Euphoraline, give it to me. I'll make your death as painless as possible."
The scar faced thug let out laboured breaths, the declaration preircing his heart.' I'm going to die, I'm going to die!'
In his panic, he poured energy into his arms...
Push
The woman was flung towards Cypher, her body like a ragdoll under the effects of the drug.
The boy didn't even glance at her but waved his hand, causing a slight shockwave to resonate through the building as she was flung away by the force of his backhand.
Her body collided with the wall, the back of her head bleeding.
"This has went on for long enough..."
Cypher stretched out his hand towards the cowering man, who was now desperately holding a knife in both hands pointing towards his executioner.
"Please! I'll tell you where we got it! G-give
me a chance, I-ll devote my entire life to church,....bleugh!"
His words violently stopped as sand pouring out of his mouth like a fountain. Excruciating pain followed after. Every single nerve was burning with agony that never seemed to end
Inside his body, his organs reformed and shattered under the weight of Cyphers will, reshaping into sand that spread outwardly. Blood turned white and crystallised into white grains, each one halting his blood flow and ruining his heart.
After a few moments, he stood as an unmoving white statue that still held his horrified visage.
Letting his hand down, Cypher wiped his forehead, sweat having formed from the exertion of using soul caliber, 'Twelve percent left. I still need to improve.'
With the room now silent he walked towards the man's body before waving his hand and dematerialing the statue into dust. The only remnants being a pink vial that dropped to the floor undamaged.
"So this is it? What an interesting chemical...If I get the chance to use a lab, I wonder what I'll find?" The yellow eyes in the reflection held a great interest. Cypher was a researcher first and foremost. If he got the chance to study this goldmine of a drug, he wouldn't miss it.
Unfortunately, he was in a time limit. The mission stated that he would have to retrieve a sample of Euphoraline for the church. It detailed how connections with the Releigh cult have been discovered and investigated. While they wouldn't send him to attack the cult directly, they could send him to their distributors.
"Nevermind, my job here is finished." The vial was moved Into a pocket hidden inside his robe. With nothing left to do, he pulled the white hood of his robe over his head and headed for the door.
However, just as he reached the door, he glanced back at the single eye that hatefully peered through the cage. It seemed to notice his gaze and hurriedly hid behind the cover that lay on top of it.
"Pitiful." His disdain was not directed entirely at the girl, but at the sight of the iron bars confining her.
A memory flashed in his mind, that of a boy hair as black as night. His screams echoed through a dark basement while deep red gashes of crimson were whipped onto his back relentlessly, old wounds and scars still visible from the past. Above the kneeling boy a man and woman stood sternly, slightly sweating with eyes of disgust. In the corner of the boys vision, at the centre of the basement, lay a cage. It's door open as if calling him to return.
"Now's not the time." The memories disappeared. Cyphers fist unclenched, the blood from the pressure of his nails slightly dipping to the floor.
His cloak danced in the air. The yellow eyes that glowed under the hood uncaringly shifting away as he walked out of the building. He could have freed her, but why should he care?
Unknown to him, his face was already burned into the child's memories, having watched how he casually swatted her mother away like a fly. With Cypher gone, all she could do was stare at the body that still leaked blood.
--------------------------------------------------
"Your back...oh dear, you must have put on quite the show." The old man waiting behind the counter observed as Cypher returned, his robes still covered in red blood from the earlier raid.
"You could say that," The pink vial left Cyphers hands and found it's way to the desk, before being picked up and examined by the priest," What is this stuff anyways? Its effects are remarkable."
The priest confirmed the authenticity and glanced briefly at Cypher, " Yes, while the cult is a stain on this world, they have the most talented alchemists on the continent. It's a shame they use their abilities to produce potions like Euphoraline."
"Alchemists?" Never having heard the term, the boy grew curious.
"They're Masters of creation. You've seen the husk's already. That is the result of alchemists. They can remove a soul core and shape it into new forms with different effects. One such way of using a soul core is to liquify it and create unique potions like Euphoraline." The old man had been in the church for decades, and had no problems with teaching new weavers a little bit of knowledge.
"I see, and that husk I fought was the weaver that had their soul core removed by an alchemist?" Satisfied, Cypher asked another question.
"Precisely. Although alchemists are usually not that adept at combat, they have their own ways."
His answer caused Cypher to take a moment of reflection- If so much power could be harnessed, then why didn't the church use alchemists?
The old man seemed to catch on to his thoughts process, " It's Cypher right? Don't try to learn Alchemy, it can be rather.... dangerous. Removing a soul core requires carefully removing the chains without breaking them. And if you break so much as one then...," He made a gesture with his hands, that of an explosion," If the subject that has their soul core above caliber four breaks their remaining chains...sigh, entire city's could be obliterated in the aftermath."
' Is it really that dangerous!' The revelation left Cypher weary, but not entirely discouraged.
'Humans have always played with fire, whether through the atomic bomb or this worlds Alchemy, nothing truly changes.'
"Enough nonsense, let's get you your reward," The man lifted a full sack of coins onto the counter. The weight clearly showed off it's value," 100 gold coins, your compensation for your work."
While Cypher didn't care about material wealth or luxery, he had no need to refuse.
Not to mention the generous amount rewarded to him. In this world, coins were the most common currency, with gold coins being the most valuable. Each gold coin was worth a hundred silver coins and each silver coin was worth a thousand copper coins.
Around five copper coins was the weekly salary of the lower class in this world.
The original Cypher would have likely dropped dead from a heart attack after seeing such a large sum that would usually be reserved for the lucky upper-middle class or noble families. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't a Dreamweaver until Aleck arrived.
Ofcourse, it goes without saying that supersoldiers would earn a fortune in return for their loyalty! Dreamweavers were no exception.
"Thank you, you've cleared some things up for me today." Cypher put on a bright beaming smile and picked up the bag of coins that a child had no write to lift with strength alone. His hand waved back as he moved to return to his room. The day had been surprisingly fruitful, with alot of information finding it's way to him.
While he still had alot to learn, he was still young. If he managed to survive the battlefield after training, he could easily increase his status and gain more secret techniques in the future. The world was his playground, it just didn't know it yet.