The elevator went deeper than Gale expected, dropping fast and what seemed like dozens of sub levels already. Rachel stood beside him, typing on her phone without stopping.

“How far down are we going?” Gale watched the numbers tick past twenty.

“Far enough that my grandmother can pretend this place doesn’t exist,” Rachel said without looking up. “She knows about it. Just doesn’t want to admit what happens here.”

The elevator stopped with a soft ping. The doors opened to a corridor nothing like the mansion above. White walls, bright lights, and the same chemical smell in Lab 7 that Gale did not like.

A woman in a hazmat suit greeted them. “Oh, Young Miss, weren’t you supposed to come tomorrow?”

“Change of plans,” Rachel said. “This is Gale. He’s cleared for all areas.”

The woman nodded, but Gale noticed her eyes narrow behind her face shield as she looked him over.

“Dr. Yeung asked about the modified batch,” the woman said. “The green series showed good results.”

“I’ll check on that,” Rachel replied. “Thanks, Mei.”

Walking along the corridor, more researchers in hazmat suits moved between rooms. It had the same atmosphere as Ollie’s lab, but clearly with more safety. The mundanes all had hazmat suits while the Aurians didn’t need to wear them, but some still did.

One wearing a hazmat suit that pushed along a cart filled with various coloured vials waved at Rachel. She waved back and smiled.

“Are you one of those they call mad scientists?” Gale asked.

Rachel gave him a look. “I’m not. It’s just a bit of research to help Ollie.”

They turned the corner, and at the end of the corridor stood two metal double doors with a hazard sign and a big red light. Beside the doors was the familiar panel at the front of the house. Rachel put her hand on the panel and pulsed a blue light into it. The door clicked open. She pushed the door, and both walked through.

“How much do you know about dust corruption?” Rachel asked as they walked. “About how it happens and why it matters?”

“Lily gave me a crash course. Basically, Aurians use it to boost their powers while mundane exposure leads to crystallized death.”

“That’s the simple version,” Rachel pushed open another set of double doors. “But there’s more to it.”

Inside was a large circular room overlooking what looked like a testing chamber, similar to an operating room, except filled with computers on the observation deck. Inside the testing chamber were several rods that pointed to an operating table. Each rod contained lines of glyphs that faintly pulsed with ether.

She led him through the other end of the observation deck into another room. This one was different from the other doors. The door looked more like a circular bank vault’s door. No knobs, just a circular gear right in the middle.

Rachel snapped her fingers. Glyphs on the door appeared, glowing a bright amber. The metal glowed a bright red hot, and the gears began to turn. She placed her palm onto the centre of the door and pushed. The door hissed, grating inwards, then rolled to the side.

“Ether signature recognition,” Rachel said. “Only six people in the world can open this door.”

“Do I get to be number 7?” Gale smiled as innocently as he could.

“Unfortunately no, you’re just getting a peek.” She chuckled, pushing the door open. “After you.”

Going inside, Gale stopped short after seeing red wax in a circle around the whole room that was the size of a school gym. Intricate glyphs laid out on the red wax all around the circle. Inside that circle was something that looked like a cross between a man and raw meat. Large veins all over the meat pulsed, suggesting it had a heartbeat. Four pillars outside of the red wax circle held chains that hooked the meat in place. It moved, struggled, and made wet slapping sounds on the tiled floor. The only surprise here was that the only scent he could smell was bleach.

His hand went immediately to his left pocket, calling up the storage box’s interface. The Weber blade materialized in his hand, but just before he lunged at it, Rachel grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t.”

“What the hell is that thing?” Gale scowled at the creature, not lowering his blade.

“My test subject,” Rachel said calmly. “Put the sword away.”

Reluctantly, Gale put the Weber back into the storage box. He stuck close to the wall.

“It’s a homunculus,” Rachel said, still holding his wrist. “We revived it from a patient who died from complete dust crystallization. It has the DNA of a mundane human, which makes it perfect for testing.”

“Testing what exactly?”

“New strains of dust. While Ollie’s Lab 7 handles the production formulas, we work on experimental versions here.” Rachel let go of his wrist. “It won’t hurt you. It can’t move beyond those chains and the circle.”

Now that she said that, he saw shiny crystals that caught the light jutting out of its skin in small clusters.

Guide, what the hell is that thing?! he silently mouthed.

[Analysis complete. Mutated Homunculus. Threat level: Minimal.]

Not what he expected, but the actual threat level assessment this time calmed Gale down.

Rachel pulled him towards a desk near the creature. Letting go of his hand, she picked up a small glass vial on the desk. Inside the vial were speckles like fine grains, similar to the one in the compressed dust vial he used and also the one that the Path agents in the warehouse had. He expected the liquid to be slightly purple or blue. This one, though, had a dark green, almost opaque liquid inside that contained the gray grains.

Holding up the vial on her palm, Rachel closed her eyes and focused. A flame appeared in her hand, enveloping the whole vial. It wasn’t her usual bright red fire, but an orange flame with green edges. The grains inside swirled and changed colour as the liquid quickly came to a boil.

“What are you doing to it?” Gale asked, looking closely at the vial. Somehow, being this close to the flame, it didn’t feel hot at all.

“Changing the strain,” Rachel said, eyes on her work. “The fire breaks down some molecular bonds and makes new ones. It’s like cooking, but with more chance of explosion.”

After a minute, the flame sputtered and disappeared. The grains inside the vial glowed with a faint green pulse. She put the vial into her pocket and looked back at him.

“It’s not fully ready,” Rachel said. “The spell has more phases to finish the modification. But this is promising. And Gale, can you promise me something?”

“Promise what?” Gale asked, looking back into her eyes. Her face had turned serious.

“Everything you’ve seen here is secret. Don’t tell anyone about this place or what I’m doing. Not even Ollie,” Rachel said.

“Like a secret between us?”

The room warmed a couple of degrees.

“Um, yeah. Like a secret between us.”

Gale held up his pinky finger to her.

“What’s this?”

“A pinky promise.”

Adults definitely used this kind of secret ritual to keep secrets or forge iron bond promises.

Rachel smiled, almost as bright as the one he saw from the picture frame. She held up her pinky finger to his and crossed it. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

Her hand was warm. Actually, maybe too warm. It was heating up too much that it was starting to hurt him. Gale played it cool, tolerating the burning, and slowly did the pinky promise ritual and met his thumb with hers.

“The promise is sealed, forged with iron.”

Rachel laughed for a minute.

Why was she laughing? They just forged a never to be broken bond.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to. I’m just…” Rachel mumbled. “Never mind. I’m glad you’re back.”

This text was taken from NovelBin. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Why are you and Ollie doing all this anyways? Risking everything to mess with something so dangerous?”

Rachel wiped some tears from her eyes. “Because someone has to.”

She walked to a large screen and tapped it. A map of Toronto appeared, with red dots across certain neighbourhoods.

“Dust corruption is spreading to areas not used by Aurians,” she said. “It used to stay in conflict zones between smaller Aurian groups. The Path, the Knights, the big Aurian families, they all know about it, but they’re not doing anything. They think it’s a ‘mundane problem.'”

Rachel zoomed in on one area with a cluster of red dots. “This was a neighbourhood near Scarborough. 43 cases in the last month alone. Regular people. These are families with kids, parents, and grandparents. They’re turning to crystal because some dealer thought he could make extra cash selling to mundanes.”

Gale studied the map. Clearly, one of the neighbourhoods that had a big red dot on it was right at the intersection by his apartment. “What about your modified dust? What’s that do?”

“If I get it right?” Rachel looked back at the homunculus. “It could stop the crystallization effect without reducing the power boost. Make it safe for everyone, not just Aurians.”

Rachel fished out the vial from her pocket and placed the modified vial on the desk, her fingers on the glass. The grains inside pulsed with a slight green, almost like a heartbeat.

“The problem is,” she said, eyes still on the vial, “I’m the only one that can make this strain.”

“What do you mean?” Gale asked, side eyeing the homunculus.

“This method won’t work for mass production. The fire manipulation I use is…” Rachel sighed. She raised her hand, letting a small flame dance across her fingertips. “It’s not just ordinary fire control. The spell needs specific changes that only I can do.”

“Didn’t Annett say that shadow arts were taught? How come you can’t teach yours?”

“I can’t,” Rachel said. “It’s not that simple.”

“Why not? If other people could use your method, you could make more of it, help more people.”

“It’s a family spell,” she said. “My grandmother’s, actually. I… borrowed it.”

“Borrowed?” Gale said.

“Changed it. For this purpose,” Rachel said, looking away towards the red wax circle. “If my grandmother ever found out I was using Ann family techniques for this, she might do something. I don’t know.”

“For treating dust corruption?” Gale asked.

“For anything outside family business.” Rachel crossed to the other side of the room, checking readings on a monitor. “The old Aur families have strict rules about their magic. You don’t share it, you don’t adapt it, and you absolutely don’t use it to help ‘mundanes.'”

She typed something into the system, fingers moving quickly across the keyboard. “It’s hard enough keeping this from Ollie. If my grandmother discovered what I’m doing down here, then she’d definitely tear this all down.”

The homunculus made a wet, gurgling sound. The veins pulsing with blood soon stopped beating, and the wet sounds immediately stopped. Rachel didn’t react, but Gale took a step back.

“My grandmother. She can be…” Rachel’s voice knotted up, tightening. “Intense. When it comes to family traditions.” Her eyes met his. “Sorry, didn’t mean to dump all my family stuff on you. Especially not on your first day back.”

“It’s okay,” Gale said. “Maybe you can share more with me when we go hiking.”

Rachel smiled again. “Yeah, let’s plan that sometime when we’re free or when you’re not busy with school.”

Gale nodded, smiling unconsciously. The Path, the United Knights, rifts, dust corruption, and now secret family magics. Maybe there was even more in all of Aur. Just a couple of months ago, he’d just been a boy beaten up in the hallway of an orphanage.

Now he was making pinky promises with friends. Learning all of that, he could take his time. What matters is he made her laugh and smile. As long as there was progress, it’ll be alright in the end. Protect, and keep his friends safe. That’s all that mattered.

Rachel moved to the door, pressing her palm against the security panel. The locks opened with a series of heavy clicks.

“We should head back,” she said. “No sense hanging around here all day.”

They exited the private lab, returning to the main observation room where several technicians still worked at their stations. Rachel approached a woman in a lab coat who looked up from her computer.

“Dr. Shan,” Rachel said, “I need you to prepare the modified sample for transport.”

“Of course, Ms. Ann.”

The woman eyed the vial in Rachel’s hand. “Is this the latest version?”

Rachel nodded, handing over the green-tinted vial. “Send it directly to Oliver Glory.”

“Right away.” Dr. Shan carefully placed the vial in a small metal container that contained ice. “Will you be there for the trials?”

“No,” Rachel said. “Just make sure you document the results thoroughly.”

Rachel really showed Gale a different side. Here, she was all business this business that. At the restaurant and the Eclipsed, she showed him much more emotion. Wasn’t he the same though? That’s right. He was. Adults always had multiple sides. But why?

“Gale?”

He felt a tap on his shoulder. In front of him, Rachel’s big eyes stared at him.

“Yeah. I’m here. Definitely here.” Dammit. He said that out loud.

“Let’s go?”

“Yeah, sure. Go where?”

“Back up. It’s time to go.”

Gale nodded.

They walked back toward the elevator in silence. Researchers and assistants glanced at them as they passed by. Rachel pressed the button as soon as they reached the elevator doors.

“Unfortunately, this is the end of the tour,” she said. “Ollie’s asking me to look at some new test results.”

Gale nodded, stepping into the elevator with her. “Thanks for showing me around.”

“Before you go, can I see your phone?” she asked.

“My phone?”

“Yeah. Hand it over.”

Gale handed it over. Immediately, she unlocked it.

“You don’t have a PIN code set up.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s so that other people like me can’t just open your phone.”

“But if I gave you my phone, that means you can use it.”

“I’m setting up a PIN code for you.” She shook her head. “Remember it. Your PIN code is 1208.”

“1208. Got it.”

Rachel handed him his phone back, and the elevator doors opened. Stepping outside, he looked back at her still inside the elevator.

“Don’t forget to text me,” she said as she waved at him.

But before Gale could reply, the elevators closed. He turned on his phone and saw that her contact card was at the top.

Gale zipped up his hoodie as the bus stopped at his usual stop, McCowan and Eglinton. The doors opened, cold evening autumn air hitting him as soon as he stepped out.

He looked at the neighbourhood. Not much to see, honestly. A bunch of rundown buildings, dirty streets with cigarette butts all over the place. People walking by always looked down for some reason.

But according to Rachel’s map, it was one of the hot spots of dust exposure. Great, it was clearly asshole number 1 setting that up.

He checked his phone. No messages from Rachel or Ollie after leaving the mansion. No surprise, but he couldn’t stop checking it every five minutes like his life depended on it. He’d taken public transit back toward his apartment, still thinking about the pinky promise.

The bus pulled away, leaving him alone. Night had already fallen. Streetlights had already turned on, some flickering from the obvious rundown ghetto of whatever this was. Most stores already closed except for the McDs at the other side of the street.

Suddenly, something pulled at the tendrils of his senses.

“Guide, what was that?” Gale asked.

[Essence fluctuation detected. Single Aurian signature. Two mundane entities present. Conflict highly probable. Threat Level: slightly above minimal.]

He followed the trail where the tendrils led him, an alley between two apartment buildings. He moved quickly, making no sound as he sprinted in his sneakers.

Pausing at the alley entrance, the smell hit him first. Random garbage littered the area, still burning cigarettes and what smelled like feces, not human, but animal.

A man in a trench coat, hands in the pockets, stomped at someone curled up on the ground. Might as well shout at the police he was a criminal with that kind of outfit. Each stomp made a dull thud against the victim’s arms, raised to protect his head.

A few feet away, a woman lay on the dirty concrete, not moving.

The man in the trench coat laughed, a slightly high whining pitch that sounded more like a hyena’s laugh.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” Trench Coat shouted as he kicked. “Should’ve paid up when you had the chance!”

Gale’s vision turned red. The sight of it reminded him of the last time he was in the orphanage. Being punched down helplessly without a care from his assailant. His left hand moved to his pocket, materializing the Weber into his right hand.

“Hey, asshole!”

Then Gale saw it. A faint blue glow in the veins of the man’s eyes. The man was on something. Dust? Maybe. Probably. This one was definitely not just some random street thug. Didn’t matter. He lunged, aiming the flat of the blade at the man’s head.

Trench Coat spun fast, his arms blocked the flat. Surprised, Gale had expected the man to get knocked out. However, the man only grunted.

“The fuck are you?” Trench Coat snarled, drool dripping down the side of his mouth.

He didn’t answer. Pivot and swing. Flat of the sword hit the man on the shoulder, launching him against an apartment building’s wall. Concrete crunched on impact, and a dust cloud thrown up.

“Stay down,” Gale said.

But Trench Coat peeled himself off the wall as an animalistic grin masked itself on his face. Blue light pulsed in his veins, visible even through his clothes.

“Finally,” he hissed. “Something fun.”

He charged, moving like an animal on all fours, then jumping upright, limbs bending at angles similar to a wolf.

Gale met the lunge with a step to the side. Rather than being appalled by the thing he was fighting, he was more interested in why this thing was fighting like a beast.

Trench Coat skidded, then spun back in an instant. His fingers changed, nails elongated into claws. The beast-like man swiped where Gale’s face just had been a second ago.

“Are you an animal or a human?” Gale asked.

The man howled, a sound no human should make. He jumped again, bouncing off a dumpster and launching himself at Gale from above.

Well that answered his question. The way it moved looked more like an animal. Gale waited until the last possible moment. Then shifted his weight, sword angling up to catch the man’s fall.

The flat of the blade hit Trench Coat’s temple with a solid thunk. The man dropped to the floor immediately, no longer moving. The blue glow under the skin of his veins flickered, then faded.

Gale checked the two victims. The man was still awake, but he didn’t know how badly hurt he was. The woman, on the other hand, hadn’t moved at all. Putting two fingers on her neck, he found a weak pulse.

He pulled out his phone and messaged Ollie.

“Just knocked out bad man at McCowan and Eglinton.” He typed quickly. “He attacked two civilians. What do I do with him?”

Gale hit send, then knelt beside the conscious victim.

“You’re safe now,” he said. “Help is coming.”

The man looked at him, eyes all swollen.

“Who…?” he asked.

“Just someone passing by,” Gale said. “Let’s get you sitting up.”

As he helped the man lean against the wall, Gale looked back at Trench Coat’s body. This was probably the dust that Rachel and Ollie talked about. It empowered Aurians but killed mundanes. The homeless man was also a victim of it.

Gale’s phone vibrated. He pulled it out, expecting Ollie’s reply.

Instead, he saw: [Incoming call: Rachel Ann]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep