"So." Said Kurt."This is it."

  The group looked at their feet. Or rather, at the manhole cover reading "Boston Sewer System" that sat next to them.

  "Please." Muttered Conrad. "Please tell me we are not going in there."

  "I’m afraid we are." Answered Galton, levitating the cover away with a flick of his staff. "But no need for worry. It isn’t nearly as bad as it seems."

  He jumped into the sewer.

  "Are we really following that guy into a sewer?"

  "He is our one lead into what’s corrupting every plant in the city." Reminded Mila."So yes, Conrad, we are following him."

  And with that, she hoped in.

  Conrad looked at Kurt. The boy simply shrugged, and promptly jumped in.

  "Effing great…" Muttered Conrad.

  And then he lept inside.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  "This… is not a sewer." said Kurt as he walked down the concrete-lined tunnel.

  "This particular section is a fake." Explained Galton. "Built by the Solomonic Order in order to have an easy, discreet access to the seal."

  "Seal?" Asked Mila. "A seal for what?"

  "A demon." Answered Galton casually. Far too casually for any of the other three’s tastes. Demons were among the greatest threats to mankind. Creatures of pure unholyness and evil with bodies made of corruptive dark magic. "Some warlocks tried binding some weird kind of demon around the 1800’s. The process went pear-shaped and they all died, but their ritual restrains kept the demon bound long enough for a party of shamans to trap it in a… better seal."

  "If their seal was so good, then why is that things corruption leaking out?" Asked Conrad.

  "Because it’s weakening," Explained the sorcerer. "Some massive power crossed the city not long ago, damaging the wards that keep the seal, well… sealing. That is why my order's here. To bring a more definitive solution when that thing gets released."

  "And what would occur if that happened?" Asked Kurt, nervous by the prospect.

  "What you boys witnessed back in the park, with every plant in the city. That on top of the demon, of course."

  None of them responded, the scope of the horror too great for any of them to fully wrap their heads around. Mila , in particular, looked on the verge of tears.

  "Now, it won't get to that point." Continued Galton. "We've got guys preparing rituals and wards ready to contain its energy. Then, we will engage against the freed demon as a group. The backlash will still kill nearly every plant in the city, but that's an accepted sacrifice." Mila gasped at this, whimpering. Kurt moved to console her, and Galton kept his gaze on him. "That's the original plan though. I think you guys can help me at taking that thing out before the seal breaks."

  "What?!" Exclaimed Conrad. "Why are you ropping us in this?! This is your quest!"

  "Yes, it is." Said Galton, unperturbed. "But given that your quest now hinges on this one succeding, and what’s at stake, I thought you would be willing to help."

  "Okay, enough bickering." Said Kurt while positioning himself between Conrad and Galton."Mr. Galton, we obviously will help you in your quest as much as we can. And Conrad," He added while looking at the older boy."just cut it already with the attitude. What’s gotten into you now? You’ve been nothing but aggresive since we left the park."

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Conrad didn't answer. Instead, he looked away and kept walking in silence.

  "Ha! Well spoken, little one!" Said the man before placing a hand in a section of the wall. The section glowed a faint purple for a few moments before dispersing in translucent gel, revealing another tunnel, this one of carved rock.

  They walked down that tunnel, whose walls glowed faintly, for a few minutes before it reached its end: A wide cavern with thick green grass growing on its floor. A small wooden cabin had been built near the cavern's right wall, halfway between the entrance (The tunnel they had all come through) and the end of the cavern, which was a giant wall of solid verdant energy with yellow and red sparks darting through its surface.

  "You guys see that? In the seal?" Said Galton, pointing at energy wall. "The yellow sparks are the demon's energy leaking out. The red ones are what originally damaged the seal in the first place."

  "Red sparks…" said Conrad under his breath.

  "So what’s the plan?" said Mila, her eyes fixated on the wall.

  "Getting in there and killing the demon" Explained Galton. "That thing is dangerousl, true, but like all demons its power is volatile and unstable. If we kill it then its corruption will be washed away in an instant."

  Kurt hummed."So we are going to all get in there and help you kill this creature?"

  "No. Sadly, that’s impossible. The barrier is extremely unstable as it is, so only one person can go through it or it will immediatly break."

  "So…if only one person can go through the barrier, how are we supposed to help you defeat the demon?"

  "Oh, that’s quite simple, young Kurt." Said the man while placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You are going to help me by getting in there and killing this creature yourself."

  Kurt opened his mouth to answer. Then a flash of blue bolted past him.

  "You fucking piece of shit!" Yelled Conrad while grabbing Galton by his collar. "You were just trying to get us to die!"

  "Get you to die? I'm sorry if you got confused, but I was talking to Kurt. You are safe."

  "But why?" Interjected Kurt. "Why send me? Even if I am strong, that won’t matter against a demon, a incorporeal entity, when all I have are physical attacks. My sword might be rather effective against them, but even that doesn’t hold a candle to your sorcery."

  Disengaging from the younger man, Galton looked at the boy. "I’m choosing you," he said, his tone serious."because you are the toughest of all four of us, and thus have the best chance at beating what’s inside that barrier. My sorcery might look impressive and do a lot of damage, but I'm still a regular human physique-wise. If that thing zeroes in on me, which is gonna be easy in the relatively small space inside the seal, I'm done for. As little as I want to admit it, there are tasks for which us sorcerers are fundamentally ill-equipped to handle, and this is one of them."

  "Okay, so I may be able to keep that thing from killing me instantly. But that won’t matter if I can’t hurt it either!"

  "Yes, that is true." Conceded the sorcerer. "Which is why I'm teaching you how to perform sorcery."

  "What?" Said Kurt.

  "What?!" Yelled Conrad who, in a blue burst of speed, placed himself between his peer and the sorcerer, and pressed his sword against the adult’s throat. "Kurt! Don’t let this guy near you! He’s trying to get your brain fried!"

  Galton stood in place, glowering at the young man."You sure know an awful lot about sorcery for a non-sorcerer." He said. Conrad pressed his sword a little closer to the man's throat.

  "Mr. Galton, is that true?" Asked Mila in a soft, almost hurt tone. And yet, Primeval magic had already begun pooling thickly within the grass around her, ready to lash at the sorcerer at her command.

  For a moment there was a tense silence. No one dared to move. And then Galton laughed, casually dropping his staff to the side while doing so and raising his hands.

  It wasn’t a wicked or cruel laugh, but a warm and genuinely delighted one that was devoid of any malice, the kind one made at a good joke.

  "Relax, relax everyone," He said. "May I explain myself, please?"

  "No!" Exclaimed Conrad while pressing his sword a little bit closer.

  "Conrad, wait!" Exclaimed Kurt from behind. "What’s happening? What did you mean about him trying to fry my brain?"

  "Getting your brain fried," Corrected Galton.

  The blade moved closer, pressing against the man’s skin without actually cutting into it.

  "Shut up!"

  "Conrad, please!" The boy looked at Galton. "However he phrased it, what did he mean by it?"

  "The thing with sorcery" He started explaining."Is that you need to perceive aether, ‘opening the Third Eye’ we call it, to use it."

  "And that’s something only sorcerers born with a gift for it can do ,right?" Asked Mila.

  "No." Corrected Galton, shaking his head. " Anyone can open their Third Eye, so long as they have a soul, so even the Veiled Ones, the regular humans, could do it with the proper stimuli. Sorcerers are sorceres because we can close our Third Eye. We have a structure in our brains, located where regular humans only have their pineal gland, that allows us to regulate how much of our mind is exposed to the aether. Otherwise, we would be exposed to it all the time, replacing our physical senses and driving us to madness."

  "And why do you want to ‘open my Third Eye’?" Kurt asked. "I’m not a sorcerer."

  Galton smiled at him. "No, you are not a sorcerer. But you have manual control over your own lifeforce , right? That’s how you boost your physical prowess."

  Kurt stared at him in shock "How-how do you know that? And why is it important for this?"

  "I could sense, or rather not sense, how your lifeforce burned out of your skin when you threw you sword at the demon tree. It is a very distinctive type of magic that pushes away aether, so I noticed immediatly when you used it. As for why is important, well, the whole point of that mutation us sorcerers have in our brains is controlling our exposure to the aether, right? Well, it accomplishes this by, esentially, making the lifeforce running through our brains shut or open the ‘window’ that is our sensitivity to aether. We need that structure to do so, but if someone could control the flow of their lifeforce through will alone…"

  Kurt stood still for a few moments, wrapping his head around all he had been told.

  "Conrad." He finally said. "Let him go."

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  "This is a horrible idea!"

  "Thanks for the feedback Conrad." Said Galton. Both him and Kurt were sitting cross-legged on the ground, in front of one another.

  "Kurt,this really seems like too much of a gamble." Said Mila, looking genuinely scared for him. "Are you sure you wanna go through with this?"

  "Yes." He answered."It’s our best bet against that demon."

  "You just want to get the power boost of being a sorcerer!" Said Conrad.

  "…That too, yes." He turned his head towards the sorcerer. "Shall we start?"

  "Yes." He answered. Extending his arm, the sorcerer let his palm hoover over the boy’s eyes."You ready?" Kurt nodded. "Okay. Remember that you must concentrate your lifeforce in your brain as soon as you can. You are going to feel like there is something flowing both in and out your brain through your eyes. What you have to do is bring your lifeforce as a ring around this flow, and use it to strangle it to nothingnes, got it? " He nodded again, eyes fixed with Galtons."Ok, here we go!"

  With that, the sorcerer pushed his hand forward, and the boy's world exploded in eldritch brightness.