Night

Leaving the garden, Green strode toward the passage's original entrance. Sunlight spilled partway inside, brightening the stone steps beneath his feet.

Green narrowed his eyes and quickened his pace. Metal clattered against stone slabs with every step.

Emerging from the passage, Green looked up. The sun over the ruins was about to set, and fiery clouds spread across the horizon like a blood-red curtain draped over the earth. A cold, sinister chill seeped from the ground.

As the last trace of warmth faded from the air, Green's expression darkened. Once night fell, the ruins would likely become far more dangerous.

"I have to destroy the books in the Library at once!" Green's face turned grave. He sat down cross-legged and linked his Mental Power to the Puppet inside the ruins.

Green had not destroyed all the books while he was inside. He had feared the fluctuations from Sorcery would draw the Wraiths' attention, so he had left first and let his Puppet finish the job.

Inside the ruins' Library, Green's Puppet rose as soon as his Mental Power connected with it.

Is it almost at its time limit?

The instant Green made the Puppet stand, its body lost its balance and dropped to one knee.

Through his Mental Power, he sensed that the cells in its flesh were on the verge of collapse. The Puppet had little time left, though the connection seemed to slow the breakdown.

Without hesitation, he took the brown Potion from his robe and began chanting.

The incantation rose and fell from Green's mouth, now muffled, now piercing. As he chanted, the hastily made Puppet seemed unable to bear the strain. Like a wax figure in a fire, it slowly began to melt, blood dripping onto the floor.

A strange fluctuation spread from Green's mind. Tiny