LetMeKeelYou: I kinda had an accident yesterday and injured some back muscles (it happened all of a sudden). I don't know why but since then i've been depressed for no apparent reason and i think it's affecting the chapters (i'm seeing everything as just bland and uninteresting, which leads me to think my chaps will come out like that). So i'll stick with rereading them and there's the chance they will be heavily editted once i get out of this. Enjoy the chapter!

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The moon watched from afar behind its wall of clouds as Mnemosyne spread out a mat on the ground for her bowl and pestle. She had spent all of her money into it, plus some flasks and a small batch of herbs. If possible she’d buy more, but that would do.

Since Talisman was an open world, you could use anything in any way you wanted – of course, there would be no guarantee it would work. So if you dropped a sword from a monster, for instance, all you’d get from inspecting it was an in-game description of its shape, sharpness and other information that may or may not be useful, like its origins.

If you used that sword as a one-handed weapon, you would discover its attributes as a one-handed weapon and that was it. Independently, for more accurate information, you’d need to use it in the specific way multiple instances, as it didn’t give numbers right off the bat. The same thing applied to skills.

It would be different, though, if you bought it from a NPC or from another person, as previous recorded information would appear available.

It was a strange kind of mechanic that showed players the world wasn’t the only thing to explore, but also all that existed within it. As such, there were mainly two kinds of players: those that focused on hunting for talismans and discovering the functionality of items and those who focused on developing their soulmates to the best of their abilities.

Mnemosyne mixed together Mambala Fruit, a blue apple shaped fruit with small healing capabilities, and Oxys Herb, a glowing plant with strong poisonous roots that chipped away at someone’s health bar. She crushed the fruit on the bowl and used the pestle to mash the herb with it, making for a strange cyan paste.

To make it drinkable, she kept squelching it till the paste acquired texture of a liquid, then poured it into a round flask.

You have created a new kind of potion. Its recipe will be available in your Alchemy Notes

??? Potion: A potion with an enrapturing color and fragrant smell.

Mnemosyne slowly spun the flask, examining the mysterious potion, letting a single drop of it touch the ground. At first, the grass covering it glowed calmly, like a shining bubble of fluctuating light.

One second after, it turned black and dry, squirming itself into a crooked shape and crumbling like the sands of an ancient tomb.

Once again, she looked at the flask’s content.

Ravishment Potion (weak): A potion with an enrapturing color and fragrant smell. It will drain the life of its victim while giving a pleasurable feeling which gradually turns into intense pain.

“… My, that’s just perfect!”

 Mnemosyne stared at the wolf with a playful smile, extending the flask in front of it.

“Here, it’s for you.”

The wolf peered into the liquid tortuously. It wouldn’t drink poison on its own accord.

Its master grew cold, dilating her pupils in what looked like a death glare.

“If you don’t drink it, i will be really sad…”

The animal still refused to do it. Mnemosyne then stuck her hand at the wolf’s jaw and opened its mouth wide, forcing the liquid inside it with brutish complacency.

“Why did you make me to do it? Truly disappointing…”

A wandering elf passed by them as he noticed the wolf’s beautiful sheen. He had never seen something like that before.

“Is that your soulmate? I have a wolf too, though i lost it in battle. How did you make him become like that?” he asked, amazed by the staggering view.

“Oh, this… It’s really a shame, but he’s under the effect of some poison. It makes it glow like this in the beginning… But then its body would turn black and that would be the end.”

“Oh, uh, sorry… Best of luck for you guys, then.”

As the elf continued to walk his way, he stole a glance at the flask with a blue liquid dripping on the ground. The grass beneath it turned the same color as the wolf. He then ventured his eyes near the extended mat – alchemy materials.

She was the one who brewed the venomous potion.

As he silently enlarged the distance between the two of them, sweat coming out of his pale face, he blew a sigh out of his shivering lungs. He had seen people treating their soulmates harshly with very different results, but feeding them poison? That was a first.

“What the hell was that… Did she actually poison her own soulmate? No… It can’t be.”

He comforted himself with that vague idea and went his own way.

Other people also came to notice the wolf’s appearance, but they weren’t as interested in it – it was late at night, there were fewer players online and the wolf wasn’t such a popular choice in this area. Maybe one or another recognized the potion’s side effects, but none said a thing on the matter.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Mnemosyne petted the wolf who was feeling great by then, a smile protruding on her face.

“See? It doesn’t feel that bad, does it? Now then… We’ll need to find something to purify your body with. Unfortunately, Mambala and Oxys is all i have…”

“What i am saying is… Find the antidote before you die. Can you do this?”

Its weary eyes felt a twinge of sadness as it concurred to its master. What choice did it have on the matter? None at all – it was either that or dying.

From 9 p.m. to 12 p.m. monsters would offer 20% more exp. That was mainly because of working people that didn’t have too much time to spare.

It was past nine, the blazing lights that illuminated fairy houses quickly vanished from sight as the darkness enveloped the wolf’s glowing fur. There, in the entrails of the forest, they met their first preys – other wolfs.

It didn’t hold any empathy towards its kind, and when Mnemosyne commanded it to tear through their flesh and bones, it did so without any regrets. The wolf’s phantasmagoric sight burned with the color of blood it bathed into as the entire pack came rushing to stop it.

One of these stray dogs tried reaching for its master, but it was useless – it was sent soaring through the skies with one straight kick to the chest at the moment it jumped on her, getting torn to pieces by the ferocious soulmate.

One, two, three. They kept falling like pigs to the slaughter.

Your character level has gone up by one!

“Keep going till there’s nothing left!”

And none were left alive. The wolf stood atop the carcass of its enemies as the sole survivor, the King of the Mountain.

“You can go out on your own. I will inspect their bodies for anything useful”

The soulmate roared in agreement, parting from Mnemosyne as she glanced at the cold vessels which pumped no life.

Wolf Meat (7): The bloodiest, freshest wolf meat you’ll ever find in the market.

Wolf Fang (3): Not as sharp as it used to be, but strong nonetheless.

Raw Leather (5): Warm enough to keep you alive during the winter.

The girl tried squeezing the meat for every drop of red fluid it was worth, filling to the brim two of the bottles.

Wolf Blood (2): Smells bad and tastes awful. Even a vampire couldn’t drink it.

Pouring one glass on the bowl, she mixed it with the ravishment potion to no avail. All it did was change the color from a faint cyan blue to an odd burgundy.

Reaching for the next area, an entirely new batch of corpses was ripe for the taking.

Forest Sprite’s Powder: Remains of an eccentric spirit.

Spider Silk: Rather sticky, but durable.

She opted for following the path of carnage left behind by her companion – it was killing things faster than she had planned. Could it be it was already developing? That was really fast.

A stiffened growl echoed from further into the woods. It was reaching the boundaries of life and that same dark place humans desperately try to avoid. As Mnemosyne hurried to its deathbed, the wolf had crippled itself to the ashen ground, its static body helplessly waiting for the moment the cringing pain would cease.

Your soulmate has died. As penalty, it can’t be summoned for at least four hours.

“That’s a pity… We’ll continue our search tomorrow then”.

She opened her status screen before logging out. Sarah had thought about it and throwing herself to the pit that was fighting off monsters wasn’t her style – she’d rather use more subtle ways to control the flow of the battle. So what did she invest into?

Power, the attribute directly related to raw damage – both physical and magical.

Intellect, the attribute connected to learning expertise and spiritual power.

Agility, the attribute for those who wish for faster movements and breaking the limits of the body.

Luck, the attribute that spoke for itself – it affected the game in a multitude of ways people could only dream of.

Vitality, the direct opposite of power. It reflected all the numbers put into defense.

She dropped every single point in intellect and disconnected right after.