Ultimus Thesaurus: The last Treasure (Era of Change Book 1) by Maximilian Warden

have sacrificed everything for you; I saw you as my brother, and I knew that no matter what happens one man will always be with me. But now that I see who you really are, I see, that you know nothing but fear, and that is why you see this fear in every soul you meet. My father was a hero, and even though I would want to find this treasure so much, I also know that I alone can’t do it. I wanted to save my father, like he once wanted to save my mother. However you have abandoned and destroyed, what was my last hope. Just because your own dreams crumbled,” she said and took a step back.
    “I did not want for this to happen. I have always been someone who saw no meaning in this world. But this treasure is a threat to us all and the knowledge behind it could bring endless destruction. Every good tool is also a weapon and as such its user can lose control. What if we destroy the world that we want to protect so much?” I said and got up from the cold ground.
    “You have already destroyed my world. Now go and save what is left of yours, but I will never forgive you.”
    Without another word she went back to the house and I understood what I had done. Aton had told me, and yet I had not listened to his warnings. The captain was right and from my greatest fear the most powerful anger I had ever felt was slowly born. It was just an idea, only for a second, but I wanted to ensure that the world ends. And this was what I feared. This power was too great for just a man. For the time being I managed to forget my pride and I accepted that Lucia saw what I did as a mistake.
    I went back to meet with Isaac and saw, that he was already head over heels in danger. Several criminals had beaten him up and stolen some of his bottles with the elixir. Although he still had a small amount of it left, it was not enough for the journey ahead.
    “It was a whole keg. I finally had prepared enough for the trip. Now I need to start again from the beginning. Have you achieved anything?” he said and looked at his torn clothing.
    “Are you ok? From the looks of it, they really did you in. And what about the keg? What happens when these men drink from it?” I asked him and examined his wounds.
    He healed faster than anything I had ever seen. And even if the scratches in his face cut deep into the flesh, they left nothing when they slowly dissolved, not even a scar.
    “Do not worry about me, this body is virtually indestructible. And these men will die if they drink the elixir. I think that is more than fair, if you ask me. It would not make sense to track them down and save them,” he said and went back to town in order to obtain further ingredients.
    “Where do you want to get the gold to pay for even more elixir?”
    “Lucia has given me some money. I met her shortly after we walked into the village. Even if she doesn’t want to talk to you, she still wants me to succeed.”
    I had little hope for our success at this point, but I wanted it to come true. If Isaac succeeded, my mistake could maybe one day be forgotten. But if these men planned what I suspected, we would soon no longer have a ship on which we’d be able to travel. A small keg full of alcohol was worth a small fortune at times like these and I was sure, that I knew just the place where one would try and sell it. I ran in the direction of the inn, but when I walked in, the owner was already handing out jars with the elixir in them. 
    Even Dylan had a filled up jug in the hand, but luckily he seemed too busy to drink from it just yet. If I’d warn them they would suspect this scenario as some kind of regretted action. And if they believed, that it was me, who wanted to poison them, I would certainly be done for. I had to at least keep the captain busy until everyone else had emptied their cup. 
    I made another hard choice and again people would die because of my actions, but all things considered it was only the captain we truly needed.
    “Ah, who do we have here? If it isn’t