Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Forbidden potions

Gjaki took Eldi to the vampiress' beginners village, as she had done the day before. She had been able to speak to the Oracle after doing so, so they had tried again. Definitely, it had worked. They were there, waiting in the same place as always.

"I wish you luck. It's really frustrating to talk to him," Gjaki said goodbye.

"Ha, ha. I like him," Eldi laughed ". He has something special..."

The vampiress shrugged, and turned away to go for a walk. She didn't want to know anything about the conversation with the Oracle if it wasn't essential.

Eldi approached the Oracle and sat in front of them.

"Thank you for coming, I'm glad to see you again," he greeted them.

"It is my duty to guide the visitors," they replied with their neutral voice, after a few moments of silence.

"A while ago, in the game, a strange being gave me three recipes. He told me that two of them couldn't be used lightly, or they might break the balance of the world. One is the Rebirth one, which we want to use on Elendnas, Goldmi's husband, to reverse the damage Krovledi did to him. The other is called Rejuvenation potion. I haven't told them about it, but I was wondering if I could use it on Gjaki's and Merlin's couples," Eldi asked.

For a few long seconds, the Oracle didn't respond. It made the high human a little nervous.

"The power of the Oracle is not absolute. There are places and beings that are beyond the scope of my knowledge. If you require my guide, tell me more about that being and his words."

That certainly surprised the warrior. Neither in the game nor in reality had the Oracle said something like that before, they had never expressed that they had limits.

"I didn't see his face, I'm not even sure he had one. His voice was childish, although the way he spoke seemed that of an old man. He carried a cane made of a dark green wood, or it seemed so. Strange but beautiful inscriptions were carved on all the wood, and sometimes they glowed in different colors. He wore a robe that reached to his feet, though it never seemed to touch the ground. It ended in a hood that covered him. It had wide sleeves, which hid his hands. The robe was plain, without buttons, belt or openings, and totally black. It was impossible to see his face, although a soft white glow came from the hood," he explained.

"The Prophet... What were his exact words?" the Oracle asked.

Eldi looked at them in astonishment. For the first time ever, he had managed to catch a hint of feeling in the Oracle. It was surprise, even what looked like anxiety.

"He gave me the recipes without saying a word. Then he said: 'The latter can be used freely. The other two can break the balance of the world. Only those who responded to the call against the calamity and returned are free from that balance, as well as those who agree to share their lives with them'," he recalled, with a clarity that surprised him.

Once again, the Oracle took a few seconds to respond.

"'Those who responded to the call against the calamity and returned' are you, the visitors. Lina and Elendnas have agreed to share their lives with visitors," they finally spoke.

Eldi breathed a sigh of relief. That clarified his doubts and solved his problems. He didn't know what he would have done if they had told him he shouldn't concoct them.

"Thank you," he said goodbye to the Oracle.

"It is my duty to serve as a guide," they said goodbye.

Eldi thought he had felt a slight reluctance from that mysterious being when saying goodbye, but he discarded it.

"I've imagined it," he said to himself.

He ran off to find Gjaki. He had good news for her.

"Eldi, you're the best!" she hugged him shortly after, excited.

The vampiress left Eldi at Goldmi's house. They planned to start leveling up in a couple of days, and today Maldoa arrived. The high human was looking forward to talking to her.

She then opened another Gate, and appeared in a palace, the residence of the monarch of the feline demihuman kingdom. In the past, the last king of the Kronl bloodline had been a ruthless tyrant. Because of his desire to live forever, he had come close to sacrificing millions of his subjects. For that, he had set huge magic circles distributed in various cities, which were supposed to defend them.

A single individual had recognized the true nature of those magic circles, and had ended up managing to reverse the mana flow. It had caused that who was supposed to absorb the vitality, the king, lost his own instead. He had become a hero, and had ended up being named the new king. She was now going to see said king.

She found him sitting in the garden, next to a demihuman whose fur had lost the shine of her youth. Five years ago, the woman still looked young, but her body had deteriorated rapidly. Unlike other races, they didn't age slowly, but the process was much faster and unexpected. Thanks to this, they remained young until then. Surely, she didn't have much time left.

The old woman saw her arrive, and greeted her friendly.

"Gjaki! What brings you here?"

" I have to tell you the latest gossip! Eldi is back!" the vampiress exclaimed with enthusiasm.

"Really!?" the king was surprised.

They talked for a while about recent events. The royal couple looked really happy about the good news, and they were also happy for her friend. Nonetheless, there was a deep trace of sadness in him. His wife was dying, and that weighed heavily on his heart.

"Will you let me borrow a moment his highness?" Gjaki asked the queen after a while.

"Sure. All yours," she laughed.

He looked at the vampiress strangely, but followed her a few meters. She handed him a piece of paper, where there was a brief explanation and a long list of ingredients. Most of them were marked.

"It's not a joke, is it?" he asked, incredulous and hopeful.

"I would never make a joke like that. Eldi can make it. Can you take care of these for now? The ones we have are from dungeons that Eldi and I visited. So, we assume that the rest will be in similar ones, like the gems. We found them like this..."

Gjaki explained exactly how they had been found them, which he listened without missing a single detail, he couldn't afford to. She also showed him another list, what they needed for the Rebirth potion.

"I'll take care of the dungeons. If I have information on the other ingredients, I'll let you know. I'll ask the barbarians. I'm sure they'll be delighted with a 'little bit of action'," Merlin assured.

"Perfect. Also, check if you can gather some of the marked ingredients. We have them for the first batch, but we'll need more. The potion lasts for a year, and we're not sure how many he can make," Gjaki asked.

"Leave it to me. Being a king has to be useful sometimes."