Adryan's room. 2 hours after explaining the plan.
Lying on his bed and looking at his ceiling, Adryan played with a small fireball that was slowly floating around him.
He was now only wearing an open white shirt that revealed his muscular torso and prominent pecs along with black pants.
"Adryan are you absolutely sure of what you are planning? I refuse to believe you're crazy enough to do it." Flora said still incredulous at the plan the man had explained a few hours ago.
No one was crazy enough to try to do what the redhead wanted to do.
The corners of the redhead's lips lifted pleased.
"Are you going to deny me that it's not a good idea? Qilangos would be so focused on escaping that he wouldn't be able to fight well. High risk has great gain."
Flora if she could would shake her head at the man's words and tug his ear hard just as a grandmother would do to her ill-behaved grandchild.
"You say that so easily. Don't you understand how ridiculous it is? It will be a fight not only against Qilangos but against the clock. Are you so confident in yourself? That you can finish it so quickly?"
Adryan smiled mysteriously.
"I have confidence in my strength and that I know enough about Qilangos. He's not stupid but he's not very smart either so I can get an idea of what he'll do."
Growling, Flora spoke annoyed.
"If anything goes wrong remember that not only will you die but you will drag me down with you. And I swear if that happens I'll be the one torturing you in hell."
"Ahahaha... At least you know yourself well and you know you will go to eternal flames but don't worry. I don't plan on dying." Adryan first laughed in amusement then said seriously.
"Tch* That arrogance will be the death of you. Besides, how are you so sure that that dwarf will agree to join the hunt? Almost your entire plan depends on her accepting." Flora asked with a click of her non-existent tongue.
"Hehe~ It seems that age is already affecting you being so negative all at once my dear Worm~ But don't worry I know the lady well, she won't be able to refuse once she hears me out." Adryan teased a little but the last he added with a dark tone.
With another jab at her age, Flora felt her nonexistent eyelid twitch.
"I'm not old!"
...
Opening his eyes and already seeing the all too familiar city covered in yellow smoke in the distance. Adryan let out a sigh and sat down on the yellowish ground with his knees crossed.
With a thought some objects flew towards him, the containers with the Barbarian, Hunter, and Lunatic characteristics along with a long wad of bills.
Adryan looked at the characteristics for a few moments before pushing Lunatics aside.
He then grabbed the bills and began to count them.
"That would be 1300 pounds..." He said with a sigh as he looked at the money next to him.
After buying Charlotte's ingredients and giving him a wage so he could live a little better. He now had 12,800 pounds saved.
'The money for the formula is secured but there's no sign of her... So I'm going to have to hunt Backerland down?' Adryan thought with a click of his tongue.
He would rather avoid the trouble of doing so but the possibility only continued to grow.
He wasn't so worried about the Conspirator. The red-haired man already had several plans on how to kill him quickly.
No, he was worried about the man's bodyguard, the Marionettist of Sequence 5 Rosago.
'I don't know if Hunters Hallow protects me from the manipulation of the spirit body threads but I don't want to check unless there is no other option...' The red-haired man thought with a sigh.
He was absolutely certain that during his clash with Qilangos, what little was left of his potion would be digested.
'If the Hermits of Fate meeting fails I have to plan how to hunt Backerland...'
Thinking about his promotion made his mind wander to Hazel and Charlotte which caused him to frown.
Cupping a hand to his chin, he struck a thoughtful pose.
"Even by Tarot Club standards, their speed of digestion is incredible... I'm sure if Sasha had a better way of acting her potion would be digested by the middle of August instead of the end as she says... Nathan is the only one who says he's still looking for his acting rules so his potion isn't digested properly..."
"Nathan aside, the rest are digesting their potions ridiculously fast..." the redhead said with a frown.
"Not even the members of the tarot club, excluding Klein, would digest their potions that fast, and they're supposed to be prodigies and had the advantage of the aura of Sephira Castle enhancing their digestion..."
Looking up, he gazed at the City in the distance.
"Could it be that the aura of the City of Calamities is different?"
"The City of Calamities is the Sefirah that accommodates the Hunter and Demoness. Paths that represent power and destruction. It would not be far-fetched to think that being a Sephirah that represents this, the aura of this one accelerates digestion more compared to that of the Sephira Castle..."
"Plus there's also the fact that they spend more time around mine than the Tarot Club spent at the Castle. It makes sense..."
The more I thought about it the more this theory made sense.
"When Nathan gets back I'm sure his digestion will take no time to catch up with the rest... It means I also have to look for his supplementary ingredients... Sigh* Being a team leader is quite a task" Adryan let out a sigh and then shook his head.
The main ingredients for the Magician's potion had already been collected a long time ago. And these were in the form of Viccio Pomodoro.
Adryan looked at the glove he had stored earlier and smiled mischievously.
"Sorry little guy but you're more useful as a Beyonder than an Artifact~"
Letting out a chuckle, Adryan shook his head as he stood up.
His expression turned serious as he stretched his arms behind his back.
'There will be no Tarot Club for two weeks... I hope Klein can avoid a tragedy...'
He was fully confident that Klein could do it but he couldn't help but be worried about the Poor God.
He did a few stretches before bending his knees.
'I can't do anything more for him. It's all in his hands now...' Adryan thought with a sigh.
Looking up at the sky, he stretched his legs one last time.
'I'm going to focus on practicing this before facing Qilangos... Considering the abilities of a Wind-blessed, it's best to warm up before testing it in combat.'
Adryan thought calmly as he took a big leap...
...
Saturday, August 4, 7:00 a.m. East Borough. Abandoned ceramic factory.
Dressed in a robe that covered their entire body along with a mask that reached up to their nose.
A serious Xio and a trembling Fors entered the factory.
The first thing they saw was how on top of the old and rusty machinery, sitting with his legs dangling was James Holmes.
Next to him were 3 other people.
'One man, and two women... The taller one looks strong...' Xio thought as she looked at the woman who easily reached 1.90m.
"I knew you'd come Miss."
Turning her gaze away from them and returning her attention to Holmes, Xio could feel how the man was smiling under his mask.
Fors had positioned himself behind her and was sticking close to her.
The trickmaster discreetly grabbed her friend's arm while in her free hand, she held one of the stones from her bracelet. Ready to escape if something went wrong.
Xio gave her best friend a sidelong glance but said nothing. She returned her attention to Holmes and nodded.
"It's a coincidence but I'm looking for Qilangos too. Tell me Mr. Holmes what is your plan?"
Adryan smiled at the sheriff under his mask, jumped down from the machinery, and stood in front of his team.
"Didn't you read my letter? I'm going to hunt him down and hang him on my wall of course. There are few trophies more worthy as the head of an Admiral Pirate, his 30,000 pound bounty only makes it juicier."
Fors shivered a little at the man's dark words and squeezed her friend's arm a little tighter.
Ignoring the writer's discomfort, Xio looked seriously at Holmes.
"What's in it for me?"
Adryan laughed in amusement.
"Always to the point right miss? That's what I like most about you~" The redhead teased a bit before nodding.
"But don't worry. There's something juicy for you. How about 1,000 pounds for each of you along with the Sherif's full formula?"