Honeypot watched on, feeling the waves of pressure wash off of their leader. Arika was holding Femera in her arms protectively, doing her best to shield her from the overflow of will. They could physically see the strands of power pouring from him—it was equal parts awe-inspiring and terrifying.

“Behold the power of Daddy, bringer of pain.” Gizmo hummed a joyous tune.

Honeypot laughed maniacally at the title Gizmo had given. Coming from the little familiar, there was no higher praise.

Orion held his arms out, palms flat above the surface of the blood-red liquid. Honeypot shuddered at the waves of pressure coming off of his friend, his senses becoming overstimulated. He felt excitement and giddy joy pushing up from his core. Honeypot had truly chosen a monster to follow into this world.

He wouldn’t have it any other way.

***

Beads of sweat rolled down Orion’s back as he exerted his will. The mixture began roiling, small bubbles bursting as they popped on the surface. He made sure not to let any stray drops hit his skin, knowing full well what the result could be. A spicy aroma wafted out of the cauldron and he leaned far back, not letting any of the gas enter his lungs.

The bubbling increased, and the mixture became thicker. The bubbles bursting began sending large globs of the mixture flying out, each and every drop pushed back down by the will he was exerting. He brought the heat back down, mixing the liquid with his will as it rolled around the cauldron chaotically.

Fatigue hit him, the will he was exerting too much for his body to handle. It was so close to being complete…

I just need to hold out a little… longer…

He picked up the stirrer, once more using that instead of his will to move the liquid. It felt like the strands were falling apart, no matter how fast or vigorously he stirred. He knew he had one chance; a single opportunity to pull the strands back together. He gathered his will, steeling it for one final push. Coiled like a snake, he released it all at once, pushing into the potion and forcing the liquid down further into the cauldron. It was getting thicker, somehow condensing.

He pushed with everything he had, one last effort before everything went black. He felt his legs shaking, his body trembling. One last sensation hit before his world went black.

The strands of the mixture came together and snapped into place.

***

Honeypot caught Orion, lowering him to the ground. He snatched a ring and snapped the mixture into its inventory—not knowing if it was safe to leave exposed to the air, but suspecting it wasn’t.

A wave of light rushed out of Orion, a slight feeling of euphoria radiating out and reaching Honeypot. Honeypot laughed, knowing that the advancement meant the success of the potion was all but set in stone. He never doubted his friend, but Honeypot was still ecstatic that it had worked.

And on the first try, no less.

Now that the spectacle was over, the memory of his family tried to rush back into his mind. He did his best to push the thoughts away, knowing they served no purpose other than causing misery. He looked down at his unconscious friend as he tried focusing on just what the destructive potions would do.

I have to get my hands on at least some of them. No one can be sad with that much potential fun on their hands, he told himself, knowing it to be a lie.

***

Orion woke to a gnawing hunger and a delicious smell. He sat up, seeing Arika looking on with concern.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Welcome back, Daddy,” Gizmo hummed in his ear.

Despite knowing that the little robot was there because of their bond, he still found it unnerving. He rubbed his eyes as glimpses of what occurred returned to him. He shot to his feet, looking around in alarm as a sense of urgency coursed through him.

“The cauldron! Where is the cauldron?”

Orion felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Honeypot looking down at him with a disarming smile.

“No worries, my evil genius, basement dwelling friend. I yoinked one of the rings and chucked it in there before it could go boom.”

“It needs to be bottled,” Orion said. “It’s not like the bountiful potion. We need to—”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Whoa, whoa, relax.” Honeypot made a calming gesture. “Our inventories are essentially a stasis, right? I’m as antsy to see what you made as you are, but we can eat and let you recover before you do any bottling, right? You just fainted—you’ve been out for fifteen minutes.”

Orion took a deep breath. Honeypot was right, of course. There was no rush to complete it. He let the lingering sense of urgency pass, and he sat down by the fire.

Shadow served up a meal in short order, and Orion felt himself regaining strength with each bite of the saucy, pasta-like meal. As his hunger became satiated, he realized he had some notifications fighting for his attention.

You have advanced from Journeyman 6 to Journeyman 7 in Alchemy. Congratulations!

You have created a new recipe: Blood Mist Potion! Any Blood Mist Potion created by you will automatically have their quality upgraded from rare to epic. Epic upgrade: Radius and effect are increased.

You now have the ability to teach other alchemists how to craft: Blood Mist Potion.

Orion knew what he had created, but kept it to himself for now. “You’ll have to wait and see,” and “something explosive,” was all he would say in response to his friends’ questions. After a half-hours rest around the fire and some laughs, he finally felt himself enough to bottle the concoction he’d created.

Standing before his workstation, he pulled dozens of sterile vials out, now knowing exactly how many doses he had made. Honeypot pulled the cauldron from the ring, gingerly placing it back in its place on the table. He then stepped back away from the mixture that Orion had called “explosive,” wanting to put some distance between himself and any liquid bombs.

Orion picked up the first vial, using tongs to lower it toward the surface of the cauldron. With an effort of will, the liquid filled the vial, none of the mixture even touching the outside of the vial. He picked up a stopper, carefully and deliberately pushing the cork inside the vial's opening. Orion almost had a heart attack as the vial cracked and he pictured it exploding in his face.

It didn’t explode, however, and he ran his finger along the outside of the vial, not feeling any cracks or instability in the glass.

Is that just a visual effect?

He inspected the vial.

Blood Mist Potion

Volatile Projectile

Epic

Breaking this potion open will result in the emergence of a large, noxious gas-cloud. The gas has the following effects, depending on exposure time and fortitude of the target: confusion, hallucination, paralysis, and death.

This ‘potion’ is like the cheap e-scooter of the potion world—it has a useful purpose, and is a marvel of human innovation… but there’s also a good chance it’ll blow up on you.

Relieved that the vial wasn’t actually cracked, and that it was just an effect of whatever a ‘Volatile Projectile’ was, Orion held out the potion so his friends could inspect his creation. There was a mixed bag of reactions, but no-one was quite as animated in their response as Honeypot.

“I knew it! I knew it would create something like that! The poison of the fish, the airborne nature of the dust, and the propulsion of the pods! The second I saw you pull out those ingredients…” Honeypot’s eyes sparkled. “This is fantastic. Let’s test it on something. Right now.”

“I don’t want to be that guy, but is that really a good idea?” Shadow asked. “That thing seems fragile. Should we really risk trying to use it right now?”

Orion shrugged.

“If it does blow up on me, I’d rather have it do so now than when we’re actively fighting something,”

“Yes, yes, very true. And smart.” Honeypot nodded sagely. “We should do it now.”

“Oh shush, Honeypot. We all know where you stand.” Arika turned to Orion. “It’s your call, I think. Your party, your potion, but I have one stipulation for my blessing.”

“Pssh!” Honeypot dismissed Arika with his hands. “He doesn’t need your blessing, oh killer of good-times, oh vacuum of joy.”

Arika shot a flat look at him.

“What is it?” Orion asked, ignoring Honeypot.

“Let Honeypot do it.”

“Oh. Oh! Now we’re talking!” Honeypot pumped his fist repeatedly, then turned to Orion. “I take back everything I just said about Arika. Let me do it. Pleeeaaase let me do it.”

“I don’t know… I feel like I should be the one to take the risk.”

“You literally just fell unconscious less than an hour ago,” Arika said, “and as much as I hate to admit it—purely because of how much joy it’ll bring him—throwing vials of exploding poison definitely sounds like a Honeypot thing.”

“It does, doesn’t it? Definitely a me thing.”

Reluctantly, Orion agreed to let Honeypot carry out the trial. Honeypot took the vial from Orion with ease, slipping it into a ring’s inventory. They found a spot a few-hundred meters from their camp, making sure there were no water sources or wild animals nearby.

Honeypot stood at the edge of Orion’s Swap range, looking like a kid whose parents just told him they were going to Disneyland. With a nod from Orion, Honeypot turned and lobbed the potion with an underhand throw. Orion swapped him to his position, and they all watched from a safe distance as the potion fell in what felt like slow motion.

As soon as the vial hit the ground, the sound of glass shattering bounced across the clearing, followed by a fwoom as a ten-meter wide cloud of opaque, red gas burst into existence. The entire cloud slowly drifted away from them with the wind, dissipating a little as it did.

“So, if you were to breathe that in…” Arika watched the cloud with obvious trepidation as it drifted away.

“It’d be the same as getting stung by a Bony Blood Fish—except much, much worse,” Honeypot said. “Anyone with these is a walking war-crime waiting to happen. Just like you, Arika! Cool, right?”

“That’s crazy. Just the crowd control these things could provide…” Shadow trailed off in thought. “You can essentially create as much impassible terrain as you want as long as you have more of those potions remaining.”

“How many more do you think you could make?” Arika asked Orion.

“Over a dozen from that cauldron, I think.”

“And how many more could you make with all the ingredients you have left?”

“Hundreds, assuming Honeypot is alright with me using his Bony Blood fish.”

“My Bony Blood fish?” Honeypot put his arm around Orion’s shoulder. “My friend, as long as you can make more of those.” Honeypot pointed at the dissipating cloud, now only barely visible. “Consider them our Bony Blood Fish.”

They got back to the camp, an exhausted Orion bottling up what turned out to be another thirteen of the Blood Mist Potions. As he was cleaning and packing up his workstation, even his exhaustion wasn’t able to suppress his glee at what he’d been able to accomplish. The Blood Mist Potions were a truly dangerous weapon, but they were also another line of defense that he could use to ensure the safety of his friends. He would happily use these weapons on anything or anyone that was threatening his teammates—pain and effects be damned.

Orion went to bed with a smile on his face, knowing they would reach the walls of Valbrand tomorrow.