THE RUNIC ALCHEMIST

Once again gathered inside the wooden hall, Damian and the others waited until everyone took their seats. Damian could see Mindseer and Shesha’s red eyes—even third-rankers get red eyes from crying, huh?

“What is it, kid?” Bloodedge asked. They had to find the guy in the deep forest.

“There is a place we can go..” Damian went straight to the point, immediately getting everyone’s attention.

“Back home?” Elias asked with hope-filled eyes.

“No,” Damian clarified. “Another world, with different people.. like this one. It’s the only place we can go, and there’s a chance we might be able to return to our world from there. Not a perfect one, but maybe a ten percent chance.. But there’s a catch.”

Runefather crossed his arms over his chest and asked, “And what is this catch?”

Damian’s face became serious as he informed them of the risks. “I’m not sure what we’ll find on the other side. It could be the solution to all our problems, or it could be just the same as here—at least there won’t be a demon lord on our ass. To be honest, even finding people in that place is most likely going to be a hopeless case. We should be able to return here, though, if Maelor and the others use Heather as a point to open the waygate. But as I said earlier, just spending a day or two there might be decades of time for this world.”

Mindseer asked, “What other world is this?”

Damian looked at her and considered a possibility. “Can you see the future of what I will find on the other side if I open a waygate?”

Everyone was surprised, but they had all somewhat figured out her ability by now, so it wasn’t a shock. Just the possibility of knowing their fate before taking such a huge step made the others hopeful. But Mindseer just shook her head dejectedly and said,

“The second you changed in the desert.. I can’t see your future anymore. And your future is so intertwined with all of us that it clouds everyone else’s future here. Just that red-skinned guy has a future of settling down in this village, but even then, sometimes I see the possibility of the village getting destroyed by a huge dark figure.”

Maelor, Alex, Karl, and Evante swallowed hard, remembering the huge dark mist figure.

Damian confirmed it. “Yeah, that’s the demon lord. If we stay here, sooner or later, he’ll find us. I’ve made my decision, and I’ll take the risk. The rest of you have to make your own choices.”

“I will come,” Maelor replied in a second. Alex, Karl, and Evante immediately nodded beside him.

“So will I,” Lucian said matter-of-factly. Their eyes met, and Damian smiled. Her serious expression broke, and she smiled as well—though her cheeks reddened as she realized everyone was looking at her, and she immediately returned to her neutral expression.

“We will come as well,” Elias declared, Lumi and Reize nodding in agreement beside him.

Worldscribe summarized, “So our choices are: either stay here, find ways to return home while waiting for the demon lord and hoping we can defeat him.. or venture into an unknown place, in an unknown time, without knowing what we’ll find there, but with a sliver of hope that we can return?”

Damian replied, “My potions work—I noticed. So I don’t think my time being different from this world and our world is the correct theory. The monsters and animals I derived my potions from need to stay alive for the potions to work, so our friends and family are safe.”

Immediately, half the group’s mood brightened, and they exchanged hopeful glances with each other. Finally, they had one piece of good, confirmed news.

“Then why can’t we go back?” Lifewarden asked the valid question, somewhat squashing the happy mood.

“I’m not sure, but I believe it has something to do with that warning we received in the dungeon.. and the Sun God,” Damian replied.

“Sun God?” Silverspell asked in confusion. “What does he have to do with our situation?”

Before Damian could reply, Sariel answered, “Not our Sun God. The pigmen’s Sun God, right?”

Damian nodded. “One of the dungeon relics I got in the dungeon had a description saying that the lowest levels of the Highsword Dungeon had the pigmen’s Sun God bound in chains, dying slowly. Highswords should know about it, right? Weren’t you guys looking for that Heartfire of the Sun God?”

All the Highswords had shocked expressions as they stared at Damian. Finally, Worldscribe whispered, “How do you know that?”

Damian didn’t answer. Instead, he stood up from his chair. “So, the choice is right in front of you. I will open the waygate tonight. You can come or stay. If you’re staying.. best of luck.”

With that, Damian walked out of the room. Sariel, Amy, Grace, and Sam immediately followed behind him.

Sam asked, “Damian, what about these people?”

Damian sighed before replying, “Do you really want to take them to a world where they may or may not survive? Without us, the demon lord shouldn’t come to the village.. and we need them here if we want a way to come back, in case we don’t find anything there either.”

They all reluctantly nodded. Damian promised to give them enough weapons and runic tools to defend themselves, and finally, they agreed.

Before nightfall, Damian collected a whole list of IDs—from the village chief to powerful young warriors and even strong-looking trees. He wasn’t sure what kind of time difference there would be between Earth and here, so being prepared was necessary in case Heather died before they could return.

Damian also wanted a way to come back to this planet, even if they successfully returned to their own world. The time was current, so he should be able to hop worlds easily.

That night, the village held a celebration for them—Grace had informed them of their departure. They ate together, and Damian provided them with some useful runic tools. Then, he opened the waygate to Earth, locking onto the memories of Sister Hadley.

Everyone in the group chose to travel worlds—except Bloodedge. Damian and the others tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t change his mind. He refused to tell them his reason, and he even promised to leave the village so the demon lord wouldn’t track his mana signature. Well.. it was his choice. Even if he joined Shadecaster and the demon lord Damian didn’t care about it much.

Taking one last look around at the wholesome village and its kind villagers, Damian flew the Dreamlight into the massive waygate, with everyone with him.

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