Chapter 29 – Acquaintance

"Thanks," Nick said as he looked at the boy again.

"No problem!" the boy said with a polite smile. "I will be working under you for the foreseeable future, sir."

Nick blinked a couple of times in surprise. "You're working for me?"

The boy nodded. "Yes. I'm a steward apprentice in sir Wyntor's family, sir. I'm going to be working for the two of you for the next couple of months to gain experience. If there is anything you need, just tell me. Please, also tell me if there is anything I can improve."

Nick felt a bit strange being superior to someone else.

He hadn't led anyone before.

"Sure, what's your name?" Nick asked.

  "Oh, excuse me!" the boy shouted nervously. "I forgot to introduce myself!"

"My name's Pator Tailor, sir. Please, refer to me as Pator."

Nick nodded. "Alright, Pator. You can call me Nick."

Pator looked quite surprised.

Calling the Chief Zephyx Extractor of a Zephyx Manufacturer by their first name?

"Okay, sure. Thank you," Pator said, not daring to call Nick by his name.

Nick nodded with a smile and walked out of the hospital, Pator following him.

"Where's Wyntor?" Nick asked as they walked towards the warehouse.

"Sir is currently in the family's estate. He told me that you do not need to work for a couple of days," Pator explained.

Nick furrowed his brows. "Why?" he asked.

"I don't know, sir," Pator said. "If I am not told the reason, it means it is not of my concern. However, sir has also said that someone will be telling you all the necessary things in the headquarters."

'Someone's going to tell me these things?' Nick thought with a raised eyebrow.

After walking for a bit, Nick arrived in front of the warehouse.

Whenever Nick saw the warehouse, he had to take a short moment to look at it.

It wasn't anything big or majestic, but it represented his future.

Nick just loved looking at it.

Eventually, Nick walked into the warehouse with Pator in tow.

As soon as Nick entered the warehouse, he immediately became wary.

At this moment, a cloaked figure was closely inspecting the console beside the Containment Unit of the Dreamer.

However, since Wyntor said that someone was waiting for Nick, he didn't immediately attack.

"Please, wait outside, Pator," the cloaked person said without turning around.

When he heard the voice, Pator realized who it was, and he quickly nodded. "Of course, sir."

The next moment, Pator walked out of the warehouse.

Meanwhile, Nick looked at the cloaked person with furrowed brows.

The voice was familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

The cloaked person turned to Nick. 

"How's reading practice going?" the person asked.

And then, Nick suddenly remembered where he had heard that voice from.

"Albert?" Nick asked in surprise.

The cloaked person, Albert, chuckled and removed the cloak, revealing his grey and black hair.

When Nick saw Albert's face, he smiled brightly.

"What are you doing here?" Nick asked as he walked closer.

"Wyntor told me what happened," Albert said. "He thought you might need a bit of guidance since this is your first Specter."

When Nick heard that, he released a sigh of relief.

Naturally, Nick had been quite nervous about the Dreamer.

How was he supposed to get Zephyx out of the Dreamer?

Nick had no idea.

Luckily, Albert was now here, making things much easier.

"Yes, I think I could use some help," Nick said.

Albert chuckled a bit and turned to the console.

"Everything looks fine," he said. "Prephyx levels are elevated, but that's to be expected since it is currently recovering. Zephyx levels are at zero, but that's also expected. The Dreamer is not a Specter that passively gives off Zephyx."

"I already took a look at it earlier, and I have to say, you really went to town on this one," Albert said with a chuckle. "The poor thing is so beat up that it doesn't even want to move right now. It didn't even move when I poked it."

Nick looked with a worried look at Albert. "It's not dying, right?"

"Oh, nah, you don't need to worry about that. It's quite hard to kill a Specter. To kill it, you would need to destroy the core in its head or shred its torso to pieces. Injuries that would kill humans just put Specters in a sort of stasis or hibernation, and as long as they are not isolated from Prephyx, they will recover quite rapidly," Albert explained.

Nick nodded in relief. 

He didn't know what he would have done if the Dreamer died after all that had happened.

"Everything looks good," Albert said once more as he lightly slapped the console.

Then, he turned to Nick. "Wanna go get Zephyx out of it right now?"

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Wyntor said that the Dreamer is too injured to be worked with and that it will take a couple of days."

Albert's smile widened. "He's right."

Then, Albert took a small bottle out of one of his pockets and waved it around a bit. "But he doesn't know I have this."

"What's that?" Nick asked as he looked at the bottle with interest.

"The stuff you've been bathing in," Albert said, "Just a lot stronger."

Nick remembered the green bath as he looked at the green liquid.

"Wait, you're using that on the Dreamer?" Nick asked.

"Why not?" Albert asked with a grin.

"Well, what if something happens?" Nick asked.

Albert just snorted. "What's supposed to happen? Nick, I'm a level four Extractor. I can kill the Dreamer with a casual kick."

Nick scratched the back of his head.

Sure, Albert was powerful, but Nick still felt that it was a bit weird to heal a Specter with expensive medicine.

"I mean, sure, if you want to," Nick said with a shrug.

Albert's smile widened, and he mischievously moved his eyebrows up and down.

Then, Albert pressed a button on the console, and a moment later, the personnel door to the Containment Unit opened.

Albert walked in without hesitation, and Nick followed him nervously.