Luna walked over and moved the mud revealing a glass bowl.
"Zelph flower..."
Luna said in surprise. Nodded at that.
"There have to be dark elves nearby, or this forest might just be the garden. "
I explained to Luna. She used her sword to remove it from the ground with its roots. A small black spell circle appeared at the place Luna had removed the plant, and black flames shot towards Luna.
"Watch out!"
I shouted and pulled Luna back to me. The flames didn’t attack us but wrapped around the zelph flower, and with a small hissing sound, it vanished.
"Ha!ha!.."
I laughed out loud. The flame was just a ruse. The spell circle was a small teleportation circle.
"Dark magic seems more interesting. "
I said intrigued as we got out of the hole. The only dark magic I knew of was necromancy, and I had not witnessed it personally.
Dark magic was a different branch of magic but it wasn’t very well received by the kingdom. It thrived on death and violence, hence anything about black magic was mostly forbidden except for necromancy, which was also not very liked.
"Let’s go, Blair will be able to find them. We’ve already gotten a clue about their location. "
I was sure this flower would be at the auction in a day or two. I led Luna back to the stream bank to find both Isis and Abeloin with a pile of fruits in their hands, eating.
"Want some?"
Abeloin said handing me a round purple grape fruit.
"No."
He shrugged and popped it back into his mouth. We started to walk upstream as I led them to the cave I had chosen.
"Are we there yet?"
Abeloin asked. I ignored him, he had been asking this after every two steps. After turning a corner and leaving the stream a small hill came into view.
"We’ll be staying in the cave at the bottom. "
I said and pointed at the small openings at the bottom of the hill. We arrived there in no time. The entrance wasn’t small but only big enough for two people to fit through.
Luna led the way inside her sword drawn. Isis was holding a light crystal illuminating the whole cave.
It was large enough for the four of us to stay in without any problem. Isis placed a crystal in each corner of the cave fully illuminating it.
"How did you even find this?"
Abelion asked as he ran around the cave. Luna cleaned a small corner of the cave and placed a small one-person bed with my carry-on lab equipment beside the bed on a small table.
"Master everything is ready. "
"Thank you luna."
This was a set Luna had insisted on preparing in case we travelled, and it seemed to have been put to good use.
"Why do you walk around with those young masters?"
Abeloin asked curiously pointing at my makeshift sleeping area in shock.
"You expect me to sleep on the cold ground?"
I said in disdain. Abeloin looked at me as if I had grown a second head. There was nothing wrong with what I had said. If you have the ability to make your life as comfortable as possible, then why suffer? This will only cause problems for the body. I take my well-being seriously.
"Did you bring the sample I requested?"
I asked Luna as I cleaned my small laboratory. I couldn’t be at peace using them unless I cleaned them myself.
"Yes, Donovan managed to draw blood from her without any incident. "
"Thats good, I’ve been thinking of fully opening her up. Sirens seemed to be built differently. "
"Are you interested in her gills ?"
Luna asked curiously as she placed the tubes filled with blue blood in front of me.
"Since humans can’t naturally breathe in water, I want to see if the siren can change that. The sea has a lot of mysteries. "
Luna nodded before bowing and leaving me to my experiments. Since Seraph had told me the week before where the test was going to be held it had made it easier to prepare myself in advance.
Having a cute older sister really has its advantages.
I put on the flea glass and poured a small drop of blue blood onto the flat glass before I adjusted my Flea glasses until I was able to see the blood cells.
They looked just the same as human blood, except it was blue and its cells kept on multiplying fast before it suddenly stopped abruptly, and they started to die one by one.
I dripped a drop of water inside. The cells started to regenerate again, but a few moments later, they started the process of drying again.
I continued my experiments as I mixed the blood with different components. Without noticing, time passed, and evening came.
"Young master, we found something!"
Abelion’s shout got me out of my concentration. I placed my samples in space and turned to him.
"A cave. "
He said his voice still carried the same excitement.
"And?"
"Come and see you’ll definitely reward me this time. I was the one who found it."
He said excitedly. The only time I had seen him this excited was when I healed Isis. I followed him out of the cave, and I was welcomed with a chilling night wind.
I looked back into the forest i could see smoke rising from different places, near the hill. Some of the students had wandered near the hill.
I smiled at that.
"Why were you outside the cave?"
I asked Abelion who was skipping forward with excitement.
"I got bored, and I didn’t carry anything like you, so I decided explore with Isis. "
He said a blush forming on his face. I rolled my eyes at his bullshit. He noticed my reaction and sped up.
"Ooh, we’re here."
We stopped in front of a much larger cave facing east. We had come from the northern part, hence I had not paid much attention to it during my search.
We walked down the large hallway and it seemed the two had installed light crystals at every interval.
"Did you give them the light crystals?"
I asked Luna who had been following behind me. She had remained with me at the cave making potions that were supposed to be taken by Blair.
"Yes."
I nodded.
"We’re here!"
Abeloin said as the cave opened into a much larger cave. From the looks of it, the place seemed to have been deliberately built and carved.
"Abelion."
"Yes?"
He turned to me curiously. I patted his shoulder as I looked at the treasure he had found because he wanted a quicky.
"Don’t ever stop being curious, okay."
He looked confused but nodded.
"You’ll reward me right?"
I nodded my head, still studying the treasure in front of me.
"Luna, we just hit the mother load."
I said to luna who also looked both surprised and excited. Dear Abeloin had stumbled upon a full garden of zelph flowers.
I had been looking for the dark elves who planted them or just the flowers that entered the market, but they were very scarce, and the seller knew how to cause market hunger.
Each time the flower was placed on auction people scrambled to buy it.
I needed the zelph flowers since they were the best anesthesia if made right, and I had been running out. This garden seemed to have been carved out.
I suppose Blair won’t be getting his reward since I found the flowers first.
’Detect ’
My magic spread under the flowers as I dismantled the spell circles under each flower. It didn’t take long before I was finished.
If I had left the spell, every flower would have teleported away. Whoever made this was definitely a strong dark magician.
"Its time to harvest our find."
Luna nodded and walked into the garden. There were almost two hundred flowers in the cave. This could create a good amount of fortune.
A brown spell circle spread from where Luna was standing with her sword in her hand. She was chanting an earth spell.
The soil started to vibrate before the flowers started to rise from the ground, their roots still covered in soil, and flew towards Luna, who stored them in her storage ring.
"Master, I’m done."
Luna said and walked towards me.
"Good lets go. "
I walked to one side of the wall and carved my name and the bloodmooor crest on it before leaving the cave.
"Why did you leave your name on the cave wall young master?"
Abelion asked confused.
"I’ve been searching for dark elves, why would I let whoever planted this go??
"Are you planning on luring whoever owns these flowers out?"
I nodded.
"Why would I look a gifting horse in the mouth?"
The wind blew harder as if agreeing with my sentiment. Maybe coming to the forest had its advantages after all. I just hoped the elf won’t make me wait for long.