The Lavans were a race of demi-humans. They were human-beast hybrids, bearing the traits of humans and beasts. In retrospect, they were more human than beast, or at least that was Henry’s impression of the Lavans. However, that quickly changed when he met a Lavan who bore the traits of a sheep extensively. The Lavan was a boy who looked as if he had just become a man. He has hair as white as the clouds and as abundant as a cotton flower. A boy in a fur suit was Henry’s first impression of the Lavan in front of him. Iluna was also a sheep-based Lavan but not even she had such excessive traits of a sheep.

  Elmin was the name of the sheep-like Lavan. He was something akin to a royal scientist in the Lavan hierarchy. The Chief Apothecary was his official title, Henry had asked. Elmin was a busy person. Though his main job was affairs reted to health and medicine, he was also the person who people would consult regarding bizarre matters outside of the average understanding.

  For a person in such a high position and as an individual whom many would take consultation from, Elmin was unexpectedly reserved and diffident. Henry had to hold back his ughter when a pun surfaced to his mind. Elmin was truly sheepish.

  “Elmin, we need your help with this… thing,” said Mika.

  On the operating table, there y the remains of the Dark Syer that Rayne had crushed and destroyed with her bare fist. The state of the Dark Syer was a statement of the violence and destruction Rayne was capable of, and this was just the result of a single punch.

  “A Syer?” the Chief Apothecary inquired curiously and confusedly. “But it’s bck.”

  “What else could it be?” Rayne scoffed. Though she wasn’t loud, the small room they were in made her remark quite audible to everyone in the room.

  Henry rolled his eyes in exasperation.

  Elmin stared warily at Rayne despite the strange and unusual specimen on the table in front of him.

  “She’s friendly,” Iluna assured the timid-looking Lavan.

  Elmin’s wary gaze then shifted to Kiera. There was a difference in his gaze towards the Magus. Henry could sense the faint hint of hostility in those timorous eyes.

  “She’s friendly too. There are no enemies here, Elmin. You can be at ease.”

  “We can all be at ease once we know just what in the hell’s name we’re dealing with,” Rayne grumbled with her arms crossed.

  Rayne’s harsh words and tone seemed to frighten Elmin as the tter recoiled from her.

  Henry sighed and stepped forward, shielding Rayne from Elmin’s sight. “My apologies. We are still a little bit high-strung from encountering a new formidable enemy.” Now he understood why Lionel was stopped by Iluna from joining them.

  “I-I will do my best, Lord Henry,” Elmin said with a slight bow. He forced himself to smile but all he could muster was a wry smile. “This… unusual Syer, how formidable is it?”

  “Very formidable,” Mika answered.

  “It’s more than formidable,” Riva added. “I would have been dead if it weren’t for Lord Henry and Lady Rayne’s intervention.”

  Elmin had a look of surprise. “I-it bested you?”

  “I was at its mercy. If its creator had given it a more decisive logic parameter, I would not be here.”

  “That’s… terrifying…” Elmin’s words were grim but there was a slight contrast with his expression. “But not… unexpected.” He stepped closer to the remains.

  “Have you discovered something already?” Mika asked.

  Elmin stuck his hands into the remains, fumbling around. After a few seconds, he yanked out a palm-sized object that resembled an orb cage. There was a crystal ball within the orb cage.

  Gasps were elicited.

  For reasons unknown to himself, Henry felt shivers running down his body at the sight of the orb.

  “Is that a Murux Crystal?” Iluna inquired.

  “No,” Elmin answered. “It can be used to contain Murux but that’s not what it is primarily for. This orb is used for a very sinister purpose. This orb is used to contain Ether.”

  Everyone had a ghastly expression upon hearing that word, except for Henry, though he had some idea as to why everyone reacted so negatively.

  Mika noticed Henry’s expression and took the liberty to expin. “Ether has the same properties as Murux, Lord Henry. The only differences being the efficiency and the origins. Ether has higher efficiency and higher… yield. As for their origins, Murux is a product of the natural order, Ether is produced artificially using… living souls.”

  “Oh… I’m assuming this practice is prohibited?”

  “It is in Ulrum,” said Iluna. “It is also forbidden amongst humans, or so we initially thought. On the surface, it might still be a forbidden practice but clearly, much is happening in the shadows.”

  “That’s not all,” Elmin said. “Simply changing the fuel of a Syer will not make it as strong as it is.” The Chief Apothecary leaned closer to the remains. “Inscriptions have been engraved into the inner structure of this Syer.”

  “What kind of inscription?” Kiera asked.

  Elmin gnced at Kiera without responding. He then looked at Iluna, who gave him a nod. Only then did he answer the Magus’ question. “I-I do not know. It’s foreign to me. I have never seen such nguage before.”

  “And how many nguages do you know?” Rayne inquired.

  Elmin jumped from Rayne’s question. The fear in his eyes was apparent.

  Mika was the opposite of the quivering Lavan. He was all smiles as he looked directly at Rayne. “Elmin knows all the nguages spoken on this continent, including the ones that are considered… dead or extinct.”

  “Can I have a look?” Kiera asked.

  Elmin instinctively looked towards Iluna for permission, which the Priestess immediately granted. Looking a bit reluctant, Elmin moved away from the table to make way.

  Kiera approached the table and leaned as close as she could without touching the remains. She didn’t take long perusing the remains. She backed away from the table after only a few seconds and returned to her original position.

  “Anything?” Henry asked.

  “I don’t know the nguage either but…”

  “But?”

  “Some of it is… familiar.”

  “In what way?”

  “This nguage may have derived from the known nguages.”

  Iluna frowned slightly and looked to her Chief Apothecary. “Is this true, Elmin?”

  “I-it is… I do recognise some parts of it but… nguages have always been derivative from other nguages.”

  “Maybe it’s the other way around,” Kiera said. “Wouldn’t you say?”

  “That’s… inconceivable.”

  “It isn’t. The nguage itself is unknown but you can’t deny the many simirities it bears to various other nguages. I think we are looking at a precursor nguage. It could even be primordial.”

  “What if it’s otherworldly?” Henry suggested.

  “Not possible,” Kiera denied.

  “Why?”

  “Languages are incapable of invoking spells that belong to a world different from the nguage used,” Elmin expined.

  “So, does this mean that our person of interest may be—”

  “Yes, he may be an individual from a time long forgotten even by the oldest and the wisest.”

  “Oh….” Henry muttered. This was a huge development and a piece of unexpected information, one that he had to consult his patron god immediately. However, before he could do so, something completely unforeseen happened.

  The remains of the Dark Syer, sat up from where it had id in its mangled state. There was no hint of the Syer of being functional or operational and yet, here it sat.

  Before anyone could even register the astonishing and unpredictable happenstance, the Syer morphed its twisted left arm into a rge bde, which it swung around the room in a complete circle.

  Henry had dove to Iluna’s side when the Syer had abruptly sat up. He shielded Iluna from the bde that cut across his back. He felt the pain but no wound or blood was drawn.

  Mika nearly had his head taken but Riva tackled him to the ground just in time to avoid the bde. Rayne was the first to act, though she rushed at the Syer initially. When she saw what the Syer intended to do, she rushed towards Elmin instead, tackling him to the floor in the same manner as Riva did to Mika. Kiera was the only one who remained standing. She stood the furthest away from the table than anyone else. She was adept at magic but not so much in the physical department. She was far too slow in dodging the sudden attack. The bde carved into her neck and slit across her throat. She retched and gagged as blood spurted from her open neck.

  Henry watched in horror as Kiera’s throat was slit. He left Iluna’s side and ran to Kiera in a fsh. He cradled Kiera into his arms and tried to heal her wounds. Before he could, the Syer flung pieces of shards of its crumbling body at Henry.

  “Fuck you!” Henry roared. He charged at the Syer with a furious cry. The Syer leapt to the ceiling like some kind of agile crawling creature. Henry threw an Aura Bde at the Syer but it leapt back down on the ground to dodge the attack.

  Rayne lunged at the Syer from behind but it had already somehow noticed or predicted Rayne’s attempt. It flipped over Rayne and swung its arm-bde at her. Rayne twisted her body out of the way, avoiding the tip of the bde by a hair’s breadth.

  Henry charged at the Syer once more but it flung the operating table at him. It would be easy for Henry to just destroy the table flying at him but his attacks were too destructive to be utilised in a small and enclosed space. Therefore, he simply let the table strike him. The table did nothing to him but it did obstruct his view for a moment. And that brief moment was all the Syer needed to pounce at the Priestess.

  Rayne was fast but she wasn’t as agile as the mangled Syer. Riva was also fast but she was on the other side of the room. There was no way she could reach Iluna in time. The priestess herself stood in shock as the Syer aimed for her.

  An ethereal pne appeared between Iluna and the Syer out of nowhere. The pne blocked the Syer’s strike. Then, five more ethereal pnes appeared around the Syer, encroaching on it. Before the Syer could make its escape, the pnes successfully entrapped it within the confines of the ethereal pnes.

  Henry gnced at Kiera, who was sitting on the ground and leaning against the wall. One of her hands was clutching her bleeding neck while the other was outstretched. Henry remembered what he was told about Magi then. Magi are a tenacious bunch. They won’t die so easily from heavy wounds that would normally be fatal to any living creature.

  Feeling relieved, Henry calmed himself down and turned his attention to the contained Syer. Just as he was thinking of a way to deal with the Syer, Iluna began to utter a chant.

  Lights appeared around the entrapped Syer. The lights kept appearing until the Syer was practically drowned in the abundance of the lights. Then, the lights intensified, shining as brightly as the sun for a short few seconds. When the lights dimmed and the blinding fsh receded, all that remained of the Syer was its outer shell, scattered in pieces on the ground.

  After confirming the Syer had truly been rendered inoperative, Iluna slumped to the floor, gasping for air.

  Tending to the leader of the Lavans would be the top priority here but for Henry. Kiera was his priority. He returned to her side and continued with his healing.

  “N-needless…” Kiera croaked.

  “Just because you won’t die from this, it doesn’t mean you are not suffering from this. Just stay put and let me heal you.” Henry began the treatment, which involved dripping his saliva on Kiera’s gaping wound.

  “I’m here, you know?” Rayne said, standing beside Henry. “I’m fine, by the way.”

  “I know. You are too stubborn and proud to be wounded or hurt.”

  Rayne rolled her eyes with a groan and stormed out of the room. Not long after, soldiers came rushing into the room to aid their beloved Priestess.

  “Will that be alright?” Kiera asked. “With the Zeva, I mean…”

  Henry smiled wryly. “She’ll come around. Besides, she won’t be any happier if I show her any concern. She’s… complicated.”

  Kiera smiled back, meekly. “Love is complicated…”