Lost Fantasy-The Flowers of Stelis (Arc 2) [Hiatus]

Chapter 32

With a puzzled expression, Loganel glanced over at Meriath's facial expression. A frown appeared on her face as she approached Loganel and placed her cold fingers on Loganel's left chest in a way that she was barely touching him. Then, she slowly moved her fingers to where the stump of his left arm used to be and gently grabbed onto it.

"No scars or any signs of it being replaced physically..." she muttered. She then closed her eyes and sighed with a painful expression of reminiscence on her face. "What are you here for?"

"W-what?" Loganel was caught off guard by her sudden question. "I'm here to uh...upgrade my battle coat." Loganel looked in the direction of the counter and at his battle coat that was at the bottom of the clothing that he had stripped himself of.

"Is that so," Meriath turned and started for her forge. "Merian, get it done for him. And Loganel," she paused and looked over her shoulders at him. "Don't ever come back anymore."

Then, she slammed the door to her forge shut loudly behind he, causing the items on the display racks and shelves to rattle.

"W-what's the matter?" Loganel looked over at Merian, confused as to why she had reacted that way.

"She um...has a history with Demons," Merian explained with a bitter smile.

"What does that have to do with me?" Loganel then asked.

"Well..." Merian looked over at him with a troubled smile. "Only Demons can regenerate their limbs, you know? Well...maybe you won't since that is an esoteric fact."

"..." Loganel remained mute as he comprehended what Merian had said.

I'm...a Demon now? His body tended up. I had my doubts before when Holy magic started stinging me, but...I'm a Demon now? Is it because of that ritual?

"Don't worry," Merian smiled, hoping to get Loganel to relax. "We won't report you to the Church. That is," he then looked sadly down at the floor, "my sister's way of trying to help you. It is her kindness that is preventing her from slaying you then and there."

"Did something happen?" Loganel frowned as he began putting on the clothing that he had stripped out of earlier.

"Well..." Merian glanced over his shoulder and at the closed door that led to the forge. Then, he leaned towards Loganel and whispered. "It's about her husband and my brother-in-law. He was um...how do I say it...taken by Demons."

"Taken?"

"Yeah," Merian said as he took the battle coat Loganel had brought to be upgraded over to his workshop. "What materials?"

"Here," Loganel summoned the pouch from his storage ring and handed it to Merian.

Merian untied the string that closed the lips of the pouch and peered in at the contents.

"Wow..." he exclaimed as he gently reached in and produced a thin dark blood red crystal that was almost the color of darkness. "Dragon scales huh?"

"That's a dragon scale?" Loganel exclaimed.

"You didn't know?" Merian continued to stare at the dragon scale. "This is worth a lot. Like a lot."

"So...how much will it be to use that to fully upgrade the coat?"

"I would say maybe five Gold," Merian places the dragon scale back in its pouch. "It's quite difficult to handle. And just so you know that I'm
Not trying to cheat you or anything, this scale will probably sell for twenty Gold or more."

"I know you won't cheat me."

"This is a nice material to have. With this, I can completely revamp your coat," he said. "Since you've grown in the head, I think the size needs a slight adjustment as well?"

"Yeah," Loganel nodded. "It was getting a bit tight."

"Alright," Merian said. "You can either leave it here with me and pick it up tomorrow morning or you can wait. It probably won't take the whole day."

"I think I will wait," Loganel decided. "It's not like I have much to do otherwise."

"It's up to you," Merian immediately started his working process. He took out a measuring tape and begin measuring Loganel's body. Once he was done, he went back to his workshop and jotted down the measurements in his notebook. "You can have a seat in that chair over there," he said without looking up from his notebook.

"You were saying that Marian's husband was taken by Demons earlier..."

"Not as in kidnapped," Merian sighed. "He left voluntarily with them. It was probably like what...sixty years ago? It's been quite a while since then. Well anyways, he joined this band of Demons who preached of peace and coexistence with the other races."

Loganel's interest was peaked by that statement.

"And...he asked if my sister wanna go with him," Merian continued. "The thing is, that was when our village was recently ransacked by Demons and when we had lost our parents and almost everyone in the village. My sister could not forgive the Demons for that, even if the band of Demons her husband joined wasn't the ones who had destroyed our village. Well...after that, they parted ways and my sister and I began wandering the world in search of a place to settle down. She still loves her husband, although it's been a while since she had last seen him."

"I never knew..." Loganel stared at the floor before him, feeling a great sorrow that he had made Meriath recall memories that she had wanted to keep locked away in the depths of her heart and never for it to see the light of day.

***

After a few hours, Merian had finished with the improvements and alterations of the battle coat. He had made the dragon scales through enchantment, leather-like. He wove it into a fabric, and and replaced much of the original cloth of the battle coat. Through his skillful weaving skills and elven magic, he had made the coat appear to be a single piece and unlike a coat that was pieced together with different fabrics.

"This should do," he said as he took a step back and admired his work as it rest on a armor stand. "Try it on."

Loganel walked up to the armor stand and retrieved the coat. He then brought his arms through it and equipped it. The coat was now the perfect size with the tails of the coat reaching all the way to his legs like they used to a year ago. The color scheme and design of the coat had also changed somewhat. Although the main color was still black, the few embroidery patterns were now red. In addition, the coat just seemed all in all more sturdier and more protective.

"It's great," Loganel observed. "Thank you."

He then summoned five Gold from his ring and handed them to Merian.

"Loganel," Merian said as he walked Loganel to the door of the store. "...I think it would be best if you don't stop by ever again."

"I know..." Loganel nodded with a heavy sadness and guilt weighing down on his conscience.

Author's Note:

Please vote and comment if you've enjoyed. Also, follow me to keep up with updates. Thank you!!!!