“Tutor Damian, any other way to resist social skills besides Social Resistance and Focus?” I asked.
“No, Justin. Besides your own social skills, which you are not allowed to get. You have asked that already,” he told .
“They are the absolute worst,” I replied.
“Hmm, many people think so. That is why they aren’t often used to their full extent. Subtlety is what people who specialize in such skills often focus on,” he replied.
“I love my father, but the sheer embarrassnt might kill ,” I muttered. Damian chuckled at that.
“Well be glad it is your father and soone you can trust. Most nobles start such training around age 12 when they can be more easily embarrassed and have more secrets,” he replied.
“Like what?” I asked and he looked a bit nervous.
“The secret depends on the person. The older they are the more secrets they accumulate,” he said. I felt like he was lying, but I wasn’t sure about what. I ignored the feeling, since Damian was trusted by my mother. That ant I could trust him as well.
“The Supre Warlady has returned and summons both of you to her office,” a servant entered the library, breathless, and quickly said. I quickly got up and so did Damian. We didn’t run but walked quickly to her office. Running would be rude, but there was no way we would be slow. The fact that she returned unannounced was a surprise.
The door was open and I entered. Healer Castelle was already there and her three Squires who looked quite tired and worn out. “My son, it is good to see you are doing well. It was a…why is there a scar on his neck,” she asked.
No one dared to breathe as my father entered her office. “I wanted to talk to you first,” he said.
“Talk, Darren? It appears my son was almost decapitated, and his neck disfigured. I suggest you consider your next words very carefully, since you are responsible for his safety in my absence,” she said. She didn’t move, but everyone felt the threat in the air.
“I would speak with you alone,” he said.
“Out, all of you,” my mother ordered without thinking for longer than a second. I left along with everyone else to wait in the hallway. The office was enchanted to block out sounds and vibrations from the outside so the inside couldn’t be spied upon.
Everyone was silent and watched the door nervously. A minute went by, and then two. Finally, my father opened the door, unhard. He didn’t say anything as he left. “Co back in,” my mother ordered. We all ca back into the office.
“Co here, let look at you closely,” my mother ordered, and I went around the desk to stand next to her. She grabbed my head and gently turned it to the side looking closely at the scar. “How bad was it Healer Castelle?”
“Very bad. Trifecta of poisons, and the blade almost got to the spine. If I hadn’t been right there, he would have died. I tried to minimize the scarring, but the poison lingered, bottoming out his healing points. An experienced Flesh Crafter can remove it,” he said. My mother let go.
“I will leave that up to my son. It is his body, so he may decide if he wants to wear his scars openly or not,” my mother said. I noticed that she didn’t hide her scars or long term damage that been left behind when she ran out of reserves. “What about lasting effects?”
“The poison has cleared out and he got Poison Resistance. I inspected the wound several tis, but it has healed correctly. The only lasting mark is the faint scar on the surface of his neck,” Healer Castelle reported.
“You have done well. Consider the debt you owe , repaid in full for your service,” my mother said.
“I would see any lasting issues fixed before my departure and talk to whatever healer you hire next,” Healer Castelle replied.
“I am glad to hear that. You do your profession credit. With a small bit of effort on my part, I have acquired a ga Elixir. I had the Master Alchemist in charge of creating it, fill out a sheet answering your questions,” she said and pulled out a piece of paper and held it out. Healer Castelle took it.
“Let’s see what foolishness this Master Alchemist has brewed up,” he said. Everyone was quiet as he looked over the sheet of paper. After a minute he finally spoke up.
“I need a mont to think this through and the possible interactions,” he said, and my mother nodded.
“A few minutes is fine,” she said, being surprisingly reasonable. “But explain what you are thinking so I may better understand.” There was the absolute demand I had been expecting from her.
“Unlike a regular Elixir, a ga Elixir is refined through a special process to allow the stats to directly perate a person’s soul in a subtle process rather than a forceful one, using an indigo core as the primary ingredient and drawing out stats through it. This allows the ga Elixir to be used multiple tis unlike a normal Elixir, except for one key issue. Alchemical or potion toxicity,” he explained.
“This ga Elixir has an Alchemical toxicity, that is highly concerning and it lasts for a long ti as well. If your son takes this, he will not be able to take another potion for at least 10 years and won’t be able to take another ga Elixir for 400 years or anything similar in nature,” he explained.
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“That is the concern. I only know that Alchemical toxicity reduces the effects of potions, the more that are consud,” my mother said.
“That is at the most basic effect. But once it gets high enough, the body will violently reject any potions or Alchemical products after a certain point, hurting, instead of healing. This ga Elixir is both genius and stupid. Genius since it will increase all stats by 10 with no risk to the soul. But it is stupid, due to the high toxicity. Potions are a life saving resource in the dungeon. And I do an 10 years for the most basic of potions,” Healer Castelle said.
“It increases toxicity that much?” my mother asked.
“We use the Rumbart Scale. Show a healing potion you would use,” he said, and my mother pulled one out. “That is a 50 on the Rumbart Scale, fairly high potion toxicity, but expected of a powerful healing potion. Most people starting off would use healing potions with a 5 on the Rumbart scale. At 100 the effects switch from helpful to harmful. You would need to take 2 of them quickly to reach that amount of toxicity, with the higher value on the Rumbart Scale making each successive potion less effective. The number decreases more rapidly the higher it is, without regards to skills or levels. It is sothing that one needs specialized testing equipnt to determine. I can say that Justin’s toxicity is almost zero after watching him for so long. The Alchemical product, that compressed heart didn’t have much,” Healer Castelle explained.
“And how much on this Rumbart Scale is the ga Elixir?” my mother asked.
“Around 9,000. If your son takes this, he can’t even look at any alchemical products without serious risk. With its power and how it integrates into his soul, the decrease on the Rumbart Scale will be much slower than normal. The Master Alchemist specifically notes this. That is why I say 10 and 400 years for no potions and only minor potions,” he explained.
“What exactly is Alchemical toxicity? Is it like poison?” I asked nervously.
“It is your soul resisting outside effects of an Alchemical nature. This ga Elixir is very safe for what it does, except for the Alchemical Toxicity it leaves behind. Any future products made from Alchemy need to be treated carefully and not used. They will only hasten his death and can be treated as dangerous. Resistance skills don’t work on this sort of thing since potions are designed to work on your body and soul,” Healer Castelle explained.
“This is an innate property of the ga Elixir?” my mother asked.
“Yes. That’s how your Master Alchemist got such a potent creation, while minimizing all other side effects. Genius, it really is genius, but also stupid, as I said before. Instead of skills it will be Alchemical products that risk your son’s life,” he replied.
“There are no skills to counter this?” my mother asked.
“As far as I know, no. But they say there is a skill for everything. It wouldn’t surprise if your son developed a new resistance after taking this ga Elixir. But mark my words Supre Warlady, it is risky long term,” Healer Castelle said.
“Son, what do you think?” my mother asked .
“I am not afraid. You worked hard to get this ga Elixir, I will take it,” I said, and she nodded. While there were risks, I would just have to avoid Alchemical products in the future. That didn’t seem any riskier than not getting new skills.
“Good. To advance boldly, one must put fear of the unknown aside.” She then reached out and a shimring crystal phial appeared in her hand with a rainbow color coming from inside.
“Uncork it and drink it all at once,” she said as I carefully took the phial from her hands. I steadied my breathing as everyone watched on. I then uncorked it and drank it all at once. It had a horrible taste, like sothing died in my mouth, but I forced myself to swallow every drop.
I then set the phial on the desk while everyone stared at . I felt a bit woozy. Healer Castelle ca over and touched my head. “He is fine, just his soul is being overwheld. With your permission, I will put him to sleep. It should allow the ga Elixir to work better.”
“Do it,” my mother ordered.
“Sleep.”
“Wahhh,” I let out a gasp as I woke up. I was in my bed but I hadn’t been changed. My mother was sitting by my bedside along with Healer Castelle. Her Squires and Tutor Damian weren’t present.
“Son,” she said while leaning over . “Are you okay?”
“I feel fine. Thirsty,” I said. A servant rushed over with a glass of water and then rushed away. I slowly drank.
“Just as I said. His soul needed ti to adjust. The ga Elixir can be used by anyone, but it takes ti for soone with lower stats to adjust,” Healer Castelle said. I finished drinking.
“How long was I out for?” I asked.
“A day,” my mother said. Oh, that wasn’t too bad.
“Let him rest the remainder of the day. Check on his stats tomorrow morning. Better to let everything settle first, just to safe,” Healer Castelle said.
“He will do that. Thank you for your guidance,” my mother said.
“I will be leaving in three weeks,” he replied.
“What, why?” I asked.
“While I was being paid to be here, a considerable amount of money, it was also a favor to your mother. I owed her for saving my life long ago, when I didn’t want to be saved. Now my debt is repaid. And a new healer will arrive,” he replied.
“Thank you, for everything,” I said.
“Idiot child, don’t go dying from sothing stupid,” he muttered and left the room. My mother sent a glare at his back, but he didn’t falter in the slightest.
“He shouldn’t say such rude things to you,” she said.
“It is fine, he is just worried. He is a big softy, under all of that gruffness,” I replied.
“A sha, but he did well in guiding regarding your health concerns and saving your life. The debt is repaid,” she said.
“You saved him?” I asked.
“When I was moving through the layers, he was all alone, his team had been wiped out. Without my assistance, he would have never left the dungeon. Normally I wouldn’t have bothered, but he was a Healer and was still trying to bring his teammates back to life when I found him. A pitiable man whose very will has broken. But he did well in serving,” my mother explained.
“Now what?” I asked hesitantly.
“Now, you tell everything that happened while I was away. It appears I have been too lenient with certain people,” she said.
“My father didn’t do anything,” I quickly said.
“And that is the problem.” She let out a soft sigh. “Also, why I don’t like dealing with nobles. You will quickly learn that the worst actions aren’t from your enemies. You expect them to try and kill you. But what really hurts, is when soone you trust fails you either through inaction or negligence,” she explained.
“You aren’t going to chop off his head?” I asked.
“He will be making ands another way. Correcting his mistake. Unfortunately, that also ans we will be departing as well,” my mother said.
“We are leaving?” I asked in shock.
“Yes. Preparations are already being made. The Kingdom of Terander is no longer our ho,” she said.
“What is going on?”
“You don’t need to concern yourself with that,” she said. I wanted to argue. My father would tell , but apparently, he had been keeping secrets. I wanted to know what was going on.
“I want to know,” I said stubbornly.
“You can say things, but I have made up my mind, my son. Now rest. We will discuss your skills tomorrow while I finalize arrangents for our departure,” she declared. I was annoyed with my mother as she got up and left, but there was nothing I could do. For the first ti I felt what everyone else felt when dealing with her, frustration and helplessness that nothing could be done to get my way.
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