by K R Dimmick
Soter, who must have been the shape I’d seen moving around, lay down behind me, trying to help warm me up.
“Ahhh, that has to be the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long while,” Mikael finally managed to get out. “Soter was worried about you. He came and bit the edge of my shirt, and then dragged me here.”
I glared at him, while patting Soter on the head as a thank you.
A notification popped up in my vision, which I focused on to avoid looking at Mikael, who still hadn’t managed to stop laughing.
Success! You have discovered: Freezing Bomb
This is a single use potion that will freeze everything within a range of 100 for 2 minutes. Anything trapped within the area of effect will experience a Chilled debuff for a further 2 minutes.
I looked down to see a little red snowflake in the bottom left of my vision.
So much for a Frost Bomb! I’d better see if Aliz knew what I’d done wrong. Still, being able to freeze your opponent solid for a full two minutes was an awesome discovery. Hopefully, the recipe had been recorded and I could make this again. Next time, though, I wouldn’t use it on myself.
Back in the Alchemy hut, and this time in a party with Mikael, much to my disgust, I brought up the recipe for a Freezing Bomb.
Freezing Bomb:
1 bottle of water
10 drops of Acacia Sap
19 finely crushed Snowberries
1 drop of Sky Mushroom clear tincture
Combine the ingredients over Warm heat until potion thickens and becomes pale blue.
Decant into a bottle and plunge into ice. Leave to set for 5 minutes.
I guess I’d lost more of that first snowberry dust than I’d realized. I probably hadn’t managed to accurately measure the extra half I’d added at the end, either. Oh well, live and learn, as they said. It was time to make another ten of those if I could, before going on to the next discovery so I maximized my leveling.
Grabbing nearly all the finely crushed snowberries from the Herbalist’s stores, I left him a little note so he would know to replenish them. I headed back to the Alchemy hut and started on another Freezing Bomb.
I poured a little bottle of water into the flask and added the ten drops of Acacia Sap. This time, I was a lot more careful with the finely crushed snowberries and managed to get exactly nineteen packets into the flask. Another careful maneuver with the sky mushroom clear tincture resulted in a single drop in the flask, and this time, none on the ceiling of the hut. I heated the flask over the warm torch. As soon as the potion thickened and turned pale blue, I decanted it into an Alchemy bottle and quickly put it in the ice bucket. Five minutes later, I pulled the potion out.
Success! You have created: Freezing Bomb
Excellent. I was starting to get the hang of this. Thirty minutes later, having worked out how to time it so I could make one batch while another one was in the ice, I had a total of ten Freezing Bombs in my inventory, and an extra half a level in my Alchemy skill. Now it was time to try a Frost Bomb again.
Sure enough, using the same method to get all of the finely crushed snowberries in the flask, this time, when I heated the potion and it thickened, it stayed clear instead of going pale blue. I decanted it quickly and put it into the ice.
Five minutes later, I pulled out the potion bottle to find it had turned a silver color.
Success! You have created: A Potion
Try it out to see what effect it has.
Time to go back to that clearing again. I walked outside to find Mikael sitting on the floor, by the entrance.
“Okay, experimentation time again. Do you want to come?” I asked.
“Definitely,” he laughed, “Wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
We arrived at the clearing to find the dirt floor was now rather muddy from the melted ice. I was seriously entertaining thoughts of throwing the potion at Mikael to test it. The only thing that stopped me was that if I’d gotten it wrong again, he could actually die, whereas I couldn’t. Sighing, I stepped into the clearing and threw the bottle at my feet.
It landed in the mud with a splat, but didn’t break. Well, better to know that could be an issue now, than find out in combat, I thought. I pulled it out of the mud with a squelching noise and aimed it at a pebble beside me instead. As soon as it hit, the bottle shattered again.
Suddenly, I was covered in a thin layer of frost. Once again, the red snowflake icon appeared in my debuff bar, showing I’d been chilled. I focused on it to find that meant I had a 50% reduced movement speed for five seconds. I tried moving around and it was like I was walking through treacle. Needless to say, Mikael started laughing again. I bent down to grab some mud to throw at him, but I was so slow that he effortlessly sidestepped out of the way. As soon as my five seconds were up, I went to throw a second handful, but before I could let it go, I was hit with the next damage pulse. Soter let out an indignant yelp as the pile of mud fell on the floor near him. I endured a total of another two pulses, each for a further three seconds.
Success! You have discovered: Frost Bomb
This is a damage over time potion that chills everything within a 100 range for 5 seconds, then three pulses of 2 seconds each.
By the time it was over, Mikael had thrown several handfuls of mud at me and I was covered in it. At that point, I was ready to try the next potion on him no matter what happened.
Scowling, I stormed back to the hut with Mikael following behind me, laughing even harder.
I finished up making another ten Frost Bombs, putting them into my inventory, and discovering that I was now level 38 in Alchemy. Pulling out my notes, I looked to see what potion I could try to make next. Acid Bomb looked interesting, so I went and grabbed the ingredients for that from the stores. I figured I had time to create and test one more potion before I had to clean up so I was ready for Kailu’s welcome home party that evening.
Acid Bomb:
1 bottle of water
15 drops of Sandbox Tree Sap
4 finely chopped Bombardier Beetle Acid Sacs
1 drop of Sky Mushroom clear tincture
Combine the ingredients over Molten heat until potion thickens.
Decant into a bottle and leave to set for 3 minutes.
I poured another small bottle of water into an Alchemy flask. The sandbox tree sap bottle had a skull and crossbones etched onto the bottle, so I picked that up very carefully. It was milky white, with an acrid smell. I gingerly put the required 15 drops into the flask, each one sizzling as it hit the water. The chopped acid sacs came in a bottle themselves, with the fleshy part of the organ swimming in the acid they’d contained. I had no idea if I was supposed to add both the solid bits and the acid, but since I was creating an Acid Bomb, I guessed I needed to add both.
I stepped back and held the bottle with some tongs, carefully pouring the acid into the flask. As the solid chunks of the sac landed in the mixture, a small drop of liquid splashed onto the table and proceeded to eat a hole through the wood. Now very glad I’d decided to use the tongs, I added the other three acid sacs. A single drop of the sky mushroom clear tincture later and I was ready to start heating. I toggled the torch to molten and held the flask over the heat.
It seemed to take much longer than any other potion I’d ever made before it finally started to thicken rapidly. I decanted the goopy mess into an Alchemy bottle and let it sit for three minutes. As it cooled, it turned a very bright lime green that almost seemed to glow from within. I decided that there was no way I was testing this on myself. I’d have to find a hide or a piece of meat or something and try it on that, first.
I called out to ask Mikael if he’d find something for me and meet me at the clearing. A minute later, the potion finally cooled enough to be complete.
Success! You have created: A Potion
Try it out to see what effect is has.
Mikael was still sitting outside the hut, but he now had a dead squirrel in his hands.
“Will this do?” he asked, h
olding it up.
“Perfect, thanks. This one looks dangerous,” I said, showing him the luminous, lime green concoction.
We walked to the clearing and Mikael threw the carcass into the center of the mud pit. I threw a large rock in next to it to avoid having to wade into the mud and retrieve an unbroken bottle. Then I threw the bomb at it as hard as I could.
It exploded and the surrounding area was doused in acrid green smoke. We stumbled back, coughing hard. A little skull and crossbones icon appear on my debuff bar, telling me I’d been poisoned. I cast Healing Mist over the two of us as Soter looked disparagingly at us from a distance. After five seconds, the smoke started to clear, only to reappear once again. It gave off three extra pulses after the initial one, and then we each started waving a large, fan-like leaf at the area to clear out the smoke.
Success! You have discovered: Acid Bomb
This is a damage over time potion that corrodes everything within a 100 range for 5 seconds, then three pulses of 2 seconds each.
When we finally caught a glimpse of the carcass, it was very sobering. Not much of it was left, but what little there was, was pitted beyond belief and the remains of the hide were still smoking. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to bring myself to use this on a living being, but I was going to make ten of these anyway, to level my Alchemy as much as I could.
We all headed back to El Sanctum in a rather sober mood.
By the time I’d created my ten Acid Bombs, I’d progressed to level 39 in Alchemy, with 50% toward the next level. So, it had been a very productive afternoon.
The preparations for the party were nearly complete, and I needed something to cheer me up after that Acid Bomb, so I quickly found a stream to wash all the mud off and wandered back to the center, just in time to see Queen Elysyia hold her arms up to quiet the crowd.
36
War Party
I could see King Faelyn, Mikael, Kira and a few others I recognized in the little square that was at the center of El Sanctum. I walked over to a table laden with some drinks and picked up something I hoped wasn’t elven wine.
Standing off to one side was Allion, dressed up in yet another ostentatious outfit, looking around as if he owned the place. He was holding a beautiful longbow in his hands.
Kailu was standing toward the back of the crowd. He’d made himself a new leather outfit in brown and green, and wearing it, he almost disappeared among the trees. For the first time since I’d known him, however, his face and hair were clean, and he held himself with the same inner confidence Allion seemed to possess.
“Welcome, friends,” declared the queen. “We’re here today to celebrate the return of Kailu Corium.”
She beckoned Kailu to come and stand on the little raised area with her.
“We have one last gift for you before the party officially starts.”
She waved a smug looking Allion over.
“Well, actually, we have two gifts,” she said. “First of all, our best woodworker has created a new longbow for you, as you seem to be missing one and no elf should be without a bow.”
The crowd laughed.
“And now for the real gift,” she paused and looked Kailu in the eyes. “Kailu, meet Allion. Your son.”
I dropped my drink.
After the initial shock, Kailu and Allion disappeared somewhere, presumably to catch up and get acquainted with each other.
The band started playing a collection of flutes, pipes and drums, and the floor was cleared for some dancing.
Kira and Mikael led the way in an energetic dance everyone else seemed to know the steps to. I’d never really been to a party, so I edged toward the outskirts of the clearing, unsure of quite what to do. I sat down on a small tree stump and Soter emerged from the forest and flopped down beside me. I absentmindedly scratched his head.
After a while, Arik spotted me and wandered over, carrying some food and a bottle of something.
“Can’t have you sitting alone during a party,” he said with a glint in his eye, “It’s an elven rule that nobody gets left out.”
I laughed. For a scholar, he knew how to talk to people.
“Now, have you tried some of our famous Chicken Mushrooms,” he asked, holding out a large, flat, orange-colored, pancake looking thing.
You have received: Chicken Mushroom
+7 Toughness for two hours
It had a frilly white edge and when I picked up a piece, I found it was twice as heavy as it looked. I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about it, but I didn’t want to offend the one person who was being friendly to me, so I took a bite.
A salty, fried chicken flavor burst in my mouth. How on earth mushrooms could taste like fried chicken I had no idea, but they did. A little blue apple icon appeared in the bottom left of my vision, showing I’d gotten the buff.
“The increased physical defense helps with the drinking,” Arik winked. “We elves love to party, and the drinks always flow. I’m sure tomorrow will see a lot of hung-over people lying around, taking the day off.”
“Yeah, my last experience of drinking in this world didn’t go particularly well. Allion persuaded me to share a bottle of elven wine with him.” I said.
“Ah, that’s always fun to do with an unsuspecting human,” Arik laughed. “We do have other drinks as well, though.”
He passed me a glass he’d pulled out of his inventory, then held up a bottle containing a red liquid.
“Raspberry Nectar,” he explained, pouring a generous amount into my glass.
I surreptitiously sniffed the liquid while he filled his glass. The alcoholic fumes were enough to nearly knock me over backward.
“To solving that riddle,” he said, clinking his glass against mine.
I took a small sip and the liquid burned down the back of my throat.
“Good stuff,” I managed to get out. I now also had a red apple in my debuff bar, saying I had a two-hour debuff which gave me -4 to Intelligence.
We drank and danced the night away. The drink was definitely flowing and, at some point, Arik and I finished that bottle of Raspberry Nectar. Somehow, no one seemed to care that I didn’t know the dance steps and kept bumping into people and knocking them over. Instead, they all seemed to think it was incredibly funny that I’d gotten so drunk. Much to my annoyance, Mikael also shared the story of my Freezing Bomb disaster with anyone that would listen.
Wake. Quick. Soter kept pushing his nose into my side. I tried to bat him away, but he became more insistent as I came to. I had the world’s worst hangover. My head was pounding, but thankfully, I hadn’t gotten the Repulsive debuff I’d ended up with last time.
“We’re under attack!” yelled one of the elf hunters I’d danced with the previous night.
Under attack from what? I thought, stumbling to my feet. I looked around the clearing to see bleary-eyed elves that had obviously enjoyed themselves a little too much at the party desperately trying to make sense of the morning.
A huge explosion rent the air, focusing everyone’s attention instantly on the hunter.
“Join up,” yelled the King.
A request popped up, filling my vision.
King Faelyn Sophos has sent you a war party invite.
You will be able to see each other’s health, mana and stamina while in a party.
Do you accept? Yes / No
I quickly thought yes and joined the largest war party I’d ever seen.
“Report!” demanded the King, causing everyone around to fall silent.
“The Dragon Hunters and the Ratters Town locals are attacking in force,” announced the elf hunter. “There are easily a hundred of them. Despite their levels, they overwhelmed my patrol with sheer numbers. The others bought me time to run and warn you.”
“How did they get that many people?” exclaimed the King, a look of horror on his face. I assumed that meant he was realizing how badly he’d underestimated Andrew and the Dragon Hunters.
I finally noticed the elf hunter was bleeding hea
vily from a large cut on his leg. I grabbed my staff out of my inventory and cast Wound Seal on him.
Everyone spun to look at me.
“You’re a healer?” The King looked at me with shock written across his face.
“Err, yes?” I replied.
“What spells do you have?” he asked urgently.
“Wound Seal and Healing Mist.”
“Get me the scrolls, now!” he yelled, and one of the elves ran off to comply. “Here’s what we’re going to do.”
The King split our war party into ten smaller groups. There were over two hundred of us, so the groups contained around twenty-five people each. Unfortunately, not all the elves were trained for combat, but most were at least on par with the NPCs of Ratters Town when it came to levels. Each subgroup seemed to have a sub-commander that was further organizing their group and telling people what to do.
I, and a couple of others, however, hadn’t been placed in one of the subgroups. I was about to ask why that was when a notification popped into view.
You have been granted temporary war party commander rights.
To gain full war party skills, unlock the skill: Commander.
A whole bunch of little icons suddenly appeared over each subgroup listed at the side of my vision. It looked like I could move anyone I wanted between groups, myself included. I needed to find out how to unlock the commander skill when this was over.
The elf who’d run off at the King’s command skidded to a halt in front of the King and handed him two scrolls. Without skipping a beat or glancing in my direction, he thrust them at me.
You have received the spell: Minimizer