the Butcher's Hook. And it was much quicker than I thought he would. I was hoping to get it before the Vatican sabbath.

"Excellent. Now what did—" I started excitedly, but the cat cut me off, continuing his initial thought.

"Your long-lost conscience. It was at the bottom of the ocean all along—" I disconnected the call and started massaging my temples. And they said that I was the one with a talent for pissing everyone off. After a few seconds, I called back.

"Please tell me it was about the Hook."

"Obviously, locating your conscience would take much more than that."

"Hilarious," I said flatly.

"So where is it?"

"Well, we aren't sure yet. We need to double-check this, but I think you might want to start preparing." I raised my eyebrows as I heard concern in the voice.

"It usually takes me up to a day to prepare. Why the early heads-up?" Before he responded, I got an idea.

"You know what, I have a day off today. Why don't I come by your apartment?"

"Sure." The call disconnected, and I went to meet Q'Shar. After a slightly longer tea and cookies session than usual due to a new recipe, I was sitting alone with the cat.

"So what's up?" I asked after exchanging pleasantries.

"We aren't sure if it is the Hook. We don't even know what to look for, honestly."

"We knew that would be the case. It's not like I expected you to find it within a few days."

"Yeah. That's not why I called you." The cat looked at me, slightly uncomfortable.

"We did some research into the Butcher to try to figure out how the Hook would manifest. And there is a problem. It's a soul artifact, Sam." Silence descended as the cat let the word hang in the air. I realized what he was talking about. It was obvious to me as I knew soul magic, but for others, it was a rare and mysterious thing, and most of all, dangerous.

"I know," I said as I shrugged.

"I know you know," he snapped.

"But are you sure you want to go for this one? Don't you want to wait until you learn more magic or attune the next artifact?"

"Ooooh, you are concerned about me," I said, smiling, to which the cat hissed.

"This isn't a joke, Sam. I read about the Hook, and the few remaining stories aren't pleasant. If this thing has any shit still attached since the Mythical Era, there is no telling what will happen."

"I know I will most likely fight an anomaly."

"Of an unknown circle, Sam. You are our backer. If you die right before the sabbath, all we built will go to shit."

"Then I just won't die." The cat hissed again.

"God, you are a stubborn, arrogant asshole sometimes. Do you have to risk it?" I closed my eyes and stopped myself from making another idiotic response. Q'Shar was actually concerned about me, so I owed him a normal response, at the very least. After choosing my words, I looked at the cat.

"I don't have to. But the Hook could expedite our plans by months, not to mention the treasures to be found if it led us to the tomb. I could bypass the issue with sacrificial rituals. Contracting demons could be feasible within weeks."

"It's an artifact used by a twice ascended dark mage. You need to be alive to contact demons. Wait for some more info, we can send in some more people first."

"And what if someone beats me to it? I'm not suicidal. I can promise you on my family name that if I ever think I'm over my head, I will retreat." I could see that Q'Shar wasn't exactly happy about the whole plan. But finally, he relented.

"Okay. But I'll hold you to that promise." He exhaled before continuing.

"We should have the confirmation next week." I relaxed at that, but the cat wasn't finished.

"Oh, and Sam. Whatever power gains you want to achieve, speed it up. And not only for the Hook."

"Oh?"

"There have been some strange movements from the Vatican. They have been sending envoys, but for now only to their allies. We should soon get invitations, but I think they are planning something."

"The sabbath, huh. I will have to speed up Ophelia's ascension. She should be in the first circle before we go."

"Do what you must. There will be many eyes on us."

"I know. Big bad Alharzeds are big and bad, oh no," I said as I rolled my eyes.

"Not just that… This time around, we might get some extra attention..." I raised my eyebrows, looking at the smiling creature in front of me.

"And why would that be, do tell?" I asked slowly.

"Oh, and where's the fun in that?" Q'Shar answered, which earned him another eye roll. But I was glad he relaxed a bit. He would tell me before the sabbath anyway. After some more small talk, I went back to my storage since there were still a few hours in the day. On my way, I mulled over Q'Shar's words. He was right. The Hook was a potent artifact, and there was no telling what would happen once it activated. There were some serious preparations to be made, considering what I could be facing very, very soon.