As usual, it was morning time when I arrived back in Victoria’s home. With great swiftness I headed downstairs to ask her my pent-up questions.
To my surprise I saw the familiar shelled figure of Gertrude at the dining room table as well.
“. . . double up on some of them to see how it is tolerated!” The aged and gravely tone of her voice was as unmistakable as her large shell.
“We cannot be sure that it will turn out as we hope, and do you want to risk a burn out?!” Victoria’s voice nearly shouted back. Apparently, they were in the midst of an excited and yet heated conversation. I was unsure of exactly what about, but I suspected I might be the topic of contention.
“Good morning!” I called out intentionally loud in order to make them aware of my presence. The both of them returned my greeting and then settled into awkward silence as they each dealt with their own thoughts.
My gaze passed between the two of them several times before I broke the silence. “Might I ask what you were both talking about?” I tried to emphasize a tone of polite inquiry as I sounded them out.
Victoria gave a look of consternation and even Gertrude with her beak appeared more stern than normal. I felt like shrinking back in the face of their unwelcoming silence, but I held steadfast and bore with it.
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*Sigh* Victoria broke first as she turned to face me from her place in the kitchen. “Firstly, I wanted to tell you . . .” she paused a moment before a brilliant smile lit her face. “Congratulations! You successfully assimilated your first mage stone!”
“Hahaha!” Gertrude was chuckling at my shellshocked face regarding their swift turnaround.
“Ahhh, dear boy.” Gertrude spoke up next. “You took quite the risky venture with attempting to assimilate 3 basic earth stones and that too while among their element.” Looking at me with a sideways glance she inquired. “Was this all your own idea or did someone else give you the hairbrained idea to do all of that?!”
Guilt and embarrassment came over me as I tried to parse out what I would say. I didn’t want to place any blame on Monroe since I believed his advice was well intentioned and not meant to be combined with my choice of tripling the stone content of the potion.
As such I responded. “It was honestly my own idea to take more than one mage stone. I felt that the prior light potions which I had taken before proved ineffective with their singular stone with each consumption. I didn’t want to fail this time and believe I overdid it a bit.”
*Snort* “A bit?!” Victoria’s tone held more than a trace of disbelief and bemusement. “Honestly you should not have survived the experience.” Moving to join us at the table, she then nodded at Gertrude before continuing. “The both of us are incredibly surprised that you managed to not only survive the experience, but to succeed without burning out your elemental earthen roots.”
I was confused at how they knew so much despite my having said so little. Looking at them in inquisitive suspicion I had to ask. “How do you know so much about what happened?”
“Hahah!” Victoria let out a laugh while shaking her head. “My dear dear apprentice.” Her voice had a kind of indulgence laced with endearment. “As an apothecary, I am not only someone that prescribes treatments, but also quite skilled in formulating a diagnosis as well. You came in stumbling off that carriage near to bursting with earthen power. In your fevered muttering you said something about three earth stones to make sure you did it right?” With another more concerned shake of her head, she added. “Now if your intent was to burn out your earthen roots or possibly give up your life, that was certainly the path to take. . . . I still don’t know how you survived the assimilation.”
A sort of awe shone in the eyes of both Victoria and Gertrude before the tortoise lady spoke up. “That is actually what we were discussing before you came down to join us.” Giving Victoria a small glare before continuing, she said. “I am of the mind that we should look further into what this might mean in terms of growth opportunities. This blessing that you seem capable of making for yourself is something that we could likely capitalize on and make the most of it.”
Curious I had to ask. “What do you mean capitalize on it?”
It was Victoria who answered me then. “There have been many attempted cases before yours where others sought to boost their initial assimilation. Taking more than one of the same elemental stone, diversifying the type, or even jumping tiers in their search for becoming stronger faster.” Looking down at her hands in sorrow, she added. “It is an incredibly rare venture that risk takers succeed with. More often than not, they perish in the attempt. Other than the infinitesimally small number that succeed, the remaining lucky few tend to escape with only burned-out elemental roots for that element which they so daringly attempted.”
Pausing for a moment with a finger on her lips as if in thought she continued. “Thinking back on your attempt to assimilate the light potion, I recall that you neither succeeded nor technically failed. The best words I could think of to describe it would be that you were in a sort of limbo that just didn’t allow for a complete assimilation.” Looking at her shelled friend she added. “Gertrude and I were discussing the risks and potential gains to be had. After an initial test of sorts, she wanted to see how you might handle it and if successful, dive into several unique combinations. I would like to take a more measured approach since I fear that this may have been a singular rare occurrence. I wouldn’t want to risk your well-being for our curiosity’s sake.”
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As Victoria was explaining their thoughts and concerns, Gertrude was giving me a look of excited appraisal, as if she couldn’t wait to see what might be accomplished when tinkering with the right materials. I suspected that this was akin to what she did frequently in her own shop and workspace. I doubted she had much opportunity to practice on actual people rather than artifacts, particularly ones that were semi-immortal.
The concern I had, was that I had been warned that the ability to come back after dying did not restore a failed elemental assimilation. I honestly should have taken more care when I took my earthen trial, but the results were incredible. All this time, after being unable to assimilate an elemental stone and finally succeeding, made me feel more brazen if still somewhat reserved. I laughed inwardly to myself with a grim smile. This, in addition to being given hope that I might be able to attain even more than originally expected, felt like a dream. Was I going to take the safe path and tread as others have tread before, or walk into the shadowed lands breaking brush as I forged my own path?
A shiver and rush of chills combined with warmth stemming from my core answered that question. I needed to rise above being mundane in order to achieve the important goals I had set for myself. With a more silent nod to myself I mentally added, ‘and for my sister.’ However, as the saying goes, I dare not go off half-cocked or else I’d likely fail miserably.
Looking at the two ladies who awaited my decision, I believed unless I could somehow obtain the aid of an arch mage, that I had the best support I could ask for right here. Then, recalling the prior experience at the mage guild when Victoria protected the anonymity of my elemental affinity results with extreme prejudice and measures this made me re-consider wanting the aid of an arch mage. Feeling a strong tendril of energy rush through my body I reconsidered, perhaps I already had the best.
With my conviction strengthened, I made my decision. Speaking up I looked towards Gertrude and said, “I would like to take the path that promises better rewards” then looking to Victoria I added, “but with initial caution. What would you both suggest to get started?”
Gertrude’s beak broke into a satisfied smile and Victoria looked on, appearing both concerned and yet proud. Victoria answered me first. “Together we actually agreed on a relatively safe test. This test will be building upon the foundation you already built with the 3 earthen stones and utilizing the initial light stone that you were stuck in limbo with earlier.”
I tilted my head in curiosity at their answer. What did they mean?
As if aware of my unspoken question Victoria continued. “We want to have you assimilate two basic stones simultaneously. One of them would be an artificially made light stone just like the one we tried before and together with it,” nodding to Gertrude she added, “we would add on a naturally formed hybrid light and sand stone.”
My eyes narrowed in concern at hearing this venture. Was I not at risk for taking in too much earthen energy if I was already bursting with it? As such I verbalized my thoughts to them regarding that.
It was Gertrude responded to my concern. With a shake of her head she stated, “Unless you were still experiencing trauma from the initial earthen trial, you would be at little to no risk from assimilating another earthen stone. In fact, something that you may not know is that mages and adventurers, when traveling to new locations with notably different geography and mineral makeup, will often seek to assimilate local elemental stones of the same element and tier that they had consumed before in order to shore up their shortcomings.”
My confusion must have shown on my face as Gertrude went on to further explain. “There are many quirks attributed to the assimilation of elemental stones. One such quirk is that the place or type of origin of the stone one consumes will always provide the wielder amidst familiar ground and elements an advantage over someone new to the area.”
She paused as if to measure my sense of understanding before continuing. “Take for example two mages, both at the level of master mage and both equally skilled in the singular use of water magic.” I nodded my head with that image in mind as she continued. “Now imagine that one had consumed a superior stone originating from the salty ocean, while the other had consumed a superior stone originating from a fresh water source such as a lake or river. If both were to battle on the shores of the ocean, who do you imagine would have the greater advantage?”
“Ooooh.” Understanding dawned on me as the pieces connected. Thinking back to their discussion of giving me a hybrid light and sand stone I spoke up. “I believe what you are saying is that if I were to not consume any other earthen stones, then if I were to battle an equal leveled and similar affinity mage in a desert with only sand around me, then I would be at a disadvantage due to the difference in what I had assimilated verses my opponent if they had consumed a sand earthen stone.”
“Exactly!” Victoria interjected. “The mineral, compound makeup, and general formation that goes into the creation of an elemental stone, can strongly determine the compatibility its consumer has with their surroundings.”
Nodding to Gertrude who was pulling out two small stones that each put off a different tinge of light, she added. “This, in my opinion should be the safest method in determining your capability.”
Victoria then held up her hand as if to briefly forestall her friend. Facing me more fully and peering deep into my eyes, I was briefly caught off guard seeing her mesmerizing hazel toned irises looking at me so intently. “Do you wish to proceed?”
Staring back until the intimacy almost became uncomfortable, I closed my eyes before reopening them and giving a firm nod of my head. “Yes! I will do this. . . . I want to do this.”
Closing her eyes as well momentarily, Victoria concluded with, “Very well. Let us get started. Follow me.”
This time, I was not asked to concoct the potion that was to be made, repeating what she did before for the initial light potion, she then added one more additional ingredient that I was unfamiliar with. Looking on in curiosity, I asked what the other ingredient was for.
A mischievous smile crossed her lips as she answered. “This is actually what you should have added to your earthen potion to begin with. It is a mild laxative that prevents the . . .” she looked pointedly at me “. . . unfortunate experience you went through earlier.”
I grimaced in painful recollection. Even now my rear was occasionally experiencing phantoms pains from that terrible night of my colorectal and gastrointestinal exorcism. Now that the topic had been broached, I had to ask. “Is something similar likely to happen with future potions? That second wave of the earthen trial was terrible.”
Gertrude glanced at Victoria in confusion after I said that. “Second wave?” She asked with curiosity.
Victoria’s lips twitched in a quick smirk, and she turned a bit pink with embarrassment. Her shoulders seemed to shake in suppressed laughter before she let out a sigh. “I’ll be honest with you Andrew. You had already completed the initial trial. That . . . experience you had in the bathroom, was the after effects of an improperly concocted and heavily concentrated earthen mage potion. There was no trial about it and no risking a burn-out if failed.”
As her words dawned on me, feelings of despair warred with anger for a while, which finally settled to resigned sufferance. I had to ask.
“Do you mean to tell me,” I said haltingly, “that I . . . could have gone to the Traveler’s stone and been healed of my. . . . situation, instantly?!”
Victoria held up her hand to forestall whatever reaction I may give. “I suspect that it would offer healing for your ailment.” Her expression then took on an all too familiar wolfish smile as she added. “I decided to allow you to more fully experience your folly, as I felt such would instill a deeper and more personal understanding of what an incorrectly concocted potion could result in.”
I honestly felt somewhat numb at her response. All those times prior that she had poisoned or dosed me with various ingredients in the name of training had built up a sort of passive tolerance within me to her antics. I just let it go with a sigh. “Water under the bridge.” I muttered to myself. “Water under the bridge.”
A bright smile lit upon her face as she nodded encouragingly at my fallen countenance. “The good news is that I am here now to aid you in future assimilations.” Then handing me the finished potion she said, “Go ahead and drink up.”