The next day, Noctus seemed to have accepted what he had learned of the day before and returned from solitude, albeit he seemed to fear Argo subconsciously.

Argo was also distant, more so than before, perhaps fearful of Noctus and his outburst from yesterday. 

Noctus cursed himself, for being ignorant, for not noticing the signs.

The fact that the girl knew more then them compared to himself, he hated it.

It should have been obvious, he was like a puppet, rarely disobeying their commands. 

He was forgetful, easily forgetting things he learned only minutes ago. 

Lastly, his emotions dwindled at a rapid pace, like how in the past his concern of Lira dissipated within minutes.

It didn't just start recently, ever since he made all of them, he was already in the process giving away his emotions, his memory.

"FUCK!" Noctus shouted, his fist ramming against the wall.

As his fist made contact with the wall, it was promptly cracked, a cacophony of stone crashing onto the ground sounded.

After a moment of silence, he reformed the wall with magic before sitting down with his back leaning on it, his head buried in his hands.

Mumbling to himself, he lamented, "…Why do I have all this redundant emotions…"

'It's not that bad.' A certain voice called out, a feminine one.

"I'm not in the mood, Iris."

'I keep silent for a while and now you ignore me? How harsh~' After a short period of silence, she continued, 'This is the first time I see you annoyed.' 

"I am not."

'Haha.' She mocked.

"I swear upon my life, I will eradicate your soul, if you continue to speak." He grumbled, his arms dropping limp to his sides, his head leaning on the wall.

'I'm so scared~' 

"Especially sarcastic today, are you not?"

'Mmhmm, I'm really not getting used to this sharing thing, the fingers I feel not following my commands. Plus, aren't you irritable today? Normally you'd act like you have a broom stuck up your ass and an insatiable quest for knowledge.' She commented, pushing slightly at Noctus's control of the fingers. 

Of course, he didn't relent in the slightest, his absolute will intertwining with the body's control.

"Do not push me, for you are merely a disposable tool." 

She spoke jeeringly, 'Shut up already, with your fancy words.' Before continuing sarcastically, 'Your majesty, I will take my leave upon your acceptance of morals.' 

"…." Finding no interest in this pointless conversation, he retreated, still mentally tired.

Without further delay, he took out the book of ancient elven runes and started another conversation, which he hoped to be fruitful.

Flipping to a page with bland illustrations of horse headed men turning into a human, he pointed to a rune on the yellowed paper.

"This, is the mark on my body, is it not?" He asked, though already knowing the answer through comparing the illustration to his marks. 

'….Maybe?'

"Why would you alter my appearance?" He asked, but it was directed mostly to himself.

He knew that she wouldn't answer him.

'No comment.' She replied in a monotonous voice as he had expected. 

He had stuck pieces of paper into each page, with detailed information he had collected regarding the important runes similar to the ones on his body.

A surge of impatience entered his mind, he wasn't one to give up, not when he already had the materials to study.

If she won't help him, he could try himself. 

Without rest, he scanned book once again, attempting to make sense of the strange orthography.  

His eyes had became slightly red, after the continuous and consecutive focus he had placed on a single line of gibberish for an average of half an hour each. 

Even after the sun had set, he showed no signs of relenting. Lupus who had silently watched on without interfering finally spoke with a confused voice, 'Why not ask that woman? It's her books.' 

As if he had just attained enlightenment, he snapped the book shut and jumped to his feet, mumbling to himself with sentences so fast and short that others could hardly catch it.

"Why did I not think of that…yes, I'll ask that woman, it'll be beneficial." 

Perhaps affected for the first time by frustration, he was like a mad man, his bloodshot eyes darting around the room, his overworked mind finally given a breather.

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Seeing Noctus's unstable self making his way to the door, even Lupus had been disturbed, Noctus was impatient only after a few hours, a short amount of time compared to the days he spent trying to learn from Iris, which never caused any form of upset.

As if unable to contain the words she wanted to speak, Iris finally blurted out, 'Wait!'

"What?" He snapped.

This woman was no use to him, merely an obstacle in his pursuit of knowledge. 

'Control yourself Noctus, you're going mad.' She spoke cautiously, acting as though her words could set off a bomb. 

"Mad?" He enunciated the word once, attempting to grasp its meaning.

'The….emotions, you've received, it's changing you, you're not one to fear.' She spoke again, with a serious tone. 

As if her words had shook him, he stood there motionless for a Long while before he sat down again with a weak laugh, "What is this sorcery? I am becoming another being." He lamented. 

Perhaps only a month ago, he was objective to no end. However at this moment, he was blinded by the torrent of unfamiliar emotions, it was illogical for him to act this way, for the actions which will ensue in the next moments would not be beneficial to his objective in anyway. 

'Noctus.' She called his name again, perhaps offering her support in this situation. 

Lupus did not speak, he himself knew that he was also undergoing change in his personality unwillingly. 

Noctus gritted his teeth, holding down his urge to beat Argo up. He was thirsting for some sort of satisfying relief from all this hate he was feeling. 

How was he going to accomplish that anyways? They share one body.

Taking deep breaths with his teeth still smashed together, he took out a bottle of pills and poured a handful onto his had, thanking his luck that a certain personality had not came out. 

Condensing a small ball of water in his hands, he swallowed the pills down and laid on the ground, his thumping heart slowing down and his emotions reducing, himself drowning in his thoughts as a form of relief.  

However at that moment, a knock sounded, demanding for his attention. 

With only a thought, he spread his mana and took in the intruder's body shape, identifying it as Alice. 

She couldn't enter, Noctus had already locked the door to prevent that.

As much as he'd like to conceal his instinctual fear of her power, he couldn't, it was out for all to see.

He was scared of other information that girl may release, he was scared to been seen through by her mysterious power. 

Thus so, he had no intentions of moving, placing his hand over his eyes, he beckoned for rest, to energise his weary mind. 

But he didn't sleep, he couldn't no matter how Long he spent with his eyes closed, he could only sink into mental oblivion as Iris offered short renditions of the life in her old world. 

It was like dreaming, but different. 

--------------------------------------------

After perhaps a day, he walked out of the room, making his way to the library, where he felt the woman was at. 

Her magic signature was pungent in the air, making her magical prowess obvious, unlike the children, who had not developed too much regarding their mana.

Before coming out, he had already swallowed another handful of pills, refusing to allow the excess emotions  to interfere. 

In his hands were the large book. 

His small feet barely made any noise against the light colored wooden floors.

Perhaps now without his over zealous emotions pushing him forward on the quest of knowledge, time seemed to slow down, colors seemed to had became too bright for his eyes. 

It was noon, he told himself, he couldn't tell the time in the room with the windows blocked with stone. His eyes could read in the dark and perhaps because of his past, he was more accustomed to the dark. 

His eyes darted around, taking in the suddenly brighter world, albeit his eyes were slightly blinded by the light. 

But alas, even without his zealousness, the world was still blurry.

Finally reaching the familiar large stone enforced door, his small yet strong hand pushed it open.

"Hello?" He called out, and at that moment, a total of six heads turned his way.