by Jamey Sultan
The first thing she did was place a thick green and silver book on the counter. It appeared to be made from pressed leaves bound with silver thread and embossed with silver ink. Its edges were blackened as if it had survived a fire at one point and the book hummed with a pleasant energy.
Codex Alchemica:
Rank: Legendary
This book, written by an unknown author long ago, contains the recipes for some of the most potent and unique potions ever created.
As Katherine opened the book, a sweet, earthy smell filled the room. James could swear he almost heard faint bells ringing, but it could have been his imagination. He had thought his collection of potion books was impressive, but none of his books came close to as powerful as hers.
“Where did you get that?” he asked in amazement, craning his neck to see the page.
“I thought I was clear that you needed to be quiet while I work,” she snapped. Still, James thought he saw the faintest smile on her lips.
Once she had the book opened to the right page, Katherine retrieved a series of ingredients and laid them out next to each other. She handled each ingredient with meticulous care and set them up so that each ingredient would not touch any other one.
The only ingredient that James recognized was THE BEET. James was impressed, though, as he read through the ingredient status pages and saw that most ingredients were Rare or above.
“When brewing a potion, each step is just as important as the last,” Katherine’s voice echoed through the silence. “It is vital that none of the ingredients touch in order to minimize cross-contamination.”
James opened his mouth to ask a question, but she silenced him with a glare. He understood she was going to teach him, but he was to keep his mouth shut.
With her ingredients organized, Katherine pulled a black cauldron out from underneath the counter. Setting the cauldron on a metal pedestal, she twisted it to lock it in place. She then fiddled with a knob on the side of the cauldron, and veins of blue crystal embedded in the iron flared to life. Even from where he was, James could feel the cold emanating from the crystal at the corner of the room.
While she waited for the cauldron to drop to her desired temperature, Katherine poured a cup of water with flecks of gold floating in it. She then placed three yellow flowers with triangular petals and attached stems into the water. After a brief pause, the flowers opened like budding stars. Each of them had a glowing gemstone at its center.
As soon as the gemstones were revealed, Katherine snipped the flowers off of the stems. The petals started to shrivel, but before they could die, she dropped them into a mortar and pestle. As she ground them, James could hear the sharp crunch of glass breaking.
White frost crawled along the rim of the cauldron and, without looking, Katherine dumped the crushed the crystal behind her back and into the cauldron. It hissed and popped as the dust coated the inside, but Katherine barely acknowledged it. She was already on to the ensuing task. Her hands were a blur as she darted from one task to the next, occasionally checking the recipe in her book.
After about twenty minutes of continuous motion, she spoke. “Turn that dial for me.”
It took a second for James to realize she was talking to him. He pushed down the desire to ask more questions and instead flipped the knob on the cauldron so that it switched from pointing toward the blue gemstone to a red one.
The crystalline veins embedded in the cauldron turned red, and droplets of condensation rolled down its side as the built-up frost started to melt.
“One of the hardest parts when working with dangerous ingredients,” Katherine said as she grabbed a machine that looked like an extremely large Essence Extractor, “is keeping the other ingredients from degrading while you set the potion up. This is doubly true when the most dangerous ingredient is also the key ingredient.” With that said, she slid open the glass container holding THE BEET. The suppressed energy rushed out of the container and filled the room. James could feel something dark, something evil pressing against his mind, trying to find its way in.
He ignored the feeling and watched Katherine lock the Essence Extractor so it closed around THE BEET. She pushed the button on the machine and dropped it into the liquid in the cauldron at the same time. There was a flash of blue-green light, and the pressure on James’ brain tripled before vanishing as quickly as it had started. He let out a breath of relief, and his hands dropped down to the sides. He hadn’t even realized he’d been holding his head.
“If I’d tried to extract Essence from THE BEET into anything but an almost completed potion, we would have both died,” Katherine said grimly.
Then she smiled. “Luckily, I know what I’m doing.”
James peered into the cauldron, careful not to inhale the vapor rising from the slowly bubbling liquid. Bits of flower, blackened seeds, and more floated around the surface, but as the water boiled, they started to lose their color until they were completely grey. Katherine used a strainer to scoop all of the ingredients out as they lost their luster.
Once all the ingredients had been removed, all that remained was a pure black liquid hissing as it emitted a glowing violet steam that Katherine cut off by snapping a lid on to the cauldron. With the lid on, the cauldron looked like a pressure cooker from earth. The only difference was a thick tube hooked up to the top of the lid leading into the rafters. She then wiped a sheen of sweat from her forehead and sat down.
“Wow,” James said, awed.
He was speechless—the way she handled the ingredients was like nothing he’d ever seen. Her movements were like those of a master swordsman, nothing wasted. Everything she did was purposeful and deliberate.
“Thank you.” She smiled at him. “I bet you’re wondering why I let you stay.”
In fact, James had been wondering why she hadn’t kicked him out with his friends. He couldn’t believe his luck when she had allowed him to stay. He nodded.
“I see it in your eyes,” she said. “The hunger. The desire. The need to grow.” As she spoke, she lifted the lid of the cauldron. The smoke had turned pure black. “Your friends, they focus on combat alone. Sure, they may practice other skills, but only to help their combat abilities.” She drew out all the liquid with a dropper and divided it between two vials. “But the path to power, true power, isn’t always so straightforward.” She handed a vial to James.
Merlin’s Black Heart Class Advancement Potion
Rank: Legendary
Long has the secret to Merlin’s rise to power been hidden. Now, for the first time in millennia, it has been rediscovered. Be warned, some things cannot be undone.
“Well, that’s not grim,” James muttered to himself as he raised the vial to his lips.
Chapter 37
“What are you doing?” Katherine snapped, grabbing his wrist. “When did I say you should drink the potion right now? You need to drink it right before you hit level 25. It only has a five-minute timer once you’ve drunk it.”
James blanched. He’d almost screwed himself. It would have a terrible mistake to go through that entire dungeon and then waste the potion. He thanked her as he stored the potion in his pouch, then he pointed to the Essence Extractor. “So, what does that do?”
She shook her head. “I’m too tired today.”
James scowled. “But what about my—”
“Out!” she shouted, rubbing both sides of her head.
James scurried away, annoyed. He’d completed his side of the bargain, bringing her the ingredient she needed, and she’d promised to answer his questions.
Still… James reflected, she did give me half of the potion she promised, so I can’t be too mad.
***
The sun was high overhead when James left the shop. He went straight back to the inn to talk with Nidra and Arik. On his way back, he’d considered stopping at the Lilac Cauldron to sell some of his accumulated alchemy ingredients, but he decided to keep everything. Who knew what would turn out to be useful down the line?
>
When he arrived at the inn, he was surprised to see that neither Arik nor Nidra were there. Neither of them had come back after they left Katherine’s shop.
James wasn’t too worried; they were in a busy town and could take care of themselves. Still, he didn’t feel like sitting around to wait for them, so he left the inn and followed the road toward the Lilac Cauldron.
Unlike Katherine’s shop, the Lilac Cauldron was right off the main road. Halfway there, though, James ran into Nidra and Arik walking back. He had almost missed them in the crowded streets, but an Elf and a Dwarf walking together was a relatively uncommon sight. Most of the adventurers in town were Human. Arik had a stormy look on his face, while Nidra seemed to be enjoying herself, eating a roasted fish on a stick.
When he saw them, James raised a hand in greeting. “How’s it going?”
Nidra waved back at him, almost dropping her fish.
“What’s got him in a mood?” James asked, jerking his thumb toward Arik.
“Oh, him?” Nidra replied. “He’s just mad that the smith wouldn’t let him use the smithy to repair his hammer.”
“Stupid smith…” Arik grumbled.
James clapped his friend on the back. “I’m sure we’ll find someone in Silencia to help you.”
Arik grunted, unconvinced.
“So, do you want to stay at the inn for another day or head straight to Silencia now?” he asked the group. “I kind of want to stick around and find another dungeon. I’m so close to hitting Level 25.”
“I’m up for another dungeon,” Nidra said cheerily. “We’ll have a better chance against Lucien the stronger we are.”
Arik mumbled something about his hammer, then shrugged. “It’s fine. I still have one hammer that works.”
“Before we go, though, we should probably find a Life Mage, right?” Nidra asked. “You know… If you still wanted to form a party.”
“Right.” James smacked himself on the forehead. They needed a Life Mage to bind them together into a party so that they could share experience instead of it going to whomever made the kill.
Mages were pretty rare, so he had not considered that one might be here. He had put aside his entire to-do list to the back of his mind for their arrival in Silencia, but with all the adventurers around, he was hoping they might find a Life Mage to bind them.
***
Their first stop was Cherryhall—the red wood building in the center of town. James wasn’t sure whether the town had been named after the building or if the building had been constructed after the town, but it didn’t really matter. They were there to talk to Katie, the Town Administrator. James was hoping she’d be able to direct them to a Life Mage and a quest or monster den. Somewhere they could go to level.
Finding Katie was easy. She was right outside the building, chatting with a group of level 40 adventurers. One of them looked annoyed, and when James got close enough to hear, he realized that the adventurers were trying to find a room for the night but that there were none left.
James waited politely for them to finish their conversation, and once the adventure group had stormed off, he greeted Katie.
The Town Administrator turned and frowned when she saw them. “What did I say about causing trouble?” she asked with an annoyed tone.
“Not to cause—”
“Not you,” she snapped, stalking over to Arik and jamming her finger into his chest. “You.”
“Me?” Arik said, surprised. “What did I do?”
Her eyes narrowed, and she punctuated her words with a series of violent pokes. “I just had a delightful conversation with Kento. He says that you came into the Jolly Orc and tried to attack him.”
“Yeah…” Arik said, rubbing the back of his head. “I’m sorry about that.”
“Oh. You’re sorry? My bad. I didn’t realize that you were sorry. In that case, go about your day.” Katie’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “This is your last warning. If you so much as look at Kento the wrong way, you’ll be out on your ass.”
Arik just nodded.
After an awkward few seconds, James brought up the reason they were there. “We were actually wondering if you had quests for us. Anything we can do to get some experience?”
Katie jerked her thumb toward Cherryhall. “Quest board is in there.”
She turned to go talk to another group who had wandered up while she’d been yelling at Arik. They were all pointedly looking everywhere but at the Dwarf. Before she could get too far, James asked about any Life Mages. She shrugged. “You’d probably have more luck in Silencia, but I think I remember directing someone who might have been a Life Mage to the Broken Hammer.”
Arik’s mouth twisted in annoyance at the inn’s name while Nidra let out a sharp bark of laughter. Even James found himself trying to hold back a smile before the Dwarf got too worked up about his own broken weapon.
Katie tried to extract herself from the conversation yet again, but James had a thought and asked if she’d seen anyone that matched Lucien’s description carrying a dangerous-looking sword with a wolf’s head pommel.
With obvious annoyance, Katie replied. “Do I look like my job is to remember every single adventure who passes through here? No. My job is to manage the town. If that means answering stupid questions from blasted adventurers until this godforsaken tournament is over, then I’ll do it, but…” She stalked away, still muttering. The waiting adventurers glanced from James to her, eventually deciding to leave.
Meanwhile, James regarded the town hall building. When they’d first arrived at Cherryhall, he’d been too taken by the massive structure to pay much attention to detail. Up close, the delicate woodwork was apparent.
A creamy-white wooden archway with Cherryhall carved at the top greeted them at the entrance. The doors, made from three-inch-thick wood the same color as the archway, were propped open and revealed a long, open hallway with stairs on both sides.
To the left of the entrance, the wall was covered with an enormous noticeboard that went up three stories. It was covered entirely in flyers and sheets of paper.
James examined the closest one.
Herbs Needed
Please bring the following herbs to the Lilac Cauldron
● 10 Red Silkweed
● 10 River Maple
● 10 Roundleaf
Reward: 1 Silver, 1 Minor Health Potion
You have been given a quest (Repeatable): Beginner Herbs
Beginner Herbs (Repeatable): Collect the following herbs:
● 10 Red Silkweed
● 10 River Maple
● 10 Roundleaf
Suggested level: 5–10
Reward: 1 Silver, 1 Minor Health Potion.
Penalty for failure or refusal: None.
James refused the quest, swiping the prompt away with a mental gesture. Having a quest pop up every time he read a flyer was annoying, so James set his system notifications so that he could decide whether a flyer created a quest or not. With that done, he looked at some of the nearby flyers. There was one to help a woman find her missing cat. Another one was an invitation to clear the pests from someone’s garden, and yet another one to draw a portrait of someone’s wife. They all had one thing in common: they were low-leveled non-combat quests.
The crowd thickened with low-level adventurers as he walked across the hall. There was a pack of adventurers clustered together around the board at the rear of the building. James easily pushed through the lower-leveled adventurers to see what they were looking at.
At the end of the room, the board was plastered with pink flyers.
He picked one up.
Hunter Needed
Bring a Silvertail Doe Pelt to Kenshin at the tannery.
Reward: 1 Gold
The other flyers at the side of the room were all along the same vein; fetch quests that might involve combat. When James brought up the quest prompts, though, they were all for people between levels 5 and 15. Not even close to what he needed. Frustrated, he t
urned to ask someone where to find higher leveled quests when a familiar voice called to him from above.
“Over here, James,” Nidra called, waving at him from the banister on the next floor.
James looked around for the closest staircase and ascended to the second floor.
The second floor was a zoo. Not the fun kind with animals; the less fun kind packed with people. A thick crowd of adventurers milled about, chatting and laughing while they compared and exchanged pink slips.
James found himself wishing he were a massive berserker as he weaved his way through the crowd toward where he’d seen Nidra. Navigating crowds was much more challenging when you were small and wiry.
Once he found her, Nidra grabbed James’ hand and pulled him through the crowd to a section of the quest board with more dangerous-looking assignments. These tasks ranged from investigating a Kobold camp to hunting low-leveled bandits. The quests that appeared for James were all for adventurers between levels 25 and 49.
As he browsed the quests, James asked Nidra where Arik was. She shrugged and said that he’d gone up to the third floor to look at the high-level quests—something about his dad.
After a few minutes of browsing, James finally found a flyer that looked reasonably difficult but doable.
Hunter Needed
For a Spike Thrower, and possible nest. For more information, speak to Kevin at Hess Farms.
Reward: 5 Gold
You have been given a quest: Full of Holes I
Full of Holes I: Speak to Kevin at Hess Farms
Suggested level: 25-30
Reward: 5 Gold.
Penalty for failure or refusal: None.