It was only a few hours later that Cyrus had felt he had recovered enough to leave and return to where he was staying. If he was not paranoid enough to fear a sudden attack on the way back, he would have left even sooner as all he could think about was to return to his notes and record all that he had learned today. Every second that past was another second of lost time which made the inner voice of his all devouring thirst of knowledge and growth that burned within him grow louder and louder.
"Agh, I need to hurry and deal with this" thought Cyrus as he held his head as the voice within grew so loud it was threatening to overpower his own inner voice. "This mask brings many benefits, such as allowing me to be free from my weakling other half but there are drawbacks as well. The intense curiosity and enjoyment of new knowledge of my counterpart turns into obsession and intense desire. This does call into question the exact function of the mask though, oh I must stud- damn it that made it even louder".
Collecting himself as well as he could, he continued walking the path that would lead him back all the way to where he first entered to take the test. All the while his mind raced as he gave in more and more to his obsession, slowly but surely.
Without him even noticing it, he ended up in the original lobby that he had arrived in. A small open area in front of the entrance with the back of the room occupied by the lesser exam staff and some empty chairs that were to the left and right of the entrance. Well, mostly empty as there were still two occupied seats that stood in stark contrast of the otherwise empty area. Two seats occupied, one right next to the other with one of them containing a familiar figure and the other one not so familiar. As Cyrus entered the room and began approaching, the two broke their conversation and looked towards Cyrus. One of them stood up and said,
"Took you long enough brat. I saw all the other examinees eventually come out and leave but you never came back, been hours you know. I had half a mind to kill my way in there…" grumbled Fauve. "Luckily this man here talked me down, he's waiting for someone as well. Seems who he is waiting for didn't come with you though..."
"Not again, another mistake" thought Cyrus as realization washed over him. "I forgot to leave some parting words for Imran, all my hard work at manipulating him to my side will go to waste… unless.." he then looked towards the last man still sitting down in the seats. A young man, but still older than Cyrus, most likely in his twenties assuming he does not have ready access to Vita magic. He was wearing clothing that was of good quality, but nothing too flashy like what Imran was wearing.
Cyrus walked up to the man and asked with a polite tone that inwardly made him shudder in revulsion, "May I know the name of who you are looking for, perhaps I know him"
The man looked at him for a moment, perhaps trying to get a read on him, before saying "My young master's name is Imran, he was taking the exam today much like yourself. It would be hard to miss him with the way he dresses, have you seen him?"
"I have. There was an… extra… segment to the exam that we both took at the same time. I finished earlier than he did but he should be returning soon." While the man was absorbing the news, Cyrus took out something to write with and on and wrote down the location of his current lodgings. Handing it to the man he said,
"Written down here is where I am staying at currently, perhaps your young master would be interested in meeting up at a later date. For the upcoming few days, however, I am sure that he and I will be busy digesting our gains from the exam." Handing the paper to the somewhat puzzled man, who still expertly took and stored the information as any loyal servant would, Cyrus headed towards the exit.
Fauve caught up with him on the way out, somewhat annoyed that he had been flat out ignored.
"Why did you take so long, huh? I heard about how the exams are from both Cato and Adara before and neither of them mentioned some kind of extra part at the end… did you do something wrong?" asked Fauve suddenly.
"Why would you say that?" retorted Cyrus in return.
Fauve walked in closer towards Cyrus while flicking his wrists, two blades flicking out and into his hands from within his sleeves.
"Because, we are being followed by several people. It is impossible that such an organized group would be able to cause trouble in the inner sanctum, which means they are sanctioned" whispered Fauve, but his tone betrayed his slowly building fury.
Cyrus was first curious as to why Fauve was reacting with such intense emotion, as this was not the first time he had been secretly shadowed. Cyrus recalled the warning he had received from Caligo as he was leaving.
"Oh I forgot to mention, but if you say anything about the last part of the exam to anyone who is not qualified to know then you will be considered a traitor to the Empire. No pressure though"
Pondering for a moment Cyrus wondered who was considered qualified to know as he was not given any criteria for it as he said,
"It most likely has to do with the end of the exam, but they should not be an immediate threat. Just a precaution that was taken, at least for now."
Fauve was still not too pleased, as his rage increased ever more. Cyrus easily noticed this and wondered if this had to do something with his past rather than the present… either way he was pleased with the distraction from his inner obsessions.
As the pair left the inner sanctum, Fauve took the lead instead of Cyrus and started to head in a direction that was slightly off from where they were staying. While Cyrus had wanted to question Fauve, it seemed he was not in a negotiating mood.
"I could perhaps cool him down, but this could be a good chance to gather information. Besides, its interesting" thought Cyrus as he followed Fauve from behind, sporting a sadistic smile.