Black Onyx - Forgotten Magic

Sera and Gerald slowly crawled away, hiding in the tall grass. After about thirty minutes, they finally dared to relax. There was no sign of their pursuers.

Gerald finally couldn't resist his curiosity anymore and asked, "What was that about demons? Do you know anything about it?"

"You didn't hear?" Sera asked in surprise.

Gerald shook his head.

"There are some rumors about Demon sightings in the Central Buronian Empire. Apparently, a few small towns near the Forbidden Border got devoured by them. I don't know much though," she said.

"Forbidden Border?" Gerald was confused.

"Yeah, you know the Border between the Empire and Forbidden Lands," Sera explained while looking at the confused Gerald's face. "You really don't know?" she frowned.

Gerald just shook his head, again.

Sera gasped, she couldn't believe her ears. "Were you living under a rock your whole life? How is it possible you don't know anything about the most famous land on Neloron?"

Gerald just shrugged his shoulders with a smile and said, "Please explain. I would love to know more about it."

"Ugh," Sera was annoyed. However, she still tried her best to explain, "Let's start at the beginning. There is a legend going back approximately ten thousand years. At that time Mana was abundant and mages covered the skies. Back then the human race was a minority unlike now. Back then Elves ruled this continent. With their high Mana capacity and long lifespans, on top of their amazing achievements in magic, they were almost like gods. They could move mountains and dry up seas with a wave of their hand."

"Wow!" Gerald tried to imagine that. It was almost unbelievable. If he didn't see it, he probably couldn't believe it. But he did. It was all possible with modern technology. You only needed a lot of money and time. However, doing that singlehandedly seemed like a fairy tale.

"I don't know how much of that is true. Anyways, ten thousand years ago the giant Elven Empire got invaded. In the middle of the continent, a portal opened, out came monsters, and they were controlled by said Demons. They had only one job and that was to kill every living being on the continent."

Sera paused for a while to organize her thoughts. She looked at Gerald walking next to her. His eyes were wide open and he was absorbing everything she said, like a sponge.

She gave him a light smile and continued her story, "At first, as the people were unprepared, bloody massacres occurred. Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost in just the first few weeks...Or so the story goes."

"Luckily the experts of the Elven race reacted quickly to slow down the invasion. After a few months, all races gather together to fight the common enemy. The allied army consisted of mostly High Elf mages with their legend-rank spells. There were also the Herculean Dwarves. With their superior physical abilities and amazing magic armors, they took the vanguard in battle."

Sera took a deep breath and continued with a softer voice, "Apparently the humans were so weak that they couldn't even fight and were only there as support or servants. Can you believe that?" She said that last part with anger and disappointment.

Gerald slowly nodded, "Yes…" It was understandable that people were useless. Humans had weak bodies so it was no wonder that they were only supporting a war between worlds.

Sera's eyes burst out with anger as she looked at him. Gerald quickly shook his head and tried to correct himself, saying, "I mean no, of course, I don't believe it. It's just an old legend. They always get changed over time. How could humans be so weak? No reason to get upset over minor details."

"Hmph, whatever." Sera didn't try to argue.

"What happened next?" Gerald was still interested in the story.

Sera rolled her eyes, 'Every freaking five-year-old knows this story. How the fuck doesn't he know it?' she thought to herself, but then still just gave a light sigh and narrated the rest of the story.

"So, the allied army pushed the beasts back to the Forbidden lands from where they came. At first, the allied army had the advantage, but slowly they came to a stalemate. Reinforcements kept coming through the portal and it didn't look like they were ever going to stop. After a few years of battle, the war suddenly came to an end."

"No one knows what exactly happened, but the portal supposedly collapsed and the monsters disappeared. At the same time, all magic disappeared from the continent and all the strong mages exploded on the spot or went completely crazy, dying shortly after."

"Without Mana, Elves lost their insanely long lifespans and Dwarfs lost most of their superior physical strength. Although Elves still lived for one hundred and fifty to two hundred years, it was not enough to offset their insanely slow reproduction speed. Added to the fact that they suffered massive casualties in the war, they quickly lost grip on the Elven Empire. Without magic, they were even weaker than humans. In a few millennia, pure-blooded Elves nearly went extinct. They had to mix with humans to survive. "

"And then?"

"Dwarves didn't want to compete for land so they retreated into the mountains to the north. Humans slowly took over the continent without a need to fight. It has been a good five thousand years since we became the dominant race. Of course, after the magic collapse, the world went back a few thousand years. We somehow managed to recover, although we are still far away from the past glory."

Geral was amazed as he was listening to her. Turns out this continent had a long and interesting history. At their peak, they were possibly even more advanced than modern humans on earth.

"Well, what I wanted to say is something else. After the war, the battlefield became a Forbidden Zone for all races. That's because, for some reason, there is no vegetation or animals. Well actually they are, but it's only dangerously poisonous plants and some rare monsters that were left behind. But they never left that area, so it was fine as long as no one went inside," Sera explained.

"However now there are rumors saying that they are coming out and attacking nearby towns and travelers. I wonder if it has anything to do with the increase in beast population."

Gerald was confused, "What do you mean?"

"Well, the beast inside forests are getting more and more aggressive, and their population is increasing rapidly. There are even some new monsters popping up in areas where they were never seen before."

"So that's how it is. I heard something similar from Bloodhorn village. As you said, they have problems with wolves," Gerald commented while trying to get Sear to tell him more.

"Yeah but that is nothing. Bloodhorn village is at the most extreme corner of the continent. It's really far from the Forbidden Land. The closer you get, the worse it becomes. Or so I've heard. Anyway, it has nothing to do with me anymore. My team is dead and I am too weak to go alone. I will have to go report to the Guild first and I'll see how it goes from there."

Gerald nodded. Then he suddenly remembered something "Hey, what was that thing you drank before?"

Sera looked at him weirdly and said, "Are you serious? Don't you know anything about this world or what?"

Gerald smiled weirdly while scratching his head, "Something like that. I have many questions. I hope I'm not bothering you too much."

"Ah~" Sera sighed. The road ahead of them was long and she didn't have anything better to do anyway, so she decided to tell him what he wanted to know. "It was a healing potion. It speeds up the healing process. Every warrior should have a few just in case."

"But why do you have it as a powder? Wouldnt it be more convenient to have it ready to drink at all times?" It didn't seem logical that you have to prepare the potion after you got hurt. Those precious seconds could be the difference between life and death. Or at least that's what Geral thought.

"That's absolutely true. Unfortunately, that's for high-grade potions. And I can't afford those. I can only get low-grade Healing Potions and they have a lot of impurities. If they stay in liquid form for too long, they quickly lose the healing effect," Sera explained.

"Ooh, that makes sense," he said. Soon after he got another question, "Yout said it's a low-grade potion. What does it do? What about other, higher-grade potions? "

"You wanna know everything, eh? Where were you for your whole life to know nothing? Sure, fine. We have plenty of time, might as well tell you," Sera said and then took another potion out of her pouch.

"These things aren't that strong and their effect lasts only a few hours. They can stop wounds from bleeding and they also work as a mild anesthetic. They are the most basic medicine, that is used for first aid, no matter what is the problem, because they have no side effects. They do also speed up the healing of wounds, but the time required for a noticeable effect is about a few days. If you try to heal yourself just using low-grade potions you might as well buy a higher grade. The price won't be that much different."

"Now, medium-grade healing potions are much better. They can do everything low-grade potions do, but much better. They are usually used to heal small to medium wounds, and they can heal them in a few days to a weak. They are a more refined and concentrated version of the low-grade potion. They also use the same ingredients."

"High-grade potions require more expensive and rare herbs and ingredients. Not many alchemists know how to make them and that's why they are extremely expensive. They can heal big, nasty cuts and can even connect torn limbs back if they are reattached in a few hours. Smaller wounds heal at the speed a naked eye can see. A not too serious cut or stab wound can be healed in just a few hours," Sera explained.

"Holy shit, that's insane! If we could mass produce that on Earth it would be so convenient. And make billions of dollars in the process, haha," Gerald laughed like crazy at his ideas.

"Err, what? Why would you want to make potions on dirt?" Sera was looking at him like he was crazy.