Riverside Dusk by Lu'u Teruise
First Path: Purpose
Every person on this earth has the free will to do, create, and opine about anything their soul desires. But at no age are we taught how to face the uncertainty of how to live life. There are no steps, no rules for success… to feel fulfilled. But it becomes even more difficult to shape your present and your future when your past is unknown to you. And then the unconscious customs of who you were collide with the person you are today.
Miss Teruise took Don's hand to leave without waiting, while telling her guards that it wasn't necessary for them to accompany her so as not to make Don uncomfortable, and dragging Miriel along as well, who refused to join them. Upon climbing the exterior stairs, she lets them go and they begin to follow her steps, arriving at Teruise's workshop. Seeing a sign hanging at the top of the workshop entrance decorated with flowerpots, an easel on the ground mentioning the available minerals, its writings stating that the workshop was open (but it was actually closed), and a display case with four shelves exhibiting said available minerals, such as green diamond, red, nokritia, ignelita, and more common minerals…
Entering the interior of a beautiful house made of gravel, a living room decorated in full medieval style, old books on an old and dusty shelf, stairs to the second floor that perfectly show from the living room the wooden corridor to the next hallway where the rooms surely are. But above all, there was a service desk… she quickly passes behind the counter, opening the door to another room and closing it behind her, leaving doubt.
"— Will she come back, right?" Don asks.
"— It's obvious she'll come back, Don," Miriel responds coldly.
She came out again after 5 minutes, with new attire, especially with protective equipment like leather gloves, an apron of the same material, an alchemist's belt with pockets and loops for vials, small spoons, tweezers, and funnels. She looks at Don with excitement and asks:
"— And finally, what are you looking for?"
"— Do you have the mystical alloy available?"
Teruise narrowed her eyes and raised her eyebrows.
"— It's not easy to find that mineral. What do you want it for?"
"— Do you have it?" he asked again, ignoring her question.
"— I got some thanks to the bounty hunter assignments, but as soon as I put it up for sale, I sold it all in the blink of an eye. But you're in luck; I think I saved some, if my memory doesn't fail me."
"— And how much does it cost… well… I don't know how they usually sell that kind of thing… I want, I don't know, nothing of what I'm buying."
"— Well, the small vial (5 ml) will cost you 50 gold, and the medium vial (20 ml) 150 gold. One is for applying to a small object like rings or seals, and the other is for large engravings or small weapons. In raw form, the small fragment of 50 grams will cost you 20 gold, the medium one of 150-200 grams will be 45 gold, but keep in mind that it can't be used directly in enchantments without refining."
Don, surprised with rounded eyes and a withdrawn smile, asks:
"— And why the hell does it cost so much? I'm not going to have anything left."
"— It will all depend on what you're going to use them for."
Don remained thoughtful about her words; he didn't know exactly what his master had in mind with each of those things. Then he told her about the list, and at Teruise's request, he showed her the contents.
"— I'm unaware of the existence of an element on your list, but from what I see, I intuit that you plan to build an enchanted ring; I've seen this type of mixture before. So it's better for you to buy the small vial of mystical alloy, for 50 gold coins."
"— And why can't I buy the 20-gold coin ingot?"
Following this statement, he looks at Miriel in confusion beside him.
"— You'll end up spending more than necessary on forges, but with the refined and maximally treated liquid, it will be easier to apply runes or layers of enchantments directly. Do you understand?"
"— Yes, I understand perfectly. So I'll spend 50 gold coins with regret… but… couldn't you… give me a discount…"
Following this statement, Teruise looks at Miriel in confusion beside her again. She ignores and moves towards the shelves, pretending to look for books, avoiding any questions about Don. And Don continues, in the silence of confusion:
"— We can make a deal… How about I offer you an aphrodisiac and you lower the price to about 20 gold coins?"
"— An aphrodisiac? Are you mocking me?" she asks, taken aback.
"— Better forget what I said… I'll take it… but why is it so expensive?"
"— Alright," she mentioned before going back into the room or her workplace (laboratory), where she keeps all her minerals, collected pieces, rare objects, rare plants, and so on, shouting her answer while searching among the boxes for the mystical alloy that was left like a needle lost in the hay of a dirty home.
"— Don't blame me for the prices; everything is getting more expensive, the most important minerals like blue metal are becoming rare, the roads have become more insecure, unusual activity is reported at the borders, black flowers have been seen growing in places totally and so you know…" she shouted, trying to lift heavy things, her struggle could be heard even behind the door. "So you know, your mineral needs special vials; it's not transported in just any container, plus it's difficult to manufacture: it involves arcane heat, catalysts, and stabilization with terralitos that simulate certain spells constantly, since it's illegal to use magic, in case you didn't know… Oops!" she shouted.
"— Is something wrong?" Don asked, worried.
"— Bad news. I don't have mystical alloy."
Against the unexpected, the only person capable of getting him the mystical alloy didn't have it available, revealing that the piece of ingot she had left she used because her axe needed an upgrade and she used it, and she hadn't remembered it until then, making them waste a huge amount of time discussing. But Don, although embarrassed, looked on the bright side: he would keep 50 gold coins, but the question would be how to get that mineral, considering that the next village has the best alchemist workshop on the island, but it's more than ten thousand kilometers south of where they are, which would mean going back and going against the journey's path, which is supposed to end in the Kingdom of Montesis.
Then Teruise offers him a solution to Don's questions:
"— You have to go mine the mystical alloy."
But she told him that he would have to register with the bounty hunters' guild to make it easier to find this specific mineral, if he doesn't want to spend money hiring a tracker or a group of bounty hunters to do the job for him, proposing that she would help him if he so wishes.
And since Teruise was no longer necessary for him and it was also getting very late, Don thanked her and started with the first step towards the exit, but Teruise stopped him and asked:
"— Haven't we seen each other before?"
"— No… I don't think so."
"— Lift your shirt…"
"— Why?" Don asks, puzzled, still doing it after convincing him.
"— Red hair, marked abs, chimera skin cloak… on that bridge, I saw you from my window, in a line…"
And quickly, Don feels strange, as if his body were in a process of denial. The taste of a potion dehydrates his taste buds, leaving them dry, and his eyes before her began to take on their original colors… they began to shine, consequently his tail began to break his pants from behind, hidden behind his cloak, and therefore he quickly turns around to prevent them from seeing him and ran out without looking back.
Although Teruise saw almost nothing, she was left with doubt and confusion about what happened… asking Miriel, who had stayed, somewhat surprised after seeing his transformation in person, and Teruise tried to get her attention a second time:
"— Miriel, what's happening to him? Why did he run away?"
"— Hey, see you later… You stay to accompany him," she said while running after Don.
"— And now what's wrong with them? … His eyes… did they suddenly start shining with an intense red, like a red moon? Red eyes… could it be? …" she wondered, thoughtful.
Half an hour later…