Wanted Criminal (18)

What lay beyond the door was a warehouse.

The first things to catch Kael's eye were the low ceiling, damp walls, and hastily added steel reinforcements. It was not a proper warehouse. Rather than a place designed to store goods for a long time, it seemed more like somewhere hastily thrown together to hide things that had to remain hidden.

Unidentified boxes were piled high in one corner of the space.

Kael approached and looked over the boxes.

Every box had scratches across its surface. The manufacturers' logos had been carved away with a knife, while the shipping and batch numbers had been painted over in black.

Kael pulled down one of the boxes at the top.

The box's lid was tightly sealed, but the old lock already bore signs of having been opened and closed many times. Kael gathered a tiny amount of mana at his fingertips and pushed against the inside of the latch. With a click, the lid opened.

Small ampoules were packed tightly inside.

A blue glow swayed faintly within the transparent glass. There were far more than one or two. Ampoules fixed in rows filled the box, and each one had an almost completely faded label around its neck.

[Etherlyn]...