Chapter 16 : Trance potion

During the next two weeks, Nikolaï immersed himself intensively into his Forgerune activity.

The shock of “seeing” his body was still haunting him but there was nothing to actively do for the moment. He didn’t do anything either but before thinking about training or anything like that he needed to gain back some weight. Nikolaï promised himself to not skip any more meal and found his appetite back by not treating the need to eat like an inconvenient chore.

Nikolaï didn’t force himself to eat but to take the time to do so. Rather than having breakfast in his room when he wanted to work straight after his meditation he forced himself to go to the dining room and had a proper meal.

The effect didn’t show but Nikolaï was feeling more energetic, or maybe it was in his head.

Anyway, two weeks after his medical exam Nikolaï was back in the Bourquet brothers backroom. Aspirant Soreco was here and so was one of the brother : Emile. Nikolaï and Aspirant Soreco were sat face to face at a table and Aspirant Bourquet was standing between them with Alchemist tool in front of him.

Nikolaï took from his pocket the rest of the money, the result in selling 8 pouches and a small chest big enough for a shoe. All of them capable of protecting the content from outside elementium.

While Aspirant Bourquet was stacking the coins to count them, Aspirant Soreco took a small box from her side bag. Aspirant Bourquet took the box and opened it to show the potion inside, nestled with a bit of hay to avoid shock.

The next minutes became a bit awkward for Nikolaï because he didn’t know what to do other than wait. Aspirant Bourquet was the witness but also the expert on their sale. After he counted the money he tested a few drops of the potion to make sure it was genuine.

The testing process was a bit lost on Nikolaï as he looked at Aspirant Bourquet mixing a drop with another compound and whatnot.

“_ To the best of my expertise the potion is truly a Trance potion.” Finally said Aspirant Bourquet to Nikolaï. “If you want, you can ask for a second opinion.”

“_ What ? No, it’s okay I believed you.” Said Nikolaï who had been surprised by the sudden conclusion.

Nikolaï didn’t have any reason to suspect them of anything. The deal was clean and scam him had more risks than benefits.

Aspirant Bourquet put the potion back to its box and slid it in front of Nikolaï. Next, he slid the two columns of coins to Aspirant Soreco in a similar move. The movements were almost ritualistic and made Nikolaï a bit more out of his element.

“_ Alright I think we have finished here.” Concluded Aspirant Soreco before standing up. “It was a pleasure to do business with you.”

Nikolaï had stood up too and saluted Aspirant Soreco to answer her own.

“_ Yes, hum... same.” Added awkwardly Nikolaï after his salute.

He didn’t know what to say to her traditional expression but Aspirant Soreco didn’t seem bothered by his inexperience.

She took a part of the money, around 9 gold pounds and gave the rest to Aspirant Bourquet.

“_ It will be enough for the thing we talk about.” Said Aspirant Soreco to the apothecary, ignoring Nikolaï.

“_ Yes. It’s only a matter of days now.” Said Aspirant Bourquet back, ignoring Nikolaï presence too.

Nikolaï took the box and put it under his arm. He had no intention to force himself into a conversation he wasn’t invited to and wished the others a good day before leaving. He hurried and went straight to his room to hide the potion.

There was no reason too but if the fact that he had this kind of potion became known he could attract the attention of unscrupulous Aspirants. Rather than being beaten up for the potion, it was smarter to use it as soon as possible.

Nikolaï was ready for it and scheduled it for tonight, at dusk. He spent the rest of his afternoon cleaning the mess he had made while making his pouches. Instead of working or studying it was better to occupy his body to save all of his focus for tonight.

The lack of light in Nikolaï’s room made the cleaning rather painful. Nikolaï had used a more advanced attach glyph on his purses. The carving had required to be more subtle so a lot of small pieces of leather had flown in his room.

Nikolaï had used regular candles to light the place. It had kept 3 of his self-sufficient ones for his use but even if it was a little he didn’t want to diminish the density of elementium in the room.

Nikolaï went to eat early and only took a soup with some bread. It was against his new diet but he was following the instructions given by Aspirant Soreco. The potion was precious and the worst it could happen was that Nikolaï puked it. The risk was not high but Aspirant Soreco advised him to not consume it on an empty stomach or next after a big meal.

After dinner, Nikolaï went back to his room and took a nap before Dusk. He dozed off more than sleep but when the time came he got up and started his preparation.

Ten minutes before Dusk, Nikolaï drank the entire potion in one go. The liquid was very light and it tasted a bit like an alcool made of flower than Nikolaï could not remember the name, not that he cared. After the potion, he drank a bit of water to clean his palate and waited in a meditation position.

The effects of the potion didn’t wait long to manifest. Nikolaï sensation became a bit foggy but his mind still had clarity. The dullness of his senses was enhancing his perception of his own Ether. Nikolaï tried to not think about but it was a bit similar to what he had felt during Orsana's experiment before everything went wrong.

Nikolaï chases the idea away and didn’t let the trauma distracting him. His Ether wasn’t pulled out of his body and the potion had exactly the effect it was supposed to. Nikolaï focused on his Ether, trying to sense it a bit like if he was doing stretch before the real effort.

The bell tower rang and elementium started pouring from the wall. Nikolaï could see it with his Third Eye but also feel it more clearly thanked to the potion. A spark of contentment burst in Nikolaï’s mind but he tried to ignore it. Yes, he was satisfied to see that the potion was working but it had although as a secondary effect to be euphoric. It was important to Nikolaï to not fell into the artificial pleasure create by the compound if he wanted to not lost its effect time.

Now that the room was filled with elementium Nikolaï started gathering it inside him. The extra sensitivity gave by the potion was allowing him to stabilise the elementium directly inside his Ether easily rather than doing it before absorbing it.

Not only the stabilisation was internal, which reduce loss during the process, but the quantity he could handle at the same time was more important.

The elementium kept oozing from the wall as Nikolaï absorbed it. The range of his absorption was larger than without the drug and Nikolaï forgot about everything other than charged his vessel with the energy surrounding him.

Two hours and a half later, the effects of the potion started to were off. Nikolaï didn’t stop his meditation and kept doing it while he was still in the zone. Eventually, he stopped and lay down, quite dizzy.

The confusion created by the drug faded away and Nikolaï started to assess the results. A large smile drew itself on his face as he had successfully solidified his 1st Ether Rune. If an average level 1 spell was used as a unit Nikolaï had enough energy to cast at least 31 or 32 spells in a day. If he spread them he could be more but it wasn’t just about the quantity of energy but the level of stress his vessel could endure. Casting a spell was putting pressure on the caster vessel so even if he regenerate his energy there was a limit of casting.

This last session, infuse by the potion had made Nikolaï passed the point of solidification but, by his estimation, also made him grew from a capacity of 23 spells.

After such an intense session Nikolaï went to his bathroom to clean his sweat. Maybe he still had a bit of potion in his system because he was ecstatic about its effects. Vera Soreco was the real deal and her custom made potion had worked perfectly on Nikolaï.

He still needed a good night sleep but Nikolaï knew the change were real and they were welcomed. Not just because of the leap in his progress but because now that he had risen to the solidification, he could try another leap.

The news about his exams didn’t allow him to be cautious and he needed to do a new assimilation as soon as possible.

***

Four days later, Nikolaï was on his way to the “Bourquet’s Brother” shop. Nikolaï had used those days to prepare what he needed to hunt a creature that he had selected weeks ago. He had also learned a new spell for it and used the last few days to make sure he was handling it properly with his new level of power. He was.

Contrary to the last time Nikolaï didn’t ask for reinforcement on the lobby board. At first, it was because he was still worried about being watched by Expert Orsana but even if his paranoid thought was true his expedition wasn’t worthy of being hidden.

The real reason he didn’t post any demand for reinforcement was that he had already found one. Giles Bourquet, the other Bourquet twin. They were fraternal twins even if it was very clear that they were brothers. If Emile was the apothecary, Giles was the hunter and they seemed to be quite the business team.

That’s why Nikolaï was meeting Giles at the shop with his equipment so early in the morning. He had his sword, a bit of food with water, a bag with some necessities and more importantly a pouch with talismans made for the occasions. Nikolaï had put it on his belt, opposite to his sword.

Nikolaï arrived at the shop and noticed Giles on the side checking something in his bag. Nikolaï saluted him and Giles did the same. Of the two brothers, he was without a doubt the less loquacious. Not in an anti-social way but he seemed to be the kind of person who talked only when he needed to say something.

So without much talk, and after making sure that they had all of what they needed, they departed and Nikolaï followed Aspirant Bourquet into the Tower’s gardens.

In comparison to his last expedition, this one was way quieter even if it was more eventful. It’s been almost 3 hours since they had left the safe area and they had fought 4 times. The parts that they were crossing were more populated so it had been excepted and the fights had been quickly dealt with. Thanks to Aspirant Bourquet and his bow. Having someone able to deal long-rang damages was a game-changer in those parts of the gardens. The area was more flat and open than the one Nikolaï had previously visited when searching for the mongoose. He was glad for recruiting his companion, he was costing him some money but now that he had income with his Forgerune he was starting to be less precautious with money.

On the 4 fights, Nikolaï had only been involved in one and he barely fought. A rodent creature had charged them from the side after Aspirant Bourquet had dealt with one of its own. When it had arrived at them it saw Nikolaï, sword in hand, waiting for it so the creature had run away. Without the element of surprise, it had had no chance and after Nikolaï’s Third Eye enhancement he was hard to hide from him.

The other 3 times, Aspirant Bourquet’s arrows had served their purpose. Under his leadership they had chosen to gave up most parts of the creatures they had killed on their way. It was not just about the time consumption but also to avoid attract other predators with their bloody loot.

Twice, Aspirant Bourquet used his victims as a decoy of some sort to distract eventual creatures on their track. Nikolaï didn’t argue about the loss of potential salvable organs or pelts. He didn’t hire a more competent hunter than himself to go against his advice.

“_ We have arrived.” Said Aspirant Bourquet while unloading his bag.

In front of them was a round clearing, almost 50 steps in diameter and surrounded by trees. Despite the height of the trees, their trunk width was too small to be properly climbable. That’s why many birds were nesting in their numerous but fragile branches.

Nikolaï looked around, trying to sense something with the active state of his Third Eye but there was too much to see. He could guess the presence of creatures in his sight but he was in no way capable to see if one of them was the bird he was looking for.

On his side Aspirant Bourquet was unpacking something from his bag. It was a packet wrap carefully into leather. With a knife, he got rid of the strings attached around and the first layer of leather. The second layer seemed more tightly attached and the folds were glued together by a seal of wax.

Aspirant Bourquet broke the seal with the handle of his knife. It produced a small pop sound that attracted Nikolaï attention. The sound wasn’t the most obvious things that the packet produce because a few second after the seal was broke it started to release a pheasant smell. Aspirant Bourquet finished unwrapping the things which reveal to be partially rotten meat sliced in small bites.

“_ Blowpipe birds are scavenger, even if they don’t mind killing their own prey.” Answered Aspirant Bourquet to Nikolaï’s look.

“_ Are you not afraid of attracting other creatures ?” Asked Nikolaï.

“_ Not during the daytime, at least for the one with legs. They will avoid the clearing and for the other kind of birds in this place I have something.” Declared Aspirant Bourquet while taping one of his pockets.

“_ Alright, what do we do ?”

“_ We have to dispose of those baits around the area and wait in the cover of the trees.”

“_ I’m guessing that crossing the clearing it’s not very safe.”

Aspirant Bourquet answer with a simple node. In the middle of the clearing were few high stones that can be used for cover and after a second thought Nikolaï figured out that they probably had been placed here for that purpose. Which mean that being in the open was dangerous.

“_ Alright, give me the meat, your bow will do better for covering.” Concluded Nikolaï.

“_ Are you sure ?”

“_ Yeah, I have a spell that can prevent me to move away too much from the trees.” Said Nikolaï with confidence.

Aspirant Bourquet gave him the meat and showed him where it was best to be placed. Nikolaï listened carefully and looked around with his Third Eye before going.

Fifteen steps away from the edge of the wood he cast Spectral Hand and threw away some meat before moving up. Aspirant Bourquet was on the watch but that didn’t prevent him from feeling exposed.

It only took 2 minutes for Nikolaï to finish and he hurried back to the cover of the closest trees before reaching back Aspirant Bourquet. When he arrived Aspirant Bourquet was blowing into some kind of metallic whistle. Nikolaï couldn’t hear any sound but was more interested in the glyphs engraved on it.

First, he thought it was to attract their target but Aspirant Bourquet explained that it was actually to repel the other kind of bird in the area. The frequency wasn’t hearable by Blowpipe bird or human.

Every five minutes or so, Aspirant Bourquet was blowing his whistle but apart from that the two Aspirants were waiting in silence, hiding.

“_ I don’t think it’s working.” Whispered Aspirant Bourquet after 1 hour and a half of wait.

“_ Are we sure blowpipe birds are in this area ?” Added Nikolaï.

“_ Yes I’m sure of it. They are territorial and even if they are solitary they don’t move around much once they have a good hunting area. I think that we need to provoke one of them.”

“_ Provoke them how ?” Asked Nikolaï, worried to know the answer.

“_ By tempting them with something better.”

“_ You want to cross, right ?” Said Nikolaï, confirming his suspicions.

Aspirant Bourquet smiled weakly and Nikolaï sighted. He didn’t argue and put his bag and the cloak he had brought to hide under away. Aspirant Bourquet imitated him and change the position of his quiver, probably to help him run.

“_ We’ll go slow first and run to the centre when we find our target.” Instructed Aspirant Bourquet.

“_ You mean when our target found us.” Corrected Nikolaï as he was stretching his legs.

“_ Yeah.”

They left the cover of the trees and started to cross the clearing while making noise. After 10 steps Aspirant Bourquet spotted some silhouettes on his right, above the trees.

“_ I think we have clients !” Yelled Aspirant Bourquet to Nikolaï.

“_ There is 3 of them !” Yelled Nikolaï back.

“_ Don’t worry they won’t team up against us, they are too competitive for that.”

“_ Yeah but I had prefered avoiding the strongest one. Is there a chance that they will fight over who attack us and we could claim the loser ?”

“_ I doubt will be that lucky.”

The two Aspirants hadn’t yet started to run. They had to bait the birds until one started to chase them or they would just give up. One bird was aiming at them and was moving closer but before he could be at range another one shouted at him.

The first bird turned away in a gracious movement and the two Aspirants understood that the second bird was the alpha. It made 3 circles in the air, each time shouting at the two others which backed up eventually.

“_ Here we go !” Warned Aspirant Bourquet as the bird was coming upon them. “Run and keep an eye on his cheeks !”

The bird’s body looked like a swallow the size of an albatross. It had long and thin wings which impeded its mobility on the ground and when it was taking off but once it was in the air its speed and agility was prodigious.

It was the reason Aspirant Bourquet and Nikolaï had tried to make one landed on their baits first. Fighting them while they were flying was going to be harder, mostly because Blowpipe birds didn’t get close to attack. Thanks to the things that had given them their common name.

Blowpipe birds had long beak with curved tip. It was pointy enough to help them tearing up pieces of flesh once their prey had been killed. Above the curved, there was a protuberance with a unique round hole, and this was the real danger. When it was eating the Blowpipe bird didn’t avoid small bones and cartilage, in fact, it was stocking them in a special stomach where they macerated and “refined” into pebbles large as a human thumb.

Through regurgitation, the bird could “load” those pebbles into his nasal pipe and blow it as a projectile. The “cheeks” mentioned by Aspirant Bourquet were in reality large sinuses but were commonly called cheeks because of their positions on the birds head. They were not sharing the same pipes as the creature lungs and when they were inflating it was not for breathing. Those sinuses where the air was mixed with elementium before being used to fire the bird’s ammunition.

The shot was no joke. Its strength was not enough to pierce a human body from side to side but enough to penetrate their flesh. More importantly, it was faster than an arrow, which relied on his shape to have penetrating power, for almost the same damage.

The moment the bird sinuses were bloating the moment it was to duck under your cover.

“_ It’s coming !” Yelled Nikolaï.

The bird had just dove to be closer to their level. He knew that the bird accuracy was around 15 steps but he didn’t want to confirm his reading on the subject. He and Aspirant Bourquet were moving to the stones and it was difficult to watch the birds head while running.

Nikolaï spotted elementiums gathering along the wings and moving to the head.

“_ Duck !” Warned Nikolaï.

Aspirant Bourquet was one step away from a stone and he jumped behind it. Nikolaï was four steps behind and threw himself on the ground. He landed on the stomach and heard a loud snapping sound before a more soft one of something hitting the grass ground.

He stood back up as the bird was passing right above him and reach Aspirant Bourquet who was reaching for an arrow.

“_ It can only attack what’s in front of it.” Said Aspirant Bourquet. “When it looked down the air chamber is shrunk so it can load it properly.”

“_ Yeah, I know.” Panted Nikolaï.

“_ Good. We can’t stay inside the cover of the stones but move around to make sure that we always have one of them between it and us.”

Nikolaï nodded and left the stone’s shade. They acted quickly before the bird had the time to turn around and attack them from another angle and before they could anticipate its trajectory.

The bird charged at them, this time flying lower than before to shoot more horizontally. It made five passages but only shoot three times. On their side, Aspirant Bourquet had tried to shoot him twice but the bird was too agile and fast. More importantly, it was starting to become more cautious now that it had identified the presence of a bow.

Nikolaï started to get worried. They needed to shoot the bird before it went out of ammo or it would simply fly away. He wanted to use his spell but the bird was too fast for him, he needed to predict its trajectory.

Nikolaï gathered his courage and decided to act. He tried to open his pouch and struggled a bit. The adrenalin was making his hands shiver a little too much for the little node he had made on it. He finally opened it and retrieved a runic coin.

“_ I’ll try something !” Warned Nikolaï.

He moved a little away from Aspirant Bourquet, hoping that it would made him the target of the bird. It worked and Nikolaï focused his sight on the bird charging in his direction. He filled the talisman he was holding with ether, waiting for the right moment as he moved behind a boulder as high as his knees.

Once again Nikolaï saw elementium starting to gather in its opponent body. He activated the coins and dove under the rock as an Impalpable Wall was cast from the talisman. The spell was barely up for a second when it shattered under the bird's shot.

The bird passed by and Nikolaï stood up to look at where the wall had been. At its previous position was a small brown pebble. The wall had been enough to stop the shoot even if it broke just after. It was enough for Nikolaï, he had trust in his work.

“_ Ready your best shot ! I’m going to stop it for a second, don’t miss !” Ordered Nikolaï as he moved away from the stones.

“_ What are you doing ?” Yelled Aspirant Bourquet.

For all answer, Nikolaï took out three more runic coins and used them to create three Impalpable Wall in front of him. He had positioned them after the bird had just turned away. They would cover the possible directions the attack would come from. Nikolaï stood his ground and joined his hands.

“_ I will hit him at 10 steps ! Get ready !”

Aspirant Bourquet obeyed and loaded an arrow while keeping himself out of sight behind a high stone.

“ 40 … 35 … 30 … 25 ....” Counted Nikolaï out loud as the bird came closer. “... 20 !”

Aspirant Bourquet bent his bow and Nikolaï stopped counting, focusing on his spell. The bird shot at Nikolaï, shattering one of his walls. Nikolaï had believed in the fact that the almost flawless casting of his spells had made them almost transparent. At this distance, he had bet that the bird couldn’t see their presences even with the sigil on their middle.

Nikolaï kept his focus and used his spell while shouting “NOW !”. Even for its size, the bird was too fast for Nikolaï. He couldn’t aim at him precisely but he could aim at the area it was going to be. Nikolaï had cast his new spell : Air Hole.

The spell purpose was to create a vacuum in a small area. It only worked for a few seconds, pushing air away, fighting against its density. If Nikolaï had aimed the spell at someone the worst he could do would have been messing with his ears and breath for a second.

It was different for a flying creature because in a vacuum their wings were pushing on nothing. The Blowpipe bird fell for a second but stabilized itself in a panic, pushing on the air outside the spell area. But it was enough for Aspirant Bourquet to have a clear shot and bruised its left wing.

The arrow hadn’t been deadly but Aspirant Bourquet loaded a second one for a rapid shot. It hit the birds on the other wing with less strength than the previous one but it had taken advantage of the unbalanced position of the creature.

Nikolaï cast a new Air Hole at the bird and it was enough to bring it on the ground. The battle which followed was a bit chaotic. The bird tried to shoot another pebble but Nikolaï used his left talismans to produce more Impalpable Walls. Now that he knew that they could stop its attacks and was more aware of the “reloading” speed of the bird, it was easier to defend.

Aspirant Bourquet and Nikolaï successfully killed the bird and dragged his body under the safety of the trees before starting to wrap it with some rope. They didn’t talk much and kept their focus. As long as they were not back at the Tower it was too soon to celebrate.

Once they finished charging the creature they went back home, their sense in high alert after the battle.

***

Near the end of the afternoon, Nikolaï and Aspirant Bourquet arrived at “Bourquet’s Brother” exhausted. The other brother, Emile welcomed them and started to inspect their trophies.

He offered to help Nikolaï in taking care of the bird’s body. Nikolaï didn’t refuse, birds were not hard to butcher but plunging them was tedious. If it was a normal bird Nikolaï would have used some oil to have the feather stick to each other, this way he could get rid of them one handful at a time. Because it was an arcanic creature its feather could have some value so they needed to be able to retrieve them too.

Part of what Nikolaï was owing to Giles was paid by the birds so Nikolaï started to do his parts at treating the result of their hunt.