Miles Lykaon sat at his desk, twirling a glass of grape red Pinot Noir wine in his hand, gazing through his window, observing the peaceful Lykaon gardens.
It was a moonless night and the dozen or so light drones in the air were not sufficient to illuminate the entirety of the massive garden. Particularly, the interior of the hedge maze which spanned several hundred square meters and took up a quarter of the garden.
Leafy green hedges formed the walls of a labyrinth, twisting and turning into dark unlit paths he should've known as well as the back of his hand. Unfortunately, the fae empowered bramble and thistle had ruined and deformed the maze garden into something he was no longer familiar with.
Seeing the old maze in such bad condition, only a shadow of what it used to be, made Miles's heart ache.
Suddenly, a voice called out from the doorway, "Master Miles, I've just received information pertaining to a rumored Faetality booster serum. I'll be taking my leave to investigate."
Miles calmly turned towards the voice. It was a tall elderly man of Eastern Descent, and despite his old age, the prudently ironed black and white suit hinted to the finely built muscles underneath. This was Zhan Shen, his trusted butler, bodyguard, and guardian.
Taking a sip of his 1000 Fae gold wine, Miles posed a question, "Old Zhan, the maze garden is in horrible condition. When can we hire someone to clean up the bramble?"
The elderly butler heaved a sigh, "You already know the answer..."
But seeing that his young ward continued to remain silent, Zhan Shen shook his head in exasperation, "Very well, I will play along Master Miles.
As you already know, the invading bramble is a mutated Fae variant. Burning or cutting it was found to be useless as it grows back in an instant. Only a Faehuman with the ability to manipulate plants, a master of Floramancy, might be able to remove it permanently. However, considering the intensity of this bramble, they would have to be extremely strong.
Unfortunately, not only are such Faehumans hard to find, they would never sully their reputation by cleaning up someone's garden. And even if they did, I'm afraid we could not afford the price to hire them."
Miles nodded silently, taking another sip of his wine.
It truly was an unsolvable problem. The only individuals capable of solving the issue would never solve it. A real paradox, and despite thinking for hours, he could not come up with an alternative solution.
Meanwhile, a rather mischievous grin had appeared on the Butler's wizened face, "Now perhaps, if the young master were willing to give up some of his wine, some of the stuff you keep locked away, we might be able to afford a temporary solution. Although it tastes no different from grocery wine to me, the price tags are quite literally insane! My old drinking buddies may even be willing to help, in exchange for the wine, of course."
Miles gave the cheeky old Butler a deadpan look.
Old Zhan was suggesting his friends burn down the bramble with fae-fire and slash it with fae-wind. But Miles knew from experience that this was an extremely temporary solution. It would at best last a week before the bramble grew back.
Ultimately, it would be nothing but a grand waste of his mother's precious wine.
He was sure Zhan Shen was suggesting this, simply to poke fun at his love of good wine.
Seeing Miles's reaction, the elderly butler's grin only grew wider.
And that grin confirmed it.
Miles rolled his eyes, taking another sip of the wine out of spite, and asked, "Informant and price?"
Despite the suddenness of the question, Zhan Shen answered instantly, putting all thoughts of jokes aside, "Nakamura Hayato, with a common Faetality of Eta-67. He's ability-less, but enhanced, and works as a courier for the White Snakes, a mediocre gang in the outer reaches of Capital City, the same gang rumored to possess the Faetality Booster Serum. 1 million dollars."
Miles raised an eyebrow, "Way too cheap for risking his life. It's a trap."
The butler nodded with a confident smirk, "Almost definitely. Doesn't hurt to check it out though. Well, it won't hurt me at least."
It was Miles's turn to shake his head in exasperation. Despite being in his sixties, Zhan Shen sure loved to brawl.
However, unlike his butler, he didn't make fun of people for their preferred hobbies. Thus, he simply raised his wine glass and wished him well, "Happy head cracking then."
Zhan Shen nodded with a smile, "As you wish. But..."
His gaze shifted to a closed briefcase, covered in dust, by the side of Miles's desk, "By the time I get back, could you choose your first serum, Master Miles? They're only enhancement serums, making the decision not even that important. It's already been several months since I purchased them, shouldn't you at least take a look? Where's your sense of curiosity when it's needed, eh?"
Seeing Miles remained unresponsive, the butler pressed on, "You really shouldn't worry, Master Miles. There is no conclusive evidence that proves the Faetality count will stop rising once a serum is used."
To that, Miles responded sharply, "Right back at you old Zhan. There is no conclusive evidence that it won't stop rising either."
Seeing his ward being so stubborn, the butler heaved an annoyed sigh.
This was a debate they had had on many occasions, and it never ended with one correct answer.
Zhan Shen knew this, and Miles knew this.
Unwilling to be dragged into the same old argument once more, both the ward and the guardian stayed silent, as if with tacit understanding.
In the end, Zhan Shen opted to be the better man and gave in. He bowed in goodbye, his left palm meeting the right fist, and walked away.
Miles remained at his desk, silent, thinking, as he finished what was left of the Pinot Noir. However, his ears were peeled for the sound of the main door opening and closing.
Moments later, he heard it, confirming that old Zhan had indeed left. Now alone in Lykaon mansion, he couldn't help but spare a glance at the closed briefcase.
Despite its contents being worth around 6000 fae gold pieces, he had left it untouched all this time.
As much as Miles hated to admit it, Zhan Shen had piqued his curiosity. The old butler knew how to push his buttons.
Grabbing the briefcase, he dropped it onto his desk in a cloud of dust.
Waving his hand, he carefully unlocked the latch and opened it, revealing a high-quality black styrofoam base. Embedded in this styrofoam were six syringes filled with colored liquid. Three were green, and the other three purple. The liquid bubbled with supernatural energy, hinting at the power hidden within.
Miles's eyes widened at his first sight of the current world's most intricate weapons, the Fae Serums.
For the millionth time, he couldn't help but marvel at the ingenuity of Andre Da Vinci, the inventor of the first Fae Serum.
When the majority of the world had spit on and burned the discarded corpses of the Fae out of hatred and anger, Andre alone had seen the potential hidden within. He had been inspired, and used this inspiration to change the fate of humanity, turning the tides in a lost war.
Miles had many opinions about many people, but with regards to Andre Da Vinci, he only had respect.
Noticing small labels wrapped around the syringes, he started to read with mild interest.
A green serum read, "GS-001. Goblin tier Strength enhancement serum. Minimum requirement of 5 Faetality for use."
While a purple serum read, "SI-001. Sprite tier Intelligence enhancement serum. Minimum requirement of 5 Faetality for use."
If what was printed on the labels were to be believed, the three green syringes were Goblin Tier Serums, each enhancing a single physical attribute, Strength, Agility, or Endurance, while the three purple syringes were Sprite Tier Serums each enhancing a specific mental attribute, Intelligence, Wisdom, or Influence.
Faetality, on the other hand, was a qualitative quantity that determined the number of serums that could be used by a single person, without being quite literally "fatal".
Miles paused in thought, finally sparing a somber glance at the open file on the very center of his desk. It was the most recent medical report from his Faesician, and revealed his current Faetality to be 997.
This put his potential on the upper tier of Zeta, just 3 points short of reaching Epsilon, just 3 points short of protecting his legacy.
Honestly speaking, his Faetality of Zeta-997, was quite uncommon in the world and would've been cause for celebration in literally any other family. For instance, if he wished, he could use all 6 serums before him and still have plenty of room to spare.
But to Miles, without those last 3 points, it was worthless. It was the reason he couldn't use a serum just yet and risk hindering his Faetality potential...
Having fallen into a bad mood, he slammed the briefcase close, pouncing out of his chair and out of his room.
His target was the gym, where he intended to let out some steam.