Harper

Setting aside her worry for Ben, Harper shifted her focus back to her upcoming work. She was so close to several perk point levels that she could reach out and feel the edge of new opportunities. Hearing her skills would level faster nearly made Harper as giddy as her new stat block did.

[Harper Cain Woods

Otherworld Human

Hub Master

Health 1737/1737

Reserves 2043

Magic Fortification:

Fortification points 129/1930

Body Total 102.7

Strength 28.5

Agility 27.3

Durability 18.1

Endurance 28.8

Mind Total 142

Willpower 44.8

Cognition 37.6

Resistance 26.3

Resilience 32.8

Combat skills

Trapping 4

Building skills

Building 26

Utility skills

Hiking 4

Scan 18

Cooking 8

Apothecary 9

Alchemy 9

Grand Array 2]

For the first time in years, Harper felt powerful. More than doubling her natural and supernatural abilities in a moment would have that effect. Harper knew this would change everything. How could it not?

That being said, she wasn't about to sit on the sidelines. Nearly all of her skills were one or two levels away from gaining a perk point. Some she had not used at all. That had caused some confusion, which took a bit to figure out because Harper had never seen the notifications. The levels were progress Harper mainly gained at night while Hint drew fortification magic from her. A bit of poking around to refresh her memory pointed to the transition award jack of all trades 1. Best she could tell, the progress that went into her building skill built up other skills even if she hadn't used them.

Her path to power included Grand Arrays, but it was pretty easy to see that those benefits would be locked behind a lot more work. Instead, her alchemy and apothecary skills held all the low-hanging fruit. With her discovery of how jack of all trades 1 worked, improving anywhere would help Harper with her Grand Array skill.

Plus, after Grant brought all those potent ingredients, Harper was itching to put them to use. Honestly, his change of behavior made her think he really had a change of heart. Giving away treasures and turning down real power was the most sincere Grant could be. All he cared about was power and benefit. Giving away everything he cared about well it meant something, maybe even a new leaf being turned over.

Regardless the influx of high-quality ingredients would let her extract a meaningful amount of trace materials. Harper learned that some combinations and extractions required a minimum amount to catalyze at all. At best, it would be inert, waiting for her to gather more of whichever ingredient was lacking. Sadly more often than not, a reaction would start and consume the energy from the mixture without anything to show for it.

"Hey, Clare," Amber's voice interrupted Harper's thoughts. "I was thinking about trading if you'd be interested."

"Oh, what did you have in mind?" Clare asked.

"Well, we have an excess of leather. An' I been working to get it made into bags, clothes and even a few armor pieces. What I seem shy on is cloth of any sort," Amber said. "One more thing is that special thread makes fine material for a bowstring. Maybe I could make you a bow."

"Why that sounds most lovely. I could even make some silk for you that repels blood," Clare tapped her lip in thought. "The most resilient thread my spiders make is costly. There is a negative impact on the spider's combat ability for some time after they craft the webbing."

"You got dang near- no, you got more than a mile of the stuff," Amber countered. "It can't be too hard to produce."

"And yet I see you generating none yourself, in fact-" Harper left what felt like good-natured haggling to get her own work progressing. It was nice to see they both shared something in common, even if it wasn't Harper's thing. She never did like the back and forth of pricing. Even when working freelance, she'd just provide a simple take it or leave it quote.

Back in the laboratory, Harper began sorting out the new materials. While she'd looked them over when Grant gifted them to her, she didn't sort them by value. The last thing she wanted was to use the more important ingredients before she got her new perks.

A bell-shaped flower that reminded her of Lilly of the Valley if it was the color of the azurite stone on her desk at home. Scan.

[Gale Bell

Lights up at night to draw pollinators in. Changes color based on weather

Alchemy and Apothecary scan synergy: Chance to extract bioluma, trace fatesense]

Harper's awarded fatesense may be amplified by a product she could make from this. If only she wasn't tunnel-visioned on survival, making a potion that made the user glow multi-color seemed like a lot of fun. Now wasn't the time for fun. Harper was determined to help in every fight she could. That meant no wasted time when she could be making progress.

Sorting the Gale Bell to the wait side, she selected an innocuous grey pepper. Scan.

[Belly popper pepper

Absorbs heat and changes color, brightening when ripe. When digested, the seeds discharge their heat. This counteracts the digestive acid of their primary seed dispersal lifeforms. Other animals often fall to internal combustion and become fertilizer for the heat-resistant seeds

Alchemy and Apothecary scan synergy: Dry and powder the seeds, then submerge in pure still water for crystal growths. Contains significant heat resist, contains significant heat absorption.]

This provided a lot of information, including a recipe. That was plenty to make Harper confident she could resolve benefits from processing this. Pure water. Now that she thought of it, her spring water was fresh and clean, but that didn't make it pure. Did it?

Splitting the grey pepper open with a knife, she removed the seeds from the flesh.

Hint? Can you please expand the garden another smidge so I can try to grow some of these? Harper thought loudly.

Yes, Warden, Hint replied. They may be challenging to pollinate without bugs.

This was a reference to Harper's request that Hint suppress every bug she could. Harper agreed strongly with the sentiment that the only good bug was a dead bug. For all Hint's pride, she didn't mind bugs, well, not enough to do anything about it. They weren't worth the effort to force into hibernation and rearrange rooms to capture.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Yeah, Harper didn't care. Everyone had a job to do, and Hint's job was to make sure Harper never saw any creepy crawlies.

That sounds like a me problem, Harper thought back.

Hint sighed into Harper's mind.

Really? You don't even have lungs. Harper rolled her eyes but didn't get any more comments.

Harper put the divided seeds into a tiny stone plate that she put into an urn half full of desiccant. With the leftover materials, she began testing in tiny batches. Honestly, the smell made her look forward to having enough to casually cook with.

Between her thimble-sized mixture of mushed pepper in solvent and another in a blanket of chill powder, Harper was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Hey, I told Clare about the ladies room you got here," Amber led the way. "Told her you don't mind none."

Hint, let's make a public bathroom a priority. Harper thought the order immediately.

It wasn't that she disliked Clare, it was just... no, that was it, she didn't like Clare. Her treatment of Mathew was just unacceptable. Harper's decision not to get involved didn't mean she stopped caring.

"Sure thing, I've meant to make another, but I haven't gotten around to it," Harper said with a convincing smile.

Amber stuck around after Clare had passed through. "What a haggler! I was hoping to hustle enough silk from her to make clothes for all of us, but it'll take a while at the speed I'm producing. You don't by chance know how to make a corset, do you? Said she'd pay out good for one."

"Know might be a stretch. I think I remember they were reinforced with whalebone. Otherwise, weaving them with cloth should be fairly easy," Harper kept her hands moving on the experiments. The improvement in her cognition seemed to ease the challenge of doing two things at once.

"Listen, between you and me, I seen you giving her the side eye," Amber pleaded. "Just give her a chance. You should hear about the things she has to fight. Demonic armored rhinos... and well, I guess what I'm saying is that people are more than one-dimensional."

"If that one dimension happens to be-," Harper started

STOP! Hint yelled into her mind. Clare's returning.

"-hell, that'd be news for sure." Harper finished. Again her enhanced cognition helped. This time aiding her in thinking on her feet.

Clare's voice came from behind, "Certainly not demonic, merely smelling of rotten eggs."

"Sulfur?" Harper said. "In the survival books I brought, they mentioned that sulfur was the limiting ingredient to modern gun powder. Makes me wonder if there are any sulfur springs nearby."

"Oh, would you like me to provide some of their armor? It was yellow," Clare said.

Harper was apprehensive, saying, "I won't turn you down, but what do you want?"

"You have books?" Clare was standing forward on her toes, full of hopefulness.

Harper nodded, "Some that I had on my tablet already and a bunch of survival books I downloaded when the apocalypse started."

"I'll add a dozen yards of silk to the sulfur armor if you let me read some," Clare announced.

Harper noticed that was the first contraction she'd heard Clare use, "Okay. Anything else I can get you?" Just get it over with, then I don't have to talk to her anymore.

"I saw you have a well-stocked bathroom, toilet paper and feminine products," Clare sighed. "It is like being back on earth... do you have plastic wrap by chance?"

"No, the Hub can only make products that you'd expect a prison to have. And even then it's limited," Harper said. "One day, when we have enough Territory, I want to make magical factories that produce all types of things. What do you want plastic wrap for anyway?"

"Myself. The medicine I use is not effective enough to accomplish what I am trying to do," Clare answered.

"I didn't know you did apothecary work! Tell me more." Harper demanded. Calming herself, she tried again. "Sorry, just it's so frustrating always trying to figure all this out on my own. Don't get me wrong, no one ever tells me I'm doing it wrong, but the directions I get from the system never seems enough."

"Thank you. I do not do well with being ordered," Clare frowned. "For that, I am sorry. To your question, my Blood Queen Spider abdomen keeps emitting pheromones I'm trying to block out. What I have found works is a vital cream from the plants I make within a Territory I own."

"I'm going to need a breakdown on that. What plant are you growing? Can you show me some of this cream?" Harper's curiosity drove her past her hang-ups.

"It is the fruit of a Blood Pod. I do not grow it. I make it. On Earth, the people of ancient history believed in the spontaneous generation of life. At some point, a piece of meat was placed in fine netting, and when no flies grew from it, they learned better," Clare shrugged. "Leternum actually does have a spontaneous generation of life. As a Territory Alpha, I sacrifice to the Territory, which makes life. This plant is one of them."

"Talk about mother nature," Amber quipped. "Sorry for interrupting."

"Here, I will show you the cream," Clare said before pulling her dress over her head.

Silk wrappings protected her modesty where they weren't cut apart. White scars peppered her body along with a few shiny pink or crimson plates. She'd been through so much. Clare turned and began to unwrap a bulge on her back. Her hands trembled. Just like Harpers' hands often trembled. The brittle wall in Harper's heart broke.

Unwrapped, the grafted organ was on full display. Pink and white chitin with spots of red. This differed from the monster Ben brought the one time. Almost no sharp edges, and if not for being a parasite on another person less intimidating.

Harper's focus shifted to the glazing over the spider shell.

[Primitive proto-vital cream

Origin of Blood Pod fruit aged with limited exposure to air. Can perform as any other proto-vital source with 22% efficiency

Alchemy and Apothecary scan synergy: Purity is high while activation is low. Raise purity by boiling impurities away, raise activation by catalyzing. 100% purity, 0% activation makes Vital Essence, 100% purity, 100% activation makes vital source]

Harper was always amazed at how much more information she could get with higher skill levels.

Picking up a palm-sized jar, Harper handed over an 85% proto-vital source gel.

"Here, can you give this a try?" Harper remembered to ask instead of order. "If that doesn't work, let me know, and I'll make you something that will work for you. Does it ever hurt?"

Terminating just above Clare's tailbone, the plate-sized graft seemed uncomfortable.

Clare rubbed the gel on part of her shell. "Not without an injury, no. That's working!"

Harper stared into tearful ruby eyes and didn't know what to say. Clare's not crazy. She's just been through too much. How did I ever plan to help the broken when the first broken one to show up I give a cold shoulder to?

"What can I do to get more of this?" Clare's voice was steadier than her tears would suggest.

"Take all I have. I don't need anything back," Harper's new kinship was pulling her along. "I could make more and better with those fruits, but I'm just glad you're taken care of."

Amber kicked her toe at the floor, "Could you know, get me some from my wishlist."

Harper laughed the tense emotions away, and then the others joined in.

[New skill awarded Alchemy 10, Alchemy 10 overrides Alchemy 9]

"I have my work to do," Harper felt a bout of courage. Looking a powerhouse in the face she added. "How else can I stop you from making a mistake you'll regret?"

Clare's shock didn't seem to detract from her gratitude. "Thank you so much. I will do all I can to ensure you do not regret helping me."

Turning her back on Clare no longer felt like exposing herself to a powerful beast.

Inspecting her experiments for changes, the chill powder bath seemed to have done the trick. Within the mush, black crystals had formed.

[Lesser Stability Crystal

Stabilizes mater at the spiritual and chemical level. Can be safely stored in any stable environment below the boiling point of water.

Alchemy and Apothecary scan synergy: Contains minor secondary attribute of suppression.]

After noting down the advances she made against the fog of ignorance, Harper pulled up her perk intelectus.

[Alchemy ~ perk tier one

Brilliant - Increase the capacity of alchemically derived materials

Luster - Raise effective skill level when deriving multilayered materials

perk tier two

Tool empowerment - Use willpower to empower alchemy tools or generate equivalent effects]

Having already weighed the pros and cons Harper immediately selected tool empowerment.

Spinning up a new intelectus, she didn't even notice when Clare left or when Amber left her a note. The numerous varieties of tools started to reshape her understanding of how alchemy was oh so very different from apothecary work.

With a whole new set of tools at her disposal, Harper returned to the work of extracting all power she could command from the world. An unsettling feeling drove her, it said they would need the power.