In the dark office room, situated in an unknown tower. An old man is reading a scroll calmly while floating a few inches from the floor. Every side of the room is covered with shelves full of books while stacks of paper populated the corner. A small fire dancing in the air is the only thing that gives the room light. The door slowly swings open as three robed men entered before bowing deeply to the old man who doesn't seem to care when they entered the room.
"Sage…that man. Evan Everlock is indeed suspicious as you believed" the man in front said to the old man.
"He was able to activate the handle through unknown means. It seems that he has the ability to perceive things that we can't. How should we handle this matter?" the man continued. The old man yawned before taking a look at them.
"By activate. What do you mean?" the old man asked with a bored and disinterested tone.
"The handle started burning and setting the grass on fire. Other than that, we don't know about the rest of the items that man bought if he also activated them."
"That's quite a bargain. That handle isn't as important as we thought. Besides, without the blade, what can he do with it. Don't bother him any longer. He might be suspicious but the first prince trusted him. As long as he continues helping the first prince, keep an eye on him but don't do anything that can be perceived as hostility. Understood?" the old man asked the three who nodded.
"Yes, sage" the three of them bowed
"You may go. Unless something interesting or worrying happened. Don't disturb me"
The three of them hurriedly left the room and closed the door as the old man returned to the scroll he was reading.
Meanwhile, in the mansion. Catalinna opened the door before grabbing a nearby chair and sitting on it. In her hand are a glistening potion and a violet shard with contorted faces covering it. There is barely an audible sound of screaming coming from the shard but Catalinna wasn't too bothered by it. It was already nighttime, but she didn't see any signs of Lawrence.
"He must've gone somewhere. Aghh. Such a pain. He should've said something that he's gonna leave." Catalinna whined while occasionally shaking the potion and flipping the violet shard. Her eyes teared with boredom and sleepiness making it hard for her to wait.
To get the items, she went to the nearby cemetery where Lawrence and Luke got their relic and investigated it before getting kicked out by the skeleton wearing a cloak. Still, she found what she wanted. A soul shard.
A soul shard is a magic shard that contains the souls of people who died near it. Every soul inside it is essentially locked, getting tortured forever until someone breaks it or absorbs it. It contains nearly 300 souls which Catalinna can absorb to gain soul fire. As the author, she knows every place where a soul shard is hidden but the nearest one is in the Mokusei Dukedom. It would take her a day to reach that place. Meanwhile, the potion that she's holding contains the essence of purity. A potion that can awaken latent abilities to their maximum potential.
Although she's hesitant to use soul fire, Lawrence is indeed right. They already made an enemy of the Empire and the black syndicate and more importantly, she only has a year to save her mother from certain death. If she drinks the potion and absorbed the soul shard, the soul fire that she will gain will be purer and be more similar to the first soul fire used by the Creator. The reason why demons gained the power to wield soul fire is that they reside near the last wall. Where souls of the people who died are laid to rest. The souls created an indestructible wall that no being can destroy after eons of death and destruction.
Catalinna sighed once more as she wanted to head back to her room to sleep only for the door to open. Lawrence walked inside wearing a mask before taking it off as he noticed Catalinna sitting near the table with annoyance clearly written on her face.
Lawrence wondered why she was there before looking at Luke who shrugged. Not knowing why Catalinna seems to be annoyed at them or why she's waiting for them
"Well boss, I'll be going to my room. See you tomorrow" Luke immediately run upstairs as Lawrence sighed. He grabbed a nearby chair and sat in it, waiting for Catalinna to say something.
"Where have you been?" she asked
"What are you, my wife?" Lawrence lightly joked before catching a punch from Catalinna who didn't appreciate his jokes.
"I went to Kinsei Dukedom to show the effects of the cure to the First Prince. I also participated in the auction. Here, take this" Lawrence shakes the space ring before grabbing the scale that nearly falls to the floor. Catalinna's eyes widened as she immediately scoops the scale from Lawrence's hands.
"Where did you get this?!" she said with amazement in her voice, before realizing that Lawrence is staring at her. She coughed before putting the scale on the table calmly.
"In the auction, it seems that you know what this is?" Lawrence asked with a tone of interest.
"This is the scale of the fire dragon. Not just any dragon, but an origin dragon where every flame in existence comes from. The scales should be in the central continent…"
"Origin dragon? What are they" Lawrence asked
"Oh, they are the elite minions of the progenitor of origin. That was killed by the angels and demons after the creation of this planet." Catalinna explained while being mesmerized by the scale.
"What does it do? You appear to be extremely excited by this item" Lawrence commented as Catalinna winced before smiling awkwardly.
"Huh? Me? No!… I just like seeing shiny things. It doesn't do anything besides shining beautifully" Catalinna replied hastily
"You might be more knowledgeable than me but I'm not stupid. Don't worry, I'm giving that to you. No strings attached." Lawrence smiled but Catalinna looked at him suspiciously.
"Really? No strings attached? Why?"
"Hmm…it isn't that useful for me. Why would I hoard the items that I don't need? You might find that item to be useful so why not just give it. We are allies, not enemies."
"I see. You're right. We're allies no matter how annoying you are. I guess i have been holding back on some important information" Catalinna said with guilt in her voice but Lawrence merely shrugged
"The past isn't important so we can only look at the future. I need your help and you need mine. If you have any information that might be useful, please share it with us." Lawrence smiled while Catalinna nodded before sighing.
"This scale can help a fire-attribute mage or paragon gain the fire of origin. The original fire cannot be changed and simply exist. This fire can burn anything without the use of mana. There are no spells that exist to control the original fire. Meaning if I want to use the original fire, I can only control it with my concentration to move it with my will."
"I assume that the chance of gaining the original fire is slim" Lawrence replied
"Slim? It's almost impossible. You have more chance of winning the lotto twice in a row than gaining the original fire with a single scale" Catalinna scoffed
"But there's a way. There is a potion that can give certainty. It means if I can get that potion, I am guaranteed to get the original fire. It's called Absolute Potion. There exist three of them, at least that I know of. The closest one though is in the nearby kingdom, hidden under the throne of Wanggou Kingdom. The wealthiest kingdom while boasting a strong military. The so-called second only to the Swordwin Empire. So it might be hard to get it" Catalinna scratched her head upon Lawrence's stare.
"We'll tackle that matter later. It seems that you have a soul shard and a potion of some sort" Lawrence glanced at the items laid on the table. Catalinna answered Lawrence about the soul shard and the potion as Lawrence contemplated the effects of the potion.
"Do you think Samantha can replicate the potion?"
"I don't know. She has been in her room taking care of Geiryst the whole day. So I haven't seen her"
"I see. Then never mind. Would you use that right now?" Lawrence asked but they heard footsteps from the stairs as they noticed Samantha with Geiryst behind her. Lawrence simply glanced at them before looking at Catalinna.
"What potion?" Samantha asked with her eyes gleaming with excitement through the mask. Geiryst appeared to be the same as before but there seems to be a clear line between him and Lawrence as he simply stared at Lawrence.
"Oh, here. Take a look at this. " Catalinna handed the potion to Samantha who gazed at it with wonder and amazement.
"Amazing….This potion is godly. Even 7-star alchemists can't create something like this. Can I take a little bit of this to study? Please?" Samantha grabbed Catalina by the hand. Hoping to study it so she can improve her potion-making. Catalinna chuckled before nodding.
"Only a little bit okay? I need to use that"
"Of course! Thank you!" Samantha keenly replied. She lifted the cork from the potion before taking a small vial from her pocket. She lifted a few drops of the potion and putting into the small vial. Once the vial reached halfway full, she stopped and closed the potion.
"Thank you. If you can find any potion with these qualities. Can I study it?"
"Sure, It's fine. Just tell me" Catalinna smiled while Samantha nodded with the vial in her arms. Samantha tugged Geiryst by the arm as he winced before smiling.
"I'm fine. I can just get stronger, strong enough to protect you" Geiryst commented upon noticing Samantha's worry.
"So it seems that you have recovered. I trust that you won't kill me this time" Lawrence coldly stared at Geiryst. Who briefly looked away before deciding to stare at Lawrence. He gripped his fist tighter but he calmed down. Geiryst knows that it was his own fault, for his weakness and reliance on a power that can be easily destroyed, to be honest. He felt that he need to thank Lawrence for giving him a second chance but he remembered what he did to Samantha. There is still animosity in his heart.
"Of course. I don't intend to appear in the church again. Besides, I still have my teleportation magic. I can just find ways to grow stronger so i can protect her from you"
"Then you better find a way to grow faster. I'm quite impatient." Lawrence smirked which pissed off Geiryst but he simply sneered.
"I'll be going to the laboratory right now." Samantha runs off to the basement as Geiryst can only watch her back. A sigh escaped from Geiryst as he heads upstairs to his room to go back to sleep.
"Hey! Why did you piss off Geiryst? It was a traumatic experience for him you know" Catalinna argued upon Lawrence's remarks.
"It's just some sort of revenge on my part. Anyway, i'll be going to my room now" Lawrence yawned as he got up from his chair only to be held down by Catalinna by the arm as he nearly crashed to the floor from the strength exuding from Catalinna's right arm.
"I would really appreciate it if you don't pull my arm away from my body"
"Sorry! It was an accident. I need you to guard me since absorbing the soul shard can lead to some unknown effects." Catalinna awkwardly laughed.
"Fine. I don't have anything particular thing that I would need to do" Lawrence fixed his suit before sitting back in the chair.
Catalinna nodded as she drinks the potion before hurriedly touching the soul shard with her fingertips. A scream of a hundred souls escaped from the shard as the sound echoed through the mansion. Everyone was immediately woken up except for Samantha who was too busy inspecting the potion. Vania immediately went downstairs with her serpent familiar wrapping Luke by the tail who was getting dragged by it. While Geiryst merely looked downstairs and upon confirming it was simply the soul shard, he returned to his room, disgruntled.
"W-what is happening on Catalinna? Is-is she alright?" Vania panicked as she was about to run towards Catalinna only to be stopped by her familiar. Luke only showed a mischievous smile as he found Catalinna glowing with souls surrounding her and every single of it is slowly getting pulled to her body.
"Sup, boss. I'm quite in a tight as you can see" Luke said to Lawrence who glanced at him.
"What happened to you?"
"The serpent was sleeping in front of Vania's door and when I run away from Miss Catalinna, I accidentally stepped on its tail. Causing it to snatch me" Luke tried shrugging but the tail was restricting his movement as he can only wiggle around. Lawrence nodded before glancing at Vania.
"She's alright. She's just absorbing the soul shard. She should be fine" Lawrence answered Vania's question as she breathes a sigh of relief.
Catalinna continued absorbing the soul shard as souls screamed in her ears but she didn't react. Her eyes remained closed as every soul is getting pulled into her body. A faint violet glow outlined her body as a small violet flame started forming on her left palm. Suddenly, a violent shockwave exploded as Lawrence blocked it with a gravity barrier while the serpent familiar just took it with its body. Protecting Vania and Luke who is still tied to its tail.
Catalinna slowly opened her eyes and three balls of flames manifested around her. Circling and burning brightly. The red normal fire, the white pure fire, and the purple soul fire. Each has distinct colors and effects. The normal fire has a weak output and low mana needs which means she can use it almost every time. The pure fire has a strong output and high mana needs, perfect for ending fights and seriously injuring the enemies. Lastly, the soul fire has low output but high mana needs but it has the effect of slowly damaging the soul of the enemy which has adverse effects in the long run. It has the ability to slowly weaken any being burned by it. A smirk and a confident smile appeared on her face as she felt powerful like she can fight Lawrence and win.