On Erold's way back to the village, he began by saying: "We must become stronger, Arthur. At this weak level, we won't be able to do anything if we encounter another Jinn like him… let's remember that Jinn, Karl."
Arthur: "We will train and become stronger, but that depends on you. Spiritual exercises require meditation with your self… and I am your self."
Erold (annoyed): "How can there be meditation while I'm talking to you? For heaven's sake, man, you are exhausting!"
Arthur (wearily): "I meditate with you, you moron, but we must find a comfortable and isolated place… the clearer your meditation, the better your refinement."
Erold: "And what about physical training? Do you think you've forgotten that?"
Arthur: "As for physical training, I don't need it because I won't benefit from it… I will become stronger because of you. So, you are the one who must train physically and mentally."
Erold approached the village and said: "So that's it… fine, I will do this. Let's go check on Jasmin."
Erold entered the Chief's house to find Jasmin, the Chief, and Radis. Radis looked at his face in shock and said: "Did he… die?"
Erold tilted his head and drew the sword to show him, saying: "He fought like a master… and a monster at the same time."
Radis rushed out searching for him, crying: "You told me you would help me… you broke your promise!"
Jasmin held Erold's face, saying with concern: "You've been severely beaten this time, Erold…"
He replied, smiling: "Didn't you see who my opponent was?"
Jasmin replied: "An old man, huh?"
The Chief intervened, saying: "So Jasmin's words were true… it was the King of Thieves, wasn't it?"
Erold tilted his head slightly, and the Chief asked him: "Do you have something to prove that, Erold?"
Erold produced the King of Thieves' sword and said: "This is what remains of him."
The Chief was astonished and said: "Not even half of your time limit has passed, Erold… forget the Eye of Mystery and stay with us. I see that you were happy here."
Erold replied sadly: "Every bad memory I have was here… people I lost… and people…" His voice stopped for a moment, as if the words choked between his throat and his memory. Then he remembered Amalia with a heavy silence. His heart shrank for a moment, but he did not allow his eyes to betray him. He raised his head and said: "Don't worry about it… give me the Eye of Mystery, Chief."
The Chief answered in a low but decisive voice: "Fine… as you wish, Erold. But know that I have warned you. Stay here… I will bring it to you."
Jasmin turned toward him quickly and said in surprise: "Bring it? Didn't you say it was hidden? Why then are you going into your room?"
The Chief smiled faintly, as if she had touched upon a critical point, then said: "Yes, it is hidden… but in the cellar beneath my room. Therefore… please, do not follow me. I won't be long."
The Chief walked through the stone corridor with slow, heavy steps. He reached his room and lifted the old carpet covering the floor. Beneath it were old wooden planks; he lifted one, revealing a narrow opening leading to a dark passage.
He descended the stone stairs carefully, the silence swallowing his breath. At the end of the passage, he stood before a dilapidated wooden door, barely standing on its hinges. He pushed it slowly, and it let out an old groan as if weeping from neglect. He entered the small room and lit an old candle on the wall.
In the middle of the place was a grey stone table, upon which was a plate carved in the shape of a wide eye, surrounded by four precise circles, extending with thin lines toward the center of the pupil. Above the plate hovered four red-colored objects of a strange shape—they were neither solid nor transparent, but glowed with a strange light, as if they were alive.
The Chief approached the stone table, reaching his hand slowly toward the carved plate. It was as if the air itself had become heavier, and as if the place were holding its breath in anticipation of what would happen. He stopped for a moment… placed his hand over the plate, and closed his eyes.
Then he whispered in a voice barely audible: "Forgive me… my ancestors."
His words were not just an apology, but as if they were a breaking of a silence that had lasted for centuries, or a betrayal of a testament deliberately forgotten. When he touched the plate, the four objects began to rotate slowly, then disappeared completely without a trace. The Chief held the Eye of Mystery with a trembling hand, turning it between his palms like one who knows he is handing over a catastrophe.
Then he muttered as he left the cellar: "I know you are a curse… and that you will kill whoever uses you in some way. Everyone who used you… died."
He went out to where Jasmin and Erold were waiting, then handed the strange stone to Erold, who looked at it warily and asked: "Its shape is strange… how does it work?"
The Chief said with a caution-tinged calm: "You must gather three people with you and place your blood in the four circles. But pay attention… this thing does not open a door in this world, but in another world… they call it: The Jinn World."
Erold looked at the stone again, stared at the four circles, then asked: "But we need three… and there are four circles. We will only need two more, right?"
The Chief suddenly shouted, his face reddening: "Do you intend to take Jasmin with you?! Don't you dare! She is still young and has a brilliant future. She is smart… and deserves a better life."
Erold said steadily: "I will not put her in danger. If there is a neck to be cut… it will be mine, not hers."
Then he turned to Jasmin and said kindly: "The choice is yours, Jasmin… if you want to come with me, I will accept… and if you don't, I will understand."
Jasmin raised her head, looked at him with shining eyes, and said: "You are all I have now… how do you think I could say no? Let's go. Or are you trying to get rid of me in a sophisticated, emotional way?"
Erold smiled with a hint of embarrassment, then clenched his fist and said: "Let's look for two others… come on, Jasmin."
The Chief sighed, then said hesitantly: "There is a person… who was searching for the Eye of Mystery years ago. He kept searching for it frantically, until he came here… so we feigned ignorance for an entire year until he grew bored and left. It is said that he is incredibly strong. Perhaps he can be of use to you."
Erold asked curiously: "And who is he? Do you know his name?"
The Chief replied in a heavy voice: "Yes… he is the Prince of the Kingdom of Uruk… the son of Lugalbanda, the Pure King."
Jasmin gasped and said in shock: "The son of Lugalbanda?! Do you mean… him?!"
Erold looked at her in amazement: "Who is he? Tell me!"
Jasmin said, as if quoting from a book: "His name is Gilgamesh… Prince of Uruk. I read about him… it is said that he mastered the Spirit World when he was thirteen years old, and his combat skills… are beyond description."
Erold closed his eyes and asked Arthur: "Do you know him?"
Arthur: "I have no idea. I don't even remember hearing his name in the Kingdom."
Chief (seriously): "If you can convince him… I will be more at ease regarding Jasmin. But beware… he was acting madly when he stayed here."
Erold (decisively): "Then… to Uruk, Jasmin."
In the moment he was about to move, he suddenly remembered… that strange man. Erold turned to the Chief and said: "When we first came, I saw a man… he was sitting and meditating. His hair is blond, brushed back in a slight wave, his features are calm, his eyes slightly narrow, his eyebrows straight, his jaw wide… his skin is fair. I felt something strange from him… do you know who he is?"
The Chief shook his head and said simply: "No. Perhaps he was a passing stranger… many strangers come to this place to stay alone."
Erold thanked the Chief, bid him a warm farewell, and left the house courtyard with him. The villagers gathered at the large square, laughing, singing, and dancing, thanking their "hero" for ending their biggest problems. Erold did not see himself as a hero, but he smiled and allowed his chest to open to something called joy.
In the midst of the celebration's noise, where lights danced and voices rose, Erold glimpsed that stranger leaning against a tree in a dark corner, apart from everyone. His face was faintly lit by the light of a single candle before him, revealing slightly disheveled blond hair. He was wearing a dark, coarse cloak, and his deep blue eyes and long fingers were wrapped around a glass wine cup. Despite the chaos surrounding him, his expressions were calm, and his strange eyes reflected the candle light with a deep, confident gaze, as if he saw something others did not.
When he noticed Erold's approach, he didn't move, but merely raised the cup slowly in a silent salute, while a slight smile formed on his lips. Erold approached him, returning the smile, and said over the noise: "Hah, you finally moved."
The stranger (respectfully): "Oh, my God… I apologize. I was in the highest stages of focus. I didn't feel you until after you left." Then he raised his head and smiled with an unexpected warmth: "My friends call me Luce."
Erold shook his hand: "My name is Erold."
Luce: "I am honored to meet you, hero of this village."
Erold: "Hero? Hah… I didn't do this for heroism."
While he was speaking, he glimpsed Rebekah on the other side talking to Amalia. They were looking at him. He heard Rebekah say: "Amalia, talk to him. You haven't spoken since that moment… and he will leave soon."
Amalia (coldly): "I don't care." But inside her… a single question kept eluding her: Do I truly not care… or did I just force myself to believe so?
Erold raised his gaze again… only to see that Luce had disappeared. He looked around but did not find him. He went to Jasmin and said: "I learned his name… he is called Luce. And from my feeling… I think he is strong."
Jasmin asked him: "Did you ask him to come with us?"
Erold: "I wasn't able to… he disappeared while I was looking toward something…"
Jasmin laughed mockingly: "And what were you looking at, huh?" She laughed more… but he ignored her.
He raised his gaze to the sky and found a star shining. He muttered in silence: "Thank you, Astra… one day, we will celebrate together." He raised his cup toward the sky: "This is a toast to Astra."
The people around him cheered: "A toast to Astra!" Then one of them asked curiously: "But… who is she?"
In the early morning, Erold and Jasmin prepared to leave. They thanked the villagers again for their kindness, but suddenly Erold asked: "Where is Utma?"
Jasmin grew angry: "Ah! I forgot him! I used to go to him every day so he wouldn't get angry… he's in the stable, there."
Erold went to the stable and found the horse eating ferociously. When he saw Erold, he frowned and snorted from his nose. Erold approached and said: "Sorry, Utma… damn this stupid name!"
Suddenly, the food bucket was thrown at his head! He turned sharply and saw Utma staring at him. Erold said: "Hah! You want to fight, you stupid horse?" and drew his sword.
Jasmin screamed and cried while grabbing his hands and dragging him on the ground: "Noooo! Don't kill Utma, please! Put the sword back, Erold!"
Erold turned away from him, but Utma kicked him from behind and knocked him to the ground. Erold growled: "I will kill you, you bastard!"
Arthur's voice entered his mind: "Let me handle him… he might take a liking to me."
Erold said: "Fine… try it." He closed his eyes… and when he opened them, they had turned completely white. Arthur said through him, laughing: "Haha… I am the one in control now! Hello, Jasmin! It's me… Arthur!"
Jasmin's eyes lit up with joy, and she embraced him: "Arthur! Finally we meet! I've wanted to talk to you for a long time!"
Arthur: "Yes, little one. I wanted to talk too… but Erold is always in a hurry." He stepped toward Utma and said mockingly: "Hey! Good boy, aren't you?"
The horse turned toward Arthur and neighed. Arthur (internally to Erold): "See? Even he likes me… you are the hated one here, Erold."
But Utma suddenly kicked Arthur and knocked him to the ground. Arthur rose angrily, grabbed the sword, and said: "I'll kill him, this arrogant donkey!!"
Jasmin intervened, grabbed him, and said: "No, please, Arthur!" Then she ran to Utma, patted him gently, and said: "Enough playing, Utma… we must go."
The horse let out a huffing snort… then nodded in agreement. Erold returned to his body, wiped the dust from his robe, and said: "Fine… let's go."
They were about to leave the village, and on a high place… Amalia stood on a hill, watching them in silence. Erold felt her, but he did not turn. This was not the time for regret… nor for blame.
He said to Jasmin, the wind playing with his cloak: "Get ready, Jasmin… our adventure begins now."