Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Concoction

When Gjaki finished having breakfast, she opened a Gate to bring Goldmi and her family. The girls wore a black dress with small bat wings on the back. There was also a black ribbon in their hair with a skull in the center, which matched the one on their belt.

The vampiress had left the dresses she had promised them in their room, and they had refused to wear anything else. The twins smiled to show their fake little vampire fangs, with which they had threatened to bite Gjaki herself. In fact, they had, and she had faked cries of pain.

They were left in the care of Diknsa, who took them into the garden to play with a huge woodlouse. The insect had been brought back long ago by Gjaki, who apparently found it fascinating, especially when it folded itself into a huge ball. It wasn't uncommon to see her pushing it back and forth.

No doubt it had become the mansion's pet, for it had turned out to be surprisingly docile. Children loved it, and others not so children. It didn't take long for the twins to join forces to push it, so that it would roll across the garden. Although they wouldn't have succeeded without the collaboration of the woodlouse itself.

It wasn't a very intelligent being, but it knew that being pushed around often gave it delicious snacks. It had a special weakness for some huge blue leaves that Diknsa had just shown it.

When they arrived at the crafting room, Eldi had been preparing the potion for a long time. They stood watching him refine ingredients, heat them, mix them, refine the result, mix it with another, refine it again and again.

It took about half an hour for Gjaki to lose patience. She had wanted to invite Goldmi and Elendnas to have a drink, but they both seemed immersed in that preparations. They held hands tightly at times. Others, the couple hugged lovingly, supporting each other. Sometimes, they bit their lips. Maybe, it was boring, but it was too important to them to leave.

The vampiress sighed, made a sofa appear, left them some drinks on a table, and went for a walk around the mansion. The elves smiled grateful. A while later, she was helping the twins push a woodlouse.

Eldi had never spent so long brewing a potion. In the game, it was automatic, and none took more than a few seconds. Once he had returned, he had created several, but never one like this one.

The alchemist was thankful that he could rest at times, since it was impossible to maintain concentration during all the hours that he had been there. Now, it was one of those moments. The result of the last concoction was getting cold, so he could have a snack.

He looked past at the four elves who were on the sofa. The two girls and their father were napping, while her mother looked at him for a moment, smiling as if to encourage him. The elf would have wanted to help him, even if it was just to wipe the sweat from his forehead. However, she was afraid of distracting him. She was terrified of that possibility.

Eldi smiled back, and turned his gaze to another of the concoctions. He then activated the platform to imbue it with mana, and heat it with five small fires. Meanwhile, he took out up the arachne blood, and poured it in drop by drop.

Eldi calculated that he was halfway there. Besides, it was the Regeneration potion, the simpler of the two. He didn't even want to imagine what the Rebirth one would be like, although in part he wanted to find out. Although tiring, it was also fascinating.

He was learning new uses of the platform that he had so far been ignorant of, and that was opening new paths. If the high human didn't wonder again and again how it might affect other recipes, it was simply because his undivided attention was required for the making of the current potion. No doubt he would start testing it as soon as he got the chance.

It was late at night when he took out the seven gems. Individually but at the same time, he began to heat them with a gentle fire. Little by little, the fire increased in intensity, until they melted, resulting in a viscous liquid of the gem color.

He felt nervous. It was the last step, the moment to verify if all the work would bear fruit, or if it had been a resounding failure. With the help of the platform, he placed the seven vessels with the liquid from the gems around the result of the day work. After that, he poured out the seven contents very little by little.

Some heat were added on seven points. Then, some mana around these. He dropped the ancestral vampiress blood to join those dots. Shortly after, Eldi circulated mana to close the blood circuit. Little by little. With subtlety.

The mana took on the red color of the blood, to then be splashed by the result of each gem's melting. Each time the mixture of colors reached the next point, a new color was added, a new essence. Finally, the seven essences began to circulate through the blood, faster and faster.

The speed and mana created a multicolored suction force that sucked up the rest of the liquid. Eldi then extinguished the heat sources, and maintained a constant flow of mana to force it to mix.

Finally, he stopped adding mana, and watched as the small vortex slowed down. The alchemist practically didn't blink as he held his breath.

As if it was some kind of miracle, the mixture began to take a turquoise blue color when it cooled and stopped. It also gained transparency, as well as a slight and mysterious glow.

However, the game interface didn't recognize it as a potion, so he was starting to get worried. It wasn't only the possibility of having failed, but of not knowing where, of not knowing how to do better next time.

It wasn't until the rotation of the liquid had completely stopped that a curious fractal pattern appeared on the surface, as if it were a seven-colored snowflake. At that very moment, the "Regeneration potion concocted" notice appeared on the interface.

Eldi took it almost trembling, with great care, and left the platform. When he looked up, his gaze was met by the two elves' ones. They had got up, and were looking at him expectantly, as expectant as they were fearful.

He smiled and nodded. Goldmi and Elendnas looked at each other with moist eyes, hugged and kissed.