"Well, this sand is unlike anything I've ever seen before." Illias responded.

"Which is to say, its composition is completely different than any sand I've encountered before." he clarified.

"Can you tell me what's in it?" he asked.

"If I know that, I may be able to make a more specialized and targeted purifying for it." he reasoned.

"........" Illias was silent as he heard that.

"I... ah, I see." he managed to say.

"That's... hm." he mumbled.

"That complicates things." he said.

"Maybe the answer lies within the mana sample I have..." he then said further.

"If I can reverse engineer the opposite, maybe THAT can help..."

Illias seemed to be stunned for a moment.

"Really?" he asked.

"If you could actually get ahold of Chronos, and ask him, then that would be wonderful." he told her.

"It would be a major breakthrough." he reasoned.

"But, I'll take into account you saying it's not guaranteed." he then quickly added.

"........that would be perfect." Illias said.

"I have a sample of the mana from that particular 'asswipe', as you have called them." he told her.

"So if I get a sample of yours, then I'll have another piece of the puzzle." he reasoned.

"That would truly be most helpful." he reiterated, as one of the snakes started to venture closer to Syraene.

"He's a sweetheart. Don't mind him." he assured her.

"Ah..." Illias muttered.

"Seems Vanessa Encrae was here earlier..." he told her, before telling her what Sharp had informed him on, as well as what he had been given.

"So... yeah..." he mumbled.

"Seems SHE wants this mess cleared up as well."

"From what I was told, she was NOT gentle with him." Illias said.

"I fear he may be dead, or worse." he muttered. "Considering all she said was that she 'dealt with him'..." he went on, before shaking his head.

"Anyway." he mumbled.

"A sample of mana, hm... hm..." he murmured, looking around before getting an idea.

"Ah!" he exclaimed, grabbing something from a cupboard.

"A couple of enchanted Petri dishes, that can hold mana. If you wouldn't mind putting your mana into them both, then I would be greatly appreciative."

Illias accepted the mana, and nodded.

"Thank you." he said, looking at the mana.

"This is... beautiful mana." he commented, almost taken with it.

"Anyway, anything else? No... no, not right now, I think." he then said, nodding once again.

"This is already a massive help." he assured her.

"Where are you staying?" he asked. "In case I need any more info, or any potential questions answered." he reasoned.

"All right, thank you." Illias responded.

"I'll get to work immediately." he said.

"For some reason, I'm feeling really energized and rarin' to go." he commented, thinking about it for a moment.

"Just... I feel like I could pour myself into this, and happily do so for... hours upon hours." he chuckled, before shaking his head a little.

"I digress, I won't keep you any longer." he said.

"Thank you once again, Miss Syraene."

"..." Illias was silent for a moment.

"Yeah." he said.

"All right." he said further, sighing heavily.

"And yeah, thanks again." he told her.

"Talk to you later, Miss Syraene." he finished, before making his way back to where he was, and getting back to work.

She noticed that the cafeteria had very few people in it... 3, including her. However, she then saw a man walk in, looking a big haggard, but awake.

He looked around, before seeing Syraene and raising an eyebrow. He made his way over towards her, sitting down across from her.

"Hello there." he greeted her.

"You're a new face." he said.

"When did you join?"