Will stewed in his room alone. He tried to practice, he tried to meditate, but nothing helped. He had been trying to support his people, he had been doing a good thing. But, if they continued, something like this could happen again. He would meet more stupid people who didn’t know what was good for them. They had managed to find food, avoiding any more disasters the second time, but it wouldn’t last forever. At which point they would have to go out and raid again. Invite disaster again.
There were too many stupid people in this world.
He heard footsteps coming up the servant’s staircase, and turned to see Amalise in the doorway. He had requested she come. They had a week before their food ran out, and he hoped her elixirs would be the answer.
“How are things coming with the elixirs?”
“ Well, but we won’t be able to produce them for long with the leftovers from the alchemist. We need to find a source for the ingredients.” Amalise said.
“Not a problem. We will go out and find what you need. Just make sure to be ready. I..” Will paused for a moment. “We aren’t going to be raiding anymore if we can help it. We need the elixirs to give us another option.”
“Very well. These are the ingredients.” She produced a list of different items. “Fortunately we don’t need all of these right away. This section here are the main ingredients for three different types of elixirs. We don’t need to make all of them at first. The ones that we absolutely need all of are in this section right here. These make the base potions for all of the elixirs. This last section is optional. These are ingredients I can use to make higher quality elixirs or other useful potions, so find them as you can, but they are of lower priority.”
Will nodded and reviewed the ingredients.
“They can all be found near here?”
“Of course. Brythorne may not be good at producing their own food but monsters and magical herbs are quite abundant. Since all of these ingredients come from those two sources, you will be fine.” Amalise said. Will nodded again and stood up. The men were still tired, but they could probably do with some hard work. Better than letting them stew. Better than letting him stew.
Besides, it was about time that the men fought some real monsters.
“Thank you Amalise, if this works out, we will all owe you big time.” Amalise just nodded, but Will was sure she was smiling beneath the mask.
Will saw her out of his room and then left to collect the men. He was unsurprised to find a number of them training furiously. They were gathered in the lower courtyard doing one on one spars that seemed to go a little bit harder than was advisable. When he arrived they stopped and saluted him with a casual fist to their chests. Their gazes were less loyal however. They didn’t like what had happened, but neither did Will. They were still grateful to him for all he had done. He had not simply done his own things the past weeks. Most of the women now had concepts of their own, as well as several children.
Will lifted his hands in a warding gesture.
“No more raids, at least not if we can help it.” This left the men both confused and hopeful. No raids meant no food, but it also meant no more injuries, no more killing. One of the refugees yelled out.
“How are we supposed to eat if we don’t steal food?
“With this.” Will said as he held up the list. “This is a list of ingredients for elixirs. If we can find them, then we can make and sell elixirs. They still hold sufficient value to get us the resources we need. I may even be able to get a shipment of food from Kilmore in exchange for some elixirs.”
The men looked between each other, and Will was glad to see them getting excited.
“We will head out in one hour. Get ready and meet me here.” And Will went off. He needed to speak to someone who could guide them.
He returned nearly an hour later with one of the followers in tow. He was one who had accompanied them on their raids as a scout, and was happy with this new development. He was an all around survivalist, which meant that he was also familiar with the necessary herbs and monster parts. He led them right out of the fortress and in a northerly direction.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
They encountered monsters almost immediately. For the most part, Will let the refugee men double team them and take them down. The monsters they encountered were monstrous versions of cute forest critters, and of little threat. It allowed the refugee men to gain a bit of experience, which they sorely needed.
Occasionally more difficult monsters would show up which Will or the scout would handle. One time that meant a mutated bear with too many eyes and too many claws. The bear would slash, and a wind cutter would be formed from each of its thirteen claws it had on that paw. It gave Will a bit of a challenge, but in the end, Will destroyed the monster and claimed a lucky monster core. He felt the energy from the kill flow into his soul, making him a little stronger.
The trip took hours, forcing them to camp in the monster infested wilderness overnight, and continue in the morning. Despite this, Will was happy that the ingredients were being so easy to find. Of course, they didn’t find everything. They found two items on the list of thirty optional items, and only half of the semi-optional items. Fortunately all the necessary items were all common herbs and monster parts. What was often the hardest thing to find, monster cores, were provided by the slimes they had growing in their very own cave. Since even a small core would make several batches of elixirs, it reduced the cost of the potions by quite an amount.
They returned to the fortress in good spirits, and handed over the ingredients. Amalise hemmed and hawed over the ingredients before saying that they were sufficient, and to go get her more as soon as possible. Before Will left however, she handed him three small bottles. Will decided to use identify for the first time in months and quickly got three results.
Strength Elixir: Provides 10 strength on consumption. Value is lessened for each elixir already consumed.
Dexterity Elixir: Provides 10 dexterity on consumption. Value is lessened for each elixir already consumed.
Constitution Elixir: Provides 10 constitution on consumption. Value is lessened for each elixir already consumed.
“Each one you drink lessens the effect of every elixir of that type in the future.” Amalise said. “Those side effects can be lessened in a few ways with the main one being simply waiting a day or two between potions. It still makes for a rather hard limit on the number of stat points you can gain. Of course if you have a purification elixir, you can entirely get rid of the toxins preventing you from gaining more stats, as long as it is at least tier three.”
“Did you have a specific purpose for these?” Will said, holding up the elixirs.
“No, but it would be odd for us to be elixir producers and not provide any to ourselves. I simply thought you should have some of the first.”
“Well, thanks then. Let me know when you are able to start mass production.” Will said.
“It will be soon.” She said and then left to continue her alchemy. Will noticed that she had three of the refugee women helping her now. Good. Will would get her any help she needed.
Will left and tracked down the next person he thought could help. He knocked on the door of the cobbler he had just recruited. The door slammed open to see an enraged cobbler, who sneered at Will.
“Come to mock me and my family as well? Well get in line. I have little enough time to worry about talking to fools.” Will was left standing there, eyes wide as he felt like he had just been punched in the face.
“I actually came here to ask for your help with something. Is there something wrong?” The cobbler just scoffed in his face.
“Is something wrong, my ass. The only time I ever get any peace is when you take your little band of invaders to go kill more of my countrymen. Otherwise it is thorny this, and thorny that.” Will blinked at the man. Thorny? Was that a slur for the Brythorne natives?
“Umm, ok, I will put a stop to that. Remind them that nobody wants bad boots.”
“And my children? Will you stop their children from harassing mine? Will you stop the comments the boys make to my daughter? By the gods, they are making that half baked enchanter look decent.” The steam seemed to leave the man. He was obviously still angry, but didn’t seem to have the energy to continue the rant.
“Umm, yeah. Yes, I will put a stop to all of that.” Will hadn’t even thought that there would be tension between the refugees and the natives. He should have realized it, there were tensions between black people and white people generations after slavery back on earth. Of course things would be tense in the middle of the crisis. “It won’t stop all at once, but I will make it stop.”
The cobbler stared at Will for several moments before seeming to accept his words. His next words were more calm, but held a note of defeat.
“How can I help you?”
“You may not be aware yet, but I have decided that raids will not be suitable for us in the long term. As such I have decided that we will make sufficient coin through the sale of elixirs, which we are well positioned to mass produce.”
“Elixirs huh? Any of those coming our way?” The cobbler said.
“Yes, but do be mindful that our first priority is to sell and make enough money to purchase food, preferably in bulk from Kilmore.”
“Well I can’t say I am opposed to this course of action. Killing monsters is always better than killing people. What do you need from me though?” The cobbler had not invited Will inside, standing firmly within the door.
“What I am hoping to get from you are contacts. I need a merchant who is experienced who is able to sell the Elixirs. Someone wise enough to see a good long term deal. Know anyone by that description?