Poison (13)

Darius spent the night absorbing dark aether particles. Aetherheart development was a long-term process, and some progressions could take years. If one never used others aetherhearts or aether crystals, they would probably never reach past the empowered aetherheart. However, in the early stages of one's journey, it was effective.

When the dark particles benefiting him started to dissipate, Darius slept for a couple of hours to replenish himself.

Inside the holy grand temple of Celestria were three people. The entire place would usually be filled with nuns, priests, paladins, and devout followers, but currently, it was nearly empty. It was truly a majestic building, the craftsmanship of the structure could only be described as artistic.

Behind a magnificent altar stood the magician Cardinal Ignatius, dressed in his pure white gown. On his left was the leader of all Paladins in Celestria, Grand Paladin Roland, who was renowned for being at the early ethereal aetherheart stage; he had white hair, not representing his age but it was linked to the light affinity he wielded.

Although the dark element was the rarest element its counterpart light wasn't as rare as one would assume though it was still uncommon to see. The ethereal stage had dramatically affected his body with effects only Roland knew.

The odd one out seemed to be a man in dark purple silk hooded robes, similar to the ones worn by the woman named Edith in Arathoria. He stood beneath the altar with his arms crossed, and there was nothing visibly different between him and Edith except his deeper voice, taller stature of around 6'4, and of course his gender.

"So, one of them is alive, you say? I thought we agreed you'd eliminate all those wretched beasts with dark magic." The Cardinal's anger was palpable, an emotion he usually didn't show especially to this extent. Roland glanced at the Cardinal from the side of his eye, noting the change in his demeanor.

'The Cardinal seems to be an entirely different person around this organization, it was the same with the previous man,' Roland thought.

"I'm aware of the deal we made, your eminence, but this...'beast' is quite the slippery one. Considering your hatred, and everlasting desire, wouldn't it be fitting for you to finish the job?" Said the man in purple, even in the presence of such powerful figures, he stayed as calm as he could.

"Has the Whispering Circle really fallen this low, that they can't kill an awakened aetherheart boy?" The Cardinal snorted disdainfully.

"We have our reasons," he replied simply, his tone devoid of emotion.

The Cardinal continued to smirk while he thought.

"Roland, I want three resonant aetherheart Paladins to hunt it down... What's its name again?" asked the Cardinal looking back to the purple figure.

"Darius Creed is his full name. Our Whisper in Arathoria has mentioned his last known location was Silvershade Forest." Once again, his voice lacked any emotion.

The man in purple did a 180 turn and began walking outside the temple. As he turned, a purple tattoo on his wrist came into view, the same tattoo was on Edith from Arathoria but hers was on the forearm and wasn't noticeable. Not enough of it was shown to see what it was.

"Have you been excused?" the Cardinal's tone carried arrogance and frustration.

"You may have power in here, Cardinal, but please remember who you talk to. The Whispering Circle is everywhere." With those words, he stepped outside. Suddenly, a lightning bolt struck him from above without warning, and the man disappeared with it, nowhere to be seen. And yet the sky had not a cloud in sight.

"Would you like me to give pursuit, your eminence?" asked Roland.

"It's not worth the trouble... Dispatch your Paladins within the week; the journey is long."

After Darius woke up from his three-hour sleep, he spent a couple of hours claiming Levy's aetherheart because he knew the store he needed hadn't opened yet. He just reached the 50% mark before realizing how quickly time had passed, creating a fine half-blue, half-dark heart.

He cleaned his equipment and clothing using water given by the owners of the resistance; he then used dark magic to draw the water from within his belongings, leaving them dry. He had watched his father do it once and was quite jealous. Believing himself to be independent enough, he didn't want to ask his father for help with his own clothes. His father watched his son struggling to hang his clothes for half an hour without moving an inch to help.

Once he got changed and ready, Darius left the hotel and returned to the high street. He had already seen the shop he wanted, the only one of its type in Stonebrook. It had a simple name: Stonebrook Apothecary.

Like the Gilded Edge Smith, this shop also featured the sound of an entry bell. A woman with a loose ginger braided ponytail and freckles darted on her face sat behind the counter. She looked at Darius as he entered, but he seemed more interested in the items on shelves than in her. Soon he'd found both the items he was looking for.

"How much are the smoke bombs, beautiful?" Darius asked, his tone both polite and cheeky. Darius had no desire to engage in unnecessary battles; it simply wasn't his area of expertise. Smoke bombs had proven themselves countless times quickly restored his stealth in tough situations.

"T-they are 5 serens each," the young woman was quite startled by Darius's demeanor, a light blush on her face, not many visited Stonebrook. It might have been easy for Darius to enter but not for the simple folk and the young woman didn't have much conversation with people her age especially men.

"Hmm, interesting. And do you, by chance, have a strong poison that takes effect within a day or two of induction... I know it's quite specific?" Darius asked with a false smile. He'd feigned a wince of pain over the price of smoke bombs.

"OF COURSE!" The girl realized she had been too loud and covered her mouth. Darius just continued smiling as she found and opened a chest with two locks.

The poison was in a rather fancy bottle for such a violent liquid.

"This poison is called the Baneroot Toxin, derived from the elusive baneroot fungus. It attacks the central nervous system, causing gradual numbness and weakness in the limbs, followed shortly by complete paralysis in the body. Victims remain conscious but unable to move or communicate unless an antidote is administered or they die." The girl adopted a professional tone as she listed its deadly effects. She then revealed it cost 50 Serens in total. Which was quite cheap.

Darius bought the poison for its base price and purchased eight smoke bombs for 3 Serens each after convincing her to lower the price. They talked briefly and then he left.

He had an addiction. He didn't need to trick or manipulate her; he could have paid for it without issue. It was a flaw of his, an addiction to trick and deceive. He also felt little remorse for his actions; she was so nice and probably gave him a discount on that poison too and yet this is how he repaid her. Since his youth, the elders had alwaysnoticed it.

When discussing specifics with Kieran and Elena, they informed him about the two different wells in the village: one for the soldiers and the other for civilians. Darius intended to poison the water supply, rendering most of the soldiers unable to move and causing them to die from shock, dehydration, or starvation unless someone else intervened.

The last thing he needed to do before he left was to learn some key family abilities.