The rest of the night went smoothly and Cypher was only upset that he had missed a few days of training despite almost dying. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been shaken by the experience, it was just that he couldn’t allow his near-miss with death to stop him. He needed to get stronger.
He was in Elaine’s house, but it already felt like a second home to him at this point. He had spent a lot of his time was spent here over the last few months and he really only returned to his own home to feed Spark and spend time with him.
He was sitting on Elaine’s couch when she came to him with a serious look on her face. “Cypher, I have some food in the kitchen, feel free to eat whatever but don’t go fuckin crazy. Get some more rest, but take it easy. Absolutely no training. You still need some more time to heal so try not to stress your body too much.”
Cypher looked at her confused, “You sound like you’re leaving.”
Elaine looked at him like he was stupid, “That’s because I am, dummy. Some shit came up at the Academy and I have to go deal with it. Training you isn’t my only job you know. Anyways, I’ll be gone for the rest of the day so just relax and do whatever you want until then. When I get back I’ll check you out and maybe we can begin your training again tomorrow.”
Elaine quickly gathered up a few documents and stuffed them into a satchel before rushing out the door. Cypher was left confused and curious, but let it drop. Her business was her own. He had no place prying into it if she wasn’t willing to share in the first place.
As instructed, Cypher made himself some food and relaxed for the rest of the evening. His body was still sore and his new spleen still didn’t feel like it was sitting properly inside him. He made some herbal tea and drank it slowly, which eased him into a relaxed state. His dreams that night were uneventful.
The next morning he awoke and stretched. He was considerably less sore and decided that some fresh air might do him some good. He stepped outside and decided to walk around town. His trek led him down to the marketplace, and he even did a little bit of sightseeing while he was out. He walked with a bit of a limp, but that would eventually wear off as his healed pelvis fully recovered.
Boredom soon took hold of him, however, and he soon found himself heading towards Alex’s house. But when he arrived, he was confused to see that Alex was nowhere in sight. Their chickens pecked the ground looking for anything edible, and the two pigs, Bessy and Messy, snorted and wandered about.
It was a bit strange to see though. Usually, they were out around back and rarely ever came to the front of the pen where passersby could observe them up close. Alex made sure to feed them in the backfield, which kept their droppings away from the house. They would always wander to the middle after a good meal and do their business there. Even the horses were nearby and grazing near the fence near the road.
Cypher shook off the strangeness of it and knocked on the door. Alex’s father, Jonathan, greeted him with a warm smile.
“Ah, Cypher! It’s good to see you, what brings you down to this part of the city?” asked Jonathan.
Cypher smiled and returned the greeting before saying, “Well, I was wondering if Alex was around. There are some things I’d like to discuss with him.” Jonathan looked puzzled and tilted his head.
“I thought that he might be with you as a matter of fact. He hasn’t been home in about two days. I never worry too much about him now that he’s become a fancy Conductor, but this is downright strange if he wasn’t with you. Maybe he’s just gone off somewhere for some special training.”
Cypher was just as confused as Jonathan, but shook it off and quickly made up a story. Jonathan was an older man, probably somewhere in his mid 70’s. If Alex hadn’t been home in two days then he might have injured himself somehow. Cypher didn’t want to cause Jonathan unnecessary worry, but something didn’t sit right with Cypher.
“Ah, actually, now that I think about it, Alex mentioned something about going on a hunting trip to hone his body. I’m pretty sure I know where he went so I’ll track him down and give him a piece of my mind for you!” Cypher flashed a fake smile, and Jonathan looked unconvinced, but soon returned the gesture.
“Ah, Haha! Well, you make sure you give him a good wallop on the head for me will ya? The boy knows I’m too old to get out and feed the animals on time and I only ask the hired help to tend to the crops,” replied Jonathan.
Cypher smiled again and nodded, “Don’t worry! I will! Thanks for taking the time!” Cypher then turned to leave, waving to Alex’s father, and headed back towards the center of the City. Something was off. Cypher didn’t know what, but Alex wasn’t the type to just not come home without leaving some kind of message to inform his dad.
Still, he had no leads on where Alex could have gone and decided to keep an eye out for him in the Market place. Since Alex wasn’t home, he then decided to go visit Melodi. At the very least he should tell her what had happened since she would likely be worried about him. If it had been three days since the accident, then he had missed their usual get-together.
His mind wandered as he walked, and soon turned to reflect on the failings during his training and how the Balance Arks had interfered. That kind of power was off the charts. But it was natural that it would be. Not many people or books held knowledge that extended beyond the sixth rank. But if these items were created by the divines, then they were most obviously Divine Rank items.
Mortals would be nothing compared to that kind of presence, after all, they provided the power for a world full of Conductors. He was even more grateful that he was alive after that realization. He was hardly ready for the Heroic Ranks, let alone anything beyond the Relic Ranks. To assume he could even touch the Divine ranks was a joke that even the greenest of Conductors would laugh at.
He soon arrived on the street that led toward the Cilan estate, but something about the area didn’t feel right. It was a dark oppressive feeling and he narrowed his eyes as he drew closer to the front gates.
