Zokel's laboratory was silent. As if nothing dared break the silence that followed this unexpected miracle.

The ink stain remained motionless for a few moments, blinking. It turned and looked at the parchment from which it had emerged. The parchment no longer glowed. Wherever the potion had spread, the ink had disappeared. There was no trace of the scribbled magic circle.

The creature turned away from the paper and moved slowly forward.

The basket was partially lit by a ray of light from the room's only window. The midday sun pleasantly warmed the illuminated areas. As soon as the ink blot entered the light, it jumped and hid in the shadows, on its guard.

When, after several minutes, nothing changed, it slowly approached again. Some kind of inky tentacle stretched out from its body before quickly touching the sunlit area and retracting. Nothing happened. The creature repeated this little game several times, with less and less hesitation.

Satisfied with the absence of danger, the stain admired its illuminated tentacle for a moment. The deep blue tentacle glowed slightly with a violet aura. On closer inspection, tiny stars could be seen floating in the ink. Its eyes widened in fascination. The creature stepped fully into the light and admired itself for long minutes, moving its body here and there.

One of its tentacles struck a paper ball, which rolled away. The creature froze at the first sign of movement.

When nothing else moved, it gently pushed the ball. It rolled on for a few more centimetres before being stopped by the edge of the basket. The inkblot tried to push it further, but to no avail. It took him only a few more tries to figure out how to send it the other way. Then how to throw it, by pushing it from underneath. After a few minutes, the room resounded with the sound of paper balls banging against the edges of the basket in all directions, faster and faster.

Then came what had to happen. Under the force of several simultaneous throws, the basket toppled over and spilled its contents onto the laboratory floor, hurling the creature against its walls. Once the basket stilled, the ink stain zigzagged out of it, stunned. Its eyes stared grumpily at the basket.

Its attention was quickly distracted by the rest of the room. Large bookcases filled with books and trinkets covered the walls. A small high window let in a little light towards the desk. Glass jars of all shapes and sizes hung from the ceiling by ropes, containing all manner of magical ingredients. In the middle of the room, a magic circle drawn in chalk was partially covered with scribbled parchments.

And now paper balls.

The inkblot opened its eyes wide. Its contours began to undulate rapidly with excitement.

It quickly approached the paper balls, sliding across the floor. An unprecedented pandemonium ensued in the laboratory, with paper pellets flying in all directions. Precious artifacts fell to the floor, the unfortunate victims of this attack. So did several books, vials and other strange objects. All of this with an appalling racket.

Zokel and Gregor heard nothing from the kitchen, as the deafening spell worked in both directions. Zokel would bitterly regret it when discovering the disaster.

As for the creature, it was having the time of its life. It was leaping around and grabbing at anything it could get its hands on. Pieces of broken vials reflected its image in multiple duplicates, reinforcing the illusion of many mischievous spirits wreaking havoc in the room.

Its final leap landed it in the middle of an ancient painting. The taut, well-preserved canvas bounced the ink stain back with equal force. The creature collided violently with the bottom of one of the shelves, immediately losing its shape on impact. All that remained behind was a blue projection made up of several spots, which began to drip onto the floor.

Two eyes emerged from one of the smaller spots, and blinked in surprise.

The creature tried to move, with great difficulty. Its expression became more uncertain. It struggled to pull out a tentacle. With great effort, it finally touched one of the nearest pools of ink. Immediately, the creature sucked up the ink and regained some of its mobility.

The creature then concentrated on the other pools of ink. And set about siphoning them all off.

After ten minutes or so, it had more or less regained its previous size. But this incident had calmed it down, and it looked around more cautiously.

It was then that its gaze fell on the scattered parchments. Scrolls covered with notes written in ink. The creature eagerly approached the scrolls.

*****

In the kitchen, Zokel suddenly had a bad feeling, without knowing why. He looked around, but nothing seemed amiss.

No magic potion smoking with dangerous fumes. The only burnt smell in the room came from the overcooked prune cake. A crime of lèse-majesté according to his mother, but in no way dangerous.

Gregor, although annoyed by the state of the cake, didn't seem tempted to attack the magician. He hadn't tried yet, but Zokel had seen him sharpening kitchen knives following last week's incident. With great enthusiasm and a big, menacing smile. Zokel had wisely decided to suspend his more hazardous experiments for a few days.

His cat Irno was quietly eating his lionfish on the counter. Sensing the wizard's gaze, he raised his head and hissed fiercely. Ah. Apparently, he still remembered the other experiment from earlier in the month.

The cat swallowed his last mouthful quickly with a great bite, making his canines shine, before leaving the room, tail raised. Hmm... Maybe another trip to the fishmonger is in order... The magician mused.

Zokel hadn't left anything dangerous behind in the laboratory. He would just have to clean up the remains of the potion on his desk. But nothing that couldn't wait.

So, where on earth does this bad feeling come from?

*****

Once its appropriation of the ink was complete, the creature had doubled in size. Its tentacles firmly held the most interesting objects recovered from the ground: a large diamond that reflected the light, a sculpted metal hourglass and a golden medallion.

As it manipulated the latter, it unknowingly activated its mechanism. The locket opened in two, revealing a mirror inside and a photo. The photo showed a woman with long brown hair and grey eyes, dressed in the characteristic dress of the Mages. She stood next to a knight in armor.

The creature leaned over the locket and its eyes instantly locked on the mirror. It blinked curiously. Its reflection also blinked.

Surprised, it straightened up with wide eyes. Its reflection followed suit.

A tentacle cautiously touched the mirror, before quickly recoiling at its cold touch. Brrr !!!

The creature shook its tentacle to warm it, and was delighted to discover its reflection imitating it. After a while of this imitation game, it tried to give some ink to its double. This only served to cover the mirror.

Satisfied nonetheless with its good deed, the creature turned away from its finds and approached the only part of the room it hadn't explored.

The door to the laboratory was made of solid, highly resistant wood. Much less resistant was the doorframe, which Gregor had smashed with a great kick.

The ink stain left the laboratory without a sound. The dark corridor was lit only by two small windows high above the floor. It led to two more doors and a stone staircase.

The first door, opposite the laboratory, was also made of wood, but of low quality. It had no distinguishing marks. Unlike the door at the end of the corridor, which was decorated with magical sigils carved in resistant wood. The staircase, on the other hand, probably led to a lower floor. The creature hesitated, unsure of which direction to go.

*****

So, where will the creature decide to go?

Choice 1: The door opposite
Choice 2: The door at the end of the corridor
Choice 3: The stairs