hotmtlnovel Chapter 92: Eliyen’s Request
Chapter 92: Eliyen’s Request
Chapter 92: Eliyen’s RequestAliandraAli paused to smell the beautiful climbing roses that graced the fence of Eliyen Mistwood’s beautiful garden before they all went in. She was certain she would never tire of seeing the riotous array of plants, herbs, and trees all laid out in what appeared to be an entirely accidental natural harmony. It was at once a garden, and simultaneously a work of art.
Given the bounties placed on her and Malika’s heads, and the presumed interest of half the underground criminal world, they had decided to stick together for this venture across town, and Calen in particular had been extra vigilant with his motes of light and stealth skills. Still, nobody appeared to take a shot at her this time.
The same elegantly written sign fastened to the door welcomed them to enter, so Ali knocked and opened the door. At the sound of the wind chimes, both Eliyen and Basil looked up from their work.
“Welcome back,” Eliyen’s soft, clear voice greeted them as they entered the small shop that seemed to serve double duty as Eliyen’s home. Basil grinned hugely behind her shoulder, obviously delighted to see them again but too shy to speak up.
Eliyen’s eyes flickered between the four of them, curiosity clear on her face, but she remained silent, waiting for them to initiate.
“Vivian Ross recommended your abilities for healing something difficult,” Ali began.
“Yes, I can see. Your friends bear the stench of the undead – and not the lesser ones. You have tangled with something powerful and come to me for help with life drain?”
“Yes. Can you cure it?” Ali asked, immediately curious about how Eliyen could tell. From the lack of obvious mana formations flickering and changing, she guessed it was a passive perception skill of some kind.
“What you seek is an Elixir of Vitality Rejuvenation. I know the making of it, but unfortunately, I lack the most critical ingredient,” Eliyen said. A slight tightening of the skin around her eyes and firming of her jaw flickering across her face briefly before her features returned to their serene calm.
“Is it too expensive?” Malika asked. “We’re willing to pay.”
“It’s not a matter of money,” Eliyen said, shifting her gaze to Malika as she spoke. “The required reagent is called mana-purified water. It is the basis for many powerful cures and elixirs, but it is unfortunately rare and difficult to acquire. I do not have any left. Nor will you find any in this town or nearby for purchase. I’m sorry.” She picked up a watering can and drizzled a little nourishing rain onto the unusually blue fern in a pot on the desk before her, delicately weaving her nature mana into the flow, and the plant began to gently grow under her attention. She cocked her head to the side curiously and then glanced at Mato with a flicker of a smile.
“Is there no way we can get some for you?” Ali asked, frustrated to be so close to a solution and yet blocked by an unexpected and impenetrable barrier.
“There is a dungeon deep in the northeastern mountainous area of the kingdom of Toria, near the town of Volle,” Eliyen explained. “It is the only nearby source of mana-purified water for all the kingdoms in this part of the continent. It’s an area without much in the way of natural resources but the town of Volle has always exploited this dungeon. Keeping an iron grip on the supply of such a valuable reagent has been the only thing that enabled them to maintain their wealth.”
Drawing a deep breath, Eliyen continued, “Every year I can purchase one permit, allowing me to send one person between level thirty and forty into the dungeon, and that entitles me to only ten vials of water. As you can imagine, I can’t afford to squander such a scarce resource on something that might eventually resolve on its own. I’m sorry I cannot be of help,” Eliyen finished.
“But…” Ali tried. The rules she had just explained seemed ridiculously specific.
“She can’t help us,” Malika said, uncharacteristically interrupting her. “Let’s go ask the Guildmaster if there are other options.”
“Ok,” Ali said, glancing at her in surprise as they all got up to leave. It was frustrating to come all the way out here only to be turned away by some stupid restrictions. But Ali couldn’t quite figure out why Malika was being so… pushy. Malika was the most worried about the life drain. Shouldn’t she be the one pushing the hardest to get Eliyen to relent?
“I do have a request,” Eliyen said, her voice stopping Ali’s hand right before her fingers touched the doorknob. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a ghost of a smile flicker across Malika’s face – a smile that vanished entirely before she turned back to Eliyen.
“There is something I would ask of you, young Fae,” Eliyen said, looking directly at Ali. “Basil informed me of the unique nature of your skills. If you choose to help me with this request, I will help you with the elixirs.”
Careful to keep her face from showing anything unexpected, Ali accepted Eliyen’s unspoken invitation to sit.
“As you can imagine,” Eliyen said, putting the watering can down and giving Ali her full attention, “I despise the exploitation of this mana-purified water because it prevents the crafting of many life-saving elixirs, spreading much suffering across all the nearby kingdoms. There are not enough resources to make the potions, especially after the Goblin siege, and those that are created are way too expensive for the common folk.”
“The biggest secret to mana-purified water is that it is simply regular water, purified by the presence of a water-affinity mushroom that grows within it.”
At least she was beginning to understand why she was involved in whatever Eliyen was about to propose. Her Grimoire and Eliyen’s knowledge that she had learned to grow the Brown Stonecap mushrooms had to be part of the equation.
“The Torians check everyone who enters and leaves the dungeon,