By the time Selene and Kaelen walked over to where Aiden was sitting, he was staring ahead at two System screens.
The first showed his brand-new flaw.
Arcane Allergy (D)
Your body seems to dislike magic, causing fits of sneezing and sinus congestion when you are in close vicinity to magic.
You are more susceptible to magical effects due to your allergies.
Aiden stared at it.
Then he stared harder, as if glaring at the words would make them change.
They did not.
The second screen was the combat log from the fight with Ymer. More specifically, the part where he had unlocked Silver Tongue.
Your soul stirs.
A skill has formed from broken fate.
Skill acquired: Silver Tongue (E).
His eyes fixed on those words.
Broken fate.
Soul stirs.
He only realized Selene and Kaelen had walked over when Selene waved her hand in front of his face.
Aiden blinked and looked up at them.
Kaelen held what looked like a set of metal squares in his hand, while Selene held a small notebook. The cover had a bunch of flower designs drawn across it, and to Aiden's surprise, the drawings were actually good.
"I found a place to eat called the Steel Palette," Kaelen said, handing both Aiden and Selene one of the metal squares. "How was the requester?"
Aiden looked down at the square.
It had a number carved into the top. On the bottom was a carved rune circle with a small blue crystal set into the middle.
"They were good," Aiden said. "The quest is still available. Right now, they have the salamanders locked in an airtight room, so while their forge coke is not burning, the salamanders do not need to breathe. So four of them are just hanging out in there."
He turned toward Selene.
"Oh, Selene, how did shop searching go?"
Selene opened her notebook and turned it toward him.
Aiden saw the names of three shops.
Even better, each one had little notes beneath it.
Apothecary's Apiary
General herb shop. Has a variety of herbs, but also nature-based items like staves and similar tools. Maybe Liora will be interested.
Herbalist's Vault
Half herb shop, half potion shop. Aiden may be able to purchase new recipes here.
Jade Lion's Bestiary: Coalhill Branch
Could not find a place like the library at Hopestone, but people I asked pointed me this way. It might have information on the salamanders.
It was surprisingly detailed.
There were also more drawings in the corners of the pages, including, somehow, a sketch of Misty.
Aiden looked at Selene.
Will spoke in his head.
"She did say her whole thing was getting control over her arm. Sketching would take finesse and practice."
Aiden nodded.
It was a simple method, but effective.
They started making their way to the Steel Palette, and Aiden's mind drifted back toward the problem of Aether resistance.
When they reached their table, Kaelen offered to let Liora and Thalia know where they were. Jax jumped out from Aiden's cloak and hopped up onto a chair, stretching before immediately looking over the menu.
Selene sat down and started looking through the menu as well.
Aiden closed his eyes and tried to think through what he had done wrong.
To his surprise, as he focused, he drifted away from control of his body just like he had when Ymer controlled him.
Only this time, there was no blood field.
No screaming.
No rapier at his throat.
Instead, he found himself floating in the dark space of his own mind, where Will was spinning lazily through the air.
"Welcome to our mind," Will said. "And no, I have no idea what we did wrong."
They were both silent for a moment.
Aiden crossed his arms.
"Let's go through everything step by step to make sure we are not missing something simple."
"Agreed," Will said.
Aiden began.
"We found a recipe for an item called a Revolution Core. It serves as a second heart that circulates Aether throughout the body."
"We were warned that unless we had an innate resistance to Aether or the right constitution, we would be subjected to Aether Flux," Will continued.
"So we reasoned that Liquid Crystal, which is basically liquid Aether, could be ingested to build up resistance."
At that last sentence, Aiden facepalmed.
Will looked up at him.
Since he was part of Aiden's mind, he apparently read the thought at the same time.
He facepalmed too.
"Small quantities build up resistance," they said together. "We chugged a whole vial."
Aiden wanted to continue the more in-depth conversation, but he suddenly felt something on his head.
His vision pulled him back into his body.
Aiden did not move at first.
He simply blinked his eyes open.
Jax was standing on the table, moving slowly and carefully as he placed something on Aiden's head.
"What are y—?"
Aiden moved his head to look up.
Three menus slid off his head and fell onto the table.
"Dang," Jax said, chuckling as he jumped down to his seat again. "I almost had the fourth one."
Aiden stared at him.
While he had been on the waiting-in-line side of this before, he had to admit that waiting for Thalia and Liora to finish the paperwork at the guild was boring.
Apparently boring enough for Jax to start stacking menus on his head.
After a while, Aiden took a moment to excuse himself and use the bathroom.
Instead of actually using it, he sat inside one of the stalls.
He pulled out another empty vial and used Liquid Crystal Consolidation to fill it.
This time, he only took a small sip.
A third of the vial.
The pain came, but it was much less severe. Aiden gripped the edge of the stall wall and stared at the System window.
You have used skill Liquid Crystal Consolidation (E).
You have used item Liquid Crystal Vial (E).
You have ingested liquid Aether.
Your body is attempting to purify it.
Your body has succeeded.
The Aether is purified.
Your soul stirs.
Aiden pumped his fist.
Inside his mind, Will did a celebratory backflip.
It was not easy.
There was a constant dull ache running through Aiden's body, like he had sprinted fifty miles and then been asked to apologize to every muscle individually. It took a good five minutes for the pain to fade.
But it was not like before.
He could handle small amounts.
And that message.
Your soul stirs.
It had appeared when he gained Fragmented Will.
It had appeared when he gained Silver Tongue.
Which meant it might appear when a skill was developing.
Aiden waited for the pain to subside.
Then he drank another third.
You have used skill Liquid Crystal Consolidation (E).
You have used item Liquid Crystal Vial (E).
You have ingested liquid Aether.
Your body is attempting to purify it.
Your body has succeeded.
The Aether is purified.
The purified Aether has condensed to form a boon:
Spell Shield.
Your soul stirs.
Aiden stared at the System screen.
He blinked.
Then, slowly, a smile started to carve its way across his face.
He quickly opened his System.
Aiden Hallowcreek
Age: 23
Class: Alchemist - LV. 8
XP: 9,561 / 15,000
HP: 24 / 24
MP: 69 / 69
Stats:
Strength: 4
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 13
Intelligence: 30
Wisdom: 18
Charisma: 0
Soul Skill:
Alchemy Attunement (D)
Passive
Increases your success rate with alchemical mixtures and allows you to feel minor fluctuations in potion consistency, improving the stability of mixtures.
Skills:
Quick Brew (E)
Passive
You quickly toss together ingredients to make potions with lesser effects on the fly.
Potioner's Harvesting Guide (E)
Passive
You have a chance to obtain more potion-related materials than others when searching.
Liquid Crystal Consolidation (E)
10 MP
You channel your mana to gather Liquid Crystal from the Aether in the air, condensing it into liquid form and pouring it into a vial.
Herbal Extracts (E)
Passive
Gain the ability to create concentrated extracts from herbs, making potions more potent. Potions using these extracts have increased effects, providing stronger support for healing, endurance, or resistance.
Fragmented Will (E)
Passive
Your mind begins to split under pressure to protect itself. While under intense emotional or mental strain, you may subconsciously form a mental fragment, a sliver of your will that acts independently.
The fragment may whisper suggestions, make minor decisions in your place, or retain key memories if you are compromised.
Silver Tongue (E)
Passive
Your voice is one that can soothe or lie with ease. You are better at persuading people and can lie more convincingly.
Flaw:
Arcane Allergy (D)
Your body seems to dislike magic, causing fits of sneezing and sinus congestion when you are in close vicinity to magic.
You are more susceptible to magical effects due to your allergies.
Boon:
Spell Shield (C)
25 MP
Magic loves you more than most.
You are able to enhance this quality, drawing magic that would strike an ally toward yourself instead.
Aiden stared at the new Boon tab.
Then he slowly looked up at the flaw above it.
Then back down at the boon.
Then back up at the flaw.
Inside his head, Will was silent.
That was never a good sign.
A moment later, from the bathroom of the Steel Palette, the walls shook as someone who may or may not have been Aiden yelled,
"HOW THE FUCK IS THIS A BOON?"