An Outing (5)

After an hour or two of enjoyment, Cyrus tactfully excused himself much to Imran's pleasure as it seemed Cyrus was more than just a little familiar with how these games were played. While Imran could have easily allowed the usual tricks to recover losses, he was not about to jeopardize the new alliance between them. He merely thought of it as a small price to pay, he was rich anyways so what was a small loss here or there.

Not knowing this, or even really how much he had walked away with, Cyrus was merely absent mindedly entering the lodge where he stayed.

"My curiosity once again turned into obsession, much faster than it ever had before as well. Although I can say that Minerva is a somewhat interesting person, the reaction was far too exaggerated. A woman can not be on the same level as me discovering a new method of utilizing my magic, not to the current me at least. This can only mean that my body is being affected so much so that even I am being affected with the mask on…" thought Cyrus in annoyance.

In his memory he vividly remembered various romance novels that described what essentially seemed to be something similar to his extreme obsession that overtook him at times, all thanks to a young and curious Cyrus reading whatever he could get his hands on.

"I could simply ignore Minerva and distance myself, but this is an extreme weakness that could prove to be fatal for both the current me and my other half… we must learn to overcome these foolish notions one way or another else the consequences could be unimaginable."

Just the very thought of her drove the curiosity further into the endless depths of obsession,

"I wonder what the problem she has was, I can guess it is linked to men as the undesirables Imran was referring to was most likely that. When we were on the floor there was suddenly only women around even though I had definitely seen… ack, I am doing it again" thought Cyrus in ever increasing frustration.

Thus, he immediately took of his mask to be free of the obsessive thoughts for now.

As usual, before the mask even hit the bed, Cyrus began to feel the usual backlash.

"Mundus above, that woman is insane!" was the first thought that came to his mind.

"How can I even be remotely interested…even 'obsessed' with her. She literally tried to kill me, how is that a plus???" thought Cyrus, feeling embarrassed for his counterpart.

After calming himself down from his shock, Cyrus began to think once more:

"I can't believe even my taste in women changes with this thing on, how annoying. I should definitely put more effort into combining my dual nature, allowing me to no longer require this crutch any longer" thought a determined Cyrus.

Thus, he spent the night switching between researching his magic and introspecting in order to come to terms with his more intense qualities.