“And did you speak with anyone else about this parasite?”
“No I didn't.” I looked at the interrogator with my annoyance clear in my eyes. “I haven’t told anyone about the parasite regardless of how much I wanted to say something.”
Without a comment the interrogator wrote something down and continued his questioning. “What about your colleague Vel? From my understanding he hasn’t been doing all that well since the situation started just over a week ago.”
“I don’t know, he wasn’t getting much sleep and it was impacting his mental state.”
“He wasn’t getting enough sleep, so this has changed?”
“Yes, my colleague Calavia noticed he wasn’t doing well and I suggested giving him drowsiness potions to help with his sleeping. While he isn’t perfect he has been doing a lot better since he could get a proper amount of sleep.” I was certain that the interrogator could understand how unhappy I was with his questioning with my tone alone, he likely just didn’t care and continued asking what I considered to be foolish and unimportant questions.
“So this Calavia you mentioned, are you close to her?”
“Yes. Why is my relationship with her important?” I glared at the interrogator as I answered, though he didn’t notice as he was still looking at his notes.
“Has she been asking questions about what happened? Perhaps even letting slip information that she shouldn’t have access to?” His tone was dull and empty but I could somehow tell that he was enjoying digging through my personal life by asking all these stupid questions.
“Yes she has asked questions regarding Vel and why he was acting so strangely compared to before, but I highly doubt she is involved with the demonic parasite. That isn’t who she is.” I stared the interrogator directly in the eyes as I gave him my answer and for the first time he seemed to react to my feelings towards his word choice. He fixed his posture to something far more professional and moved back onto more reasonable questions.
“Have you noticed anyone following you to your home?”
“Have you seen anyone in the area of the clinic that looks suspicious?”
“Do you think Vel is capable of keeping the situation a secret?”
“If he is left alone I would see no reason why he would feel the need to tell anyone.”
The questions continued for at least another half hour before the interrogator was done and allowed me to leave, and I was more than happy to get out and do something with the remainder of the day I had off.
‘I should be getting another shipment of ingredients today, I will need to spend an hour or two brewing some potions. Maybe it would be a good opportunity to try out some of those new potion recipes I found in the guild library recently.’ My mind went back a few days prior to a small assignment I was given outside of work by Laelia. The task was to find a few books on restoration magic and anatomy to help expand my understanding of the most common diseases to impact mortals. I was supposed to learn how they separately affect humans, dwarves, and elves and what spells could deal with the symptoms.
While I was looking I found a book on alchemy that contained a few simple potions and their associated spells that had some interesting effects. The most interesting were the lesser fortification potions which would temporarily increase one of your attributes. The lesser fortify strength potions for example would increase your strength by about five points when made by the average alchemist with a duration of a handful of minutes that would also vary.
The one that I had a specific interest in was the lesser fortify magic potion which would boost my magic attribute to boost my magic power. With that I would have more powerful spells while being of far lower level than normal. ‘I bet each potion would sell for quite a nice sum of money as well, mercenaries and mages alike would find great value in their respective type of potions.’
*********
When I arrived back at my home I began my work and brewed up my daily dozen healing potions to sell to the guild. Then I brought out the ten potions worth of ingredients I specifically ordered through the guild and began my first attempt of the lesser magic potion.
Like I expected my first attempt was a failure, I accidentally added too little glow sap which was what gave the spell its magic boosting properties. With insufficient glow sap the other ingredients were far too much of the end result which burned in the calcinator, when I managed to pull the mixture out I saw it had turned black like a burnt piece of meat and was smoking like a small campfire struggling to ignite.
I placed the failed potion on the open windowsill to keep the smoke from filling my own home and continued by beginning my second attempt.
This time I managed to get the correct amount of glow sap along with the other ingredients, only I messed up during the actual spell casting part and the spell didn’t work correctly with the potion mixture. It interacted and was absorbed by the mixture but it didn't glow like it should have, this told me that the potion wouldn’t have any magical properties if drank.
Again and again I tried brewing the potion with small problems causing large failures, thankfully after nearly half an hour and the fifth attempt I managed to get a working potion. The potion was light purple in color and shimmered when the liquid moved. It was also very small, no larger than a half cup that you could find at any tavern or pub.
To finish the experiment and determine how effective the potion would be I brought the bottle to my lips and drank the potion in a few seconds. The taste was an unexpected mix between apples and oranges and felt like I was drinking a small amount of magic itself.
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Within a few seconds I could feel the small changes the potion brought, I channeled my mana and conjured three earth bolts. I could feel the magic was slightly more powerful than before, not by equivalent to five points more powerful, but enough to be around one point.
I looked down to the now empty potion bottle and smiled to myself. ‘This is a major improvement to my alchemical skillset. Now I can boost my physical and magical abilities past what I would normally have, I can also sell these potions for a nice sum once I am skilled enough for these potions to give at least five points worth of attributes. I would easily earn way more than what I am selling these healing potions for.’
With such a stream of money I would be able to easily hire teachers for whatever magical interests I might have. Other things like a large home and gardens of ingredients would follow as well with an opportunity to become close with Calavia again.
*********
When the third month of summer called Galena eventually rolled around Vel, Calavia, and myself had formed a small friend group. We would share meals and magic with each other every week as we all progressed in our apprenticeships, though Vel was doing most of the sharing when it came to magic while I shared most of the meals. My progress with the lesser fortification potions was a decent success as I was able to sell a decent variety of those potions to the guild, each was worth around double a healing potion. The only problem limiting my production was the small amount of ingredients from my current suppliers and my equipment.
/- - - - - -\
+ Alchemy Level 14
+ Restoration Level 15
\- - - - - -/
“So what are your plans once winter is over?” Calavia asked the both of us abruptly as we were sharing breakfast in a tavern near the clinic.
“Don’t you think it is a little early to be asking such questions? It isn’t even autumn yet.” Vel quickly answered while suppressing a yawn which escaped the moment he stopped speaking.
Calavia was about to say something back when I spoke up. “Assuming I am done with this apprenticeship by then I was planning to head up north, maybe north east to some small town up there when I can continue studying magic in relative peace.”
Both Vel and Calavia looked at me with surprise written on their faces. While Vel looked skeptical Calavia looked more interested in my idea.
“That sounds really interesting, what were you planning on pursuing up there if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Alchemy.” I stated. “With all the open space I was hoping to build a home with a large garden where I can grow all the ingredients I need for my potions.”
“Building a home isn’t as simple as just digging a hole in a hill, Arthur. You will need bricks and lumber to build something that is actually habitable. You will need a lot of money if you are just going to do something like out with just a town and its resources to support you.” Vel was quick to interject, he had been more pessimistic since the parasite situation.
“I already have a decent amount of money saved up, most of it I earned from the crown for killing those vampires. It alone should be enough to get myself a decent sized home and the seeds for a garden. After that I will just figure things out as I go.” I gave a smug smile as I looked back at Vel in defiance to his pessimism.
“Well I think it is a wonderful idea Arthur. Perhaps you should try being more adventurous in the future and come up with something like that.” Calavia didn’t look to Vel as she spoke to him, instead she looked more towards me. It might have just been in my head but I was wondering if she was looking at me more often than before.
********
Regardless of any unusual actions on Calavia’s part we quickly finished our breakfast and went off to work for the day. We were told ahead of time that Calavia and I would be learning a few new spells, specifically tier two spells that Vel already knew and would be helping with.
Arriving at the clinic we quickly entered the back room where our teacher and one of the senior employees was waiting for us. She was a high elven woman sitting at the table while writing something down in a notebook. When she heard our footsteps she looked up and smiled when she recognized us.
“Good morning you three. I am Sana, though Vel already knows that.” Sana gave a light chuckle as she gestured to Vel who seemed not to understand why she did so. “I will be teaching the three of you some tier two restoration spells that I am certain that you will be needing in the future to heal certain injuries and diseases.”
She handed the three of us each a book, the title of which was A Mages Guild to Common Diseases and Injuries. Opening the book up the first page covered two tier two diagnostic spells, the first was for detecting diseases and the second for internal injuries.
“I see Arthur is already looking through the book, I want you two to follow his lead and open to the first page and tell me what you see.”
Instead of doing as Sana asked Vel stepped forwards with the book still closed. “I am sorry to interrupt Sana, but I already know these spells and how to use them.”
“Yes I know that, but I will be covering a few important things that weren’t covered the last time. Now we have an opportunity to change that, so if you would please open the book to the first page and follow along.”
Vel gave Sana an annoyed look but didn’t say anything as he followed her instructions and opened the book to the very first page.
“Now as you can see there are two spells listed with their descriptions. The first known as Lesser Disease Detection, and the second as Lesser Injury Detection. The function of the spells is just about as you expect, though how it feels to receive the information from the spells can be a little surprising the first time it happens which is why we will be testing them out in this controlled environment.”
Stepping over towards and then in front of Vel, Sana turned to Calavia and myself before continuing. “The two of you will be casting these spells on each other while Vel will do so on myself. Just take turns and follow the instructions in the book, if you have any questions about the spells just ask me.”
While Calavia and myself were a little confused Vel seemed to know what to do and quickly casted both spells in rapid succession on Sana. Both of us were rather impressed with his skill and the practice he showed. After taking a moment to appreciate Vel’s skill I allowed Calavia to try out the spell first, with a half minute to try and memorize the process she gave her best and began casting the spell.
Unfortunately she messed up the pronunciation of the arcane words and the spell fizzled out before she could even finish. She sighed defeated and looked up at me with sad eyes that were like daggers in my heart.
“Hey, it's alright.” I blurted out without thinking. “Casting new spells is never easy, why don’t I have a try and then you can go again.”
Calavia nodded slowly without saying anything and I began the six second process of casting the Lesser Disease Detection spell. Since I could remember everything I made no mistakes when speaking the arcane words or when performing the hand signs, I did however have some difficulty when controlling the mana itself but I managed to pull through and my right hand glowed a light and soft yellow. Without waiting I touched Calavia against the forehead with my open palm and the spell identified her as the target to begin its work. The spell searched for any of the diseases it was designed to identify and reported back to me within just a few seconds as my open palm was still against her forehead.