"Croff, would you please help me with this?"
Trace gestured to Croff, beckoning her to come closer. Even those who he did not call had come to his side out of pure curiosity, for his tone was one of bewilderment and confusion. It was quickly apparent to them what had caused distress to their master.
"Master... this is..."
Croff did not know who the Venombloods were. Her bewilderment came from something else, something more personal to her. Her eyes glanced quickly toward Trace, biting his lip with his eyes closed. He was slowly shaking his head, as if he was trying to push away a bad memory from resurfacing once again.
"Let us take what we can from them. We might be able to make something to fight these things with... though I pray it will never find any use."
The two began to pour their soul power to the large hunk of meat, while the others stood watch. Dark purple rocks began to form in Trace's palm, and every time it grew into the size of his fist, he would shortly stop what he was doing, and put the ominously colored rock into a cloth satchel. Trace finally stopped for good after his satchel was full. He turned to Croff with a kind smile and gave her a reassuring nod.
"Thank you for your help, Croff. Without you, I would never be able to gather this many samples."
Croff returned Trace's smile and nods. Although she did her best to hide the sadness in her heart, it leaked out nonetheless. Her smile couldn't convince Trace that she was indeed happy for him. Trace closed his eyes, and turned toward the city.
"We are going back to the city. I have someone I need to meet."
Trace began walking, and as his companions followed him closely behind, he muttered in an inaudible voice.
"I don't want to see these wretched things again..."
Meanwhile, Alchemist Guild...
In a quiet room, at the top of the Alchemist Tower, a woman was staring at a piece of paper intently. Once in a while, she would groan as she rubbed both of her eyes. Standing just a little behind her was an elderly man, but the way he stood made it look like he is still in his prime.
"Again..."
The woman was Jessica Artrost, and as she muttered, she threw the paper to her desk and rested her back on the chair.
"Did we run out of energy potions again?"
The elderly man was Damien Goldenheart, Jessica's mentor and her adviser. She nodded weakly to him and let a sigh that has been bottled up inside her out.
"Yes... Although with Trace's help, we have been able to produce better and cheaper kind of it, our stock is still lacking."
Damien lets out a chuckle as he rubbed his beard.
"There is nothing we can do."
Damien glanced briefly toward the wall and closed his eyes.
"The beast's attack took a toll on the soldiers. Though they were lucky enough to come back alive, that doesn't mean they didn't suffer any injuries."
Jessica turned her head slightly and looked at the wall from the corner of her eyes. Sighing once more, she finally stood up from her seat.
"Then I will personally help with the production."
Damien nodded his head slowly, not opening his eyes while doing so. As Jessica prepared her tools to make potions, two rhythmical knock came from the door.
"Grandmaster Jessica Artrost, Grandmaster Trace Redfate wants a word with you. He said it was urgent."
Jessica's eyes squinted in wonder for a bit, before replying to the voice coming from the door.
"Bring him here."
"As you wish, Grandmaster."
The footsteps slowly fades away, before Damien lets out a low grunt.
"If Trace Redfate says it is urgent, then..."
Jessica nodded without slowing down her preparation. On the contrary, her hands moved much faster than before. Jessica finally finished preparing her tools, and just as she was about to turn the fire on, two knocks came from the door once more.
"Grandmaster Jessica Artrost, it is me, Trace Redfate."
Jessica put down the flint in her hands and went to the door. She opened the door and saw Trace standing behind it with a grim look on his face. Something she never saw him do.
"Come in."
Trace bowed his head slightly before coming inside the room. After giving Damien a brief bow, Trace immediately put the satchel containing the gem on the table.
"I assume the two of you have heard of what the Venombloods did to our city?"
Jessica and Damien looked at each other before nodding. The air in the room became tense, and everyone felt like there is an invisible boulder on their shoulders. Trace took out the gem from the satchel, and put it on the desk.
"This is a Demon's Eye. A gem produced when a summoner and a beast fuses into one, or when a summoner was consumed by a beast's power."
A pained expression washed over Trace's face as he explained. He heaved a heavy sigh before returning the gem into the satchel.
"If used on a Summoner, it will exponentially expand their soul power, and it can even turn a Soulless into a Summoner... but..."
Trace shrugged, his mouth curling into a sad smile.
"What would happen is either you lose your humanity, or turn into a monster yourself."
Jessica approached the satchel with hesitant footsteps, and timidly peered into the satchel. Inside, she saw many ominous looking purple gemstone. She turned to Trace, a deep furrow on her eyebrows.
"How did you know all of this?"
Trace sighed through his nose before closing his eyes.
"That explanation can wait. Right now, I need your help in either destroying it, or refining it."
The room was filled with silence for a moment, before Damien lets out another low grunt, his sharp eyes focused on Trace.
"If you knew how to extract it, then you must know how to destroy them as well."
Trace slowly nods. He gave the satchel a brief glance before turning to Damien once again.
"If more people knew how to destroy or refine them, then events in the Venomblood's mansion will never happen again."
Damien closed his eyes for a moment before nodding.
"Then you can count on my help. If it is for the good of the city, then I will do everything in my power to aid you."
Damien turned to Jessica with a grin on his face. Seeing this, Jessica can only sigh as she scratched the back of her head.
"I will help you as well. Just tell us what we should do, and we will follow your instructions."
Trace closed his eyes, waves of emotions raging in him, as he bowed his head toward the two.
"Thank you..."
Trace began writing the steps to destroy, and to refine the gemstone on a piece of paper, before putting it on Jessica's worktable. Jessica and Damien stood beside him as he started explaining everything he wrote on that paper.
"... And that is the whole process. Is there anything you still do not understand?"
Jessica and Damien did not answer, making Trace's mouth curl up into a small smile.
"Then I will leave it to you. I will give the energy potions the army needed from my own storehouses, so you do not have to worry about that any longer."
Jessica lets out a sigh of relief. She put a hand on Trace's shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.
"Then you can count on us regarding this matter."
Trace nodded, and turned to the door.
"Then I will be taking my leave."
Trace moved to the door silently, before exiting the room. Outside, he lets out a sigh as he looked up to the ceiling.
"Now... I have to explain everything to them..."
Trace's footsteps grew heavy as he approached his lab. He had asked all of his friends to gather there. For the first time after being thrown back in time, that was the first time he is unsure of the outcome of his decision. He finally reached the gathering room. The wooden double door in front of him looked oddly menacing in his eyes.
"Alright..."
Taking a deep breath, Trace pushed open the door in front of him. His friends who were waiting inside turned their head toward him and smiled. A chill ran down his spine. Various scenarios played out inside his head, and none of them were something he wanted to see. Trace felt more fear than when he was facing a horde of Valkyries. Trace forced a smile on his face.
"Thank you for coming everyone. Although I am sure you are all tired from your fight with the monsters."
Melody shook her head and gave Trace a gentle smile. A smile that would usually bring him peace of mind now gave him the opposite effect.
"There is nothing to worry about, brother. It is you we are worried about. Are you sure you do not need to rest first?"
Melody's gentle and reassuring voice distorts inside his mind. Fear and anxiety had gripped his heart, but he swore to lay everything bare for his friends. He took his usual seat and took a deep breath.
"There is something of utmost importance that you all need to know... It is regarding my past life... and it is something that still haunts me until now."
Trace's hands curled into a fist on top of the table. Resolving himself one last time, he began to speak.
"The gemstone the Venombloods used... The Demon's Eye... I have helped in their production once."
Trace spoke in a sorrowful voice. Pain coursed through his whole body, not just his mind. Remembering what he did made his stomach churn and his blood boils. His eyes was the eyes of someone who had lost all hopes in themselves.
"It was in a remote village deep inside a mountain, far beyond the death mountains. There... I indirectly killed half of the village... and razed the rest with my own two hands."
Trace uncurled his hands and tried to relax it, but his hands will not stop shaking. He felt cold and isolated. He tried to raise his head to look at his friends, but it was as if something had prevented him to do so.
"I... I killed a whole village... I..."
"Trace."
A tone of disappointment. Fear ran amok in his heart and mind, making him fall even deeper into despair.
"I... no, we need time to think about what you said. We'll be taking our leave... for now."
The sound of a chair grating against the floor. Even though Trace had heard it countless times, never once had it left him feeling so miserable. The sound rang out again, as others began to leave their seat and left the room.
"I suppose... that's a normal reaction..."
Trace closed his eyes and raised his head. The corner of his lips trembled as words of despair left his mouth.
"Why... Why did I have to come back...?"
Trace fell into a deep despair, enough so that he had completely let his guard down. Enough so that he did not even realize that someone was in the room with him. She looked at Trace, her heart filled with sadness.
"As always... you leave out the important parts."
As she muttered those words under her breath, she silently left the room.
"How is he?"
Another woman was standing outside the room, her hands crossed underneath her chest. Her big eye gazed intently at Croff. Croff sighed through her nose and shook her head slowly. Rana closed her eye for a moment before she speaks.
"Go. I will stay with master."
Croff's mouth curled up into a gentle smile as she nodded slowly.
"I am leaving him in your hands."
"Mm."
Rana's answer is as short as ever, but Croff knew how much Rana cares about Trace. Croff immediately left the building, in the hopes of catching her dear master's friends before they part ways.
"Please... he is not what you think he is!"