Chapter Forty-Five A Bit of Relaxing Alchemy (Patreon)

While Hikari and company were out on the town, Arlie found herself with some free time as well. A break from her lessons with Aunt Vivian, who had royal business to attend for the next few hours. Given her status, Arlie couldn’t just walk into town. After being denied the chance to leave the castle, she’d been offered a chance to use the Royal Alchemy lab. Naturally she took it, rather than pouting about the stupid rules.

Her gaze took in the lab, as she tried to ignore the two bit alchemist she’d been stuck with. The man looked decent enough, but he clearly knew nothing. Her opinion of him sinking even further as she took in all the tools. Many of them were equal to the ones she had back home. But she also noted a couple she didn’t usually work with, and some items of better quality. As fitting of a royal lab, everything was beyond acceptable in quality.

Even the ingredients on the shelves were impeccable. Fresh Lumeri Moss from the Underdark, perfectly preserved Drake’s Bane; alongside all six varieties of Cat’s Claw, each one stored with the utmost care to avoid damaging the precious and oddly shaped leaves the plant was named for. Another shelf had a whole host of top-notch alchemical reagents, such as Essence of Lightning and Essence of Frost. Her gaze soon fell on some Psychos Weed and Rendrak’s Lily.

Arlie took both, the alchemist suddenly speaking up, “What are you doing! Those ingredients...”

“I’m well aware, I’m not some rank amateur like you are,” she said, while levitating one of his potions off a shelf and right into a trash can.

He gasped! “Princess! That isn’t trash! That’s a valuable healing potion!”

“It’s not good for anything more serious than a paper cut, and you know it.” She replied and gave him a look.

He gulped as she set her two ingredients down, then grabbed some Fairy’s Essence, Juices of a Demon, a Five-leafed Cat’s Claw and Pure Alchemical water as she prepped the equipment.

The man frowned, clearly confused, “What kind of potion uses both Fairy’s Essence and the Juices of a Demon?”

She didn’t bother to reply; instead, she started by making a tincture out of Psychos Weed. Carefully drying it with fire mana, then cutting it, mixing in alchemical water and mana and setting aside for the next step. Taking the Rendrak’s Lily, she added it to a small pot of alchemical water and applied heat. When it started to boil, she began a steady stirring while dripping in the Juices of a Demon. Arlie kept that up until the Lily had completely dissolved into the water and the mixture had turned into a thick purple slurry. Which she took off the heat.

Taking the cat’s claw, she added it to a second pot along with the Fairy’s Essence and the remaining Alchemical water. Then, she applied heat until it started to boil. Arlie began stirring while mixing in her Psychos Weed Tincture. In moments it underwent a major alchemical change, a hunger for mana grew in the material and she fed it.

As her mana went in, the potion turned blue, indicating it was ready for the final part. Taking the purple slurry, she slowly added it to the mix, along with more mana. It didn’t take long before it shifted from a solid blue hue to a sky blue hue with swirls of azure and silver in it. Arlie turned off the heat but kept stirring and feeding it mana until she sensed it stabilized, finally becoming a solid silvery Azure hue, indicating a finished product.

The man, still there, just stared at it for a moment or two before finally sputtering, “How!? Those ingredients hate each other, that, that...”

Arlie sighed, “Normally yes, you never mix them directly but once stabilized they are perfectly compatible.”

Taking a breath, she turned to her work, and began weaving a new spell. Magic rippled around the potion, reading it out and then condensing into a readable form. 

Potion of Revelation (Mythic)

Able to reveal what lies hidden, to offer insights unparalleled, this powerful solution greatly expands the mind, revealing all they may have missed, lasts 24 hours.Effects: Cognitive Boost (Mythic)Perception Boost (Epic)Unveiled magical insight for up to seven problems. Limited Future Sight

She smiled, happy to see the potion had come together without any defects, and right at her expected tier. Many items, when magically appraised, were often ranked in various tiers. For potions those tiers were Lesser/Minor, Standard, Greater/Major, Epic, Mythic, Legendary and finally Divine. Arlie didn’t know what amateur decided the second tier be called standard. Potions that low were still trash. Anything less than a Major rank was trash, and even at Major there was plenty of room for improvement. Honestly the Epic tier should have been standard, at least in her humble opinion.

Arlie started bottling her potion into single-dose potion bottles. Given the size of the batch, she required a fair number of bottles, but that wasn’t a surprise. Most recipes were geared toward a modest bulk batch. Which was then separated into smaller single doses. Minutes later she had ten bottles set aside, and went about cleaning the equipment before her next potion. 

Any alchemist worth her salt knew better than to make a potion with dirty equipment. Residue from previous projects could contaminate whatever you were working on and ruin the potion. Even if that didn’t happen, the residue would almost certainly lower the quality of the product. 

Once clean, she glanced at the so-called Royal alchemist who was just standing there slack jawed as he stared at her potion. Arlie wasn’t sure why, Ria’s version was a full rank higher, Arlie wasn’t that good yet. Arlie did, however, notice his thinning hair, and she’d not had much opportunity to make money lately. Deciding a money-maker potion would be a good idea, she started selecting some ingredients.

Dwarf’s Beard, Fairy’s Milk, Alchemical Water, Powdered Drake Scales, Rylark Scale-Feathers, Slime Gel and Essence of Lightning.

Filling a pot with Alchemical water, she began to heat the water. While it heated, she took the Dwarf’s Beard and added it to a mortar along with the Rylark feathers, and began to crush them together, mixing in bits of slime gel to ensure they bind.

When the water started boiling, she added the Powdered Drake Scales, stirring until they dissolved. The fluid then turned a light blue with swirls of red. Arlie waited until the color stabilized as a pale purple, then added a drop of Essence of Lightning. The reaction was instant and the potion water shifted to a shade of green. Arlie took the mashed Beard and Feathers, and broke it into chunks. Which she added to the potion water one by one while stirring.

Once fully dissolved, she added another drop of Essence of Lightning. She waited for the potion to stabilize, then measured out ten milliliters of Fairy’s Milk. Which she then dribbled into the potion, along with a final drop of lightning Essence. Turning the heat off, she watched the potion as it stabilized into a golden amber hue.

Arlie proceeded to magically appraise her work. The familiar magic reached out and read the potion. The magic once more forming a glowing window of text revealing details on the item she’d just created.

Grand Draught of Hair Growth (Mythic)

Expertly crafted, this mysterious fluid triggers explosive hair growth with the merest sip. Highly recommended that the user has a razor on hand for the required post-use trimming. Warning! Effects all hair be it on your head or between your toesEffects:Grows 10 cm of hair per nanoliter consumed

Restores lost hair follicles

Thickens and improves hair resiliency

Greatly improves hair color and health

Unlike the last one, this potion couldn’t be bottled as single doses. Instead, she selected a set of bottles with a special top. Particularly potent potions like this one were typically administered by diluting a few drops into a glass of water or something. In the case of this one, a single drop to a litre of fluid was the standard dilution. To drink it directly from the bottle was foolish; there’d be enough in there to turn the idiot who did that into a walking furball. Arlie soon had a hundred small bottles, each with their own custom dropper top ready to be packed up and sold.

Setting them aside, she went about cleaning the equipment and moved on to making some health potions. All the while the alchemist watching her, was eying the potions.

_________

After leaving the temple, Hikari and company walked to a tavern just down the road. Hikari spent the entire walk digesting what the goddess had told her. It had been a most illuminating conversation and it gave her some fresh insights on her options.

The goddess had confirmed that being a clanless mage did make her vulnerable to the darker side of interclan politics. Her bloodline and abilities were highly valued and any clan that could secure her would have an advantage, even if that entry was... coerced. It wasn’t a pleasant thought. When she’d asked if Polca’s clan was trustworthy, the Goddess told her they were. Not without a couple of bad apples, but she already had an ally in the clan. Hikari did have to wonder who the bad apples were, but she was leaning more and more towards joining Polca’s clan.

Besides, she was pregnant with Polca’s child. Given that fact, she already knew the clan expected her to enter its ranks. The more she thought about it, the better that option seemed. The goddess had vouched for the clan. Polca had vouched, and even Arlie. All were people she trusted. Sure the Goddess mentioned not everyone in the clan would be welcoming, She didn’t think that would be too big of a deal.

Before she realized it, they had arrived at the Tavern. An old sign hung over the door, etched in blackened letters was the name of the place; Skywater Tavern.

Polca pushed the door open, and Erin with her tail perking up, practically bounced into the room. Hikari followed and Polca pulled up the rear as they took in the place. Polished hardwood floors, a large counter at the rear, several rounded tables with carved wooden chairs filled the room. A number of customers gather around the tables, some of them clearly rather drunk. 

Hikari’s eyes quickly fell on a topless girl, her face flushed as she competed with a much larger wolfman, who seemed almost floored. Polca noted her gaze, then smiled and headed over that way. Hikari frowned and followed. Her mind awhirl with questions.

She took in the topless girl. The girl was short, very short, maybe 90 centimeters tall. She had surprisingly large breasts and a good amount of muscle on her frame. Her eyes were amber and her face was framed by auburn hair, which she had secured with a ribbon. She wore only a skirt that didn’t even fall halfway down her thighs and when she moved Hikari realized the girl didn’t have any panties on either. Who let her dress like this?

Hikari opened her mouth, then froze, her mind flashing to Arlie. What if this was another Contrey situation? She looked like a girl, but did that mean she really was? Closing her mouth, she weighed the situation, not at all sure what the right action was.

Polca spoke up, “Miya! It’s been a long time, still drinking the competition into the grave are we?”

The girl looked up, a big smile on her face. She bounded toward Polca and gave her a bear hug, “Polca!’

Polca groaned, “Careful! Fragile mage, do not break!” she groaned out.

“Sorry, sorry!” said Miya, looking ashamed. She glanced around. “Um, let’s catch up over there,” she noticed Hikari and Erin. “Are these your friends?”

Polca nodded and the group moved over to a corner booth. Hikari had a number of questions. Sitting down, she opened her mouth.