The smell penetrated my nose, wiggling its way into my mouth. It tasted like ghost peppers mixed with ethanol. My nose hairs singed and I coughed.

"Khrem, what the fuck?" I sputtered. "What is this? Tear gas? Why?"

Khrem stopped the bottle and stared at me with some incredulity. "That's an interesting reaction."

An attempt to waft the smell away worked. A couple of seconds of fanning the air and backing away from the sharkman brought me relief in the form of tingly-but-not-burning air.

"Is this a prank? Was the joke that you make me cry?"

He shook his head. "No. I was asked to help alleviate one of your problems. Your reaction is an indication of how severe it is—worse than I've seen before. It's fascinating to have a subject with such an extreme. I will have to note it later for potential weaponization."

"Glad to help. So you're telling me that wasn't tear gas?"

"What is tear gas?"

"A chemical substance back from where I'm from. It's used to pacify uh, people. Without inflicting harm."

"And it makes you cry? I can think of a few recipes that can be aerosolized in such a way."

"I remember enough chemistry to help you later, but Khrem focus. What was the point of this? What is that?" I said, pointing to the cursed vial.

He held it up and rotated it to display a curvy 'S' sticker placed along its side.

"It's a variation of a potion called Restful Nightdrop. Originally the plan was to create a topical solution to lessen the effects. I thought you would find the dependence of using alchemic creations to sleep unneeded if insulting. The others agreed. Using the cream would simply relax you, and help ease your sleep by dulling acute emotions near rest."

"And it burns, why?"

"There's another version that I helped my master create several years ago. It uses an extract from a rare plant. Silgoula, or its more locally known name, the hungering mind. The flower itself is kept contained to a specific part of the isles, and controlled through careful pruning each year."

Why are you telling me all of this? What's the point?

Khrem for as short of a time I've known him, wasn't the kind of person to stall. In fact, he always came across as someone methodical, a smart thinker who reminded me of Celenae but with a different flavor.

He thumbed the vial and rotated it, swirling the shimmering purple liquid inside. "Silgoula is a plant that lures small animals into its pseudo-mouth. The flower attracts the beast, usually birds and then it snaps shut, holding it still long enough for its tendrils to burrow into their eyes. It's one of the few naturally aspected flowers that use mental-mana. It drains its prey of emotional energy, fueling mental mana that it lost into a different kind of food before it goes into a refractory period of two months. The extract from this plant, when combined with tilly venom and ice-infused mana salt produces a gas that reacts to strong emotions. Take glowering bush and three thistles of salvation's touch, grind them into a paste and mix in a pure enough alcohol will create a viscous liquid. Boil it together and adding the condensed droplets from both mixtures will create what we call Hungering Sleeper. Its intended function is to numb the brain and force a specific state of clarity absent of sharp emotions. It makes you sleepy, and gives you the peace of mind needed to make falling asleep easier. We discovered that the reaction to the smell changes depending on how much mental turmoil the subject is in."

Ah.

It finally clicked. Throughout the explanation I was waiting for him to get to the point, but now it made sense. Knowing why it felt like Khrem was trying to pepper spray me in the mouth however didn't give me the fuzzies nor did I feel up for shots of the glittery drink.

"Who suggested something stronger?" I asked.

Again, he shook his head. "No one. I made this to test something out."

"What did you learn?"

"The worst reaction I've seen was from a villager. Beastkin, a gilled one. His arm was taken from an ambush predator somewhere off the southern isle. He was so scared that he refused to go back into the water. Always afraid, never able to relax. Before he left the village for good my master concocted this variant of the potion. He described the smell akin to having smoke in his eyes. While it was obnoxious, he could even breathe through the discomfort. Your reaction seems far worse."

"And?"

"I don't know what trauma you stash away inside your head, but your body considers it strong enough to set off this reaction," he explained. He lowered the vial and temporarily covered it with his fist, lowering his hand as he met my gaze. "What the others want is secondary to what I've come here to do. I've agreed to go with you along on your adventures no matter what the danger is. I'm hoping to fulfill a role that you wouldn't have time for, to help you in ways outside of combat if I can. Whether you take the potion or not, I wanted to explain the reasoning for why I carry it."

My frown softened and I separated my fangs from grinding together. Khrem for all that he was a scary shark-headed beastkin that made telling his facial expressions apart a little difficult, his voice held enough clarity. He was being honest, truthful. I didn't need Galarion to tell me that.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

He meant what he said, that it was only that; an option.

"Thanks, I think. I don't need something to numb my thoughts, I had plenty of that back on… Where I'm from. Besides, I have Galarion," I said.

He nodded. "I thought so. But know that the option is always there if you desire."

He made the potion disappear with a subtle flick and extended his palm. In his hand inside a small glass jar no taller than his finger rattled against another thinner jar.

"These are the creams made from Restful Nightdrop. Unlike the potions, they'll simply bring a clarity to your thoughts with only mild blunting. Enough that you could purge the effects with a quick flush of your mana. I said it was your choice, but I would recommend taking these. Isaac has spoken some of your sleep."

First instinct was to shrug it off and say no, but I forced myself to reconsider. It didn't take long, after all what would I lose? Instead, I accepted the proffered ointments and stashed them in my pocket.

"Thanks. I'll let you know if I use them. I'm guessing you want data?"

"That'd be helpful. It's easier to specialize dosages and mixtures to the person if you have a file on them. The more I can catalogue your resistances and what works, the easier it'll be," he said.

I smiled and summoned two items from my inventory and tossed them toward Khrem. He snatched them and examined the small sphere wrapped in what looked like black cloth. "So this is one of your loot orbs. I take it this is the shade material you collected during the fight?"

"Yep."

He moved his inspection of the orb toward the vial and began to turn it around. "Did you want me to identify them?"

"Nope. I mean, do what you want, but think of it more as a gift. I know you like playing with new materials so…"

"I see," he pocketed the items, stashing them away much like he did with the potion, using a quick flicking gesture. "I'll inform you of any interesting results."

Works for me.

"Ready to head out?"

"Yes, I'm excited to return to my station."

I led the way and reached for the booth door but paused and turned around. Khrem nearly stumbled, not expecting me to stop all of a sudden.

"Say, you wouldn't happen to know of a substance that sparkles? Think shiny, something that can be broken off into flecks or powder."

"There's a type of pearl produced inside the mouths of cluoubber fish. They extract minerals from the sandbanks along with their food and use their mana to collect the excess. Ground down, the mana breaks down and produces light… Why?"

"How hard would you say it is to wash off?"

"Easily. The enzymes trapped within the pearl during its creation creates a faint energy signature. Essentially the mana helps keep things separated once broken apart. Like magnets."

I sighed. "Damn. Oh well, I guess I keep my promise to Cal for now. Maybe we'll find something in the future that'll do."

"You made a promise to your god about powder?" he asked, cautiously.

"Mmm. I promised not to recreate something from my homeland, that's all. Something something, apocalypse. Don't worry about it."

"I see, then I won't" he agreed.

Khrem was straightfaced. His eyes betrayed nothing and he motioned for the door.

"You'd be good at poker," I said.

"Oh I am. It helps when you keep yourself eerily still. Tends to unnerve the competition."

Huh. The shark being a shark at gambling, who knew?

I reached for the booth's door and pulled it open. As I emerged, I caught the telltale of Isaac's shadow retreating from my left. By the time I looked up and saw the others, Isaac stood alone with his back half turned, looking suspiciously like he hadn't noticed my arrival.

"Isaac! What are you still doing here?"

"Oh? I was talking to someone." He cleared his throat and scanned me before not-so-subtly switching to searching Khrem. "Anyway, I'm off. Don't do something stupid!"

He torpedoed into the earth and I felt him zip away.

"Yeah you bastard, totally wasn't waiting for us to come out. Noooooo," I snarked.

"He's an interesting man. Not able to express his feelings, but he cares about you. For his friends. Even if he hates admitting it."

"He does. Beneath all that abrasive asphalt of an exterior, he's a good egg. Bitter chocolate but sweet cream on the inside. I should get him a gift. Show my appreciation for all his tender love."

Khrem scrunched his face. "That is an unusual analogy. But I agree."

I patted Khrem on the back and started walking. "So what are you doing for the rest of the day?"

"Collecting a package from the crafters district then heading back to the manor for some time with the alchemy station. Someone provided me new materials to mess with, after all."

"Oh, speaking of new materials. I have been meaning to test out more of my skills but honestly haven't found the time. After the tournament, was thinking of taking a small break and exploring the surrounding forest. Maybe collect a few corpses to loot. And I know I never discussed it, but would you like payment for anything I ask you to make? It takes time to experiment with stuff but if you can create more things like the ghost bombs you made, that'd be great."

Khrem went silent for a hot minute and I took the time to examine the surrounding enchantments as we made our way out the arena. Unlike before, they didn't grab my attention. Not the way the broken lines on the slab had pulled at me.

Another mystery to figure out. One step at a time, Cyrus, but having a skill go to waste isn't helpful to anyone. Bah, fuck it. I'll read the rune book tonight.

Eventually Khrem cleared his throat and I paused.

"While I appreciate not assuming things, I believe any new material you provide me is more than enough payment. It's right to first experimentation, and with a promise for more things to pique my interest. If what you ask me to make requires expensive ingredients I might ask for coins then, but outside of that reason, I would prefer that our relationship be one of mutual exchange."

I parsed through what he said and chuckled. "Works for me. Hell if I can figure out my new skill I might be able to reproduce the enchantments on those vials I gave you. I'm sure that'd make it easier in the futu-what the hell?"

Around the corner, near the exit a group of brightly colored people stood away from the rest. While bright colors alone wasn't enough to draw my attention, it was the contingent of dyed metal armor that surrounded a lone man, looking seconds away from exploding.

The orucan pushed away the mustached man with ease, forcing him into the arms of another guard. He stuck a finger in his ear and leaned away from the outraged squabbling around him.

Green, purple? That's Phyltomen isn't it.

"Something wrong?" Khrem asked.

"Nope, let's go," I said, attempting to push the beastkin backwards.

But it was too late. I felt the stare with a magnified force behind its gaze. Like burning mana prickling against my skin. When the voice came, I already wanted to groan and melt away.

"Mordred! You're finally out!"

Against my better judgement, I turned around and looked up, seeing Zog's grinning visage only a foot away.

What now?

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.