Armad observed the rocky terrain that led to the floating hut above the mountains. He couldn't see the hut but everything else was exactly as he remembered it when he first brought his mom to see Barbara a year ago. So many things had happened ever since.

He returned Ubbaru to the spatial ring and stealthily searched the mountains for the missing hut. The mysterious fortune teller had come out to meet him the last time he was there, he wasn't sure if the man would be as accommodating this time around.

*Tap. Tap. Tap.* Sudden footsteps pulled him out of his reverie.

Armad summoned his soul sword and hid behind a boulder. The footsteps finally revealed themselves. An adolescent girl dressed in a white coat reminiscent of a hospital. She held a water pot in her left and a greenish stalk in her right as she hurriedly walked past him. Armad didn't expect a woman in such a place. Hell, even Barbara was there because he was cast out.

But the woman was calm and didn't seem to be under any compulsion. She led him to a well-hidden tent which, Armad suspected, wasn't there before. Armad moved behind another builder and hid where he could see the entrance clearly.

A few seconds later, the woman that had ealier entered the tent and another woman came out of the tent, carrying another woman. Both were dressed in the same hospital attire. They carried an older woman out of the tent and put her on a stretcher outside the tent. One adjusted the older woman's position while the other cleaned the sweat on her forehead. The older woman looked like she was just sleeping, but then who carried a sleeping person around? She might be unconscious, probably.

Two young women, acting like nurses, tending to an unconscious woman in the middle of nowhere, what exactly was going on? Armad took a closer look at the woman. She was well-fed and clothed. Not pale. The only indication of her sickness was her numb unresponsiveness. Her bright red hair reminded him of his sister's obsessive hair cleaning. Her face...

Tears formed at the corner of his eyes. This woman was... his mom. Armad immediately came out of hiding and approached them. The two women were startled and too scared to even move. Armad went straight to his mom. He wanted her to speak even if it was just an incomprehensible murmur, he just wanted to hear her voice.

"Mom... "

No response.

He inspected. No any sign of maltreatment but she was still unresponsive. Why was she there? Did something bad happen? Where was his cousin Sadi? Who were these nurses?

"You just have to ask them, master?" Iqra said.

Armad turned to the nurses. "Who the hell are you? How did you even know about my mom?"

"W..we were... hired by B...Barbara to look after her. We mean no harm, mister, we swear."

Armad reflexively reached out for his sword at the mention of Barbara. "Where's he?" He thundered.

The nurses trembled uncontrollably. Every word Armad spoke weighed down on them like a mountain. They couldn't speak.

"Welcome home, Armad Wilberforce." Barbara said, coming out of the tent. He was the same scroungy old dwarf with a cold musculine voice.

The deal was clear: find the Triple-factor in exchange for your mom's cure. Armad was finally home. No Triple-factor and no any information that could lead to the man. The fact that Barbara had employed nurses to look after his mom eased the tension in his heart, but that didn't erase the fact that he'd failed to deliver his end of the bargain.

"Why is my mom here?" Armad asked.

"Did you find him?" Babara asked his own question.

"I did not find him." Armad answered.

Barbara just fell silent and looked at Armad with an indifferent expression. Armad was ready.

"I guess I'm not the only one that's failed." Barbara said simply.

Armad narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brows as he tried to take in the man's words. "...wait, you've failed at what? Don't tell me... "

"Yes, you are right. I've failed to make a potion that will cure your mom. I can ease her suffering and delayed the disease, but a cure isn't possible. Trust me, son, I've tried everything possible." Barbara murmured a few words about how he thought the cure potion would be easier to make.

"Ask him what potion was he trying to make." Iqra told Armad. He wanted to make sure the man wasn't bluffing.

"So the other component of the cure is just a potion?" Armad asked.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Barbara nodded. "It's known as the Soul Mould. I've the ingredients, the nine-colored flame, the furnace and the medicinal formula but, for some odd reason, I just can't make it. It was as if the universe itself was against it. The furnace exploded every time I got close."

"He's right." Iqra said. "Back then, alchemist have tried to concoct the Soul Mould but it always ended up with exploding furnaces."

I guess I've overestimated him. Armad thought. "You still haven't told me why my mom is here. I remember leaving her at home with my cousin Sadi."

Barbara twitched slightly. His face visibly paled as he hesitated. After several seconds, he removed a colorful magazine from his voluminous pocket and threw it at Armad. It was the most latest paper from the popular Longevity Times. The cover had Armad's picture and Nostalgia's.

"Coercion and Use of Forbidden Magic.

"Fall of the Dark Horse Armad Djinn."

Armad read the first and the second headings. There was a short description below the heading that made Armad clenched his fist and punched the ground so hard his little finger broke.

Armad the slave has coerced princess Nostalgia into freeing him and thousands of other slaves during the slave auction. Armad has reached the final of the last Jinzidal where he lost to Tyren of the rebellion. He was found guilty of using forbidden magic and was punished by admiral Uznu Urúrú according to the rules of the seven worlds.

"Turn the next page." Barbara said.

Armad slowly flipped the page over. And there he was, another imposing picture of himself surrounded by fifty lightning bolts.

AN UNEXPECTED BOUNTY! It read.

Armad the slave has recently done atrocious acts but his bounty still comes as an unexpected surprise. It wasn't just the bounty, but the amount. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome the THREE HUNDRED MILLION MAN. ARMAD DJINN.

"I know this will happen when that bastard took you away from the arena. I don't believe the forbidden magic bulshit. That has always been their excuse when they want to get rid of someone. But I wonder, what do you have that he wants?"

"It doesn't concern you." Armad said through gritted teeth.

"Okay, okay, I don't have to know. But just know the Jinzidal army, the border patrol and the contractors have already surrounded your home. Your cousin Sadi is under a house arrest in case you make contact. I took the liberty of bringing your mom out of the house just before they warded the entire area. To be honest, your problems are much more than you or I can handle."

"Thanks to you, bastard." Armad raged. "If you didn't send me on this quest, I wouldn't have become wanted all over the fucking world."

"And I am sorry for that. I really didn't expect you to get a bounty in just nine months, no matter what atrocity you committed. I'm even more sorry about not finding the cure for your mom. But you haven't delivered your end of the bargain. That makes us even."

"Ask him how does he expects a seventeen year old boy to find the Triple-factor. Even my former owner couldn't pull it off." Iqra said. It was a question that had been in Armad's mind for long.

"You surely didn't expect me to find the man, did you?" Armad asked the fortune teller.

"Wilberforce, I know all about your sister, stop pretending."

"Hidaya?" Armad furrowed his brows. He didn't expect the fortune teller to bring his sister up.

Barbara cleared his throat and started. "A hundred years ago, the Association of Fortune Tellers was in a conflict with about forty Djinn tribes. Djinns accused us of stealing their hard-earned information about the future while we accused them of lying. It started as a small conflict but it grew into a large-scale war in a very short period. Hundreds of fortune tellers and Djinns died in its wake. Forty-four years ago, your sister, resolved this crisis, which finally brought peace to the fortune-telling world. I am a regional leader of the Association so I know all about it. Do you still deny it?"

"Deny what?" Armad snapped.

"Huh? You really don't know, do you?" Barbara said, narrowing his eyes in shock.

"Know what? Why don't you just go straight to the point?"

"But you know your sister is trapped in the spirit realm, right? In a war between the First Worlders' Djinns and the other Djinn tribes. You know that much, don't you?"

Armad shook his head.

Barbara sighed and rolled his head to one side in a very dramatic way.

"Bottom line is your sister has seen the Triple-factor FACE-TO-FACE. She is the only one in the current era who has seen the man. There's nobody with a better chance of finding the man than you - her brother. That's why I sent you. Hoping your sister has shared something with you. I guess I was wrong."

"I was wrong about you as well." Armad countered. "I thought you can cure my mom but you can't do nothing. I guess this is where our deal comes to an end."

"Yeah." Barbara nodded. He still had other means to pursue his dream of finding the Triple-factor.

"Wait, before The Descent, the association of fortune tellers are also connected to the Scorphants. Ask him if he knows about any Scorphants." Iqra told Armad.

"You don't want any payment for taking care of my mom?" Armad asked Barbara.

Barbara smiled. "I honestly believed you would find the Triple-factor. This is supposed to be a substitute payment for the cure."

"What? That's selfish, even for you." Armad said.

"I know, I know," Barbara nodded. "Call me desperate but it's better than nothing. My life depends on finding the Triple-factor. As long as I can achieve it, I can do anything."

"You might have failed to find a cure but there's still something you can do to help." Armad brought the matter up.

Barbara grimaced. He always liked to be the one making the deals, not the other way round. "What is it?"

"Find me some Scorphants and I'll ask my sister to tell you what you need to know about the Triple-factor." Armad said. He didn't even know if his sister was alive or not, and he certainly didn't know any relationship between her and the Triple-factor. But Barbara believed it. And that was the important piece.

"You'll do that for me? You'll ask Hidaya to tell me about him?" Barbara asked with wide eyes. Unable to believe it.

"I will." Armad said. He had nothing to lose. And the Scorphants were now the only thing standing between him and the cure.

"Then I'll definitely find these... Scophints for you. Whatever they are." Barbara said. He even slapped his chest to stress his commitment to the cause.

"Wait, wait, wait, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW THEM?!" Armad shouted angrily.