The Oldest Wizard

I still remember the day I met him. It was a day like any other, and I thought it would just be a routine collection of another soul. Instead I arrived at a shabby looking lab to find a young wizard, who did something none of the other long lived ones had managed to do.He managed to prolong his life past the 1000 year mark(more have managed to achieve similar results since, but none have ever come even close to the near immortality he managed to achieve). The prick was pretty ecstatic when I confirmed it.

His death date was the most ridiculous I’ve ever seen. Normally one would think that it would account for such occurrences, and that I would be able to see who will become long lived in advance. But the death date only shows the natural end of one’s life barrier, so it needs to readjust when that gets artificially prolonged. I can only tell after it's done.

And I don't encounter most of the long lived ones again until their time comes(again). Might spare some time to see how they're doing once in a while, but never really interact with them much. Some do go out of their way to speak with me occasionally, but most prefer not to given what my presence usually represents. Not this guy.

Even before the humans in his life had passed, he would try and find me to talk about whatever research he was working on at the time. He eventually ended up meeting Life too(or at least the body she used to move around in), and they really hit it off.

Given their love for various kinds of research, it's not surprising that they would get along(although her being able to directly confirm or deny some of his theories by the simple fact that she's a god who’s been around for millennia, helped too). It was nice seeing her be that happy to have a friend as enthusiastic as her. We used to play a lot as children, but I just got busier and busier, and it was harder to do things together(I was never as interested in experiments either). She didn't seem as lonely anymore(she did make Sacha eventually as well).

As time passed, she trusted him enough to show him her true form. He was sworn to secrecy about it and never once betrayed us. Considering how a similar incident went very badly some centuries later, I will always appreciated that.

He always tried to get me to tell him his exact death date(or even a rough estimate like how many centuries left), but that's something I would never budge on. I always maintained the same policy for everyone, friend or no. Telling someone how much time they have left might have a needless impact on their death(them managing to avoid it would be one thing, but most of the time they risk dying earlier). Although I guess it doesn't matter as much now, given the little time everyone has left.

Despite him being so friendly with us and some others, he’s become a shut-in over the centuries. Preferring not to interact with most unless absolutely necessary. Though contact with the Mage Tower and other organizations like it, that came before, was unavoidable if he wanted access to their extensive collections of spell books and research(despite his own extensive collection and centuries to expand upon it, there's still only so much a single person can do on his own).

Others trying to steal the secret to his long life, and some even trying to experiment on him(it always varied who, between strange cultists, someone else trying to become long lived, and an eccentric lord/lady on occasion) didn't really help much with the eroding trust either. Ended up helping him get out of a couple of those situations(the long lived ones arguably fall outside of my oath to a certain degree, so I can interfere in anything that isn't directly linked to their death, but can't take their life myself ahead of time). But most of the time he can manage on his own.

He made his lair deep in the Caligo Mountains(just north of the Monster Forest), since not many tend to go there. Any settlements are few and far between the further in you go. Most are at the foot of the mountains, with a couple of villages settled deeper in at some of the mountain valleys. But past a certain point, there's no one(except the occasional traveler or the one near immortal shut-in). Partially due to the rather harsh weather conditions higher up the mountains, and due to the flying beasts that wandered in from the Monster Forest and decided to make the mountains their nesting ground. The bird-lizard things(the humans call them red beaks) like to nest in the larger caves, which help provide shelter from the hail and rain. Compared to most of the beasts one can find in the forest, they're one of the smaller species, but big and aggressive enough to be a problem for humans.

Not that a certain wizard has to worry about any of that, when Life lets him use the tree tunnels too. There aren't many trees growing higher up the mountains, but he made sure to keep a couple near his front door. Makes visiting him much easier for me, not that going through the mountains would be an issue when none of the beasts are a threat(the weather would make things a bit annoying though).

I stepped out of the tunnel and stood in front of the entrance. Didn't have to knock, the door reacted to the symbol on my hand(he made one for friends and one for temporary guests, guests have to knock) and opened on its own. It's been a couple of decades since the last time I came here, not that it's changed much. Although there were a lot more books and papers piled all over, than before. Other than that, it's the same long hallway of stone and wood, and the same endless library with shelves that seem to extend in all directions(it took him ages to make it possible for the library to fetch and put away books for you, but he did it). Since the whole place is carved inside a mountain, he never bothered with any windows, just the various lights floating about and the smaller warning crystals.

As I made my way through the library a human sized golem blocked my way. His name is Peanut(apparently that's what his creator was eating that day), and his master made him so he would guard the place in his absence and…do chores(you'd think he would do at least some of them himself considering how much time he spends at home, but guess not). He's a polite and fairly stoic little thing for the most part(so long as you're not an enemy), completely made of stone with a mana crystal acting as the heart and the various spell marks carved in to allow proper movement. His eyes are carved out crystals glowing in the same way as his heart. He can speak, but tends to prefer simple gestures instead.

“Hello, Peanut, would you mind taking me to where your master is?” He gave me a nod and started guiding me through the maze of shelves. I could find him myself by sensing his soul, but the magic barrier and the magic in the place itself would make it a bit more annoying to sense his exact location. We eventually arrived at the center where a man was sitting at a large table with his head down, his curly brown hair splayed all over and buried in papers with a small tower of books on the side. Guess he's been having a rough time.

As we made our way closer to the table, the wizard slowly lifted his head. His green eyes looked at me. “Nice to see you finally decided to take my advice and stop wearing your old rags, Morta.” He said with his typical smirk. For a shut-in he's always had a strange interest in fashion(well, in various styled robes at least), and wouldn't shut up about the fact that I tended to go with the same plain dress for centuries, only really switching things up slightly when I stand out too much in a crowd(any more than I already do). Life always liked changing whatever plants she wanted to decorate her dress with as well, and I just never really cared too much so long as the clothes were practical and didn't get in the way of work(no one's going to care about fashion when they're dying anyway).

“You were always such a nag about it, that I thought it might be the quickest way to shut you up for once, Crispin.” The face he makes when someone uses his old name says it all, he never did like it much.

“Funny how you are the only one who still calls me that.” He said with a slightly passive aggressive tone in his voice.

“I’m the only technically living being that still remembers it, everyone else thinks it's Cris.”

“Shorter to say and not a constant reminder of how lazy my parents felt that day.” He got up from his chair.

“Says the guy, who named his golem after the food he ate that day.” I gave him a smirk as he made his way towards me. We stared at each other for a bit, then he smiled and gave me the usual hug.” It's good to see you again, Morta.” He might get on my nerves on occasion, but he'll probably always be one of my oldest friends. “You too, Cris.”