This Isn’t My World, And It Pisses Me Off

Chapter 4

“This is the Royal Apothecary.” A servant dressed in simple black clothes and white shirt gestured to a closed door. The smell of brimstone tickled Ikari’s nose.

“You have full access to the ingredients and items within it, as our last Royal Alchemist had a bit of an accident while creating a new potion.” The servant pushed open the door, and the smell intensified.

Inside was a medium-sized circular room, shelves that ran around the entire wall lined with books or strange objects that Ikari could only assume were ingredients for potions.

“I will leave your Heroic works to yourself.” The servant bowed, backing out of the room and beginning to close the door behind her.

“Thanks.” Ikari said shortly, walking over to the shelves and examining the countless books and foreign objects. The servant hesitated by the door, surprised that they had been thanked for a job when nobles wouldn’t even acknowledge them unless they did something wrong.

Eventually, they decided to not say anything, closing the door and returning to her other duties.

Ikari heard the door close, and folded his arms across his chest as he nodded at the wall of books and ingredients before him. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”

He wondered if he picked up a random book and opened it, he would somehow know every potion recipe that was in it. His eyes scanned the large tomes before him, and picked one at random. It was a little dusty, but Ikari could faintly make out the title.

“Beginner Potions For The Aspiring Alchemist.” He read out, somewhat impressed by his luck. He opened the book, and did not immediately become aware of every potion known to this world.

“Figures.” He sighed, before reading what the page he landed on said. The dried ink was written in a language Ikari didn’t understand, but a screen appeared an inch above the paper with what Ikari hoped was the words correctly translated.

It seemed to be a contents page. “Potion of Healing. Potion of Regenerate Health. Potion of Stamina. Potion of Regenerate Stamina. Potion of Mana. Potion of Regener- ok yeah I see where this is going.”

He skipped down, speed reading the titles until he found one that stood out to him. “Potion of Boosted Enchantment.” He flipped to the page immediately, and found the recipe.

“The Potion Of Boosted Enchantment is made using a [Blue Butterfly Wing], [Mana Flower] and a [Pinch Of Salt].” He reread the last ingredient. “Salt? Salt is a potion ingredient?” For some reason that was what threw him as opposed to everything else.

He continued reading. “This Potion will boost your [Enchanting Skill] and will make your new enchantment much stronger. Average increase to Enchantment Power is 15%.” He finished reading, closing the book but keeping his thumb on the page.

“Crap.” He let out a breath. “Wrong one.” He looked at all the other books before him, wondering if he could find what he was looking for in a different book.

He decided against it, turning back to the original tome and flipping to the next potion. “If I at least learn the basic ones, I should be able to make one that will help me get what I need.” He looked at the small illustration of a light purple bottle and read the title.

“The Potion Of Minor Enchantment increases the effectiveness of drinker’s active enchantments.” Ikari stopped. He reread the words twice just to be sure. Once he was certain that he had found what he was looking for, a smirk appeared on his face.

“You killed me and sent me to this world against my will.” He spoke softly, but he knew who his words were directed to. “You took me from my home, and broke my world apart.”

He read the ingredients and instructions on how to make the Potion Of Minor Enchantment, and looked to the sky, talking directly to Ato. “Well, I’m gonna break yours now.”

He scoured the shelves and found the ingredients he needed. An [Aqua Bead], a tiny blue ball that reminded Ikari of Bubble Tea, and a [Lavender Petal].

He wondered why this one only need two ingredients, but decided not to question it. Instead he turned to what he hope was the Potion making bench. It had a mortal and pestle, as well as several small bottles lined along it.

He placed his hand on the Potion Bench, and a screen popped up in front of him.

It took him a second to figure it out, but he selected the [Aqua Bead] and [Lavender Petal] and then pressed the button labeled [CRAFT].

A small progress bar appeared, as behind the screen the ingredients and tools seemed to move by themselves. The [Aqua Bead] and [Lavender Petal] were crushed in the mortar and pestle, before being put through some strange hourglass shaped item, and pouring into an empty bottle.

The progress bar was completed, and before him stood a lavender coloured potion. It looked like any sort of potion you would see in a fantasy story. Swelled bottom, long neck, and a cork at the top.

He wondered where the cork came from, seeing as he definitely didn’t have any. Shaking away those thoughts, he picked up the potion.

Ikari smiled. The book said it would only increase it by 4 per cent. The fact it said 4.3 meant that the ring was working. Now, all he had to do was drink it.

He uncorked the bottle and took a sniff. It smelled like lavender. “Do I have to drink all of it?” He wondered. If he was to compare the volume to his old world, it would be about the same volume as a soda can.

“Bottoms up.” He said, taking a large gulp of it. It went down smooth, like he just had a glass of milk. He brought the bottle away and smacked his lips together with a confused expression on his face.

“Tastes like, lavender milk.” He could remember drinking something along the lines of that in order to help him sleep. He set the bottle down and stared at his ring on the middle finger of his right hand.

“Observe.” He said. Nothing happened. “Examine?” Still nothing. “Show?” Nothing.

“Ring Stats.” He tried. A small screen appeared just above his hand, and Ikari smiled widely as he began to read the stats.

The smile died along with whatever triumphant fanfare was playing in the back of his head. It was only improved by 0.3 percent.

He looked at the notification. “Level 2? I guess everything is level 1, and if I don’t use it it’ll stay that way.” He thought back to his current skills, the brief glimpse he got of them anyway. “I’ve cooked and played music, so they aren’t just level one.”

He pressed the small X in the corner of the screen and it disappeared. “It’s going to be a long process, but I’ll keep at it.” He grabbed another [Aqua Bead] and [Lavender Petal] and opened up the Potion Making Menu again.

A new small section had appeared under his ingredients, listed as [Known Potions]. There was the [Potion Of Minor Enchantment] listed. He pressed the name of the potion, and it immediately began crafting.

He didn’t even have to put the ingredients into the required slots, it just started automatically. It finished crafting, and Ikari checked the effectiveness of it. “4.33?!” He exclaimed, gripping the bottle tightly and downing it in anger.

The notification that he had leveled up his Alchemy showed up once more, getting in the way of him checking his rings new stats. “IGNORE NOTIFICATIONS!” He said, as the screen disappeared and he checked how his ring was doing.

“It’s getting closer.” He murmured, bringing a hand to his chin and started doing some math in his head. “The next one will definitely bring it up 9, but after that…” He trailed off, trying to figure out how many of these he would have to drink in order for his plan to work.

“I can’t hesitate too much. The potion only lasts five minutes.” He grabbed a handful of ingredients and went back to the bench.

“I won’t check it for a while, I’ll just make and drink.” He cracked the joints of his fingers as he opened the Potion Making Screen. “Let’s brew this.”

“God that was a bad pun.” He sighed, shaking his head before getting to work.