5:30 a.m Tuesday
Adryan was back on the roofs of Wolf Troath, following the brat Half-Beyonder.
'If Flora hadn't told me right now I'd be almost a 80% sure he's a Half-Marauder.' He thought with a raised eyebrow as he watched the boy move.
The boy moved between the people with skill, he spent a few moments looking at the people and then skillfully grabbing the wallets without the stolen people noticing.
Adryan narrowed his eyes at this.
Although the boy's ability to steal was good, it did not reach the expected level of a Beyonder.
The boy's speed was that of a normal child.
His hands were slow and his ability to remain discreet seemed to be simply a result of stealing from clueless people.
Adryan noticed how the people the boy stole were always distracted and were not paying attention to their surroundings.
'There were people who obviously have more money but the boy didn't steal from them. Why?'
Adryan easily located at least three people who had money.
He could easily tell by the shoes they were wearing and that they had more fat on their bodies.
In the East Borough, this was quite eye-catching but the boy did not steal from them.
And Adryan had an idea of why.
'Those people, unlike those he robbed, are alert and always look around, any sudden change catches their attention and they look at everyone with suspicion...'
For people who stole, these were the people they avoided as it was certain that they would defend themselves.
In the East Borough, someone with money would defend it with their tooth and nails.
And the boy seemed to know that and if Adryan went by yesterday, the boy wasn't very fast, so the Pathways that increase the body were discarded.
Adryan adjusted his black windbreaker and continued to follow the brat down Wolf Troath.
After a while, he saw him enter a herb store whose sign was quite old.
'I was already wondering where the smell of herbs he had came from, is it Half-Apothecary?' The redhead thought confused as he climbed on top of the herbal shop.
He put his ear to the floor and concentrated.
The store was the size of a small house so hearing what was going on inside was very easy for him.
Thanks to his enhanced hearing, he could make a mental picture of how the brat was talking to a skinny man.
"I want the same as always" the sound of falling coins rang out along the laughter of an old man.
"Give me a moment Jerry."
He heard the sound of jars being moved and boxes being opened, a paper bag being opened and delivered.
"Remember that the Grimm herb must be boiled and the moonlight herb must be ground and consumed together with the Grimm Herb water. This is the best medicine for your dad."
Adryan frowned hearinf this.
'Apothecary seems to be out of the question...'
Grimm herb was in itself a poisonous herb, while although the moonlight herb had healing properties this was only applied to the skin, if it was consumed the only thing it would achieve would be severe diarrhea and a slight fever.
The boy he now knew was named Jerry said nothing, he just left the herbal shop.
Adryan watched the boy as he finished hiding the bag inside his old T-shirt.
A smile formed on his lips as an idea formed in his mind.
"Flora I don't think it's necessary for us to wait for the child to go to the testing area." he whispered.
"It seems you have a good idea. That's not good" Flora replied while sighing tiredly.
....
Adryan followed Jerry from the rooftops, the boy quickening his pace.
It didn't take long for them to return to the old residential building.
He was left out but thanks to his hearing he knew the path the boy took.
Jerry went up to the third floor and entered a room.
Adrian looked where the boy had climbed and saw a window on the third floor.
He could hear the boy doing something in his room because of all the noise he was making.
He climbed the wall of the building quickly reaching the window. Poking his head slightly he saw that it was a corridor with numbered doors on the sides.
He tried to open the window but it was closed, he took a good look and saw that there was a hook on the other side.
'Luckily I came prepared' the redhead thought with a smile as he flexed his left forearm and the Hidden Blade came out.
He stuck the Blade into the window space and moved the hook out of the way.
Stopping flexing his forearm he let the Hidden Blade slide into his wrist, grabbing the window frame he lifted it up.
He bowed his head and entered the building.
The hallway had no carpet, which allowed him to see the old wood in it. He walked carefully to avoid ringing it and followed the trail left by the boy.
The trail led him to room 23 and he could hear something being boiled and the worried and somewhat high-pitched voice of a child.
"Dad, how are you feeling?"
There was no response and wasting no time, Adryan placed the Burnt Band on his arm.
He could tell that the boy was facing away from the door so to avoid alerting him he decided to use this approach.
He sent spirituality to the band and could feel the shadows in a radius of 15 meters.
He could feel a very good shadow behind the door so he decided to use this one.
A little more spirituality allowed him to Shadow Leap and in an instant, he was inside Jerry's room.
Looking ahead he could see how Jerry was in a corner holding the hand of a pale man who was lying on a mattress on the floor.
The room was small, barely able to hold 3 people. The only lighting was some candles on the sides.
He saw how the wall next to the bed where the pale man was lying was full of newspaper pages.
Some were front pages or pictures that were carefully torn from the newspaper.
Some of the entries were very familiar to him...
-THE CREED FELL AND THE FIRE MAGE OF EAST BOROUGH-
-The Fire Mage. Who is it? What is his motive?-
-The Fire Mage. Hero or Killer?-
-Illegal brothel destroyed, women, girls, and slaves freed and The Fire Mage returns -
The word Killer was heavily crossed out with a pencil and the word Hero was circled multiple times.
There were also others with drawings on them.
These were obviously made by a child, with rough, hard strokes.
But Adryan could still see that they were trying to show a man dressed in black with a white mask holding the hand of a boy with brown hair.
Adryan nearly choked on his saliva at this.
"You seem to have a fan" Flora said amused and Adryan felt his cheeks flush red.
Thanks to the fact that he had his mask on, it hide his blush but this was not something that could prevent Flora from seeing him.
She could see any part of the redhead's body that she wanted because she was inside him.
Seeing the blush that he had under his face was a piece of cake for her.
And she took the opportunity to tease the redhead with this.
"Ahh~ Princess is embarrassed~ I didn't know you could blush like that~ You look like a tomato~"
"That's it! That will be your nickname. Tomato Princess!"
Adryan's blush deepened as he bit his tongue to keep from growling.
'It's like Tia Norma again!' Adryan thought annoyed.
His aunt Norma had also given him an annoying nickname after doing something very very embarrassing.
He was 7 years old!
How was he supposed to tell Grandpa's special pills apart from candy!!
And who keeps those pills in a container of mentos!!!
They were both blue for fuck sake!!!!
But that didn't stop his aunt from giving him the nickname Viagrin...
Ignoring Flora's old woman's laugh, Adryan looked to the other corner of the room where a pot was boiling something.
'The Grimm Herb...'
He also saw next to the pot a mortar, and next to it, there were some dark blue herbs with white dots.
'He hasn't ground them yet...'
He was sure of that because the room didn't have the characteristic smell of ground herbs.
This was good for him.
This is the best time to start his plan.
So by falsely coughing he made his presence known.
The boy was visibly shocked for a moment, then he reached into his pants and pulled out a makeshift knife.
The boy turned around ready to attack but when he saw him, the boy froze and dropped the knife.
At that Adryan chuckled softly.
"Sorry for the inconvenience~"