by Aleron Kong
He pulled out the box that held all of Sonirae’s poisons. He placed the first one in and selected “Yes” on the deconstruct prompt. This time something spectacular happened. The beating vessels of the cauldron began pulsing faster. As they watched, the potion drained out of the pot though there was no obvious hole. Then Sion exclaimed and pointed at one of the vessels in the walls of the cauldron. The blue potion could be seen flowing through the clear veins before tracing down through the vessels in one of the cauldron support columns and then disappearing into the floor. The barely perceptible throb of the central cauldron increased in strength until it seemed like it was all Richter could hear. The sound wasn’t deafening, it just seemed like all other sounds in the Universe had disappeared until all that existed was him and the beating heart of the Dragon’s Cauldron. His own heartbeat synced up to this mighty rhythm and then a prompt appeared. Suddenly the knowledge of how to make the potion was etched into Richter’s mind, chapter and verse. He was also provided the knowledge of how to make it with local ingredients. In the space of three more beats, the volume of the Cauldron returned to a normal, barely perceptible level. He smiled broadly at his Companions.
“Did it work?” Beyan asked.
“What do you mean? You didn’t hear that?” Richter responded.
“Hear what?” Sion asked. The gnome and sprite looked at one another in mild confusion.
Richter just laughed. “I can’t explain it to you. You’ll understand when you connect with the Cauldron.”
One by one, he placed all of the Assassin’s potions into the central cauldron. He had to use several doses for some of them before the recipe was revealed, but they all yielded their secrets and all had local equivalents of their ingredients. The names changed to represent the underlying purpose of the potion.
Drowned One Poison became Water Damage Poison. Beyan said the recipe contained some expensive ingredients if they would have had to buy them in Yves. The local ingredients did not sound hard to procure though. It required three scales of a sling eel, the dried petals of the dusk clover flower, the congealed blood of a spotted deer, bark shavings of a kerrigan tree and a few other things. Brewing the potion required several steps and had specific cooking and drying times as well as a prescribed number of times to grind certain ingredients. The petals, for instance, just needed to be broken into small pieces while the bark had to be ground into powder. Richter had no idea how anyone would find this out by trial and error.
Just figuring out the recipe of the first potion made Richter appreciate the power of the Cauldron. It also made him appreciate how difficult it was to make potions. Beyan told him that specific recipes should be used to make only a small number of doses. The number of doses was determined by the alchemist’s skill rank. Beyan, as a journeyman, could make four measures of a potion without compromising the formula. Apparently, proportionally increasing the ingredients to make large quantities of the potion all at once increased the chance of the entire alchemy being ruined. Learning that made Richter appreciate the Cauldron’s ability to clone a potion and make nine more copies all at once with a 100% success rate. Beyan said that at his rank, he had a 65% chance of making a solution-level potion correctly, but that it would also take at least three hours. Richter quailed at hearing how involved the process was. One thing was clear. He had to find more alchemists and level up the ones he had.
He told Beyan to expect more hunting trips and that he would be required to start training with the militia to increase his martial skills. There was no hemming and hawing this time. The gnome understood. He also gave Futen an order to pass along to Randolphus. He wanted every recipe to be recorded and compiled on a daily basis. Then the scribes were to make a copy and create a book. The third part of the order was to get his villagers taught in the ways of Herb Lore if possible. There were long rows of empty shelves running down several of the Cauldron’s walls. Richter wanted the building stocked with any ingredients that they could find.
Next they put in various health, mana, and stamina potions. For each, they received the recipes and instructions on how to make them. Most of the recipes Beyan and Sion already knew, but there were a few that were unknown to them. Richter was happy to find that apparently a common weed could make a solution-level mana potion. It would be good to have a few more of those in his Bag.
The last thing he pulled out was the Elixir of Luck. Before he poured it into the central cauldron, he looked at Beyan and asked, “Happy now?” They both remembered Beyan’s meltdown when Richter had almost “thoughtlessly” drank the potion. The gnome smiled expansively and waggled his eyebrows.
“Don’t… don’t do that, Beyan,” Richter said.
“Yeah, it’s a bit creepy,” Sion cosigned.
Beyan stopped in mid waggle. “Pour it in then! My lord.” The last two words were clearly added as an afterthought.
Rolling his eyes, Richter unstoppered the silver potion and poured it in. He answered “Yes” on the prompt, and the Cauldron consumed the elixir. Once again, they saw the liquid drain through the vessels of the quasi-living cauldron. This time in addition to the two recipes, he received another prompt.
The primary ingredient of the Elixir of Luck, Shiverleaf Frond, is ‘rare’ quality. The general location has been marked on your map. This spined plant grows in water in the absence of light.
Richter opened his Map and saw an area a couple hundred yards across highlighted with a red circle. It was about eight miles to the west. Beyan and Sion checked the other ingredients and said they were relatively easy to come by, but agreed that they had no idea where to find the shiverleaf. Richter remained undaunted. “Looks like we’re hunting to the west today, boys.”
He checked his clock and saw that he had a little under an hour left. He decided not to risk the Potion of Nil Ability yet. He only had one dose after all. The way Sonirae had gone on and on, it sounded like it was incredibly valuable. Once they made some luck potions, he’d feel more comfortable taking the chance. Sion and Beyan said they could make a quick potion or two before noon, so he bid them goodbye. Right before leaving, though, he remembered something.
“Sion, do you still have that recipe for the stagnation poison? The one that stops health regeneration?”
“Yes. Honestly, I’d forgotten about it.”
“Well, get it to Beyan and see if you can make a few doses. I still remember that troll we saw a while back. If we see another, I think it will go better if we had something like that.” The two men nodded at him and said they would handle it. His business at the Cauldron done, Richter jogged over to the Quickening. Some of the village children were playing tag in the meadow and one used him as an obstacle to avoid being made “it.” Watching the future of his people, his heart felt light. It was good to be reminded of what all of his fighting was for. Walking towards the white tree with the sun shining down on him, it felt like everything would work out.
As he got closer, the two sprites Hisako had left to guard Elora and the tree appeared in front of him. They appeared to step out of nowhere and once again, Richter was glad to have the sprites as his allies and not his enemies. “Anything to report?” he asked.
“There is one thing, Lord Richter. Perhaps you should see for yourself,” one replied, gesturing to the tree.
Richter walked under the boughs of the tree, and as always, the presence of the Quickening filled him with utter contentment. The soft velvet undersides of the leaves seemed to float on the wind, slowly shifting on their branches. As he got closer to the braided trunk, he could make out the intricate tracing on the bark. Above him, he saw the fruit of the Quickening changing from a green color to a dark silver. They still showed as “immature” on the prompts, but he took the change in color as a good sign.
When he was close enough to touch the trunk, he saw immediately what the sprite guard had been talking about. On the inside of the hollow trunk was Elora’s cocoon. It shined and looked like it was spun from pure silver. Those details were no d
ifferent than before, but now light was peeking through the cocoon in odd spots. Richter could clearly see yellow, gold, and blue lights. He even saw several filaments of black light that seemed to leech color from whatever it touched.
“How long has it been like this?” he asked in awe.
“Two days, Lord Richter. We assume it means that the pixies will be born soon.”
“I look forward to meeting them,” he said, gazing at the cocoon in excitement.
Richter left the warm embrace of the tree and made one more stop before leaving the meadow. He jogged over to the memorial made for his fallen villagers. Gazing at it for several long moments, he silently vowed to do better for his people in the future. Then he cast Haste I again and started jogging back down to the village proper. He would have liked to have checked on the skath eggs and crystal garden, but they were on the far edge of the meadow and he had two more stops to make before noon.
The first place he planned to go was the eastern edge of the village, where the hunters dressed their kills. He had to get the new quest. Before he was halfway through the village though, he ran into one of them. Without even needing prompting, the woman told him about worrisome tracks that had been seen to the west. They were large and always seen around broken trees. The hunters were too afraid to hunt over in that direction since they had started seeing this. A prompt appeared in Richter’s vision.
You have been offered a Quest: Hunter or Hunted II. Your hunters have seen signs of a powerful and violent creature. They have not seen the actual monster, but the tracks are large. Will you look for and remove this threat? Yes or No? Reward: Unknown. Penalty: Decreased hunting grounds for your people.
Richter accepted the quest. He couldn’t just allow something to control part of his lands. It was also in the direction of the shiverleaf, so hunting it would be killing two birds with one stone. The huntress thanked him and then also thanked him for the increased weapons and armor. She showed him that her arrows were now tipped with moonstone heads. He smiled, said he was glad to help, then left and headed to the Forge.
Several of the dwarves were hard at work and Krom was at his customary spot at the main anvil. His hammer rose and fell with regularity, a level of proficiency that was enjoyable to watch. This time, though, Richter interrupted him. “It’s time to add some new enchantments to the Forge.”
The dwarf smiled and relinquished the anvil. The entire thing was the color of clear green glass except for two small motes of light that danced near the center, one blue and one gold. Richter planned to add some more lights to the show, and hopefully his increased Luck would help out with that.
The first thing he pulled out was his Arrow of Confusion. He placed it on the anvil and accessed the Forge’s power.
You have brought an enchanted weapon into contact with the Forge of Heavens: Arrow of Confusion. Do you want to deconstruct this weapon for a chance to have the enchantment stored for future use? Yes or No?
Richter selected “Yes” and watched as motes of white light appeared around the arrow. They circled the weapon, and every passing moment, more sparkling light joined the rest, until the arrow could no longer be seen. The lights began to flow down towards the anvil and then into it. The sparks coalesced into a black sphere that floated near the initial gold and blue ones.
Richter did a fist pump. “Woohoo! Right out of the gate.”
“Good job, yer Lordship! What else ye got?” Krom said with a grin.
Richter laughed and pulled out the next item to be deconstructed. For the next thirty minutes they went through the enchanted weapons and armor Richter had managed to collect. They were able to add Earth Resistance and Goblin Slaying—Richter noted Krom was exceptionally excited about that one. They were also able to successfully destroy his Shadow Dagger and learn Ignore Defense. He smiled when he saw the Iron Axe of Strength he had taken from the goblin chief to claim the Mist Village. A green light joined the others floating in the anvil’s center.
Some of the enchantments failed to be absorbed, though, and just fell to dust. He lost the Summoning Staff of Earth, the Steel Dagger of Beast Slaying and most of his new arrowheads. The motes of white cascaded off of the large anvil again and again without kindling a new colored light. Richter began to grit his teeth as it happened again and again, but he was able to save three of the enchantments: Dark Attack, Tracking, and Analysis. The sleep powder arrow was a device that the Forge couldn’t deconstruct. Krom said he could take it apart to see if he could recreate it, but he was doubtful. Richter placed it back in his Bag.
He wasn’t willing to risk the Ebonwood Bow of Sundering or the Glass Boots of Shockwave until he had the luck potions. Just like the Potion of Nil Abilities, they were too valuable. Richter also discovered that his set of unenhanced sprite armor wasn’t able to be deconstructed. Krom thought it must be because sprite armor wasn’t forged in a traditional sense. Richter didn’t let him daunt him though. He had actually felt a bit off about sacrificing the first armor he had ever worn.
There was one embarrassing moment when he brought out the Ouroboros armor. Krom examined the hood and asked Richter, “When you were underground, how many of those darkvision potions did ye drink?”
“Six or seven. Why?”
“And every one of those had squished kobold eye jelly in them?”
“Yesss. Why?” Richter asked with a hint of consternation.
“Did it taste good?” the smith asked with a smile.
“No! It tasted like old taint! Why?” Richter was getting pissed at Krom’s random teasing.
“Well you do know that you could have just worn this hood and you would have been granted darkvision, right?”
Richter’s mouth hung open. He started talking, but then stopped and just stood there with a pained expression. Finally, he said, “Let’s not tell anyone about this, okay?”
Krom looked at him with barely concealed glee. “Of course not! I would never embarrass ye, yer Lordship!”
Richter glared at him suspiciously, but Krom moved them past the moment by asking if Richter wanted to hold onto the hood or deconstruct it.
“Well of course we’re going to destroy it! Give it here!”
A few seconds later, Richter forgot about his bonehead move because he had earned another black sphere in the Forge. They went through the rest of the Assassin’s armor. He was able to successfully add the enchantment from the leggings, fighting gloves, and arm wraps. They provided the ability to increase movement speed, increase unarmed attack damage, and increase attack speed, respectively. The other pieces of armor simply fell to dust.
Despite the fact that a fair number of his attempts had resulted in the items just being destroyed, when Richter looked at the good number of lights dancing in the central anvil, he knew he’d made the right choice. It also felt nice to have unloaded so much of the gear he had been carrying around. Checking his clock, he saw that it was actually a few minutes past twelve. He literally had to order Krom away from the anvil. As they walked away, the dwarf kept throwing longing looks back at the Forge and all of the new enchantments that were waiting for him.
Richter clapped his arm around the Smith’s shoulders and said, “Don’t worry, mi amigo. We’re going to go kill some shit! There might even be goblins.”
A smile broke out both on Krom’s face and in his heart. “Aye!”
CHAPTER 25
Before they left the Forge, Krom handed him some high steel heavy arrows. Richter happily took his quiver out of his Bag and placed the arrows inside. He also took several pieces of armor and weapons from the Forge and put them into his Bag, then they were on their way. When they arrived at the gate, Richter found that everyone was waiting. He looked around and was pleased to see Sedrin standing with the others. The guard walked up to him, and the two men clasped wrists. Looking down, Richter saw that his fingers had been reattached, but that his left pinky was still missing the last two segments.
“Good morrow, my lord.”
“Hell
o, Sedrin,” Richter greeted him. “I wasn’t sure that you would be here, but I’m glad to see you.”
“How could I stay away when our smith has provided me with such an excellent weapon?”
Richter looked and his eyes widened as he took in the stats of Sedrin’s spear. The head was pure moonstone. A central spear tip extended a foot and a half from the socket, three inches across at its widest point. It appeared to almost be a pitchfork, as two prongs extended horizontally from the base of the spearhead before turning at a right angle and extending up six inches. These solid spikes ended in wicked points. No man or beast skewered with this weapon would reach Sedrin as long as the man kept a sure grip. As the guard moved the spear, Richter saw the same glowing four pointed star that was on his short sword. The weapon was a beauty of utility, but its properties were what stood out. It was clearly Forge born.
You have found: Charging Moonstone Spear of Freezing. Damage: 24-29. Durability 96/96. Item class: Scarce. Quality: Exquisite. Weight 4.1 kg. Traits:10 points of water damage per attack. 6% chance to cause freeze. +10% damage vs spell barriers. Charges: 290/290. Bonus Trait: Can absorb direct moonlight to increase attack power. Current charge 0/10.
Richter arched an eyebrow at Krom. The smith shrugged. “I thought he deserved it after what he had been through. I had intended to make a simple spear, but as sometimes happens, the metal took on a life of its own. After I saw how beautiful it was, I didn’t hesitate to use a higher stone and one of the commons.”
Richter smiled. “I think you did a great job. I pray the rest of my men can be so well equipped. Let me speak with Sedrin a moment, though, Krom.”
The dwarf nodded and walked away. Richter looked Sedrin in the eye and was about to speak when the guard beat him to the punch. “I bear you no ill will for what happened, my lord. I knew that things could be dangerous when I agreed to be a guard. As promised though, you met the danger with me. I was a bit delirious on the way back, but I know that you carried me yourself. Most rulers I know see their men as disposable, little better than slaves. I am proud to serve you, and if you allow it, I will serve you for life.”