Tepo felt a lot of respect as he watched his mother at work. With focused eyes, her brown hair tied backward, the alchemist showed off her skills.

Herbs were thrown into the cauldron at perfect timings. Sometimes some force had to be added, the heat regulated, or the water steered forcefully.

Under her skilled manipulation the herbs dissolved one by one. Only towards the end was the shuàr brain brought out. Without any hesitation Reahva cut off a small part, pressed it in her hands until a sour smelling liquid dropped out, and then added the brain into the cauldron.

Even Tepo covered his nose from the smell, but Reahva seemingly didn’t even notice it. For the experienced alchemist this was just some harmless odor.

Next, Reahva covered the cauldron and cooked the mixture.

“Tepo, tell me exactly when ten minutes have passed.”

“Alright.”

Having discovered her son’s incredibly accurate sense of time, Reahva liked to use him as a human alarm clock.

Naturally, Tepo didn’t mind. He waited together with his mother as the temperature in the room slowly rose. Faint steam rose from the cauldron, disappearing through a dedicated opening in the ceiling.

“Now!”

On Tepo’s sign, Reahva acted immediately. She rose the cauldron’s heavy lid, before sprinkling in some white powder. This was the last ingredient to properly bind all the ingredients in one homogenous liquid.

Reahva closed the lid again as she began to slowly extinguish the fire. A short while later the process was finally done.

Taking a step forward, Tepo took the lid away as he peeked into the cauldron. A surprisingly sweet smelling, lightly yellowish liquid was left in the cauldron. It was extremely viscous, barely moving as Reahva and Tepo tilted the cauldron to fill a few bottles.

With the antidote finally in hand, Tepo let out a sigh of relief.

“Finally. Let’s go quickly, mom. Let’s help Yerive.”

“Alright. I also don’t want your friend to remain in such an uncertain state. Let’s hope the antidote can help him.”

Next, mother and son didn’t hesitate any longer. They immediately left the store, Tepo using his stealth again just to be sure.

Afterwards Reahva briskly made her way towards Tonam’s inn. Tepo canceled his spell behind some corner and followed his mother at some distance.

But soon the warrior frowned slightly. A lot of suspicious people entered his eyes. They often stood at the side of the road in groups of two or three, obviously searching for something.

Suddenly Tepo’s eyes narrowed. One of the groups was talking to a warrior in a suspicious uniform. After a second glance the young man recognized the insignia on the warrior’s chest. It was Lirane Minerals Group!

Tepo wrinkled his forehead. Out of the crowd he observed the group. He noticed how they faintly followed his mother with their eyes before going back to their conversation.

An ominous feeling settled in Tepo’s stomach. He pondered for a few seconds before a guess formed in his mind.

Tondka might be searching for Yerive. If this is the case, my mother might be slightly suspicious. But the same goes for me, who just bought the shuà brain…

Just as Tepo reached this conclusion the warrior at the side seemingly noticed something. His eyes roamed the crowd. Suddenly they lit up in surprise. He had found his target!

Tepo reacted immediately. He didn’t want to stay and wait for more of Tondka’s goons to gather. He immediately advanced towards a random direction.

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Informing his subordinates hastily, the warrior followed, determined not to let his target leave his sight.

Tepo frowned heavily. He was annoyed with constantly avoiding these big organizations. Although he could kill a single warrior, a whole crowd would follow soon.

Now I can’t even move freely in my hometown! F*ck! Just wait, Tondka. This time I will make you pay a price!

As rage boiled in his heart, Tepo moved along random streets. But the warrior was following him closely. From time to time, he even tried to call out, but Tepo ignored him.

After a while the young man had enough. He entered another alley. The moment he turned the corner, he activated his stealth spell and hid within some entrance.

How sad. Although I choose the [Minor Stealth] spell for survivability, who would’ve thought that I had to use it all the time. But in the end Lirane just has too many people. How frustrating. Maybe I do have to follow Quill’s advice and form a team…

A moment later the chasing warrior appeared at the alley’s entrance. He was careful, not entering but shouting out:

“Sir. I’m from the Lirane Minerals Group. We mean no harm; we only want to ask a few questions. Please cooperate, sir. I can’t guarantee for anything if my colleagues arrive.”

Not receiving any answer, the warrior had to continue:

“Sir. We only want to know who you are working for. Maybe there is a way to buy the shuár brain form you?”

Tepo stood in the alley, gritting his teeth.

Ahh, shut up you hypocrite. How can you threaten me and try playing nice in the same breath. Just turn around so I can get away!

Unfortunately, the warrior didn’t comply. He was extremely vigilant, definitely well trained. He blocked the alley’s entrance while constantly scanning his surroundings.

Gradually Tepo grew impatient. Reinforcements might come any second now.

Knowing that he can’t waste any more time, the warrior separated from the wall. He moved carefully, his blurry silhouette distancing itself from Tondka’s goon.

However, the [Minor Stealth] spell wasn’t absolute. The alley was brightly light as the sun shone without a care for Tepo’s predicament.

With the warrior focusing all his sense, he suddenly felt as if something was odd in the alley. A few spots appeared slightly blurry as the faintest of sounds rang out, almost drowned out by the pedestrians on the road.

His thoughts churning, the warrior suddenly came to a possible conclusion. He couldn’t prevent his body from shaking faintly.

But the warrior’s movement didn’t stay unnoticed by the careful Tepo. He sighed inwardly.

Why do you have to be so attentive…

Suddenly everything happened in the blink of an eye. Tepo drew his pistol, letting go of all caution. Loud bangs echoed in the alley, the air shaking, churning slightly.

Surprised shouts sounded form the road, people quickly did their best to get away.

Liran’s warrior was shocked. He could only defend hastily, an invisible shield forming in the air before him.

One, two impacts sounded out. The shield held for a moment but with the third bullet it shattered.

Two bloody holes appeared on the warrior’s body. He was barely able to protect his vitals.

Suppressing his pain the frightened warrior hastily took out his weapon, while trying to pacify Tepo:

“Sir. I’m only here to ta…”

But the unfortunate warrior wasn’t even able to end his sentence.

Since Tepo decided to act, he didn’t give his opponent a chance. With a short sprint he was already closing in on the warrior.

The young man’s eyes were focused. A sneaky fist shot out. It heavily hit the warrior’s weapon wielding arm, almost crippling it with one punch.

Without any hesitation Tepo used the opening. His knife shot forward. Rapid pierce was activated.

Out of nowhere a young man appeared before the warrior. The murderous look in his eyes will be the last the warrior ever saw as a knife plunged into his heart.

Tepo even forcefully shut the warrior’s mouth with his hand, letting a pained scream die in his throat.

A few seconds later he hastily left the ally, his stealth reactivated. Although from his positioning during the fight, no one should have seen him clearly, but the fact that he possess a stealth spell might get leaked now.

Unfortunately, Tepo had no way to prevent this from happening.

Next Tepo kept up his spell, staying close to walls and carefully avoiding dense crowds. From time to time some of Tondka’s goons passed by him.

In this way it took quite some time, but finally the young man reached the inn. He let out a sigh of relief as he scanned his surroundings.

Hopefully Lirane didn’t focused on mother. Maybe it’s even positive that I drew their attention.

With those thoughts Tepo canceled his spell, entered the inn and returned to Yerive’s room.

Two pairs of eyes welcomed the young man as he opened the door.

“Hey.”

“Took you quite a while to arrive, hm? Did you have a date in the meantime?”, joked Reahva.

Tepo rolled his eyes.

“You could call it that… I’m just glad they left you alone.”

“Well, they didn’t. But you underestimate your mother too much. Those Lirane guys can’t keep up with me!”

Noticing the faint proud twinkle in Reahva’s eyes, Tepo fell silent for a moment.

Maybe it’s true. Even after Radac’s reminder I still underestimated my mother. She might be stronger than I thought. But what happened in the past that a proud warrior gave up so much to life with her son in a small city?

Tepo stopped himself from letting out a sigh as he hastily directed the topic elsewhere:

“Since you came early, did you already give Yerive the antidote? How is he doing?”