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“Wise as you are perceptive,” she sighed, “-Serene was exiled from her clan. I’m sure the old sage will give more details tomorrow. She’s very enigmatic, I can never get a hold of what she thinks. Despite reading her mind, it’s always a jumbled mess of thought, actions, and possible outcomes. The one thing that remains common is... her vindictive nature. Once upon a time, my guards had a sixth member. Sadly, that man-made the mistake of calling out Serene and insulting her in the process. It took months, after he went into hiding, months after months till the body was found bordering a river not so far from here. I knew it was her, the bite marks on his neck that resembled two stars, no other vamp has it.”

“I understand,” he walked closer, “-you’re worried about the coronation tomorrow. Aurora becoming the new leader of Nox might trigger a bad reaction,” he gave a reassuring smile, “-even so, if she stands in my way, you might need to make do with four guards as opposed to five,” the face turn blank on the last word.

“That’s to be expected,” a peck on his cheeks later, he returned to the capital.

‘Be careful, vampires are far more conniving than you think. It’s going to be difficult to handle so many things at once. Blood King,’ she turned, ‘-it has a good ring. Almost as if he was the next demon-king,’ with a shake of the head, the queen returned to her office.

“Blood king,” Adete sat atop his head.

“The first progenitor,” he added in jest.

.....

“Oh please,” she sighed, the bike rushed through the streets till Junior Claireville Academy came in view. Next, they returned home, from there on, he went to Kniq’s headquarters. No new adventurers wanted to join up with said Guild yet. Auic did surprisingly well to handle all the tedious tasks. Sat in his office, Staxius got ready for the implementation of the evaluation orb tomorrow in Arda. By preparation, it was a scroll – he decided to write one that contained the spell Teleportation. As opposed to using it constantly, if a few of said scrolls would be readied in advance – mana could be conserved. A secret for now, for the next few hours, till five came – with Auic helping, paperwork were settled. The adventuring party of Kniq did very well. Their repute grew, Achilles became a favorite at the central guild.

“Thanks for working hard,” he stood, the time had come to leave.

“No worries,” she bowed and left with files in hand.

‘That should handle everything for the next week. Now for the Dark-guild,’ mask on, he teleported to the bar. There, with barely any customers, Jason discussed how the war had been going so far. By capturing the witch – information grew abundant. There were still holes missing, and as Jason put it, “we’re not shooting from the hip now. The UO isn’t that powerful, their mistakes have been found. The Syndicate is the real enemy.”

On that note, payment for two weeks of God’s ale was given with a special request, “Dear Shadow, it’s Renaud. Care to do your favorite boss a favor? I want you to experiment and try to figure out this new drug,” a packet of whiteish gold powder got given, “-it’s angel’s dust. Up and coming with a lot of potential, do give it a try.” The message ended.

“The boss is a greedy man through and through, the moment there’s money involved – he gets overly excited,” Jason explained with a smile. A black metallic box adorned with gold was presented. “Another gift from Renaud,” a smile followed by a smirk.

“Let me guess,” the box opened, “-Cigars,” he stared up, “-I supposed this is payment for trying to research Angel’s Dust?”

“No need to look so anguished, you’ll be fine,” a handshake later, Staxius left.

“So much work,” eyes glared at papers inside Pandora. The subject of research was not the angel’s dust, but the taint. A detailed analysis for it would be submitted to the magical guild later. The more precise, the better a solution could be found. Time was of the essence – having stored the curses inside himself and papers. It took a few hours but the process was simplified.

“Miss Clarise,” located in her office inside the Alchemist Sect, he had a meeting with the prodigy.

“What brings you here?” she asked with a not so inviting tone, “-I thought you hated us since Lord Staxius never picks up any of my calls or job requests,” a faint pout.

“You must know that the mana potions being researched don’t fancy my attention. You’re plenty talented, I’d be just a burden,” the voice emotionless with no holes to exploit.

“Ha...” a sarcastic cackle, “-am I supposed to believe that lie?” her face turned red from anger. In her mind, the alchemist before her was an object of fantasy. The ideal researcher with a mind unlike anything she had seen before. Though, with all his potential, seeing it being wasted on Guilds and adventuring, it made her insides boil.

“Animosity apart,” a paper slid across the table, “-these are what I’ve been doing for the past few months. The taint of the monsters; it was hard to acquire living samples to derive my analysis from,” she stared up with intrigue, “-eventually, that’s the fruit of my labor. The curse of the demons, holy water alone can’t cleanse it. A catalyst and a medium are required, one to aggravate it’s spread then a medium for it to transfer to. If done correctly, any type of tainted curse could be removed,” after which, a more detailed explanation was given since she kept on pestering about what and whatnots.

“Very interesting,” the one on one meeting turned into a mini-conference, more and more alchemist joined into their discussion. It got moved to a larger room with a whiteboard and seats. At the helm, Staxius, he spoke as if a lecturer. Even the Master alchemist joined into what he had found. Minutes turned into hours, fully immersed into the scholar side, the explanation on why and how taint could be cured grew profound. It ended up changing to mana and magic, a subject he had massive amounts of knowledge. Subconsciously, a piece of said knowledge was shared – how mana could be transferred into scrolls or any other medium. Theory for the most part with no practical use, the board filled with formulas and recipes. Some original that got proven in front of so many scholars – the talent he possessed grew apparent. A league of his own, none could but smile. Hand in hand with Clarise, those two could pierce the mystery of death itself.

*Clap, Clap, Clap,* “-sublime,” they applauded, “-excellently done,” others complimented, “-with all that, we could now explore another side of the mana-potion. The research came to a standstill, now that Staxius joined the mix, I think we’ll be able to look at it from another angle,” said Clarise with nothing but genuine happiness. The quest for knowledge isn’t one filled with hierarchy or pride – if a breakthrough is made, it’s the whole sect that benefits. A pillar that promoted so many advances in the ways of magic and science.

“That was fun,” lent over a window with a water bottle in hand, he waited outside the conference room. The cold night breeze served to cool the fatigued body.

“Staxius,” a powerful voice came from behind.

“Master Alchemist,” he turned, “-how may this humble novice help?”

“Humble novice you say,” hand placed atop Staxius’s shoulder, he stared outside, “-I came to say how much we’re grateful. I know not what goes on in thy private life, however, each job request you complete serves a greater purpose. I was wondering if you’d be interested in joining the Cobalt Unit?”

“Cobalt unit? I’m sorry but I don’t follow.”

“I apologize,” he turned, “-I forgot that you care not for politics. It’s a unit with a large amount of funding where talented scholars of different nations and subjects join. It has requirements that are beyond normal human intellect. Even Clarise couldn’t join their ranks – not now anyway, she’s got more growing to do first.”

“I’m grateful that you’d think of me that way,” the voice uninterested, “-sadly, I’ve more on my plate. I rather enjoy the title of Alchemist. You see, I chose to take the exam out of necessity. I had to open a shop where medical potions could be sold. And for my being recognized as legit and not a fraud, said title was needed. Tis was a means to an end, I’ve no particular interest in joining the Cobalt unit.”

“If I may ask, what’s your drive then?” Flein asked intrigued by what he had said.

“There are people I need to protect. There are a few things I hold dear. I used to be someone who didn’t care about others,” he faced the stars, “-now as a father and husband, I’m slowly realizing that protecting someone doesn’t mean that one must become strong. Other ways exist, my particular end-goal is simple, to have my family smile till death do us part,” he patted Flein’s back, “-I’m still an Alchemist. Do send over job requests, I’ll complete those which seems fun,” with a nod, he headed for the door. In the shadows, through a door left ajar, Clarise overheard their conversation.

“HOW DARE YOU!” inside an empty and dark hallway, a girl’s voice echoed.

“You heard all that,” stood still without facing backward, he spoke monotonously.

“How dare you...” her tiny footsteps approached; “-Grandfather offered to recommend your name to the Cobalt Unit...it’s the dream of every serious scholar – w-why did you r-refuse.”

“Listen,” he turned with cold eyes, “-you may be an alchemist but you’re also a child. Act like one and never try to get in the way of a grown-up. There will also be people who’ll defy orders – I’m one of those people. I care not for your rank or your family name. Get in my way, and I swear,” *Snap,* a white flame manifested, “-I’ll dispose of the obstacle.”

“...” no response, the girl froze in place by fear.

“One must learn that the world doesn’t revolve around oneself, there will always be those who defy every move one makes. You decide what path you follow, but don’t project thy thoughts on someone else.”

On that note, he returned home without much trouble. Dinner was already served. Once eaten, he headed upstairs where Lizzie studied hard. The next few hours were spent on teaching what Tempest once told him. The next day would be a chaotic mess, or so what he thought. The shift in power with the coronation of the next Blood King. Today was spent on resolving any issues that may come up in the next weeks.

‘Serene, what might your story be. Are you going to become a thorn or somewhat tolerant? The pace at which everything began to move all of a sudden is whelming. A war fought in the shadows, the Azure’s wall, and now the coronation of the first Blood King. Arda is on the pathway of change. I did find another dragonkin – he might be able to tell more about what Eira has to expect. The guild opening comes as a priority; Undrar and Auic will handle anything that might come up. I trust them, there are but a few weeks separating me from a magical tournament. I can’t wait to see how Eira’s grown.’ Thus, an exhausting day ended.

“Staxius Haggard...” sat beside four corpses, “-king of Arda and now the will be King of the vampires,” Serene whispered. “I know not if we’ll become allies,” her gaze pointing at the crimson full moon, “-Aurora will die and end the Nox’s clan. My revenge has yet to be quelled,” blood dripped off her face, “-tomorrow will decide if you’re ally or foe.”