Finding my Parents in Another World-Chapter 74: (Raorka) A Promise is Made

Raorka almost jumped up in joy, but he managed to restrain himself.

"I talked with General Hoit before coming here." He began. "The General has seen the dragon up close, but he said that he was so huge that he couldn’t see his face or eyes. When you fought against Old Gotuj, you saw his face right?"

Artemis gravely shook her head. "Not exactly. The General is right, Old Gotuj is massive in size. I did fight him, but it was extremely one sided. His magik prevented me from even approachi-"

"Wait! Dragons can use magik?" Raorka asked incredously. He had never considered the possibility.

Artemis smiled wryly. "It looks like you are the one who needs to learn more about dragons. Yes dragons can use magik, but all dragons belong to the uncategorized magik class. So many of them can have useless magik that doesn’t help them, but a lot of them also have unique magik that is very hard to fight against."

"And I am assuming Old Gotuj is the second type?"

Artemis nodded. "I don’t know what exactly his magik power is, but it has something to do with wind. Everytime I attacked him there was a massive tornado that rose up from the ground and threw me back against trees. Soon enough I was fighting an army of storms rather than a dragon."

Raorka slumped his shoulders. "So you didn’t see his face either?"

"Well....I didn’t see his face clearly, but in the middle of the fight, I saw his eyes and his black snout as he bellowed flames at me. I remember the absolute evil, and of course hatred, burning in those eyes. I’ll tell you Raorka, till date I have never seen eyes which were so hateful or evil. Even the Demon of Lust would look like a saint before Old Gotuj."

Raorka didn’t interrupt Artemis’ rant, but he couldn’t help but wonder whether the last assertion was actually true or driven by the elf’s bias against dragons as a whole.

"Well, anyway that illustrates my point further. You don’t even know the exact kind of magik Old Gotuj uses. The better way is for us to research on the history of Old Gotuj, and then come up with a plan of action to kill him." Raorka said.

"How do you plan on doing that? I have checked the library, but there’s no books on Old Gotuj there."

"I am talking about the Grand Library at the Royal Capital."

There was a moment of silence. Then Artemis quietly said, "That is off limits to all but a very select few you know?"

"I’ll figure out a way."

"I can’t wait forever for you to figure out how to break into the Grand Library."

"One year."

Artemis fell silent again, looking at Raorka. He could see the suspicion in her eyes. He just hoped that the logical side within her could overpower the side baying for blood.

"You will be able to break into one of the most secure places in the Empire in one year?"

"Yes." Raorka answered promptly with a confidence he didn’t feel.

Artemis studied his face for a while befor responding, "Even if you could, I won’t let you do that. You are a bright student, one of my most promising ones, and a...."

"A?"

"A friend." Artemis said eventually smiling slightly. "A human I can call a friend, an ally. You and Drisnen are the precious few left. I can’t allow you to squander your life, your future for my blood feud."

"And I can’t allow my teacher to go to a battle I know she can’t win. I see you as a friend as well, Artemis, and I can’t let you go off to fight against Old Gotuj without knowing more about him."

There was silence for a while. And then Artemis finally said, "Ok fine. But you need to promise me one thing."

"What?"

She raised her right hand. A beam of light shot through the gaps in her fingers, falling on Raorka’s palm. He felt her magik being engraved on the surface of his palm. This lasted about ten seconds before slowly the magik supply stopped.

"A one time invisibility shield. It will last upto an hour and make you completely invisible to even any forms of magik detection." Artemis explained.

Raorka twisted about his palms, looking at the spot in awe.

"If you do this, you will have to promise me one thing, Raorka: you will use that shield to escape if there’s even a minute chance of you being captured. This shield will work everywhere and it will allow you to run away undetected."

"That’s some powerful magik." Raorka said, sincerely as he examined the spot on his palm once more. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Promise me, Raorka!" Artemis urged, to which Raorka hastily nodded his head.

"I promise."

Artemis sat back down, somewhat in relief. "Ok then I accept your proposal. But one year. I will wait no more than that. If you have found nothing about Old Gotuj in that time, I will go to fight him anyway."

"One year." Raorka agreed, even though some part of him still wanted to convince Artemis to rethink.

As if on cue, the roar of the dragon reverberated in the hut. Artemis looked outside, hatred burning in her eyes, and at that moment Raorka knew it was futile to try and convince her further.

Artemis would not rest until Old Gotuj was dead.

Or she was.

.XX.

By the time Raorka returned to the Fritten Inn, it was dark outside. The smattering of people sitting in the dining table, slowly shuffled outside as Lumina prepared to close shop.

"Oh Raorka, where have you been?" She asked cheerfully when she noticed him standing at the doorway.

"Just walking around town." Raorka answered with a sheepish grin. He wasn’t sure how to talk with Lumina after the incident with Mayor Rokar. Lumina had assured him that she held no grudges for him revealing her past to her daughter, but Raorka still couldn’t help but feel guilty. If he had never come then maybe Lumina’s secret would have stayed buried.

Or maybe the monster would have killed everyone here.

"It’s your last day here huh." She was saying as she started clearing out the tables.

"I’ll help." Raorka began from the other side. Since Lucerne left last week, the workload on Lumina had doubled but she seemed to be enjoying it.

"Will you really be alright alone?" Lumina asked.

"Yes, I will be."

"Well I believe you. Of course you stood upto the Demon of Lust. Not many things will be a threat to you. But....."

Raorka didn’t interrupt, continuing to clear plates while waiting for Lumina to finish.

"But my daughter has grown fond of you. And I also am fond of you Raorka, I think of you as my own son. So I would never be able to forgive myself if I didn’t at least ask whether you would need an escort till the Capital."

Raorka felt a moistness in his eyes, as he was overcome with a surge of emotion. Lumina had been the closest to a mother figure he had had in Temuril, and one he needed desperately after being separated from his parents.

"Thank you, Lumina. Truly. You don’t know how much this means to me."

"So then?"

"But no. I won’t burden you with being a protective escort all the way till the Royal Academy. You have given me the map, that is help enough. I will find my way there, don’t worry about it."

Lumina still had a look of worry on her face, which reminded Raorka of Lucerne, but she nodded her head in agreement.

Lucerne hadn’t wanted to leave without Raorka as well. Raorka remembered with a half-smile how she had that she would push back her admission to the Royal Academy by a year if need be.

"Absolutely not. I am perfectly capable of making this journey alone." Raorka had been adamant, and finally Lucerne had left with Rowena and Drisnen.

"See you soon, brother." Drisnen had said with a wink as he was leaving. Rowena was too busy in her books to give any sort of coherent farewell, but she did nod towards Raorka as a form of acknowledgement before all three of them left on horseback.

It would take approximately four days of riding to reach the Capital from Temuril, so they had probably already reached the Royal Academy, and their first letters would come on the day after tomorrow, after Raorka left.

"Here you go." Lumina slammed a box in front of him, as Raorka finished clearing all the plates on his side.

"What is this?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well you won’t let me come with, so this is a substitute. It has enough food for a week, along with an automated alarm system via magik, which will wake you if any threat approached while you sleep. Of course the sleeoing tent is also included in there."

Raorka looked at bewilderment at the box which was slightly bigger than his fist.

"Magik compression." Lumina said with a wink, guessing Raorka’s thoughts.

"Th-thank you. Really."

"Don’t thank me. I have given the same to Lucerne, and as I told you earlier, I see you as my child. It is the duty of a mother to ensure her children stay protected always."

A brief flash of Zoe’s face passed through Raorka’s head and for the second time that night, he felt himself moved to tears by Lumina.

"Thank you." He repeated, bowing his heads and clutching his box.

Lumina just smiled gently at him.

No further words were necessary.