Dawn- An age of Darkness

"I know how you feel man, but why don't we talk it over? I mean you've already suffered enough. I'm not gonna tell you to forget your grudge just-"

"You want to talk this through? Judging from your composure and conduct you've been betrayed by them too. But I don't get why you're traveling with an elf…"

The skeleton monster was definitely calm and surprisingly polite. But his animosity was apparent when he looked at Lianne. I tried my best to calm him down. But now it was all up to him.

I might have been a genius at pissing everyone the hell off. But when it came to calming down people, I was a total amateur. And I learned it the hard way these last couple of months. I still couldn't do anything about it though. 

"I'm trying to get out of this place but to do that, I need her help. That's why she's here. Now then, I'm Daarc. It's a pleasure to meet you." Even now I was uncomfortable and skeptical about talking with monsters. Talking to gods or angels was one thing but it was not the same for the undead. I once tried my luck talking with goblins but they weren't willing to talk. They could only spout one or two words at best. And then there was the thing about them trying to eat me and all that.

"Very well. I am Boriosa Decklekov, the mage of six clouds. I was called a grand mage during my time. It is also a pleasure to make your acquaintance." The guy was polite, too polite.

Was he really an undead? Was I dreaming or something?

  "Umm Daarc?" Lianne inquired. 

I shushed her immediately. I didn't want her to complicate things. I actually didn't have the opportunity to explain things to everyone.  "I'll explain later," I whispered.

"Okay." She was a bit down but she didn't say anything other than that. 

"First I'd like to know how you can talk. And what are the undead? I mean all this time they only attacked me." These were on the top floor of my mind. They were bugging me from the moment I came to this world. 

"Trust me even now I feel the unyielding urge to drink your blood. But you can rest easy. Over the last two thousand years, I've come to control this urge. And even I don't know much about the undead. But one thing is for sure. We crave human flesh. I can smell your flesh. I want to eat it." But raised his hands towards me and I quickly put a hand on my knife. "But as I said, I can resist. Some of us have consciousness like me and we can control our emotions to some extent but not all."

How frigging old are you? 

But he did answer some of my questions. 

So there are more like you….

Although that wasn't much I still learned a lot of things. So I tried pushing my luck. "Alright then. Why don't you explain why you're angry at them and we'll start from there." I looked at the guys. "I want all of you to stay as quiet as possible, "I whispered.

The guy thought for a while as if hesitating to tell me. But in the end, he sighed and started. "During my time I was regarded as the most knowledgeable mage alive but that was not always the case. I am a half-elf or rather was. But before my fame, I was treated as a nobody and worse than even humans. People never liked half breeds, especially half-elves. Elves always considered themselves superior to others. Hence, when one of them mixed with inferior races, they were treated even worse. So I devoted my life in the studies of magic and spirit wielding."

"Spirit wielding?" I asked. It was a new term. I'd never heard of such a thing.

"It is a special form of a technique similar to normal magic that enables one to harness a spirit's power and cast a spell. The user acts as a medium and thus does not lose any mana. I tried this method to see if humans were capable of learning magic or not. 

"But before I could finish my research I had invented a lot of everyday magic that improved the qualities of life dramatically. I invented artifacts that worked even without magic. Just a little mana would let you control them. I made it so that even normal humans would be able to use them. Before long, my fame surpassed my knowledge. People respected me and doted on me. My long-suffering of one century finally came to an end. I was summoned to the royal palace." He looked at the ground.

Even without an actual face, it showed. He was sad. 

So you were the one who invented all those artifacts. 

Back at Moire I remember seeing such artifacts in action. And if those things were mere by-products, then just how much of a genius was this guy?

"And then?"

"I hate to bring this out but we're surrounded by undead," Dick whispered. I gave him a nod and he grinned. He was powerful enough to handle trivial stuff on his own.

Boriosa continued. "Afterwards the king of Alfeime, ordered me to make an elixir which would make him and his children immortal."

"OOhaha!" Dick was screaming in the background, throwing rocks and stuff. I wished he could be a bit quieter.

I sighed. "I can see where this is going." 

"Elves have long lives. If we are lucky we can live close to five hundred years. But what he demanded was the impossible. I tried my best to convince him but he didn't listen. And if I had declined then he'd chase me and my family away from Alfeim. That wouldn't have been a problem for me, but for my family, that was telling them to commit suicide. I had no choice but to accept."

"Everyone's so infatuated with living on forever. What the hell is wrong with these damn people! Can't they face reality!" I was triggered for various reasons.

Living forever? Was it really what people wanted? It certainly wasn't something I wanted in this world, no sir!

"Daarc." Lianne tried to say something but didn't finish. Apparently, she could understand me but not Boriosa. So she might not have been able to follow the conversation in the slightest. But she was still listening rather attentively.

"Elixirs were said to have been made with the help of God. But I never heard of people successfully making them, ever. So, I traveled alone, searching for an answer. In time I'd traveled all across the world and found many comrades. Many of them fell, many suffered and after an eternity of despair I found it."

My eyes opened wide. I was absorbed in his story too much. Though often my concentration was breaking down thanks to Dick's screams and cries of excitement.

"I found the divinity gemstone of Trerortra. The god of light, the strongest of all the gods was said to have the greatest and purest of mana. If I could have that I could make an elixir- I thought that the entire time. But when I did found it, I was lost. Not only was this mana cursed, but it also made me almost go insane. And then there was the fact about how I'd actually make it. After all, I didn't actually have a recipe. When I returned home I learned that people had started calling me the mage of six clouds. I found the name a little jarring but it kind of resonated with me.

"For the next thirty years I crawled into a lab and after countless experiments made an elixir. The elixir was too potent and even a single drop would be enough to extend someone's life by a few decades. It was a major success and my name became even more famous and I was known as the grandmage of the millennia. But consuming the whole thing was not possible as it would certainly make one mad. I was so infatuated with the results that I forgot to resolve one fatal issue of the elixir. I forgot to account for God sickness, a sickness that ruins the mind when taken in excessive quantities."

This god sickness was probably something that made people go crazy when they came into god's mana. I knew firsthand as I used a god stone.

I guess I better not use this more than necessary. 

"I had seven vials of elixir. I kept one for myself and brought the rest to the palace. I explained the discovery and how it would cope with aging. If taken in small quantities, the god's sickness wouldn't be a threat to anyone and one could potentially live for hundreds if not thousands of years. I thoroughly explained the dosage to the king. However, he ignored my warnings and drank the whole thing in one go. 'I feel rejuvenated. Bring more,' he said. I tried to explain that any more would ruin his health but he didn't listen. One vial was enough to extend one's life by a few centuries but he wanted immortality. He drank five vials before collapsing. And before I knew it, I was thrown into jail.. I was accused of trying to assassinate the king."

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