The vial trembled slightly, its volatile contents rumbling in response to exposure to air.

Alyss took a deep breath and slowly placed the glass into its proper holding slot, praying that her efforts might succeed this time. She’d been at it for over an hour and each time had gotten a little farther in the experimentation process.

Admittedly, doing alchemical experiments in a tavern bedroom wasn’t the best place to do such a thing, but she had few other places to go. The local herbalist was a bit of an asshole and they hadn’t gotten along. Thankfully, the equipment she’d gathered from the ruins had done wonders for her work.

Portable, durable, and easy to use. One disk of stone in particular heated up to an exact amount, perfect for maintaining temperature. Screw using an open flame! She was never much of a cook despite her chemical capabilities. Pipettes, vials, and magicrystal containers aplenty made for quite the impromptu lab.

Now, though, she was close to a breakthrough. The group had returned quite a few times to the ‘Ruined Grove’ as the townsfolk were calling it. Mostly to pick up valuable stuff to sell, but also to perform more research. Poring over every last unturned stone.

They’d discovered that the giant tree now growing in the center of that crater had begun to sprout fruit. She’d convinced Saezz to clamber up and grab her a few samples. They were of incredible magical potential, though she had yet to properly discover its effects.

Most of the juice’s volatility came from its high thaumaturgic levels. Breaking the skin excited the inner pool, making it a bit of a rush to find out as much as she could. She hated time limits. Most of her experiments thus far had ended with her covered in purple pulp.

At least she’d worked out a deal with the Burgomaster to use her bath in exchange for some basic skin-care poultices.

Alyss may not have cared much for her feminine side, but she knew the tricks of the trade. Both women and men would pay a pretty penny for something that made themselves beautiful. When you made healing potions and tinkered with poisons, creating a simple cream was child’s play for her intelligence.

She gently raised the pipette and began administering droplets. Iron, when ground up into a fine powder and mixed with water, tended to be a good stabilizer in low quantities. Too much and you’d made a mixture useless. She had an eye for this sort of thing, and allowed only three drops.

Almost immediately the concoction began to cease its movements. She watched as the purple grew lighter, shifting to an almost lavender hue.

Next phase, then.

Placing her pipette to the side, Alyss perused her stores of dried leaves, ground up bone, pulverized minerals, and strange liquids. The hardest part of coming along on this adventure had been deciding what and what not to keep in stock. Each ingredient may have been lightweight on its own but proved to be quite the logistical challenge when you had to walk everywhere.

She allowed herself only a few exotic choices. Girls had to treat themselves. Running a hand along the pouches and boxes, she hesitated. Why not go all out?

“Now where did I put it…” She mumbled to herself, rummaging through the collection before drawing forth a small, green pearl. “Aha! Storm Clam’s Blessing. Let’s see what you do.” Alyss grinned and placed the pearl into one of her other new tools. An automated mortar and pestle.

Truly a godsend. She’d spent so many hours grinding away that her poor fingers had developed callouses. But now? Now she could sit back and relax as the magical machine did its job.

Within five minutes she had a powder finer than any flour. Perfect for her uses.

Mixing small amounts of it with a binding agent and some saltwater she produced a larger vessel and poured it in. The resulting liquid almost seemed to contain a miniature storm, clouds of condensation forming at the rim.

“Alchemy and Alembics; written by Forlin Crest.” She spoke, looking over a tome and then flipping through pages. “Chapter Seven. Oceanic Ingredients. Ah, here. The pearl produced by a Storm Clam has high affinity towards the sea, the sky, and the storm. Potential brews include the capability to manipulate the elements, create localized tsunamis, and gain rapid maneuverability in water. Effect time is limited due to Fhad’s Law.”

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She looked back at the fruit juice’s vial, biting her lower lip when she saw that the color had turned darker once again. Specks of black could be seen as the magic overpowered the iron’s natural resistance and literally burned it out. That was very worrying, to say the least.

Very quickly, she used a sieve to remove the tiny prills of slag. The less contaminated elements the better. The vial began vibrating once again, forewarning a critical buildup.

Well, she had gotten this far. “You should make a potion of high quality and long lasting effects. I hope so. Now, let’s do this.”

Alyss poured two more droplets of the stabilizer in before lifting the vial and bringing it over to her larger vessel. She placed the larger container onto the heater and started it up, marveling at how quickly the arcane machine worked. Within minutes the mixture had begun to boil.

Then, with another deep exhale, she turned over the vial.

Purple liquid drizzled down and into the pot, almost immediately beginning to swirl along the mixture’s vortex. No need for stirring, she supposed. The largely clear liquid adopted the juice’s hue, somewhat diluted.

She watched, eyes attuned to the magic in the air. She may not have been much of a spellcaster, but she had quite some skill in divining magic. The two mixtures began to bind with one another, their potential energy rising, but thankfully keeping steady as the evaporating liquid removed some of the buildup.

For a moment she felt a deep sense of pride as the mixture seemed liable to keep.

But the curse of the impatient alchemist struck her.

Lightning began to build up inside the vessel. The storm cloud grew darker and darker, casting shadows over the liquid below. “Ratshit!” Alyss called, leaping away and grabbing what seemed like a large pot.

The dull green cooking pot was made of adamantine, and proved to be her favorite item they had found. To think the ancient peoples were so rich in material wealth that they could use such a material to cook with. Absolutely lavish, but she loved it nonetheless. She hefted it with a grunt and turned back.

In those few moments the solution had begun to violently convulse, just barely avoiding tipping over. She lunged forwards, grabbed the vessel, and held the pot over it.

A few silent moments passed.

Suddenly, a violent ker-THOOM erupted from inside the pot and she was physically thrown back and away. Alyys slammed into the wall, pain causing her vision to flash. She opened her eyes to find herself on the floor, back aching something fierce. Upon closer inspection, it proved to not be broken.

Looking back to the site of the experiment, she saw a scorched black hole in the center of her room. Slowly, the ringing in her ears faded and she could hear yelling.

“WHY IS THERE A HOLE IN THE CEILING?!” A voice down below called angrily. “ALCHEMIST, I TOLD YOU THAT ANY DAMAGE TO MY ESTABLISHMENT WOULD BE UNACCEPTABLE!”

Alyss crawled over to the hole and looked down. She saw that there was, indeed, a hole going all the way down to the kitchen below. The owner of the Speckled Carp, a middle-aged woman named Karyss, stared up at her with fire in her eyes and hands on her hips. Immediately, the short girl pulled backwards, hoping she hadn’t been spotted.

Karyss called up. “Don’t think I didn’t see you!”

Sheepishly, Alyys peered back down again. She noted half-melted glass on the stone floor below along with bits of charred wood. “Um. That was an accident? No, I mean, a work of the Gods!”

“I don’t care what God smote you for your hubris, you will get down here and clean it up this instant!” She yelled with all the fury that a parent could give. The alchemist shuddered, all too weak to such things. Alyss gulped and nodded, quickly turning off the burner and heading for the stairs.

For a moment she felt a sense of homesickness. It seemed so far away, now. The plains around Andire had always been a pleasure to traipse through. Picking herbal flowers with her mother. Resting beneath the shade of a lone tree.

Now it was just a memory. The past was better left untouched.

Arriving downstairs, she quickly had a broom shoved into her hands. Absolutely inane work for a scholar of her status, but the glare in Karyss’ eyes spelled death in iambic. “And you’ll be paying for the repairs!” The matronly woman said with a grimace before turning to leave. Alyss watched her go for a moment and then began the grim task of cleaning up her mess.

It was boring work, but necessary. She had to pay for her failures, one way or another. At least it hadn’t hurt that much. She could tell that her back would begin to bruise heavily. Nothing a healing salve wouldn’t fix overnight.

“I presume that was you?” The deep voice of her newest employer called, peering into the kitchen.

Alyss grumbled. “Yes. I’m gonna need an advance pay…”

“Don’t worry too much. The haul we’re going to be making from this job will pay quite the sum. But that was quite the explosion. Trying out the new fruits?

“That I am. Without much success. I was close. So close! But the power is too much. Maybe I need to add more stabilizing fluid next time…” She rambled, knowing that Ulgrin only understood half of what she was saying. Still, he listened regardless, eager to lend an ear to his fellows. That was a thing she liked about the scholarly fellow.

“Hmm. Yeah, I could tell those fruits are quite powerful. You could probably dilute it enough to form a makeshift mana potion.” Ulgrin hummed. “Did you add enough soothing elements? From what I remember reading, chamomile and lavender tea makes for a good addition.”

She paused, broom clattering to the floor. “The what?”

“Soothing-type ingredients. You know, for volatile potions.”

“Gods damn it all!” She yelled angrily, hand going to her forehead. “Of course I forgot about the damn chamomile!” She groaned and looked up at the hole. How could she be so stupid? “I need to try it.”

The dwarf grinned lightly. “I see. Why don’t I take over? Not like I’m doing much. Go on, Alyss.”

“Really? Thanks a ton, Ulgrin!” Her face took on a wide smile and she sprinted back for the stairs, eager to attempt a new try. It was times like these when she remembered not to fuel her own pride too much. When you were set in your ways, you missed out and made mistakes. Alchemists needed to be open minded.

Sometimes the best solutions were the most obvious ones.

Happy New Year! I took a bit of a longer break than anticipated, but here I am again. Remember when I said that the last chapter would be the end of Arc 01? I lied! You get four interlude chapters before I get us started on the new stuff.

Alyss is an interesting character. Originally one of my D&D characters, she's been adapted for this work. She's a half-gnome and thus very short which bothers her to no end. I prefer to introduce backstories through immersive ways. You wouldn't wax poetical about your history to people you've only know for a few weeks, yeah? But in the following arcs you can expect the main four to get closer together and much friendlier.