– Day 8 –

Alchemy Recipes

Just as expected, I wake up to the hangover from hell. Not as planned though, is that my face that's currently planted in Emily’s chest and my hand on her bum. I know I wouldn’t have placed that there so she’s apparently set it up this way.

“Oi, Emily…”

“Yes, Master?”

“Care to explain?”

“Explain?”

“…Oww, what time is it?”

“A little before midday. I thought we could snuggle~.”

“You thought wrong.”

I peel Emily off before hearing sounds of fighting?

“That’s Risk and Bella. They’re training in the backyard.”

Training!? They should be feeling the same way as me or worse!

“…I better get up then.”

“Before ya do, we better treat ya. If ya go outside looking like this, they’ll likely attack ya.”

Like this?

HP: 1 / 165 MP: 1 / 1

Hunger: 45% Thirst: 98%

Blood State: Weakened

Oh, that’s not good–

“Look in the mirror over there.”

My face is taught, my eyes are yellow like a cats, and my skin is scaley green…I look like a demon from a horror movie!

“Is this the first time ya seen yourself like this?”

“Y-yes”

Wait…and Emily was fooling around with me like this!? Why was she not terrified? ..Oh, was scared for me?

“Don’t worry master. Just because ya look scary, doesn’t mean ya scary.”

“Thanks Emily, but I think we have a real problem here. I don’t think you can spare enough blood to return me to normal.”

“…That’s okay; I am yours after–”

“No, it’s not okay and don’t ever talk like that! I do not find it funny!”

“…sorry”

Shit. This is a problem though. I knew something was wrong yesterday, but I naively thought it would be fine. I guess I need to buy another slave but to make the contract; I’ll need to go to the slave market–

“Is Master thinking about getting another slave?”

Are we that in sync?

“Yes but the slave contract needs me there in person–”

“Not if I go. I have ya brand so I can brand others on ya authority, all I need is the gold and a letter from ya.”

“I don’t see a choice…Will you be able to find people as opened minded though?”

“…I’ll try my best. They won’t talk either way though Master.”

Ordered silence… I’d prefer not doing that if possible, but I doubt I'd have a choice here.

*blink*

“Ow~”

[Absorb]

HP: 50 / 330 MP: 30 / 670

Hunger: 12% Thirst: 58%

Blood State: Dangerous

“That’s enough to keep me alive. Thanks Emily”

*blink blink*

Inventory: 40 / 99

– Purple Coin Chest (98x Gold King Coins) –

I send Emily off with a letter from me and a hundred gold coins as I have no idea the cost of a slave after all. The official reason in the letter is that I need house attendants to see to the cleaning and cooking. Hopefully, Emily will find some like minded people that won’t be afraid of me or what they will be asked to do.

*blink*

While she’s gone, as I can’t go downstairs, I decide to read [Dark Sage of Agamenty’s book]. Some of the stuff in here is really, really dark but there’s also some beneficial information on enchanting and spell crafting; the art of composing spells on parchment.

[Enchanting Acquired]

[Spell Crafting Acquired]

I haven’t put any points in either of them yet so I haven’t learned any of the magic mentioned in the pages after the descriptions. Needless to say, I will be experimenting with these at some point but seeing as I don’t know anything but blood magic right now, putting valuable points in them would be a waste.

The book also has a few pages on draconic and ancient spells. Apparently, these differ from the spells of man as they use a language that cannot be spoken by man… but it seems I possess the capability for both; I’m not human after all.

[Ancient Tongue Acquired]

[Draconic Language Acquired]

I get the feeling using these in public though will cause me headaches so for now, they can remain inactive as well.

[Summoning Acquired]

Summoning, however, looks interesting. The book references two types of summoning magic which can basically be summed up as light and dark or good and evil.

As expected of dark slash evil, the magic requires a sacrifice of some kind. Depending on the strength of what you're trying to summon, this can be blood, a life or lives; I’ll ignore this type as I still have my human mentality.

The light slash good requires reagents of some kind depending on what you're trying to summon, much like alchemy. The book lists five of this type, of which one has caught my attention, the winter wolf. It’s got my attention due to its abilities and attributes but primarily due to its size shift ability. It seems the wolf can shrink it’s size to that of a dog, making it an extremely useful scout or guard as it can masquerade as a pet. Some of the ingredients required I already have as well but a few I do not. Before I pump points into this, I should find the missing components, just in case their super rare.

Finally, in the later pages after the alchemy recipes and rare plants. There are notes on precious gems and their uses–

[Mineralogy Acquired]

[Gemmology Acquired]

It seems [Gemmology] will be necessary to me in the future but for now, let’s just say cheaty mode can get a whole lot more cheaty.

Around this time, Emily returned knocking as she entered with three human women of varying ages.

The first is five-foot-nothing seventeen-year-old with short brown hair, small breasts, blue eyes and… a black eye. The next is a five-foot-nine twenty-two-year-old with long matted black hair and mega breasts that I have no idea how large they are. Finally the third girl, around twenty-five, matted black hair, green eyes, D cup breasts.

“Why are they all naked?”

“Clerk wouldn’t give me sacks for them.”

“Do they know what I need–”

“No. I thought it might be best if ya order them all not to tell first.”

I don’t like this, but it’s a matter of survival so Emily is right, needs must. I'm pragmatic after all.

“The three of you, I order you not to tell of my condition or the treatment that I need of you.”

The collars around the three start to glow faintly and then fade.

I deliberately said three so Emily would be exempt. My way of showing her I trust her completely.

“Master, the sword.”

Emily wastes no time, I guess showing them is quicker anyway. I really don’t want to scare them, but I decided to trust her judgement.

*blink*

“Thanks”

Emily takes off her top and shows the girls her faint cut mark and then in quick succession, cuts all three girls.

“Jeez Emily, how about explaining it to them first!”

“That can wait, Katharine’s downstairs.”

“Ah”

[Absorb]

[Absorb]

[Absorb]

HP: 322 / 330 MP: 604 / 670

Hunger: 0% Thirst: 13%

Blood State: Good

“Was there any money left over?”

“65 Gold Kings”

“Seriously? I didn’t expect human lives to be so cheap… Never mind, take it and buy the girls and yourself some clothes, shoes and food. Then bring them back here and explain it to them properly. Oh, and pick me up a change of clothes if there’s enough left over.”

“I’ll need another letter or the shop owners will throw us out.”

“Ah, one sec… Here, will that do?”

“Yepy~.”

Emily takes the girls and heads downstairs. I’ll talk to each of them properly later and find out their names. Not really fond of them walking around town naked but what can I do? Hopefully, their first stop will be that clothes shop.

..If any of them wish not to be a blood donor after today, I’ll not force them. Today was an emergency after all.. Come to think about it. Why did Emily get three slaves?

I head down the stairs to see Katharine leaning on the front counter. Last night I was too drunk to notice but the entrance to the building has been sectioned off into a shop complete with new shelves, a counter, and display cases. The interior of the building is typical of the city, white plaster and wood. Unlike other stores though, there are no walls sectioning off the shop to the rest of the ground floor, so it’s possible to see Bella and Risk sparring in the backyard. Open-plan may be the best way to describe it.

The area behind the counter is littered with the crates that Samuel, the alchemist, delivered yesterday. Large pots and various tools that Duke Rayford looks to have procured for me are also scattered around.

The kitchen looks to be in a room off under the stairs with a dining room beside it. I can’t really see them from here so I’ll need to check them out later.

“Afternoon Aburi, feeling a bit under the weather are we?”

Katharine looks pleased with herself; I guess she thinks she’s found an opportunity to get even with my teasing. Unfortunately for her though, my hangover was cured the moment I absorbed the girl's blood.

“I was, but a good sleep in was all I needed.”

“Dammit!” “That’s good.”

You said ‘dammit’ too loud.

“You didn’t stay long last night.”

“Apologies for that. Everyone was so boisterous; I couldn’t handle it, so I went home.”

“I can respect that; it’s difficult joining a party late when everyone's in full swing... So, what are your plans for today?”

“Not much, I thought I would see if I could help you with anything?”

“With a banged up shoulder? You must be joking. I will, however, accept your company while I unpack and create some basic stock.”

“I’m not some helpless maiden you know, I CAN help.”

“I’m sure you can, but that will hinder your recovery so I won’t allow it. Behave.”

I tap her on the head with a karate chop which makes us both smile widely. She then nods and walks over to a stool which she pulls to the counter and takes a seat.

I unpack the boxes, crates, and barrels and move stuff into various locations while mindlessly chatting with Katharine about the city, it's people and various other gossips. Eventually, I locate all the tools I need to start making potions suitably. How I knew what these tools were for however remains a mystery. I’m guessing it’s the skill system.

“So, what are you going to make first?”

“A healing potion for cell recovery. With the ingredients I collected from the forest on my here, I’m hoping it will be quite powerful.”

First, grind up 4x [Red Root geltis], mix with three litres of water in large pot. Grind up 4x [Purple Flower hestis] with 2x [Red Flower alfist] and 100mils of water and add to the large pot. Next grind up 1x [Taproot] with 1x [Teakish Pollen] and one tablespoon of salt, add water to make a paste. Now mix the large pot thoroughly and leave for one hour before adding the paste, mixing again and leave to air for thirty minutes before sealing.

I learned this recipe and the others I plan to make from a book Samuel left for me. I’m swapping out ingredients with more potent ones, but it should lead to the same result.

Inventory: 40 / 99

– Purple Flower hestis x68 –

– Red Root geltis x91 –

– Red Flower alfist x63 –

– Taproot x37 –

– Teakish Pollen x18 –

“Okay, while that reaction takes place in the pot. I’ll make a mana restoration potion.”

“You can make those!?”

“Yes? The forest has all the plants you need…Is there something odd about mana potions?”

“Not odd but they’re rare and quite expensive. A simple tonic would cost you 2 Gold.”

Is that so? Then I’m very interested in what Katharine will think of the potion I’m about to create. The book infers the level to be basic but swapping ingredients again for more potent ones.. Should be interesting.

Take 4x [Blue Flower ampist] and 4x [Blue Root tealist], place in large pot with six litres of water. Next crush 4x [Ash Flower] and 1x [Eldis Flower] with 400mils strong alcohol and two tablespoons of salt until the reaction starts. Immediately place mixture into the large pot with a further litre of liquor and mix. Avoid inhaling fumes unless you want to be high as a kite for the next eight hours. Finally, once reaction calms, add two tablespoons of moon sugar from the alchemist supplies and leave to air for twenty to thirty minutes.

Inventory: 40 / 99

– Blue Flower ampist x84 –

– Blue Root tealist x71 –

– Ash Flower x24 –

– Eldis Flower x18 –

Okay, adding the paste to the healing potion now and stirring. Now we wait.

Before sealing the large pots, I fill twenty tonic glasses with the healing potion and thirty with the mana potion. I can tell just by looking at them the quality is very high. This must be because of [Master Appraisal]’s effect.

The healing potion looks like it will rapidly heal large wounds while the mana potion will quickly aid 40% mana restoration. If I swap out some more of the ingredients in the mana potion, I think I may be able to increase that to 60%.

I take the chalk from the supplies Samuel left and write on the pots, so I know which is which and store them under the stairs. I then hand Katharine one of the healing potions.

“Here, drink this for me.”

“A-are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. If I’m right, it should instantly heal that shoulder of yours.”

*Gulp Gulp Gulp*

“Oh, that’s foul.”

“Taste isn’t important, the effect is. Well, how’s your shoulder?”

I say that, but in honesty, I hadn’t thought about it until she mentioned it. I’ll try experimenting with flavours later, after all, no one likes bitter medicine.

“Hm? W-Wow, the pain.. It’s completely gone? ..and I have a full range of motion? Aburi, that’s no ordinary healing potion!”

Indeed, it seems [Master Alchemist] has added effects to the healing potion and made it rejuvenate tendon and minor bone damage as well. A normal healing potion just aids coagulation at wounds to stop bleeding, and powerful ones should close wounds. This potion takes it one step further and actually repairs the tissue… I don’t think it’s strong enough to repair bone breaks yet though.

“It’s a rejuvenation potion. Slightly more effective than a healing potion but can’t do anything for broken bones.”

“…”

“Is something wrong?”

“You act as if this is nothing but a simple potion?”

“…That’s because it is?”

“Aburi, there’s no one in this kingdom, in any kingdom I’ve heard of, capable of producing a potion like this!”

…oops.

“Really? This is basic alchemy where I was trained. If you want to see something advanced, get me a dragon egg!”

I say while laughing unconvincingly. Um, Katharine? Katharine~ you in there? Her eyes have glossed over–

“Afternoon Draconis, I see you’ve settled in.”

Duke Graham Rayford walks in with two others I don’t recognise trailing behind him. Body Guards? Too slender, must be his aides.

“Duke Rayford, welcome, indeed I have. I must say that I wasn’t expecting the place to be completely repaired and fitted for my needs in just half a day. It was quite the shock.”

He grooms his trimmed black greyed beard with his white-gloved hand.

“It’s was nothing really; the capital has fine craftsmen after all.. Lady Katharine, are you alright?”

“A-apologies Duke Rayford, I was just taken aback by Aburi’s alchemy.”

“Oh? Are these potions you created yourself Draconis?”

He picks one up, raising it to the light.

“Indeed, the dark red one is a rejuvenation potion. The bright blue, a mana potion. Please, help yourself to my first batch. Based on Katharine’s remarks, I am certain there is nothing like them here in the Capital.”

“That’s a very bold statement Draconis. Then I will take a couple and have them analysed to see if your statement rings true.”

Katharine finally comes out of shock to speak up.

“Duke, the potion shockingly heals.. something called 'tissue' damage. I drank one and my shoulder, it’s completely healed. I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“What? Heh, that’s impos–”

Katharine rotates her arm around showing the full range of motion.

“..Draconis, please excuse me, but I must take my leave. May I take 10 of each with me?”

The colour has drained from his face.. Are these really that powerful? I’m pretty sure with a little more practice I can do better; heck, give me some better materials even.

“Please, take as many as you need. It’s the least I could offer for getting this building restored so quickly for me.”

“My thanks. I will return later if that’s okay. I may have some important things to discuss.”

Aargh, can’t I get one full day to myself?