"I mean no disrespect in asking this, but are you sure this is the Pylon you selected?" Hayden asked, trailing behind me. Phoebe decided to claim a home for herself in the Elysium, while Derrick returned to his Enchanters workshop. Apparently he had a coworker, more specifically an ex-roommate of his from before the integration. Derrick didn't mention his name, rather rolling his eyes recalling his roommate was left in charge of the shop while he was away. Derrick made haste towards his shop before I could prod further, and my serpent already slithered away with Becky to Perunious knows where. Which just left me with Hayden to show around.
"Yes, I'm sure. It's a place I have absolutely no choice in remembering because of it." I replied over my shoulder, scanning across the dimly lit settlement. The sun had tucked fully under the ocean, with most of the settlers heading to their homes in response. Still, the odd orange glowing lights decorating the many multistory buildings illuminated a fair share of citizens still bustling about. Most of them were honing their respective professions, many construction workers tirelessly toiling over another massive hole in the side of a building. This was the third time I'd seen what I previously assumed was a sewage drain randomly placed in the settlement.
I'd probably have a better guess as to why these holes were here if anything looked familiar in Savants Elysium. Outside of the places that general cardinal directions and memory could guide me to, like Zacks and Terra's respective shops, everything was just…more. The sheer quantity of resident homes alone made my head spin, finding myself reading street signs that weren't here the last time I was. Then there were the shops.
The settlement had certainly earned its name, having at least one of every fucking Profession I could naturally assume, possibly imagine, and refuse should exist at all. Enchanters of armors and weapons, healers of differing affinities, even spiritual guides had wiggled their way into the multiverse. Of course we had multiple Alchemysts, though their shops were decorated very differently. A deep green building, with colorful fumes wafting from a vent jutting out of the roof was the first alchemy shop me and Hayden stumbled onto.
At first I'd figured Terra had changed locations, seeing the glowing green 'Alchemy' sign on the green oversized shack of a building. My eyes felt like they were about to burn out of my skull upon entering, causing me to stumble back out rubbing my watering eyes.
"What is it? Are you alright, Tom?" Hayden asked, from somewhere beside me. My eyes were still buried in my hands, leaking profusely.
"Fuck, I don't know but it burns like hell!" I said, trying to blink out whatever wafted into my eyes. It took a couple seconds for me to finally open my eyes, trying to blink away my blurry vision.
"Alright Hayden, let's come back here. They must have had a spill or som-" the sound of a door shutting from behind gave me pause, turning back to face the green building. My eyes finally focusing revealed Hayden, walking out with another gentleman wearing a green cardigan.
"Tom! I found the shopkeeper of this establishment." Hayden said, enthusiastically gesturing to the man behind him.
"You must be Tom, Savior of Elysium. It is an absolute honor, sir." The man said, offering a handshake.
"It's just To-I mean-" I sighed, remembering I promised to keep this 'Savior' charade up so long as I was in Savants Elysium.
"-yes, that's me. And you are?" I asked, finally accepting the man's handshake.
"Names Perry. I'm the poisons and afflictions school of alchemy in Savants Elysium. Korbin informed me you'd come to collect a few potions before your travels", Perry very thoroughly informed, already earning plenty of brownie points from me. It helps Korbin was looking out for his old pal too.
"Did he now? I mean, I'd love to browse your selection, but your shop seems to be leaking fumes or something. I can't even go in without my eyes burning." I replied. Of course Hayden had no issues, that damned mask probably kept all of the unventilated poisonous fumes from reaching his face.
"Oh? My, that only happens to those who are particularly weak to baseline poisons. No matter! I'll bring my finest work to you. Just a moment." Perry said, eagerly scrambling back into his shop. His mentioning of weakness to poisons did raise a few red flags in my mind, and made a mental note to address that further. Preferably when I wasn't trying to be a tour guide in essentially foreign territory given how much has been added.
"Excuse me, I'm so sorry but, are you Tom? Like, the Tom?" A lady asked me, halting whatever she was doing passing by to grab an armed stranger's arm and question him. These people were definitely living the privileged life.
"Yes, and unfortunately I'm on official business on behalf of our great and all-knowing leader, Korbin. Please, see me tomorrow when I have finished my mission here." I said, trying to get out of another crowd of undeserved adoration forming around me. If I'm to lie about this Savior bullshit, I might as well make sure my fibs served me.
If you're gonna do something, good or bad, commit.
Korbin's morally questionable advice he repeated like a mantra for months rang through my head. Even still, his guidance dating long before the integration followed me.
"Oh, oh of course I-I'm so sorry! May the gods bless you, Savior!" The lady nervously rambled, stumbling over her own feet backpedaling down down the road.
"No worries ma'am, I appreciate you!" I hollered back. The lady laughed giddily before turning heels and heading further into the settlement.
"These people seem awfully fond of you." Hayden so expertly surmised.
"Apparently, every story needs a hero." I said sarcastically.
"Certainly not mine!" Hayden replied, chuckling. Perry nearly broke his shop's door busting back out, holding an arrangement of colorful elixir bottles.
"Hey! Sorry about the delay, it's delicate work handling poisons of this potency." Perry said, carelessly waving the bottles around, holding them between each fingers. I backed away a few feet, not wanting to test my weakness to poisons just yet.
"I have no doubt! So uh, why don't you tell me about those things." Perry took a step forward to bring them closer to me.
"From over there, please." I added, backing away with a hand up.
"Uh, yeah sure. We'll start with what I assume will be your new best friend in a pinch." Perry said with the enthusiasm of a used car salesman. I could already see why Korbin brought him around, though his product only reaffirmed his value.
"While this is the only common rarity elixir I've brought to you, it's also the highest sought after of my selection. Korbin's already requested another 12 pallets of these to be distributed for trade by next week." Perry continued, walking towards me again. I was about to protest, though his self promotion had genuinely intrigued me enough to ignore his careless handling of the elixirs.
"It's my only item available I've been able to successfully distribute into thin-glass containers, supported by a thin layer of mana designed by yours truly." Perry added, singling out the elixir in question and extending it toward me. I took it from him, scanning the bottle in my hands.
"Why does it matter how thin the glass is?" I asked, watching the lime green liquid swashing in the bottle.
"It's only what separates it from the rest! See, all of these other poisons and afflictions are, albeit far more potent than what you have there," Perry lifted the remaining poisons above his head, dropping each one onto the ground. I leapt back, bracing for the splash of multiple toxins exploding on the floor. Instead, the bottles clanked off the stone ground, bouncing a few times before rolling in a pile together unbroken.
"Issue is, you need something strong to keep them stored properly. Even then, these containers have a shelf life before the mana layers dissipate overtime. Meaning they have to be applied to your weapons, or directly into your desired target's bloodstream." Perry explained, putting the green liquid in my hands' value into perspective.
"But I can just throw these bottles at someone, and it'll shatter on them." I said. Perry snapped his fingers, pointing his finger at me with a wide grin.
"Bingo. Not only that, I designed this poison to be nearly equally as effective just contacting skin as it is entering the target's bloodstream. It's more or less an acid base than it is poison, however its effects simulate that of typical venoms once inside the target." Perry added.
"What exactly are those typical effects? I'm not much of a toxicologist or whatever." I admitted, not seeing reason in pretending like I knew what most of that truly meant. I'd yet to encounter a 'venom' in this tutorial I could understand in the slightest, and this elixir was no different.
"Well, once it makes contact with skin, the mixture attacks the life energy permeating from healthy organic tissue, thanks in part to the wonderful array of acidic compounds our leader has provided me. Once it finds the target's blood stream, the acid slowly melts through the target's blood vessels. The energy is usually too weak to completely melt through their organs from within. Instead, it resides wherever it seeps through, eating whatever healing energy is applied for a period of time." Perry lengthily explained, speaking incredibly fast. It took half a minute for me to fully digest what he'd just word-vomited at me.
"Okay…so I throw it at people. It breaks, burns them, and blocks them from healing. Am I understanding this correctly?" I asked, trying to condense the description down for the sake of fucking getting it. An Identify only reaffirmed the 'throwing' part of my conclusion.
[Splash Potion Of Strychnoids Bite (Common)]
"Hmm, very well said. Yes, that's how it works!" Perry said, rather eagerly.
"I'm most definitely taking a few of these, though I don't really have anywhere safe to put them." I said, remembering the countless healing potions I'd already crushed in my pockets.
"I can hold onto them, until you find an appropriate storage space of your own?" Hayden offered. Not sure why he referred to a pack or something as 'storage space', but I also preferred not carrying these things around either.
"Sure, we'll take 10. Give some to my friend here, for being a trooper." I said, gesturing to Hayden.
"Of course! But first, allow me to show you my strongest of elixirs!" Perry said while handing Hayden the feeble potion. He went on to explain how this rare poison was his greatest achievement, making a point to mention he was a father as well. It attacked mana pools, draining them rapidly and inducing mana exhaustion. Perry only had one, meaning it would cost me to take it off his hands.
"I appreciate that, however I'm running pretty low on TP. Though I'll happily take any free donation if you're willing?" I asked, trying not to disrespect this very kind alchemist. He'd already proven his expertise as far as I'm concerned, with everything after splash acids only serving as a plus from then out.
"Of course, in that case I'm afraid those potions are all I can afford at the moment. All other items are currently in too high demand for me to let go free of charge. I do hope you understand." Perry said, bowing his head in front of me. Kind of annoying for him to dangle all these elixirs just to only offer one for free. Of course, there's a reason Korbin brought this guy around.
"Sure. Then let me get as many of those acid potions as my friend here could hold." I instructed, pointing to Hayden.
"I doubt he has that many, Tom. How about 16, friend? We have no need for these amenities anyhow." Hayden responded. I'm not entirely sure where he was going to stow all those potions in his thin black cloak. Perry ran into his ship, quickly bursting back out with two bags of clinking glass. For thin glass, he surely doesn't seem to worry about handling them with care. Hayden accepted the bags, casually placing both within his cloak without removing them from the bags. They simply disappeared in his cloak, not leaving any lumps or impressions where he'd place them.
"Thank you for your hospitality, good sir. I do believe we ought to be on our way, Tom?" Hayden asked, clearly tired of standing around here. I'd almost forgotten he was there between my mini crash course on poisons.
"Yeah let's head out. And hey Perry, this is a good friend of mine, Hayden. If he ever needs anything, treat him as you would me." I said as Hayden and I continued down the road.
"Of course! Thank you for your time, Savant's Savior!" Perry hollered back, sending an uncomfortable chill down my spine. I'd never been the popular kid, nor was I terribly sociable before Gods and manas invaded our reality. Now, I have countless strangers treating me like royalty, and I fucking hate it. It's so fake, I can see the fear their reverence is based in.
"Tom, you alright?" Hayden asked, tapping my arm from behind.
"Huh? Yeah, why?" I asked, continuing along the dimly lit settlement roads.
"I've asked you three questions, and you haven't said a word."
"Oh, my bad man. I'm just a little distracted right now." I replied, not realizing I'd zoned Hayden out.
"Something troubling you?" Hayden asked.
"Nah, nothing important. Just weird being practically worshipped, I don't like it." I replied casually. My eyes darted from sign to sign, hoping to find a shop still open to explore.
"You mean by the citizens here? I noticed this as well, though I figured a man of your influence on the battlefield would merit such a reaction." Hayden replied, his words oddly complimenting.
"Maybe, but I'm just a person all the same. They're plenty capable of doing what I am." I said, matter of factly.
"If that were true, why aren't they?" Hayden asked.
"Well…I never really found that answer. Oh shit, I know this place!" I said, spotting the familiar bright purple and black alchemy shop. Terra clearly made some renovations, her shop triple the size it was when I'd left. My pace quickened heading for the entrance, seeing her lights still on. Opening the door, a variety of powerful chemical odors invaded my pallet.
It was far more bearable than Perry's shop, some of the odors cycling in my nose even smelling pleasant at times. Inside, the shop was still dimly lit. However, the front served as a clerk desk, with hundreds of blue and red potions scattering the shelves and glass displays. Terra still sold health and mana potions, though their quality had jumped from inferior to common, up to uncommon reading their descriptions.
Footsteps came rapidly clapping onto the stone floor from behind, causing me to whip around gripping onto my twinblade. The sensation of hair covering my face and arms wrapping around my neck caused me to freeze, realizing Terra had just leapt onto me at a full sprint.
"Tom!! You're alive!" Terra yelled, embracing me tightly before shoving off of me aggressively.
"You fucks have had message birds for a week and not once was any update on your wellbeing sent after that fucking island. You know people here care if you're alive, right?" Terra scolded me, her tone shifting from giddy excitement to genuine anger.
"Uhh…I don't even know how to use those birds. Cassi does all of that." I said, taken aback at her fluctuating emotions.
"Still. These people depend on you. And, you have friends like Lonni that miss you." Terra said. Based on the leaping embrace I was given, I can't imagine Lonni was the only one.
"Well, all the same it's great to see you again, Terra. How've you been?" I asked, hoping to level her out with some simple conversation. Plus, I genuinely missed my manic friend. It's hard to blame her, given she'd acted like this after I killed her brother. I'm sure it's difficult to find peace.
"Great! I'm the top selling Alchemyst in Savants Elysium, Korbin's constantly requesting shipments by the tens, and I'm even a boss now. Got some lackeys of my own to do the grunt work." Terra said proudly, her chin raising a little.
"Very impressive, I'd expect nothing less given how driven you were to your craft when I'd left. Seems like you found where you fit quite nicely." I said, remembering how worried she'd been about being of value to the settlement. Though, I'd advised her to look inwardly and find that value about herself if she wished to manifest it outwardly.
"I guess so. It's a lot of work, but I enjoy it. Would you like a couple potions?" Terra asked, her face perking up giving the offer.
"Oh, sure. I can use a few more I guess." I said, looking back towards Hayden who remained silent the entire time. He merely nodded, as to confirm he could somehow store more.
"I saved one in particular just for you, since I know how liberally you throw your health points away out there." Terra said excitedly, tugging my arm as she headed for the back of her shop, winding through its tight corridors. Apparently a lot of the alchemical ingredients she used were volatile just mixing fumes improperly, making multiple well insulated rooms a necessity in most all alchemist shops. At least, that's what she said, though she was talking incredibly fast. We'd finally reached her bedroom, where she began reaching under her bed did she even notice I brought Hayden with me.
"Uh, who's your friend, Tom?" Terra asked, scanning Hayden up and down suspiciously.
"Oh, fuck that's right. This is Hayden, a friend of mine from the tournament. Hayden, this is Terra, our most treasured alchemyst and a friend of mine as well." I said, introducing the two.
"If his definition of 'friend' is anything like how we met, I'm sorry forever whatever he did but, it's nice to meet you." Terra said, giggling as she shook Hayden's gloved hand.
"Outside of some well deserved skeptical hostilities, Tom's been nothing but kind. And the pleasure is mine, m'lady." Hayden said, bowing his head to Terra's hand. She looked a little confused as to how to respond, though surprisingly she wasn't all that uncomfortable. 'M'lady', I really need to talk to Hayden about saying that shit.
"Um, thank you. That's actually really nice to hear." Terra said, smiling while scanning me up and down.
"So, you said you had a special potion for me?" I asked, trying to stay on the topic of cool free stuff.
"Right, did I say one? It's technically two, though they both effectively do the same thing to different resource pools." Terra began, placing the large metal box she pulled from under her bed onto the sheets. After pricking her thumb on a sharp prong outside of the lock, the box shot open. Inside reside two potions, Terra pulled the deep crimson bottle, its contents visibly wriggling within the container.
"This is one half of my finest innovation; effects over time." Terra said, handing the red elixir over to me. The bottle shook in my hand, as if the liquid inside sought to escape and move freely.
"This is a health potion, one that heals 6 health points every 3 seconds for up to a minute. It's the most potently healing version I've crafted thus far, and is genuinely the proudest achievement of my short adult life." Terra said, smiling reverently at her creation. Curiosity peaked, and enjoying the lack of tears leaking from my eyes holding this potion unlike Perry's, I used Identify on the elixir.
[Potion Of Health Regeneration (Rare)]
"Wow, so technically I could drink this right before a fight, and passively regenerate health?" I asked, already considering how I may use something like this in combat.
"Of course, though every moment spent with full health is more of the potion wasted. And the majority of my potions like this only regen a maximum of 3 Health per 3 seconds so, this one's far and beyond my best work." Terra explained, still wearing a proud smile.
"This is honestly the best gift I've gotten in a long while, thank you Terra."
"Woah, relax. That's only half of it." Terra said, reaching back into the metal box and retrieving a dark blue potion, its contents swirling similarly to the Heath Restoration potion.
"There's less suspense behind this one but, it's the mana version of that potion. One I'm certain you're going to need out there." Terra said, handing over the Mana Potion of Restoration.
"I sure wish I had somewhere I could personally store all of these potions. I'm gonna be honest…I may have been breaking every potion you give me in my pockets." I exclaimed, grabbing at my waistband hoping to find a secure belt loop to wrap the potion around. I didn't wanna just toss these over to Hayden, given how much care Terra put into saving them specifically for me. I was taken back finding Terra's eyes locked onto me, wearing a look of bewilderment.
"…Tom, what did you put those potions in to travel with?" Terra asked.
"Uh, my pockets?" I said, not seeing any other apparent option on my person.
"Why the fuck would you do that with a storage space?" Terra asked, sounding progressively more upset with every word.
"Why do people keep talking about storage units, they serve no utility to soldiers. I don't have time to leave, come b-"
"No, you moron." Terra interrupted, reaching into her drawer and tossing a necklace at me.
"What the f-"
"Identify it, you troglodyte." Terra said, looking both pissed and amused at whatever I'm not understanding. Looking down, my answers were quite frankly still missing.
[Locket Of Minor Holding (common)]
"What does 'minor holding' mean?" I asked, still confused. Terra rubbed her eyes with her fingers while answering.
"It's a storage space. It means you can hold up to 50 system recognized items in there at any given time. The fact you've gotten this far and are still breathing…I don't know if I should be impressed or disappointed." Terra said, smiling through furrowed brows, wearing her conflicted feelings about me on her face.
"…how?" I asked, spinning the chain in my hand. Just as I did, a prompt popped up in my head.
This item requires spirit-binding in order for use. Would you like to be Soulbound to:
->
[Locket Of Minor Holding (common)]
"I haven't claimed that shitty ass thing, it was a gift that came with the shop when Korbin gave me this place. It's all yours, but I can't stress enough these things are essential to every soldier and sword for hire I've sold to." Terra explained. Hearing her permission, I willed for the locket to bond with my spirit.
*Congratulations!* You've spirit-binded with
->
[Locket Of Minor Holding (common)]
Snapping the necklace links closed behind my neck, and innate intuition I could…access the inner workings of this locket, and place whatever I had on my person within.
"Hayden, hand me a few of those splash potions Perry gave us." I said sticking my hand out to Hayden.
"You went to Perry's first?!" Terra snapped, raising both her eyebrows.
"Hey, I don't even know where we are right now. I'm fucking lost, sorry Hayden." I said, taking a pair of splash potions from him.
"I figured." Hayden replied.
"Oh, right, you haven't been here in a while. Even I have trouble keeping up with how much Korbin's expanded, and there's always a crew or two building something. Would you like me to show you two to the guest homes?" Terra offered, switching back to her affable self. Looking down at the potions, I focused on imagining them inside my necklace. Almost instantly, I felt the weight of both elixirs disappear from my hand. Closing my eyes, I could even visualize the contents and limits of my locket's storage.
Locket Of Minor Holding (common)
2/25
(x2) Splash Potion Of Strychnoids Bite (Common)
"Yeah, actually can I go ahead and collect these two potions real fast? You said the mana one works the same as the health potion?" I asked, willing the rare health restoration potion in my locket's storage space.
"Yep, 6 mana restored every 3 seconds for a minute. I have plenty of weaker versions of these as well if you'd like?" Terra graciously offered, continuing her onslaught of free goods. I need to visit Terra far, far more often.
"Absolutely, and if you have a surplus, would my buddy Hayden here be afforded a few on the house?" I asked, hesitantly pushing my luck with her charity.
"Sure, these things will circulate back to you through Korbin out there anyhow. No point in being stingy." Terra replied, quickly assembling a few bins of health and mana potions. She brought one container over to me, filled with 3 health restoration potions and 3 mana restoration ones, all of which a mere common rarity.
"Excuse me, Terra? I can't help but notice these are simple health and mana potions, not restora-"
"With all due respect Mr…Hayden, was it? I don't know you. Please accept my kindness in silence." Terra snapped, her tone holding a surprising amount of malice addressing my new friend.
"Woah woah, he was just asking, Terra?" I interjected, hoping to level her manic mood out again.
"Sorry, we don't get a lot of guests wearing masks around here. It makes me nervous." Terra relented, keeping her eyes on Hayden.
"It's quite alright, I do not mean to overstay my welcome. I am well ready to retire however, if Tom wouldn't mind showing me to the guest homes?" Hayden asked, a hint of resentment leaking in his tone. To be fair, Terra did just essentially tell him to get what gets and fuck off. She wasn't in the wrong, but her delivery needed work.
"Oh, no that's okay. I've already offered, and I'd hate for Tom to lead you two in circles. Apologies for my outburst, please follow me." Terra said, quickly pacing by us through the shop corridors. Hayden and I quickly placed our respective potions into our storage spaces before following after her.
It took us another 10 minutes just to reach the guest homes, and 5 more for Terra to escort me back to my own home. Along the way, me and Terra caught up on a far more personal level, having left Hayden at his own place.
"Be honest though, are you happy with how things are shaping up for you here?" I asked her, after listening to the laundry list of contracts Korbin has her under for these potion shipments. He'd been working her ragged, though she frames it as if she elected for the workload.
"I…I think so. I'm not sad that much anymore, and that feels like a start." Terra replied, after spending a moment to consider her answer.
"It's certainly something. Don't you wish you had some time for yourself?" I asked, concerned she might just be burying her sorrows in work, something I know all too well.
"All I have is time to myself. It's just nice having my mind on something positive, something I know is helping more than myself. I know that if Anthony were here…well, I'd hope he'd see what kind of good we were still capable of." Terra said, smiling looking up to the stars peaking between the many tall buildings.
"Fair enough. I do hope you find some time to relax at some point, but if this works for you, then it works for m-" my words were cut short hearing the faint clanging of metal hitting metal.
"Who the hell is working at this hour?" Terra asked, though my pace picked up now knowing my homes where the metallic slams were coming from. Turning the corner around a set of residential homes, my eyes lit up seeing my little home. I'd almost forgotten about my quaint little house, and was happy to see it remained untouched since my departure. Right next door, my favorite neighbor was busy toiling over their smithery and an absolutely ungodly hour. I cupped my hands at my lips, hollering over the loud metal clanking.
"LONNI!"