Chapter 28 The Maven of Mysteries.

Even at the darkest hour, when it seems like you can’t go on.

Don’t give up hope! You can go on! And you will go on!

Noxi Guardian of Light.

After questioning multiple people for directions, I find the entrance to a small alcove in a back alley. A metallic door in the alcove with the words “The Maven of Mysteries” curved on it with a sharp tool.

This is the alchemist’s shop. If the last passerby I asked hadn’t directly pointed at this door, I’d still be looking for it. The small entrance is hidden behind a building and below a thick staircase, which would require bending down from anyone who’s slightly taller than I.

A pleasant bell chimes in my ears the moment I open the door. A thick fragrance of herbs and perfumes welcomes me in. There are no windows here, only dim blue and green candlelight casting ghostly shadows on the crammed-up shelves.

The magical lights, the colorful potions on the shelves, the black walls, and the spider webs on the stone ceiling - give this place an eerie feeling. The only normal-looking fire is at the fireplace; it is sealed behind a weird crystalline material.

“Okashin? Ohh ten doma atashi. Ontki ta! Ontki ta! Okktosu wabmi wuleta ja tikos.” A hunched old woman who seems to be in her seventies or eighties motions me to come closer from behind her desk. Her white hair is tied up in a tight bun, and a crooked smile is plastered on her wrinkly face.

I walk closer, unsure of what to do. I didn’t understand a single word. “Mushin?” she asks when she sees the confusion on my face, “Atakenki? Shavi ba? Toml’a? A’arkalu? Konda so? Ni...”

“Toml’a!” I say happily, recognizing the name of my native tongue. This just emphasized how much I need to learn more languages in order to survive outside the tower.

“Ah, you’re a Null… you’re the one I’ve treated three days ago, yes? Welcome to your new working place chicky.” Her accent is odd, I've never heard this accent before. The way she talks and the verbs she chooses sounds like the middle class of my homeland; the merchants.

“My new working place? You want me to work for you as a condition for healing my hand…” I realize swiftly. “How long will I be working for you? Can I pay you instead of working for you? How much?”

Her golden eyes gleam in an unnatural light, her wrinkles deepen as her smile widens. “Sit, sit, we’ll talk business. The younger a person is the more in a hurry they are…”

I sit at the chair she gestures at. “Like old people are never in a hurry? In fact, old people should hasten up more than younger ones. Anyone who doesn’t is either senile or is too content with their life for their own good…” Why am I antagonizing her?! She shouldn’t assume I’d work for her! But she can heal my hand. I shouldn’t offend someone who can help me. And I don't have a lot of time, I need to keep running. I can’t stay here, I already spent four days, I don’t know how long it’ll take for another mage to take the bounty on my head…

“Kikikikiki… such words of wisdom. Since you’re in such a hurry young one, let’s get to business shall we? You want to pay for your hand? The price is five thousand gems. Do you have it on you? Thought so. Then you get to work for me yes? You won’t get a better deal~” She says cheerfully, almost as if she’s selling a hot meat pie in a street stall.

I wish I still had my small fortune... it’s in my room in the tower... some mage is probably enjoying it now... not that it'd help me much, it's still not five thousand... I’d pay her five thousand if I had them… five hells I’d even call it cheap, it’s my hand! ”For how long?” What about the bounty on my head? Let's hear her out first...

“Five years.” She emphasizes her words by lifting her five fingers, each ending with a long talon-like nail. “I shall not pay your salary. But I am willing to provide you with food, a place to sleep, and a much-needed sanctuary. You shall not be pursued by the Sapphire Tower’s authorities while you are working for me. For someone like you, it should be a lucky streak, yes?”

Wait! She knows about the bounty? Will she turn me in if I refuse her deal? Focus! Calm down… consider it and be ready for a fight… but don’t show panic… she’ll use it against me if I do…

She isn’t wrong. If her offer isn’t a trick… She is offering me both protection from the tower and healing my hand just so I will work for her… If anything, the deal isn’t fair to her. “What’s the catch? This is too good to be true,” I ask right away. Something is off about it, nothing is free in this world.

She cackles like an old witch from the bards’ tales. “Ohh? Looks like I fished a smart little chick, kiki… Fine! I shall let you know. Not like you have a choice in the matter, yes?”

She raises a single finger with a talon-like nail. “First: You’ll be cleaning my cauldron. This isn’t a pleasant work, but someone has to do it.”

She raises another talon. “Second: You’ll work as my courier. This part of the job shall place your life at a risk. But the risk is mild as long as you won’t ask too many questions…”

“I imagine I won’t be delivering sick puppies to a Tonar of Brigit.” I cut her off with narrowed eyes.

“Kikikikikikiki! Chicky! You’re funny! Keep making me laugh like that and I may throw something nice your way. No, you won’t be delivering sick puppies to healers.”

She raises one more finger. “Third: I have a few tasks that require… A touch of death. Someone sweet and young looking like you, who can get close to an unsuspecting person without making them feel threatened. You can do that, yes?”

So she wants me to work as her assassin? Just who is this woman? Wait, how can she know I can kill easily? How can she even provide me with protection? It’s the damn Sapphire Tower! It’s mages that can destroy this whole city if they want to… Do I even want to know? She seems like the local crime-lord… and she’s probably a mage too. I can only assume she has some connections in the tower given this city's proximity to it…

“How are you planning to keep me here after you’ve healed my hand?” She’d obviously have insurances to keep me here.

She rolls her golden eyes theatrically. “I shall be making a phylactery with your blood after I healed you, yes? I don’t think you speak the language of the threats child, but if you do: You’ll find that my hunter is much harder to deal with than the tower’s very best.”

A phylactery with my blood?! I vaguely remember one of the slaves drawing my blood right after I’ve been accepted as an apprentice. Rummaging through the potion bag the mage I killed had; I fish a crystalline bottle with dark red liquid inside. Now it makes perfect sense how that man tracked me down, the culprit was this tiny bottle.

It also means that there won’t be any other way for the tower to track me now that I have this, at least not a magical way. Or maybe they have more of my blood stored somewhere? It’d be foolish to assume they gave all the blood to this hunter… Or maybe they did. He was a full mage, not an apprentice. They didn’t expect him to fail. Oversights may happen… I could be gone from here, find a way to hide…

But now there’s a devil in front of me, offering me a deal that sounds too good to be true… And if I try to run… she might just attack me herself and claim the bounty… she has everything to gain and nothing to lose…

“How do I know you’ll give me my phylactery back after five years? Wouldn’t you just rather keep me for good?! Won't you just force me to keep working for you with the tower's price on my head as an incentive? What insurances do I get?” I wave the small bottle in front of her.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

She grins, the wrinkles at the edges of her mouth creasing. “You’re not in a position to demand something like that. You’ll have to put some trust in me yes?”

“Trust goes both ways.”

“But it needs to start somewhere. Do you have a better choice chicky?”

She has a point there. If she wants me to work for her she can probably achieve it, she mentioned she has hunters, she mentioned I’ll work as a courier and an assassin for her… She’s a crime-lord here… she can just beat me into this job if she wants or turn me in for the bounty…

I have two choices:

Take the deal.

Or pretend to take it, have her heal my hand. Then kill her and run away from this city!

If I run away, the tower may have other ways to track me… I’m still weak from the fever, and I’m not sure if I can survive on the road even without hunters going after me… that’s assuming I can even surprise and kill this old woman… On the other hand. If I take the deal, I’ll have to kill her eventually. Maybe even take over her work in the future as the crime-lord of this place…

But she’s not stupid, she’ll watch out for it… If she managed to stay and operate in this town so close to the tower she must have connections, and if she’s as old as she seems… No, older, mages live longer… She survived this long. She’s smart, crafty, cunning…

Maybe I am making her more than she is? Or maybe she’s playing another game… should I sit and play or skip town? Sit and play… let’s get my hand back first. See how she is. Learn her, study her, find her limits, and her weaknesses. Then strike and free myself… Or maybe she’ll do good by her word? No, don’t be naïve!

But first. Let’s get my hand back…

“Why did you pick me as your worker? What’s so special about me?” I request to know, trying my best to dig as much information as I can.

She smiles. “You have some magic. I can’t pick a mortal to do this kind of work for me, yes?”

“I am not the only one with magical abilities around here am I? In fact. My talents aren’t that great and I’m not even a mage, and yet you’re offering me this deal. What’s the catch?”

“No catch. My last assistance had left two months ago, when his service time was up, and I found myself missing another pair of hands around here…”

Pair of hands huh? I move my shoulder stub, waving my empty blue sleeve at her.

“Kikikikiki no worries chicky, you shall have yours again soon enough, yes?”

“So that’s it?!” She just found someone who’s desperate enough? Is she sitting here with the purpose of picking up desperate strays who escaped the tower? Could be. I can see how the local crime-lord would pick stray apprentices and turn them into her own private weapons and experts…

“What makes you think you’re so special chicky?! You’re just an opportunity I am taking, and one I am offering you. A good trade benefiting the both of us, yes?”

Yeah. It does seem that way… I still think there’s more to it than that, but I’ll have to find out with time…

”Very well, I’ll take your deal.” I hand her my phylactery silently. I can’t count on her decency. But as long as I am useful to her, she’ll keep me alive and out of the tower’s eyes. If I have to assassinate people to ensure my own survival, I’ll do it! Or I can risk killing her after she heals my hand… but that's too risky and it feels wrong to repay her healing with murder…

“Take off your robes.” The old woman orders.

I obey. I take off my heavy robes and stay in the undergarment Sharla supplied me with. The old woman circles the desk and lifts my arm stub, slowly dragging her talons on the healed corroded flesh.

She lets my stub go, and presses her hands against my heart and forehead for a long moment. Mana seeps from her hands into my body, a warm and soothing effect fills up my limbs like hot soup. I resist it on instinct, I can’t afford to relax right now. The warm feeling is dispelled like it was never there.

The old woman goes back to my arm stub massaging it lightly. It throbs, but doesn’t hurt. “This is going to be painful for you, I shall sell you a potion to ease the pain. The price is two hundred gems.”

I see… now she wants to squeeze me for more money… ”Isn’t giving me something for the pain a part of the healing deal?”

“This is an expensive potion, I can’t just give it away for free. You are the one who shall be working for free, yes?” her golden eyes gleam with shrewdness.

Technically she isn’t wrong, but two hundred gems is a steep price for me. I have a little more than two hundred left. I can’t throw so much money away for the sake of less pain. If I am going to work for free for the next five years I’ll have to be careful with my remaining money.

"Can't I just work a little longer for the potion? Say, add two more months?"

"Kiki... a year! Work six years for me."

"No way!" What about the potions I took from the mage who tried to kill me? ”Can I trade you another potion for it?” I take out my four remaining potions after I have already given her the phylactery. Two of these are simple healing potions, but I have no idea what the other two do.

She examines the four metallic containers with a crooked smile. “I shall take all four potions and a hundred gems in exchange for my potion yes?”

“One potion for one potion! No gems!”

“You’re not in a position to negotiate chicky.”

“I’ll just take a healing potion, it negates pain.”

“It negates existing pain, not one created after the potion is taken. The process of your lesser healing potion will disturb my healing arts.”

“I can endure some pain. I’ll take the potion after you’re done.” I say and put the metallic containers back in my belt slowly.

“You’ll go through an hour of pain, yes?”

I narrow my eyes at her. You're really trying to abuse my situation huh? Do your best you bitch! I doubt you can do worse than putting my hand in acid… ”Then I’ll endure an hour of pain,” I say with gritted teeth.

The gleam in her eyes disappears. “As you wish chicky. If you cannot bear the pain and change your mind halfway through my treatment, let me know, yes?” She motions me to follow her to the back. Stepping down the stairs behind her; she leads me to a cellar.

It’s a large dim room that looks like it belongs to witches from the bard’s tales. Colorful potions, books, many different oddities on the shelves, and a huge cauldron in the middle. This gigantic cauldron could fit eight of me inside it. A couch that—like the rest of the furniture—looks like it has seen better days. Two empty cages. One has a single large bone inside, and the other a cat skeleton resting on a tattered rag.

She leads me to a device at one of the corners and places my arm stub in it. She turns a screw and the device clamps around my upper arm, close to my armpit, squeezing the wounded area. It’s not a pleasant feeling.

She leaves me standing like that and rummages through a set of dusty cupboards. “Ah ahh!” she call happily when she finds what she was looking for. She gets back with a large shiny cleaver in her hand.

“What are you doing?” I am surprised with how cold my voice sounds. I am terrified, it should’ve been fragile.

She gives me a predatory smile as she moves a cloth dipped in some unknown liquid on the cleaver’s blade. “You want the potion yes? It’s only two hundred gems! You won’t find a better deal~” she sounds like a stall merchant again.

Crazy old woman, I can’t let you abuse me… Showing you I fear pain is something you’ll use against me in the future. As much as I hate pain, I’m not stupid! “No, just get this over with. The sooner I get my hand back the better!”

On the bright side, she wouldn’t negotiate me if she is just going to kill me… If she went to all the trouble and is now going to do something funny to me, it wouldn’t make sense. She just wants to intimidate me into paying her. Also probably test how susceptible I am to pain, and how pain can be used as a controlling method against me... Crime-lords are no different than nobles, they use every weakness to manipulate others to their advantage. I’ve already dealt with two idiot crime-lords and even more nobles back home. I’ll deal with this one as well…

Regardless of the logic in my head, I tremble when the cold blade touches my arm stub. It looks like she’s measuring where to cut it off. She lifts her cleaver and stops midair giving me a large smile. I know what she’s doing, she hopes I’ll ask her to stop and buy her stupid potion, she’s playing on my nerves.

*~*~*

Power level: 2nd stage apprentice.

Mana pools status:

Crown-knot: Affinity 10:

Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 66

Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5:

Air: Affinity 4: formed: 18 gems

Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 9 gems

Light: Affinity 3:

Water: Affinity 6:

Earth: Affinity 1:

Wood: Affinity 2:

Gravity: Affinity 9: formed: 41 gems

Cantrip known:

Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword.

Fire: Nuriss’ Flame.

Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burst. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield. Imari’s Minor Telekinesis. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light body. Alino’s Heavy body.

Spells known:

Focus capability: 9 patterns

Social status: An escaped apprentice from the sapphire tower, a wanted criminal.

Wealth: 231 gems.

Items:

Two simple healing potions.

two potions with unknown effects.

An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment presumably keep the pouches’ content fresh.

Various spell materials.

Companions:

Injuries and scars: Right hand gone from the lower arm and below. Burning back.