I return to the Guild with the ingredients in my inventory. I arrive at the alchemy table and look at the tools. I pull out the three roots and place them on the table. I glance around the Guild. It’s emptier than before. Some of the previously occupied tables were vacant. The same receptionist was still behind the desk working. No one in the room was paying attention to me.
Remembering some of my chemistry lessons, I started by taking the mortar and pestle and placing the root willow in the bowl. I began to grind the root. After a few moments, a message appeared Do you want to turn ‘Willow Root’ into power Y/N?
Yes.
Instantly, the root collapsed into a white powder. I took the bowl and poured the willow root powder into a flask. I repeated tis process with the root reed and the rock root. They too ground into a whitish powder form. I added all the powder into the flask.
Now what? I asked myself.
“Tsk tsk” a voice says behind me. I quickly turn to find an old man with a long grey beard. He examines my work with a keen eye. “No no no, you’re doing it all wrong!”
The old man takes the flask I had been using and poured the powder into an almost identical looking flask. “You see!” he started “you were trying to use a dry flask when you should’ve been using a heat flask!”
“Um, who are you?” I ask
“Me? I’m Fredrick Leasman, the worlds greatest traveling alchemist!” he proudly states as he pumps his chest out “And you young lady, appear to have forgotten your solvent”
Fredrick then pulls from his pocket a container of clear fluid. He extends the vial to me. I hesitantly accept it. As I examine the contents, Fredrick fills me in on what the container was holding.
“This is a vial of pure pig tears, personally harvested just this morning yes ma’am” I almost drop the vial. Pig tears? What kind of sick thing is that?
“Oh-ho, I see you don’t understand why I personally harvest the tears” he starts, wrongly assuming my confusion “You see! Only one as great as I hand picks the ingredients he uses for his potions!”
“But… why tears?”
“Pig tears are an excellent solvent! For one, you can harvest them without killing the pig, it’s a renewable source. Secondly, since all things in this world naturally have some amount of magic, the tears will add a slightly magic property to this potion. And finally, it’s cheap, and I’m not giving a valuable solvent to some inexperienced child!”
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Well, that made sense… I guess. I open the vial and carefully pour the fluid into the flask. The root powder rapidly dissolves, leaving a clear mixture in the flask.
“And finally, you heat it!” Fredrick pulls out one of the apparatuses I didn’t recognize. It was a round plate which rested flat on the table. Rising off the plate, was a pole. Attached to this pole was a ring. Fredrick placed the flask carefully onto the ring before saying, “Okay, have you ever done this before?”
“Um, no I haven’t”
“Okay, let me explain” Fredrick’s previously obnoxious voice went softer, almost gentle as he spoke, “This here is called the jouler, it is a finishing tool for alchemy. This is where your skill as an alchemist comes into play. Adding all those ingredients together is fine and all, but the finishing product is all on you”
He continues, “What you want to do here, is touch the plate and think ‘Craft’ doing this will activate the jouler and will finish the potion”
I place my hands on the jouler - ‘Craft’. Immediately, I feel a slight strain on my body as a message appears,
You have lost 1 Mana
After the message appears, a red fire ignites on the plate. I flinch and try to move my hands away, but a force stops me. Fredrick holds my hands on the plate. I panic for a moment, but quickly realize that it doesn’t burn.
I watch fascinated as the flames dance around the bottom of the flask. The contents of the flask seemed to glow with a green hue. I was so entranced by the whole thing, that I was left speechless when the fire died down,
Potion successfully crafted
“Go ahead, it’s cold” Fredrick prompts me on.
I gingerly touch the flask, testing to see if it’s hot. It’s cold to the touch. Fredrick hands me an empty vial. I take the vial and fill it with the newly crafted potion.
“The first potion crafting is always a magical moment” Fredrick chuckles behind me “And your first one was a success. Even my first attempt failed, very impressive”
Fredrick’s words pull my attention away from the vial “Oh uh, thanks”
“No problem kid, if you ever feel like becoming an alchemist, just visit me at my caravan. I’ll be staying in Rhodrik for the next few days so make sure you don’t miss me.” Fredrick turns to leave before saying, “Oh and to find out what kind of potion you crafted, you just need to drink what’s left in the flask, good luck kid” with that, Fredrick left the Guild.
I looked at the flask, wondering what I made. I picked the flask up and placed it against my lips. Nothing ventured, nothing gained right? I drink the contents. At first nothing happens, but then my stomach started to hurt as a message appeared,
You have been poisoned
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
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I stand back at the market place where I began today. This was something new. I wasn’t really expecting anything like what I got, but I enjoyed it none the less. I had met a friend in Jorven, I got cheated by Roseline, I had made a potion with Fredrick, and I poisoned myself. This was probably the most eventful day of my life. And as I opened the menu to log out, I already couldn’t wait to return.