[Omen of the Witchblade] Chapter 140 – Alchemical Awakening

Mel eagerly went over her loot earned from the battles. She pushed a few tables together and started dumping out her inventory. No Magi would openly steal from another, and the front doors were locked, so she felt as safe as could be without going to a private room.

She meant to take full advantage of an empty tavern for the time being. If they ended up opening the tavern to the public–an idea she still wasn’t sure about–Mel would need to be more cautious.

For once, she was glad she didn’t need to worry about privacy.

Gwen dropped a few Iron rank weapons and armor into Mel’s pile.

“I got a fair amount of loot, since I took point,” Gwen explained, toeing aside a longsword with a cruel hook on the end. It clattered on the floorboards. “I know another Magi can convert weapons into different types, and Miss Perfect can apparently do something even crazier. I don’t care, cause I want to fund your armament scrap ritual.”

“These are all Iron rank armaments,” Mel pointed out.

“Yeah. Sounds perfect for you.” Gwen looked around, then put some more armaments onto the tables. These were Copper, which radiated significantly less power than Iron items. “Let me know if you need something else, like coins or whatever.”

Mel licked her lips thoughtfully. “You’re giving me the Iron rank weapons?”

Thomas pushed over a small pile of his own. “Think of it as an investment.”

Gwen appeared to think this over. “Yes, an investment,” the viking said slowly. Gleeful greed practically shined in her silver eyes. “For my lovable Big Sammy.”

Big Sammy being Gwen’s favorite colossal hammer. While it was Legendary rarity, it was rated at Copper rank power.

Mel stared. “Well, at least you’re honest.”

And easy to read.

“To tell the truth,” Mel said, pushing the pile to one side for later, “I don’t know if I can break down Iron ranked stuff. I’ve never tried before.”

Heath added a couple of Iron ranked armaments. “The only way to know is to try.”

Mel rolled up her sleeves and pushed aside the other tables to clear a large enough space for the ritual. She etched it out with mana in short order.

The moment Mel placed the first Iron ranked sword in the middle, Mel understood it wouldn’t work.

She tried anyway.

The sword vibrated with energy. Crackling lightning crawled across the floor, arcing between the sigils and grounding into the boards and table legs.

Mel felt mana siphoned out of her as the ritual tried to complete something it lacked the power to fulfill. The sword glowed white-hot, nearly blinding the group.

Thomas put a hand on Mel’s shoulder and pulled her back, breaking the connection.

The only sound in the room was the gentle ping-ping of cooling metal.

“Okay.” Mel stood up and dusted her pants. “That’s a no-go.”

“What’s missing?” Gwen asked, gingerly touching the metal. She pulled back her hand with a hiss. “Hot!”

“Not enough juice.”

Thomas was studying the scorch marks that were rapidly fading away thanks to the Rook’s power. The spell didn’t seem to bother the Rook in the slightest, which put Mel’s mind at ease.

She would hate to hurt it. Though it’d be just as bad if she had to treat the Rook with kid gloves. Thankfully, it was made of sterner stuff.

It does have all of our aspects supporting it, Mel thought.

“I think we need to find a way to raise her ritual spell’s power,” Thomas said, standing up and wiping soot stains from his fingertips with a cloth.

“Like a training manual?” Gwen asked.

“If such a thing exists.” He sat back down in his chair. “There are countless shops everywhere. We might find something we need in one of them. The Irons were pretty well off. If we pool our earnings, we’d probably have enough.”

“I do need to get something for cooking knowledge too,” Gwen said. “For me and Shrubley.”

“That reminds me,” Mel said, sorting through the loot on the table. She found the rather plain looking slip of parchment and held it up. “I found this [Novice Alchemist Permit] off the orc alchemist who ambushed us in the shop.”

“Holy moly!” Heath cried. “Those are so expensive!”

Mel frowned. “What do you mean?”

Heath looked at them. Nobody seemed to understand what he was so excited about. “Do none of you watch the TV?”

“That’s not what it’s–” Thomas began, but Mel held up a hand and shook her head.

“They advertise those things all the time!” Heath explained. “The cheapest novice permits are worth five hundred irons. They are expensive. Two months of a Convocation trial and getting in first place still isn’t enough for me to afford one.”

“What do we need a permit for?” Mel asked. “It’s just a piece of paper. I’ve ignored permits all my life.”

“Examine it,” Heath said eagerly. He shook his head. “I can’t believe you just got one dropped into your lap.”

“I did have to kill an Iron orc alchemist,” Mel pointed out. She rolled her eyes and gave the permit a closer look.

[Novice Alchemist Permit]

(Iron Rank, Item)

(Uncommon)

A tiny piece of parchment harboring myriad runes of alchemical knowledge that only those of sufficient expertise may learn. Awakens the path of the Alchemist.

Imprint: Awakens Novice Alchemist Profession. Requires [Novice Alchemy Knowledge].

“Oh.” Mel reread it. “Oh damn. I didn’t know professions were a thing. ‘Awakens the path of the Alchemist’ sounds pretty baller.”

“I’ma throw up,” Gwen muttered miserably. “Five hundred irons for a profession permit…”

“Do you need that for the permanent food buffs?” Heath asked.

“Yes!” Gwen wailed.

“It sounds like a permit allows you to start your journey.” Mel drummed her fingers on the tabletop. “Five hundred irons is expensive, but if it’s all you need to spend to be able to go from Novice to Master or whatever, it seems worth it. Otherwise you’ll need to keep getting new knowledge tiers from somewhere instead of increasing it on your own.”

Gwen buried her face in her hands.

Mel looked over at her. In a somewhat unorthodox move, she said, “I got about half of that from the battle with the Irons. I’m sure if we chipped together, we could get five hundred iron coins. Of course, then you’d be our cooking slave.”

Gwen lowered her hands slowly. “Are you sure? That’s a lot to ask for.”

“No,” Mel answered truthfully. “But I’m going to do it anyway.”

Gwen nodded. “...Okay, I’ll be your cooking slave. Whoever pitches in, I mean. Maybe not Heath.”

Thomas reached into his inventory and took out a hefty coin purse. “I’ll pitch in.” He added his purse to the center of the table.

Heath was reaching into his pockets when he heard what Gwen said. He eyed her curiously.

“Fine! I’ll cook for you too,” Gwen relented.

Grinning like an idiot, Heath dropped an even bigger bag of coins onto the table than Thomas. “I would’ve given it to you for free. I was just joshing!”

“How much does that cover?” Mel asked. She didn’t really want to give up everything she gained from the orcs, but she would.

Gwen counted the coins with the surprising alacrity of a pirate lord. “Thomas gave me one-fifty, Heath a total of eighty, I have a hundred irons I can spend, that leaves–”

Mel counted out 170 [Iron Rune Coins] and dropped them onto the table. “All paid up.” She looked at Heath. “You really went with the ‘giving the stripper a stack of one dollar bills’ method, huh?”

“I only had coppers!” Heath cried.

“Yeah, they all say that. Makes you feel like a baller, doesn’t it? Handing out ones in big fat stacks like you’re actually rich.”

“Men have tried to impress me with that gimmick before,” Gwen admitted dryly. “But thanks. I mean it.”

“Does it ever work?” Thomas asked. “I mean, it only takes a single look. Besides, a small pouch of iron coins weighs drastically more than a large purse of coppers.”

Heath hung his head. “Aw, c’mon guys. I just wanted to help out.”

Mel patted him on the back. “It’s okay, champ. We’re just giving you a hard time. I’m sure Gwen is going to make you some…whatever Ohioans eat.”

“Skyline chili?” Heath asked hopefully.

“What’s that?” Mel asked.

Heath started to explain, but the moment he said “cinnamon” Mel shut that down hard. “No. Nope. Hell no. What is wrong with you?”

Gwen looked over. “I’ve gone to a lot of cities in America, like Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York, but I’ve never been to Ohio. So it’s not happening since that sounds super gross.”

“You’re missing out,” Heath said. “It’s not for everybody, sure, but you gotta try it at least once. We could have a three-way!”

Mel stared. “Please tell me that’s a food thing.”

“It is!” Heath said excitedly, gushing all about it until Thomas cleared his throat.

“I think we’ve gotten a bit off track.” He tilted his chin toward the permit. “Why don’t you use it, Mel?”

Mel focused on the permit and sent a thread of mana into the slip of paper. It burned merrily with an emerald green fire that tickled her fingertips.

You awaken the [Novice Alchemist] profession.

[Novice Alchemist]

Alchemists are renowned for their ability to not only offer a timely potion when a healer is overburdened, but their capacity for creating runic concoctions integral to advancement through the Shardrunes of the multiverse. At the beating heart of every eminent faction is an Alchemist that combines rare ingredients into training toxins, rejuvenating potions, and runic elixirs. Mixing magic and science, Alchemists are capable of unraveling the secrets of the multiverse. Behind every Ruby or Sapphire is a well-guarded connection to an Alchemist.

Loot is modified to include alchemical ingredients of higher rarity.

Mel liked the sound of that, but she liked the flow of knowledge into her mind even more. She now understood things that her [Novice Alchemy Knowledge] failed to illuminate.

A vague awareness pulled Mel’s gaze to the [Pristine White Herba]. The name gave it away, but even without it, Mel could feel the powerful aura of White chroma energy held within. The pale leaf practically radiated White energy.

“I’ll go out tomorrow and get my permit,” Gwen said, grinning. “I want to now, but my vital resources are fairly low and we’ve garnered a lot of heat.”

“I’ll go with you,” Heath offered. “It’s only right, considering…” He looked away, utterly ashamed.

Gwen half-lidded her eyes, studying the boy with the weighing judgment of a professor. Her expression was so utterly unlike Mel’s friend that it was startling.

Heath looked up, terrified.

Mel hardly paid any further attention to them. She sorted through the various materials she gained from the [Pristine Alchemical Supply Box]. Inside was a spectrum of chroma energy.

There was so much more to alchemy than simple herba ingredients. She had been experimenting with alchemy before she gained the knowledge, and now she understood how little the System had actually given her.

So many possibilities!

As much as Mel wanted to drag the alchemy station into the Rook and start crafting immediately, she held off. There were other items to go through first before she vanished down a crafting hole.

Mel set the [Orich Sawsword], [Poison Edge Knife], and [Heavy Red Fluted Armor Set] onto the central table. The legs creaked under the weight of the armor set.

“Anybody want either of these? I have no need for a basic bitch sword, but I’ll take the knife. The armor is useless to me.”

Gwen eyed the armor. “I can wear heavy armor now that I’m a Berserker, but…it’s designed for a knight like Jacob. Interesting that it’s an armor set though!”

Mel looked curiously at it. “Well, we’re going to be pretty light on funds for a while. Your permit aside, materials for alchemy won’t come cheaply. Charlie and I pilfered everything we could from the potion shop, but most of what Teddy had was pretty poor quality.”

“It won’t be cheap to furnish this place,” Thomas said. He glanced at the Pyre with its golden and red flames. “At least we have free heating.”

“It’s an investment,” Mel said, waving off his concern. “And yet another reason to push Gwen’s cooking permit. If she can make meals at least as good as before, we’ll have a line of people out the damn door.”

Gwen beamed at Mel’s praise.