Chapter 37 - Alchemist

Name: Izumi Yoshida

Level 1

Class: None

The door to the jail entrance was flung open and a pregnant redheaded woman was thrown to the ground. The Earthborn all took a while for their eyes to adjust before they could make out her features in detail though. She wore a commoner’s dress, was very pretty, and was very distraught.

“I’ve told you EVERYTHING! You said there would be a reward! Why are you treating me this way!?” Corela cried out in anguish as the soldier dragged her down the hallway and threw her into a cell next to Ashe. A loud crash sounded as the cell door was closed shut, and Izumi could hear the key turn to lock it. As the key turned, the antimagic binding runes of the bars glowed an azure blue and sealed any abilities that the newcomer may have had.

A drawn out yawn came from the outer corridor before Neheren and King Hethemon strode in to look at Corela from the other side of the bars.

“You should be quite honored, peasant. After all, this is where our most valued prisoners are stowed away.” said Neheren with another yawn. “It is not that you have done anything wrong, child, it is that if what you say is true… well. You are our insurance policy.”

The king stared at Corela with emotionless eyes. “Do you realize the significance of what you’ve told us?”

The girl whimpered but did not reply, so King Hethemon continued in a low, dangerous tone. “Let me give you a glimpse into your future. And it is only for you to know, at least for now. If what you say is true… and you truly did see a sword with that description, while having an Earthborn as its wielder? You may have just made yourself one of the richest women in the kingdom. To enslave one such as that… or better yet, to take his weapon from him and make it my own…”

The king furrowed his brow. “But if you are LYING to me, you will be executed for not only wasting my time - but also for trying to make me a fool for the petty price of a measly 500 gold.”

“I am not lying!” stuttered Corela who came to the bars and put her face against them desperately. “There is not only one! There are two! He has a friend!”

“A friend?” questioned the king. He adjusted his posture and stood to his full height, crossing his arms and looming over the much smaller female. “Describe him to me.”

The girl frantically shook her head. “He isn’t dangerous at all! The other man’s name is Jason Foreti. He is blonde, muscular, and he’s living with my family. He’s training to be an alchemist! I swear on my life!”

“You’re correct about that last part.” stated Neheren confidently. “It is on your life. Regardless, if what you are saying is true… you’ll be staying with us until we have him as our captive.”

“But why?” moaned Corela. “I have been nothing but faithful to Yosemar! I just wanted a better life for my family with the money I would receive, and to make that demon-loving bastard pay after what his kind did to my husband!”

“And the kingdom of Yosemar is thankful, given that you are truly honest.” replied the King. “But we will be taking you with us as our hostage, we must take all precautions to get ahold of that sword. You will lead him into our ambush, along with his friend if you can. Only then will we know if what you say has value.”

The king held up a finger. “Be warned, girl, we will be placing you under a curse that we may activate at any time. If you fail us, you’re as good as dead. Prepare yourself, for we leave tomorrow morning.”

The high priest snickered and followed the king out of the jail, shutting it loudly behind them as they left with the guard following in their wake.

“Bitch.” snarled Ashe. “I hope you rot, selling our kind out like that. What did we ever do to you?”

Corela did not reply.

That had been the most interesting conversation Izumi had heard since spawning in this forsaken place.

“Can you tell me more about what you and the king were talking about?” Izumi asked cautiously.

She could hear Corela spit in disgust.

“Demons like you should never have come to our world. I’ve seen what your kind is like. Do not talk to me, vermin. I have no place in my heart for evil.” Corela could be heard shuffling for a moment before becoming quiet again.

Izumi was incredibly confused, but backed away from the cell bars and sat in silence to ponder what the woman had said.

“Damn, you fine for a pregnant woman.” Jase muttered from the other cell.

The latino man that still hadn’t introduced himself just snickered, but otherwise everyone else shut up and went back to trying to get some sleep.

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Name: Jason Foreti

Level 6

Class: None

Titans. According to Borthome and Elise they were creatures of legend rarely seen by mortals, but they’d all heard the tales. Usually Titans that visited the mortal realms were friendly or stand-offish, leaving the rest of the living creatures there well enough alone. Borthome had told him that according to the ancient texts - there had been evil and aggressive Titans that had rampaged throughout the worlds and killed off entire civilizations. That the gods themselves had to come down to stop them, leaving only the more tranquil cousins to the brutes that had shattered numerous worlds out of a sinister desire to kill. The legends said there was an evil lair outside the mortal realms where Titans still feasted on one another or on the otherworldly denizens, but it was all just hearsay really.

Jason grimaced and drained the disgusting endurance potion completely, realizing that the dark boiled green accurately described the taste and watching his SP climb dramatically after the run he’d just taken in the snow beneath the branches of the forest. He was happy though, his hard work of hunting down animals for pelts to buy vials and then finding herbs in the forest before everything froze over was paying off. His Alchemy skill was increasing and the book that he’d gotten on the basics was a huge help.

He shouldn’t have been surprised when the notification popped up, especially after seeing an absolute monstrosity of what Elise called a ‘Titan’ pop up out of nowhere to call down a blizzard. But nevertheless he was.

“Based upon your actions and recent events, you have just qualified for the Alchemist Class: this class is a crafting oriented class that emphasizes the creation of potions, poisons, and herbalism. Others may be able to create with Alchemy, but the Alchemist class expands upon this and gives you the ability to make better or exclusive creations that others cannot. Be warned, though classes are not permanent choices if you switch off your original class to pick another one it results in a reduction of total levels by half and results in a 1 month wait period prior to choosing the new class. So choose wisely.”

He almost jumped for joy at finally having a class option given to him and threw up his hands. “FINALLLYYYY!!!”

Elise wasn’t far off, per usual, and the petite redhead came running up behind him while carrying her bow at a jog. They were both taking a break while on a hunting and an herb collecting trip that day, and so far they hadn’t found much.

“What is- OH! Congratulations!” Elise exclaimed excitedly, clapping her hands together. “I know you’ve been wondering why you haven’t had one yet!”

They hugged one another and laughed. Jason kissed her and picked her up to whirl her about. He hadn’t been this excited since his 16th birthday party when he’d gotten his first car. Maybe he was being ridiculous, but he didn’t care. Now he finally felt like he’d made some progress in this new place he called home.

Jason put her down and immediately selected the option for accepting the Alchemist class. Then another prompt appeared.

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“You have selected ‘Alchemist’ as your class. You have acquired the physical attribute ‘Plantlife Visionary’ due to your class selection, allowing you to learn and imprint on plant species and then have your vision highlight them at a 50 yard radius when activating the trait. You have acquired the ‘Immune to Poisons’ trait, which excludes alcohol. You have acquired the ‘Testing Ingredients’ trait. You have acquired the ‘Bonus to Alchemy’ trait. You have also been gifted 28 stat points to Luck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first prompt went away as soon as Jason had finished reading it, and the next prompt appeared to take its place.

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“The Alchemist Class is a crafting class that emphasizes the creation of potions, poisons and herbalism. Because you are now an Alchemist, you gain the knowledge of what it takes to become one. The criteria are as follows:”

1 - Have created at least 10 of your own potions or poisons with at least a decent yield effect for each.

2 - Have searched for herbs, body parts, or other ingredients regularly within the past week from original sources and not having bought them.

3 - Have used your own potions or poisons on yourself.

“The Alchemist Class first and foremost enables you to grow much faster than your peers who practice alchemy but are not ‘Alchemists.’ This is done through the ‘Bonus to Alchemy’ trait which increases experience gained in the realm of alchemy by 100%. It also unlocks an entirely new realm of alchemy called ‘Ascended Alchemy’ that allows you to create potions and poisons with what are called ‘Aluna.’ Aluna are spiritual ideals, ranging from ‘Health’ to ‘Death’, from ‘Speed’ to ‘Strength’, from ‘Disgust’ to ‘Allure,’ the list is nearly unlimited. These Aluna may be added to your potions for combined or individual effect. You will acquire 1 Aluna at random once per day, they may be stacked, and you may hold them indefinitely. You may not give them away. Aluna are bound to your soul signature and your Aluna can only be used by you.”

“Your skill ‘Plantlife Visionary’ allows you to imprint on plant species and then highlights those species within a 50 yard radius when activating the ability. What it means by ‘imprinting’ on plant species is that you will have to identify a plant ingredient and then learn its effects before being allowed the ‘imprint’ option. When you do imprint on that species, these plants will stand out to you far more than normal.”

“The ‘Testing Ingredients’ trait often goes hand in hand with the ‘Immune to Poisons’ trait. Anybody can figure out what something does by trial and error, but for an Alchemist Class individual it comes at less risk. For an Alchemist to acquire knowledge about a plant species, or insects and other poisonous objects for that matter, you will need to digest it. Once digested, it is possible but not guaranteed that information relative to what it can do will appear in your ‘Ingredients List.’ Every Alchemist has their own ‘Ingredients List’ page where it lists the names of the ingredients they’ve personally learned and digested as well as the effects they have in potion or poison making. Lastly, please note that the Luck stat heavily influences your class. A higher Luck stat will increase the chances of acquiring knowledge of an ingredient after digestion.

“And so the brief tutorial on your chosen class comes to a close. Additionally, you have been given 15 Aluna up front to experiment with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Name: Jason Foreti

HP 100/100

MP 100/100

SP 102/102

DP 1/1

Race: Human

Guild: None

Class: Alchemist

Level 6

Status Alerts:

Remaining Skill Points: 0 Remaining Stat Points: 0 Current Permanence cycle: ON Current Bound Point: Mehre Forest Runestone

*Jason's Status Page Continued in Spoiler*

Ascended Alchemy Aluna Acquired (+1 Randomized Aluna per Day)

5 Health Aluna 5 Lethargy aluna 5 Mana Aluna

Buffs:

100% increase to Alchemy experience (Bonus to Alchemy) 100% immunity to all poisons excluding alcohol (Immune to Poisons)

Debuffs:

None

Stat Amplifications:

7 Strength

0 Vitality

1 Endurance

23 Dexterity

4 Speed

0 Intelligence

0 Wisdom

0 Faith

28 Luck

0 Willpower

Magics

None

Miracles

None

Physical Combat

Bows - Level 5

Assassination - Level 4

Blunt Weapons - Level 1

Small Blades - Level 1

Miscellaneous

Alchemy - Level 4

Sneak - Level 3

Tracking - Level 2

Plantlife Visionary - Level N/A

Allows you to imprint on plant species and then highlights those species within a 50 yard radius when activating the ability. Imprinted Plants: None

Traits:

Earthborn - You are earthborn and experience ‘ON’ and ‘OFF’ permanence cycles. You also gain a 20% increase to any type of XP acquired when compared to your fellow NPCs, and your mana regeneration rate is increased by 30%.

Languages Learned - Human

Bonus to Alchemy - Increases experience gained in the realm of alchemy by 100%

Testing Ingredients - Your digestive system has been modified. Acquire knowledge of an ingredient, be it plant, insect, body part, mineral, etc., by ingesting it. Once digested, you have a 20% (+Luck stat bonus) chance to acquire information of effects that ingredient has in potion or poison making. Information acquired will be automatically updated in your personalized Ingredients List.

Ingredients List:

None

Immune to Poisons - With the exception of Alcohol, you are 100% immune to all poisons.

Physical Attributes:

None

Magical Attributes:

None

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“Wow. Didn’t realize the Alchemist class was so complicated. Does Elandry have these abilities too?” Jason asked curiously, showing his page to Elise as she looked it over.

“I believe so!” she replied a little more curious than she’d been before. “I haven’t actually asked but I’ve seen him eating his ingredients before! I always DID wonder why he was doing that… it answers so many questions.”

“But… Why didn’t I get the option for a Hunter class like you had?” Jason asked. He was still surprised that it had taken so long for him to get an optional class, and he would have picked Alchemist over Hunter any day anyways… but he still didn’t understand it.

Elise shrugged, then contemplated things for a minute before a lightbulb clicked on in her head. “Do you not enjoy the hunt?”

The question puzzled Jason. He scratched the back of his head and shrugged. “I enjoy being with you…”

This caused Elise to laugh and she thoroughly blushed with a huge smile that lingered there for the rest of their conversation. “No, silly! I mean do you enjoy the actual act of hunting?”

To this, Jason had to shake his head no. “Honestly I feel bad when I kill the poor animals… I enjoy shooting the bow and tracking them though. I just don’t like the end result.”

“And that’s why it wasn’t given to you as an option!” Elise stated proudly, happy to have figured it out so fast. “It’s one of the requirements to get the Hunter class. It was confusing that you hadn’t gotten it at first but now it makes perfect sense! Oh, and I almost forgot! Trey was looking for you earlier. Something about that neighbor’s kid Vertz wanting a sparring partner other than Trey?”

Jason chuckled at that one. Trey had been kicking Vertz’ ass all week long, the poor guy hadn’t stood a chance and even though he was still learning from Trey’s years of martial arts practices… Jason knew Trey was enjoying the ass whoopings a little TOO much.

“Hmmm. Alright then. I’ll head back now, they’ve probably already started sparring again. The poor kid.”

Picking up his own bow and turning back around, the two lovers held hands and happily gossiped with one another. Elise had a couple ideas as to where Corela could have gone, but she was just as certain as her parents were that she’d be back any day now.

***

Vertz and Jason stood exhausted, sweating and panting as Trey held up his hand for another break. Vertz had done a fine job convincing the blonde man to pair up against him as Trey had been way above his league, just as Jason had expected. Now that he was against someone of similar skill, he wasn’t looking too shabby. They’d also incorporated carved wooden weapons that Borthome had made, though Trey didn’t have any input for those matches because he openly admitted he needed to work on it himself.

Vertz had been hellbent on becoming stronger ever since the cultist attack - he had spent all of his skill points on the blades skill too boot. Even though the matches with the wooden weapons weren’t anything spectacular it gave Vertz a confidence boost and allowed him to try some moves he’d thought of on his own.

During the weapons fighting, Vertz had won the first match but lost the next two. Vertz was a good amount stronger than Jason now, much to Jason’s surprise. He’d apparently put all the stat points he’d ever gotten into strength, and was naturally muscular in his genetics just like Jason was even aside from that. Jason himself was no pushover, but the amplification points added to strength really gave Vertz an edge. Luckily, Jason was able to outmaneuver him, and he could tell that Vertz had little to no fighting experience previous to his recent training.

Trey followed the two men to sit on the log beside Napoleon. The imp was cradling its badly injured arm in a makeshift sling Trey had given it ever since yesterday, when it had fallen off the cabin roof in some asinine stunt to impress Elise. Trey didn’t know why the little imp didn’t just go back to the Nether realm for a couple of hours to regenerate there, but Napoleon had insisted the injury wasn’t bad enough to go back. The more he talked to Atharost, Rivia, Napoleon, and even his sword Talsh’Noc’Un, the more he realized how much they all hated it there. When he’d asked Rivia earlier that day about casting a miracle to heal the imp that way, Napoleon had refused that as well wanting to show how tough he was.

Kind of ridiculous if Trey had anything to say about it.

But at least Napoleon wasn’t whimpering anymore. The pain had improved, and only hurt whenever he moved it about. He had also noticed that Napoleon’s HP bar remained damaged by 35 and hadn’t moved from that spot for quite a while.

That’s when Jason’s potions sitting in the snow at his feet caught his eye. He’d seriously been wondering about whether or not Jason’s potions worked and wanted to see it for himself. He’d obviously heard Jason brag about it, but Trey didn’t want to take things by word of mouth. Quietly, Trey picked up a vial of red liquid that Jason had dubbed a ‘minor healing potion.’ He wasn’t sure how potent Jason’s potion would be given Jason had only started alchemy just a little while ago… but might as well give it a shot for the sake of science.

[Ancient Demon Dialect] “Napoleon...” Trey said to the imp. Napoleon’s ears perked up and he sat up from his position on the log to look back at the larger man.

[Ancient Demon Dialect] “Yes yes? What you want ugly?” asked Napoleon innocently.

Trey took the vial of red fruity liquid and opened it. Cautiously he sniffed at it once, and then sat it down next to his demon. “Drink this, it MIGHT help with your arm. AND BEFORE YOU DECLINE, let me say that this is important. I know you’re a tough guy but I want to see how effective this is. So please drink it.”

“What that be?”

“It’s a healing potion. Have you ever had one before?”

The imp shook its head no. “Never never. But I try try. It smell good.”

With his good hand, Napoleon picked up the potion laid next to him and began to chug the liquid - gaining speed as the fruity flavor trickled onto his tongue.

“That good! I feel good good! Taste good good!”

Trey watched without saying a word, carefully examining the imp’s broken arm as he saw the bones mesh back together and harden beneath the skin. In the top left of his vision, where it displayed Napoleon’s health bar under his - he saw Napoleon’s remaining 35 HP swell to full. “Looks like it worked!”

“Potions good good!” exclaimed Napoleon who jumped up and down and used both its arms to swing around rapidly in excitement. The demon ran up and patted Trey’s knee a bunch of times, smiling widely before giving Trey an unexpected hug. “You good master too.”

Trey felt a wave of happiness overcome him as his friend embraced his arm. “Not a problem little guy. Just glad you’re good now.”

Soon the imp had run off, swinging into the tree branches and disappearing from sight - probably to go exploring as he had been doing the past couple of days.

***

Jason called out to him and told Vertz they were taking a break. The young native man gave him a thumbs up, a sign that Jason had recently taught him, and the two Earthborn men decided to take a stroll. Trey made his way back to the village center, bored and not knowing what to do with his life. The two men didn’t talk much and didn’t really know where they were going but were just enjoying each other’s company as Trey considered his options.

Perhaps he really WOULD become a mercenary like Borthome had suggested a while back… it seemed like a pretty fitting position for someone like him. So he continued crunching through the couple inches of snow in the dim light of day and heard a commotion of new voices as he approached. They passed a series of recently dug graves, then passed a house on his right where a family was working on repairs to patch up from the cultist attack and turned onto the road leading into the center of the village. Their children had been especially loud and the source of the commotion, so Trey didn’t think twice about it afterwards. Upon entering the clearing at the village center and moving around two old women babbling at one another about a new winter coat, Trey saw one of the villagers he had grown to know as the dead blacksmith’s son. The young man was pulling a small cart behind him and was accompanied by three children. This same man stopped as he saw Trey, waved him down and quickly bowed.

[Human Dialect] “Jason, could you please translate for me?” asked the burly brunette. His features looked… sad. There was no other way to describe it, and it looked like he’d been having sleepless nights with bags under his eyes. Jason nodded curiously before the newcomer proceeded to turn to Trey.

“... Many were killed a week and a half ago when those demon worshipers set upon our village,” began the man with Jason translating as fast as the man could speak. “My father, wife, and sister were all killed.” There was a long pause and he tried to contain his emotions as his voice trembled. “But my children, they were saved thanks to you. I did not have much back then, and have even less now. But with what skill I do possess I was able to create something you may find useful. And if it does not suit you, I encourage you to sell it so that at least in some way I am able to repay a small amount of the debt I owe to you.”

The brunette man turned around, and with the help of his children he took out from his cart what Trey originally thought was a shiny black shirt. But Trey soon came to realize it was chain mail.

“I was able to melt down the armor of those demons you slew, and reforge it into something that seemed to be the right size for a man of your stature. Please, take it.” The man bowed one more time and held out the ebony chainmail shirt with both hands.

Trey stood awkwardly before the small family, but in time took the piece of armor from the bowing figure in front and asked Jason to thank the man for his efforts. He wondered how much time and effort he’d put into making something this nice… and how long he’d worried about what he was going to say when he did present it given the man’s fumbling. But the blacksmith’s son did not stay long, and after a few more words of thanks were exchanged with Jason he turned and left the way he had come.

Trey stared at the item in his hands. It was well made. Trey had experienced first hand the resistance of this grade of armor when fighting the culn, and he had previously been irritated when his claws did not pierce through nearly as easily as steel. In his fights with the culn wearing this armor he had made special effort to go after the weak points or go for exposed areas such as their necks. Trey had wanted to pick up and try on some of the armor previously, but hadn’t had the opportunity to see if he could use it.

Ebony Chainmail (Heavy Armor)

Item Tier: (9) Grand

Armor: ???

Bonuses: ???

Requirements: ??? Strength, 48 Endurance, 31 Vitality

Durability: ???

Special: None

And… he couldn’t. He didn’t even know what the strength requirement was but his endurance and vitality were both way too low. He at least wanted to see what it would look like though…

Trey put one arm through before stopping. He pulled his arm back out of the sleeve and walked over to Jason. It felt… thoroughly heavy. Then it got heavier… and heavier… and even heavier. Then it started to burn slightly. He moved slowly, trying to go forward but he felt sluggish. It reminded him a little bit of that ruby studded sword back at Drahst Pillar of Oblivion, where he’d tried to pick it up but because his strength stat was too low he couldn’t use it properly.

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“You do not meet the requirements to wield this weapon. You will receive stacking pain and damage the longer you try to use this weapon.”

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Sighing he walked over and posed next to Jason. “Do I look like a stud? Tell me quick before I take it off.”

Jason scoffed and pretended like he hadn’t heard the question.

“Ah well, I’ll keep it in shadowform for now and either sell it or give it to someone who can use it later on.” Trey snapped his fingers and the item vanished in a puff of darkness. “Wana go get some drinks?”

“Like alcohol?” Jason asked with a growing smile.

“Fuck yeah man. I think Borthome was supposed to buy some. Wana go mooch?”

“He got alcohol? Then what are we waiting for!? Let’s go!”