Lucius got off work at dusk and it was a little dark outside when he did, not feeling hungry as he had eaten about two hours ago, Lucius decided to sleep early tonight since he had nothing to do. He walked out of the church and towards his room,when he reached his small house given to him by Father James, he was surprised to see that his front door wasn't locked. Lucius was sure that he'd locked the door yesterday morning when he went to work.
His instincts told him to turn tail and run as whoever was in the house was much more powerful than him, in fact, all the people in Fire City were stronger than him, even ordinary natives. His mind told him that he was a man now and not to be a coward. Also, if he ran away, where would he sleep so Lucius chose to be rational and entered the house.
He silently entered the house and started looking for the one who had broken into his house. He wasn't stupid enough to start shouting "Hello?" as that would alert the culprit and would also expose his location. He checked his small kitchen, the living room, and the toilet. Now, the only place left was his bedroom and he was currently standing in front of his bedroom door with sweat trickling down his forehead.
He slowly opened the door, he opened it enough to take a peek inside, his eyes widened in shock as his blood boiled like crazy, breathing became difficult.
"You've kept me waiting long enough. Are you not hungry for some… meat? I promise it's delicious and definitely worth your while." a feminine and familiar voice sounded out as Lucius saw a sight not suitable for children. He entered the door and closed it behind him, as for what happened afterwards, only adults would understand.
…
Julia rested her head on Lucius's chest and caressed it with her fingers as though writing something. They were both naked with the only thing covering them being the thin blanket Lucius had been using.
"I thought I'd never see you again after last night. And the way you left this morning, didn't even leave a message."
"You're right. We weren't supposed to meet ever again but I changed my mind. There's something about you that fascinates me to no end."
"Really? What is it?" asked Lucius.
"I don't know but there's definitely something special about you. Here, I got this as a surprise for you, drink it and you'll feel your body cooling down." said Julia while handing Lucius a transparent glass bottle with a blue liquid inside. Lucius thanked Julia and drank the whole glass in one gulp. Lucius could really feel his body become cooler and cooler until he lost consciousness.
He didn't lose consciousness in the way that he passed out or fell asleep, he lost consciousness in the way that he died. His body became a block of ice that emitted such a chilling energy that spread out and froze everything it came into contact with. Julia watched the whole process from start to finish, she then sprinkled some red powder and then disappeared without a trace.
…
Lucius woke up the next morning only to find that Julia had left him again which made him feel discomfort and irritation but he didn't bother himself with these emotions. He quickly took a bath and prepared to go to work.
While preparing for work, another random thought appeared in his mind, 'If you had a temperament, would I want it to be fiery or ice cold?' he thought. This random thought though, was a bit difficult from the previous one.
With a fiery temperament, it meant that he'd be more fearless but better express himself to the world and would even be more straightforward and direct. He would become arrogant and short tempered but people would at least know what type of person he was.
As for a cold temperament, he'd become detached from the world and people would find it difficult to communicate with him not just because he'd give them the cold shoulder but also that he'd speak less words and would sound ruthless and heartless with the words spoken. It would be like a god mingling with mortals which was impossible as a god held very high status and looked down on others.
"I guess I'd go with a cold temperament, that way, I'd be able to better control myself around women and won't speak more than what needs to be said. Also, I'd look extremely cool as though I was the main character of a wuxia novel. Not a lot of people would also dare to mess with me which would give me great deterrence over others." As soon as he said this, he felt his thoughts flowing more smoothly without being rushed.
His worldview also changed and now he saw the world moving at the same pace as him, of course this was an illusion but he truly felt like the world was moving at his pace. The biggest change though was the air around him, if before the air around him was welcoming and friendly, now, it was cold and detached from everyone else, like apart from himself, everything else was insignificant.
…
Back at the church, Julia was in the confessional with Father James and had just reported the completion of her mission.
"Are you sure that he drank the Eternal Ice Water and is truly dead?"
"Yes Father. If you don't believe me then you can do a Soul Search to confirm whether or not I'm lying. I saw him turn into an ice statue with my own eyes." replied Julia.
A Soul Search is a skill that allows one to read the memories of another person like a book. Those who resist might turn into idiots after the search and a worst possible scenario is death. The reason why Soul Search isn't allowed is because everyone has secrets and to be Soul Searched means exposing all your secrets to another person.
As for the Eternal Ice Water, it is a treasure that is mostly used to preserve food, especially meat, from spoiling too quickly. It acts as a refrigerator and shouldn't be touched randomly as without Red Dust, one will be turned into a frozen corpse. Only Red Dust can stop the ice from spreading and even evaporating it.
It could be said that Father James went to extreme measures to ensure that Lucius was truly dead. He even used such rare and precious treasures to ensure that the irritable boy was truly dead. Truly a vicious man.
"There's no need for a Soul Search. What I want to deal with now is the investigation of the boy's death, he died in our premises after all so an explanation is needed. Go out and look for a scapegoat, something who can disappear without suspicion."
"Yes Father."
Julia then left the confessional and was formulating a plan in her mind on who she should choose to be the scapegoat. After walking for a while, she reached the church entrance and was shocked to see Lucius at the reception desk.
"Lucius?! What are you doing here?!" she said with a shocked voice.
"Again, I work here!" he replied coldly.