NOVEL NEXT Chapter 74: Top Secret Letter
Lucas crossed the room and heaved the shelf aside. The cellar door was closed but not locked. He pulled it open, revealing wooden stairs descending into darkness.
"Henrik?" he called down. "Are you down there?"
No response.
Lucas descended carefully, the stairs creaking under his weight. It was cold down here, much colder than the shop above.
He reached the bottom and fumbled along the wall until he found what felt like a light switch.
Good ol' magitech.
Unfortunately, nothing happened when he flipped it. It seemed the power must have been cut during the attack.
[System can provide illumination if Host wishes.]
"Yes, please," Lucas said.
A soft blue glow emanated from his palm, courtesy of the System. It wasn't bright, but it was enough to see by.
The cellar was smaller than he'd expected, more of a large closet than a proper room. Shelves lined the walls, most of them empty now. Whoever had ransacked the shop had clearly made it down here too.
Lucas was about to give up when his light passed over something that made him pause
In the corner, wedged between the stone wall and the bottom shelf, was a small wooden box. It looked deliberately hidden rather than accidentally dropped.
He knelt down and pulled the box free. It was locked, but the wood was old and the mechanism weak. A bit of pressure from his improved strength, and the lock gave way with a soft click.
Inside was a single envelope, yellowed with age. Written on the front in Henrik's shaky handwriting was a single word: "Lucas."
With careful fingers, Lucas broke the wax seal and unfolded the letter inside.
Dear Lucas,
If you're reading this, then you're as smart as I thought and my instincts were right. Some bastards from the so called Legion came through here yesterday during the attack. Wanted to loot the place, take all the valuable ingredients for their own use.
Don't worry, I didn't fight them. After all, i'm a seventy-year-old merchant. I barely have Common rank strength left in these old bones. I hid like a smart person. But they found me anyway. Started demanding I open the reinforced cabinet where I keep the really valuable stuff.
I refused. That cabinet has ingredients worth more than this entire building. Dragon scale chips, Phoenix feathers, Moonstone crystals. If the Legion got their hands on those...
So they decided to persuade me. They broke my leg and dislocated my shoulder. They were about to do worse when the retreat signal sounded and they ran off
I've dealt with worse in my younger days, though I'll admit, at my age, broken bones take a lot longer to heal. Which brings me to the problem and why I left this letter here.
I can't run the shop like this. Can't lift boxes, can't organize inventory, can't even stand for more than a few minutes without my leg screaming at me.
I'm closing the shop for at least three months. Maybe four. I need time to heal properly, and I've got a nephew in the countryside who's been begging me to visit for years. Figure now's as good a time as any.
So don't worry too much about me. In fact you should worry about yourself. I know talent when I see it. You're going places, boy. When you're famous and powerful someday, remember old Henrik who gave you your start in alchemy.
To help you along your journey. I'm about to give you a lecture. You asked me before about dragon scale chips. About what they could be used for.
Well, here's something they don't teach at your fancy academy. Dragon scale chips can also be ground into powder and consumed.
Not the most pleasant meal, mind you, but it temporarily enhances your physical resistance to magic. Makes your skin harder to pierce with spells, your body more resistant to elemental damage.
Lucas's eyes widened. "That's... that could be incredibly useful."
Now you may be saying. "That's... that could be incredibly useful." And it could be but it's expensive as hell, dangerous if prepared wrong, and the effect only lasts a few hours.
Still, in a life-or-death situation against a mage? It might be the difference between walking away and being a scorch mark on the ground.
When I come back, after I've healed. I can teach you more. About alchemy, about ingredients, about everything you're willing to learn.
But for now. Just train hard and get stronger. And try not to die before I get back. I'd hate to lose my most promising apprentice.
Your friend and hopefully mentor,
Henrik
PS. I need you to go to the old Silvermist Warehouse in the merchant district. Ask for Marlene. Tell her "The winter roses still bloom." She'll give you something. I want you to take real good care of it until I return.
Lucas read the letter twice, then a third time.
Henrik was alive. That was the most important thing. Injured, yes, but alive and well enough to write this letter and make plans.
But the rest of it...
Dragon scale chips can be consumed. That single piece of information could be worth a fortune.
Lucas carefully folded the letter and slipped it into his jacket pocket.
The warehouse. Marlene. "The winter roses still bloom." Some kind of code phrase, obviously, but for what?
He glanced around the cellar one more time, making sure he hadn't missed anything, then headed back up the stairs.
The shop looked even more desolate now that Lucas had gotten a proper non panicked looked. Three months minimum before Henrik returned. Maybe four.
He then checked his pocket watch and his stomach dropped.
Twenty-eight minutes until the next stage of the exam.
"Damn it!" Lucas bolted for the door.
His enhanced agility carrying him across the shop and out the door in just a few quick strides.
He'd spent more time searching than he'd intended. The academy was at least fifteen minutes away at a normal pace. He'd have to run.
He burst out onto the street and immediately broke into a sprint.