FB: Chapter 58 – Legendary Poisons

I tossed another bag of platinum at the Purification Alchemist. They lived in a remote fort investigating the small group of Healing Slime monsters. Her goal was to create a legendary antidote, which I needed as well. First was to get her poison, the Overhealth Heart Stopper, which I had just managed to do.

“I have another request. I need a legendary antidote, preferably a couple. How much would it cost?” I asked.

“I am still researching such a thing,” the woman replied while preparing tea for both of us. I would have preferred to bring her along, but the Bloodstained Alchemist was highly skilled in harvesting monsters for items. Her specialty lay in healing.

“How much money is needed to speed your research along and three doses?” I asked.

“I need the help of someone who has earned the Poison Expert title. Their blood would be a useful catalyst, since the legendary poisons will have canceled each other out. Even better would be a Poison Grandmaster. But finding and getting such people to give up blood is no simple task.”

“If such blood were retrieved, you would be able to make a legendary antidote?” I asked.

“Yes. It would give me a useful starting point for further research into less costly ingredients. Any Alchemist can make something that is powerful with powerful ingredients. The real challenge is to use cheap ingredients to achieve the same effect,” she said, and I sipped the tea she had poured for both of us. Fruity and sweet, which was how I liked my tea.

“Well, perhaps I will return one day. It has been a pleasure, Purification Alchemist,” I said and set my teacup down. She smiled gently at me.

“While I am not a fan of poisons, I suspect you are not planning to use it on another person,” she said.

“Collecting ten legendary poisons is quite troublesome,” I said, and she nodded. I left her research compound with Hans who had escorted me. The rest were with the airship. I had three legendary poisons. Now it was time to collect the remaining seven from various monsters.

After the first four poisons from monsters within the borders of the Human Empire, I was not doing well in the slightest. I had to take the poisons quickly before the legendary effect wore off. While the Bloodstained Alchemist did his best, it was already considered a success that he extracted the poisons after the monsters were killed, while retaining their legendary property. I popped another regeneration potion. It had a much longer effect than a healing potion but was less potent.

We landed at the border fort. The airship would not be continuing with us. Just as we were about to set out, I leaned over and puked out my guts. The Expulsion Venom forced a person to vomit irregularly. A surge of electricity went through me from the Sap Of the Shock Tree. Any time I took any kind of damage, I also received shocking damage as well.

Hans picked me up and then stuffed me into a carrying backpack like a child on his back. I didn’t object and no one said anything as he carried me into the wilderness and towards our next target. S class adventurers got the job done no matter what. Even if that meant carrying the client to their destination. They would get it done. It was probably their hidden motto or something. That was why I was paying an exorbitant amount.

Thankfully this allowed me to log out. I logged back in right as we reached the next monster on the list. The Edge Eagle, was a flying monster that could petrify targets that looked into its eyes. I would be consuming an eye as my next legendary poison, which would curse me with petrification, greatly impacting my mobility and health.

The monster was easily sniped down by the archer. The Bloodstained Alchemist carefully extracted one eye and gave it to me. I quickly ate it, applying the fifth legendary poison to me. I got a message from Henry as we made our way to the next monster on the list.

No major issues had come up, but many people were unhappy with Quant Z. I gave orders to the issues presented. Yes, Quant Z was authorized to recruit a certain number of staff members. He could invite people from other departments, but their salary would not be changed, and it was invite only. Minor organizational issues like this required my input since everyone had their own opinions on these issues.

Finally, we reached the last monster, the Reflecting Prism. I was set to the side with the Bloodstained Alchemist watching over me. The battle was intense, but Hans used his spear to shatter the monster. I was soon brought over and ate the Anti-Magic Shard.

“Hold…hold…me upright,” I gasped. Hans moved me behind me to hold my body as I pulled the last three legendary poisons that had been made by Alchemists. I didn’t hesitate to quickly consume them. Everyone took that moment to watch me intently, even the Bloodstained Alchemist. A white glow surrounded me.

The icons for the legendary poisons began to blink and then disappeared. In the lore they interfered with each other. A human body could not take more than 9 legendary poisons. After that, the poisons would consume each other.

Poison Expert
Refine your body with ten different legendary poisons with no antidote taken in-between poisonings.
+15% Poison Resistance
+15% Max Poison Resistance

That brought up my max resistance to 85%. If I had taken the poison god’s pendant, that would be at 95%. A shame, but I had already chosen my path.

“You okay Baroness?” Hans asked.

“Yes. The poisons have consumed each other,” I said.

“Remarkable,” the Bloodstained Alchemist said. “Well, this has been quite a profitable journey.” That was the last thing he said right before the swordsman removed his head, killing him.

“Since you are no longer needed, we will be taking your bounty,” Hans said. I didn’t know they would do such a thing, but I wasn’t surprised. Since he was no longer needed for a quest, they would claim the quest that listed him as a target. He would be resurrected somehow, since he wasn’t killed with the lore, and have a hostile relationship with me going forward. But once he completed his task, the adventurer team was under no obligation to protect him.

The archer came over and got out a coffin. They carefully moved the Bloodstained Alchemist’s body into the coffin. His head was put in a separate enchanted box. When the Bloodstained Alchemist was brought back to life, he would be in the hands of the Vigilance Paladins.

“You don’t have an issue with this, I hope?” Hans asked me.

“I would have to impose on all of you to make a slight detour to the Purification Alchemist,” I replied with a smile taking advantage of the situation to get a minor benefit.

“Hmm, that shouldn’t be an issue. We earned enough to make a small detour,” he replied. Getting back out to her would have been too troublesome otherwise. “Will you be remaining with her?”

“No. I need to conclude some business that won’t take long and will be returning with you to the guild to sign off on the quest completion,” I said.

“Please give us an excellent rating, five stars. The more stars the better,” the cleric said.

“I will. I was quite impressed by your speed and professionalism,” I said.

“You hear that, you are a professional now,” the mage pointed at the archer. We set off back to the border of the Human Empire. This time I wasn’t carried by Hans, which was nice.

“There is ash in the air,” the cleric said.

“It’s the nearby black zone. We just need to circle around it and keep our distance. The War Cultists are incredibly dangerous,” Hans said.

“Indeed, we are,” a dark robed figure stepped out from behind a rock and my entire team froze. “An adventurer party. What a delightful snack for the God of War.” He had the biggest sword imaginable, a mega blade. It was one and a half times his height and was as wide as one’s hand, from the wrist to the tip of the longest fingertip. He was casually swinging it side to side.

“Our business does not concern you. We were hunting the Reflecting Prism and are leaving the area,” Hans said.

“Oh, even a cleric of the Healing God would look the other way,” the man snarked.

“I am an adventurer first, and a cleric second,” the female cleric responded.

“I will enjoy desecrating your body. To let your cursed god know, who ravaged one of her followers. And we seem to have another snack.” His gaze snapped directly onto me, and I felt an acute sense of danger. The man’s eyes glowed while he stared at me.

“A hidden apostle of the Human God and a Noble of that decadent Human Empire. Give me both women, and the rest of you can run away like the cowards you are. Unless you wish to test of the powers of a Dark Saint,” the man said with a blood thirsty grin.

The tension quickly skyrocketed as neither side made the first move. The Saint was around level 220 from what I could tell. The party I was with was around level 160. The absolute level difference was 60 for the adventurer team. For myself, it was 165 levels. An immense gap. One poke of that oversized sword and I would suffer a super critical hit and shard instantly.

Dying was fine, but the real danger was being captured or him using my corpse in some profane ritual. Either of these were unlikely, but since I was an Apostle of the Human God it was possible. The only reason he hadn’t attacked right away was that there was some level of risk. There were five adventurers and only one of him, but he was the much bigger threat.