Max had downed the potion so quickly he had almost choked, especially since the liquid was still hot. But he didn’t care. As long as it had worked.
As his heartbeat began to slow to a more regular pace, Max looked at his health bar. It was empty aside from a tiny chunk that was a deep, crimson red, and the number next to it still showed 1 HP.
But the important thing was that it had been over 30 seconds since the last reduction, and it hadn’t hit zero.
Max lay there for a few moments, catching his breath. Then he took a look at the wound. There were a few remnants of stringworm, writhing around frantically, but they were dissolving before his eyes, and the bubbling of his flesh had now stilled.
He had done it. He had cured the infection with his own potion, and with less than 30 seconds to spare.
Max let out an incredulous laugh. He couldn’t quite believe he had managed it. But he knew he was not completely out of danger just yet. He was still hanging on by just a thread of HP. The antidote had cured the infection, but it certainly wasn’t replenishing the HP he had already lost as a result of the infection.
He needed to brew another potion; this time one that would bring him back to full health.
Max lifted himself up, still woozy from the ordeal, but with much clearer vision, and no more hallucinations.
Weakly, he staggered over to the alchemy book he had gotten the original recipe from, and flicked through the pages until he found a listing that looked like it was exactly the kind of thing he was after.
Regenis
Common potion that restores 30 HP
Ingredients required:
2x Sunfire dandelion
1x Emberbloom
1x Teasil
1x Water
Equipment required:
1x Mortar and pestle
1x Alembic (minimum grade: Apprentice)
1x Fire
1x Container (preferably a vial or bottle)
Instructions:
1. Combine all the ingredients in the mortar and pestle and grind to a fine paste.
2. Place the mixture and the water in the alembic and heat over the fire.
3. Allow the vapours to rise, and collect the distilled liquid in the chosen container.
The first thing Max noticed was that it required less ingredients than the Parasillin. The next thing he noticed was that he had already identified sunfire dandelion and emberbloom, meaning they wouldn’t be difficult to find again. The only thing he hadn’t come across yet was teasil, but he was sure it wouldn’t be too difficult to find, given how abundant the forest was with so many species of plant.
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Wasting no more time, Max left the book open on the campsite’s desk and he headed back into the forest on the hunt for what he needed.
Max knew he had to be ultra careful. With only 1 HP, all it would take was one hit from any kind of hostile creature and he’d be done for. He had no clue as to the extent of the volume or the ferociousness of the beasts that might be lurking in the depths of the forest. The hornback might have been the worst of them, or it might have just been a mild taster of what else was out there.
All Max knew was that he had to get the ingredients for the Regenis as quickly and as quietly as he could manage.
Mercifully, it didn’t take him very long. In retracing his steps to where he remembered he had come across the patches of sunfire dandelion, he was able to identify teasil as tiny green herbs that were almost camouflaged in with the larger green leaves that filled much of the forest. Within a matter of just a few minutes, he had 6 sunfire dandelions, 3 sprigs of teasil, and 4 emberblooms in his inventory.
When he got back to the campsite, he crushed all the ingredients in the mortar and pestle, then he got a clean potion bottle and placed that in the holder on the tripod, and finally, he tipped a small measure of water from the canteen he had used earlier into the alembic and added his new paste to it.
With the fire still going strong, the new potion began to brew immediately.
This time, watching the brewing meter rise was a lot more enjoyable, and a lot less anxiety inducing than it had been with the Parasillin. In fact, it was exciting.
After a few minutes, the potion bottle was full.
Potion brewed!
Regenis
+1 Alchemy Orb
Max took the potion out of its holder and once again downed the entire thing with no regard for what he imagined would be an uncomfortably hot temperature; a little bit of a burnt tongue would be a fair price to pay for escaping the vulnerability of just 1 HP. But as the healing liquid slipped down his throat, he found this one to be quite cool.
It was so cool, in fact, that it was refreshing.
As Max’s taste buds caught up, an unexpected sweetness exploded across his palate. Despite the ingredients consisting of just a few flowers and one herb, the flavour evoked a delicious concoction of rich, sun-ripened berries spiked with the freshness of mint or tea-tree.
Max closed his eyes and shook the final drops of the potion onto his tongue.
As his HP rose, it was like life itself was flooding back into him, all nausea, anxiety, and aching leaving his body, and being replaced by a newfound lightness and optimism.
The forest was a vibrant green again, the sky was blue, and he felt on top of the world.
HP 32/50
Max spent the next half hour gathering enough ingredients for three more Regenis potions, feeling more confident about venturing into the thicket of trees now that he had a decent chunk of health, and within the hour, he had three more ready to drink.
He considered drinking another one there and then, but since his maximum HP was 50, meaning he was missing 18, and the regenis potions replenished 30, he thought it best not to waste one. The potion would no doubt be more valuable if and when he was at least 30 HP down.
Max would have chosen to brew more, and maybe even try his hand at some of the other potions listed in the alchemy book he had found, but he had run out of water bar for a few sips.
If he wanted to brew anything else, he was going to need to find a water source.
He also had no idea how vital water was in this new world he had found himself in. His health didn’t seem to be decreasing from any kind of dehydration, although he had to admit, he did feel thirsty.
Max knew he wouldn’t be able to stay at the campsite forever. He needed to find civilisation, and he had no idea how long it was going to take him to find it.
Given that he could be stuck in the forest for quite some time, he decided to do a thorough search of the camp to make sure he had collected all the gear he could need for survival beyond this place.
The first thing he picked up was a clean rag, which he wrapped around his wound tightly. He wasn’t about to let a second slew of stringworm into the freshly healed cavity, nor anything else that might want to get in there, for that matter.
Then he took the bow and a further 2 arrows out of the trunk he had seen them in earlier. Along with the fallen arrows he had collected on the way to the camp, he now had 7 at his disposal.
Lastly he picked up one of the bedrolls and placed it into the 12th and final available slot in his inventory. He didn’t know if he was going to need to make his own makeshift camp further into the forest, and a bit of comfort and a restful sleep would go a long way in helping keep his spirits up.
But in removing the bedroll from where it had been lying, Max noticed a small scroll tied into a tube by a piece of string.
What do we have here?
He untied the string and unravelled the scroll, revealing a worn parchment that displayed a map. It was a map with a campsite on it; a map of the very forest he was lost in, and there, a few hundred yards north of his current location, was a river.
“Bingo,” Max said with a grin. “Water source, here we come.”