WIEDERGEBURD Chapter 16

We fled all the way to the dessert. Chased by a horde of Demon Beasts, our group was left with no other choice.

Nearly a hundred kilometers away from Nevaria was a vast desert that stretched out further than the eye could see, an innumerable number of dunes made of bright, yellow sand. The Sun bore down from overhead. Waves of heat distorted the air. Within this dessert, the heat was unbearable, enough that if a person wasn’t careful, it would surely kill them. And that was to say nothing of the Demon Beasts that roamed this desolate land.

Many of our companions had already died. Men, women, children. All six Spiritualists aside from Kari and myself were gone now. Of the fifteen civilians who had fled with us, only one survived. Many of them had died from heat stroke and dehydration, but quite a few had also been killed by the Demon Beasts that lurked beneath the sand. Strange creatures with long bodies and fins that let them swim through the sand like they were swimming through water. Massive worms with gaping maws that could swallow a person whole. The number of dangers that lurked beneath these dunes was almost more vast than even the sands themselves.

Had I known beforehand of the dangers that hid beneath the endless mounds of sand, I would have taken my chances with the Demon Beasts we ran from.

The only good thing about this dessert was that the Demon Beasts were few and far between. Most of the people who died had done so from dehydration and the heat.

Kari, myself, and a young boy were the only ones left from our group. The boy had already passed out. His lips were chapped, his skin was dry, and his breathing was shallow. I’d seen the signs of heat stroke enough times by now to know that if I didn’t find shelter and water soon, he would die.

Unfortunately, no matter where I looked, there obviously wasn’t any water to be found, nevermind shade. All I saw was sand.

“Ha… ha…”

My breathing came out in ragged gasps. Sweat poured down my forehead and neck, only to evaporate underneath the intense heat seconds later. My footsteps were halting and weak as I climbed the hill, carrying the young boy over my shoulder. The sound of footsteps behind me let me know that Kari was following. I could tell from the sound of shifting sand that, just like me, she was not having an easy time of it.

I stopped after cresting the latest dune, only to groan in disbelief as I found more dunes waiting for me. No matter what direction I looked in, that was all I saw.

“I don’t think we’re going to find anything,” Kari muttered, her throat dry and cracked. That beautiful voice I’d heard so many times was nowhere to be found.

“Yeah…” I muttered. My own throat felt parched. Even talking caused it to feel like the inside of my throat was going to bleed. “I’m sorry. We’re in this mess because of me. I made a poor choice in coming here.”

Kari shook her head. Her lips were chapped and her skin looked raw, but she still had the strength to smile at me.

“I do not believe any of this is your fault. Given the situation, you made the right call based on the information you had. There was no way you could have known what would happen.”

I closed my eyes. “I know, but somehow I feel like that makes it even worse.”

Kari said nothing to that, but I think she knew I’d blame myself no matter what she said. This mess we were in was due to my carelessness, because I hadn’t picked a safe enough spot for our group to live, because I had led us into this dessert. If Kari died because of me… I shook my head. If nothing else, I wouldn’t let that happen. I would kill myself before that happened.

“Let’s keep going,” I said. “Just a little further.”

“Okay,” Kari agreed.

Time seemed meaningless in this vast world of sand. Nothing seemed to exist here. It was surprising there were Demon Beasts who could live in this world. How could anything survive under such a harsh environment?

We climbed another dune, and I looked around, ready for more disappointment. However, just as I was going to apologize again, something caught my eye. There in the distance were several black dots. I squinted. It was hard to tell what they were, but it looked like… carriages?

“Are those people?” I muttered before my eyes widened just a bit. Those were indeed carriages. They were a bit different looking from what I was used to, and there were strange creatures pulling them, but they were most definitely carriages!

I turned to Kari.

“Kari, look! There are people coming this—KARI!”

I hadn’t realized it, but Kari had fallen down the dune. Her body had rolled all the way to the bottom. Panic shot through my heart as I raced toward her, kneeling and placing my hand on her neck. She had a pulse, but it was growing weaker. Her breathing was becoming labored. Just like this boy, her body was close to giving out.

“Damn it!” I gritted my teeth. “I am not letting you die on me!!”

I used what strength I had left to lift Kari over my other shoulder. The weight of two people threatened to crush me as my already flagging strength sagged further. It wasn’t just my body that was weakening either. The sand underneath me seemed incapable of holding our combined weight.

But I refused to give up.

I climbed back up the dune, taking it one step at a time. Once I had crested that dune, I moved over to the next one, constantly making sure I had those carriages in my sight. One more dune. Just one more dune. I kept telling myself that as I walked.

However, as I took my next step, a sense of vertigo came over me. The world became blurry. Everything was falling. I hit the ground face first before I even realized what had happened.

Something landed beside me. It was Kari. Her eyes were closed, and it looked like she wasn’t breathing. The panic from before returned. Yet just as my mind surged with an abrupt strength, it fizzled out.

An exhausted sigh escaped my lips as everything turned to black.

***

“You want my family’s Auction House to auction off your pills?”

It was early in the afternoon, with the sun having reached its zenith. Fay had come again today despite my harsh words the other day. It seemed that regardless of whatever happened to make her so depressed, this girl was not the type to stop just because of that. Her determination in the face of adversity and emotional hardships was something I couldn’t help but admire.

“I went to the Alchemist Association the other day, and the head of the association mentioned that your family are the owners of the Auction House.” I nodded toward her. “I would like to begin selling my alchemy pills, but without a family or anyone with a strong reputation to back me up, no one would be willing to buy them. Reputation is everything when selling, after all.”

Our exercises for the day were done. Whatever emotional turmoil Fay had been going through the other day seemed nonexistent today. Either she had completely overcome her issue within a day, or she was blatantly ignoring the problem, shoving it into the deepest corners of her mind and pretending it didn’t exist. I wasn’t sure which she was doing. However, I could say that she did a much better job during our training today than she had yesterday. She completed the course and her exercises in record time.

Fay furrowed her brow as she pondered my request, crossing her arms as the two of us sat beside a large boulder. This crossed her breasts, barely confined by her training shirt, to push together. I’d like to say I didn’t look at her chest. However, I was a straight male. No matter how loyal I felt toward Kari, even I was not completely immune to the wiles of women. Even so, I didn’t let the sight of her large boobs or flat stomach covered in sweat bother me… too much.

We had just finished training our Spiritual Power. I had waited until our training was over before asking for help.

“It is certainly possible for my family’s Auction House to auction off your alchemy pills, and it would be good advertising.” Even though she admitted this, Fay released a soft sigh. “However, my family’s Auction House is currently experiencing a rough time as well. I’m not sure if you are aware of this, but our Auction House makes its money by auctioning off items that have been found within the ancient ruins located in the Demon Beast Mountain Range. People come with these items, and they receive a cut of the profits made from the auction in exchange. Unfortunately, all of the ruins that can be explored have been plundered and the only ruins left are too dangerous to explore. Because nothing of value has come along, our Auction House doesn’t have as much clout anymore.”

As Fay explained how the Auction House worked and why it was no longer successful, I gently pet the snake sitting across my lap.

This was indeed a problematic situation. However, I didn’t think it was unsolvable. Surely there was a way to help the Auction House return to its former glory and help me sell my alchemy pills. I refused to believe there wasn’t something that I could do.

“What sort of items does the Auction House normally sell?” I asked.

“During our peak, we sold everything from ancient tablets that contained Spiritual Techniques to weapons and armor that were found within the surrounding ruins,” Fay answered. “We also sold artifacts that increased a person’s ability to channel Spiritual Power, or that could increase the results of a person’s cultivation. Stuff like that.”

“Spiritual Techniques…” I mumbled, closing my eyes.

I didn’t have any armor, weapons, or monster cores, but I knew plenty of Spiritual Techniques. Most of them were useless to me. My method of using Spiritual Power differed from a normal person’s. However, I could at the very least write them down and have them auctioned off.

“If I can get you a powerful Spiritual Technique, will your Auction House be able to auction that and my pills?” I asked.

Fay seemed startled, but she immediately nodded. “Yes. If you know of anyone who has a Spiritual Technique that my family can auction off, we can auction that and your pills. However… the alchemy pills alone won’t be enough to gather any interest. Everyone thinks Alchemy is a joke right now. We need something that has a better reputation to bring in the real customers like other noble families.”

Nodding as my own thoughts solidified, I let the snake curl around my shoulders and stood up. I had made my choice. If the Auction House needed a Spiritual Technique to really rake in customers, then I would give them one.

“In that case, can you meet with me tomorrow?” I asked. “I should have a Spiritual Technique and the alchemy pills ready by then.”

Fay also stood up. She nodded at him with a smile. “I’ll stop by your house tomorrow. Should I come in the morning or the afternoon?”

“Morning,” I said. “I close the library tomorrow, so I won’t be home during the afternoon.”

“That sounds good,” Fay said. “I’ll see you then.”

“Yeah…”

Our training was over, so the two of us left the clearing, made our way into Nevaria, and went our separate ways. However, rather than heading home, I went down the path that would take me to the Alchemist Association.

I needed to speak with Feinrea.

***

Perhaps it was because of my previous conversation with Feinrea, but the redheaded young man treated me with a lot more respect today than he had yesterday.

“Eryk Veiger,” he greeted me with a polite but reserved smile. He even bowed to me as I walked up to him. “Are you here to speak with the association head again?”

I nodded. “That’s right.”

“Allow me to escort you.” He bowed politely once more and bade me to follow him. I would have liked to tell him that I could find my own way there, but I didn’t want to be rude, so I followed him.

Feinrea was not pouring over notes this time. When I entered her office, I found her sitting with her back completely straight and her brows furrowed. She was staring into a beaker that had a bubbling purple liquid inside. From the scent wafting through the air, I could already tell that it was Spirit Essence mixed with Purple Grass. It had a very earthy scent.

“Spirit Essence loses its effects when boiled,” I said as I walked further into the office. “The act of boiling Spirit Essence is like when alcohol gets cooked out of food. The heat causes the nutrients within Spirit Essence to evaporate.”

“That explains why all of my experiments have been a failure.” Feinrea sighed in disappointment before turning a smile on me. “I see that you’ve returned again. Can I take it to mean that you’ve successfully managed to get the cooperation of the Valstine Family?”

“Not quite.” I shook my head. “It seems they are also experiencing some hardships. Currently, they don’t have anything of great value to auction off, which means…”

“Which means that none of the nobles who normally attend the Auction House have any incentive to even show up.” Feinrea looked put out as she crossed her arms, leaned back in her chair, and sighed. “That is a problem.”

“It’s not as big of a problem as you might think,” I said. When she looked at me, I gave her a conciliatory smile and elucidated on my meaning. “I have a few Spiritual Techniques that I can use to attract attention. They will be the bait for the nobles to attend. While they are all salivating over the idea of being able to possess a new Spiritual Technique, we will quietly slip the alchemy pills into the auction as well. It might not attract a lot of attention at first, but I believe someone will buy them out of curiosity if nothing else. Once that happens…”

“Word will spread when they realize how effective these pills are and we can begin selling them on the market.” Feinrea nodded as a smile slowly appeared on her face. “I definitely like where you’re going with this. You’ve got an awfully good sense for business.”

I shook my head. I knew nothing about business. All I was doing was paraphrasing Kari. She was the one who taught me everything I knew.

“I do need a few things, however,” I began again, “Which is why I came here before the Valstine family has agreed.”

“What do you need?” asked Feinrea.

“I need a blank goatskin scroll, ink, a quill, and the following ingredients.” Feinrea got out a sheet of parchment the moment I said I needed ingredients. I waited until she had dipped her quill into a bottle of ink, and then listed everything off. “I need three Woodchip Shells, three Bayleaf Hearts, 500 grams of Purple Grass, 500 grams of Red Spirit Grass, 100 grams of Corewood from a Fire Spirit Fern, 22 Sakura Leafs, 8 Nirnroots, 6 d-rank monster cores with a water elemental affinity, 6 d-rank monster cores with a fire affinity, and 4 liters of Spirit Essence.”

As I listed off these ingredients, Feinrea’s expression became more and more shocked, to the point where her eyes looked like they might roll out of their sockets. She stared at the list for several long seconds. Then she looked at me. There was a smile on her face, but it was a combination of resigned and agitated.

“You are quite shameless to demand so many ingredients,” she said at last. “You realize how rare a good few of these ingredients are, right? Giving these to you is going to set my Alchemist Association back even more financially.”

I shrugged. “These ingredients are all going to be made into the alchemy pills I plan on selling at the Auction House. I would buy them myself, but I do not have any valis to buy them with. Also, in exchange for lending me these ingredients, I will not only let you watch me refine these pills, but I will teach you how to refine them yourself.”

My words were like a panacea for the woman, whose eyes sparkled as she realized I would be allowing her to witness how alchemy pills were refined. By the time I was finished talking, she was wearing a large smile, no longer the least bit bothered by how much giving me these ingredients for free would “set her Alchemist Association back”.

“It seems the two of us will be benefiting a lot from this partnership,” she said. “Luckily, we have most of these ingredients. I can send someone to an apothecary to get the rest of them. How soon do you need them?”

“Now, if possible.” I frowned. “I plan on refining all the pills today. The sooner we can get these pills refined, the less stress I’ll have to deal with.”

“In that case, why don’t we take out the current ingredients you need that I have in stock,” Feinrea said after giving me a slow nod. “I’ll send my brother to get the remaining ingredients.”

Feinrea wrote down another list of all the ingredients she did not have, and then gave it, along with a bag of valis, to her brother and told him to buy those from an apothecary. The young man nodded before he left the Alchemist Association.

While her brother was getting the ingredients, Feinrea led me to their storehouse. It wasn’t located in the main building. The building she led me to was a square-shaped structure behind the Refining Hall. It wasn’t very large, but it was bigger than some of the houses I’d seen on the way here. Feinrea used a key to unlock the large padlock on the door, and then she slid it open.

As the door opened with a squeal, she and I walked inside, and I took a good look around, studying the many shelves that lined the walls. There were also a number of tables with various plants sitting on them. Small sunroofs were located above these plants, through which sunlight filtered and allowed the plants to obtain nourishment.

None of them had any Runes on them, which caused me to frown. I should have guessed this would be the case.

“How often do you have to restock?” I asked as I walked further in.

“Quite often,” Feinrea admitted as she followed me. “My grandfather told me that we used to have cabinets that contained Runes to keep our ingredients in stasis, but those were all burned down during the fire over one hundred years ago. Since then, we have been forced to constantly restock as the ingredients we have go bad.”

I nodded as I stopped before a wooden table with several potted plants. Only the leafs were sticking out. However, the leafs were large and shaped like a heart. They were Bayleafs, a type of alchemy ingredient. The Bayleaf was often used as a healing salve. However, the Bayleaf Heart was something that could be refined and used in numerous alchemy pills. Each of the leafs were purple, meaning they had reached maturity and could be used to refine pills.

“Let’s get the ingredients and bring them all to your office,” I said.

“Yes,” Feinrea agreed.

Among the ingredients that were located within the warehouse, the ones that I was able to find were the Bayleaf Hearts, the Purple Grass, four of the eight Nirnroots, the monster cores with a water element, the Sakura Leafs, and two liters of Spirit Essence. Feinrea and I gathered the ingredients together and took them to her office. Along the way, the alchemists who were part of the association watched the two of us with blatant curiosity.

“Who is that?”

“Hmm… she looks familiar. Have I seen her before?”

“I wonder what that girl is doing with Feinrea.”

I twitched several times as I listened to the conversations of alchemists we passed, trying my best not to respond with anger, but I was pretty positive my face had turned red. Feinrea giggled beside me. This caused me to cast her an irritated glare.

“Don’t say a word,” I growled.

“I won’t.” Feinrea smiled at me, but that only made the amusement in her eyes all the more apparent.

I barely managed to resist groaning. It really sucked to look so much like a woman.

“How many Alchemists does the association have?” I asked after we had returned to her office.

Feinrea sighed as though disappointed when she answered me. “Including myself and my brother, we only have ten.”

“Just ten, huh?”

The wince she gave at my disheartened tone told me what she thought of their predicament. “I have been told that at the height of our association, we had over two hundred alchemists. However, with the loss of our formulas, we were unable to maintain our standing and slowly declined. Each year less and less people join us. The last person who joined the Alchemy Association did so three years ago.”

For some reason, I could not help but frown as I listened to her. “Were there no alchemists who could recreated the formulas?”

“I think there were a few,” Feinrea admitted softly, biting her lower lip. “However…”

“However?” I prodded when she trailed off.

“Many of our more prominent Alchemists died during the fire. The ones who didn’t die were later found dead in their homes. I do not know what happened since it was over one hundred years ago, but my grandfather, who’d been just an apprentice at the time, believed that someone had assassinated them for whatever reason.”

I didn’t say anything, but the idea of someone murdering a bunch of alchemists made me suspicious—not of Feinrea, of course. I believed her. In fact, the idea of someone murdering them off for some reason was highly likely. Even though very few people wanted to become alchemists themselves, Alchemy was a cherished and respected art. There was an Alchemist Association in Midgard, and they held one of the highest positions within the Northern Plains. Alchemy was an art that couldn’t be underestimated.

That said, I could not help but wonder who would kill off a bunch of alchemists and for what purpose. By killing off alchemists and ensuring that no one could refine pills properly, it weakened Nevaria as a whole. I couldn’t help but think that maybe someone had done this by design. Maybe there was someone out there who wanted to see Nevaria weakened.

The thought sent a chill down my spine.

Feinrea cleared her desk of all the notes she’d made and brought out her alchemy set. It was far more advanced than my own basic set. There were four 150 mL beakers, four 250 mL beakers, one 500 mL beaker, a 1,000 mL beaker, six 100 mL flasks, four 250 mL flasks, two 500 mL flasks, a 1,000 mL flask, three 500 mL clear reagent bottles, a 500 mL amber reagent bottle, two 500 mL measuring cylinders, two evaporating dishes, two stir rods, two wash bottles, a 50 mL transfer pipette, a graduated pipette, a 500 mL separatory funnel, and a bosshead. Of course, the mortar and pestle that she possessed was also much more advanced than the small one in my possession.

On top of her alchemy set just having way more equipment than my own, everything had its own stand, which kept it suspended above the desk’s surface. Feinrea’s set also had burners. They were tiny disc-shaped objects that could be used to emit heat, mimicking a fire without having to actually light a fire. They were made from the elemental core of a C-rank Demon Beast with a fire element. To activate them, all one needed to do was infuse the burner with their Spiritual Power.

As I began preparing the ingredients needed to make a Tender Healing Pill, I taught Feinrea what I knew about alchemy.

“You already know the basics, so I won’t get into that,” I began as I boiled water in a 500 mL beaker. “What I want to talk about are how the ingredients meld together during the process, and why some ingredients cannot be mixed.”

I took 250 grams of the Purple Grass, placed it in the mortar, and used the pestle to grind it into a paste. Feinrea watched me with fascinated eyes. I tried to ignore her gaze as I continued talking.

“Generally, when mixing ingredients at first, we use water,” I said. “The hot water acts as a dissolvent that helps the many ingredients merge together. You’d think using Spirit Essence would be better, but you can’t boil Spirit Essence because it loses effects as a catalyst. The Spirit Essence is what we use during the actual refinement of the pill itself.”

“That makes a lot of sense.” Feinrea began slowly jotting these notes down on a leather bound book. Her feather quill scratched the surface, creating a light noise that made me pause only for a moment. “I had always thought Spirit Essence was used as the base. Water doesn’t have any special properties, so I didn’t think it could be used to create pills.”

“That’s a common misconception.” I continued speaking as I dumped the paste into the boiling water and stirred. The water turned from clear to a light purple. “It is specifically because water has no special properties that we use it as a base.”

Feinrea nodded as she watched me clean the pestle and mortar, then reach out and grab one of the monster cores. It was a light blue monster core. That showed me that it belonged to a D-rank Demon Beast. The darker the color, the higher the rank of the core—at least, in regards to cores with a water element. Lightning would have been a pale blue, and the paler the color the higher the rank.

I began crushing the core into a fine powder as I explained more about the refining process to Feinrea. “When refining basic healing pills like the Tender Healing Pill, we normally use water as the base, grass paste as the solvent, Nirnroot for its healing properties, and a monster core to enhance it. I’m using a monster core with a water element because water has healing properties, which gives an additional boost to the Nirnroot’s own healing effects.”

When I glanced over at Feinrea, it was to find her writing notes on that leather bound book of hers. It seemed she was intent on learning everything she could about the process. That was good. If she absorbed all the knowledge I was offering, it meant she’d be able to teach the other alchemists. Given my busy training schedule, I wouldn’t have time to do that myself.

“I noticed that you are using Purple Grass,” she said after she finished writing everything down. “Can you not use something like Red Spirit Grass? Wouldn’t that be better?”

“Not for a healing pill.” I shook my head. “Red Spirit Grass is used to refine pills that enhance or reforge something. The Spiritual Booster Pill is a good example. When consumed, it will temporarily boost that person’s Spiritual Power. That’s what the Red Spirit Grass does. It boosts or enhances something. It can also be used to reforge muscles. It doesn’t heal so much as enhance the body’s own natural healing, which is why it’s used in pills like the Body Forging Pill instead of Purple Grass, which is used purely for its healing effects.”

Feinrea nodded as I grabbed the Nirnroot and a knife. I held the Nirnroot over the beaker and slowly sliced off small shavings, which drifted into the boiling purple water. I continued this until I had completely finished slicing up the Nirnroot, and then I let it sit. I waited several seconds for the Nirnroot to dissolve, answering Feinrea’s questions, and then added the monster core powder into the beaker and stirred.

By this point in time, the beaker had become a deep purple that glowed with repressed Spiritual Power. A soft, gentle fragrance floated through the air. Feinrea, who’d probably never smelled this fragrance before in her life, sighed and relaxed, her posture visibly untensing.

I removed the burner underneath the beaker. It was still hot to touch, so I let it sit and grabbed the two liters of Spirit Essence. I poured 100 liters into a flask, and then poured what was in the flask into the cauldron. The beaker had cooled by then. I grabbed the beaker and poured the contents into the cauldron, which I stirred, ignoring the lightning that shot out in arcs, until everything was properly mixed together. After which, I grabbed the cauldron and began pouring my Spiritual Power into the ingredients.

“This is the most important part in pill refining,” I said.

Feinrea nodded. “You’re willing the ingredients to transform into a pill by infusing it with your Spiritual Power. I know about this part, though I have never seen anyone actually do it. Do you mind if I watch from a closer position?”

“Go ahead.”

With my permission given, Feinrea stood up and walked until she was right next to me. I didn’t quite ignore her, but most of my attention was on the pill refining process. The ingredients inside of the cauldron were bubbling as lightning crackled along the surface. All of the liquid inside was being compressed and slowly undulating as I forced it into the shape of a sphere. It didn’t take more than thirty seconds for the liquid to form a spherical shape. Once that was done, I used my Spiritual Power to compress and harden the outside layer into a shell.

Not even a minute later, I reached in and held the pill out to the sparkly-eyed Feinrea, whose expression was so reverent it bordered on disturbing. She reminded me of the alchemists I knew from Midgard’s Alchemist Association. Every single one of them had been a pill nut who got off on seeing newly made alchemy pills.

“So this is how you make a true alchemy pill,” the woman uttered in a soft, almost reverent voice. “How extraordinary.”

“This is a pretty low-tier pill,” I said. “Higher tier pills require a lot more ingredients, but low-tier ones generally don’t need more than four or five ingredients.”

“Can you make any high-tier pills?” asked Feinrea.

“A few.” I shrugged as I let her take the pill I’d refined and examine it. She was like a child who’d just gotten a new toy. “However, I would only be considered an intermediate-level alchemist. I’m not really that talented.”

“You are more talented than anyone else I know,” Feinrea said, her lips curling into a delicate and beautiful smile. “With your help, I think the Alchemy Association will be able to finally rise from the destitute state that it’s currently in.”

“That’s the plan,” I said.

I spent the rest of the day refining pills under the fascinated and watchful eyes of Feinrea. By the time I left, I was so exhausted that I nearly forgot to create the Spiritual Technique that would become the star of the auction.