Chapter 6: Important Life Lessons

Back in the library, I sat there for a moment in the quiet room feeling stunned. “So no magic this time.” I mused to myself. “But it didn’t say I was cut off from the elements themselves. Maybe that is the key. But how should I go about trying to gain an affinity?”

In any case, I needed to get out of this library without running into the librarian. She was bound to ask how it went, and I really didn’t have any answers that I’d be okay with sharing with anyone at the moment. Wandering to a nearby book shelf that gave me a secluded view of the front desk, I waited till one of the few other occupants besides me, visited her to drop off their books. Just as she moved on to put those books away, I quietly made my way over to the now empty front desk to drop off my 5 books and disappeared out the front door.

Now what was I going to do with my time? As I made my way back to the merchant district, I watched as a group of what had to be Travelers walk up to Kade at his blacksmith forge. Deciding to watch and see what they wanted, I found one of the scattered stone benches in the vicinity to sit on. Kade seemed to just stand there listening and shaking his head every once in a while in response to what they were saying. I couldn’t hear distinctive words, but whatever they were saying, it was getting pretty intense. Soon their arms were waving in the air and one of them actually picked up one of the smiths random hammers while walking towards the anvil as if to prove a point. I briefly put my hand across my forehead looking down in frustration, imagining how this was going to turn out.

Sure enough, before the kid with the hammer had gotten within 2 feet of the anvil, Kade had grasped the hammer in the kids hand’s and ripped it out of his grasp. Then firmly grabbing hold of the front of the kid’s shirt, he lifted and thrust him out of his forge. The other 4 guys watched in shock that the smith would manhandle them in such a way. I just sighed.

Getting up from the bench I made my way over as the others had picked up their fallen comrade and after shouting threats at the smith they left the forge in the direction of the forest.

“Hey Kade!” I called out in what I hoped to be a weary but friendly tone of voice. “Sorry you had to deal with those guys.” Looking up in my direction his angry expression seemed to turn down to a simmer rather than a raging inferno. “I’m not looking to talk right now Jade.” He replied in a terse voice. “Okay, well if ever you need something like a potion or what not then just let me know and I’ll get you a good deal.” I answered back. All I heard was a grunt in reply.

I guess those guys really riled him up pretty bad. Almost having made it to the Apothecary shop I was suddenly distracted by a pillar of light that came rushing down almost right in front of my very eyes. What looked to be a young woman had shown up about a body’s length to my left. Turning to look at her, I had thought to see what she looked like, but she had a head full of long black hair that covered much of her face. I could however see slightly pointed ears as if she were a half elf. Seemingly very timid, with a gawky frame, she just stood there as if not knowing where to go. Just as I had made up my mind to go offer her my help, another pillar of light came down and a thin weedy looking boy had made his appearance.

He too had the same slightly pointed ears, but then I winced inside after seeing his face. It looked like he had won the lottery of ill luck, being landed with the stereotypical teenage complexion with zits and pockmarks all over his face. Then as he looks around and catches sight of the girl he groans in frustration. “Lynnette, out of all the world, why did we have to end up in the same city?!” He screams at her. In a soft spoken voice I hear her respond with a stutter. “M . . . Maybe it’s b . . . because we are c . . . cousins and are part e . . . elf?”

Looking like he wanted to be anywhere but where she was he whined. “Damn it! If mom and dad find out that we are in the same city, then they are going to want to know that I’ve been taking care of you. Let’s just go our separate ways.” He peevishly suggested. Turning away from her he finally seemed to notice that I was standing there and had heard everything he had said. “What are you staring at, Douche?!”

“I’m staring at a complete idiot.” I calmly replied back. “You have no understanding of this world and yet your first action when you get here is to try to get rid of the one person practically guaranteed to be your ally.”

“Humph, what do you know of this world?” He asked me. “Well,” I replied. “I’m a citizen of this city and have gained extensive knowledge of the forests around here, so I think that counts as knowing something useful.”

“Fine! You can come with us as we go hunting.” He proclaimed as if he was doing me a favor. I rolled my eyes at him, but he had already turned away to go over to his cousin. “Alright Lynette, let’s go find ourselves some weapons and go hunting.” He told her.

“Ahem!” I cleared my throat gaining both of their attention. “Actually, you need to go to the stone tablet first to get yourself a status card.” I informed them. Opening his mouth as if to complain, I held up my hand before he could say anything. “Look, the sooner you get your status card the sooner you can get going. Also I hear that the new Travelers receive a gift of a weapon here if they ask the elders. So if you want to get a head start then shut up and follow me!” I practically yelled that last part at him.

Apparently my getting frustrated with him actually worked and we walked in blessed silence as I led them first to the council chambers to tell them 2 more travelers had arrived. Thank goodness they were in session and as I stepped into the audience chamber the elders took notice of our arrival. After some whispering seemed to pass through the gathered elders, I watched in relief as Monroe stood and left the stand. It seems that Travelers no longer rated the full sitting council of elders to watch them touch the stone.

“Jade” he called out to me with a small nod as a greeting. “Monroe.” I replied with a slightly lower nod of my head in respect. “These two are new Travelers that have yet to touch the stone tablet. Would you be willing to come with us as we do that?”

“But of course, someone has to be there for it. We can also talk about certain things on the way.” He replied.

As Monroe took the lead and I kept pace with him, I could hear the boy behind me bickering with his cousin complaining about something or other. “I do apologize for some of the people that have come here since I’ve been gone. I hear that you’ve had some rough ones come over?” I enquired. With a laugh Monroe nodded his head in agreement. “It has worked out though, the elders seemed to have taken some under their wings and others have been recruited into our city guard. There is one group that has been causing a ruckus but . . .” With a shrug of his shoulder it was like a silent ‘what can you do?’

“So, anything you can tell me about those two?” He asked me. “Well, the girl seems nice enough and just had the ill luck of having this guy as her cousin. The guy on the other hand seems like a piece of work.” I commented. “The moment he came to this world, the first thing he tried to do was desert her.” Monroe’s expression seemed to darken for a moment at hearing that. “I see.” Was all that he replied.

Once at the stone tablet, Monroe made a brief announcement to the group of citizens that had arrived to watch the spectacle. As soon as the young guy touched the stone proving his identity, I learned that his in game name was Stephen Highwalker. Monroe gave him a choice of starter weapons between an ax, sword, spear, and a few other things. When he asked for a sword, Monroe then accompanied him to Kade’s blacksmith shop. Lynette had stayed relatively close to me throughout the whole ordeal while she waited her turn.

In the lull caused by the brief departure of her cousin, I spoke with her. “What are you wanting to specialize in, in this world?” Shyly looking down at her feet, I could just barely hear her mumble something about hexes or dark magic. I had guessed as much. She had seemed a little emo with her black hair like that concealing her face. Casting dark hindrance spells from a distance seemed a safe choice for a soft spoken girl like her.

“Alright, when it comes time that Monroe, the elder asks you what kind of weapon or boon you want, you should ask for a mage stone and a poor quality dark stone. It is important that you ask for both.” I told her.

Soon enough, Monroe with a slightly sour expression on his face was seen coming back from the smith shop with Stephen in tow. Lynette’s cousin seemed to be pretty happy with his new sword though. As the elder took his place once again by the Stone Tablet preparing to welcome Lynette to the city, he glanced at me with a flicker of a question in his eyes. Believing that I knew what he was asking, I nodded my head with a light smile.

“And so we now wish to welcome this Lady Traveler to our beautiful city. May you bring peace and prosperity to our world.” As she touched the Stone tablet and the motes of light began to infuse her body, her status plate was revealed and strangely her real name Lynette showed up on the surface. With no last name listed, I guess she wouldn’t have to worry too much about others tracking her down in real life with just a first name.

As if seeming to know how to ask her what she wanted, Monroe bent down to speak softly to her, soon after which he leaned in with an ear to hear her response. Straightening up to his full height he calls out to the crowd. “It seems we have an aspiring mage now in our city. Let us all do what we can to help her.” With that the crowd dispersed and Monroe corralled us (Stephen, Lynette, and I) together.

Turning to Lynette but speaking more for my sake he said, “What you asked for is in the guild district of our city. I can walk you part way and Jade here can take you the rest of the way.” Pulling me slightly aside he asked for my map after which he marked on it the location of the Mages Guild.

As we started walking again Monroe breached the subject I knew was coming. “Now, before we get to the council, I wanted to ask you how you are coming along with finding a place to safely store my mementos.” I sighed in response with a dismal feeling. “Until now I really haven’t had time to really look, but I do have an idea. Is it permissible to dig into the rock around the waterfalls?”

Monroe was silent for a moment as he thought that over. “I suppose it should be fine as long as the digging you do is not within sight of the viewing area. I’ll have to notify the other elders and the guard that you have permission to be there. Please don’t make me regret this.” He said.

By that point we had reached the Council Halls and he pulled out a bag of coins. “You’ll need some money to get those stones for her, and I’m guessing you’ll need some equipment in order to begin excavating a cave for me.” Handing me 2 golds he then turned away and disappeared through the doors after passing the sentries guarding the Council Halls.

I had almost forgotten about the 2 behind me during my conversation with Monroe but looking back I saw the same Lynette with her face shadowed by her hair and Stephen seemed to be fuming about something with his arms crossed. ‘Okaaaaay?’ Not bothering to get into whatever was happening, I lead the way to the Guild district.

Despite having been here for 4 weeks in game time already, I had never been to this part of the city. Large buildings with grand front entrances decorated the view from the stone covered streets. While differently clothed individuals came in and out of the doors of those buildings.

From what I had seen in the merchant district, most people wore their work clothes which usually consisted of leather vests over a loose shirt that loosely hung over a pair of work pants for the men. While the women often wore a blouse and pants or a conservative dress of some sort. Almost always you’d see them with an apron on as well. Here in the guild district is was entirely different. What looked to be the warrior’s guild had thickly muscled individuals with heavy leather armor or even some metal chainmail and others even had metal plating that seemed to wander in and out in a steady flow. Continuing down the pathway we stopped in front of what looked like the Mages guild. The floating ever changing colored lights out front seemed to tell me that easily enough. Following in what I assumed to be a mage since they had a regal looking deep blue robe on with purple lining we stopped just after coming in through the front entrance.

“Hello, how may I help you?” The voice came from the right where I could see an array of what looked like magical items. Stones, crystals, runes, papers with magic circles, gnarled staffs, and many other things could be seen behind the counter that the man who called out to us stood behind. He was dressed in a pair of robes just as the person we followed inside had, but his were green with a yellow border on them. The man himself was probably around 5’ 4” and he had a bit of an eccentric hairstyle as it seemed to be strung out in various directions without any sense of order.

Fighting to keep laughter out of my voice at his odd appearance I stepped forward to the counter. “Yes, we are looking to get a Mage Stone and a poor quality Dark stone.”

“A dark stone eh?” Shaking his head at that. “Not many ask for that one and so we don’t often keep them in stock, but we might have one in the back somewhere.” Leaving us there to wait he stepped through a door I hadn’t noticed till now that was situated at a part of the store that was void of any merchandise. Just after he stepped through, the doorway shimmered and turned into a wall. ‘Oh, interesting’, I thought to myself. That must be why I didn’t notice it before.

Soon enough, he came out holding a small box that fit in the palm of his hand. Inside of it was a darkly glowing stone that looked kind of like asphalt and seemed like it would crumble under a moderate amount of pressure. “This is the only one we had in the back and it is actually about mid-way between a poor quality and low quality stone. If you aren’t familiar with this element then I would not advise you to use such as your first experience as you are likely to burn yourself out.” He explained.

“Hmmm, what do you think? Do you want to risk it or look somewhere else for a lower quality stone?” I asked as I turned to Lynette. A couple seconds of silence passed as she gazed at the stone. “I . . . I want to try it,” She responded. Interestingly, her voice didn’t have as much of the stutter to it this time. “Okay. We’ll take that Dark stone and a Mage stone.” I said turning back to the store keeper.

“Very well, he responded.” Pulling out another box from beneath the counter that when opened showed the same kind of opal like stone that I had eaten back in the Library. “The total will come to 70 Silver.”

“What!?” I exclaimed. “How much for the Dark stone itself?” I enquired. At my accusing tone, the mage began to fidget with his hands a little. “Uh um the Dark stone is 35 Silver.”

“Riiight.” I replied skeptically, drawing it out. “Leaving the mage stone to cost 35 silver which I know for a fact can be found just about anywhere. If they were so expensive, then why would the library be using them for something as simple as glow lamps?”

“OH . . .um . . . well, these are mage tested and judged to be more effective and safe to use then the average Mage stone.” He blurted out.

“Let’s go Lynette, We can get a free Mage stone from the library and probably find a cheaper Dark stone with less complications somewhere else.” As I led the way out, a panicked “Wait.” Made me stop and turn around.

“Okay, I may have been a bit hasty in judging the value of our tested stones, so I’ll give this to you for 5 silver.” He cried out.

Returning to the counter I raised my right eyebrow. “And the Dark stone?” I enquired with distain in my voice. “Surely, few that have already assimilated a Poor quality stone would stoop to consume something that they have probably already reached beyond in potential.” I challenged him. Then I threw in the clincher. “And you said yourself that the risks were high for consuming a stone of this quality as a first assimilation of an element.”

With a sigh of defeat his tense shoulders seemed to slump. “I’ll give you 25 silver for both of them.” I offered. He finally conceded. “Deal.” With a smile, I handed over the money from my own coin pouch, not wanting to have to break the 2 gold coins that Monroe had given me.

Finally, after packing up the stones we were headed out the door when the store keeper called out once more. “Just because I don’t want to be accused of getting someone killed, I’ll tell you this. Don’t consume the Dark stone at the same time as the Mage stone. Give yourself an hour or so first between the two.” With a nod of thanks we left the Mage Guild.

I didn’t know how Stephen had been able to keep silent that whole time till I realized he wasn’t actually with us the whole time we were in the Mage Guild. Looking to my left I was certain I knew what I was going to see as I looked at the Fighter’s guild. Sure enough there he lay on the ground with his sword a few feet from his hand with an angry red expression on his face. A well-endowed woman was just shaking her head at him with a wearied and frustrated expression.

“Hey lady, you cheated somehow!” Stephen called out. Seeing her expression tighten up at that accusation I figured that I had better intercede before things get out of hand. “Stephen!” I called out. “There you are. Let’s get going to the forest.” Trying to drag him away before things got ugly, he braced himself to keep me from pulling him away. “No! I want a rematch.”

I felt a headache coming on. “Look, do you, a newbie think that you would be able to take on a woman who looks like that when she has obviously been accepted by the Warriors Guild. I’m assuming they don’t let them in for looks alone. So that means she got in by her skill and tact, of which you don’t seem to have any.”

The group that had been getting more and more angry at Stephens accusation seemed to relax as I confronted him, and finally at the last part of what I said some actually laughed. “He’s right,” One of the more muscular guys called out. “No matter how pretty she is, I wouldn’t want to be at the opposite end of Clarissa’s blade. She did you a favor by sparring with you boy.” With that they turned away as soon as Stephen angrily sheathed his blade.

Crisis averted and finally on our way to the forest. I sighed in relief.

With Stephen’s sword and Lynette’s two magic stones we finally made it to the forest with no further mishaps. Stephen of course wanted to run right into the forest to go fight the ‘many’ rabbits that he assumed would be there just hopping about ready to be attacked. But I forestalled him telling him we needed to have his cousin do something first before she can use magic. I suggested to him that he go practice with his sword a short distance away by hitting a tree or something. With a huff, he went away and surprisingly did what I suggested. Making hacking cuts at the thigh-high vegetation.

Leading Lynette over to a mossy part of the forest I prompted her to sit down against the trunk of a tree. After settling down right in front of her I explained what I had learned in the library in regards to magic and elemental stones.

Since I obviously didn’t have first-hand experience at assimilating a magic stone, I had to hope that I was adequately prepared to deal with any fallout that might occur.

Pulling out the two stones, she tightly held the dark stone in her right hand before putting the Mage stone in her mouth with her left. As if unsure as to what to do, she simply began to chew it. After a few seconds, I heard her swallow and she just lay there against the tree. After a moment she seemed to be getting uncomfortable and her breathing got faster. Suddenly she dropped the Dark stone onto the ground as if she couldn’t hold onto it any longer. Clasping her right hand at her chest, her other hand began squeezing the bark of the tree she was leaning against. Lurching forward as if in great pain a cry escaped her lips that now that it was open turned from a moan of pain into a terrible cry of agony.

The sound of her anguishing cry pierced through the forest probably notifying any and all wildlife that something was dying. Glowing lines of energy that could be seen through her clothing seemed to be spreading out through her body originating from her stomach. Track marks that continued to glow upon her arms for a few more seconds seemed to reflect the reduced shaking of her body as they too faded. Finally she lay slumped back against the tree entirely spent.

It was at that moment that Stephen had finally come running over to us with his sword drawn only to begin charging at me with it. “WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY COUSIN?!” He screamed. I had to be thankful that he apparently had only been using system assist in other games up to this point, because I was barely able to dodge out of the way of his poorly executed thrust as it was. Trying to keep plants and trees between him and me while he went about on his rampage, I could only hope that Lynette would wake up soon.

A groan sounded in the direction that I knew Lynette to be in so I quickly ran to her as I kept away from the lunatic with the wildly waving sword. Just as Stephen was about to close in on me, not seeming to notice that his cousin was waking up, one of his feet got tangled up in a root and he fell forward.

I sympathized with him because I knew what it was like to take a fall like that, while at the same time I felt immensely grateful for the timely intervention. Helping Lynette to an upright position from where she had fallen over at I carefully picked up her fallen Dark stone and handed it back to her.

“Hey! What have we here?” A voice called out as it stood above the still sprawled form that was Stephen.

Carefully glancing around the tree that for now blocked us from the view of the mystery voice, I looked to see who was talking. Damn, that guy looked strong. He looked like he spent at least three times the amount of time at the gym as I did, and instead of swimming, he probably did pure weight lifting. Then to my dismay I saw a few other guys also behind him, making it recognizable as the group that had been harassing the Smith earlier.

Stephen must have been acting dead or something because he gave no response to their question. Then the guy who had spoken, which I assumed to be their leader, gave him a not so gentle kick in the ribs. “Ghuh!” Stephen cried out in pain.

“Hmm. That didn’t sound like the girly scream that we had heard earlier did it?” Another guy in the group commented.

“I’m not a . . .” Stephen’s words were spoken so softly that I could barely hear them from where I was at. “What?” The leader asked him. “I can’t hear you! You need to speak louder!” He said as he gave him another kick that turned him over onto his back. “Ghuh!’

“Oh Damn! Take a look at this guy’s face!” He called out to his buddies, causing them to move in closer. “He’s got a pizza face!” They all broke out laughing at poor Stephen as he lay there with anger and embarrassment warring across his face.

“Hey man, it looks like he’s got a sword. You should duel him, see what kind of skills pizza face has got.” Laughing at this, they picked Stephen up off the ground and stabbed his sword into the ground in front of him while his opponent faced off against him in a guard position.

In pure anger Stephen pulled his sword out of the ground and charged at his opponent. Just as he got within striking distance, the other guy calmly knocked the sword right out of his hand as if it was nothing. “Pshaw, this guy is a total waste of time.” The leader said as he bent down to pick up Stephens dropped sword. “Well, at least we got something out of it.” Let’s get going before anyone comes and finds us here.”

As they began leaving, each giving the defeated figure on the ground a sharp kick to the ribs as they passed, Stephen called out to them. “My team mates will kick your asses!” He screams with blood bubbling up from his mouth.

‘Oh damn!’ I thought to myself.

“Huh? What do you mean team mates?” They asked him. As he’s still laying there on the ground, he points to the tree that his cousin and I are keeping hidden behind and calls out. “Come on out you two and beat these guys up for me.”

I came out alone, hoping to find some way to keep the situation from escalating, but these guys looked like the only thing that would stop them, would be superior strength of which I did not yet have.

“Hey where’s the other guy?” One of the group members asked.

I don’t know why but Lynette came out from behind the tree to stand behind me. “Oh Yeah!” A couple of the guys cried out. *whistle* “Looks like we might get something good today! Why don’t you come one over here girl and we might spare your friend.”

I didn’t take the time to notice if she had begun to move closer to them but I simple moved to be directly between them and her. “What’s this? Looking to be a hero?” One of them called out as he stepped forward. “Look at this! Neither of them have a weapon!”

At that discovery all of the guys converged on me. As I braced myself in what I hoped to be a decent fighting stance, the leader pulled back his fist and with a single swift punch knocked me several feet to the side. My vision began to turn dark and I could taste blood on my mouth as I watched in shocked fear as they moved in on their true target. One of the men reached for her and grabbed at her shirt. Jerking out of his grasp she backed away a step. Then in anger that same man slapped her in her face knocking her to the ground.

Subdued crying could be heard from her, as from my position on the ground I could see that she was now clutching at her left arm which seemed to be bleeding profusely.

Till that point, fear had been warring with my anger even as sought to protect Lynette, but this was going much too far. I had thought that she would have logged out by now to escape the situation while letting only her body suffer their attentions, but I don’t know if it was from shock or what, but something kept her from leaving.

As the situation continued to unfold and they began unbuttoning their pants, and loosening their belts, I felt wrath like no other tear through me. A stinging sensation began to grow in my nostrils and at the corners of my eyes, but I hardly noticed it. My vision began to turn dark and I could see waves of what looked like a black miasma passing between my vision and their bodies where they were gathered in front of that poor helpless girl.

It seemed by luck that one of them happened to look away for a brief second and caught sight of my body as I lay there on the ground. “OH SHIT!!!” He screamed. Backing away from his group of friends. Only then did the rest of them turn away from what they were about to do to Lynette and caught a glimpse of me and the manifestation of my power.

Reflexively, as a whole they seemed to be pushed back by my presence. While the others looked on with fear, only their leader seemed to snap out of it and began converging on me with his sword drawn. At that very moment, I heard the pounding of several hoofs as what looked like a small unit of cavalry steered into the clearing.

Only then, as the group of would be rapists looked at these new group of arrivals did they all take off running in different directions. 4 of the 5 horsemen took off after the 5 guys trying to catch them before they could escape into the dense foliage. A single horseman stayed with us and at first he was drawn to helping Lynette, till his vision took in my appearance.

Now as I was standing up, with a Soul infused voice I spoke to him. “Please, just go after them. I can take care of things here.” With a quick nod of his head he took off galloping after his fellow riders.

Walking over to Lynette, seeing as she was curled up in a ball of fear, I couldn’t help but feel a wave of crushing sympathy wash over me. As I reach out to help her, she jerks back away from me. Backing up a step, I crouch down to her level and hold out my darkened hand. In the gentlest voice I could manage while the furious emotions I was still battling within swirled through me, I spoke to her. “Please . . . trust me. . . I want to help.” Still shivering in shock at what had almost happened, her gaze rose from my hand to my face. Something in my expression must have convinced her, because she then slowly, cautiously reached out her uninjured hand and placed it in the palm of mine.

Closing my eyes and finding an outlet for all the pent up rage inside of me, I guided it through my hand into hers with a changed purpose, to instead of destroy, it was transformed to heal. As my darkened skin began to recede starting from the part of my body opposite of our joined hands, it seemed to flow into her but was transformed in the process. Warmth and healing light could be seen leaking out from the edges of our tightly gripped hands. The wound on her left arm pulsed with that same light before the torn edges began to pull themselves together and close up without a single mark. Her lips that had been broken and the eye that had become black from the original head wrenching slap returned to flawless skin.

*ting*

Soul Healing: (Unique) Empowered with the ability to wield your soul, you are able to perform miracle like healing on others, given the right circumstances. Restrictions and reduced effectiveness will apply in situations where the originator and the recipient of the Soul energy are not in a compatible state of mind and intent.

I couldn’t believe my eyes at what I was seeing. This . . . this was incredible. To have this kind of power by itself, to help others, made everything I had gone through in my own personal life worth it. Even as I sat there still holding her hand trying to give what comfort I could and while deep in thought, Stephen got between his cousin and I breaking our grip with his stance.

“Man, why didn’t you tell me you had an ability like that?!” He exclaimed. “Here, heal me too!” He said as he held out his hand.

Shocked out of my revelry by his display of utter lack of genuine concern for his cousin, I just looked at him in frustrated and furious anger. “My ability doesn’t work on Jerks like you.” I replied. To be honest, I don’t think I had the energy to have done a second healing like that, much less on someone that I felt no empathy with whatsoever.

“You know what?! Screw you!” He said as he turned around and then began walking off deeper into the woods. With a single call back before disappearing into the foliage, he yelled over his shoulder. “Don’t come looking for me cousin. I don’t know you here!” And with that, he was gone.

With no one else around to help, I gently lifted Lynette into my arms and carried her with me as I carefully made my way out of the forest. Looking down at the girl, as her right hand clung tightly to my shirt, I noticed that the other held tightly to the Dark stone that she still had yet to use. With a sad smile I carried her all the way back to the apothecaries shop.

Setting her down gently back on her feet I pushed at the door to find it locked. Victoria appeared to be gone and it was already getting dark in the sky. Pulling out my key I unlocked the door and led Lynette to the back room with me after I lock the door behind me. As I took in her wearied appearance I guided her to lay down on my bed while I went about looking for certain herbs.

Taking out my portable apothecary set I decided that I didn’t want to ruin any of Virginia’s tools in case the potion I was seeking to make didn’t hold up well with normal methods. Asking for the Dark stone that was in her had I gently accepted it into mine and I placed it in the mortar. Careful to not let any of the particles escape I gently ground it up. I wanted to do what I could to make this process of assimilating the dark element easier for Lynette who had to gone through so much already since she had arrived.

Not stopping till I had ground it as finely as I could, the result became a glistening field of glowing black sand. Pouring some water into it and mixing in some of my pre crushed herbs I was careful in my selection. The first was used for easing anxiety by mildly slowing the heart rate and respirations while the other promoted healing by stimulating the production of red blood cells. After I was finished with mixing those 3 ingredients together I held up the bottle to the light.

*ding*

A new potion has been created:

Pacifying Darkness: Grade E+ This potion has been created by Jade an apothecary with uncommon rank, with the intent to ease the suffering one must undergo when assimilating a new element. Normal adverse effects may be mildly reduced.

Hmm, after thinking over what had happened in the forest with my ability to heal her by infusing the raging fury of my soul into her bruised body I wondered what else I could do. “Lynette, I want to try something to see if it works. Do you mind if I hold your hand again for a moment?” She had been staring up at the wall from the confines of my cot but at my soft enquiry she held out her hand before closing her eyes.

Easing my right hand into hers I held the mixed and bottled potion in my left. Then I too closed my eyes and concentrated. Reaching into the depths of my Soul, I Pulled out the energy that seemed to have returned after the earlier exertion. Easing it out through my arm I sent a trickle of it into Lynette. It wasn’t meant to do anything to change her so much as become aware of who she already was. As I reached within her I felt an immense sadness and old pain that was filled with a myriad of other painful emotions. I gathered all of these emotions up and then used my soul energy to pour them into the potion that I had made.

*ting*

Soul Synchronization: (Unique) The ability to improve compatibility of catalytic and mundane objects with a specific individual. Through becoming familiar with the use of your own soul, you are able to learn and understand the flow of the souls of others. With their consent, you can now imprint their soul pattern upon low to moderate level catalytic and mundane objects.

*ting*

The potion Pacifying Darkness has been improved

Pacifying Darkness: Grade D+ Due to the unique nature and skills of the apothecary who crafted this potion, it has been specifically synchronized with the soul of Traveler Lynette. Adverse effects when consumed by Lynette are greatly reduced. Additional positive effects may occur. Any others who consume this potion will have increased adverse effects due to incompatibility.

Gently shaking her awake in the change that she had fallen asleep, I showed her the bottle. “I don’t know exactly what this will do for you, but the information I gathered from it said that the adverse effects shouldn’t be as bad as they would have been originally.”

Helping her to sit up I hand her the bottle. “I wouldn’t suggest drinking that till later, and seeing as it is night time I need to find you a place to sleep at an inn or something.”

As I turned around to make sure I had everything I needed before heading out, I heard a distinct pop of a cork and looked back to see her down the potion in a quick few gulps. My eyes widened at what she had just done. I knew that it had to happen eventually for her to get the power she wanted, but after what she had just been through I would have thought she’d want At Least a few days if not months to come to grips with what had and almost had happened.

Even as I watched her, I saw her skin turn ashy and splotchy, while at the same time a depressing and soul sapping energy seemed to come over her. Her face was frozen in a silent scream as if she were re-living the worst moments of her life. Tears poured down her face and before I knew it I was there right with her, holding her in my arms, keeping her safe while she suffered the nightmares of her past and present. Ever so slowly after what seemed at least an hour, her fear and pain stricken expression softened and she finally seemed to fall into a deep sleep. Waiting a few more minutes to make sure that she was well and truly asleep, I then carefully eased away from her and made her comfortable in my own bed.

Digging through my backpack I silently pulled out my travel sleeping bag and set it up on the hard ground next to my cot to stay with her through the night.

As I lay there unable to sleep, I gazed up at the ceiling wondering what had happened to such a poor girl that could fall victim to such terrible reactions from that potion. Sitting up to look at her face, I hesitated a moment at what I was planning to do. But I needed to know. Gently pulling back the long strands of her black hair that hid her face I took in the entirety of what had lain hidden. She was honestly very beautiful with a small nose, a light sprinkling of freckles, gentle looking lips, and peacefully closed eyes, whose color I had yet to see. But what had truly caught my attention, were the three distinct lines that looked like scars, each the same width as a human fingernail. They reached from the lobe of her left ear across her cheek only to stop just shy of her lips.

My heart ached to see this side of her and I wanted to do what I could to help her. With a pulse of energy from inside me I gently held her hand hoping to not wake her but only to impart some comfort. I don’t know if helped at all, but looking back at her face it seemed to have gained the smallest of smiles. Feeling a bit better and drained of energy, I promptly fell asleep.

* * * * *

Early the next morning neither of us spoke of what happened last night and I was fine with that since I had no idea what I could have said anyways. Before I fell asleep last night I had thought of a short term solution and so we had both gone out the streets to implement it this very morning.

Stepping into the stone and jewelry shop, I figured that Gertrude with her varied knowledge of enchantments had to know a few low level dark magic or hex spells. Also she was the only other person that I knew on a name basis that used magic in this city.

Looking up from the sanding and polishing or whatever she was doing on a stone at her work station her gaze took in the two of us. A slightly uncomfortable feeling came over me as her eyes seemed to light up with a crafty look. “Well hello Jade. Finally get yourself a girlfriend?” She asked me.

“No, it’s nothing like that.” I told Gertrude. “We haven’t even known each other long enough for something like that to happen, besides how old are you?” I asked her as I turned to Lynette. I could see that a little of her face had turned red as she responded. “S . . .Seventeen.”

“See.” I replied, “Nothing could happened till she’s 18 anyways.” Gertrude threw her hands up into the air in exasperation. “What does her being 17 have to do with not being your girlfriend?”

“It’s just a rule in some places where we come from.” I replied. “But please, I came here for a reason. Lynette has no place to go, and I was wondering if you would take her under your tutelage and teach her some dark magic like hexes and stuff like that?”

Gertrude seemed to take offense at something I had said. “Stuff like that?!” She roared. “Child! You have no magical sense do you?!” ‘You have no idea how right you are’ I thought to myself. With a sigh, she seemed to deflate. “Yes I will teach her some of the magic that I have learned and take care of her because she seems just so helpless. But you will owe me for this!” She declared to me. With a smile and bow to her I backed out the door facing her the whole way. “Then I leave her in your care for now. Good luck Lynette, come by the apothecary any time you want when I’m there okay? Thank you kindly mam.” I said the last part with a bit of an ironic tone winking at Gertrude before disappearing into the city hoping that Lynette didn’t suffer too badly.

I truly hoped that Lynette would be fine after this. In any case if I had any hope of protecting her, or anyone else in need of my help, I would have to become Much Stronger.

* * * * *

Current time in game about 9:30 am of the 2nd of October. Day 32 in game time. 50% pain level. Real Life May 29th about 1:10 am.

* * * * *

Wow! I used a similar style of writing in another novel I’m working on, but I didn’t think it would come out so clearly here as well. I hope that what I have written here touches all you who read it as much as it does me. It hurts to know and realize that there truly are individuals out there that suffer so greatly and yet we are too often so oblivious to that reality. In truth some of you who read this may have suffered something similar, and for that I am sorry. May things become better for you in time.

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