As long as all the required reagents were ready, an apprentice could start summoning his or her own pet. With different reagents, there were also different summoned animals. Some could be common animals like owls, cats or ravens, while some could be very powerful magic creatures like a Faerie Dragon.

Once they were summoned, mysterious connections would be built between the owners and them. Thus, an owner could gain some special abilities based on the features of his or her summoned pet, and vice versa. As long as the pet was strong enough to handle magic, it could also use some of its owner's basic spells.

For example, if one could summon a cat as his or her companion, the summoner usually would then have good night vision, and there would be also a significant improvement in the person's agility. Meanwhile, the cat could help its owner to cast some of the apprentice spells like Darkness and Organ Preservation, even some basic Necromantic spells.

However, as to how many spells a companion pet could master, and how many times it could cast the spells depended on its owner's level. That was to say, the power consumed by a spell would not come from the pet, but still from its owner. If the owner's remaining spiritual power was not enough, the pet would not be able to use magic.

A summoned companion pet could also grow stronger to higher levels, but the special abilities its owner gained would not be further improved along the process. If the pet died, or somehow the connection was broken, the owner would lose the special abilities deriving from the pet and even be injured.

Lucien had never paid much attention to summoning spells before, because having a magic pet in the city under the nose of the church could easily bring him big trouble.

A few seconds later, Lucien slowly answered the owl's question, "No… I didn't see any other sorcerer or sorceress."

The owl flapped its wings in satisfaction, "Very well… You are indeed not lying. Lord Doro has been watching you for some time, and no one came or asked about her."

"Sneaky little bird…" Lucien almost rolled his eyes.

"Then, the second question. What happened in the witch's secret chamber and what did you find there?" The owl's big round eyes blinked.

"Well… I went down there with a few guards…" Lucien told the owl exactly what had happened in the chamber, except, of course, the part about the magic books being copied to his spirit library. No one would believe that there was a whole library in his soul anyway.

"What a tragedy for the guard! He lost his arm!" The owl sighed, "Good boy, Lord Doro's job is done now. Good night, little boy!" Then it flew directly toward the open window and gradually disappeared in the darkness.

Then Lucien finally realized that Doro was the owl's name. Without doubt, the owl had a master, and Lucien wanted to figure out who the person was.

So when Lucien was talking, he left an almost undetectable mark on Doro, the owl, with his spiritual power. When he was sure that the owl had flown some distance away from his place, Lucien quickly put on his black robe and ran out of the door.

It was very dark outside at midnight and the streets were quiet. Lucien spread his power out and soon detected the owl.

The owl did not fly very fast. Lucien was a bit hesitant whether he should follow the bird or not. Doro didn't look like a very strong summoned pet, so Lucien was guessing that its owner probably was also an apprentice. But what if there were other sorcerers at the place?

A few seconds later, Lucien decided to take the risk. After all, sooner or later, he needed to find other apprentices or sorcerers and join them. Such a good opportunity like the one sitting in front of him was definitely worth the risk. Furthermore, if Lucien found himself in a dangerous situation, he still had a level-two magic ring to help him, the Ice Revenger.

Lucien followed the target and ran on the streets. At the same time, he kept some distance between him and Doro to make sure he wouldn't be noticed.

About ten minutes later, Lucien saw the owl flying into a window on the second floor of a building covered by darkness. Carefully, he approached it, and was a bit surprised when he found out it was actually the Copper Coronet.

Lucien put his Ice Revenger on the finger, and then carefully walked toward the back door of the pub. With some easy apprentice spells, he sneaked into the tavern and went upstairs. Luckily, no one was on the corridor at this time.

Listening carefully with the help of his spiritual power, Lucien could hear a man talking in a low voice inside one of the rooms.

…………

Listening to his owl's report, Smile was sitting in a rocking chair with a glass of wine in his hand.

Then he closed his eyes and lay back on the chair, "Well… It seems that the guy doesn't know the witch as well. Oh no… I have no clue now, not at all. How can I find the man from the Continental Congress…"

"Smile, as long as we keep collecting information…" Doro was trying to comfort him.

While he was feeling depressed, there was a knock on the front door.

Doro jumped to the bed at once and buried himself under the blanket, while Smile bounced out of the rocking chair and asked nervously, "Who is it?!"

"I'm looking for Doro, the owl, and you, Mr. Smile" A man answered in a calm way. His voice sounded harsh and cold.

"What?!" Doro screamed and its big round eyes opened even wider.

Smile's spell was ready, but he dare not launch the attack rashly on a stranger who he knew nothing about.

"I asked, who are you?!" Smile repeated.

"I'm a sorcerer, and I know the witch. Like you, I'm also looking for the man from the Congress." The harsh voice paused a bit and continued, "Earlier I heard your owl asking a young boy about the witch, so I followed your pet and came here."

"What?! It was Lord Doro's mistake! What a tragedy!" yelled the owl.

Smile relaxed a bit. At least he knew it was not the church, or they would have broken the door at once, without any explanation.

"If you're a sorcerer, you don't need me to open the door for you." Smile did not lower his guard though. If the man opened the door by himself, he could have a few more seconds to better cast defensive measures. Besides, he could tell from the spell if the guy was really a sorcerer, or a pastor in disguise. The two powers were different.

Then, the door opened. A freezing cold and threatening power came into the place before the sorcerer entered.

Smile took a step back. He knew he was definitely overpowered. None of his apprentice spells would be helpful when facing the other sorcerer's power. Then he saw a mysterious man wearing a black robe, whose face was hidden in the shadow of a hood.

Lucien, on the other hand, saw the apprentice's face well enough, and realized that he actually met Smile before. When Lucien first visited Copper Coronet, Smile was the hooked-nosed man sitting beside the pub counter.