Retaliation (1)

Yelena gladly kept the conversation going after that. Although she had revealed her past to Henry, it was still a sore topic so they didn't touch on it all that much but the conversation flowed better than ever. 

Henry didn't need the System to tell him for him to know Yelena's approval of him had improved even more but he was barely able to remain invested in the conversation like she was. All he could think about was the Quest he had just received to kill her. 

As Henry had promised, Yelena still thought he was insane for wanting to die over and over even after he told her he had wanted it done to get stronger. 

"How does it make you stronger though?" She asked. 

"How else?" Henry told her blankly, "Magic."

"Hmm, yes, I suppose that makes sense. As much sense as Magic can make. Magic is such a marvelous and strange thing isn't, it?"

"I suppose it is," Henry agreed. The more he looked into her face, the more the Quest to kill her continued to surface in his mind. 

As for Yelena, there was no hint of disbelief on her face at Henry's reveal that dying made him stronger. However, she did ask why he no longer wanted to do it. 

"I went too far and the next time I die, it will very likely be definite," Henry answered her honestly. 

"Even with my <Circle of Healing>?" Yelena asked, surprised. 

Henry nodded,

"Yes," he said and he managed a smile, "You were right. Life is sacred. There— are forces that won't stand for me toying with it."

Henry let a few seconds pass and then decided to ask the question most prevalent on his mind,

"Yelena?"

"Hm?"

"Do you want to die?"

Yes, it was a very forward question. It was a question that someone who joined the conversation out of context could find weird but neither Henry nor Yelena thought so because her story of her past had made mention of such a desire. 

Henry waited with bated breath for her answer. 

When he first read the description of the Quest to kill her, he immediately said 'Hell No!' 

But as time passed, everything she had said to him while she told him of her past surfaced in his mind with a clarity that made him wonder if the system gave him the Quest because that was what Yelena wanted herself. 

Yelena's smile turned sad and she looked at her hands,

"I want to be free, Henry," she said, 

"For the first time in my life, I want to see more than the same walls. The same compound. I want to read more than the same books and write on more than the same pages. 

I want to be free and I'll take that freedom however I can."

Towards the end, Yelena looked up from her hands and stared hard into Henry's face so that their eyes were locked on each other's. Eventually, Henry looked away,

"I have to go," he said. 

Yelena looked surprised but then nodded with a small smile,

"Oh, alright." 

"I'll see you tomorrow," Henry said and half a minute later, he was outside the medical bay. As he started to walk away, he raised his right hand and thought in his head,

'<Elminster's Stock>'

The brand the craftsman had burned into his palm appeared and an oval portal shimmered into existence to wrap around his body and take him away from the Hadron Mansion and into Elminster's workshop. 

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

Elminster was hammering a plate on top of an Anvil when Henry arrived and he slowly stopped and raised his head to look at him,

"I don't remember calling you here," he said in that grumpy voice of his. 

"You didn't," Henry said, "I just used your brand."

'Technically, the System used your brand but you don't need to know that,' Henry thought. 

Elminster scoffed,

"How resourceful of you. Have you recovered any more of my creations?" He asked. 

"Not yet," Henry said calmly. 

"So you've been slacking off, then," Elminster said and banged the plate a few more times. 

"If you call almost getting killed, slacking off…"

"I do," Elminster said without a care. 

"… Then, yes. I was slacking off." Henry finished his sentence as Elminster put aside the plate he was banging out. 

"I hope you at least came with my gold," the Craftsman said. 

"I did. And I need more potions," Henry said as he placed the 150 gold he had on a slab. 

Elminster's eyes roamed the gold before he swiped them off the slab,

"150... Alright, Come on," he said. 

They walked through the doorway at the other end of the workshop and into the room of Prototypes. 

Elminster placed four potions in front of Henry after that. Two Healing potions and two Mana Potions. 

"Here. After settling your 60 gold debt and with four potions worth 20 gold each, you have 10 gold left so I'll throw you another bottle at a discount. How about that, generous as ever, right?"

Henry ignored the old man's attempt at receiving praise and stroked his jaw to make the choice. 

'Which would be better, an extra healing Potion or an extra Mana potion?'

"I'll just take one of both," he eventually decided, "And I'll owe you 20 gold."

"You'll owe me 30 gold," Elminster corrected as he placed the potions in front of Henry. 

"No, it'll be 20. You gave me a discount, remember?"

"You can't get a discount when you're about to owe me," Elminster said. 

"Why not?" Henry asked with an innocently confused expression. 

"You shameless— It's just common sense," Elminster insisted. 

"You're the shameless one here. You're a Great Craftsman and you won't even forgo 10 gold? How much richer can 10 gold make you?" Henry asked. 

"It will make me 10 gold richer, you cheapskate. 10 GOLD RICHER!" Elminster said stubbornly. 

Henry snatched the Potions and tossed them into his Inventory,

"Be a respectable adult and help a fella out. I'll owe you 10 gold," he said. 

"What? No, 20!" Elminster said. 

"Deal!" Henry answered immediately as the old man's face turned red at falling for such a simple trick. 

"Boy, I don't like you!" Elminster said with a bit of a growl. 

"You will," Henry said confidently, "Moving on, I wanted to ask you about 'The Hydra's Sting'."

"What about it?"

"The wound caused by the acidic goop, Is it untreatable?" Henry asked. 

Elminster stroked his beard,

"No, it's not. Why do you ask?" 

"Someone I know got splashed by it. It hasn't healed yet even with Healing Magic," Henry explained. 

"This Healing Magic you tried, was it regenerative Healing?"

"I'm not sure," Henry said. 

"The wound caused by the acidic goop is what is called a 'Living wound'. It eats away at the victim's body continuously. You can heal the spread with Healing Magic but you can't heal the source. 

The only way to 'heal the source' is to cut out the injured area which will take out a sizable chunk of the victim's body and could end up failing if not done right. That's why regenerative Healing is required to regrow the part that gets cut off."

"I'm not sure we have that. Or would even try it, if we did," Henry said with a sigh, "Is there another way?"

"There is."

Elminster turned away and rummaged through the room of prototypes to pull out a small bottle the size of a thumb,

"I made this to counteract the effects of the acidic goop. I figured whoever wielded 'The Hydra's Sting' was bound to be careless with it."

"What's it?" Henry asked. 

"A salve. You rub this on the surface of the wound and it gets rid of the 'source'."

Henry smiled at that but paused as his eyes narrowed,

"And how much is it?"

"Hmm, I'll willing to let go of it for 55 gold."

'Thief!' Henry yelled in his head but he kept his expression normal. 

"40 gold," He said. 

"55," Elminster countered. 

"Fine, 50," Henry said like he was being kind, "And I'll owe you an even 60 gold."

Elminster sneered at him,

"Your trick won't work twice. 

It's 55 gold and you'll owe me 75 in total or you can get out of my Workshop right now!"

Henry rolled his eyes,

"Okay fine."

He received the tub of salve and with a wave of Elminster's hand, he was sent out of the workshop and back into the Hadron Mansion.