Flipping through the first few initial pages of the folders, he couldn't find anything useful.
For the most part, it just details of information that he already knows, passed down from stories that his grandfather told him.
The first page includes the history of the drug, how it was created by a group of scientists in the North American continent during the first generation. Around a year or so after the emergence of the Nightmare Spell on mankind.
It was for the purpose of helping the newly emerged 'Awakened' to satisfy their Soul Core at a faster rate than normal means.
Rustle Rustle—
The next page, titled [Brief History], detailed how it was created... Though part of the formula has been ripped out by an external force, so June couldn't exactly tell what was written before.
'I guess to keep the drug hidden, they tried to redact the formula?'
Regardless, from what still remained, 'Soul Dust' seems to be a mixture of a lot of different drugs.
Apparently, what the old timers did was take a few soul shards, grind it into dust and then mixed with a variety of other drugs from the Dark times.
What exactly was the drug? He couldn't tell... Because it was redacted.
This was then followed by detailed information on how the drug was ingested. Soul Dust was taken in by an Awakened through either means of injection, oral or nasal.
As June was reading through the pages of the folder, a few thoughts got connected in his mind.
'Soul Dust' main purpose was to saturate an Awakened soul core faster... And by saturating one soul core, the Awakened would boost their physicality, becoming stronger.
'Is the Pandavar trying to grow their strength through means of Soul Dust?'
Rustle Rustle—
The next page detailed the reason why it was made illegal by the government.
Although at the start, the drug did have a high success rate, people quickly discovered its 'unwanted side effects'. While it does help saturate an Awakened soul core faster, due to the way it was created, it is also extremely addictive after a few uses.
'Because it raises their dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin levels. I already know this...'
June thought to himself as he continued to read through the lines.
Then something suddenly caught his attention.
'This might be useful.'
It was under the subheading of [Withdrawals and side effects], in which the document details the various reasons why it was banned globally.
[Side effects and withdrawal symptoms include nausea, dizziness, severe headaches that last for days, vertigo, weakness, and sometimes even death.]
Although June himself knows that the withdrawal symptoms and addictive nature of the drug were the main reason on why it was banned, he didn't exactly know the details of it.
Though what really caught his eye was what was written beneath the line.
[Although extremely rare, there are some instances where Awakened reported that their bones broke down on their own. We think that this is possibly due to a contaminated substance being used.]
June's eyes widen as something clicks inside his mind. Questions that have been plaguing him for days now are starting to get answered.
It was a question that he had for some time now. What exactly happened to the Pandavar's enforcer during their fight?
June could remember, during the last few exchanges, that he heard sounds of muscles tearing apart and... bones breaking.
Another scene from the battle appeared in his mind; it was the memory of Worf's unnatural strength.
Wait... Could it be that the enforcer was using this, 'Soul Dust', to amplify himself? It would naturally explain the reason behind the strength that he possesses.
But- a strength of an Awakened who managed to saturate their soul core, would not be that extreme... Unless the Pandavar clan did something to the original formula.
The original drug's purpose was to saturate one's soul core faster, but the formula was lost, destroyed. This means that, for the Pandavar clan to have access to it and smuggling it like they're doing right now, they would have had to re-create the formula.
"Sometimes, you have to pick things up where others have leave it."
June whispered to himself, and a brief image of a man with brunette hair flashed in his mind. It was something that one of his old comrades, Orlando, had said back during the Antarctic campaign.
The scene of Worf's bones breaking down appeared in his mind again.
'But... the formula they came up with was impure or imperfect!'
Yes, that was the obvious conclusion, judging from what the document has said. The drug they concocted from the new formula they created was imperfect and impure, causing the bones and muscles of the person taking it to fall apart.
However, June still had to give credit to them. The new variant of 'Soul Dust' that they've created was much more powerful than the old one. After all, Worf's strength was beginning to rival that of even a Master.
Certain questions he had, ever since the battle against eh Pandavar's enforcer was starting to get answered, but there was one question that was still on his mind.
'But why, though?'
June wondered as he scratched the back of his head.
Why go through all this to mass-produce the drug and smuggle it into different regions of the Dream Realm?
'What is the need for it? Is it for money?'
No... That can't be it; the Legacy clans usually don't do things for money. Rather, they do things to gain more power instead.
June let out a tiresome sigh, one hand rubbing his eyes.
The possibility of them trying to usurp the Song did go into his mind, but the chances were unlikely.
The power gap between one of the Great Clans and a minor one was too high. Even if they managed to perfect the drug, he doubts that it's going to play much when it comes to fighting against the 'Queen of Worms'.
"Thinking about this is going to give me a headache..."
June groaned.
There was too much to think about, and with the information that he currently has, all of it is just a guess at best.
June looked at the window down the hallway, outside, the sky is gradually becoming darker than it was before.
'Time to head back, I suppose.'
*****************************************************************************
"Ah, it's cold..."
June muttered to himself, seeing his breath condensed into vapour, he continued to walk through winter's cold embrace. Each step, imprinting on the snowy pavement of NQSC.
'So, it finally snowed.'
June thought to himself.
Stretching his arms, he looked up at the towering building that breached into the empyrean. It was as if the city was covered in a blanket of pristine snow.
Currently, he's making his way back to the Dream gate that resided within Bastion.
Looking ahead, he sees the entrance to the memorial site, where he was not too long ago. A strange sense of sombreness crept up in June's mind, his breath started to get heavier and heavier.
Besides his grandfather, June has lost many other people he cared about during the Antarctic campaign.
Nova, Zane, Kairo, Orlando... Names and images of the comrades he lost, flashed inside his mind.
'Damn it, fuck. Why was I the only one that survived....'
He wondered, as a faint, bitter smile carved itself on his chiselled face.
Though as he continued to walk through the snowy crosswalk and pavement, he noticed a hooded figure leaning on the wall of one of the buildings on the opposite side of the road.
The figure.... Seems to be gesturing for him to get closer?
He was naturally weary of the figure at first, after all, it could be a Pandavar agent sent to kill him.
Though slowly, he managed to recognize the features of the figure, hidden beneath the hood.
The figure was tall, around June's height, with ginger-brown hair and beard. He also had sharp eyes, which were accompanied by a pair of glasses.
"Cambus?"
June exclaimed as he crossed over to where Cambus was.
"What are you doing here in NQSC?"
June asked.
A grin crept up on the ginger-haired man's face as he replied in a roguish tone.
"Oh, nothing, I'm just here to find the infamous 'Corsair', that's all."
Cambus's hand reached out and tapped June's shoulder a few times.
"And... Why are you looking for me exactly, you damn Fox?"
June asked. He was beginning to get weary of the Fox in front of him. Afterall, who knows what this retired Awakened is up to?
"Oh, you know...."
Cambus's eyes rolled in a playful demeanour; his voice started to trail off a bit.
"I heard you're planning to go up against the Pandavar clan."
"How could you possibly know what my current task is?"
June questioned the Cinder Fox.
Cambus laughed a bit, then tapped June's shoulder.
"Oh, it's nothing much, I... have my own ways."
The ginger-haired man paused for a second before continuing.
"Speaking of, I thought that this might be useful to you, June."
Reaching into his pocket, the Fox pulled out a brown envelope and handed it to June.
June hesitated to open the envelope for a moment, still weary of Cambus, as he had fallen for the Fox's 'antics' several times before.
Inside the envelope was a picture of a clean-shaven blonde man with the label of [Pandavar smuggler] written on it with a red pen.
"His name is Quiver."
Cambus continued, with a smug smirk written all over his face.
"I managed to find him at the Inn, around a day or two after you left. Thought you would be interested, the guy is part of a smuggling team after all."
"I see, thanks for the tip, Cambus. You got any idea where he might be at, right now?"
The Cinder Fox shrugged his shoulder, then tapped June's shoulder once again.
This guy....
"Who knows? I've heard that he departed for the Storm Sea from Bastion yesterday. Though I suppose if you were to start going to the Storm Sea right now, you might catch up with him."