After Syllis exited the room, she immediately left the Boorne residence. There was a person she had been putting off visiting. She did not want them to think that she betrayed them, but maybe she truly had.

Syllis had many opportunities to visit Jyrid again. After she left the Boorne residence the first time she had a choice to make. She could visit Jyrid or refine her ice needle-point spear. She could have visited him after the banquet, Jyrid operates his tavern well into the night. She also could have visited him after getting back from Lurgica.

Syllis had neglected to visit him each and every time there was the opportunity to. Maybe in some ways, she wanted to avoid returning ever, or unless he visited her. Because if she visited the friendly tavernkeep that helped her out for so much of those years on the outskirts, then she would be falling back into her own life. This thought was scarier than anything else.

‘I can’t put it off any longer.’

Syllis readied herself and stepped just out the front door of the Boorne residence when she was faced with a problem.

“I have absolutely no quartz.” Syllis spoke out loud in a one tone voice. She was dumbfounded over how she could have no quartz and even more so that she could forget.

This was such an absurd problem, there likely was not any more than a handful of people in Asanoch suffering from her problem. Even addicts in the outer ring would have some scraps of quartz, but Syllis had literally zero. Not even a piece of quartz dust was in her possession.

Syllis remained stationary for a few seconds, unsure of what to do next. She realized that there was a lack of activities to choose from when one had no quartz to their name. It was impossible to leave Aklilan, it was spacious and would take several hours to make it into central Asanoch.

Until Clyde returned home from Lurgica, she would have to make due with the limited options available.

‘I could try to practice manipulating an already conjured weapon. Or I could sleep.’

There was not much to do. Syllis had been so absorbed in getting involved with the Boorne family that she felt weird, not having anything to do.

‘Maybe I owe it to myself.’ Syllis decided to take a nap to rest her tired eyes. Maybe she would even see parts of the ritualistic circles she did not comprehend a little better—like the barrier on Aura’s.

Several knocks quickly shook her out of her dazed sleep. Syllis did not dream in her brief, three hour nap.

“Syllis, are you awake?” Clyde’s voice rang out from the other side of the door.

It irritated Syllis, the secare nymph scowled before clicking the door open. “I am awake… now.”

Syllis did not hide her slight irritation that hugged the edge of her voice. It was only natural to feel disdain for being woken up. Not that she had experienced it in quite a while.

“That’s good…” Clyde paused momentarily, looking over the nymph’s slightly unruly hair. “So, do you want to spar now or later? Do something else maybe…”

“Would you like to accompany me to the outer ring?”

Syllis did not even want to entertain the idea of sparring as soon as she woke up. At that moment, she felt that was the worst idea ever spoken.

The two of them sat mostly in silence throughout the entire duration of the carriage ride. Clyde did not even know where they were going and Syllis was too afraid to speak, worried to ask about ritualistic circles, she did not give herself away.

‘If he learnt that I had snuck into his ritual room, what would he think?’ Syllis did not know if she would be reported or not.

She had noticed Clyde’s ‘attraction’ towards her, it would be impossible for anyone not to. His voice stuttered and his cheeks would flush when he spoke to her. The question was whether this would be enough to prevent him from reporting her.

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Obviously it would be a slight barrier in between him making a report, but was it enough? This matter was not a simple misunderstanding like the matter of her swimming in the outskirts of Asanoch. Instead, her sneaking into the ritual room was a coordinated act with intent. It was not a spur of the moment thing and very clearly, hundreds of hours were put into perfecting their method to transfigure.

Knowledge like that could not be stumbled upon, if everyone knew the method then kindred would flood every city, causing chaos. So, the fact that Syllis had deliberately schemed and then unraveled the jist of transfiguring was problematic at the least.

‘Why do I get the feeling that entering the ritual room was a mistake?’

Syllis shuddered as they finally arrived at their stop. The carriage driver knocked on their door, indicating the arrival.

The both of them stepped out in front of a ramshackle tavern. The muddled orange and yellow hues of gas lamps emanated through the dusty windows as laughter jutted out from within creating a lively atmosphere.

“Where are we?” Clyde asked after taking in the building in front of them.

“Home.” As Syllis spoke, a grin curled up on her face. She quickly corrected herself. “Or the closest thing to it. Come on.”

Syllis gestured for the noble boy to follow her inside.

Tables lined the left and right walls, seated with four to six chairs each. Uneven groups of men and women alike sat at these tables and drank their problems away. Some played poker at the same time while the others threw olives into small glasses, winning the reward of drinking the glass that the olive landed in.

They laughed as they shoveled the poor beer down their throats. The slight splashing of clinked glasses pooled in the divots of tables and the floorboards. Occasionally, one would feel a light tap on them, stray droplets of alcohol tainting their clothing.

Syllis and Clyde both walked down the open, middle aisle, lined with tables to the left and right. They sat down side by side on stool seats as they waited to be served.

The warm gas lamp lighting beamed down upon them and refracted off the glass bottles that were littered across the back of the bar. Several notable brands seemed to be favored by the light, it was clear that Jyrid had purposely placed expensive bottles in these spots to highlight them for purchase.

‘What a dastardly way to mark up bills…’ Syllis took notes in case she needed to open a scummy bar someday.

Before long a man greeted the both of them before going wide eyes. “Syllis?” He asked, wide-eyed in a surprised tone.

“In the flesh.” Syllis spoke deadpan before turning towards one of the highlighted bottles on a pine shelf. “That’s scummy.” She let Jyrid know, gesturing to the specific example.

Clyde did not seem to understand.

Jyrid let out a hearty chuckle which was rare for him. He must have been happy seeing Syllis again. “You haven’t changed since you were last here. Where you been? Whatcha been doing?”

The man was curious. It was a bizarre last couple weeks. Syllis never went more than a day without visiting the tavern again, whether that was for food, water or a friend to talk to.

“Nothing much, just getting hired by this guy.” Syllis gestured to Clyde who had remained silent up to now.

“I’m Clyde.” Clyde stuck out his hand for the bartender who eyed it curiously before shaking it.

“Jyrid, hired for what exactly?” Jyrid turned back towards Syllis who had been playing around with a couple of wooden picks.

“Fighting him.” Syllis responded plainly. It was a relatively plain position after all.

“It suits you.” Jyrid did not laugh after saying this, instead, he smiled. A large smile curved from ear to ear as he spoke again. “I’m glad you’ve found something to occupy yourself with. Now you won’t have to hang around here so often.”

Syllis could have swore she saw a sad expression on his face for a second.

“Can I get some water?” Syllis asked thankfully before turning to Clyde. “Anything?”

“Could you do a blend? With no cherry please.” Clyde inquired.

A blend was a common drink in Shifordia. The blend is a refreshing drink that consists of several juices—cherry, raspberry, strawberry—combined with lime and lemon zest. Another name for it was the triple because of the three juices. When ordering it without cherry, which was common because of the strong flavor, it would be referred to as a double.

Jyrid smirked in response. It was ignorant to think that a small-scale tavern in the outer ring would be able to make such a drink. However, Jyrid was not the average tavernkeep and he liked his tavern: Ferrywell’s to feel upscale. This was the reason he was able to create such a drink, and also occasionally put heasen hearts and other specialty meats on the menu.

As Jyrid poured the blended drink into a fancy glass, Syllis had an interesting thought.

‘Could I use this as an opportunity to learn more about the ritual room?’ Syllis questioned within, searching for a reason this situation should be avoided.

She did not want to keep sneaking around the family and boy who pulled her out of the outer ring. However, she could not deny it was tempting—exceptionally tempting.