By the time the sun began to set, I had finished reading through several books. I was thankful that I had raised my intellect stat as much as I did as it helped with my reading speed, understanding and knowledge retainment. I had even increased my comfortability with reading old elvish.
I was about to pick up a book about elven history, but the door opened, and a servant stepped inside. They looked at me with indifference but begin to speak.
"The matriarch requires your presence." It was short and to the point, but I didn't mind, in fact, I preferred the bluntness.
"Lead the way." I said, putting the book back in place.
The servant span on their heels and left the room, and I followed after them. 'I wonder what that cheeky elf could possible want.' I mused as I walked through the quiet hallway with the silent elf. The only sound was our footsteps on the stone floor.
We arrived at a different set of doors I was used to. However, before I could drink it in, the elf knocked on the door and opened it.
Inside, I saw a large table that sat in the centre of the room with several chairs, some filled, some empty. I recognised several of the faces sitting at the table. The pompous lord, Zale and the matriarch were the ones I knew. However, there were two I didn't know that sat either side of the table.
"Matriarch, I have brough the guest, as requested." The servant said, before bowing and leaving the room, closing the doors behind them.
"Good evening. May I know why I have been summoned?" I asked. I chose my words carefully, as this situation didn't seem normal.
"Cain, you have come because of a pledge made to our first guardian Zale. However, we have a request for you." Luralie spoke, her words carried a noble air.
"Mother! I Strongly oppose the assistance of an outsider, much less a human." The so-called lord spoke up. However, Luralie turned to look at him with cold eyes.
"This is an official meeting; Langer and you will do well to remember that." Her voice was cold, and her gaze was just as icy.
"I apologize, matriarch." He quickly buckled under her pressure.
"Cain, there is a plague that has affected our village. While our healers are skilled and knowledgeable, we are still struggling. As an alchemist, I would like to hear your professional opinion." She asked.
'So that's the reason. I did wonder why there was a lack of elves in this village.' It was a surprise that it was a plague, but it was very concerning.
"Can you tell me the symptoms?" I asked, curiosity taking over.
Luralie looked over to the elf to her right. His was dressed in a white robe and didn't seem to like my presence. However, he began to speak, somewhat begrudgingly.
"Rashes that develop into pustules that bleed black fluid. Trouble breathing, with a fever and clammy skin." He only spoke the words he needed.
I listened to his words and slowly began to reach a sickening realisation. 'I-It can't be.'
"When the inflicted die, does the skin turn a dark purple?" I asked. I hoped the answer would be no, as what I was thinking about was something that shouldn't exist yet.
"Yes. How did you know that?" The elf asked, looking a little stunned and suspicious.
"Fuck." I muttered under my breath, ignoring his question, as a memory of what this plague actually was.
"Do you know what this plague is?" Asked Luralie, looking a little stunned at my unusual attitude.
"I do, unfortunately. I studied it in a book during my studies learning alchemy. It's a plague called the demon spores. The last time it was recorded, it decimated several villages and was estimated to have killed over three-hundred thousand people." I explained. While that was true, it was a lie where I first learnt about it. In a future event, the capital will be afflicted with the demon spores, and a quest was given to the players to find a cure.
The people present sat with faces in horror. They had to face the fact that their village was in great danger.
"B-But that was only humans. We elves have a greater resilience to diseases." Langer said, with a nervous smile on his face, trying to deny the reality of the situation.
"The plague afflicted not only the human country, but also the beast kin and the undercities of the dwarf-gnome coalition. The elves only escaped due to their natural trait of isolationism. plus, demon spores are a magical disease, so any natural resistances are meaningless." My words were like a bucket of cold water over the elves in the room. Even for their fair skin, what colour they had, soon all drained out.
"What is the cause of the plague?" Asked Luralie. Her face was pale and visibly disturbed.
"As I have said, it's a magical disease. It was created by the demons to sow death and destruction to all mortal races." My words once again caused the room to be silent. And there was a reason for that. Demons haven't been seen above ground for decades. The only time demons were encountered is when ventured down into the underworld.
"Is there a cure?" She asked another question. The leader's responsibility wouldn't let her remain in shock for long.
"Y-You can't be buying into this!" Before I could speak, Langer spoke out, in complete denial.
"First, she was incompetent in her mission that she needed help from an inferior creature and brought it back with her. Then, you ask for help from it. You bring dishonour to our name!" Langer pointed at Zale then towards the matriarch in his outburst. His eyes dripped with madness and completely forgot the mien of a lord and looked like nothing more than a pitiful creature.
I wasn't particularly bothered by his outburst, as he was so pitiful. And because I saw Luralie face, if there ever existed an incarnation of anger, she would be it.
"Enough!"
"Enough!" That one word had more force behind it than a hurricane. The glass of the windows shattered into thousands of pieces but floated in the air, before hitting the floor. The table ripped into two like a tree after being struck by lightning. And all the empty chairs were blown back and pinned to the wall.
Luralie's long pure white hair began to float upwards, like she was submerged underwater. Her emerald eyes began to glow bright gold, so much so that her eyes were nothing more than lights.
Everyone that was present in the room became terrified under her immense pressure. But what they didn't see was the giant green wolf that sat behind her. It was easily seven feet tall, sitting down. It had the same golden eyes as Luralie and looked over the room with a regal, yet arrogant look.
It spotted me looking at it and returned my gaze and blinked slowly.
"You are nothing but a spoilt child! Your father and I had thought you would become more mature with the responsibility of a lord. But you only became more spoilt."
"You are nothing but a spoilt child! Your father and I had thought you would become more mature with the responsibility of a lord. But you only became more spoilt." Her voice shook the room and was laced in anger, even though it seemed calm and cold. Her emotion was transmitted to my very soul.
"But mother-" Langer tried to quell her anger but only succeeded in making her even more so.
"Silence."
"Silence." Her voice was ice cold at this point, as he refused to remember her previous warning.
"You are no longer the lord of house Mauilin. Until you can act in a manner befitting the title, I shall take control."
"You are no longer the lord of house Mauilin. Until you can act in a manner befitting the title, I shall take control." She looked at Langer as if he wasn't even her son. If you were sensible, you would have realised how big a hole you have dug for yourself. But Langer wasn't sensible at all.
"You cannot do this! And over a human! Father will not accept this!" He forgot all fear he felt and acted like nothing more than a creature that had been driven mad.
The air grew denser and colder, as more air began to swirl in the room. The light around Luralie began to darken as her features became obscure leaving only her glowing eyes visible leaving everyone unable to breath.
"Luralie. You're scaring the little ones." My voice cut through the pressure like a knife. I was shielding the little spirits from the immense amount of spiritual energy she spilled out.
I felt those heavy, glowing eyes look at me for a moment, and a shiver went down my spine, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle.
She looked at the little spirits who were shaking against my chest. Then, within a single second, the chairs fell from the walls, the table sewed back together, and the thousands of pieces of glass fixed back together, as if nothing had ever happened.
"I'm sorry, little ones." She apologised with her typical beautiful smile, as if everything that had happened was nothing more than a dream. Even the giant green wolf had disappeared, leaving no traces behind.
"Cain, is there a cure?" Luralie asked, seemingly glossing over her recent outburst.
"Yes. A certain fungus will start to grow around places that had been inflicted. Infusing that with certain healing herbs, should stave off most of the disease. Adding magical healing and with enough rest. Most will be able to recover." I answered with the help of both my alchemy skill and knowledge from the past.
"Most?" She asked, looking a little concerned.
"Well, those who have become too weak will have a tough time recovering and could lose their lives even after being treated." I answered honestly. Some people would have avoided speaking honestly, but I prefer to speak the truth.
"I see…" Luralie fell into silence as her eyes went distant.
"What herbs do we need?" The white robed elf asked, which I wasn't expecting.
"We will need to brew a large amount of potion, so I recommend using bloodweld mushrooms and octivia root. Of course, it'll be good to have some murkmelk for stabilisation." I responded, concocting a potion in my mind, using local ingredients. I was thankful that I read all those books earlier. And the recipe that I knew from my past helped as well.
The elf looked at me, bewildered. It was obvious that he wasn't expecting such a detailed response. Which wasn't surprising as elves were skilled in herbalism, which was the skill of mixing herbs and ingredients in their raw form. It can be considered the lower form of alchemy, but it was fairer to say it was a skill that ran alongside it.
"How long would it take for you to make the potion?" Luralie asked, after hearing my conversation with the robed elf.
I put a hand on my chin and fell into thought for a moment. "I've never concocted a potion like this before. So, I would like to produce an enough for a single dose first. After that, I can accurately scale it up." I thought aloud. After all, it was stupid to begin mass production when you were unsure of the dosage, let alone the effects it might have.
Coming to an answer in my mind, and double checking my calculations, I opened my mouth. "I'll need two to three hours to produce a sample potion, providing if I had the ingredients. Then, if everything goes well, I should have enough potion for a hundred or so people by this time tomorrow." My declaration caused yet another silence to fall on to the room. Of course, most people who claim the same timeframe were probably swindlers. However, with my control skills as they were, my alchemy abilities had increased dramatically.
"…What do you need?" Luralie broke the silence, a determined look in her eyes.
[Quest Received]
The elven village of Cadisa is under the peril of a plague. Do your part in eliminating the plague and lessening the impact as best you can.
[Reward: ???
Failure: The death of the majority of the village and the loss of their favourability towards you.]
"Two helpers, with at least basic knowledge of herbalism. Fifty stalks of bloodweld mushrooms, fifty octivia root, around a litre of murkmelk and fifty, or so pounds of the fungus that grows near the inflicted. And of course, I need some brewing equipment." I began to list of things one after the other. It was more than I needed, but as it was going to be experimental, I needed more just in case.
"Jane, you can manage that much, right?" Luralie said to the robed elf. It wasn't a question, judging by her tone.
"O-Of course. I can prepare everything within the hour." Jane spoke, standing up from his seat with a look of determination on his face.
Luralie nodded in satisfaction. Seeing that, Jane bowed quickly before scurrying out of the room. A wisp of excitement in his step.
"With that, I think we should adjourn for now." Luralie, clapped her hands twice that seemed to wake everyone up for the shock of the past few minutes.
Everyone rose from their chair, bowed and silently left the room. All apart from Langer, he just stubbled his way out, completely broken and a shell of a man.
And just like that, it was just Luralie and me left in the room. She just sat there, staring at me.
"You saw her, didn't you?" She spoke using her spirit voice. A beautiful and seductive smile spread across her lips.
"If you're talking about that giant wolf. Then yes." It was strange having a conversation without speaking. But either way, I didn't break eye contact.
"Her name is Reyna. A high rank wind spirit and she doesn't like you." Luralie began to chuckle to herself. Though, I was a little miffed that a high rank spirit doesn't like me.
"Why is that?" I asked, as I had only met her once and she already didn't like me. So, I wondered if I did anything wrong.
However, she just smiled. "Because you met her eyes."
"…What?" Because I met her eyes? Were all spirits as fickle as her?
Seemingly reading my mind, Luralie burst out with laughter. "She is the queen of the wolves, after all. And you didn't bow before her, so she doesn't like you."
"How arrogant." I accidentally said what I thought.
Luralie looked shocked for a second, before bursting into a roar of laughter. She was rocking back and forth in her chair that was worried that she might fall out of it.
"I have never met anyone who would call a high rank spirit, arrogant. It makes what I said earlier, even more of a shame." This time, she spoke aloud and stood up from her chair, whipping the tears away that had built up in her eyes.
At hearing her words, I was reminded of what she asked me back in her library and became slightly distracted. By the time I had returned to the present, she was already in front of me, inches away from my face.
"Though, I'm not against having a fling." She whispered seductively, looking straight into my eyes, with a look a beast would give to its prey.
"And I'm not against pulling on a certain elf's ears." I replied with an equal amount of seductiveness.
Widening her eyes in surprise for a second. She smiled a wide, child-like smile, grabbed both of her ears, and darted out of the room, giggling.
With a heavy sigh, and a smirk, I watched her runaway. 'Most people would struggle to resist that offer. However, I don't fancy being the reason why two nations went to war.'