“Why, to meet with our resident Master alchemist, of course. I have a bit of a surprise for him. You should probably know about it, too. He’s still upstairs?”

Tash nodded and led Orion up to meet with Carl. They walked into his office to find the man hunched over his desk and reading documents, intently focused.

Orion knocked on the door-frame, grabbing his attention.

“Oh, Orion. You’re back… Tash too, perfect.” Carl took his reading glasses off and rubbed his tired eyes. “Come here, you two. I have a problem you could help me solve.”

Orion and Tash walked over to his desk. Orion looked down at the document he had been reading to see what looked like a listed inventory of alchemical reagents.

“This,” Carl said, “is everything that we have left in the town’s stores. We have some townsfolk preparing regular potions—healing potions for when one of Orion’s isn’t needed, utility potions such as Speed, Strength, and Intellect potions, and offensive concoctions that are similar in manner to Orion’s Blood Mist Potion that aren’t as effective, obviously, but still offensive. The problem we have is that we are running out of ingredients.” Carl looked up at them with weighing eyes. “I would like your input into where we should focus our resources.”

Tash picked up the document, brows furrowing as she poured over the listed materials.

Orion couldn’t help but smile and shake his head.

“Something funny, lad?”

“Yep.” Orion started pulling the rings off his fingers. “I brought Tash with me because I wanted to show both of you these.” Orion handed them one of the sapphire rings each.

Their eyes glazed over as they inspected the rings. Tash was the first to look up while Carl was still inspecting the contents.

“Orion… they’re both that full? There are almost 500 healing potions in these four rings alone… and the reagents… it’s an unimaginable amount—”

“Where the FUCK did you find these?” Carl had stopped inspecting the rings and was staring at Orion, full of incredulity. “There’s a king’s ransom in these rings. Let me see that!”

Carl swapped rings with Tash, inspecting what she held as Tash did the same.

“We found them in the underground lab where you—”

Carl shut him up with a glare, and Orion realized he’d almost outed his involvement in the creation of the creatures.

“… in the underground lab where you sent us, Carl.” Orion finished awkwardly.

“Unbelievable…” Carl said, looking at the shiny ring in his hands. “Forget a king’s ransom—you could probably buy a kingdom with these rings alone, not even counting the contents.” He held a ring up to the light, examining it. “I’ve heard of such things… but to think they really exist, especially on this lower floor…”

“The rings are really worth that much?” Orion asked.

“They truly are… the ability to move this much inventory over long distances is priceless to some people. Think about it. Say you had ingredients worth hundreds-of-thousands of gold, you would have to pay a large group of people to transport them for you. You’d either have to trust them completely, or have to employ people to ensure they acted in a trustworthy manner… but when you’re dealing with reagents worth that much money, how can you trust the people paid to ensure your cargo carriers remain loyal?”

“And with rings,” Orion said, “you could carry literally tonnes of reagents and finished potions—all without having to rely on anyone but yourself…”

“Precisely. Not to mention the attention that a small army of people moving together brings, as opposed to a single man with relatively plain looking rings.”

Orion considered the revelation, not previously placing as much worth on the rings as the contents, but now realizing his folly.

To think there was something of such value just sitting in the top drawer of a tea-cabinet…

“I want you to hold on to them,” Orion said.

“Absolutely not,” Carl said definitively.

“Why not?” Orion asked, genuinely confused.

“Lad, I’m getting anxiety just looking at these bloody things. I don’t want the pressure of losing or breaking one of these damned things on my head. I trust you’ll keep this quiet too, lass? If nefarious people knew that young Orion here was in possession of such items…”

“O-of course! I would never!”

Carl smiled kindly at her.

“I know you wouldn’t, but I just wanted to assure Orion here that you are the reliable type.” Carl looked at Orion. “As I’ve said before, her contribution to trying to clean up this mess has been great, and she is the reliable type.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Orion smiled at Tash and turned back to Carl. “If you won’t take the rings… I can leave the ingredients and potions with you then.”

“I don’t think what’s left of the treasury can afford half of this,” Tash interjected.

“I don’t expect payment. Just use what we need to keep everyone safe.”

Carl sighed.

“We’ve been through this, lad. The town has enough coin to pay for what we need. We can’t afford all of it, sure, but we don’t need all of it.”

“That’s fine. I don’t want to give everything up for free—it wouldn’t be fair to my party, after all—but if there’s something in here that will save lives or protect people, and the town coffers can’t afford it, I want you to take it. Even without talking to them, I can safely say they’d all agree to that.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Oh, don’t you worry about that. I’m going to clean out most of what the town has left for these ingredients. I have free rein on procurement, after all.” Carl started rubbing his hands together greedily. “The things we can do with all these ingredients… oh, maybe mixing some of that itching powder with the drifting root… with enough of it, we could sew chaos in the enemy lines…” Carl looked up as if he just remembered they were standing there. “Oh, but don’t worry, I’ll still leave you and your party more than you’ll need.”

Orion felt worry all of a sudden, but knew Carl to be a reliable person, so didn’t let the feeling linger.

“Should we drop the ingredients here?” Orion asked, ready to empty as much as Carl wanted from the rings.

“Creator, no,” Carl swore. “That would lead to entirely too many questions. I have another warehouse that isn’t in use. You can drop them off there. Tash, you know the warehouse that we moved all of these workstations from, the one across from the red building?”

“Of course.”

“Why don’t you escort this young lad here down there? I’ll make a list of what to leave. I won’t be a moment.”

True to his word, Carl had a long list of reagents and amounts ready to go within minutes. Orion found the Master alchemist’s mind both impressive and terrifying.

How does he remember what was in the rings after just glancing at them?

He remembered how Carl’s inspection had lingered a little longer than Tash’s.

He wasn’t just looking; he was cataloging…

With Carl’s list in hand, Orion let Tash lead him out of the office. As they stepped out into the sun and began walking to the warehouse, she looked up at him and squinted as if she couldn’t see him properly.

“Are you really Orion? You aren’t at all what I was expecting…”

“Well, what were you expecting?” He laughed awkwardly. “I’m definitely me… I think.”

“Some sort of demon in human form that would have smote me for the disrespect I showed you earlier, perhaps?” She smiled at him in apology. “The stories paint you in a completely different light.”

“There are stories?” Orion raised an eyebrow. “What do they say?”

“Well, it’s not so much about you as it is about Arika. There are rumors she killed a lot of people at the start. People say that’s how your party got a head-start and have made it so far, by killing other adventurers and taking their inventories.”

Orion winced, knowing that it was a possibility they would have to face Arika’s past actions—misguided or not—at some point.

For rumors to be circulating about it, though… I’ll have to let Arika know.

“Like I said, not so much about you per se, but if you’re hanging out with someone like that…” Tash shrugged. “It stands to reason that none of you would be good people.”

“Unfortunately, that has some merit, too. It’s not what it seems, though. Arika is a sweet, caring, and resilient person. She was tricked into it…” Orion went on to describe how he and Arika had met, and the way that Felsteg had manipulated her into killing others with her overwhelming power.

“That’s… horrible. I feel terrible that everyone has been saying that about her. Wait, Felsteg? Where do I know that name from?”

“Well, you may have heard people complain about him terrorizing them, kicking puppies, or knocking down little-old-ladies. We suspect he and his party were the ones killing people. He was also the one that tried to have a go at the Creator when he summoned us just before returning our memories—muscular guy, punchable face, had us all suppressed by the Creator’s power. Ring a bell?”

“Oh. Yeah, I remember him, alright. What a dickhead.”

Orion laughed, the choice of insult seeming funnier coming from the very proper seeming Tash. “He certainly is a dickhead. Honestly, he’s my biggest worry coming into this siege. His goons, too.”

“He does seem like the type to have goons, doesn’t he?”

“A full party of them. I know the Creator returned our memories prematurely, purely to set people like him straight, but something tells me he won’t care. Given the opportunity to seize power, he’ll gladly throw the lives of anyone else away. That’s just the type of person he is.”

“Even if it means they really die?” Tash asked. “It sounds like he’s been doing a lot of player killing, which don’t get me wrong, is definitely a dick move, but that isn’t the same as really killing people, right? All the townsfolk will be wiped out if we don’t defend them, and who knows what will happen to us…”

“There is a distinction,” Orion said. “But we’re talking about a group of people that were willing to torture Arika for their own gain. If it weren’t for Honeypot making him slip, who knows how long or how many times Felsteg would have brought her health down to zero, only to have their healer restore it. I heard that some townsfolk have already been killed, too, but I don’t know if that’s just a rumor…”

“I guess you’re right, then...” She grimaced. “We really do have to worry about them…”

They lapsed into silence as they continued walking, both lost in their own thoughts. Eventually, they arrived at the warehouse. As they approached the door, the whir of what sounded like drills and percussive banging could be heard faintly coming through the door. Tash looked at Orion askew, then knocked on the door.

The drilling and banging stopped, and a moment later, the door slid open to reveal Dave’s wizened face staring out.

“Whadayawant?” he said, clearly annoyed at the disturbance. “Oh, it’s you two. What do you, uh… want?”

“Carl sent us here to drop off some supplies,” Orion said. “Is that alright?”

“Supplies? Oh, yes. That should be fine.” Dave threw open the door. “Come in then, put them over there on the far wall from our project.”

Orion took in the warehouse as he stepped inside and saw that it was similar in layout to the one they had just left—the fundamental difference being that it was mostly empty. In the far back corner of the room, Orion could see what looked like a miniature catapult. Gizmo had his back turned to them and was diligently working on the contraption.

“Hey Gizmo!” Orion yelled.

Gizmo didn’t hear him, absorbed in his work as he was. Dave threw a large bolt he held which hit Gizmo on the side of the head, making a dull, metal thump.

“Thank you.” Gizmo spun his head 180-degrees to look at his assailant. “Oh. Hello, Daddy. What are you doing here?”

“Daddy?” Tash asked with a look. “Maybe the rumors were right…”

Orion let out a sigh. “He was born… well, he was programmed that way. I’ve told him not to call me it, but—”

“But I cannot help it, which I am very apologetic for, Daddy,” Gizmo finished helpfully.

“How is your Engineering going?” Orion asked, hoping to change the subject.

“I have made progress, and am currently sitting at apprentice seven.”

Orion raised his eyebrows. “Apprentice seven in a few hours? Impressive.”

“I brought him here to grab some notes and have him look over them,” Dave said. “In the time it took me to walk up the stairs, grab them, and walk back down… he had solved the mobility issue I was having with my Dave-apult.”

“It can now roll.” Gizmo hummed contentedly. “The best form of movement.”

Orion pointedly ignored what Dave had named his catapult, and congratulated his familiar. He then gave Dave the rough run-down of the rings and their contents, along with Carl’s plan to store them here. Dave’s reaction was similar to Carl’s, and he got a distant look in his eye as he contemplated the use of all the ingredients. As a result, he was more than happy for Orion to store the reagents and potions there.

It took Orion almost a half hour to remove all the items on Carl’s list, and by the end, the entire bottom-half of one wall of the warehouse was covered in boxes of reagents and potions.

“Tash…” Dave said. “I don’t suppose you could arrange for some of the town guards to watch this warehouse? This is… an unexpected amount of wealth.”

Tash smiled. “Already planned. I’ll be heading to the city hall after this to arrange security for this building and procure the funds for Orion’s supplies.”

Dave dismissed them, and they headed back outside together.

Seeing he was no longer required, Orion planned to head in the direction of the nearest workstation, which happened to be in the warehouse Carl was holed up in. There were many hours left in the day, and he planned to create as many Blood Mist Potions as humanly possible.

But before that…

He turned to Tash, who appeared lost in thought. “Tash?”

She jumped a little, her mind clearly somewhere else. “Yes?”

“There’s something I wanted to ask you…”