The next day, after school, Corvin was meeting with Dion, Clair's dad, for a request.
"So, you want me to make you a gas that will not react with anything? What for?"
"It's for our business, of course Count Flarum."
"The lightbulb?"
"Yes. But there are other things as well. If possible, I would like to get my hands on samples of these materials Count Fla-"
"You don't need to be so on edge when talking with me, kid. We are business partners, and you are also going abroad on my request."
"Oh, okay sir. Then, can I get the ones I marked before leaving for Piscea?"
Corvin gave Dion a list of different materials. Some of these materials were only obtainable using chemical magic, but making most of these wasn't even a challenge for him, as he was one of the greatest alchemists in the empire.
"How about next week?"
"That is okay. I need to do research on ilnesses as well so I needed time anyways."
"Are you really planning to cure that plague? You might catch it as well, you know."
"But, someone has to do it right, sir?"
"..."
Dion couldn't answer Corvin. He was pleasantly surprised by his maturity. He unwillingly remembered himself at his age.
'Ugh..'
He would mess with chemical magic and usually cause some kind of accident every couple of months. Compared to himself, he felt like the new generation was amazing. In the first year of her advanced education, his daughter invented something that could change the world completely. And now, this boy in front of him was planning to stop a plague by himself.
'Kids these days...'
He was excited to see what kind of change the new generation was going to bring.
*****
Three days later, Corvin was checking the records of plagues from centuries ago, and the letters he recieved from Dion about the new plague. Even though on the surface everything seemed normal, there were some details that were out of the ordinary in the latest reports.
The plagues before, would kill people in a matter of days. But this new one wasn't killing people as fast. Some people did die because of the symptoms, but the main problem was the abnormalities that were seen on the first patients.
Not only the place where it began was found simply too early compared to the past records, the bodies of the first patients who didn't die began to change drastically. According to the letter he recieved, some patients who survived began growing thicker body hair, and their spine would grow a few new vertebrae, almost like if a tail was growing. And some patient's faces started to elongate.
All these bodily changes brought immense pain to the patient. Some of them, not being able to endure the pain, commited suicide. Most patients lost their minds and went berserk, attacking the people around them.
There was a patient however, who could endure the pain. He was a military general in one of the city states of Piscea. According to what he told to a doctor, something was trying to enter his mind, and soon it would take control over him. According to him, the reason patients started behaving like monsters is that thing. He advised the doctors to leave the town, and tell the king to quarantine any settlement where this illness was seen.
"Something trying to enter their minds? So, is this an attack by another nation or something? Or, is it a monster?"
*****
At Kreth village where the plague started, now a giant monster stood on it's four legs. It's body was as big as a polar bear with long dark grey fur. It had a two meter long tail that looked like a big earthworm. It's head looked like a rat's head, but most of the skin was missing from it. There were two horns on the two sides of it's head, drawing a circle like a ram's horn. The horns were shaped like a tube. It's hollow insides exhausted a dark yellow gas slowly that created a fog of the same colour around the monster.
In front of the monster was a human sized version of itself, with some humanlike traits, like longer limbs and a bigger head compared to it's body size. It was standing on two legs instead of four.
When the minion came in front of it, the giant monster smelled the air and made some grumbling noises. After a minute or so, the giant one pointed at a direction with it's tail. The minion made a nodding gesture and started to run towards where the monster pointed.
*****
Four days later, Dion sent Corvin the materials he requested. Corvin was immersed in his medical studies, and decided to leave the engineering projects to a later date. He was sure something very wrong was going on with the plague, and he didn't want to spend time on other research.
After concluding his research on the plague's reports and past plagues, he had some answers, and a lot more questions.
Because he didn't knew what the truth was, he decided to learn how medicine is made, in case he needed it. Of course, he had suspicions that a bigger danger was behind the plague, so he never neglected training.
He then went to meet with his master to report his findings.
"You are saying that this is weird?"
"Yeah. If you look at what this general said, it is likely that this is either a man-made plague or the worst case scenario, it is a colossus."
"Hmmm.... Humans probably can't do something like that, but a colossus is also unlikely. So, you need to go and find out. How are the preparations? Do you need anything?"
"I need to research some theories about illnesses, but there was one about really small living beings causing illness. Do you know about it, master?"
"No, I don't think so. What does it say?"
"It says that, just like how mold finds food to infect, there are small beings the researcher called 'microbes' that cause illnesses. It was interesting, so I read it, and there are a lot of good points but the only problem is, it was never proven before."
"Right.... Well, I don't understand much about it but, I guess you should look into it."
"Right! It really is interesting, because this theory doesn't stop at illnesses, it also explores humans and ani-"
"Look, Corvin. I know you are enthusiastic about your research, and that is great. But, I am busy, so tell me about it another time, okay?"
"Huh? Oh, okay.", said Corvin in a disappointed voice.
'He really likes his research, huh? Well, I might actually listen to it once, illnes at the battlefield cost soldier lives after all.', thought Felyp. He wasn't interested in the details like Corvin, but dealing with illnesses was something that every military leader cared about. Thinking about how lucky he was to find a disciple like Corvin, he walked to his carriage with a smile on his face.