Nicholas slowly opened his eyes as he sat in the chair.
In his calm, lake-green pupils, there was a divine gentleness and compassion, free from both malice and benevolence.
He moved his head from side to side, slightly easing the stiffness of his neck from sitting motionless for a long time.
Nicholas let out a gentle breath, reached behind to comb through his white hair, tied it into a ponytail, and then used a piece of rope from the desk to bind it. He pushed the apparatus on the desk to one side and picked up a phial of sky-blue elixir the size of a little finger from the reagent rack and drank it down in one gulp.
Just then, a steady and suppressed voice of a middle-aged man came from behind Nicholas:
"Where have you just been?"
"Just stepped out for a bit."
Nicholas wiped the corner of his mouth with his hand and turned back to answer softly.
Behind him, there was no living person.
