Ptar: Ceilus and the revolution

20. First test

"Back already? I told you not to until you could last a couple of minutes," Laymund said, opening the door.

"Four," Ceilus said, entering. It hadn't come without a cost. His brain rocked from one side of his cranium to the other with every step, causing small flashes of pain, he had to focus on every step, for he felt like he could easily lose balance and his vision turned hazy every other second. He should have taken a nap before coming there; he needed some good sleep.

Laymund closed the door. "Four in two days is great, but you look terrible, kid. You shouldn't have pushed yourself so hard"

"Yeah, well, I did," Ceilus said waiting for the man to lead him to the basement.

"Uhhh, ok," He said, "Let's go; do you need a hand?" Billy asked, as he unlocked the secret door.

"I can move on my own, thank you very much," Ceilus refused.

"A'right," Laymund said, pushing the bookshelf open. He panted. "It gets tiring moving this thing every time I come upstairs"

"You should get some hinges on it," Ceilus advised, holding on to the walls as he made his way down.

"Barbara refuses to install them," Laymund complained, following him. "She says it's the only thing keeping me in shape; damned woman..."

"You are in pretty bad shape," Ceilus joked, pointing at the man's belly, which gave him a slight curve. He wasn't large enough to be called fat, just a bit chubby.

"Yeah, yeah, I once was only muscle. I've let myself go a lot these past few years," Laymund confessed. "But you, you are on a whole other level; you'll die in no time if you keep going like that; your body can't handle that much punishment"

"Why do you care?" Ceilus sat on one of the couches, relieving his frail legs and feet. "You barely know me"

"To be entirely honest, I don't care about you; I care about what's inside you. If you died, I could freeze you and use your body for research, but that might never fully answer my questions. In short, I'd prefer you kept alive," Laymund explained.

"Valid reason," Ceilus commented, lying on his back. "What can you tell me about silver?" He mumbled with his eyes closed.

"What do you want to know?" Laymund grabbed a box of cigarettes and sat on the remaining couch.

"Anything," Ceilus sighed. "You wrote a book about it, so it must be quite the substance"

"Wait, where did you find said book?" Laymund asked, startled.

"Does it matter?" Ceilus asked, casually.

"Well, yes. If I wanted its existence to be common knowledge there would be more than two of those in the world," Laymund said, agitated, getting up and going through his stuff, searching for his copy.

"There are only two in the entire planet?" Ceilus asked, amazed.

"As far as I know there is only mine and Call's, that back stabber... It wouldn't be the first time people stole from my research, though," He rambled. "There was that guy from Quans, that one time..."

"I saw it in Barbara's place," Ceilus admitted.

"For Quadrus' sakes!" Laymund yelled. "Why can't she just give me a break?" He said, though, on his face, Ceilus could see relief.

"Can you teach me now?" Ceilus asked.

"Sure, sure. Ok, where to start, where to start?" He rambled. "Oh, remember the storer test?"

Ceilus nodded.

"Remember how it glows when you stick some silver in a storer's blood?" He asked, looking at his pupil.