The Bastion was on ground level and when they walked in it was like a grand hotel, bank, and library crossed together. There were numerous different booths all around with people discussing important topics and trading items such as bags full of specter stones like the one Allen currently had in his possession. They both scanned the building until they spotted an open booth. In this one, was a beautiful woman with silky short brown hair and emerald-like green eyes.

  The Bastion attendant was wearing a name tag that read "Augustine Beaulieu". She was surrounded by fragrant perfumes and candles causing a very pleasant aroma to permeate the air around her, and a dish with a solid perfume jar and a utensil that appeared to be for scooping the perfume from it. Allen noticed that some of the bottles were glowing and wondered if they were actually mana containers.

  "How may I be of assistance to you two today?" She inquired in a cordially serene voice.

  "Uh...we would like to ask about any information about unusual specter incidents and the Grim Reaper." Allen stammered out sheepishly captivated by the attendant's enchanting presence.

  "Is that so? Are you two aspiring Traversers?" Augustine Beaulieu asked.

  Allen was not sure how to answer while Nera immediately replied, "Yes."

  "Magnificent. It's always great to see determined young people trying to make a difference while also staying informed about what they'll be facing out there." She conjured up a screen in front of her and started typing on it.

  "I have just the right material for you. It should be here in just a moment," she brightly proclaimed as she finished and dissipated the screen.

  "Before then, how about a little gift to potentially aid you in your future Traversing endeavors?"

  She grabbed one of the various perfume bottles that surrounded her with this one particular glowing vividly and raised her hand over it.

  "Poisoner Crafter, Page 9 - Mark of the Hunted."

  A mystical magenta symbol materialized inside of the lavender bottle.

  "Poisoner Craft? You aren't giving us poison are you?"

  "Oh, of course not! Our Craft is called "Poisoner" but my family has not practiced dealing with toxins for over eleven generations. We switched to using our abilities to augment the properties of liquids in a much gentler way since then. It has been hard getting rid of the negative stigma that comes with being branded a "Criminal Craft" family though, but I believe helping people out here at the Bastion is sure to wipe some of that stigma away even if it's only a little bit.

  "That's mega cool of you trying to improve your family's reputation like that Ms. Bealiue! You're awesome!" Nera earnestly complimented as Augustine handed her the bottle and she seamlessly handed it off to Allen.

  "Oh, that's sweet of you to say. Honestly, I'm not anyone to be praised," she stated bashfully while holding her face and ineffectually hiding the bright red blush on it. She then took a deep breath to compose herself and put back on the professional air she had before.

  "Anyhow, I cast an Enchantment on that perfume so that if you toss it at a specter, it'll activate and create a smoke trail for you to be able to track it no matter how far it runs away. That should be somewhat helpful, right?"

  "Yeah, definitely," Allen replied keenly.

  "Although, I plan to never get involved with those monsters for the rest of my life."

  She smiled warmly in response.

  "Ah! it looks like the information I requested is approaching us now," Augustine announced as she looked up.

  From high above from the building's ceiling, a massive book steadily descended until inanded into Augustine Beaulieu's hands who then enthusiastically showed it off to them.

  "The Layman's Necronomicon, Vol. 74!"

  After she handed it off to them, they began sifting through its page, and after a couple of moments of looking, their faces were cast over in a shock and dismay which they desperately tried to hide.

  "Would you like to be loaned that book? Our Bastion allows our materials to be loaned out to anyone with a valid Atelier I.D. for two weeks."

  "Yes," they both monotonously said in unison.

  Nera showed Augustine her flip phone to show her Atelier CIty status which caused a puzzled look to appear on the attendant's face.

  "This device is very outdated despite the modifications for this phone to work with Atelier City's status network. That shouldn't be a problem but it seems to also be restricted to Overworld access. Would like me to take off that restriction, so I can lend you this book?"

  "Uhh...sure?" Nera uttered while not fully understanding what Augustine was going to do.

  "Excellent! Just hold your phone over this scanner and I'll get that done in a jiffy!" Nera looked at the holographic scanner she mentioned and followed her instructions.

  She typed a little on the holographic keypad she had and in matter of seconds, the details of Nera's status changed.

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  Allen and Nera observed that three new sections of Mana Capacity, Mana Output, and Skills had been added to the status.

  "Now, you have access to the status format available to those who come and go through Atelier City's Luminaire Ward and will be able to borrow books from this Bastion."

  "I see." Nera flatly stated with a nod.

  Allen furrowed his brows and spoke up.

  "Could you do the same for my status?"

  "Sure!"

  With a few more moments passing by, the appearance of Allen's status changed as well.

  'Hmmn, my physical ability and technique increased. They haven't done that in weeks. I guess I broke through some walls last night. And that mana control stat, I actually have a 1 in it, must be because I can use magical energy now a little bit.' Allen pondered this new status of his as Augustine finished the lending process with Nera.

  ***

  After Nera got the book, with Augustine bidding farewell to the two cheerfully, they both walked out of the Bastion wearing the same grexpressioneey had decided through and discovered two revelations that changed their outlooks on their situation. Allen and Nera almost wished they were still unaware of them.

  'The Grim Reaper is an enigmatic and malevolent being that commands armies of specters and has caused several cataclysmic tragedies across the world. The Grim Reaper is known to bestow portions of their ominous power to some of their underlings resulting in the spread of even more destruction.'

  'Craftless who have been exposed to large amounts of miasma in life-threatening encounters with specters may develop the ability to perceive and manipulate mana. In all cases I have witnessed firsthand, those that have gained this ability have become specters themselves within four months.'

  Allen was still going over the words that he read in disbelief.

  "That can't be true, can it? I'll really turn into one...of those things?"

  Nera looked at him uneasily trying to put on a brave face but her worry was plainly clear.

  "Of course not...why should we trust what some old dusty book says? You don't think I'm connected to someone like the Grim Reaper, do you? That's way too hard to believe, isn't it?" She said this as if she was trying to convince herself as well. The knowledge that the Grim Reaper did give out portions of their power to certain people gave an uncomfortable amount of credence to the idea of the Grim Pieces and her having one.

  "I don't know, but it's all we got to go off of, and what if it is true? Do you just want to wait and see what happens? Well, I'm not that patient. Can I see the book?"

  Nera handed the book over readily, not having any sort of affection for it.

  "Sure, it's yours, but I'm not sure why you want to look over that again, trying to see if we misread it?"

  "No, I'm sure we both scanned over those words too many times for that to be the case, but there's something here we're missing. A way out."

  He opened the tome and began flipping through it incessantly, his eyes bouncing back and forth treading quickly through the words of the pages. Nera was looking over his shoulder, and they both spotted a few details that piqued their interest such as an illustration of what was known as the mark of the Grim Reaper. Allen kept on skimming the book until he found what he was looking for.

  "Hi-score! This is just the thing I need!"

  "You mean 'just the thing we need', right?" Nera asked worriedly. She had looked more at ease with a giant ax moments away from chopping her in half.

  "Yeah, sure. I think this will be able to help you out too. It's called the Theurgist's Periapt, a powerful talisman that's said to be able to purify all sorts of dark magical influences such as possession, curses, and even miasmal degradation." Allen then showed her an image of it in the book, a black and gold amulet with an inscription of a crescent moon overlapping the sun.

  Nera let out a sharp exhale in surprise.

  "Miasmal degradation, that's exactly what it said caused "spectral manifestation". That really can fix your problem then." She looked pleased with this for a moment before becoming agitated once more.

  "Hey! What about me? You said this was able to fix both our problems didn't you!?" She yelled loudly.

  "Oh, you mean being the potential next in line to be some megalomaniac ghost criminal and involved in a ritualistic battle royale with people who want to tear off chunks of you?"

  She nodded sternly with her arms folded. "Yeah, that."

  "Well, that Grim Piece the woman with the funky eyes mentioned sounded like it was some kind of curse even though I couldn't find any details about it in the book. If you do have it on you somewhere then that means that this Periapt will be able to cure it and then I figure those Inheritors won't care anymore about you since you'll no longer be in the running."

  She closed her eyes in thought as she ruminated over it.

  "Hmm, that could definitely work. Hopefully, it'll return to whatever it came from and gives them the heads up." She was looking a lot more relieved now.

  "Sounds like a plan then, that was actually a lot simpler than I thought it would be. One more thing though, you sure you're alright with just leaving this Grim Reaper stuff alone?"

  "There's a saying around here, "Chase the beast long enough and you eventually find yourself in its belly". I may want to help those around me, but I know my limits and I already have enough on my plate as is. It's better to just leave it to people whose job is actually to deal with that kind of stuff."

  "Good, likewise, my limits are even lower than yours. It just isn't worth it at all," Allen dismissed shaking his head.

  "But, I can't help but wonder...if what that spirit said about the Grim Pieces is true then what about what they said about the Grim Reaper not being behind the Trial?"

  A frown appeared on Nera's face and she folded her arms as she contemplated the scenario.

  "Maybe it's some sort of internal dispute in the Grim Reaper's posse. I could see one of her lackeys starting up the idea of whoever winning this 'Grim Reaper Trial' becoming their leader to stir up infighting among everyone else then claim a bunch of power when the dust settled. As for how I would fit into all of that...I don't know. Maybe it's just a case of mistaken identity."

  "...Or maybe a Grim Piece got misplaced somehow," Allen mumbled. It had been a suspicion he wanted to keep to himself, but he revealed it since he also thought it could be a credible one.

  "Unfortunately, that could be it too. Even if I don't think I have anything to do with Grim Reaper, the Periapt will give me insurance either way so let's hurry up and get it."

  Allen firmly slammed the large book with a slam and looked forward hopefully.

  "Alright, let's go get this over with and get on with the rest of our lives!"

  "...Yeah. We'll be in the clear in no time at all." Nera followed halfheartedly.