The alchemist’s house was a beacon in the night. Lights poured out of every window, even with the curtains drawn. It was a huge building compared to everything else Owin had seen on the second floor.
“Have you been here before?” Owin asked.
“No. I just know of Naxile,” Kidibose said.
Owin took that as a full answer, though he was still curious what that actually meant. How much did Kidibose know about the dungeons and how things worked? It seemed like she didn’t actually know she was a mob in the dungeon, though Owin obviously didn’t either before the buff.
“What was the warning from Rattis?”
“She’s volatile, as he said.” Kidibose shrugged. “Could be a joke about her class, or it could mean she’ll literally blow us up.”
“I hope it’s a joke.” Owin slowly approached the door, trying to peer through the windows. He couldn’t make anything out through the thick curtains.
Kidibose confidently knocked on the door with her bow slung over her shoulder and her shortsword sheathed at her hip.
Owin was less confident and kept his hands near his wand and knife. Rattis had given that warning for a reason. And even if that reason was unclear, Owin was going to be on guard the entire time.
The door creaked open just a sliver, revealing the wide forest green face of a goblin.
“Who?” it asked.
Great Forest Mob
Ponk
Goblin Alchemist
Level 8
Ponk had bright green hair, just a shade off of his skin, and blue eyes like a cloudless sky. Some burns scarred his face, especially around his mouth. He looked between Kidibose and Owin, then closed the door. A lock audibly locked in place.
“I don’t think he wants us to go inside,” Kidibose said.
Owin approached and knocked again. “We’re here for Nosolus Dindross, Chosen Magus of the Malignant Spirit.”
“Wow, you know his full title.”
The door immediately opened again, revealing Ponk and a human woman with tangled hair. Owin immediately used Examine.
Great Forest Mob
Naxile
Human Alchemist
Level 15
Naxile looked older than anyone else Owin had seen. Her hair was gray and her face was wrinkled, especially around her eyes. She looked tired as she peeked around Ponk, who had once again opened the door.
“Nosolus, you say?” she asked.
Owin nodded.
“A goblin?”
Owin nodded again, unsure of what else to do.
“Come in.”
Ponk opened the door the rest of the way and held it as Owin and Kidibose entered. He closed it and latched it shut as soon as they were inside. Owin didn’t love the door being locked directly behind them.
The main room was dominated by a giant green container in the center, latched to the floor. Desks, shelves, and other random storage covered the walls.
“Why would Nosolus send a goblin and a . . . cultist?” Naxile asked.
Owin walked inside and let Kidibose close the door behind him. The hunter still held her bow tightly. She stuck right behind Owin and looked a lot more agitated than he was trying to let on. His goal was to learn more about Naxile and the goblin before doing anything rash, though it seemed that Kidibose would give away his intentions quickly.
“He said you would know what to do,” Owin said quickly before Naxile could look at Kidibose for too long.
The older woman grinned and crossed her arms. “Oh, he did?” She turned her back to them, casually walking back to the green tank in the center of the room. It bubbled as if boiling. Naxile pressed her hand against the glass. Her reflection, still grinning, looked right at Owin. “It’s not often you see a goblin around these woods.”
“Where did you find Ponk?” Owin asked.
Ponk, still standing nearby, stared blankly at Owin.
“Are you from the caves?”
Ponk didn’t respond. The goblin had his arms crossed in front of his chest and looked like he was daydreaming.
“How is Nosolus doing?” Naxile asked. She stayed near the center tank, but paced around it, watching Owin from afar.
“I don’t know. He just sent us here.”
Naxile tapped the glass with her long nails. “Have you retrieved the eyes?”
“No.” Owin took another look at Ponk, who loudly sniffled and wiped his sleeve across his nose, leaving a trail of snot. Owin stepped past the goblin and surveyed the various large tanks and oddities along the walls. A hand, posed as if casting a spell, was mounted on a table across from the door. A candle burned precariously close to the hand. “I need buff potions. Nosolus said you would be able to help.”
“Ponk, do we have some?” she asked, still pacing. She dragged her nail over the glass container. Whatever liquid was inside bubbled.
“Yes.”
“Would you take our friend to the back and manage that?”
Ponk bowed, wiped his sleeve across his nose again, then walked past a stone table to a wooden door. “In here.”
Owin looked back at Kidibose, who was crouched beside a desk in the front. A glass container held a skinned taxidermy rat posed as it climbed up a branch.
“Don’t you worry. We will have a cup of tea and wait for you two to finish. Cultist, come over here,” Naxile said. She grabbed a mug from a drawer under the posed hand, then approached a stone tank against the wall and turned a spigot. It gurgled, then released a stream of steaming liquid into the mug.
Ponk held the door open a few feet from Owin. The goblin grunted. “Storage.”
“Oh,” Kidibose said, hurrying over to the tank. “Premade tea? Marvelous. I could use something like this in the bakery.”
“Tell me more,” Naxile said, placing her arm over Kidibose’s shoulder.
Ponk shoved Owin in and closed the door behind them. Three identical shelves took up most of the room. A barrel sat oddly in the way, and cabinets covered the far wall. Most of the shelf space was taken up by dried flowers or stones of various colors. None of which Owin recognized.
“What is buff for?” Ponk asked. The goblin shoved the barrel aside. Something inside thumped, but it moved easily.
“To get stronger. To be able to fight.”
Ponk looked back at Owin. His blue eyes shone like the daytime sky. “You are level 1.”
“I know.”
“I am level 8.”
“I know.” Owin stayed near the door, watching the other goblin with curiosity. Ponk touched various things along the shelves as he walked, lifting things, placing them back down, switching positions. It didn’t seem like he was really trying to do anything specifically. “Where are the potions?”
Ponk tapped his long green fingers on the middle shelf. “Cabinet.”
Owin quickly walked past the shelves and threw open the first cabinet door. The lock on the door to the main room clicked. Ponk stood at the door, hand on the lock. In his other hand, he had a bright green potion, much like his hair.
“What are you doing?” Owin asked, grabbing the first potion he could reach inside the cabinet and popped the cork off. He hadn’t had a chance to examine it, and now he didn’t want to break eye contact with Ponk.
“Following Nosolus’s orders.” Ponk stepped toward Owin. He pulled an identical orange potion from a bag around his waist.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Owin hoped the potion he grabbed was another strength buff. If he was quick enough, he could get the one from Ponk too.
“Stay here, and we will be friends.”
A flaming arrowhead punctured the door. Ponk turned to look at the same time Kidibose, voice muted by the door, screamed, “You bitch!”
Owin drew his wand and cast Bolt as he splashed the orange potion right onto his face.
Strength +30
Strength: 85
The bolt struck Ponk in the shoulder, causing him to drop the other strength buff. The wand didn’t sizzle or hurt after using it. Was it after midnight? Owin cast another Bolt, trying to aim at Ponk’s face. This one struck the goblin right in the stomach. Ponk stumbled back and threw the green potion. His hand glowed blue as the glass bottle flew. The green liquid inside was suddenly boiling.
Owin dove forward as the glass bottle smashed into the edge of the closest shelf. Glass shot out, cutting into his skin, as the green liquid burst into a cloud of green smoke. Owin’s arm passed through the cloud, causing him to scream as the skin melted on his arm. He crashed into the stone floor and rolled into the wall. The shelf melted in the acid and collapsed, spilling ingredients into the cloud, which disintegrated them.
His health was under half. Despite the arm pain, the damage wasn’t severe. If the bottle had hit him directly, he would’ve died immediately. Unfortunately, his mana was still too low to cast any spells.
There were some things that worked for a reason, and Owin was going to keep going back to what had been successful in the past.
He grabbed his stone knife and leapt at Ponk. A thirty point buff in strength was bigger than Owin had imagined. He flew through the air incredibly fast compared to before. The alchemist goblin had pulled a health potion from his bag, but he had only just managed to pull the cork when Owin collided with him. Owin’s aim was never great, so he had held the stone knife out right in front of his chest. When he hit Ponk, the knife slipped right between the collarbones, killing Ponk instantly.
0 Experience
Owin ripped the knife out and grabbed the partially spilled health potion. He splashed what was left on his face, which was enough to restore his small amount of health. The skin from the acid burns healed, but the scars remained.
Things clattered in the next room as Kidibose continued her fight. Owin wanted to get out there and help her, but he needed to be helpful. A quick search through Ponk’s bag found a mana potion, which Owin downed immediately, then he grabbed the other strength potion and drank it.
Strength +30
Strength: 115
Owin squeezed the worn grip of his bloody knife. Some gore from Ponk dripped onto his hand as he unlocked the burning door and tossed it open.
Kidibose was a few feet to the side, breathing heavily. Her hood and pack were torn and tossed on the floor, still sizzling from acid. Half her hair was gone, replaced by sizzling skin just like Owin’s arm from Ponk’s attack. Kidibose had an arrow drawn with a glowing green arrowhead. Her Dipped Arrow ability pulled from the tank of acid in the middle of the room.
Naxile stood in the opposite corner. She had cuts on her face, and a handful of arrows were stuck in the wall behind her. There was a three level difference between Kidibose and Naxile, which seemed small to Owin, especially when he was able to defeat people ten levels different. But Naxile stood confidently, still holding a mug of tea in one hand while she tossed and caught another potion. This one was a swirl of bright colors.
“Are you okay?” Kidibose asked without turning her attention from Owin.
“I’m fine.”
Naxile’s face suddenly contorted. She looked past Owin at the pool of blood leaking from Ponk’s corpse, just inside the door.
Kidibose took the opening to shoot her arrow, which was aimed perfectly at the middle of Naxile’s face. It touched her, burning her nose, for just a tiny, brief moment, before it diverted and stuck into the wall, splashing acid over the wood.
Naxile didn’t even flinch. “Ponk,” she said, dropping her mug to the floor. It shattered, spilling tea across the floorboards. “What did you do to Ponk?”
Kidibose shot another arrow, which cut Naxile’s face before being pushed aside.
“I can’t hurt her,” Kidibose said. Her voice was shaky.
“Why are you doing this?” Owin asked. His green eyes were bright as he glared at the old alchemist.
Naxile grabbed another swirling potion from the bag at her hip. Both hands glowed blue, causing the potions to start bubbling.
“I was only going to kill the cultist. I would’ve let you live, goblin. But my precious Ponk. What did you do to my Ponk?” Naxile’s voice grew louder and louder until she shouted. Tears ran down her face. “What did you do?”
Owin pointed his hand and cast Bolt. The small bolt of lightning flew across the room, hitting Naxile’s leg. It bounced off and struck the floor, where it left a scorch mark. She flinched when it hit her, though it left no visible injury.
“I’ll have her heart. You can’t stop me.” Naxile blinked away tears. “The Malignant Spirit will return.”
Owin leapt, feeling even stronger than before. He held his knife out, ready to impale Naxile’s heart. She threw one of the swirling, bubbling potions at the same time he had jumped. The glass bottle broke over his knife in midair, shattering and releasing the bright, bubbling liquid. Naxile’s potion exploded, sounding like thunder. Owin was launched in the opposite direction he had jumped, passing right over Ponk’s corpse. He crashed against shelves and fell onto the stone floor.
His health bar looked empty.
1 Health
Owin groaned as he stood unsteadily. His head spun and his ears rang.
“Owin,” Kidibose shouted, sounding like she was miles away.
He could barely see Naxile stomp across the room. More arrows bounced right off her skin, barely leaving a scratch. Owin stumbled over Ponk’s corpse and fell beside the burning door. He pulled himself into the other room until he could see Kidibose.
She dropped her bow, drew her shortsword, and dropped into a crouch as she swung with her Hobbling Slash ability. Naxile’s knees exploded in a shower of blood that sprayed as far as Owin.
Still, she kept standing and grabbed Kidibose by the throat. “You will be the sacrifice that brings the Malignant Spirit back to our world.” Her words were like a snake hissing. Spit flew against Kidibose’s acid-burned skin.
“Owin,” Kidibose called, gagged by the alchemist.
Owin grabbed the doorframe and tried to stand. Even with increased strength, he was barely able to move. Everything felt distant and fuzzy. One hit and he would die.
Naxile pulled a curved knife from her bag. Owin’s eyes widened. He sat up and grabbed Ponk’s bag. There was another health potion at the bottom, glowing red as if it was calling for him. He grabbed it, almost dropping the potion with his numb hands, and poured it into his mouth. Most missed, but it still splashed against his skin.
His health bar filled all the way back up. Owin jumped to his feet, grabbed his wand, and ran from the storage room.
Naxile had turned to face Owin with Kidibose held in front of her. The curved knife was pressed into her neck, cutting deep enough that a rivulet of blood ran down, over her collarbone, and soaked into her tunic.
“Good,” Naxile said. She used her other hand to drink her own health potion. “I wanted you to watch while I killed your friend.”
“Why are you doing this?”
Naxile, with tears running down her cheeks, grinned. “The Malignant Spirit requires a sacrifice of a devoted member. A heart of a cultist.” She pressed the knife harder into Kidibose’s neck. “Nosolus volunteered our baker here.”
“Owin, please,” Kidibose said quietly. She squeezed her eyes shut. “Please. I was going to make baklava, remember?”
“I remember.” Owin squeezed the wand so hard he thought it would snap. He wanted his knife, but it had gone flying in the earlier attack. He would have to make do with what he had. “Let her go.”
Naxile shook her head. “It’s not going to happen. You’re going to suffer, like I am now. You killed my Ponk, I will kill your baker.”
Owin could only attack her with something physical and close. Any ranged attacks seemed to bounce off, however that worked. He didn’t know anything about the alchemist class, but clearly she had something protecting her. Kidibose’s strike with her shortsword had been successful, which meant Owin needed to drive the wand into her heart.
He took a step and jumped with all his strength, launching him across the room. Naxile face contorted to the most evil look Owin had ever seen. Her curved knife sliced right into Kidibose’s throat and ripped across, splashing blood over the wall. She let the corpse fall just as Owin reached her.
She was incredibly fast, catching Owin’s head before he could attack. She held him in a single hand and threw his body at the floor. It did minimal damage, but he landed directly beside Kidibose, who was already dead and bleeding.
“Why?” Owin said. He was back on his feet quickly. Naxile stood above him like a monster. “She was innocent.”
“A better sacrifice.” Naxile pointed her bloody knife at Owin. “I will cut out her heart and deliver it to Nosolus myself.”
Owin jumped again, stabbing forward with his wand. Naxile swiped with her knife, catching Owin’s forehead. It sliced through the skin and threw him against the blood-covered wall. His health was still over half, which meant the cut wasn’t serious. She had partially missed. Blood ran over his eyebrows and dripped in front of his eyes.
All he needed was one good attack. One attack right into her brain.
Owin stuck out his hand and cast Smoke Cloud. Dark smoke immediately covered the whole area. Breathing in it wasn’t any different than regular air, but Owin still fought the urge to hold his breath.
“You little bastard,” Naxile said. She grabbed a potion that glowed yellow like firelight. It didn’t clear the smoke, but it let Owin see a perfect silhouette of the old alchemist.
He jumped again and collided with Naxile. Before she could even react, he stabbed with the wand, puncturing her eye. Liquid splashed on his wrist and Owin screamed and shoved the wand in as far as he could. He cast Bolt and felt the wand sizzle and burn his hand. His health dropped three points as Naxile’s other eye exploded. Her body stiffened, but Owin wasn’t satisfied. He cast Bolt two more times until the back of her skull blew out, splashing cooked brains onto the wall.
Owin jumped off as her corpse collapsed beside Kidibose. He canceled Smoke Cloud and stood, breathing heavily. A pool of blood had formed around the corpses.
“I’m sorry,” Owin said quietly.
He pulled Naxile’s bag off and slung it over his shoulder. It was a little big, but he would be able to readjust it later. He found another health potion inside, which he immediately drank. There were two more inside, two mana potions, and the last swirling potion. He kept them all there and wandered until he found his stone knife on the floor. He tossed it into his bag and walked back into the storage room. The door burned, and the fire had spread to the wall. Before long, the whole building would be in flames. With all the tanks and experiments inside, it would be a bad idea to be near the building when the rest caught flames. Owin decided to hurry. He searched the cabinets and found only one more potion. It wasn’t one he recognized, so he used Examine.
Artisan Constitution Buff
+30 Constitution
Duration: 5 Hours
As the words floated in his vision, the duration once again became hazy and disappeared. Owin drank the potion and was surprised to find it sweet.
Constitution +30
Constitution: 50
His health bar increased, getting more than twice as big. There was nothing else that seemed worth taking in the storage room, especially with so many of the ingredients being ruined by acid.
Owin walked back to the main room and crouched beside Kidibose. He grabbed the curved knife from Naxile, and sighed.
Nosolus would have no idea Naxile and Ponk were dead. If Owin helped complete the quest, he would get a reward from Nosolus, which might make him strong enough to stop the cult leader. They didn’t have the eyes anyway. All they needed was a heart from a cultist.
Owin thought of taking Naxile’s heart, but a simple Examine would confirm that Owin had lied, which would only make him fight Nosolus that much sooner. It felt horrible to even think about. Owin knelt beside Kidibose and drove the curved knife right into her chest.