In a dark chamber, a fire arose. It lit up the room and heated the pot. The green liquid within boiled, bubbling. It shook and spilled.
Sizzling, the liquid seeped into the ground. A thin, frail hand quickly grabbed what was left.
Another hand clawed the dirt, grabbing the green goo.
It wasn't enough.
Another hand appeared, then another, then another.
The flame died, and the chamber returned to darkness.
…
Aldred and his wives chatted with the old lady for a few minutes as she explained the local tale of the Goddess of Luck, Azar.
They all laughed and giggled as they told their adventure. Apparently, the old lady was an alchemist when she was young, but her power was completely gone when her experiment went wrong. She said that all of the medicines in this town were originally created by her, and that she was the first alchemist of this town.
"I wish I can be young again, so I can do my experiment. Oh well, at least I can still teach the young generation the art of alchemy. They are very driven young lads. I just hope that I can stay here to guide them for much longer."
Aldred smiled. "I may not be able to give your power back, but I can do this."
Aldred's eyes turned purple and she stared at the old lady. A powerful aura burst forth. "Reverse Aging!"
The old lady's body shook as her eyes widened, and the wrinkle on her slowly turned into smooth snow-white skin. The bag under her eyes retracted, revealing a pair of young beautiful eyes. Gray hair transformed into beautiful golden hair, sparkling under the sunlight.
In less than a minute, the hunchback old lady was transformed into a young, beautiful, healthy beautiful woman.
"This… how is this possible?" The old lady looked at her once wrinkled hand that was now transformed into a slender smooth white arm.
Her hair dangled right in front of her eyes, and when she touched it, she felt the softness of the texture that she had years ago.
"You have done this… am I dreaming?"
"No, you are not. This is reality." Aldred smiled.
The now young lady's eyes once again streamed in tears. "Please! Please tell me how to repay you!"
"You don't—"
"No, I cannot live with this. I have to do something to repay this gift."
Aldred looked at her for a few seconds before he replied: "In that case, you will continue to guide the children here in the art of alchemy for your whole life."
The now young lady widened her eyes. "How is that a payment…?"
"I like this town. It will be nice to see the children have you as their teacher."
The young lady sighed with a bitter smile. "It is my dream to teach children alchemy. This is not payment, this is another gift."
"Consider it both." Aldred smiled.
"Then, please, at least accept this." The young lady took something out of her pocket and gave it to Aldred.
[Protective Necklace]
This protective necklace will shatter and cover the user with a protective mist when the necklace detects danger.
"Thank you."
"That's nothing compared to what you have done. Can I ask where you are going?"
"We are looking for the third phase," Aldred replied. "Have you seen anything unusual lately?"
"Something unusual?" She tried to recall anything. "Except for the Necromancer spreading curses in this town, I don't see anything."
"I see. Well, we are going to look around. Maybe we can get some information."
"I am really sorry that I can not help. I will ask around. If I find anything, I will look for you."
"Thank you." Aldred nodded.
Aldred and his group parted ways with the young lady.
They then asked the locals if they saw something unusual. The people here were kind and open, so they told him everything, but some still raised an eyebrow at the question.
"Anything weird?" A dwarf raised an eyebrow as he was painting. "I don't know. The widow next door got cursed by the Necromancer, though it's not weird anymore now that it happened frequently."
"I have been hearing a lot about this Necromancer. Why hasn't the town not handled it yet?" Aldred asked.
"No one knows who the Necromancer is, son. Nobody knows who will get the curse, or what the curse will be. This place used to be so calm and peaceful, but no one can sleep at night nowadays. Maybe you can look for that Necromancer. Who knows he or she might know something."
"How can I find this Necromancer?"
"Who knows? Some people said they have seen the Necromancer. He or she wears a thick black robe, so it's hard to tell what race or what gender the person is."
"I know where the hiding place is," someone suddenly said.
They all looked to the side and saw an old lady.
"Eneth, you always said that you know where the Necromancer is, but every time we follow you, we return empty-handed."
"I am sure of it this time." She glanced at Aldred. "Young man, are you looking for the Necromancer?"
"I am actually looking for information, but perhaps this Necromancer knows something that I want to know."
"What do you want to know?"
"Something weird. A dungeon, a monster, weird phenomena, missing people. Nothing specific."
"The Necromancer throwing curse left and right is exactly what you need to look at then."
Aldred did not think of that possibility. Was it possible that their third phase was to find this Necromancer? The rumor said that the third phase will be in the sky, but the rumor wasn't one hundred percent true either.
"We should try to find this Necromancer, first," Kiara said. "Maybe we can learn something from this person."
"Learn something from a curse-spreading Necromancer?" Mally laughed. "Yeah, I think we are going to learn something."
Mira stepped forward. "Preferably, we can ask the Necromancer to stop terrorizing the city as well."
Ivette nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I see a lot of unfortunate people along the way. The curse is hideous."
"Ask? Why not just kill the Necromancer?" Mally crossed her arms.
Eneth cleared her throat. "So, do you want to find the Necromancer?"
Aldred nodded.
"Follow me."
Aldred and the rest followed the old lady.
The dwarf stopped his painting before glancing at their back. His eyebrows furrowed.
…
"Please, make yourself at home." Eneth opened the door and entered.
Aldred and his wives entered the house while the rest waited outside. The house wasn't very spacious, and could not make room for the soldiers.
Eneth came from the kitchen with a plate of steaming cookies. "Oops, I almost forgot the milk."
She returned to the kitchen and returned with a big jug of milk and a bunch of wooden mugs.
Aldred smiled and scanned the old lady.
[Eneth Frayte]
Level: 5
Power: Bake cookies
History: An old lady who is very nice but is known to lie very much about anything.
Aldred was speechless about that description. Lie very much about anything… sigh. He should have analyzed her earlier.
'Oh well, at least we get cookies and milk.'
