The Runic Alchemist

On one side of the wall, however, was a square, window-sized solid glass. Damian had missed that before since it was part of the wall instead of attached to it. Inside the transparent glass was a statue of a naked woman with her left hand till shoulder and right leg till knees missing. She was a pure white thing—suspended in air. It was flying without any mana or aura or anything that Damian could sense.

This was the same metal Damian had come looking for. He stepped forward—it was more metal than he had expected to find. But the second he touched the glass, the eyes of the white statue opened—scaring the living shit out of him. He took the hand back with not-so-manly noise. A smile formed on the white woman’s face.

Damian’s face was even more confused. He asked,

“What are you?”

No answer came. The woman did tilt her head a little, though, as if she didn’t hear him. Maybe she didn’t—with such a thick glass in the way. Damian found no way to open it, so he simply buried his fingers in the wall and forcefully pulled the whole glass out. The white woman inside looked surprised.

“You shouldn’t have done that..”

A deep voice belonging to the handicapped white metal woman resounded in the empty room. It was not monstrously deep, more like one of those female voices that were deep and still managed to sound sexy somehow.

Damian asked again, “What are you?”

The woman was still floating in the air without any support. She had not moved from the window space, though.

“I don’t know. They call me divine.”

“If you are alive, why don’t you know what you are?” Damian asked back.

“All I remember is that a man took me out of a darkness that I was trapped in for eternity. He claimed I was divine—he put me here and ever since, I am here.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Too long. Too many faces I have seen and forgotten. Five cities were built around me, and four have been wiped out. I hear this too is at its end..”

“What happened to your hand and leg?” Damian knew the answer somewhat but still asked.

She sighed. The expressions on the metal woman’s face were so real—still there was an animated feel to it, as if Damian was seeing some 3D model or a stone statue.

“That is the reason why I am divine. Apparently, the thing I am made of is something that is quite valuable.” She shrugged with a small snort, “They say thanks and then cut me into pieces.”

Then she smiled as if she were a teenager full of optimism. “But I can grow back perfectly in a decade.”

“Good for you?” Damian was too confused by the situation at hand.

Objects were different. How does one steal a living person?

Damian moved back from her. She remained still where she was. Something about that didn’t sit right with him. Then it came to his mind,

“You can’t move?”

“I am metal. I can’t even breathe. I know humans breathe; how does it feel to move your body constantly up and down?” she asked. There was a hesitation in her eager voice, though.

“So you are here against your will?”

“I am divine. People need me,” she replied.

Now that was fucked up. Who fed her such bullshit? Such greedy people. People lie and steal without any care in the world. Good thing he came here earlier to steal.. uhm, save her before bad people come to take advantage of her.

“Do you want to come with me?” Damian asked.

“But they need me..”

“They need you for the metal, right? You said it will take decades for you to heal. Don’t you think you can do as you please in that time? Then you can come back if you feel like it.” Damian manipu—uhm, advised her.

“Will you bring me back here?”

“If you want to.”

“Why did you come here? Why would you do that for me?”

“I came for the metal. I wanted to see it, study it. I can do that if you are with me, without cutting you into pieces.”

“Who are you?”

“A Runesmith.”

She squinted hard at him. Clearly, she was having a hard time deciding what to do, but at last, she closed her eyes and then just gave a small nod after opening them back. Damian smiled. He wouldn’t be able to fit her in his spear’s spatial storage anyway. He could study the metal’s structure, though, in depth and could see if there was some material he could probably use to transmutate it into this. The probability was small but not non-existent. He didn’t need all the rare materials right now.

Damian stepped closer to her and pulled out the spare clothes he had for himself. He dressed her—she was metal, pure white metal. Her insides too were metal. Still, all parts of her body resembled a grown woman’s without a miss. This felt like the right thing to do.

After she was fully clothed, he grabbed her by the waist and used a wormhole, looking out through the same hole he had made, and then flew higher and higher in the quiet night sky. The moon was full, the quiet city looked peaceful and beautiful. Damian let her have the full view—her face held a smile and her eyes a curious, childlike awe and wonder in them. She was probably the oldest living creature in this world and she had still not seen the simplest things a person was able to see in his or her day-to-day life.

Damian flew low and slow so she could have enough time to see everything. But at last, he reached the cave. They did not go in, though—he seated her on the edge of the cliff, and he himself sat beside her. Quietly watching the sleeping city and its protecting high mountains.

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