Cyril and Myra calmly watched as the man went further and further.
"What was that about?" Myra wondered aloud before moving on.
Before the man left, Cyril managed to hear something about a 'promise' and 'opportunity.'
But he too didn't care too much; the two calmly entered the clinic without wasting any time.
The place was a bit different from how Cyril remembered it. The table was overturned, and a bunch of papers lay scattered on the floor.
Alvin was crouching on the ground, his face blank, as he slowly cleaned everything.
"Come back later; we are closed for now," said the healer with a weak voice.
He didn't even raise his head to see who came in.
"Alright then," Cyril calmly replied.
He didn't mind coming some other time; it's not like they were in a hurry.
But when Alvin heard his voice, he recognized it and turned around.
"It's you... What do you want?" Alvin said and raised himself from the ground.
Looks like he was ready to at least hear them out.
Cyril turned to look at Myra, signaling her to explain.
"Dr. Alvin, we wanted to ask you to make medicinal pills for us. If it's inconvenient for you right now, we can come another day," Myra said respectfully.
Alvin looked at her in silence for a bit, thinking about something.
"How did you know to come to me with this?" He asked with a head tilt.
"I cannot say, I am sorry," Myra said apologetically.
Alvin took a quick peek at Cyril before replying, "Well... all right then. What pill do you want?"
Myra opened the box in her hand and showed him the Death Bell.
When Alvin saw what it was, he froze for a few seconds before his gaze became slightly colder. "You want me to make a poison pill?"
"Eh? You don't know how to make the Vitality Pill?" Myra said in surprise.
"I've never heard anything with that name. Listen, I don't create poison; you can go if that's all." Alvin shooed them away with a hand and crouched back down.
Myra stood still in thought for a few seconds.
"It's not a poisonous pill. Actually, it's a new medicine that can help a person improve their physique!" Myra tried to convince him.
"Really? Well, I don't know how to make it, so find someone else." Alvin wasn't tempted enough yet—or maybe he just didn't believe her.
"You are the only one who can recreate the recipe—please! I'll try to describe the effects and recall the rest of the materials as best as I can. The rewards will be worth your while!" Myra's words finally had an effect.
Alvin paused his movements and looked at them with narrowed eyes.
"I can try to help you... But developing a new pill is a lengthy and expensive process. How about you help me with something first?" Alvin said.
"Is it related to that person who ran out earlier?" Cyril chimed in.
Alvin nodded with a helpless expression.
"That was Joey, a former classmate of mine. We were good friends back in the day, but lately he's been hanging out with the wrong crowd." Alvin sat on a nearby chair, resting his elbows on his knees.
"Just now he stole a certain document from me. Take it back, and I will help you with the pill." He said and awaited their response.
Cyril and Myra quickly looked at each other before nodding at the same time. This shouldn't be difficult to do.
"Great. He told me his group is stationed at the Woodberry House in District Peony. That's where he will probably go. Don't attract the authorities, please. If you do, I won't help you." Alvin shook his head.
"Doesn't want his friend implicated?"
"We'll do that and come back; this won't take long," Cyril confidently replied and moved towards the exit.
Myra went after him after saying thank you to Alvin.
"Try to solve it peacefully. Joey should be a reasonable person. Don't put your lives in danger." Alvin quickly added before they disappeared.
Cyril waved his hand without turning around to show he understood.
A part of him wanted there to be some difficulties. This way he can practice his technique some more. The feeling of gaining strength through it was addicting.
"That's true, and Morpho also needs to train. This is a good opportunity."
Morpho flapped her wings in agreement with Rhamn.
Only Tigris looked around in ignorance, not sure what they are about to do.
Right, should we hide him somewhere first?"He will hide by himself."True.
When they left the clinic, Cyril turned towards Myra. "Should we get a weapon before going there? Or we can go by without one?" He asked.
With his new technique, Cyril wasn't afraid of meeting an enemy without a weapon. It would be a good excuse to try it out.
"The closest hideout is not on the way; it would be too much of a detour." Myra shook her head after some thought.
"Then let's go," confidently replied Cyril.
Feeling his emotions, Tigris roared majestically on his shoulder.
What came out was a cute meow, of course.
"Good job!" Rhamn applauded Tigris with a smile.
With this, the two started moving towards the manorail.
...
Without any accident, they've reached their destination.
It was a quiet street lined with private laboratories, where independent mages conducted research on whatever intrigued them.
Occasionally, they would send their findings to the Tower, hoping to catch its attention and secure a share of resources.
Over time, it became common for such mages to settle in the same area. This way they could offer each other assistance when necessary.
The mages one might encounter here were often eccentric, consumed by their obsessions with research.
Because of this, these places were unpopular with the general public. This meant there were fewer people on the streets, which worked to some people's advantage.
Cyril and Myra quickly navigated the street and found the house in question.
It was a larger one, almost a mansion. Whoever owned it clearly had money.
"How should we go about it?" Asked Myra in a quiet voice.
To avoid suspicion, they sat in a nearby coffee shop to discuss their attack plans. Even obsessed mages needed to relax sometimes, so the area had a few stores for that purpose.
"Let's wait a little longer," said Cyril and sipped on his coffee.
"Alright..." Myra followed suit with a slightly confused expression.
Soon Morpho came back from the sky, landed on the table, and started drinking the prepared sugar water.
What did she see?
"The mansion isn't that well guarded; only about 5 people are standing on the perimeter." Rhamn started relaying what Morpho saw.
"There are two entrances: the main one is guarded by two people, while the rear one is only by one... There is also an open balcony on the second floor; we could go that way too."
"About the guards... They look rather young. Maybe about our age. This doesn't look difficult." She finished Morpho's report.
Alvin won't give us a task too difficult. Based on what we've learned, he has a soft heart, Cyril thought with some disappointment.
He wanted to have a proper fight with someone, but there was no luck with that.
Myra slowly drank her coffee and looked at Cyril from time to time, not sure what to do.
"How would you rather go: openly or stealthily?" Cyril suddenly asked.
Myra almost spilled her drink from being startled but recovered in time.
"Ehm... I am not too good with being sneaky, as you may know," Myra sheepishly said.
Cyril nodded in complete understanding and subtly turned to look at Tigris, who was relaxing with his eyes closed.
In the end he decided against making Tigris participate in this operation. He still needed to learn.
"Then let's go from the front." Cyril got up, picked up Tigris, and put the kitten on his shoulder.
They paid for the drinks and unhurriedly went to the gates of the mansion.
Just in case, Cyril tried opening them, but as expected, they were locked.
"Who is that?" A voice rang out beyond them.
"Open up; I want to see your boss," Cyril said without hiding anything.
"W-What? Look, pal, go bother someone else," the guard said, somewhat nervous.
Cyril didn't reply to that. He looked around the street.
Thankfully there were few people around this time of the day, and no one paid attention to what was happening here.
Still, Cyril decided against breaking the door open; that would be too attention-grabbing.
Using the usual spell, he quietly cracked the lock, and the gate was swung open with a single push.
"What the hell!" The young guard yelled in surprise.
He readied his weapon—a wooden bat.
Now that Cyril had gotten a good look at his opponent, it was clear that they were just simple hooligans.
They wore deliberately torn clothes with many piercings on their bodies.
Any waste from class I would be leagues better than them. Cyril sighed in further disappointment.
The guard wearily kept staring at Cyril without making any moves himself.
But his friend on the side wasn't so patient. With a threatening expression, he swung his bat in attack.
Cyril didn't move at the incoming bat; there was no need to.
Morpho suddenly swooped in and hit the hooligan on the shoulder.
The thug stepped back from the force of the strike while holding his shoulder.
"Ouch! What the fuck?" He looked around in surprise.
Soon he suddenly froze and fell to the floor with his body shaking all over.
At least they can serve as some practice for Morpho. Cyril thought positively.