Ian finally turned around and blinked. Sylwen and Haemir were sitting on the sofa, watching with barely disguised amusement.
"I didn't see you guys there…" he said.
Sylwen raised a brow, half-smiling as she gently shielded Flori's eyes. "Oh, don't mind us. You two go on."
Haemir leaned forward, already standing. "We should probably head out. Come back later."
Myrra, still at the counter, let out a sigh and waved a hand without turning. "It's fine. Sit down."
Ian joined them on the sofa, and Myrra followed shortly after with drinks, settling beside him. Sylwen and Haemir were familiar, Myrra's classmates from the wizard specialization. Ian had seen them around plenty
"We just got back," she explained. "Went to get something for Flori, some kind of foldable house-bed thing."
Ian looked at Flori. "What about the pool I made you? Not good enough anymore?"
"I'm bigger now," Flori said proudly, hopping closer. "Need more space."
He paused, then held out a small crystal toward Ian. "Also, while you're at it... can you do something about this?"
It was the same one Ian had bought for him a while back, one Flori had instantly taken a liking to. But now it looked more dull, its soft glow almost gone.
"I think I paid too much for this," Ian muttered.
Ian reached out to take it, but Flori quickly turned and trotted back to Myrra, hopping into her lap instead.
Ian narrowed his eyes. "Traitor."
Flori stuck out a tiny tongue.
They talked a while longer, mostly idle things, some updates from campus, and random gossip, before Sylwen and Haemir finally stood to leave.
"We'll be around later," Sylwen said, ruffling Flori's fur as she passed.
Flori, still lounging on the cushion, perked up. "I will also set up my room," he said. He had already claimed one of the smaller meditation rooms as his own.
Seeing Flori and others leave... Ian didn't hold back.
He turned back to Myrra and his hand already started moving on her body, his fingers exploring and caressing her curves, dips of her hips before coming to rest on her breast. He played with it, gently molding it into various shapes with his fingers as he kissed her.
Myrra's breath grew heavier and she managed to whisper, "Let's go inside..."
Without a word, Ian picked her up and carried her into the room. He carefully took off her clothes, revealing her bare skin to his eager gaze. Then, with a gentle yet firm push, he entered her as his kisses trailed across her body. Her soft moans filled the room as he moved inside her, each touch setting her nerves alight.
After hours lost in warmth and breathless silence, Ian lay with her, fingers idly brushing through her hair.
"I was thinking…" he said softly, "of going to your parents' place. Maybe we'll find something there."
Myrra didn't answer at first. She curled closer, arms tightening around him. "I don't want you to be in danger…"
Despite how carefree Myrra often seemed, it wasn't that she had forgotten about the dangers. It weighed on her. That's why, deep down, she had been pushing herself harder than ever, working tirelessly. She was preparing, quietly, for what she knew was coming. She wasn't going to let anyone she cared about suffer.
Ian sighed softly, brushing a hand through her hair. "If we don't know about it, then we won't be able to prepare. We need to be prepared..."
Myrra pulled back just enough to look at him. "Then I'll come with you."
"No. No, no…" Ian shook his head, his voice tense. "What if something..."He hadn't let it bother him much because this was Rulmose. And Ial Themar. But outside of that… he wasn't sure anymore. Although that woman Phyrra said not many know about it but what if someone like Cairon comes up!!!!
Before he could finish, Myrra sat up sharply. "You're not going without me."
Ian caught her wrist, gently pulling her back. "Yes. We'll go… together. When the time is right."
But inside, he was already thinking. This wasn't something he could do with Myrra there. If only he could make a clone. Or something remotely operated form.
Before he could fully process his thoughts, Myrra took charge. She gently pushed him into a position where he was poised at her entrance, her warm, wet heat beckoning him. With a soft, seductive moan, she began to guide him inside her, the sensation making her body quiver. The room filled with the sound of their mingled breaths and the slick, intimate noises of their joining, each movement eliciting a louder, more needy sound from her throat.
The next morning passed in routine. After waking up and going through the usual schedule, Ian made his way to his private lab in Ial Themar. Today, he was here mainly to work with the Lunqra, to study them in more detail and satisfy a lingering curiosity.
He started with the basics: extensive scans, checking structural responses, monitoring energy patterns. Then, using Mindbloom, he examined them on a deeper level.
The Lunqra responded to Kyrrite. He'd brought a few small pieces, just for testing, and watched as the creatures instinctively gnawed at them. Their mouths were built for it, finely shaped to grip and grind the ore. They didn't eat anything else. No food, no water. They lived entirely on proto energy, and Kyrrite, adulterated though it was, seemed to be their way of refining it.
They took mixed energy and filtered it, breaking it down into something cleaner, more useable.
Ian ran a few more tests, just out of curiosity. He didn't dig too deep. The mutated one still behaved like the others, though its greenish hue and slightly altered form stood out. Structurally, it wasn't too different, just subtle shifts. The mutations could have come from exposure to something... though Ian couldn't quite figure out how. The power plant's containment was tight. But whatever the cause, it wasn't his concern.
After satisfying his curiosity he let it go, he will continue experimentation on them some other time.
Then he brought out the crystal. Its soft, pulsating light had dulled since the last time he'd bought it. It still glowed faintly, cool to the touch, pleasant, but nothing that seemed particularly special. He turned it in his hand, wondering if the glow could be restored somehow, or recharged. Flori, for whatever reason, seemed oddly fond of it.
Ian tilted it toward the light, examining it casually… then froze.
The glow brushed across the mutated Lunqra, and something reacted.
A flash of color, violent and sudden, ran through its body. The greenish hue along its back quivered, then peeled away into gray-blue, reverting closer to its original form. At the same time, the crystal pulsed brighter in his hand.
But that wasn't the strange part.
As the glow intensified, Ian noticed something else. Symbols, thin, tiny, flickering marks, danced across the crystal's surface, shifting so rapidly they blurred.
He hadn't seen them earlier. With Mindbloom, perception depended entirely on intent, he'd been focusing on the Lunqra's internal structure, on its energy response and flow, not its outer shell. But now, with the crystal's soft light cast directly onto the creature, something shifted.
Symbols, moving quickly across the outer layers of the Lunqra's body. They flickered along its skin, impossibly fast, changing in real time, vanishing before he could trace even a single one. As soon as the light dimmed or moved away, the marks disappeared and the greenish tint returned. No trace remained.
He narrowed the light again, more deliberate this time.
The symbols reappeared, volatile, never repeating. Ian tried to hold focus, to stabilize the Mindbloom and slow them down, but the effort hit hard. His temples throbbed. His eyes ached. He had to pull back.
After a short break to recover, he returned to try once again.
He tested the crystal on one of the normal Lunqra first. The light seemed to calm it, if anything. There were no symbols. No strange shifts. Just a mild, almost pleased response.
But the mutated one…
Its greenish hue had returned fully now, as though the earlier reaction had worn off. Ian angled the crystal again, cast the light over it, and watched. As the crystal's light touched it, the tiny symbols appeared once more, flashing erratically across the surface.
Ian adjusted his focus, intent on studying it in more detail.
While Ian was busy in his lab, Myrra was deep into her training session with Axilya. The intensity in her movements was unmistakable, she seemed especially driven today, pushing herself harder than usual.
Finally, exhausted, Myrra collapsed to the ground, lying flat on her back, breathing heavily.
Axilya, watching her closely, raised an eyebrow. "You seem to be trying very hard… Did something happen?" Her tone was as indifferent as always, but there was a hint of concern in her voice.
Myrra didn't answer right away, her gaze lost in thought. After a long pause, Axilya pressed on, "Is it about Ian? Did he do something?"
At the mention of his name, Myrra sighed.
"Should I go and beat him up?" Axilya teased, a slight smirk playing at the corner of her lips.
Myrra laughed weakly, shaking her head. "No, no, no... It's just..." she trailed off, her expression softening. Then, she quietly explained everything to Axilya, the quiet testament, her parents, and all that had been weighing on her
Axilya was silent for a long time, processing the information. She didn't know much of this, it wasn't her nature to get involved in the personal lives of others. Myrra, however, was one of the few people she considered a friend, and now, hearing all of this, Axilya could feel the burden Myrra had been carrying.
Finally, Axilya stood up as though making a decision. "I... will go with you."
Myrra blinked, unsure if she'd heard correctly. "What?"
Axilya repeated, more firmly this time, "I will go with you two."
Myrra hesitated. "But..."
"There is no 'but,'" Axilya interrupted, her voice unwavering. "Think about it... It's the only way Ian will take you. You know him better than I do. He won't put you in danger, but if I'm there, I can protect you without issue."
Myrra slowly got to her feet, shaking her head. "No, no... What if you get hurt?"
Axilya smiled reassuringly. "I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve. Don't worry. If anything happens, I can protect both of you."
Before Myrra could even respond, Axilya added, "No buts. It's decided. I'll let someone else know for extra security. We can even set a trap for them if we need to."
Myrra paused, processing her words. "But Ian won't agree..."
Axilya shrugged "Don't worry about that. If he doesn't, I'll just have to beat him up."
Myrra didn't know how to respond to this, maybe Ian can convince her otherwise.
Ian returned to his apartment, but his mind was consumed by the ever-changing tiny symbols. What were they? The Lunqra were incredible creatures, but this didn't seem to be related to them. It felt far beyond their natural capabilities. Ian had spent hours trying to decipher the symbols, but even after all that time, he couldn't make sense of a single corner of them.
He walked into the apartment, his thoughts still tangled in the mystery. To his surprise, Axilya was already there, waiting.
She didn't greet him as usual. Instead, she looked at him directly and said, "We need to talk."