Chapter 10 - Half a cup in 24 hours

As soon as the whitish smog left the girl's hair and it reverted to a black colour, equally causing the hair to lose the ability to move as though it were alive, the pouch fell into her hand.

"So long, masked man," She did a little jump followed by a back flip which caused her to disappear down the back of the building on whose rooftop she had been standing on.

The black smog from Emmet's ring and the white smog from her hair clashed while Emmet took the job of chasing after the thief.

He successfully made it up the roof and down. The girl's pace was difficult for him to keep up with at first as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop and threw carefree flips that enhanced her speed.

The notification flashed before his eyes for the umpteenth time as he struggled to catch up with the girl.

A bow appeared in his hand as his heels charged further and a quiver in which a good number of arrows where stored was suddenly strapped across his back.

"Here goes nothing," Emmet said, doing the best he could to increase his pace.

Since arrow shooting was one of the many things he did for fun in his previous life, he didn't find it hard to get an arrow ahead of him.

He shot the first arrow that swooshed through the air and pierced right into the girl's left shoulder.

That was enough to slower her pace but she kept on moving, determined to get away with the pouch.

He shot another arrow with another target in mind.

The arrow drove right through the back of the palm of her hand which had his pouch firmly within its grasp.

He heard her groan and the pouch fell from her hand onto the roof she was now on. Leaving the pouch behind, she jumped off the roof. While she was in mid-air, white smog zoomed past Emmet and headed straight for her hair, returning her hair to its silver colour.

With that, she disappeared from sight as there were no more rooftops in sight.

A sight escaped Emmet as the bow and arrows disappeared from his possession and he rushed over to pick up his pouch.

As he rose up, dark smog curled up on his shoulder from behind and shaped into a black raven.

"Who was that?" Emmet asked, his eyes still staring into the direction through which the girl had disappeared.

"She has a shape-shifter like me," Liesl equally sounded surprised and confused.

"The white smog is your kind," Emmet said, his words more like a question than the statement it was meant to be.

"Strangely," Liesl replied.

"So there's a human like me who shares a bond with a shape-shifter? I thought you had no idea of shape-shifters like you..." His voice trailed off.

"I'm just as speechless as you are," Liesl glanced at him. "Fortunately, you were able to get the pouch back. That's all that matters."

Emmet nodded in agreement.

*.*.*.

Following the process set on the recipe he had obtained from the system, he put the ingredients for the tea into the jug of Transcendent water.

"What if it gets cold?" Emmet stared at the jug as soon as he was done with the mixture.

"Transcendent water is always hot. Well, hot enough for tea. The heat is actually one of its special characteristics that carries out its purpose effectively," Liesl answered.

"Oh I see," Emmet nodded. He was impressed.

"Now that you have the Ethereal tea in the jug. It should last for a month while still retaining the hotness and level of efficiency. The dosage for customers from this realm and 5th realm is half a teacup which I have said before, should only be taken once in 24 hours."

"Half a cup in 24 hours. Noted," Emmet nodded and discarded the coverage he had hidden himself in, from the face mask to gloves.

Afterwards, they retired once again in wait of a customer.

It was only after an hour had passed that the red-skinned man heard the slight jingle of a bell. The door of the store opened and a young lady walked in.

Making sure to keep a good composure and a cheerful expression, Emmet made his way to welcome the customer.

"Good day!" He greeted with a smile and a gentlemanly bow. "Welcome to the Devil's Archive. How may I help you today?"

The woman took a brief moment to capture every detail her eyes could. By the time her eyes returned to his face, her pupils dilated in fear.

"I-I... I-I'm sorry. I guess I stepped into the w-wrong store. I thought this was a boutique," She rushed over her words and disappeared through the door almost as immediately as she had come.

Emmet pursed his lips in disappointment.

"Have a good day," He mumbled.

"Just be patient. Someone better will come with time," Liesl assured him and morphed back into her cat form before jumping down from his shoulder and heading over to a corner to curl up. It was actually the most comfortable of all her four animal forms.

"She knew damn well that this wasn't a boutique until she saw me," He scoffed.

"We all know that," A "meow" escaped her afterwards.

*.*.*.

The room was dimly lit, with the faint glow of a single bulb illuminating the dingy walls and battered furniture.

The walls were covered in peeling wallpaper, and a few beat-up couches and chairs were scattered about, their cushions stained and torn. On one of the couches sat a silver haired girl.

"Arghh!" Groans eluded her as she forcefully pulled out the arrow in her shoulder. The metallic tip had turned red from blood and bits of flesh clung to it.

"That f*cker!" She cursed out loud and threw the arrow across the floor. She had earlier taken out one that had gone through the back of her palm but the pain still lingered around the hole it caused.

White smog slowly moved out of her silver hair, turning it black immediately. The smog settled on the table beside her and morphed into a white snake.

The pure white scales of the snake were a sight to behold. The white gave way for its pearly blue eyes to shine forth with so much beauty enough to capture the soul of anyone who gazed into them for too long.

"He had a shape-shifter like me," The feminine voice of the snake came forth and a rhythmic hiss followed.

"He was too suspicious to have been a weak mage or some ordinary person. I should have know better," The girl bit her lips.

"Here," The snake said.

A transparent ball of goo emerged from her mouth and the girl was quick to catch it. With ease, she divided the goo into two parts which she rubbed onto her wounds.

After which, the wounds closed up immediately.

The girl stood up and held out her right arm on which the snake crawled up.

"We should go to the chairwoman. She should be waiting."