Chapter 109: Lord Ru, the Alchemist

“Why are you here?” Dorian started in surprise. After Yukeli had taken over, Dorian hadn’t caught a glimpse of the Aeth Vampire he had saved. The Nightlord had fled and Dorian assumed the Aeth Vampire had as well, successfully escaping.

“Savior Dorian. I never had a chance to give my thanks.” The elderly Vampire looked Dorian in the face and bowed stiffly, his eyes resolute.

“I apologize if I insulted you by demeaning you back at the casino.” He bowed a second time.

“Think nothing of it. I would do the same for anyone in your situation.” Dorian waved his hand at him, giving him a smile. It was partly his fault the Aeth Vampire had been caught up in this in the first place. He also felt slightly guilty for using Fate to win a bunch of the Vampire’s Pills.

That said, he noticed that the odd Aeth Vampire didn’t apologize for ‘demeaning him.’ He only apologized for if Dorian felt insulted. Which, honestly, should be rather obvious, in Dorian’s opinion. Who wouldn’t feel insulted if they were being demeaned? He decided to drop it, however.

“But why are you here? Surely you didn’t board this ship just to thank me?” Dorian looked at the Aeth Vampire expectantly.

Lord Ru returned his stare, his eyes steely.

“I am not a man to leave a debt I owe unpaid. I would like to offer my services to you to repay the karma we hold.” His voice was sure.

“Services? Karma?” Dorian looked at him in bemusement.

In the background, more passengers began to pile on, several of them heading to their rooms or walking around the deck. The huge ship was quite open, but also manned by several attendants, guards, and sailors. It was powered through magic, an enormous Artifact of some sort, but required similar levels of attention that a regular ship would.

“I am a firm believer in equal giving and equal taking. The Third Holy Duke of the hidden Elector Kingdom, Bullen Archel, proposed the theory of Karma more than 92,800 years ago. In his theory, he argued that every action we take to affect the Fate of another being creates an intangible string in Fate that connects us to that being, drawing them towards us in Fate.” The Aeth Vampire nodded his head,

“His theory led to the modern understanding of Fate Magic, causing incredible developments to such a degree that Fate Magic is now one of the most widespread forms of Magic. His theory is one that also holds practical wisdom. When someone has done something for you, if you wish to break that Karmic thread, you must pay it back.”

By now, a large number of passengers had boarded the ship and were crowding about the front area. Dorian motioned for Leader to leave them, and then turned and walked over to the railing on the opposite side. The Aeth Vampire followed in tow.

“Sure, I can understand that.” Dorian could, in a way. He knew that people like this existed, even back on earth. Those that couldn’t accept owing something to someone else. Especially someone they considered lesser.

The Aeth Vampire wasn’t that bad a person, he was actually kind of nice. But also kind of racist too. Though, on the 30,000 Worlds, Dorian supposed racism was a bit more reasonable. Still…

“But you didn’t need to come all the way here and follow me. How did you even know I was boarding here?” He gave the elderly Vampire an odd look.

“The Nightlord informed me. A man I noticed was found dead, earlier this morning, killed in his own base. His subordinates surrounded him and were all unconscious. Supposedly they’re being treated and expected to recover in a few days.” The elderly vampire eyed him slightly askance.

Dorian smiled back, the very picture of innocence. He would not grieve for the death of a man like the Nightlord.

“And thus, here I am, offering you my services.” The Aeth Vampire gave him a sharp nod, as if everything he said was perfectly reasonable.

“Ah… before that…” The Aeth Vampire interjected, turning to look Dorian up and down.

“Weren’t you… a bit smaller when I last saw you?” He stared at Dorian in confusion.

‘Oh right.’ Lord Ru had only seen him in his partially grown Grakon form, not his fully grown one.

“I hit my growth spurt last night.” Dorian made up an excuse on the spot.

“A growth spurt.” The elderly Vampire stared at him.

“Yep.” Dorian mentally berated himself for picking such a poor reason, but he was stuck with it now. He gave the Aeth Vampire what he hoped was an earnest look. He still didn’t quite know how to express emotions on his Minotaur-like face.

“And you grew those spikes, and nearly three hands of height, in a single night.” He looked him up and down once more, as if he was a piece of cattle. Dorian resisted the urge to shift uncomfortably.

“That sounds about right.” Dorian held his hands out as if it was the only possible explanation.

“Huh.” Lord Ru grunted.

“Well, that seems reasonable to me. You must be a big milk drinker, it’s great for bone growth and development.” The Vampire took what Dorian said at face value, nodding agreeably. As he spoke, he pulled out a flask of what, apparently, contained milk, and took a deep draw from it.

‘I don’t even like milk…’ Dorian almost sputtered as the Vampire believed what he said. He watched incredulously as the Vampire took a second hit of milk as if it were hard alcohol.

‘Why do I only meet people with zero common sense?’ He scrubbed at his forehead.

“Well, I don’t think I’ll need anything, but what services are you trying to offer?” He moved the conversation along, trying to not get sidetracked.

The Aeth Vampire seemed to draw into himself proudly,

“Unlike those common brutes, I am a student of the arts. A master alchemist, if you will.” He smiled with pride as he continued,

“Those Lord Class Ironskin Pills you won off me were created by no other Alchemist than myself. I am quite accomplished in a variety of Pillmaking techniques.” The Aeth Vampire boasted shamelessly.

‘Oh, an Alchemist? That’s a rare profession!’ Dorian had never met an Alchemist before, though he’d never gone searching for one either.

“If you have or want any type of Pill you need created, and have the ingredients prepared, I would be more than willing to work to make you something, to pay back my Karmic debt.” Lord Ru proclaimed, nodding his head sharply.

“Err.” Dorian gave him a friendly smile as he shrugged. There wasn’t really anything he quite nee-

His line of thought was cut off as he looked down at the Spatial Pouch he had on his waist, where a Fire-Aspected Golden Leaf rested. One that, according to Bella, could be used to gain a closer understanding of the Law of Fire or be used as an ingredient in medicine to treat injuries to the soul.

‘Medicine like that sounds like it could be vitally important in the future…’ Dorian thought, his eyes widening as he began to plan. He needed to be active, not reactionary anymore. Will was nothing more than a soul right now, it was entirely possible he might need something like this.

He looked directly at the Aeth Vampire,

“What do you know about Pills that can treat injuries to the soul?”

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

Several hundred miles away, on a World Bridge that connected to Paxital from the lands of the Borrel Autarchy, a different conversation was taking place.

“Ah, we’re almost there. Finally off this World Bridge. It’s been quite the journey, Mira.” A man whose face was dotted with golden scales spoke aloud as he relaxed comfortably on a wagon. His legs could be seen leaning halfway off the edge while his head rested on a large pillow. His eyes slowly scanned the environment, enthralling golden pupils that gleamed with power.

A large caravan could be seen carrying various goods and items for trade. Paxital was a travelers world that saw a huge amount of trade. Many types of goods couldn’t be stored in Spatial Rings, or were moved in such quantity that it wasn’t economically feasible to be transported in Spatial Rings.

Spatial Rings, and other variations, were all quite expensive. For anyone that wasn’t a powerful Wizard or warrior, they were a mere pricey legend.

The golden-scaled man lay resting in a wagon in this caravan, one that was mostly full of several antique wooden dressers and other old objects.

“It’s a relief to finally have reached Paxital, Aiden.” A beautiful woman wearing a semi-translucent gown responded, her long brown hair wrapped up in a braid. Her face and body were dotted with jade-colored scales. She sat in a meditative pose, right next to the golden-scaled man.

“You aren’t wrong. The turmoil that is overtaking the 30,000 Worlds is quite something. We didn’t encounter a single King from the Borrel Autarchy. Quite the lucky break for us.” Aiden nodded casually and continued,

“Still, we should try to stay under cover.”

A few moments passed as the wagon they rode on bumped and began to move off of the World Bridge. This particular World Bridge was coated in a forest, with a very large, 100 meter wide stone path paved through it.

Aiden turned to look at Mira as they officially entered Paxital,

“Alright. Any new info?” His eyes were inquisitive.

The beautiful woman motioned with her hand, withdrawing an Artifact of sorts from her Spatial Ring. The Artifact was beautiful to behold, a large, jade-colored scale that had hundreds of intricate patterns carved into it. It fit snugly into the palm of her hand.

“Hmm.” Mira muttered as her eyes closed, focusing on the scale. It began to emit faint white light.

“No… everything still appears to be the same.”

Aiden frowned,

“What about the reports on that lion?”

The Artifact Mira held was a special one unique to her Draconic Tribe. The Wise Jade Tribe was famous for its Artifacts and intelligence. This was known as a Communication Scale, a mystical object that allowed for snippets of information to be transported across worlds.

There were very few ways to transport information across several worlds in a short period of time. If one was a King Class Fate Wizard, it was possible to simply use magic. For those that weren’t, they could only resort to ingenuity and Magic Artifacts.

“No… All it says is that an enormous lion with a golden mane attacked one of the headquarters of the Heavy Wing Tribe.” She shook her head.

Aiden scratched at his chin, still frowning,

“Well, the Heavy Wing Tribe has their Dragon Master, and they are specialized in defense anyway. They’ll be fine. For such a massive beast to initiate an attack, however…”

Mira frowned as well, looking directly at Aiden with a worried appearance as she responded,

“Do you think it’s one of those ‘things?’ Like the one that has allied itself with the Red Wing Tribe? That one called itself the Sixthborn I believe.”

Aiden sighed,

“I don’t know. The Tribes are at each other’s throats half the time, it’s already a wonder that most of them still cooperate with your Wise Jade Tribe.”

Just as he was about to continue, Mira abruptly held her hand up, her eyes widening.

“Aiden. I feel her.” Her voice caught as she spoke, her body trembling.

“Huh? You feel who? Your Grandmother? But I thought the presence was on Magmo-”

“It’s there too still. But I can feel her, here, on this world. At the least, a fragment of her soul.” Mira’s voice was full of excitement as she twisted, looking off to the side.

Aiden sat up, the relaxed appearance he had fading away as he became completely serious.

“Where is she?” His voice was calm and controlled.

“I can sense her presence moving at a fast speed… That way.” She pointed in a specific direction.

Aiden’s eyes gleamed as he looked out, and then paused, mentally referring to a map he’d memorized.

“That direction holds the White Sea and the continent of Pashal. The World Bridge to Magmor is over there too.” He stood up, the air around him taking on a powerful, golden light. He motioned at Mira,

“Let’s get away from this caravan and transform. We’ll go to the source of her presence immediately.”

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

On a world of frozen ice and snow, where the dead walked, a small figure could be seen, walking forward in the midst of a brutal snow storm.

Snow, ice, rain, hail, sleet, bursting winds, deadly spatial phenomena.

The weather of Blizzaria’s surface was extremely dangerous.

Yet, this lone figure seemed completely unaffected. No heavy Aura blocked the winds and weather. No Spell was cast to disrupt the cruel hail.

The air and water seemed to flow off this figure naturally.

If one could pierce through the veil of rain, snow, and hail, they would see a vague, blue light surrounding the head of this figure.

A dark, glowing blue halo, borne atop the figure of a monkey.

This monkey was about the size of an average human. It had light brown fur, and was wearing a set of simple red pants and dark brown shoes. A large, loose necklace of red beads, each one the size of a small fist, was wrapped around its neck, and it wielded a long red staff, with a quarter of a meter on each end covered in some mystic, glowing gold material.

This monkey walked forward through the snow, a calm expression on its face as it looked at something in the distance.

Through the crushing, deadly weather, a dim, orange light could just barely be seen, more than a thousand meters away.

As the monkey grew closer, an odd, keening voice could be heard, one that echoed strangely,

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH Well I came to this world looking for snow!”

“And what did I find? Snow up high, and snow down low!”

“To understand the Law of Ice!”

“I must prepare to be quite nice!”

“While fire is hot and fire is free.”

“It cannot be the only thing for me!”

A small smile appeared on the monkey’s face as he heard a deluge of rhymes cut through the air. He quietly whispered to himself,

“I managed to find you, my new friend.” His eyes glowed softly. As he spoke, he clenched his hands tightly and took a deep breath,

“I will protect you as well.”