Dorian lay sprawled on the couch, his body relaxed and a hint of amusement playing on his features. Peter burst into the room, his laughter echoing through the small space. "I can't believe he fell for it!" he exclaimed.

Dorian joined in the laughter, his own chuckles blending with Peter's. He couldn't help but mimic a high-pitched voice,"Sir! He disappeared into the night!"

As the laughter subsided, Peter's curiosity got the better of him. His expression turned serious as he asked, "So, who was it?”

“It was some guy called Red. Lives up west just before the inner wall.”

Peter's eyes widened in recognition.

“You know him?” asked Dorian.

“He’s the one that does the dirty jobs for the gang here. Collecting late debts, handing out punishment, hitjobs, stuff like that.”

“Tell me more”

“He’s a little older than 30 and he’s definitely empowered. There’s stories about him tearing people’s heads and walls off with his bare hands.”

“Something like that is impossible without having some strength based innate ability or using Mana”

Peter nodded.

“What do you mean by empowered though”

Peter, feeling proud, responded, "Empowered is the stage at which someone first learns to manipulate mana freely. It's a step up from being simply awakened. At least that’s what the inner wallers say."

Dorian smirked, his curiosity piqued. "Where did you learn that word, smart boy?"

Peter's smile slightly dipped as he admitted, "I used to work as a waiter for a club in the inner walls, and I overheard some guys talking about it."

"Oh yeah," Peter grinned, "where's my thirty pennies, rich boy?"

"What happened to twenty five?"

“Five for the information.”

Without hesitation, Dorian rose from the couch, setting his cup down with emphasis. His movements were confident and deliberate as he reached for a sack of coins on a nearby table. In one fluid motion, he grabbed one sack of forty five pennies and tossed it to Peter.

Peter's eyes widened as he caught the sack, the weight of the coins within palpable. His grin dipped slightly, a mix of surprise and disbelief washing over him.

"Relax, Peter. Consider the rest a gift, a preview of things to come."

Peter looked down at the sack in his hand, glanced up, meeting Dorian's eyes with a mixture of gratitude and determination.

‘Money is king’

“Let’s talk tomorrow. It’s getting too late.”

………

With a yawn, Dorian rose to his feet and made his way towards the mirror adorning the wall. His reflection greeted him, a mix of tousled hair and sleepy eyes. He studied himself, taking in the image that stared back at him.

‘It’s about making sure he doesn't betray me, and not about getting his trust.’

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‘Although having him as an ally does make things a little easier’

With a resolute expression, Dorian climbed up the stairs to Peter's room. He opened the door with a brisk motion, entering the dimly lit space. The air was still and filled with the gentle sound of Peter's soft snores.

Dorian approached the bed where Peter lay, his face calm and peaceful in slumber. He reached out and shook Peter's shoulder with a firm grip. "Peter, wake up."

In his sleep, Peter stirred and mumbled unintelligibly. A faint frown creased his forehead as he murmured, "Mommy, don't leave me."

‘I need to wash my eyes and ears with soap’

‘That’s it’

Returning downstairs, Dorian made his way to the kitchen. He filled a bucket with cold water, its icy touch sending a shiver down his spine.

Standing beside Peter's bed, Dorian took a deep breath and then swiftly emptied the contents of the bucket onto Peter's face. In an instant, Peter's eyes flew open, his body jolting upright in bed. The shock of the freezing water hit him like a bucket of reality, causing him to gasp and sputter. His previously peaceful expression contorted into a mixture of surprise, fear, and confusion.

"Wha-what?!" Peter stammered, his voice trembling. He quickly scrambled backward in bed, his eyes scanning the room as if he had just awoken from a terrifying nightmare.

‘Now I just feel bad.’

“My hand slipped. Wake up, we got a lot to do today. I’ll meet you downstairs”

Five minutes later, Peter trudged down the stairs sluggishly, his clothes slightly damp and disheveled. He shot Dorian a tired and annoyed look, his hair still clinging to his forehead.

"Why" Peter muttered, rubbing his temples as if trying to chase away the remnants of sleep. "I was having such a nice dream."

“I’m sure you were buddy.”

“Peter, do you happen to know any poisonous herbs that you can tell me about so that I can know how to avoid them?”

“You never bothered learning them? There’s more than a few out there.”

“Can you grab some of them, no, a lot of them, so I can know how to avoid them even better?”

Peter hesitated for a moment, his gaze searching Dorian's face. “He’s empowered. You can’t go after him.”

“He has a lot of money, which either of us could use. You also need to go out there anyway today to collect some Sylvestra for Aldwin. Eyes are gonna be raised if neither of us are doing what we normally do”

“I guess I owe you one. After this though, I won’t hear you out on anything risky again, alright?”

“Fair enough”

“What about your family though? Do you want me to say something?”

Dorian choked up slightly on his water. “No it’s fine, I don't want to put them in danger. ’ll talk to them later.”

As Peter turned to leave the house, Dorian said “Oh yeah. One last thing, can you buy me a sword from the market please?”

“...”

Dorian sighed heavily as he walked back into the living room and slumped down on the couch, his body sinking into the cushions. He closed his eyes and let out a long breath, trying to clear his mind.

‘I needed some time alone’

‘I’ll worry about Blackwood’s family later. There’s no use if I go up to them, get discovered, and possibly get killed again. There’s enough savings to cover the medication for a week.’

‘I hope I can learn something about either my killers or mana when we deal with red tonight.’

‘Let’s work out a bit for now’

‘Based on my recovery the first night i should definitely be able to recover in time’

Dorian took a deep breath and then began his push-ups. One... two... three... he steadily lowered his body down and pushed himself back up, the movement flowing with controlled strength. His muscles tensed and flexed with each repetition.

He continued the push-ups, the count increasing steadily. Twenty... thirty... fifty... Dorian's determination pushed him forward. He could feel the burn in his muscles, but he pushed through the discomfort, his focus unwavering.

As he reached eighty push-ups, a sense of surprise washed over Dorian. He hadn't expected to go this far without feeling fatigued. The numbers continued to climb—ninety... ninety-five... one hundred...

At one hundred and one, Dorian's arms began to shake with exertion. He could hardly believe that he had come this far.

‘I don't want to go till failure. Let’s stop’

‘One hundred without ever working out before is insane! Blackwood was never like this! Is this related to me having two souls in one body?’

He approached the staircase, and with a burst of energy, bounded up to the 7th step.

‘I didn’t even get a running start this time, and I jumped even higher!’

With a determined glint in his eyes, Dorian reached for the short spear and gripped it firmly in his hand. He positioned himself a few steps away from the wall, taking a deep breath to steady his focus. With a swift and powerful motion, he launched the spear towards the ground in front of the wall.

However, to his surprise and dismay, the spear spun out of control in the air, veering off its intended trajectory by a few feet.

‘So the changes only affected raw power. Let’s work on this for a bit.’

As the sun began to set, Peter returned home holding a bag full of poisonous herbs, accompanied by a sword by his side. He entered the house and glanced around, noticing the dents in the wall and the slight disarray in the living room as a confused expression crossed his face. "What happened to my wall?"

“Just testing some things out. What herbs did you get?”

Peter sighed, setting the bag down on the table. "I got some Blightroot and Nightshade. There’s two other ones I don’t recognize, but they’re bright and look poisonous.”

Dorian grinned, "Perfect."

“Let’s cook, Jesse”

“Huh?”