Liam walked down the street that led to the Bubbly Potion. The area was a bit quieter than usual, but he didn’t mind. Since he had his senses heightened he had a harder time getting used to them.
With his new hearing, he was able to hear conversations, that were farther than normal, as clear as if it was right next to him. His sight was able to zoom in if he tried to focus on something, like he had a telescope in his eyes. Not only that, but things were brighter and felt like there was more color.
When he ate, his tastebuds were able to tell what ingredients were used down to the last spice. The one sense he wasn’t happy about though was his smell. He was able to pick up new odors he hadn’t before and he was really concerned about some of the people that walked near him. There was a couple of times he almost gagged when people walked by him.
Seriously, have those people not taken a proper shower since they got here. Liam thought to himself. He shivered as he contemplated, I could have sworn that guy had a mushroom starting to grow on him. Yeesh!
He let out a short chuckle as a new thought popped up. If cats or any kind of felines have had to go through this then I have a new found respect for them.
His chuckle slipped away as he approached the door to the building. He stopped and stared at it. What am I going to say? How should I approach this?
Liam let out a sigh as he decided he was going to go with the flow and see where it goes.
He opened the door and walked in. As he stepped in, he heard voices coming from the lab in back.
At first he thought it was a friendly chat Galin was having, but he then picked up that Galin was all, but happy.
“I don’t know how many times I have to say it. No, I won’t tell you anything about the boy,” Galin said with irritation.
Confusion grew on Liam’s face. Who is he talking to? And who are they talking about?
Before Liam could think of anything else, he heard the voice of who he was talking to.
The voice of the other person was shrewd and sly. From the sound of it, it was a male. “Come on Galin, just help me by introducing me to him.”
“No,” Galin firmly stated. “Why do you need to meet him anyways. He’s new to our world and has no connections.”
“It’s not about him having any connections. He might be the one I’ve been looking for. He might be the key!” the shrewd man pleaded.
“The key?” Galin questioned.
“Yes, he might be the one I need to help unlock…,” the man started to explain until Galin angerly interrupted.
“Do you hear yourself?!” Galin stated. “When did you look at people like tools?”
“Everyone is a tool to someone just like how we wer…,” the man began to argue.
“We are not tools!” Galin shouted with anger.
Silence filled the room.
After a moment had passed, Galin asked with a voice soft and full of concern, “What happened to you Steve? You changed so much.”
Steve?! Liam thought as his eyes widened. Steve is here?!
“I’m not the only who has changed,” Steve replied. “If you’re not going to help me with meeting Liam then I guess I have wasted my time here.”
“Yes,” Galin confirmed with a voice full of wariness. “You have wasted your time here. You should leave…now.”
Liam panicked a bit internally as he heard footsteps.
He stepped back out of the building as he closed the door, turned to his right, and walked right into someone.
“Damn dude,” a familiar voice said. “You need to stop walking into me like this.”
Liam looked to see it was Alicia.
Panicking still, Liam grabbed Alicia by her wrist and pulled her over to the side of the building, pushed her up against the wall and titled his head enough to mask both of the faces making it look like they were kissing.
“What are you…,” Alicia started to protest.
“Hush,” Liam whispered sharply. “Don’t move around too much and pretend we’re lovers.”
“What? Why?” Alicia asked, concerned and irritated.
“Steve is about to walk out of the building and he’s looking for me,” Liam replied as quietly as he could.
He heard the door to the building open up.
Alicia tensed at his explanation and at his subtle body language.
“Fine,” Alicia whispered, “But this alone wont be believable.”
“What do you me…,” Liam started to say until Alicia wrapped her right arm around his back and rubbed it slowly.
Liam’s eyes widened as she placed her left hand on his chin and brought his face closer to her lips.
Steve walked and stopped to stare into the shadowy area that was between the two buildings. He scowled as he saw two people being intimate. From his angle they looked like lovers trying to get some privacy.
“Disgusting,” Steve said as he walked away.
Liam glared at Alicia who had her mouth over Liam’s nose.
After he couldn’t hear Steve close by anymore he asked with some irritation, “Are you serious?” His voice sounded like he was plugging it.
Alicia gave him a smile and started laughing as she brought her head back. “That’s what you get,” she said as she walked around him and looked around the corner to see if it was clear.
“He’s gone now,” Liam said as he turned around, wiping his nose vigorously.
Alicia looked at him and asked with both confusion and curiosity in her voice. “How do you know?”
Before Liam answered he noticed something about her for the first time that made his eyes widened.
Alicia had a long red tail and two smooth light red horns that curved back then pointed up from the sides of her forehead where her hairline started.
“What?” Alicia asked as she noticed his expression.
“You have a tail and horns,” Liam stated as he tried to figure out what her race was.
Alicia grinned widely.
“You just now noticed did ya?” Alicia asked with a playful look in her eye.
“Yeah, what race are you?” Liam questioned.
“Hey now, you haven’t bought me dinner yet and you’re already asking what race I am?” Alicia said with mock concern on her face.
“If its dinner is all it takes to get you to tell me then name the time and place,” Liam played along.
“It’ll take more than just dinner to get some personal information about me,” Alicia said with a wry smile.
“Oh? And what would that consist of?” Liam questioned as he shook his head.
Alicia bit her lower lip as she looked Liam up and down. She walked up to Liam and placed a hand on his shoulder as she walked around him.
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With a wicked grin and soft teasing tone, she brought her lips up to his ear and said, “I know you and I are on friendly terms…”
She then walked towards the edge of the alley, sashaying before tilting her head enough to see him and finished, “But you can’t handle what it would take to get that information.”
For a moment, Liam felt like she wasn’t joking, but was seriously trying to flirt with him. He was starting to believe that maybe she might have a thing for him, until she started laughing, hard.
“Oh god, you should see the look on your face,” she said as she leaned against the wall of the building for support.
Liam frowned as he placed his hands on his hips and muttered, “Always the joker never the serious one.”
“Oh, I can be serious,” Alicia said as she started to regain her composure. She wiped away a tear that had escaped from how hard she was laughing. “But I seriously don’t think you are ready for me to be serious.”
“Who knows,” Liam retorted.
“Anyways,” Alicia said moving the conversation along and heading towards the door. “I’m a Tiefling.”
“A Tiefling?” Liam questioned. “But you have the same look as you did before except with the horns and tail. You have normal eyes and skin.”
“Oh that?” Alicia said as her skin color changed from her normal smooth creamy skin tone to a bright red. Her chartreuse green irises expanded making both of her eyes one color. She then did a twirl and asked, “What do you think?”
Liam sucked in a breath before saying, “Damn.”
Alicia stopped and gave him a quizzical look. “Don’t go falling for me now. I know I’m beautiful, but I’m still a huge wreck.”
Liam shook his head. This teasing and joking of hers was really sending him mixed signals that made him feel off balanced.
That’s just how she is. He thought before a question formed in his mind. “If you can change your eyes and skin color, can other Tieflings do that? Or is that some Field of Study ability?”
“It’s not a Field of Study ability. Any race who doesn’t look fully human can do this. It takes a lot of practice. It took me a while to get this much down,” Alicia replied as they entered the lab. As she entered the room she announced, “Professor Galin, we’re here!”
Galin suddenly jumped where he stood as he spun around to see who entered the room.
Liam stopped and stared at him.
Galin’s body had changed. His small stature looked a bit smaller than before and he had small pointy ears too.
“Alicia?” Galin responded then saw Liam and added, “Liam my boy, you’re back from your dungeon floor run. Welcome, welcome.”
Alicia’s eyes widened as she realized that Liam was able to see her true form. “That’s right!? You did complete it didn’t you?! Tell me! What race are you?” She then raised her hands up and swiftly said as she looked at him, “Wait, no. Let me guess…”
Alicia frowned as she stared at him. “I don’t see any apparent changes. Did you not have a different race?”
“No, I did get a race change,” Liam replied. “Although it’s not as obvious as some red popsicle I know.”
“Hey!” Alicia shouted. “I am not a red popsicle.” She then said with a low grumble before sticking her tongue out at him, “I’m more like a chili pepper thank you very much.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Liam said with a laugh.
Galin shook his head before saying, “Ok you two. Knock it off. I can tell what’s different about you. Although I don’t know which species your race comes from.”
“What’s different about him?” Alicia asked as she looked at Galin.
Galin pointed to his eyes.
Alicia turned to Liam and squinted her eyes as she stared at Liam’s.
They looked normal for a moment before his pupils narrowed vertically.
“Whoa!” Alicia shouted as she watched them switch back and forth from normal to narrow slits. “What kind of race can do that?”
“Beast kin, correct?” Galin asked. “Specifically, the Cat folk?”
Liam nodded his head. “If you want to be technical, I’m half Cait Sith.”
Galin froze while Alicia looked at Liam with a puzzling expression, “Cait Sith? Like the one from the Celtic myths and that fantasy game?”
Liam nodded. “Yup the same one. Except this one…”
“Has an unhealthy amount of love for crafting,” Galin finished.
“Yeah,” Liam said as he saw the look on Galin’s face. “What’s wrong?”
Galin placed a hand on his head as he said, “How much do you know about the Cait Sith race from this world?”
“Not much besides they love crafting and supposedly they are rare to see around,” Liam answered.
“For good reason too,” Galin stated. “Their craftmanship is so sought after, due to how excellent they come out, they have to hide themselves. People would do anything to have a Cait Sith craft something for them. So much so they would resort to harassing, kidnapping, and even threats to have them do it.”
Liam’s blood ran cold.
“Can people really get away with that?” Alicia questioned as she gave Liam a concerned look.
“If someone is strong enough or knows people in high places then yes,” Galin answered. “That’s why they lock themselves behind the safety of their clan. If anyone tried to get an item crafted by them they have to go through the hardest process to even have their request heard.”
Hearing Galin talk about harassment, kidnapping, and threats made him remember why he was here in the first place.
Liam’s expression grew with resolve as he started, “Speaking of people who would go as far as harassing, kidnapping, and threats.” He looked at Galin as Alicia remembered their previous conversation from the night before. “I need to talk to you about that guy, Steve.”
Galin’s body stiffened at the mention of his name. He then gave a sad expression as he looked down and said, “Did you run into him before coming here?”
Liam decided to be honest with him hoping he would be too. He shook his head and said, “No. One thing that my race has changed about me is, my senses. All senses have heightened.”
Galin quickly looked at him. “How much did you hear?”
“I will say this first, it was never my intention to eavesdrop, but when I heard his name I couldn’t help it,” Liam said. “I came in at the part when you said you didn’t know how many times you had to say no. That you wouldn’t give him any information about a boy.”
Galin let out a sigh. “Not that much to know everything, but enough to make you curious.” He looked at Liam and saw something in his eyes. He recognized something and asked, “You were going to ask me about him before you came here didn’t you?”
Liam nodded.
“Was it because of Fia?” Galin guessed.
Liam hesitated, but answered with another nod.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” Galin said. “So, you know I was once on a team with him and with her sister right?”
“She did tell me that. She also said…,” Liam started then paused before looking at Alicia.
“It’s okay,” Galin reassured him. “You both are my students and you being Fia’s apprentice, you would have heard about it sooner than later. Yes, her sister and I were lovers.”
Galin looked like he was staring off into the distances as if reliving in a far off memory. He had a sad looking smile as he continued, “The three of us were on the same team along with two others. We had so much fun. Taking on dungeons, researching new alchemy ways, and new ways to pursue our Fields of study.”
Alicia gave him all her attention as she too was invested in hearing about Galin’s past.
“We were one hell of a team, until we came across that curse of a dungeon,” Galin spat the words.
“You mean the dungeon where you found the Forbidden Path right?” Alicia asked.
Galin nodded. “At first the monsters were slightly stronger. We figured we’d be able to handle it. You know how the saying goes, the stronger a dungeon is, the better the rewards.”
“It’s said differently where we’re from, but we can understand how it works here,” Liam replied.
“Well, we decided not to say anything to anyone about it. That was our first mistake,” Galin continued. “The farther we went in the harder it continued to get. Me and Lici, Fia’s sister, had suggested we stop because the monsters were getting too hard for us to handle. However, our team leader decided to continue and the other two agreed.”
“Why didn’t you just not go with them if it was getting to hard for you?” Alicia asked. “You always have that option.”
Liam nodded in agreement as he thought the same thing.
“Because it was our team. Yes, we didn’t want to continue, but we also didn’t want to leave our team to go at it with less people. So, at the time, we felt like we had an obligation to go with them.” Galin scowled. “However, now I know how folly of gnome I was.”
Liam’s eyes widened as he thought, So he’s a gnome. No wonder he’s so short.
“We made it to the last boss on the final floor and defeated it,” Galin pushed as he looked pained to remember the memory. “But what we didn’t know was, there is a whole new dungeon after you defeat the final boss of the dungeon of a Forbidden Path. One that will unleash the true Gate Guardian to enter it.”
“A true Gate Guardian?” Alicia repeated with confusion.
“A massive shadowy being emerged from the portal that led to the next dungeon,” Galin started up again. “We had no knowledge of this being nor what its strengths or weaknesses were. And if you assessed it, it only came back as question marks.”
A memory flashed in Liam’s eyes as he remembered a shadowy being appearing before him before arriving here at the Tutorial Area of Paracosm.
Alicia gasped as her eyes widened. “Are their beings like that out there?”
“This world and the dungeons it contains are vast, there will always be a new monster,” Galin replied. “However, that’s not the most terrifying part.”
“It’s not?” Alicia asked with growing concern.
“A weird portal suddenly emerged in the middle of the room and these twisted monstrosities emerged from it. The shadowy being was after them not us.”
“What happened after that?” Alicia asked as she grew even more curious as Galin’s story continued on.
“My foolish team leader wanted to fight these creatures,” Galin said. “Lici and I protested that we should get out of there. Even Steve was starting to agree with us, but during our plight, our team leader and other teammate discarded us and charged in.”
“You stayed because you didn’t want to leave them to die?” Liam asked.
Galin nodded. “We fought as hard as we could and managed to survive the fight against the twisted monsters, but our horror didn’t stop there. The giant shadowy being turned and killed our team leader and other teammate with a single shot. We tried to run away, but as we did, a shadowy tentacle shot out and stabbed Lici through the heart right in front of me.”
“At this moment I lost all my senses and wanted to unleash all of my magic.” Galin sighed. “It was a foolish thing I thought I could do. Nothing was able to harm it. The shadowy creature didn’t strike at me. Instead, it looked like it was content as if it had done was job.”
Liam’s eyes squinted as he grew a look of confusion.
“Steve dragged me out of the dungeon after that,” Galin informed. “We spent a few days talking to the authorities about what happened and to our gods. After we finished Steve and I disbanded and went on our separate ways. Never to talk to each other again.”
“A few days later I realized I had received two rewards from that dungeon,” Galin said as he released a shaky breath. “One for me, and the other was for Lici.”
A tear rolled down Galin’s cheek. He wiped it away before continuing, “Mine was an Alchemic ingredient while hers was a forbidden book about what that shadow being was and how to be able to kill it.”
Liam processed what he was hearing. Something nagged at the back of his mind as he tried to figure out what was so familiar with what he said. He suddenly realized what it was.
“Wait so that ingredient you asked me for and the experiments you’ve been doing…the research you said you were continuing…”
Galin slowly nodded.
Liam’s face grew confused. “But that doesn’t make any sense. You said she was researching it before she fell, but she received, well you received it after she fell.”
“I said that so no one would bother me about it,” Galin said. “But it contains a lot of information no one should know about, and I don’t want anyone, especially you two, to get mixed up in.”
Alicia looked at Liam and bluntly asked, “What the hell are you getting yourself into?”