So, Anarzee followed what threads remained. Enira.
She'd heard that Enira was a recent addition under Phyrra. Not that she expected her to know anything about Lord's Blood, but sometimes things had a way of slipping through the cracks. And Enira was close enough to warrant attention.
"Still… to think," Anarzee muttered, eyes on the projection rune flickering before her. "An inter-marital affair… and that too with a human."
She let out a dry breath, her voice laced with old irritation. "She really is Phyrra's spawn."
The projection caught Ian in a still frame, mid-step, as he and Enira exited the restaurant. Anarzee's gaze lingered.
"Maybe we start with that human," she said quietly, eyes narrowing.
By the time Ian got back to his place, Myrra was already there, curled up on the couch, hologram pad hovering lazily in front of her. He'd texted her earlier, told her about meeting Enira, and picked up takeout from the same place.
Now, they sat at the dining table. Myrra was mid-bite, her eyes flicking up to him.
"So," she said, chewing. "How's Sister Enira?"
Ian leaned back, arms folded. "She's doing fine."
Myrra looked thoughtful for a second. "Did she… say anything?"
Ian raised an eyebrow. "About what?"
"I mean... I didn't tell her either," Myrra said, poking at her food. "About your advancement and everything. Do you think she'll be mad?"
He shook his head. "Nah. It's fine. I made up for it, didn't I?"
Myrra relaxed a little, nodding. "I'll go see her tomorrow, then. Properly. Its been few weeks already."
Ian smiled faintly. "I think she'll like that."
The next day, Ian was back in the lab, tinkering with the prototype as usual. But his focus kept slipping. That feeling hadn't left him, like something unseen was pressing just behind his thoughts, like eyes on his back. He'd felt it yesterday too. Enough to warn Enira, just in case. But today… it felt more pointed. Like it had followed him here.
He paused, hand resting on the workbench, brows knit.
"You're lost in thought again," Yeonelyth's voice came behind him.
Ian gave her a short nod. "Hello."
"Still worried about your little problem?" she asked, fingers brushing a strand of his hair back, casually intimate. He stiffened slightly but didn't pull away. This kind of closeness from her wasn't new, it just always caught him off-guard.
"It's not a... love problem, is it?" she teased lightly, watching him with a tilt of her head.
Ian sighed. "No, no..."
He paused, then continued, thinking it was probably okay to share. "Just... feels like I'm being watched. I know it sounds strange, and I don't really have any proof, but..."
"Yeah," Yeonelyth interrupted, as if it wasn't worth explaining further. "You're fine now. I took care of it."
He blinked. "What?"
"There was a monitoring rune. It's gone now."
Ian felt the shift immediately now that she'd said it. The feeling was gone.
"When did you...?" he started to ask, but stopped himself.
Instead, he gave a small bow. "Thank you."
Yeonelyth waved it off. "Don't worry about it. If anything else comes up… you can always come to me." With that, she turned and walked off.
Ian stared after her for a moment, then muttered under his breath, "I should've asked who it was..."
Too late now.
"Next time," he said quietly, and went back to work.
On the other side of Rulmose, in one of the lecture halls nestled deeper in the eastern quadrant, Anarzee stood mid-lecture, tracing a sequence across the projection board. Her voice was steady, words rolling off with practiced rhythm, until it wasn't.
She froze.
Her breath caught in her throat as something snapped inside her mind, sharp, searing, like wires pulled too tight and suddenly torn.
"Tch..." Her hand flinched.
Pain hit like a wave. Every single monitoring rune she'd placed was gone, annihilated at once, as if they'd been forcefully unraveled at their core.
Her knees gave out a second later.
She collapsed, one hand clutching the edge of the podium before her body hit the floor. Energy sputtered across her arms in erratic bursts, flickers of backlash reacting to the sudden disruption.
"Instructor!"
Students scrambled.
One student shouted, "Someone activate a healing rune!"
Another scrambled toward the exit, "Call a medic now!"
Chairs scraped. Voices blurred together in a rush of panic as glowing sigils lit up across the room, a few advanced students already dropping to their knees beside her.
Ian, of course, didn't know a thing.
He finished his last batch of calibration readings and closed down the prototype node, then grabbed Myrra from her workstation and made way towards Ial Themar.
On the way they saw Elara and Sylve, lingering near the entrance to the central commons. The two girls seemed mid-conversation.
Myrra waved. "Hey!"
Elara looked up. "Oh.. Myrra, Ian!"
A bit of chatter followed. They spoke about nothing in particular at first, but then Elara mentioned, offhandedly, "Class ended early today. Our instructor collapsed mid-lecture."
Myrra's brow furrowed immediately. "Collapsed? Is she okay?"
Elara shrugged slightly, worry in her tone. "A medic was called in. I don't know more than that."
There was a pause as Myrra absorbed the information. "I hope she gets better."
"Yeah… she seems like a good instructor," Elara agreed. Then she tilted her head curiously. "By the way, where are you two headed?"
Myrra smiled faintly. "We're going to Ial Themar. I wanted to visit Sister Enira."
Elara's face lit up. "Oh, nice! I'd love to see her too... Mind if we join?"
Myrra nodded. "Of course."
So the four of them left together, heading toward Enira's home.
Ian dropped the three girls off at Enira's place then turned and walked away, heading in a different direction. He had his usual work with Master Malon to attend to. As always, he made his way to Malon's workshop.
Unexpectedly, Master Malon called out to him. "Ah, Ian. Are you free?"
Ian stopped and turned toward him. "What is it, Master Malon?"
Malon explained, "There's a power generation facility nearby, in the Bienvern Woods, that needs its regular maintenance. I'll be heading there, and I could use an extra hand. Plus it'll also be a good experience for you. Would you be interested in coming?"
Ian considered it for a moment. "I'm interested," he said, but then added, "I'll let you know."
After all, Ian had to talk with Myrra first since he might be out for a few days. He also needed to check with Yeonelyth for a break from the prototype work.
Malon nodded, not surprised by the response. "Of course, take your time. Just let me know when you're ready."
After completing his work, Ian left and returned to pick up the girls. Judging by the energy in their chatter, they'd clearly had a good time at Enira's place. Then they made their way back to Rulmose.
Back at the apartment Ian brought it up as they settled in.
"I might be gone for a few days," he said. "Master Malon's taking me along for a maintenance trip. Thought it'd be good experience."
Myrra blinked. "That's fine. Go do your work."
Ian stared. "Wow. That easy? You're not even going to pretend to be sad?"
"You're doing your job right," she said simply.
Ian let out a theatrical sigh. "You don't even care if I'm gone."
She gave him a look. "I care. I just don't sulk about it."
"See, that's all I needed to hear," he said, scooping her up before she could react.
Myrra yelped, arms instinctively wrapping around his neck. "Ian, what are you doing?"
"Carrying out my duty. Making sure I'm missed properly."
What followed were slow breaths, low gasps, and the unmistakable rhythm of two people forgetting the world. Her moans spilled into the room, quiet at first, then less so, as he made sure she knew just how much she'd be missed.
But while Ian was content, on the other side of the city, Anarzee wasn't doing nearly as well.
She sat still, pulse faint under her skin, her body still recovering from the hit. That backlash hadn't been ordinary, no doubt about that. Her first guess? She might've mistakenly spied on someone powerful. A Third Order… maybe even a Fourth. It was Rulmose and Ial Themar, after all, these places weren't short on hidden monsters.
So maybe this was just a small punishment. A warning.
She didn't link it to Ian. Not really. Why would she?
Still, for now, she had no choice but to halt all monitoring. That was fine though. She had another plan already in motion, a quieter way to reach Enira.
Ian woke up the next morning, sunlight already sneaking in through the curtains. Myrra lay beside him, her limbs tangled lazily with his, hair spilling across the pillow. She looked so peaceful, he gave her a soft peck on the cheek.
She didn't even flinch.
He slipped out of bed carefully and made his way to his room, rubbing the sleep from his eyes… but stopped at the door.
Something was off.
By the window, near the pond where the Zephar petals usually floated, there was… something else.
A small, fluffy creature sat there, fur like moss, a single eye in the center of its head, and six stubby legs. A flower bloomed from its back, pulsing faintly with color. It looked kind of like a Pokémon. Or something trying very hard to look harmless.
Ian froze.
What the hell...
The creature turned toward him casually. "Oh, you're finally up."
Ian blinked. That voice..... wait,
"…Are you-?"
"Yeah," the creature said proudly, puffing its little chest. "I've advanced too!"
It leapt clean out of the pond and landed on the ground, growing in size mid-air until it was about the size of a small puppy. It spun once and raised its head proudly. "How do I look? Majestic, right?"
Ian looked at the flower on its back, the slightly wobbly stance, the sparkly eye. Cute was the word.
He wisely nodded instead.
The creature gave a pleased chirp and nuzzled into his hand. Ian scooped it up, it was warm, soft, and absurdly light.
"Not bad," he muttered, scratching behind what he guessed was an ear.
Just then, Myrra wandered into the room, hair a mess and still yawning. She stopped mid-step. Blinked. Blinked again.
"…Ian?"
"Morning," he said.
Myrra's eyes lit up. "Oh my god, what is that?!" She rushed over and practically snatched the creature from his arms. "You're adorable, what's your name? Can I keep you? Do you eat snacks? Look at those legs!"
The creature chirped proudly and let her spin him in a full circle.
Ian just watched, vaguely concerned. "Pretty sure it is Zephar petals."
"Really... When did this happen...?"
Zephar petals, now slightly puffed up, added with an air of importance, "Last night when you were busy in your... sexual escapades..."
Myrra's face immediately flushed, her thoughts stuttering as she scrambled to change the subject. "Uh-uh, okay, back to the important stuff! It should have a proper name, right? We can't just keep calling it Zephar petals…"
Zephar petals puffed out its tiny chest. "I have already taken care of it... From this day onwards, I shall be referred to as Florinthos the Evergreen Sage. What do you think about it?"
Myrra just stared at the creature for a moment, then shrugged with a grin. "Flori it is then."
Flori blinked in confusion. "Are you even listening to me? It's Florinthos the Evergreen Sage!"
Myrra beamed, not even bothering to address the full name. "Yes, yes, yes... so would you like to eat something, Flori?"
Flori, still pouting, called out in a desperate tone, "Yeah... wait, call me Florinthos the Evergreen Sage!" But Myrra was already carrying him, not paying attention to his request at all.
Flori sighed, resigned to his fate.