Lord of The Mysterious Realms Chapter 1019

As the spirit within him grew, a faint sound, like a bursting bubble, seemed to echo in his ears. For a moment, Jenkins thought his cat had made an indelicate noise, but he quickly realized it was just an auditory hallucination.

With a thought, he summoned the cluster of light that represented his abilities. Two brand-new, empty bubbles were now floating among the shimmering motes of light.

It was a completely unexpected result. An Enchanter's progress grew more difficult with each level, and even Jenkins hadn't anticipated leaping from level four to five so suddenly.

"Just six months," he murmured in amazement.

Six months ago, Jenkins had been an ordinary man. Now, in the material world, a level five Enchanter was already worthy of being called powerful. While still no match for a demigod standing at the apex of mortality, even in the chaotic ancient times when the supernatural was commonplace, practitioners of an equivalent rank were strong enough to serve as pillars of secular regimes or hold positions in the upper echelons of the churches.

The cat seemed to want to congratulate him, rubbing its face gently against his arm. Then again, the gesture might have been a plea for a late-night snack; Jenkins never underestimated Chocolate's appetite.

Less than half a month had passed since he'd said that. He couldn't possibly go back now and request the Church's assistance with a ritual.

"It's not urgent, anyway," he reasoned. "The immediate troubles are all dealt with. No new clues for the emblems have appeared, and no new conspiracies threatening the city have been detected for the time being. Even the Exotic Tide and that cult, the Dead Man's Whip, have gone completely silent since the incident with the flame demon."

At that thought, Jenkins felt his mind and body relax. He sat on the sofa a while longer, toying with the small jar and trying to examine the umbilical cord steeping in the liquid inside.

The cord had an incredibly divine look to it, and gazing at it for too long produced a deep-seated sense of dread. But it had only a limited effect on Jenkins; he merely sensed a faint divine aura amidst the weak feeling of panic.

Beyond that, he discovered nothing. Even a risky injection of spirit into the cord yielded no results. Seeing that it was late and not the right time for more research, and noticing the cat had started to yawn, he decided to carry Chocolate back to his room to rest, ending an eventful night.

But before they reached the second-floor bedroom, Chocolate insisted on going to the basement. Jenkins guessed it was thinking about the fruit platter. However, the platter hadn't produced any special fruit since the last time, and tonight was no exception. Full of hope, the cat sat obediently on the workshop counter in the basement's hidden room, its front and hind paws neatly aligned.

It tilted its head up, eyes wide, and watched as an apple, a banana, and a single purple grape appeared on the platter.

The little cat let out a dejected cry, its posture slumping from its previous primness. It hunched its back and lowered its head, its round eyes glancing away toward the side of the table, its face a perfect picture of sorrow.

But a cat's sorrows can be soothed with time and food, and by the next morning, Chocolate had returned to its usual lively self. It ate a bit too much for breakfast, so Jenkins decided to take a longer, roundabout route to work, turning the trip into a post-meal workout and a morning stroll. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel⁂fire.net

As he was leaving, he ran into Mr. Goodman, who was also heading to work. His neighbor reminded him not to forget the neighborhood party on the weekend. When asked what sort of gift he should bring, the middle-aged man replied:

"Last year I brought some bread I'd baked myself. As for this year... I think a simple bottle of red wine will do."

That was Jenkins's plan as well. Adult gatherings always called for wine, and it wasn't a faux pas even if multiple guests brought it, as long as they were different brands or varieties. Otherwise, it would certainly be a bit awkward for the people involved.

Pops Antique Shop and his home on St. George Street were both near the Dock Area. The two locations weren't far apart, which was one of the reasons Jenkins had bought this house.

The walk from his home to the antique shop normally took twenty minutes, but for his stroll, Jenkins first detoured toward the docks, planning to walk along the sea for a bit before heading to work.

Near the end of winter, the Dock Area had been plagued by chaos after a shipment of munitions went missing. But after Pomphey first used the Skull Sword there, the Orthodox Church, in coordination with City Hall and the navy, had swept through the entire district searching for clues.

Now the Dock Area was orderly and well-regulated. Although new gangs, unions, and associations had emerged to represent various interests, it was a significant improvement over the past.

With the arrival of spring, the sea ice had melted, and Nolan City's maritime trade was slowly recovering. The first cargo ships of the year had docked earlier last week, so even now, in the early morning, the docks were bustling with activity.

Sailors and laborers were already at work in the morning mist, and large numbers of porters moved in and out of the nearby warehouses. The sounds of shouting, reprimands, and raucous conversation made the area even livelier than a downtown shopping street, but Jenkins knew that most of the people here would work their entire lives and likely never be able to afford a home of their own in Nolan.

Since the spring fishing season hadn't begun yet, the morning air was free of any strong fishy smell, carrying only the damp scent of the ocean and the acrid tang of coal smoke hanging in the fog.

The thought of fishy smells naturally brought to mind the spoiled can of fish he had discovered in the antique shop's warehouse last week. Jenkins still remembered the salty, putrid stench, and just thinking about it now made his breakfast churn unpleasantly in his stomach.

He followed behind his cat as Chocolate trotted cheerfully along the beach. After passing the west end of the docks, they reached a stretch of beach popular with tourists. The Williams family's old shop was located nearby.

On a whim, Jenkins decided to walk over to the store. After Robert's stroke of luck landed him a job at the mining company, he had sold the shop through a newspaper advertisement.

That had been many years ago. When Jenkins entered the shop with his cat, the current owner didn't recognize him at all.