“Well, this isn’t working at all,” Ceva muttered, peering at the Huzhidians who glared at them with apparent disgust.
“It was a long shot, I didn’t think the merchants would be this hostile though, but I guess it is my fault to assume they would show some decency,” Akana replied, as they walked away from the fifth merchant they have tried to get something out of and only received insults.
Attilus face was neutral, but his body stiff. For each person they encountered, he has become ever more vigilant against them. Akana has tried to calm him down, telling him that they won’t do anything in the light of day but Attilus doesn’t seem to be listening.
“What name had the last one directed us to?” Ceva asked with a sigh. Akana rubbed his temples, hoping that Sidastir had more luck than him.
“Linghun Liulang. An alchemist from Huzhidi. He has come here to sell his potions and pills. Hopefully, he can provide us with more information.”
They walked over to the southern part of Forum Solaris, asking around for the name. It did not take them more than an hour to find him. The old man was grey-haired, with a thin beard he kept stroking while pondering his reports. The wrinkled face didn’t react to them closing in on him before they stood right before him.
“What can I-“ He looked up with a smile, that faded when he met Akana’s eyes. Maybe it had been better to just send Ceva, this was ridiculous.
“Greetings, we have come for some information about a potion that we suspect might be from huzhidi. We hope to get some information if this might be so and what kind of potion it is,” Akana said politely, but the old man still glared, his eyes narrowing for each word Akana uttered.
“I don’t sell Huzhidian products to Auonian demons,” old man Liulang sneered. Attilus reached for his sword and the man flinched, before going back to sneering. “Are you going to cut me down, Auon? Showing your true colors?”
“No, cutting down innocent merchants are the Huzhidians pastime. Not ours. We are here on official business from the Mayin. Someone has used a potion to kill the son of a Consul, and the Mayin think the potion is from Huzhidi.”
“Why would the Mayin use an Auonian barbarian-“
“Because this Auonian barbarian is the Rial Caraid of Eitir,” Ceva interrupted him. Uncertainty flickered in the old man’s eyes, clearly, he had heard of the Rial Caraid being an Auon but his disgust didn’t vanish. It was just dampened.
“Get out.”
Akana cocked an eyebrow at the old man. Throwing them out was a sign of him hiding something. All the other Huzhidian merchants at least had the basic understanding that if they just threw him out, it would look suspicious. This old man apparently held no such regard.
“Father!” A young girl rushed over, pushing her old man into the tent with hushed words before turning towards them with uncertain eyes but with a polite smile. “I apologize for my father's rudeness. As age takes him, so fades his sanity. My name is Amai Liulang. What kind of potion do you need to identify?”
Akana saw the reluctance in her eyes, a bit of fear, but at least she was trying to be civil. “The son of the Consul seems to have devoured a potion that froze him from the inside out.”
“Sounds like an ice mage did it.”
Akana cocked an eyebrow at her, and she cleared her throat. “Not that it is any business of yours, but the only ice mage in the city is my husband and he was occupied at that time in his mansion which I and several servants can attest to. If my husband doesn’t have the ability to be at two places at once, then he cannot be the culprit.”
“Yes, that would be unlikely,” Amai admitted, fidgeting nervously. “Well, then the Fu no Choan might be your answer.”
“Can it freeze something from the inside out?”
“The Fu no Choan, or Wintry Draught in your tongue can freeze anything it touches. Undiluted, it freezes immediately, but diluted into food or drink in a small amount it will freeze more slowly making it usable as a potion,” Amai said, before grimacing. “Though not an effective one since it can be cured fast with just some natural heat from the hearth and a lot of strong alcohol. I’m not sure why they would use such a thing.”
“Most likely to put suspicion on my husband,” Akana muttered. “Is this potion easy to get by?”
“Though it originated in Huzhidi, which is why I assume you are here, but the recipe was shared ages ago. The potion is made in any alchemist store in Relevium. Any half-decent alchemist can do it,” Amai shrugged and Akana could feel the trail going cold.
“I see, well to be certain. Might I ask if anyone has bought it from you?”
Amai hesitated,” Well, normally not since we like to guard our customers' privacy but since someone has died… We only got one order for a perfectly made potion, and instructions on how to use it.”
“How to use it?”
“Yes… How to dilute it and in what amount and the like. It wasn’t that strange, many customers want to know how to use the potions correctly but considering how a man has died…”
“Who bought the potion?”
“A woman, I do not know her status, but she carried herself as a Patricali. Her name is Atra Serpentis.”
They gave their thanks and walked off in silence. Well out of the listening ears of the merchants, Ceva’s eyes sparkled with anger. “That bitch! She is still here.”
“Of course she is, after last year's spectacle she was expelled.”
“I would presume that she would have returned to her home.”
“She most likely did but came here, along with so many, to witness the Trine tournament.”
Attilus watched them both with a frown. “Who is she?”
“She was a student at Virtus Scolaris last year. She cooperated with an Huzhidian named Zhan Yuan, hoping to kill me,” Akana replied, remembering the hateful woman clearly. “She was discovered and just expelled since she claimed that she knew nothing of the plan of killing me. She had assumed that Zhan Yuan only wanted to rough me up a bit.”
Attilus eyes twitched, clearly not believing Atra’s lies. Neither did Akana but they had no evidence back then to claim otherwise so he was satisfied with an expulsion. Which the principal had tried to avoid but was pressured by the Mayin to execute.
“And now she is back, and apparently want revenge,” Ceva grimaced as they walked to the colosseum.
“We aren’t sure of that,” Akana pointed out. “We first have to ensure that she is in Parcis, and then find clues about her whereabouts during the night Julianus was killed.”
“I can do that but I doubt she did it herself. She is an aristocrat and most of all, a Patricali. She won’t get her hands dirty.”
“Maybe but if we can find-“ Akana silenced, feeling electricity spark the air. His neck hair rose as he looked up at the colosseum filled with a cold mist. Explosions were heard from the inside and he could recognize his husband's powers.
“I thought this phase was to drain mana, not battle with it,” Ceva muttered, noticing the tumult coming from the colosseum as people rushed out of it.
“Something must have gone wrong, you two stay here,” Akana ordered and started to run.
“Rial Caraid-“ Attilus said tensely, but Akana interrupted him with a raised hand.
“The entire colosseum is currently frozen. Both of you are no stranger to the cold, but this is the cold of Eitir haunting the air. I fear, no one except very few can enter this place. Stay outside, await for it to end,” Akana didn’t waste more words and rushed into the colosseum. Sen was roaring in his mind, filling Akana’s veins with fire. His eyes were burning as he rushed into the colosseum.
A few spectators had not been able to reach the exits and were huddle together staring in terror at the sands of the colosseum. Akana saw it. His husband was on his knees, sweating holding an orb while the Keiser and the Mayin tried to approach, only to get pushed back by the cold erupting from the panicked Sidastir in waves.
Sidastir was trying to drop the orb, but it seemed to be glued to his hands. Glowing in a flickering light as Sidastir’s mana was soon depleted.
Rage filled Akana who barely felt the cold waves hit him. Ice melted as he walked towards his husband, smoke coming out of his mouth as he exhaled. Eyes watched him in wonder, as he jumped with a terrifying roar, fit for a dragon. Landing in front of his husband.
“Don’t touch the orb it-“ the Keiser started but Akana didn’t listen. Sending out his fire magic, the entire stadium was enveloped in his heat as he grabbed the orb. A wave of pure heat hit him, but he didn’t even react as strange scales over his skin seemed to protect him from the wave of magic. Claws erupted from his nails, digging into the orb.
Locking eyes with his husband’s, Akana saw the fatigue in them. His eyes closing as he was about to lose consciousness. With a fierce roar, Akana gripped down. Letting magic flushed into the orb.
His mana, or the mana of Rafabik, burned the air as it came in such waves that the orb wasn’t able to drain it all. The mana flooded the colosseum, rushing to the sky, forming a roaring dragon.
“More,” Akana whispered into his mind, and even more mana rushed from his body. A resounding crack echoed accompanied by an explosion that sent a shockwave through the city as the orb was cut in half.
The mana dispursed, Sidastir slowly fell over but Akana caught him, forcing the raging mana down. Calming Sen, who raged with it.
Holding his husband, Akana looked down at his face, now greyish in color from the exertion. He looked so small in his arms, so fragile. This was the great Rial of Eitir, the lone survivor of the ice elves of Eitir, and Akana had almost lost him. A few seconds later and his husband had been killed.
Emotions swirled in Akana’s chest, leaning down. He put his forehead against Sidastir, pledging that nothing shall ever get so close to killing his love again.
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