Chapter Twenty: A Potion and a Promise

We didn’t speak much on the way back.

It was a long walk from the Steelclaw den, past partially collapsed tunnels and dust-thick air. And even though I wasn’t tired, exactly, there was a heaviness to me that hadn’t been there before. A quiet weight after all the fire and thunder. A buzz in my gauntleted fingertips that hadn’t faded since I’d first felt the ripple of the stone beneath my feet.

Varashan walked beside me. Steady. Spear still in hand.

Gwyn as always, guarded me closely.

We stepped into the city through one of the side entrances near the fungal markets. Light broke across the carved halls in pale blues and soft greens, nothing like the bloody glow of the Steelclaw tunnels. This was a home, lived-in. Scarred. But still breathing. Full of hesitant, guarded life.

Varashan guided me through its winding heart, all the way up a carved, spined ridge path to a tiered district shaded by pale-silver trees. And there, nestled at the top of a stone terrace, was Anahara’s mansion.

Mansion might have been the wrong word. Temple? Manor? It was regal, yes. But also weathered, like it knew it had been built in the age before the world fell, and had simply refused to crumble like the rest of it. Dark jade tiles covered its roofs. Runes etched into the archways whispered softly with old power.

It was beautiful.

Varashan knocked once, sharp but polite.

The door opened a few moments later.

Sorayelle stood on the other side, bright-eyed and barefoot, her red-black hair half-tucked behind one ear. “You don’t have to knock, Clarissa,” she said, grabbing my wrist and tugging me forward. “You live here now, remember?”

I blinked, then laughed awkwardly. “Right. Still not used to that.”

The look she gave me—soft, expectant, proud—hit me in a way I wasn’t ready for. Like when my youngest sister used to wait at the door for me to come home from school. Hopeful. Grateful. Like I was someone worth looking up to. "Well, get acquainted with it."

And for just a second, I wondered… was I filling someone else's place in Sorayelle’s life?

Did I remind her of her own sister?

“Thank you,” I said quietly.

Her hand slid down to mine, her fingers wrapping around my palm. “Are these new?” she asked, staring at my gauntlets with awe. “They look so sturdy and majestic. You have to tell me everything. What was the hunt like? Was it scary? Did Gwyn eat anything weird?”

Gwyn purred from beside me. "Gwyn can talk for herself, little one. And yes, I bit quite a few weird things."

Varashan cleared his throat behind me. “May I come in as well? I need to speak with your grandmother.”

Sorayelle looked up. “She’s having breakfast right now, but yes—I believe it should be fine.”

***SCENE BREAK***

My arms were sore.

Which didn’t make sense, because I was strong now. System-strong. Monster-slaying strong. But grinding a Greater Mana Shard into powder by hand?

Still not easy.

Especially not while trying to monitor the heat of a bubbling alchemical brew that smelled like sweet mint and overcooked berries.

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“Keep grinding,” Anahara instructed from over my shoulder. “But do not fail to watch the pot, girl. Too hot, and you’ll burn the potency off entirely. Too cold, and the suspension will fail to take.”

“I’m trying,” I muttered, rotating the mortar beneath my pestle with short, steady pushes. I glanced up at the shimmering brew. “Is it supposed to glow like that?”

“Yes. That means it’s still alive. Now hurry. Add the second shard’s dust. It’s time.”

I lifted the pestle bowl of powdered shard and dumped it into the pot.

Anahara practically beamed. “Now bind the mixture with elderoot before it separates.”

I stared blankly at the roots she’d laid out earlier. “Uh…”

She sighed, grabbed the rightmost root of the many, and shoved it into my hand. “Chop. Quickly. You have seconds.”

I scrambled for the neaby cooking knife, diced the elderoot as fast as I could, and tossed the bits in. A puff of purple steam erupted from the pot, sweet and spicy and thick enough to make me blink.

Anahara grinned. “That’s it. Smother the fire.”

I did, killing the flame with mud from a nearby jar of it. Just as a System ping hit me like a pat on the back.

[You have created a potion!]

[Congratulations. You are the first soul from Earth to create a potion. Rewards granted.]

[Instinctive Herbalist [R] Perk added.]

[Perk Description: Your senses guide you to the useful plants and herbs of the varied worlds, sifting the wheat from the chaff. (By utilizing smell, sight, or taste, you may identify one effect of any given alchemical ingredient, stacking to discover other effects.)]

Anahara handed me a ladle and a squat, empty glass bottle. “Strain it in. Don’t waste the brew. And then you’re done. You’ll want rest before tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” I echoed, half-dazed.

“Your feast,” she said, amused. “It is happening, dear. That's what Varashan and I were discussing before, while you and my granddaughter socialized."

I blinked at her. Then down at the pot of glowing liquid.

Now that it was finalized, the System identified it instantly:

[Greater Mana Potion (Poor): Brewed inefficiently and without much skill, this potion still brims with a greater aura of magical energy. Restores 100 mana. Quantity: 1.]

My first potion.

It smelled like sugar and lavender. And success--well, not really, but to me it did.

***SCENE BREAK***

We lay in the dark, the room aglow with soft light leaking through silver-crystaled windows.

Sorayelle’s bed sat beside mine. Gwyn curled up by the door, half-awake, her breath slow but alert.

“You okay?” Sorayelle asked.

I paused. “Yeah—”

“You don’t have to lie,” she cut in. “Talk to me. Grandmother says she wants to take you into our house officially. That makes us family.”

“That’s the thing,” I said, voice quiet. “Would she do that for just anyone?”

“No,” she said without hesitation. “But you’re special.”

“Because I might be able to save the world?”

“Well… yes.”

“It’s a lot,” I admitted. “And I keep thinking that if I do manage it, I’ll have to go back home and do it all over again there.”

“This is your world now too,” Sorayelle said. “At least, what’s left of it.”

“What will you all do if I succeed?” I asked. “If Cowagen falls? Will this place stop being a dungeon? Will it become a planet again?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “But maybe we’ll just… live. Free. Not hunted. That could be enough. It'd be more than we have now by a lot."

I closed my eyes. “I want that for you. For all of you. You’ve been kind to me. I just… I’m not used to having so much riding on me.”

“You’re not alone,” she said. “Even if all I can do is listen, I’ll do that.”

Gwyn lifted her head slightly from the floor. “And I share your burden, my Lady.”

I smiled faintly. “I’m glad I have you. Both of you.”

There was a pause. Then Sorayelle’s voice, quieter.

“You know… that used to be my sister’s bed.”

I opened my eyes again. I’d guessed, but hearing it made my chest ache.

“What really happened to her?” I asked gently. "How was she taken?"

“She was part of a scavenging group,” Sorayelle said. “She trained under Varashan. She wasn’t a System user… but she was strong. Brave.”

“And?”

“We had a bad harvest. The elders decided to risk the tunnels that led aboveground, ones that exited far from the Western Ruler. But my sister's party was ambushed. Skulkers.” Her voice cracked slightly. “She and a few others held them off so the rest could run.”

“Did they take her?”

“Or kill her. But Skulkers don’t usually kill. They want to make more of themselves.”

I felt my blood run cold. My hands curled beneath the blanket.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “I can’t imagine losing my sister.”

“You have one?”

“Two. But I was mostly thinking of Anna. She’s only a year younger than me. Prettier. Smarter, most of the time. I think I looked up to her more than she did to me, even though I was older. I miss her.”

The silence hung for a long while.

“Can I ask a favor?” Sorayelle said.

I turned toward her. “Of course.”

“If there’s any way… if you find her. My sister. If she’s still alive…”

“I don’t know how,” I said honestly. “But if I can... I swear, I will.”

The faint light glimmered on her cheeks. Tears caught like stars in her eyes and then shooting down her cheeks.

“Thank you.”