The Unseasonal Cold-1

Adui groaned, he had to pee, but he couldnt get up. A soft and comfortable warm bed sheet had imprisoned him in a warm and cozy embrace, and he could only break free from this imprisonment when dawn was finally upon him.

He shut his eyes, closed them forcefully, and tried to control his pee but alas, after a few seconds of struggle, he lost. He finally couldn't wait anymore.

He opened his eyes and turned his head towards the clock. It was 3:00 am. He groaned with frustration and removed the warm cover.

FUCK! Why the fuck is it so cold? He then grabbed his crutches from his bedside and pushed himself up on his feet. His room was shrouded with darkness, but as he was familiar with every inch and corner of his house, thus he didn't have any difficulty navigating his way to the toilet.

As the dam of his bladder was finally let loose, he achieved nirvana and he sighed with bliss, making a cloud of steam come out of his mouth in the process. He may not have been fully awake before, but seeing the cloud of condensation made him step out of his stupor.

The fuck? Did winter come early year? It is still March for fucks sake. For a normal person, the sudden decrease in temperature might have been an abnormal affair, something to discuss with a cup of tea.

But for a Mage like him, the sudden decrease in temperature is a very interesting phenomenon.

What could be the cause of such a sudden decrease? I have never heard or read about something like this happening in Laverdale of all places. I should investigate it.

As quickly as the idea of exploring this strange phenomenon came to him, as quickly it exited. A few hours from now, he had to go to work and start working on a pile of documents that had been collecting dust on his table for a week. He didn't have time to go searching for the source of the phenomena.

After relieving himself, he went to bed. Before lying down, he didn't forget to bring out extra sheets from his wardrobe because the temperature had decreased very drastically in a few minutes since he was up.

After covering himself in three layers of sheets, he fell asleep again…

The alarm clock on his bedside started blaring at 7:00 am exactly. Under the three layers of the sheet, he groaned, he didn't want to get up. It was too cold outside, the warmth and softness of his sheet were bewitching him to stay like this.

Although as tempting as that offer might be, his mentor and boss Gizelle is returning to Laverdale after a 2 month-long vacation. And he has to present in the shop when she comes back. Staying at home was not an option for him. At least not today.

In the end, he reinforced his resolve and threw the sheets off his body. He grabbed his clutches and pushed himself up on his feet.

Adui reached his full-sized mirror, staring at his thin frail body. He had sunken cheeks, black marks all around his eyes, and had olive color skin. He looked like a mess…

That morning, cold winds were blowing all over the town and some of them passed through his flesh making his bones shudder. On the other hand, he quite enjoyed cooking on his stove which provided warmth to his body.

After eating a sumptuous breakfast, he wore his fake left leg, grabbed his walking cane, and started heading to work. While walking to his workplace, he saw the whole town was affected by the sudden coldness. Homeless ones were making fire and every corner of the street and alleyway. The chimneys of all the households in the neighborhood were emitting smoke like there was no tomorrow.

The temperature had decreased significantly since last night. I wonder whether the temperature is being influenced by the mana of a high-ranking Mage. He had read somewhere that Mages who are Rank 25 or above could perform incredible feats.

One of the most fascinating feats that awakened ones could perform was being able to influence weather with their mana. The credibility of the book in which he read this information was questionable, after all, he found the book at a book fair in the town. But currently, this theory is the only one that could explain what is happening around the town.

When Adui finally reached Lady Gizelle's Potion Emporium, he unlocked the shop and disabled all the security measures of the shop. The shop that he worked in was situated on the main street of Laverdale and is considered one of the best alchemist shops in the whole Gorgon kingdom. His boss owns the building at the backside of the shop, it serves the purpose of a warehouse to store all the ingredients. The back building also hosts some laboratories as well as an herb garden on the roof, making a haven for alchemists like him.

As the apprentice of Lady Gizelle Salvatore, his job was to take care of administrative decisions around the shop and warehouse. Like always he went around the warehouse to check the warehouse inventory and recheck the shop inventory. And finally, after tending herbs in the garden on the roof, he made his way to his office.

They have received a ton of orders in the past month and because of the absence of Lady Gizelle, most of the orders remained unfulfilled. Thus he had to go through these orders by the end of the day or he would blamed for everything. But there was no way he fill these orders as it would take a higher rank awakened one to fulfill them. That is why he had resigned himself to his faith and was ready to earful from the Lady. After all, this was not a new thing for him.

As he got into his office, he immediately started working on the orders. Soon the only sound that was reverberating from the compound of scribbling noises from his quill. A few minutes passed by and the back door of the warehouse was opened and someone walked in.

He didn't know who came in, but only employees of the shop had the access code to the backdoor, so he was not worried. Soon he started smelling the smell of Clemund leaves, his favorite tea. From the smell, he realized who had come in from the back door. And sure enough, a few minutes later a man in his late fifties enters his office with a huge cup of tea in his hands.

"I see you are working hard as always." The man said while taking a seat opposite him. He then placed the cup in front of him. "I heard that the bitch is returning today? Is that true?"

He put down his papers and looked at the man. "That bitch has a name. And she is our boss." He then picked up the cup and took a big sip of piping hot tea. "And yeah she is returning today."

"She would be always a bitch for me. And why are you not referring to her by her proper name? Don't tell me you have a soft spot for that bitch." The old man grunted. "If you do have a soft spot for her then we cannot be friends anymore."

"I don't like Gizelle. She is a beautiful lady and all, but I. Do. Not. Have. Soft. Spot. For. Her. I would rather fuck a whore in the corner of Hollowing Alley than put my dick in her hole."

"Now there is the man I am friends with…" the old man laughed, making Adui chuckle as well, "That reminds me, what the fuck is up with today's weather. It is freezing out there."

"I know, this morning I didn't even want to come to work. But as that bitch was coming back today, I had to. You know my fingers are getting cramps because of the cold. I do not know how I will pass the day."

"I dont know about that, but I am sure you will manage," Then the man slapped his leg and got up. "Now I should go back to work," Ben said and then went back to the warehouse.

***

Finally, I am done. Adui then put the last stack of paper aside and stretched his body. It was almost lunchtime. Before heading for a long and deserving lunch break, he figured he should check on all the workers. He pushed himself up, grabbed his walking cane, and started his round to observe all the employees.

When he entered the main display area, most of the salespeople were busy showcasing their products to customers. Everyone looked busy and nothing was out of order.

He was about to turn around and go back, but then he stopped. There was something wrong with mana in his surroundings. It might be annoying at times, but Adui was overly sensitive to mana in the air. And sensing the change he got curious about what was happening. He then looked at the door of the shop and saw that a carriage had just stopped outside the shop.