The Two Week Curse

by Michael Chatfield

  The last member of their group was Zhou Heng. He was a quiet man with a strange appearance. He didn’t look physically odd, but his clothes were immaculate. Even though he had repaired them multiple times, he took his time to make sure that the quality of his repairs couldn’t be seen. He was a farmer by day but he had repaired most people’s clothes. He even made the guards’ old leather armor.

  “Did Jasper tell you what this was all about?” Shi Wanshu asked Jia Feng.

  “He didn’t know. He just said that Erik wanted to see us all,” Jia Feng said.

  Zhou Heng looked over to the smithy that was going at full blast. One could hear hammers repeatedly banging metal into shape. There was little emotion on his face as he looked back to the Alchemy lab. “We will find out soon enough.” Zhou Heng stepped forward.

  The others were startled into action, following him.

  They entered the lab. Even now there was an old medicinal smell to the place.

  “You stole my femur!” Egbert’s voice could be heard, with a noncommittal reply.

  “I had to walk back using my knees as my hip joints! I lost a foot and a half!” Egbert’s voice reached new heights.

  Everyone paused when hearing this.

  “Could you be quieter? It’s hard to concentrate,” Erik replied, seemingly unaffected.

  “Y-you!” Egbert yelled.

  “I thought that this was filled with nothing but information manuals! More than three quarters are these romance books, like the Lewd Knights, Wilderness Borne and the Lusty Argo...”

  “Hey! Who said that they were all the gnomes books! A man has to read you know! You only needed to ask and I could lend them to you! Those are classics!” Egbert said.

  “But,” You don’t even have the mechanics, do skeletons get freaky… how would that! No mind! No why did you do that!

  “No stop that, get out of my head, ughh, oh god I think I’m going to be sick, how could a skeleton, ughk!

  Erik dry heaved for some time as Egbert talked at him, extolling the virtues of each of the books. It seemed his interests were heavily in the romance category.

  “You’re not even paying attention! Fine, what are the four stages of Alchemy?” Egbert asked, his fury reaching new heights.

  Erik, happy to have something to distract him about the thoughts of skeleton mating held his head as he replied.

  “Growing, harvesting, preparing, and formation.”

  The three in the hall looked at one another, not knowing whether to advance or stay where they were.

  “What do the stages mean?” Egbert demanded, pressing Erik.

  “Growing deals with the growth of the plant. Many alchemists create their own gardens of items in different regions or specific formations that will improve the growth and quality of the different ingredients. Also, alchemists might splice together different plants and strains to create more powerful ingredients. Sometimes extremely rare ingredients won’t be grown, but are found in hard to find and secretive locations, such as dungeons, ancient realms, and other special locations. Whether the ingredient is located in one’s own garden, or within a hidden cave, harvesting is vitally important, as is storage.

  “If the ingredient is not harvested properly, then it might become useless. Many heroes travel with at least one person who is well versed in harvesting so that they might claim these ingredients to sell or use them later. One must also store these plants in containers that complement the ingredient or else the efficacy might decline.

  “Then there is the preparation. This is made when you confirm you want to make a specific alchemic product, such as a powder, potion, or pill. For different alchemic formulas, ingredients might need to be prepared in a variety of ways—sometimes boiled, other times burned, chopped up, ground down, frozen, or grilled. Methods of preparation of the ingredients will have a vastly different outcome when you move to the last stage, which is formation. Forming a powder is the easiest; a potion is much harder and creating a pill is in another level of difficulty.

  “The more suitable and tailored growing conditions for the plant, the greater the efficacy. If it is harvested properly and stored in the right container, it will retain the highest level of efficacy, with the preparation drawing out this potential for it to be combined with other ingredients in the formation stage according to an alchemic formula to create a substance that will have a great effect on whoever consumes it.”

  Erik’s words were calm and relaxed, as if this was all natural.

  “Hmmpf. Well, it looks like you’ve learned something. You still need to practice growing, then harvesting and preparation. Forming a powder is too advanced right now. Build a firm foundation and you’ll advance faster. Take this scroll. It’s one of the five compendiums on ingredients. It should help you out greatly. You have guests.” The door opened to the corridor as Egbert appeared. His upper legs were missing and he held one femur in his left hand. He was missing multiple finger bones and his left fibula.

  The three in the hall looked at him in his disheveled state.

  “Come on in,” Erik said from the Alchemy room.

  The three shuffled in. Egbert was about to leave when Erik stopped him.

  “Egbert, I have a plan for you too.” He tossed Egbert his other femur.

  Egbert caught it. He seemed to think for a minute before he closed the door and moved to the side. He pulled his legs off and started to put himself back together.

  “Jia Feng, our most skilled cook, Zhou Heng, the leading tailor in Alva, and Shi Wanshu, architect and woodworker.” Erik looked at them each in turn. “I want to hire you all.”

  His words sat in the air, heavy and ambiguous.

  “What job might we need to do that involves us all?” Shi Wanshu asked. He was the most familiar with Erik.

  “I want to raise you to be grandmasters in your field. As you know, Alva Dungeon was once a city of gnomes. They had reached a high standard in all manner of crafting disciplines. I need people who are motivated to learn and are willing to teach others. You will be paid to teach others and you will have full use of the academy as well as the workshops. Resources can be subsidized at the beginning and will be sold to you at cheaper prices than they would be at the market. You might be called from time to time to assist Alva Dungeon in one manner or another for compensation. Anything that you create will be yours to do with as you see fit. Taran has already been given the position as principal of the academy. Jia Feng, you would teach cooking.” Erik pulled out a thick book and put it on the preparation table in front of him.

  Jia Feng’s eyes went wide as she read the book’s cover. Apprentice’s cookbook, simple but delicious dishes.

  “Zhou Heng, a teacher to tailors.” Erik put out a tailor blueprint for a simple pair of pants that were elegant in nature, with simple designs running through them. Discreet animal hide light armor pants.

  Zhou Heng’s breathing turned faster.

  “Shi Wanshu, a teacher of woodworking and hopefully architect.” A model appeared on the table. It was a wood house but the detailing was exquisite, as if someone had just shrunk a house down.

  “Egbert, I’d like for you to be in charge of materials and the library. You know much more than we do about these subjects and it will be your goal to assist people increasing their knowledge and skills by supplying them with the information that they require,” Erik said.

  Egbert slowed down what he was doing. “It would be my honor,” Egbert said, sounding strangely serious.

  Erik had a small smile as he looked to the other three.

  “I would be honored,” Zhou Heng said, losing his quiet and calm composure.

  Erik’s smile widened.

  “Me too!” Jia Feng couldn’t hold back. Seeing that book in front of her, she just wanted to snatch it up and read.

  “I as well!” Shi Wanshu didn’t want to be left out.

  “I thank you all for your time. Egbert is well versed in a great numbe
r of these disciplines. There are plenty more information sources under his protection.”

  Erik tossed over a few bones at Egbert. A weird attraction force pulled them back into their original places.

  “These are still materials of the academy, so do not lose or damage them. Otherwise you will have to pay or replace them,” Erik warned.

  Jia Feng slowed her hands and gingerly took the book instead of just snatching it. Just smelling the book made her mouth water.

  “What will the academy be called?” Egbert asked.

  “Kanesh Academy,” Erik said.

  Egbert looked deeply touched as he bowed. Erik lowered his head to Egbert as well before Egbert led them out of the room.

  Erik pulled out a number of books, covering the table once again. In his hands, a large and heavy book appeared.

  A bright white light came from under the door. Jia Feng looked back at the door in alarm.

  “Mother fuc—” There was a thud of a head hitting a table before silence.

  “Looks like he used the entire compendium in one shot,” Egbert said simply, sounding a little impressed as he continued walking.

  “Should we help him?” Shi Wanshu asked.

  “If one uses technique books, there is a lot of information contained within. It can overload people’s minds unless they are of a higher level. For lower-level people, it might be too much and they fall unconscious. Don’t worry. With his recovery abilities, he’ll be fine in a few hours,” Egbert said.

  They continued out of the building as Jia Feng finally asked a question that had been confusing her. “What does Kanesh mean?”

  “Kanesh? It was the name of this floor.” Egbert’s voice turned sober.

  Jia Feng understood now. It was paying homage to the gnomes who had organized and created this knowledge.

  Chapter: Scouts and Second Phase

  Four days had passed since the academy teachers were appointed.

  In those four days, Alva Dungeon had been a hive of activity. All of the department heads had posted recruitment posters for farmers, soldiers, traders, and more. People were rushing to apply for different jobs. By the third day, all the positions had been filled.

  The first phase had been completed. Now all that was left was to build the academy, workshops, warehouse, and the market.

  The different teachers were looking forward to having new facilities. They had unlimited access to the information left behind by the gnomes. Jia Feng had taken over the manor’s kitchen. Zhou Heng had taken over an open plot of land, sitting there for hours, studying different fabrics, testing out new ideas with the materials he had.

  Shi Wanshu altered between building plans on the construction interface in the dungeon core and whittling down wood, using different techniques to carve out incredibly detailed statues and other items.

  All of them shut out the rest of the world, spending their time increasing their abilities. Erik spent his time in the growing areas, using his Plant Cultivation spell.

  They had already gone through one harvest. Erik submersed himself in plants, focusing on the first and second stages, growing and harvesting.

  If he focused on just one plant, then it was possible for him to bring them to harvest in a few hours. Like this, he grew multiple kinds of plants, growing his Alchemy skill.

  Rugrat and Taran did nothing but used the smithy. Thankfully, with the houses completed, people could get away from them.

  People also learned about what the academy offered and went looking for Egbert for reading materials. He had taken up residence in the academy grounds. He exerted his true strength, focusing on building the academy’s library. He made some adjustments, turning the three-story structure into a proud hexagonal tower with six stories.

  People could only watch in awe as he used spells, carrying hundreds of stones at once, stacking them on top of one another. The tower shot up in the space of a day.

  He also commissioned bookshelves from Shi Wanshu.

  Egbert was in charge of testing, the library, and counseling. He was blunt with his assessment but it was usually right on the mark. Armed with a magic testing crystal, he could tell the Affinity of one’s magic. Based on his knowledge, with a few questions, he was able to figure out what discipline would best suit those who appeared in front of him.

  Taran might be the missing head of the academy but Egbert was its heart. Taran had already handed over the running to Egbert. The skeleton complained but one could tell that he was excited to be around people again. His character didn’t change much but his demeanor became softer dealing with people, making a genuine effort to advance their strength.

  Other than the sounds of construction and work, the academy grounds were silent, with people reading all manner of books in the courtyards. If they were stuck on something, they would go talk to Egbert. Only when they passed a test he put forth would he offer his assistance and guide them forward, looking to correct the holes in their knowledge.

  Erik opened his skill sheet. Although his gains hadn’t been massive, with his growing and harvesting, he had been able to improve upon his Alchemy skill.

  ==========

  Skill: Alchemy

  ==========

  Level: 17 (Novice)

  ==========

  No bonuses at this time. You must prove your skills first.

  ==========

  He’d even gained some Experience. Although becoming a higher level would diminish the rewards that one would get from killing creatures of the same or lower level, when increasing one’s skills, the Experience gain was constant according to levels. But when one reached a higher skill level or if they repeatedly made the same item or concoction again and again, then the skill level wouldn’t increase. After all, their skill level was adjusted based on their ability, not on the number of times that they replicated the result.

  Basically, if you wanted to get a higher level, you simply couldn’t grind out the same dagger; if you improved the dagger or made it with higher stats and abilities, then you would get more Experience and your skill level could also increase.

  ==========

  61,234/195,000 EXP till you reach Level 16

  ==========

  Erik dismissed the screen and bent down to inspect the blood fruit at his feet. This was a juicy, bulbous-looking plant that shone in the light. It slowly moved the reflected light, which made the fruit look like a beating heart.

  Erik felt someone approaching. He dismissed his Simple Organic Scan as he looked up. Around him, there was a small garden, just a ten-meter-by-two-meter space, full of all kinds of plants. Breathing in the air, one would feel refreshed by the aromas. Erik had gained these seedlings from Egbert and put his full effort into understanding them.

  Erik felt it was ridiculous at first, but with time he came to understand the different ways the plants interacted with one another and even moved their positions so that they benefited one another.

  Plants could have different Affinities. Putting them in the right positions would allow them to increase one another’s strength, creating a type of planting array.

  Erik had been totally focused on improving the speed that the plants grew at, but also the efficacy of the final product.

  He had read about all of these different ingredients and absorbed their information through the compendium that had knocked him out. Reading about them and then handling them personally was two different things. He had learned the basics but applying that knowledge was no simple matter.

  Erik felt as if he were learning to be a medic again. When in training, it was so simple, but when one had to carry out their job in the field, training could only get you so far; the rest was on you.

  Rugrat looked around the garden, surprised by the rapid growth. “I can faintly feel that my Mana Regeneration has increased.”

  “Most of these plants are geared toward increasing one’s Mana flow. They can be used in Mana recovery concoctions. Each of
them complement the other, so that the products they excrete benefit the others. Come here.” Erik moved to the middle of the plants.

  Here one could feel Mana moving through their Mana channels. It was soothing and relaxing. If someone stayed here for months, they might see their Mana channels cleared out and the purity of their Mana increase.

  Rugrat moved forward and let out a satisfied sigh. After a few seconds, he frowned and looked at Erik. “You—did you recover your lost Mana drop?”

  “I recovered it and condensed another drop.” Erik smiled. His total Mana drops had now reached three. If he could reach four, he would just need to condense them together into a core and he would open his final Mana gate.

  Being at the focal point in the garden, the Mana he pulled in was refined by the different plants, making it easier to condense into a single drop.

  In this garden, Erik’s senses were heightened.

  “You opened a new Mana gate!” Erik said.

  Rugrat laughed and shrugged. He didn’t hide anything as he activated all twelve of his Mana gates.

  Mana in the surrounding area settled down as if their master had arrived, bowing in deference.

  Erik felt that his own Mana system was slightly suppressed. “When using all of your Mana gates, there’s a faint suppression on others in the same area?”

  “Yeah, that makes sense with the new title,” Rugrat said.

  “New title?” Erik asked.

  Rugrat stopped purposefully using his Mana gates. “Well, as one increases the Mana gates that they open, every one past your tenth, you get a new title,” Rugrat said, coming clean.

  “Little fucker. I should have known that you were keeping something from me.”

  “Well, you ready to check out the Beast Mountains?” Rugrat asked, quickly changing the subject.

  “Fine, but tell me how you opened your twelfth Mana gate.” Erik moved away from his garden and headed through the now defined Alva Dungeon. Around the dungeon Village Hall, the different buildings were all done except for the market; that would come with the second phase.