Summoner: The Book of Dimension

82 People After The Book

They reached a short trail that was connected to the bridge they saw from afar.

The trail was empty and concrete, so they halted and rested there for a while. Peter looked back, and to his surprise, the fireball creature was gone. What happened to the creature, he didn’t know. It was supposed to follow him as he just experienced earlier.

It was not that he wanted the fireball to continue and follow him. It was just strange that it was suddenly gone.

“It’s gone,” Ray noticed the fireball’s disappearance, panting after they placed Josh’s casket on the ground for a while. It was slightly opened, so Peter walked to close the casket.

Wherever the fireball had gone, Peter could care less. It was not their priority as of the moment since they could still be in danger. The sun was starting to rise, but it was not like it would quickly do so for them. “The town is on fire,” Peter said and looked around. Behind the crackling sounds of fire devouring everything in town, he could hear the cries of the shadow monsters as they were devoured by the fire as well.

They still had their torchlights on. Peter saw some turned off their torchlights, so he called out to them. “Don’t be too laid back. Have your torchlights on because we’re not done here until the sun rises. We’re not safe yet,” he said.

They turned their torchlights back on and waited as Peter tried to think of a plan again. They could follow the trail and take the concrete bridge, but he was worried something might be waiting on the other side of the bridge.

He sighed. “Let’s take the trail first,” he said. “Let’s take the trail and decide whether to take the bridge or not,” he said.

Zack interrupted. “We can just take the bridge as well and go home,” he suggested, but he earned an empty stare from Peter. “What?”

“We can’t just decide like that. We don’t know what awaits on the other side of that bridge,” Peter said. Zack only nodded, understanding that he made sense. “For now, let’s keep going,” he said.

And they continued going with the trail. One of Josh’s friends who attended the funeral was replaced by Peter. He insisted on helping since the fireball was gone already and nothing was following him anymore.

Not even half a minute since they continued with the trail, they saw a group of people by the trail, approaching them. “Everybody, stop,” Peter said, and everybody halted. He called one of Josh’s guy friends and gestured him to take his position so Peter could see who it was.

As Peter walked carefully towards the group of strangers, he gestured his hand behind his back to tell everybody to stand back. He stopped when the strangers stopped, leaving a gap of two meters enough for him to interrogate them. He looked at their appearance.

They were wearing suits with unnecessary ruffles on the sleeves and pants. The colors used were too much, too. They were wearing tall magician hats and sunglasses. The costume was too funny that Peter almost stifled a laugh.

He was gripping tight at the strap of the bag where the book was. He didn’t speak first and let them tell their business with him since it looked like they were there to confront him and the others. He could see behind their sunglasses that they were looking over his bag. He grinned. As expected, like the shadow monsters, they were here for the Book of Dimensions, too.

“Are you perhaps here to guide us across the bridge?” Peter asked, intended to sound it was vague. They only looked at each other, then looked back at Peter, who was waiting for their reply.

They hesitated, but one of them cleared their throat and said with its evident manly voice. “We’re here to get what you possess. Give us the book you are possessing,” he said.

Peter raised an eyebrow and looked at them strangely. He chuckled to himself, but the group of strangers saw it anyway. It was funny to him. They didn’t even know what the name of the book they were looking for. “You have to be specific what book you’re on,” he said,

They shared glances again, and was out of words to say. They didn’t seem to be harmful since they didn’t carry any lethal weapons. Nothing even appeared to be considered as a weapon.

Peter was preparing himself. He had few magic spells in mind to defend them in case these people decided to attack him. They could be able to cast a magic spell. They wouldn’t come here without any weapon, whether tangible or intangible.

The smoke effect was his first choice. If they started to make a bad move, he wouldn’t hesitate and throw it at them so they could escape. If that didn’t work, a poisonous smoke would do. It was the easiest defense he could remember.

But he didn’t want to wait for them to attack first. He prepared and was about to throw them a smoke attack, but then he saw two people running behind the group of strangers. A man and a woman, and they were wearing plain pantsuits. They looked casual, anyway. He expected them to be a different party.

“And who might you two be? Are all of you one group or something?” Peter asked. The woman grimaced as she glanced at the strangers wearing strange and funny costumes.

“No, of course, not,” there was disgust to her voice. She pulled the man she came with away from the group of strangers in a manner like they carried a lethal disease. “I’m Beth, by the way. This guy beside me is my friend, Bryan. No, we’re not affiliated with...” she paused to gesture at the group of strangers beside her. “...these guys,” she said.

Peter only looked at the woman in her thirties who’s named Beth and to her friend. He didn’t greet them nicely to meet you since he didn’t feel nice meeting them. “And how may I help you?” he asked.

Beth was out of words to say, but she chuckled. “We’re not here to harm you. I’m a purifier. I’m one of those who manages and controls operations to send back creatures wandering on earth. We send them back to their respective worlds to keep the existence of these creatures in secret,” she explained and looked at Bryan and pointed at him with her thumb. “This guy works for us—“ her words were cut by the guy named Bryan.

“I work with them, not for them,” he said, emphasizing the “with” and “them,” glaring on the corner of his eyes to Beth. Peter chuckled lightly. What a strange duo.

“Yeah, anyway, with my friend helping me here, I’m here to take the Book of Dimension from you as it was used by Edgar Lee, who died three years ago. Book of Dimensions couldn’t be passed to someone who’s not a relative. It was also supposed to be passed from the original owner to their descendant or inheritor, and after that, it couldn’t be passed to another,” she explained. “That book needs to be recycled,” she added.

Peter scoffed and raised her an eyebrow. “I thought your work as a purifier is to send the creatures back to their worlds? What does recycling book have to do with you being a purifier?” he asked sternly.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “I forgot to tell you that it’s part of my work to collect the passed-down Book of Dimension to recycle it. Remove the ownership from its owner and then give it to the new owner,” she said.

Peter squinted his eyes at them. She looked convincing, but there’s no way he would easily give the book to them. She could be trusted since she said she was responsible for sending creatures back to their worlds, but not with the book. He couldn’t gamble, letting the book be in the hands of bad guys. Josh trusted him for the book.

“Well?” Beth asked, impatiently waiting for peter to decide. “What are you waiting for?” she asked.

“Give us the Book of Dimension,” the people in funny costume demanded. Peter and everybody else looked at them. Peter had to laugh. Now, they knew the name, thanks to Beth. They obviously looked like they didn’t know what they were doing.

“Come on. You can clearly tell who you should give the book to,” Beth said.

“Did you take the creature?” Peter suddenly asked. It was a test of whether or not she was lying. If she didn’t do it, Peter doesn’t know how to tell her the truth.

“What?” Beth asked. But she nodded immediately. “You mean the fireball creature that devoured the whole town? Yes, we did. We took it to our headquarters to be sent back to its world,” she explained.

Peter nodded. That was why the fireball was suddenly gone. It also meant that she was telling the truth about being a purifier. Although there was no proof that they should be trusted about the book, she could be trusted as a purifier.

He hoped she could help them.