Chapter 5

Raphael stepped forward, and looked him in the eye. 'Well then… let's see if this works!'

"Geralt… you will tell me all three wishes you've made!" Raphael's pupil's expanded as he gave the command.

Geralt looked like he was internally struggling, actually Raphael thought it was amusing.

"He's being bombarded with commands from two different powers, and he still thinks he can resist… admirable, or detestable?"

Raphael asked again, except this time his intent was more dominant, and his grasp on Geralt's heart became tighter.

"My… my, my wi… wishes are *Argh*." At this point Geralt seemed mentally exhausted, his mind is tough, but not enough.

"They are… To become a teenage version of the witcher Geralt of Rivia with all of his powers, along with immense capacity for magic and elixirs!" Geralt spoke his first wish.

'Sigh* seriously, that God actually granted such a loose wish!? Well I can't complain, after all he granted a tweaked wish to me as well.' Raphael thought.

"Okay Geralt, now speak your second wish!" Raphael commanded! And this time Geralt put up no resistance.

"My second wish… was an evolving version of the arc of embodiment. Meaning the more I create, the stronger it becomes, eventually creating life itself, or even a limited version of the infinity stones won't be an issue!" Geralt stated.

Raphael looked at him like he were a treasure. "I knew I made the right decision… it seems you have some foresight instead of just some simple ambition, you know to plan for the future, not relying on temporary power, something that's priceless today, could be trash tomorrow."

"Hahaha* You are going to be my finest servant, whom will fulfil my every desire." Raphael exclaimed.

"But before that… speak your third wish!" Raphael's gaze looked expectant.

Geralt spoke. "My third wish is an Omniverse travelling artefact bound to my soul, this lets me go to any universe in any multiverse in any timeline in any destination… it has a short cool-down period of 12 months before a second use, that way it can't be abused."

"It also must be powered by an energy source, of which the God only gave me three… it's what he called, Mystical stones"

Raphael let out a heavy breath of relief, he didn't know what he'd do if Geralt had not wished for this.

"Phew* All right, hand it over!" Raphael ordered him, and he complied.

Geralt pulled the golden jade encrusted ring off his index finger.

'So this is the key to my destiny!' Raphael took the ring, he felt a repulsive force from the ring.

"Hmm… so it can only be used by you huh!? Well that's okay I suppose, I'm not going to eat your soul, so I'll offer you the next best thing."

Raphael smiled at him, before pulling his head closer… looking straight into the Witcher's bright yellow eyes he commanded. "What is your real name… speak?"

"My real name is Albert Jameson!" Geralt stated.

"Ahh, Albert… that's a good name for the profession I have in mind for you! From this moment onward, you will forget your sense of self, you exist solely for my benefit, your deepest desire is to make my life easier, and protect me from danger."

Raphael stated, of course Geralt was resistant to this at first, but after a few dozen minutes of having his mind overwritten. Geralt finally stopped writhing in agony… and his excruciating migraines disappeared.

Geralt stood tall… and walked towards Raphael who was sitting on a small boulder.

Geralt took a knee, and said. "Master… I Albert your humble butler, am here to serve!"

Due to his mind constantly being bombarded with commands, his mind caved, and Geralt was born anew.

"Humph… so you do know humility!" Raphael was delighted by his newfound treasure.

"Tell me Albert, have you been practicing your Arc diligently? Raphael questioned.

"Yes master! My proficiency has vastly improved over the year, I am capable of much more than when I first arrived!" Albert responded, and piqued Raphael's curiosity.

"Ohh… you've arrived here a year before the canon started, and you've been familiarising yourself with your powers… tell me, have you created any elixirs?

Raphael questioned him, apparently due to his wish, Geralt… or now Albert, should have extremely large magic reserves, and a high talent for elixirs, he wondered if the herbs and materials of this world could be used in some kind of magic.

"Yes master! Though I admit, they are not of the highest quality, the herbs of this world are sparse of any energies, and their aren't many materials worth using in potions, the only ones I've had success with, are potions of my own creation, based upon the materials found in this world which is not suited for mages!" Albert replied

"You can create potions?! Well, I'm getting more fond of you, tell me of these potions!"

Raphael was curious of magic, and wanted to compare them to the innate intuition of magic that comes with being the dark one.

"Yes master, I've created two complete potions… both of them have been tested." Albert spoke.

"The first I've named: [Lion's courage] this allows me to suppress my fear, and overflow with courage and pride, it was created with the heart of a lion that died a noble death, the material is hard to acquire. The other one I've named: [Merman gills] allowing one to breath and move like a torpedo underwater, created with the gills of a shark, who's body I came across at an illegal fish market during my travels." Albert thought about another one but was unsure if it was worth mentioning.

"Well actually master… their is one more elixir, technically it's a failure, but I suppose it could be considered a success, if creating a volatile beast is the goal." Albert told Raphael.

"Hmm, a failed elixir… and it's not complete? Tell me!" Raphael replied.

"Well master, it's called [Brightly burnt], since the brightest flames burn out quicker. This elixir was meant to be a super serum of sorts, it will heal all wounds, including mental ones, it can allow one to survive harsh conditions, and push the body past the physical limits of it's species."

"It was created using an eyelash of a formerly insane person, the blood of a reptile… the severed tail of a lizard and the feather of a peacock! Unfortunately however the elixir did not work as intended, and instead… it created monsters!" Albert informed his master.

'Monsters, like the ones from horror movies, or perhaps Godzilla type monsters.' Raphael thought.

"Interesting! Do you have any vials left?"

"Unfortunately all of the elixirs were consumed during testing, and I wasn't in a rush to concoct these potions, so I also haven't bought any extra materials and herbs!" Albert sounded apologetic, which is natural due to his deeply inlaid forced loyalty.

'Well… creating monsters with my dark magic is definitely possible, but it would still be an achievement worth remembering, and the potions he creates are probably of a Witcher style, meaning they are unique from my own potion-craft.' Raphael thought.

"And you paid for these materials with your arc! Right, so can you create a mountain of gold bars? Does your arc have a creation limit?" Raphael recalled a fanfiction about someone whom wished for the arc, and wondered if Albert could do the same.

"I indeed used my arc master, and yes I can indeed create a mountain of gold… the only thing I am limited by is my imagination, plus I can feel it, my arc is nowhere near creating living autonomous organisms!"

Albert informed Raphael, and he was not very surprised about the last part… instead he focused on the mountain of gold, as if he can already see it! In his former life, he was a rather greedy person, he simply lacked the means to acquire this wealth, it also didn't help that his main sin was sloth.

And now that he had the means, very easy means at that… his mental state was momentarily clouded, thankfully however the thought was quickly wiped from his mind, presumably because he had a mind tantamount to Elijah himself!

'Damn, I can't believe I almost ordered him to manifest a mountain of gold right here! These damned mortal desires, the sooner I get rid of them, the better.' Albert respectfully waited patiently for his master to finish his thoughts.

"Alright Albert, another question, does your world travel artefact have any special rules or regulations?"

Albert thought for a moment! "Umm… well I'm not sure what you mean by that, but it does allow for immediate and unlimited access to worlds that have already been traveled too! However if you want to travel to another timeline or alternate universe, then you'll have to use more energy, but there are only three mystical stones!"

"Mystical stones huh, pass me one." Raphael ordered his butler.

'These so called mystical stones should simply be made out of refined and stored energy, turned into a power source.'

Albert passed him a stone.

The moment Raphael touched the stone, he felt an immense supply of power laying dormant inside the stone, but as the darkness his reserves of magic are nigh-infinite, and is not to be underestimated… unlike a natural dark one, who is limited due to the fact that the power they borrow is from an outside source, he does not have this problem, as he is the darkness itself.

The darkness merely inhabits Elijah's body as a vessel, his body is a substitute container of the darkness in place of the dagger, this is possible because Elijah's body is entirely indestructible, making it more suitable than the dagger.

However just because he looks like Elijah, it doesn't stop him from being the darkness… his reserves of power are replenished mere moments after they are spent, he is a well of power that will never run dry, it will stay that way forever, but even if he constantly overdraws his magic and finds his powers spent which is nigh-impossible… his magic will probe every dimension it can until the spark of power is ignited once again.

Raphael felt the stone which overflows with power. "Well, this is damn impressive! Who knew something so tiny could be so fierce."

"Alright, let's leave the forest now." Raphael muttered just loud enough for Albert to hear him, before going back to his thoughts.

The power supply attempted to dump a lot of power into Raphael once it came into contact with him. 'Huh, I wonder if this is because the stone wasn't meant for me, or perhaps it senses my dark power, and is trying to purify it, that would explain the slight burning sensation, such a mysterious little stone.'

Raphael expelled the rampaging stones power from his body, and sent a pulse of his own power to seal the stones defences, making it as if he were not even there.

'Haha* was this a little defence mechanism to stop ordinary people from using this power supply? Not bad! If the quality of my power wasn't so potent, even with my overwhelming reserves of power, it would only be a matter of time until it was eaten away, even if it would take an eternity.' The tone of his inner voice was practically radiating ego.

"Have you ever used the artefact to travel before?" Raphael questioned him.