Admittedly, a part of me is worried I'm pushing a bit too much action and moving this arc along too quickly, but at the same time I don't want to drag it out for longer than it needs to. Regardless, I hope this story has been fun to read and will continue to be that way. Enjoy the chapter!

To say that Brendan was freaking out could be considered an understatement. This was the first time since his whole adventure began that he felt powerless as he had no spellbook with him and Kolm was still in the apartment while he was up against a much bigger threat. He wasn't alone however, as Emily was at his side, her own sapphire book open in her hands and Aspen ready to fight for her.

All of this left would have already been stressful enough, but the moral dilemma Brendan was faced with only made things worse; he couldn't fight, but the child he was with could. Of course that bothered him, but what could he honestly do? If he stayed, he'd most likely get injured badly, since it appeared that the man he was up against and his Mamodo were after him. But since he couldn't fight back, he'd just be a liability at best. If he left to go get Kolm, then he'd run the risk of something happening to Emily, and he would never forgive himself if that were to happen.

Still, he had to do something, standing around like an idiot was doing nobody any favors.

"Odeiru!" The man read, his Black Raspberry colored book began glowing as Plasmund reached a grimy arm out towards the two. In what seemed like an instant, a blast of sludge shot out from the monster's arm at the two humans, specifically at Brendan. Thankfully, the man didn't have to dive to the side as a simple sidestep was enough to dodge the projectile.

"Hmph, you just gonna run?" The man asked. "That's cool with me."

"He can run all he wants. You still need to deal with me!" Emily huffed. "Ready, Aspen? Canir!"

Brendan couldn't help but flinch as Aspen suddenly sprouted a horn akin to that of a unicorn. With an echoing howl, the beast unleashed a yellow, star shaped blast of energy at the slimy giant. The star burst upon impact, causing the monster to stagger backwards a bit before it regained its footing with a gurgling growl.

"Hmph, a basic spell did that much damage? Guess you're not as tough as you look!" Emily scoffed.

"Tch, you just got a lucky shot in that we weren't prepared for. You're not even worth some of our tougher spells!" The man replied with a grimace as he read his spell again. The two humans and the canine Mamodo ran behind a parked car to avoid the attack. With Plasmund letting out another ungodly sounding screech, Emily turned to Brendan with frustration painted clearly on her face.

"Are you just going to stand there and be useless like every other grown up? If you're not going to fight, then you can leave!"

"I don't know what to do, okay?!" Brendan retorted, heaving a heavy sigh. "I know that I'm useless right now and can't help, but I'm not just going to leave you to fight by yourself!"

"Why are you worrying about me? I can take care of myself!"

Brendan's look of panic shifted to one of concern as he looked at the child in the eyes. "Maybe you can..." He said. "But I can't just leave a kid by themselves like this! I don't want you getting hurt!"

"Well if you had your Mamodo with you then you could at least do something!" The child groaned. "But right now you're just another useless adult! If you're just going to stay here like an idiot, then stay out of my way!"

With one last huff, Emily pushed Brendan with as much force as she could, which wasn't enough to actually knock him down. It wasn't enough to knock the man down, but it did hurt him emotionally as he watched Emily and Aspen run back out into the open. The girl called out another Canir spell to counter the oncoming Odeiru.

As the assassin glared at Emily, he took a moment to look over at Brendan before scoffing.

"You ain't gonna fight? Hmph, guess that'll make things easier once I finish with this runt." He said, his Mamodo looking over at the man as well before giving him a nasty grin and delivering a laugh that sounded like choking If it weren't for the chill going down his spine, the sound would have definitely made Brendan nauseous.

"I... I'm going to go get my book and bring Kolm so we can fight with you." Brendan finally said as he looked over at Emily and Aspen. "Try and be careful, I'll be back. I promise!"

Brendan took one last look at each of the four brawlers before turning to run into his apartment building. Emily sneered at him as he ran, shaking her head.

"Liar..." She said to herself before turning back to her enemies. "Alright, Aspen, let's do this!"

It took Brendan just a few minutes to get to his apartment using the stairs. He would have taken the elevator but standing and waiting felt like the wrong thing to do at the moment. The sight of his hand shaking as he tried getting the key to unlock the door really wasn't helping.

Once he entered his home, he was met with the sight of Kolm looking rather calm as he sat watching the TV, yet also strangely on guard about something as he turned to his bookkeeper.

"Ah, you've returned." Kolm greeted.

"No time to talk! We've got trouble!" Brendan replied, hurrying to grab his spellbook.

"An enemy Mamodo?!"

"Yeah, they're outside of the apartment! Emily's fighting them right now!"

"Emily? The child we encountered? What is she doing here?"

"She was probably just wandering around here when another team attacked us. I didn't exactly want to leave her on her own but it was better for me to come get you rather than just stay there like an idiot. She may be fighting them off, but I think it's us that they're after."

"Us? But... why would they target us? Is it that team that tried attacking us previously?"

"No, this pair is different. But now that you mention it, that fact just brings up more questions."

The two arrived at the scene of the brawl to find that, despite the sheer difference in size between the two Mamodo and their bookkeepers, they strength of the combatants themselves appeared to be about the same.

"You really ain't that weak for a little kid." The man hummed.

"I know." Emily huffed with a coy smirk. Plasmund and his keeper looked past the pair and at Brendan and Kolm, who ran up to Emily's side, now ready and able to fight. The young girl looked up at Brendan with a mix of shock, awe, and even a mix of both joy and apprehension. The smile the man gave her only exacerbated these emotions.

"You actually came back..." She said.

"Of course I did, I said I would, didn't I? Sorry for making you wait."

It was a small one, but Emily returned the smile Brendan was giving her.

"Hey, you ready to actually fight now?" The bald man asked. "'Cause it don't matter how many you have, Plasmund and I will knock you all down!"

Kolm's attention shifted from Emily and Aspen over to Plasmund and the man holding the blob's book. To a certain extent, Emily's small size and unassuming appearance somehow reminded him of Kolulu. The thought of his daughter seemed to light a fire within his heart as he stared at Plasmund. The grimy Mamodo stood at about half a foot taller than Kolm, but yet both he and Aspen looked completely calm as the humanoid adopted a battle stance.

"Zeruk!" Brendan read, summoning Kolm's armor.

"Armor ain't gonna help you. Odeiruga!"

With another gurgling roar, Plasmund waved his arm in front of himself, unleashing a concentrated wave of its slime at Kolm and Brendan. The attack proved to be too fast for Brendan to dodge on his own, but a quick yank out of the way of the attack from Kolm spared the man and the bronze book from taking the full force of the attack.

"Having trouble keeping up, old man?" Emily teased. "Let me show you how it's done! Orucanir!"

Aspen let out a howl before launching another star shaped ray from his horn. However, this new one was blue as opposed to the yellow color of Aspen's first spell, even as the star-shaped ray whizzed through the air, a soft blue light remained on the tip of Aspen's horn. Brendan noticed another difference between this spell and the first; this second spell moved just a bit slower than the first. Plasmund seemed to notice this as well as the slime beast tried to swat away the attack. With a quick turn of his head, Aspen appeared to move his attack around Plasmund, angering the beast and only pushing him to keep swatting it away.

"Now..." Emily whispered to Brendan and Kolm. "Do something!"

Without wasting a single moment, Brendan focused on the man's book as he readied his own book.

"Amusen!" He read.

While Plasmund was still distracted by Aspen's attack, Kolm began to charge an energy blast of his own. With a swift punch to the air, the energy blast rocketed forward, aimed solely on Plasmund's keeper and his book. Emily smiled to herself, 'Easy!' she thought... until Plasmund stopped Kolm's attack with ease.

"Aspen!" The girl called out. Aspen let out a low snarl as he switched up his attack to move around the slime giant and at the bald man.

"Hah, that won't work!" The man sneered. Plasmund flashed a gross looking grin as he turned and swatted at Aspen's spell, destroying it completely, albeit showing visible discomfort afterwards. His bookkeeper's sneer melted into an annoyed frown as he glared deeply at his four targets. "But if you want to try cheap plays like that, then we'll blow all four of you away at once! Starting with that brat!"

Brendan could feel a pit forming in his gut when he saw the look on the man's face and the burning aura his book began to have. He could feel Kolm was feeling the same way as the Mamodo watched his enemy let out a low gurgle. As he turned to Emily, he saw the girl's eyes narrowing as she tried to prepare herself for what could come.

"Eat this! Barudo Odairu!"

The bad feeling Brendan and Kolm had only intensified as they watched Plasmund outstretch his arms outward before suddenly plunging them deep into his own torso, all with a disturbingly wide grin on his face. Emily looked to be just about to recite another spell to try and counter Plasmund's but a shining bronze light distracted her, allowing Brendan to beat her to the punch.

"Ti Geo La Zerudo!"

In a sudden burst of motion, Plasmund released his hands from his body, allowing an explosion of his slime to blast outwards towards his four targets. In a move that none of the fighters expected, instead of using an attack of some kind, Kolm's new spell had him punch the street they were fighting on. Just as the sludge explosion reached any of them, a ring of bronze arms shot right out of the blacktop in perfect symphony with each other, surrounding Brendan, Aspen, Emily and Kolm while leaving no space for the attack to reach them.

Just as the last sludge projectiles hit the makeshift shield, they vanished back into the ground as if they weren't even there at all.

'A defensive spell?' Brendan thought. 'Hmph, handy!'

"Oruga Canir!" Emily read. Without missing a beat, Aspen's horn began to glow again, this time with a bright green color with a star that formed of the same color. The attack sped forward, spinning as it went and molding itself into the shape of a drill.

"Odeiruga!" The man read, as Plasmund unleashed another wave of concentrated grime. The two attacks collided in the space between the two Mamodo, but rather than explode on contact, Aspen's spell merely cut right through the torrent and cut right into Plasmund's right hand, stopping the attack! The golem gurgled in shock before wailing in pain as a green light overtook its entire arm and shoulder before exploding! From the beast's wound, Brendan and Kolm had a clear view of the bald bookkeeper behind the goliath.

"Amusen!" Brendan recited. With renewed vigor, Kolm unleashed his projectile spell as Plasmund slowly began to regenerate. Just as his arm regrew, Plasmund reached for the attack to stop it but was too late as his bookkeeper also seemed to be taken by surprise from the attack. Though he tried to get away, the spell managed to graze his spellbook just enough for it to catch on fire.

"What?!" The man gasped as he noticed his book burning. "Augh! No!"

Plasmund turned and hurried over to his book, unsure of what to do as he looked to his master. For as disgusting as he looked, Brendan couldn't help but feel bad for the complete change in demeanor the golem was showing and the look of horror on its face as it began to disappear.

As the last of Plasmund's book burned away, the man looked at his four enemies and turned to run as fast as he could.

"Oh no you don't!" Emily spat. "Aspen, sic 'em!"

The hound immediately charged at the man and tackled him with enough force to knock him onto his stomach, allowing the others to catch up to them.

"You can't escape!" Kolm warned. "What reason do you have for attacking my bookkeeper?!"

"Tch, it ain't anything personal, I was just doing what I was asked to do!"

"By who?!" Brendan pressed on. "Is it that woman with the glass Mamodo?"

"Heh, she did say you spotted her." The man chuckled to himself before Aspen growled, pushing his muzzle closer to the man's face. "Ay, call off the dog and I'll spill more."

Brendan and Kolm looked over to Emily, who looked suspicious of the man and even a bit indifferent about the information, but with a shrug she looked over at her dog.

"Aspen, heel."

The hound Mamodo went from vicious guard dog to sweet and loyal puppy as Aspen quickly hopped off of the man and back to Emily's side, eagerly accepting the loving pats she gave him as the man rose to a sitting position.

"Alright..." He continued. "So here's the deal; me and that chick you saw are working together. We're part of the same group of book holders that are looking to take out all the other Mamodo in the city. The boss of the group says that there are a lot of them, not counting us."

"Does the group have a name?" Emily piped up.

"Yeah. We're called the Musical Assassins. The boss says he named us all that because all of us in the group have a spell that are part of the solfar... solfay... sofa... th-that beginner musical type of thing that you learn in school!"

"The solfège?" Emily responded, impressing Brendan.

"Yeah, that thing." The man nodded. "All of us have a spell that's on that scale. Except that new pair that got flown in from Russia, they apparently haven't unlocked that spell yet, from what I've heard."

"The Musical Assassins..." Brendan repeated. "How many of you are there?"

"Counting me, there's eight of us. But just because y'all beat me doesn't mean they won't stop coming after you. But hey..." The man rose back up to his feet and dusted himself off. "If you managed to beat us, then you ain't pushovers. The boss'll be pissed off that I lost but I'm gonna have to tell him about you two, so now you're on his radar, so whatever happens from now on is on you two."

"We can take care of ourselves." Emily assured with a huff. "I've heard all I need to."

"Cool. Then I'm out." The man said, hurrying along before he was asked any more questions.

"Ugh, and this day was actually going pretty well, too..." Brendan sighed.

"Well poor you..." Emily rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Aspen, let's go."

"Hold on." Brendan called out. "You're not the least bit worried that more of those Assassins are going to be after you?"

"Pfft, as if! The group I'm in hasn't brought them up once, so they couldn't possibly be a real threat to me. Now, if you're done flapping your gums, Aspen and I need to find some food, I dropped that candy bar earlier and a girl's gotta eat."

"I can't just let you go off on your own again. Even if you don't like or trust me, it wouldn't be right to just let you fend for yourself in this city, even if you say you can take care of yourself." Brendan sighed. "Look, I'll make both of you dinner and take you out to get some clean clothes. How does that sound?"

"You can't be serious..." Emily replied, giving Brendan an unreadable expression.

"I am. You may not trust adults, and I'm not going to pry to find out why, but you're still a kid and no child deserves to be homeless and be hungry. You know that I'm a teacher and when I decided to become one I made a vow to help my students in any way that I can. You may not be my student, but you're still a child in need of help, even if you don't want to admit it. So, if you'll allow me, I'd like to try to help you."

For the second time, Brendan had left Emily shocked at his actions. Nobody had ever really gave her an offer like that before. The only other time an adult came to her with an opportunity that would benefit her was when she agreed to become a part of D.O.L.R.E.S.. It took a moment for her to absorb what she had just heard, but as she looked down at Aspen, she could see that he was simply wagging his tail before nuzzling into her side. As she looked back at Brendan, Emily smiled and gently nodded her head.

"Okay." She said softly. "Y-Yeah, that sounds nice."

Brendan simply smiled back at the girl and even Kolm looked to be relieved at the positive response.

"Alright. Then let's see if we can get you some new clothes first, there should still be a few stores open! Then we can head back to my place and have dinner!"

As the two walked down the street to a more populated area, Emily couldn't help but feel strange, this was the first time she had willingly gone with an adult anywhere and she actually felt... at ease. Perhaps she even felt happy. There was one thing she did notice though, despite all of the people around them, nobody really seemed surprised to see the two together, though most of them looked too preoccupied with their own business. There was one lady though, she was sitting in a car that was waiting for the light to turn green that turned her head when she saw the two of them. Emily recognized her as one of those other teachers from the Algonquin school. She looked aghast at the sight of Brendan and Emily walking and talking together with smiles on their faces before she narrowed her eyes and drove off...

When the two returned to Brendan's apartment, they held a variety of bags and boxes while Emily carried a brand new backpack. The young girl looked around the apartment in awe. It might not have been the biggest or coziest place to live, but to Emily, it was amazing.

"I'll get to work on dinner." Brendan started. "If you want, you can get comfortable and maybe we can talk about the Assassins and the other group."

"Yeah..." Emily replied as she continued looking around the room before heading over to the window, enchanted by the lights of the city.

"Brendan." Kolm called out. "These 'Musical Assassins', do you believe Adrian and his classmates have encountered them yet?"

"Honestly, that's one thing I'm worried about." Brendan sighed as he cut up some vegetables. "As much as I don't like thinking about it, there's a pretty solid chance that they have encountered one of those guys but I'm hoping that's not the case."

"Adrian has proven to be an intelligent child and, while he may be pompous, Windsor is strong. They may have been able to fight off an attacker if they made themselves known." Kolm replied.

"He's the guy that fought off Cain, right? It doesn't take much to outsmart that creep, but if he's tough enough to burn his book, then he can handle himself." Emily added.

"Maybe you're right." Brendan said, turning on the stove and adding the cut vegetables to some chicken that was cooking. "And, hey, if Adrian did meet one of those Assassins and burn their book then that means that's two down and six more to go."

"You make it sound like that's not a lot." Emily said with a chuckle.

"Well it won't be easy, but someone's got to stay positive, right? Besides, I was having a good day today so even with the fight earlier, I'm still feeling good."

"Really now, what made it so good?" Kolm asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I had a date with this woman I've been crushing on for a while and it went pretty well!" Brendan answered, a noticeable glint in his eye as he gave off a smirk of sheer confidence.

"Adult love? Blech! Gross!" Emily spat.

"Hehe, well you won't have to deal with that for a long time. Still, another reason why it went well is because I got to help you as well." Brendan explained, serving Emily her plate of vegetables, chicken and rice. The smell of the warm meal was more than enough to make her mouth water. Even Aspen, who had been pleasantly quiet, was wagging his tail fervently from the enticing aroma. Thankfully, Brendan had given the pup a bowl of chicken as well. "I know you might still not like or trust adults, but I'm glad you at least allowed me to help you this one time."

"Yeah!" Emily replied as she stuffed her face. "You really didn't have to let me stay here! I promise I won't make too much of a mess."

Brendan's smile soon faded as he looked down at his own plate.

"Yeah... about that." He said, his tone was enough to have the girl immediately stop eating. "As much as I would be fine with having you stay, I don't think that's a possibility. My rent already went up when Kolm started living with me, couple that with the money I spend on commuting to that high school and my college. Well, my job just barely covers all of that, and keeping both you and Aspen would only make things harder for me."

"Oh... I get it..." Emily sighed.

"Don't get me wrong!" Brendan immediately replied. "I want to make sure you have a roof over your head and that your stomach is full. But I just can't do it... Not while I'm here and in the position I'm in..."

"I've heard that before, actually." The child replied. "There was one old lady living in an apartment like yours that found me when I started living on the streets. She gave me some sweets and some food but when I asked if I could live with her she said that it would be too much on her since she was stuck living with her son because of her age and he wouldn't appreciate me living there."

"What about that other gang you're a part of? D.O.L.R.E.S.?" Kolm asked.

"Please... They're not some professional organization, they don't have anywhere to keep me and they only get in touch with me through messengers they have. Even the eyes they have, like the lady who got me away from the school, have lives of their own and only make their moves when the higher ups tell them to. But at the same time, they're not like typical street thugs around here. D.O.L.R.E.S. has people around the whole world, or so I've heard. They wouldn't just let some kid stay in their headquarters, wherever that may be."

"So you're in the dark about them about as much as we are." Brendan remarked with Emily nodding.

"I see." Kolm stated. "And you're certain that you have no worries about these Musical Assassins targeting you?"

"They can try, but I honestly don't think I was in any danger back there. I was only caught off guard because it looked like you got a new spell during that fight. If you weren't there I could have beaten him anyway." Emily shrugged.

"Yeah, Kolm's book did unlock a new spell." Brendan said, taking out the aforementioned book and glossing it over. "How much do you know about these spellbooks, by the way?"

"Not a lot, honestly." The girl hummed. "I'm sure there's someone who's got them figured out by now though. I'm pretty sure when a Mamodo meets their partner, they explain the rules of the battle. When I found Aspen, he had a note attached to his book about the rules and everything involved with it since he can't talk. I'm sure Kolm explained everything to you."

"I informed him of the basics but, truth be told, these books are a mystery to most Mamodo as they are to you humans. In our world, Mamodo are only provided natural access to their most basic spells in order to train ourselves and to use them in our lives when needed for self-defense or for work. Because of the amount of time between the battles on Earth, there is little to no written knowledge of how new spells are unlocked within them." The Mamodo explained.

"Then we'll just have to hope we encounter someone who's figured these out at some point." Brendan sighed as he started picking at his own food. The sound of a fork scraping against the plate made him look up and smile at the sight of Emily finishing her plate.

"Can... can I have seconds?" She asked.

"Sure." Brendan smiled. As the man went to go collect the girl's plate, he was caught off guard when she suddenly got up from her seat and hugged him.

"Thanks." She said. "And I'm sorry I pushed you before."