AITMW- ch27 - Duality
Early in the morning, Adam went to the administrator's office in the Magic Tower, he had already eaten his breakfast and was ready to start his plans.
He knocked on the door and heard Stevens shout from the inside, welcoming the visitor in.
Adam entered the chamber and was immediately assaulted by the brightness of the room. Steven's office was painted white all around, even his furniture was pristine white, reflective even. In the back of the room, stood the administrator's desk, situated in the direction of the door and having sunlight poking at the desk from behind. On the sides of the room, bookshelves occupied both walls, all clean and orderly arranged. In the centre, right before the desk, stood a white oval table at which a bowl of fruits was situated alongside a set of glasses and a bottle of alcohol. At one side of the table, stood a luxurious couch that was facing a similar armchair that stood on the other side.
"Oh, Hello Adam. What brings you here?" Asked Steven, standing up from a pile of files that were neatly arranged on his desk, after which he walked over to greet the visitor.
"Hi Steven, I've come to apply for a laboratory, is that possible?" Answered Adam, a tingle of uncertainty appeared in his voice.
"A laboratory? Yes, it is. Come, let's sit and note all specifics." He gestured towards the low table.
"So, what are your expectations for the facility? Do you need something specific?" Sked Steven.
"Well, I don't know what could the laboratory look like, but my biggest reason to want one is that I am going to do a lot of dissecting while I perform research on a few corpses. I would also appreciate suggestions."
Steven stood up and walked over to one of the shelves. "Hmmm... We can make a draining system in the chamber, so the blood doesn't stay on the floor, a dissecting table would also be needed." He talked while looking through the book. " Oh.. how about a cooling system in the storage room?."
"A cooling system? How would it work? Is it the same that is used with refrigerators?" Questioned Adam.
"You heard about it?"Asked Steven.
"Haven't you heard? Max committed the gravest crime I heard of in recent months, and named our team 'Refrigerators'.
Like, what the fuck!!!"
The administrator chuckled and answered our frustrated mage.
"Yeah, I can imagine that. He wouldn't care about a name, so naming it to piss you off would be a good deal for him."
"So, how does the cooling system work?" Adam returned to the earlier topic.
"We place a tablet in the room, at which a cooling rune is engraved. As long as we feed it mana, it will cool the temperature around it." Explained Steven. "By the way, I am obliged to ask you If you are going to perform your experiments in pursuit of the death magic or necromancy, and inform you that if someone is caught at such thing they will be immediately executed."
"I am not. Could you tell me how such a rune would work? I haven't seen anything like that. Chief Edgar told me only about the types of runes, unfortunately." The mage quickly changed the subject in the trajectory of his curiosity, his green eyes sparkled as if he found a new toy.
"I am not a person you should ask for such information. Apart from the classification into 'spellspoke' and 'worldspoke', all I know is that it is a spell permanently embodied in the stone. Anyone can use it, as long as they have some mana to spare. Even I." Answered Steven.
"So, it is essentially a waste of time for a mage if he doesn't want to sell it? What I understand is that nothing changes about the spell, is that correct?"
"I heard it has better performance, a more stable one. But that's just rumours. I personally don't believe them, if that was the truth mages would not be so valuable in battle. They would just send people with rune tablets instead of them." The administrator responded. "Returning to the previous conversation, your laboratory must have a draining system, a big table and a storage room with a cooling rune. Aside from those features, we will make a small alchemy station there and a normal table to write your notes. Anything else?" He concluded.
"No, that's all. thank you. Oh, don't place the alchemy station, I have no knowledge whatsoever about alchemy, it would just collect dust there.
Goodbye, Steven." Adam spoke on his way out.
"Okay, goodbye."
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Adam walked in the freezing coldness of the winter day, heading towards the adventurer's guild.
After leaving the tower a small podium caught his eye.
On the elevation, gallows were located. And on the gallows hung a woman in her thirties.
Her lifeless corpse swung from side to side in the wind, her stiff body covered in snow. She was shoeless, and her feet were bloodied, unrecognisable mess. On her shoulder sat a bird, who ate her left eye out of its socket, the right one was already gone.
Although the woman was hanged the other day, Adam learned of her fate only today, while eating breakfast in the company of Cynthia.
She told him that the woman was hanged for murder of the highest order, and was brought from prison to square shoeless as punishment for adultery. She firstly cheated on her husband, then when he found out about her affair, she killed him and tried to cover her tracks to keep him silent and keep her reputation.
Needless to say, she was bad at creating a false scenario, and the truth was quickly revealed.
The horrifying sight left Adam's field of vision as he left the square, moving through the main street towards the adventurers' guild.
This time, when he entered the building no one was taking him for a fraud, a difference a simple robe can make.
People separated as he walked between them, making his way towards the counter.
"Hello young master, what can I help you with today?" Asked one of the attendants at the counter. A polite smile adorned her face.
"I would like to post a mission." Answered Adam.
The attendant swiftly took a stack of papers from the side and waited with a pen ready to write.
"Could you tell me the specifics?" She asked.
"I want corpses of three beasts, two in the Intermediate realm and one in the elementary realm. The elementary one must be of the same species as one of the Intermediate ones, specifically one with a magic core. The other wild beast should have an aura core. All the corpses must be as undamaged as possible, if they are badly damaged, or something happened to the core, the quest will not be considered as done. Can you enforce that?" Specified Adam.
"Yes, of course." The attendant replied.
"Could you also transfer the corpses to my storage room in the Magic Tower? I will probably not be present in the city when the mission is completed." Asked Adam.
"Yes, thou you will need to notify the tower's administration about it so our employees are allowed inside." She said.
"What about the reward, If the young master will be out of the city, you will need to give the reward to the guild immediately." Reminded him of the attendant.
"Is 40 gold coins enough?" Asked Adam, in a desperate attempt to save some money.
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"So... how is the cat?" Asked Adam.
He stood before his uncle in his room in the tavern, a cat slept on the bed nearby.
"She is great, thou I fear she will face a difficult birth. She sleeps all day and only wakes up when I am about to feed her. I had a cat when I was younger, he also was sleepy but he was out all night and sometimes he just disappeared for days. She isn't even a little bit active, like if she was bout to give birth at any moment." Answered Dorian, he looked at the cat with pity and regret, as if he blamed himself for not finding her earlier.
Adam sat on the bed beside the kitty and started to caress her. She was fluffy, but her tummy was bloated and hard. Adam didn't press there, being very careful around her.
"There is an animal specialist living near the church, go to him when her labour starts, I left some money to cover the expenses on the table, don't be stingy with her." The mage ended the conversation and left the tavern.
He felt responsible for their fluffy friend, so even though he knew that his uncle was quite rich at the moment, he gave him his own money for the kitty expanses.
Today, was a hard day, he saw death, prosecuted his dreams and witnessed a creature ready to create new life. Quite a duality, or rather a Triality(?).
'It's weird how we can experience such a variety of emotions in such a short timeframe. Grief and anger caused by the death of the criminal. The happiness of pursuing one's dreams, and worry about the way new life is born. Not only are some of them contradicting each other, but some also aren't exactly logical in their situations.
Having something to think about, Adam went to eat dinner.