Our trip back to town was almost uneventful, and boy was I glad that we avoided meeting trouble. We saw a lone armored lizard travelling the sands, big enough that the sand sharks were leaving it alone. Were. Inkler and I both froze as the largest shark I had ever seen leapt from the sands and ate it in one bite! I had the presence of mind to identify it, and then we hightailed it out of there.

The Maw

Elder Sand Shark (legendary)

Level 150

The oldest and largest of their kind always adopts the mantle of “The Maw.” The Maw fears nothing, and consumes all. Beware drawing his attention, mortal. For you are but a snack.

Yeah, not going to fight the legendary sand shark. Even the phantom steps potion would be useless, as his mouth was wider than the effect. So we did what every smart adventurer does when massively outclassed, we retreated as fast as monsterly possible.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“How are you and the others, Salmahim?” I asked as Inkler and I sauntered up to the group.

“Better. We felt the curse weaken when you finished Solomon and Lillith. Thank you, Angus.”

“No problem.” I answered, before dropping into a serious tone. “Were you aware that the kings were being used as phylacteries for the lich?”

Eyes blazed in anger as they all hissed. “Never! That, that abomination!” Salmahim growled, at a loss for words. “We must end him, and now!”

“Calm yourselves.” I said, grabbing his arm. “The lich will meet his end soon, for that is my mission. But I need to know about this curse and how to dispel it. If it is being used to empower the lich.”

“Very well. The curse is tied into the stone artifact that our people attempted to rewrite. In order to break the curse, you must destroy the artifact. The lich keeps it hidden in his dungeon, no doubt guarded by some of his best troops. We also ask, should you come across the originals, would you return them to us?”

New quest alert!

Break the curse

You’ve discovered the source of the curse that haunts these lands. Will you destroy it, to help them recover? Y/N

New quest alert!

The ties that bind

Salmahim asks that you find and recover the ancient tablets that originally united the three kingdoms. Accept? Y/N

“I will do all that is in my power to.” I replied, accepting both quests. “Though, without kings, how are you to reform your kingdoms?”

“It is all we have left.”

Annoyed by their answer, I moved the conversation along. “So, do any of you know how to access the lich’s lair? I assume it will be hidden in the middle of where I fought the three kings.”

“The way will open to you when you arrive. That is all the help we can give.”

“Very well then, I’ll be back. Until next time.” I said.

Leaving the group of men behind, I patted Inkler’s side. “We need to stock up a bit on alchemy reagents, and I think I’ll donate this cursed meat if they can let me try my hand at dispelling again.” Heading to the meat processing area, I nodded at Butch but didn’t change my clothes.

“Back again?”

“Was thinking about donating some meat if you guys don’t mind trying to teach me how to cleanse it.”

“Fine by me! Head on over to the clerics, Charles has been hoping you’d be back for another go ‘round.”

“Thanks Butch.” I said, heading over to the table. I saw Charles give a wave from his bench, and sat down next to him again.

“Welcome back. You going to give it another go?”

“Yeah, hopefully I can get this down before the end of today.”

“It’s good to have goals, but if you don’t mind me asking, what’s the rush?”

“I’m going up against some undead in the very near future, and being able to dispel them from a distance would be a boon.”

“Ah, well this won’t work against skeletons you know.”

“That’s fine, from what I hear this guy prefers to manipulate flesh. I already have a way to easily handle skeletons.”

Eyes wide, he started to ask in terror, “Flesh? You don’t mean –“

“Yep. The lich will die. Permanently.” Pulling my cloak back, I let him see parts of the two sets of armor I was currently wearing. “I’ve already destroyed three phylacteries; he can’t have many more.”

“By Justice’s Sword, you’ve truly done it? You slew the three kings?” He whispered, though I saw several of the other clerics heads swivel in our direction.

“At the request of Salmahim, I did. Tomorrow I head to battle against the lich.”

“Charles, this is too important to leave to chance.” One of the clerics said, having come over to our conversation. “I am Neira, high priestess in service to Justice. What church are you affiliated with?”

“Thanatos.” I answered her as I looked her over. Tall, shoulder length brown hair and eyes. She wasn’t overly pretty either, which was a nice change. Certain games had a way of making every female character drop dead gorgeous, and it got on my nerves after a bit.

“Hmm. A neutral god. It should be close enough. Will you accept a knowledge transfer from me? If you are suitable, you will gain beginner level 1 knowledge of each spell.”

“What’s the cost?”

“No cost. Justice recognizes the evil the lich has caused over his unnatural life, and seeks to return to balance. Doing this will give you the tools to help, but it will be up to you in their use. Starting out with the lowest proficiency will also limit our interaction, helping the world recover to balance.”

“Very well. Let’s see what we can do.” Nodding, she placed her hands on each side of my head and started murmuring a prayer to both Thanatos and Justice. From the corner of my eyes, I could see green and golden motes of light start collecting, before I got a notification.

New Skills Acquired!

Neira, high priestess of Justice has petitioned her diety and yours to aid in giving you clerical spells. You will receive those you are compatible with at beginner level 1. Thanatos has altered some of them for your use.

New skill

Level

Description

Purging flames

Beginner lvl 1

Remove small to medium curses from items or people

Detect unlife

Beginner lvl 1

Detect any raised bodies, or unnatural forms of life up to 50 feet away

Consuming flame

Beginner lvl 1

Summon the green flames of Thanatos to consume dead bodies

Undeath smite

Beginner lvl 1

Green flames coat your hammer, boosting damage to undead. High chance to stagger foes.

Looking over my new skills, I didn’t see Neira slump over in exhaustion. All would be incredibly useful, but I could really only boost purging flames right now. Wait, I could boost consuming flame as well if I didn’t mind losing items! “Thank you Neira, for your gift of knowledge.” I said, shaking her hand.

“It worked? What did you gain?”

“Purging flames, detect unlife, consuming flame, and undeath smite.” I answered.

“Flames? Why flames?” She asked, confused.

“Thanatos manifests as green flames.” I answered. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have some skills to grind.” I said the last bit with a smile, and got to work. Just as I thought, the purging flames didn’t damage the meat that it was cleansing at all. I did use it on myself, and felt a sharp sting of pain as it went through my body. That was good to know, as it could be a deadly distraction in battle. I used it on Inkler too, much to his annoyance. After those experiments, I got down to cleansing as much meat as I could. I didn’t bother with breaks, simply using mana potions to recover. I got some practice in with [Consuming flames] as well. The leftover piles of bones that had no magic power were consumed, not even leaving ashes behind. I couldn’t help but think that it would be a perfect skill for a killer to use.

Three hours later, I was forced to stop. Not because my mana wouldn’t recover, but because my mind was spent. You know the feeling you get after you take a series of incredibly hard tests? Your brain just feels fuzzy, and everything is a little bit slower? That’s what I was running into. I knew then it was time to call it quits, and why the priests didn’t use mana potions.

“Neira, thank you and Justice for the spells, but I’m afraid I’m at the end of my rope here. These skills will be more than useful in the upcoming battle.”

“No thanks are necessary, just end the Lich. We will pray for your success.”

Leaving the group, I cursed myself for forgetting to get directions to the mage’s guild. Seeing the sign for Abdaul’s shop reminded me. Needing alchemy reagents anyway, I headed in to see Mardigan.

“Welcome back Angus!” He said, slapping me on the back. “How’s our desert treating you?”

“Not too shabby. Finally starting to get some better drops thanks to Abdaul and Butch. Just need to restock before heading in to fight the lich and hopefully end this curse.”

“Oh? You managed to take down Solomon and LIllith? That’s a pretty good feat for only you and Inkler. How did you pull it off?”

“Well, if you can tell me how to get to the mage’s guild, I can show you. I need a memory stone for Abdaul so he can see how Winter’s Advent worked in combat.”

“He let you use it? Oh, man am I excited to see this. I’ll have someone down to craft the stone, gimme a second.” Sticking his head out the door, he yelled for one of the street urchins that seemed to be in every town. “Listen kid, go to the mage’s guild with this note. Come back with Erin, and I’ll give you another silver. Deal?”

The kid didn’t even reply, simply taking off at a run. “So, while we wait for Erin to drop by, let’s see what you got for gearing up for this fight.”

“Well, I’ve got a cleansing spell at last, and one that will hopefully destroy undead. It would be nice if I had some pyrophoria potions, but I don’t have the ingredients for them.”

“Bah, pyrophoria potions are weak. Lich’s tend to make hordes of undead, you want something that can burn an area. Tell me, how many of those blasted winds did you manage to get?”

“Hmmm, I have about 50, why?”

“Because we are gonna brew some shit up!” He said with a maniacal cackle. Leading me to the back, he started rummaging around for ingredients. “Alright! Sit down, and let’s get cracking. Starting off with beetle oil, we need five parts for the base potion. Set up the cryogen apparatus.”

“Ummm, I’ve not done that before.”

“Ah, no worries. Sub out the fire mana stone for an ice stone. We can’t let this potion get too hot while it’s brewing, or it’ll burst. Alright, now that you have the setup, you need to add the following items as fast as you can while not disturbing the potion too much. Two drams firemander saliva, one blasted wind, and one dragontongue pollen. Cap it as soon as you can.”

I’ll be honest, if I was thinking straight I probably would have worried about what I was doing. They didn’t call him Mad Mardigan for nothing, and every reagent involved spoke of either burning or being burned. Looking over things, I pulled out a clear glass rod and used that to guide the firemander saliva into the potion so that it wouldn’t plop in. Taking out the tweezers, I added the blasted wind like I did for the potion to summon Einlorkis. Last was to sprinkle on the pollen and cap the potion. I thought for sure the pollen would float and that I would have to swirl it a bit, but instead it dissolved instantly. The black oil almost instantly turned a vibrant orange.

“Congrats on not blowing yourself up!” Mardigan called, and I turned to find him petting Inkler across the room. There was a small mana shield protecting the two of them, as well as all the reagents behind him.

“Just how dangerous is this potion?” I asked, concerned.

“Identify it.” He replied, and I looked at the popup for the potion.

Inferno potion

This potion will explode and ignite anything within a radius of three feet. This includes any users or allies.

Damage: 300-500 fire damage

Burn damage: Target will receive 150 burn damage every second for three seconds (doubles if undead)

“HOLY SHIT!” I panicked. “This could kill me if it blew up!”

“Well that’s the point!” He chuckled. “You wanted a potion good against undead, yeah? These will reduce them to cinders in no time.”

“What is so blasted important that you sent a kid to bring me down here Mardigan?” An annoyed voice came from the front of the store, saving him from a further dressing down from me.

“Ah, Erin. Beautiful as always.”

“Can the cheesy lines, I’m busy.”

“Fine. Angus here needs a memory stone created.”

“You called me down here for an apprentice task?” She asked shocked, and I came through the door to see her letting inadvertent sparks of lightning erupt from her clenched fist.

“Please don’t destroy the place with me in it.” I asked, lowering my hood. “There’s a lot of explosive ingredients in here, and I doubt he has everything protected properly.”

“Huh? Wards are a hassle.” Mardigan replied, and I saw Erin shaking her head.

“Sorry kid, he’s just infuriating sometimes.”

“Of course he is. He just had me brew an inferno potion and didn’t give me any warnings.” I said, commiserating with the mage.

“At least he isn’t constantly hitting on you. Despite being rejected.”

“Alright, you win.”

“Hey!”

“So, since you are here, would you be willing to make a memory stone for Abdaul?”

“I suppose.” She said with a sigh. “What’s the memory of?”

“The death of Solomon and Lillith. Can we get the whole battle in there?”

She froze at the mention of the memory. “I’m sorry. I think I misheard you. Did you say that it was the death of Solomon and Lillith? The Djinni king and queen?”

“Yeah. I killed them yesterday and just got back into town.” I explained, and saw her eyes get excited.

“Mardigan? You’re forgiven.” She said as she sauntered up and lightly smacked his cheek a few times. “Just next time, let me know if it is something like this.” Turning to me, she asked, “Do you mind if I make a copy for the guild? It’s so very rare for someone to take them on anymore, and we always want to study their tactics.”

“That’s fine. Just don’t let the adventurers see it.”

“Oh? Not that we would, but why not?”

“I don’t want them knowing my abilities.” I answered.

“That’s fine. Come over here, and I need to place one hand on your forehead. Think of the battle, replay it in your mind and I’ll do everything else. Since you are giving the guild a copy, there’s no charge for this.”

“Thanks.” I said, before accessing the video I had recorded and playing it. I could see Mardigan dancing back and forth in anticipation out of the corner of my eye. The video seemed to slow down and play at two thirds the speed of how it really happened, a side effect of the transferring magic. I watched it again, especially the part where Inkler mixed shadow and ice magic to finish off Lillith.

“That bolt? Where did you get such a weapon?” Erin asked after the transfer was complete. “And how did it stop the king’s magic? I’ve seen the result of that spell before, it is so hot that a thirty-foot circle of desert becomes glass.”

“Abdaul made it.” I said, pulling the recovered bolt from my inventory and showing her. “I recovered it, but it seems to have lost a good bit of it’s magic.” It really was sad. The secondary effect was completely gone, as well as the aura effects. It had also lost 50 points of damage to each category.

“Wow. It still has incredible power, and you say its weaker?”

“Yep.” I answered.

“Well, it seems I need to go see if he has ever crafted a wand.” She said with a smile. “Thank you for the memory Angus. Should you need anything, let the mage’s guild know.”

“Thank you.” I said. She turned to look at Mardigan, and very pointedly said nothing as she left. “So, what are we doing for the rest of the potions?” I asked, causing him to chuckle.

“You didn’t have to gang up on me like that.” He said.

“Sure I did. Otherwise she wouldn’t have helped me out. What did you ever do to get under her skin so badly?”

“We used to adventure a little bit back in the day. She said no matter how many baths I took, I couldn’t get rid of the potion smell. We were always placed in the back row together, and she never let it go.”

“Really? That’s all?” I asked in a disbelieving tone. “Girls don’t hold a grudge like that over smell. Lemme guess, you might have played a few harmless pranks on her?”

“Weeeeeell, there was the one time I added something to her health potions to turn her hair bright pink.”

“Say no more, I understand now.” I said. “But it probably would have been hilarious.” I chuckled at the end.

“Damn right it was! Just too bad that it fell out after a week and had to regrow.” And there it is! The real reason she hated him. We ended up making another twenty batches of potion, Mardigan only having me pay for reagents. While I worked, he regaled Inkler with stories of his misadventures. Most of which were brought on by himself, but some of it was because of Abdaul or Erin. It was a relaxing afternoon, and we topped it off by watching the fight against the Djinni king with Abdaul later. It was nearing nightfall by the time we got back to the inn, and I had the cooks prepare a feast for Inkler. We decided to stay in the main dining area this time, where Inkler’s antics as he anticipated his food amused several people. Especially when he finished his early and would lick his lips as he eyed my food. By the time we headed up for bed, we were both exhausted. Finally able to take off the disguise cloak I had on for several hours, I flopped down onto the floor.

“You’ve earned the bed tonight buddy. Enjoy oof!” I couldn’t finish my sentence before Inkler walked across my stomach to reach his bed. Purring loudly, I chuckled at his flicking tail as I logged off for the night.