Seeds of Discordia: New Arrival Mayhem

Liam stared into the cauldron as he tried pushing his mana out from the wooden spoon.

His eyes widened as he felt resistance. It felt like the liquid inside the pot refused to let him channel his mana into it. This both made him excited and worried.

It made him excited because this was a challenge he didn’t know he could get through alchemy. However, he was worried because he wasn’t sure how he’d be able to blend the liquids together if his mana kept getting rejected.

He tried thinking things over on how he could overcome this problem.

Should I force my mana in? He thought, but then shook his head at the idea. No. That would probably cause the contents to bubble up and spew out of the pot. If not that, then how can I do this?

Liam continued to stare into the cauldron while stirring. As he stared into it, he noticed something.

Each of the colors were separated into thirds. However, what really caught Liam’s eye was that it looked like there was a pecking order for the poisons.

The color of the Stinger Nettle looked like it was running away from the color of the Blister Hogweed, while not trying to get closer to the color of the Weak Snake Venom. Clear water could be seen between the Stinger Nettle and the Snake Venom. The Blister Hogweed was doing the same as it floated away from the Snake Venom.

Are they…trying to devour each other? Liam thought as he continued to watch.

Sure enough, when a small bit of the Snake Venom touched either the Blister Hogweed or Stinger Nettle, a small amount was sucked in to its liquid form.

Interesting. Liam thought as he started to form an idea. If I can’t channel my mana into all three at once, then maybe I should start with one and work from there?

Alicia watched Liam struggle and grew a grin. She had to go through the same troubles when she first started. There was a trick she learned after a few failure attempts.

She contemplated telling Liam what it was, but decided it was best for him to learn by failure. After coming to that conclusion, Alicia’s eyes widened as she watched Liam do something she wasn’t expecting.

Liam waited for the moment the wooden spoon went over the Stronger Nettle extract section of the pot and matched the speed of the liquid moving. Once when he did this, he pushed his mana through.

Distracted by the Blister Hogweed extract behind it and the Weak Snake Venom in front of it, the Stinger Nettle Extract was caught off guard as mana entered its domain in the cauldron. It wasn’t able to put up a fight and was soon taken over.

Liam smiled as he channeled more mana into the Stinger Nettle Extract. Once when he saw his mana blend with the extract he stopped stirring clockwise and reversed his movement right into the Blister Hogweed Extract.

Shocked by this sudden surprise attack, the Blister Hogweed Extract tried to turn back, but stopped moving entirely as it felt the Weak Snake Venom touch the other end. Fighting a losing battle from both ends, the extract accepted its fate and blended into the mana channeled Stinger Nettle.

The weak Snake Venom started to devour a small bit of the Blister Hogweed Extract but then felt the shift in the pot. The Extract it was trying to devour to empower itself had a foreign and dangerous feel spread about it. Once when a small portion of the blended Mana channeled Blister Hogweed and Stinger Nettle come into contact with the bit that was taken over, it cut that section off and started to swirl away from it.

Alicia was amazed. Liam had figured the trick out. But how? Alicia thought as she watched the two extracts blend together into a sickly dark green color. The only way he’d be able to do this is if…

Her eyes widened. Does he have Mana Sight and Mana Control? No. He’d need to have practiced both of his Mana Channeling and Mana Sight enough to get them to level ten. Not even I have them that high.

She brought herself out of her thoughts as she realized she needed to give him more directions.

“Add in two more vials of Weak Snake Venom.” Alicia instructed. “It’s going to get even trickier here on out. Once when the vials have emptied, add in one vial of Stinger Nettle Extract and Blister Hogweed.”

Liam nodded as he did what he was told.

“You don’t want to blend the Snake Venom into the blended Mana Channeled Extracts just yet. You want to keep empowering each group till the last minute so the properties of the two aren’t wasted or overpowered by the other.” Alicia stated.

After Liam poured the two vials of extracts, he noticed they didn’t blend into the mana channeled extract right away. Instead, they tried to separate away from the group.

While escaping, a small bit of the two were suddenly devoured by the Weak Snake Venom, making it grow a bit more.

“Try pouring the extracts over the blended extracts so that won’t happen next time,” Alicia said.

“Got it,” Liam stated as he made the unblended extract blend into it the mana channeled extracts.

He did this three more times until he couldn’t see any of the clear water left in the cauldron. It was now a watered down mix of either Weak Snake Venom or blended Mana Channeled Extracts.

Even though the water was mixed in, it felt like Liam was stirring a sludgy mix. He was about to ask why, but Alicia beat him to it.

“After mixing and blending your mana into the cauldron it’ll thicken the content into it. The water you had in it was only there to make it easier to stir and channel your mana into it before getting to this point,” Alicia stated. “Now you need to stop focusing on the mana channeled extracts and trying channeling your mana into the Snake Venom.”

Liam looked at her confused. “But won’t that weaken the mana I channeled into the extract and allow them to separate?”

“And that’s why I said it gets trickier from here,” Alicia smiled. “You’ll need to do it quickly or it will fall apart fast.”

“Damn,” Liam muttered as he waited for an opportune moments.

After a few seconds passed he picked the spoon out from the cauldron and then plunged it into the Snake Venom section. Once when the spoon dove in, Liam channeled as much mana as he could into it.

The resistance the Weak Snake Venom put up caught Liam off guard. He watched as the color of Weak Snake Venom latched onto the mana on the spoon.

Liam felt nauseous as the poison did this.

Panic started to slowly creep up inside him as the purple color slowly started to snake up the spoon. He wasn’t sure why this was happening.

Liam’s thoughts started to swirl as he felt light headed.

What the hell? Liam thought. How is this happening? What the hell is going on?

Liam tried moving the spoon out, but was stopped as Alicia yelled, “Do not take that spoon out! If you do, then the whole process will fall apart.

Liam pushed the spoon back down and started stirring again. What the hell am I supposed to do then?! Is this how far I’ll be able to go with this?

Amongst the panic swirling inside Liam a new feeling rumbled deep within him. “No!” Liam growled as he pushed his mana down hard into the spoon. This not only stopped the poison from snaking its way up the spoon but pushed it back down and enveloped the section of the cauldron.

“Good!” Alicia shouted. “Now blend the two mana channeled sections together!”

Liam stirred through the sludgy liquid as hard as he could. The three colors began to blend with each other evenly.

After stirring for three minutes a chime echoed within Liam’s mind while a notification appeared in front of his eyes.

 

“Congratulations! You have made Weak Corrosive Toxin!”

“Weak Corrosive Toxin Description: if this toxin comes into contact with any open wounds, a corrosive debuff will be applied on the area of contact. This will make the area of contact blister and slowly spread out, breaking down the cells of the skin. If ingested, internal organs touched by this toxin will start to break down, making it hard to breath and cause suffocation and disorientation. 5 HP per second will be lost for 1 minute. If Ingested suffocation and disorientation for 2 minutes.”

“Congratulations! Poison Crafting has reached level 2! Progression to level 3: 25%!”

“Congratulations! Mana Channeling has reached level 6! Progression to level 7: 100%!”

“Congratulations! Mana Channeling has reached level 7! Progression to level 8: 100%!”

“Congratulations! Mana Channeling has reached level 8! Progression to level 9: 0%!”

“Congratulations! Mana Sight has reached level 4! Progression to level 5: 100%!”

“Congratulations! Mana Sight has reached level 5! Progression to level 6: 100%!”

“Congratulations! Mana Sight has reached level 6! Progression to level 7: 0%!”

“Congratulations! Body Stat Endurance Sub-stat Crafter Endurance has reached level 10! Progression to level 11: 25%! Stamina bar will drain 5% less when crafting!”

“Congratulations! Body Stat Constitution Sub-stat Ailment has reached level 7! Progression to level 8: 100%!”

“Congratulations! Body Stat Constitution Sub-stat Ailment has reached level 8! Progression to level 9: 60%!”

“Congratulations! Ailment Resistance Venom has reached level 7! Progression to level 8: 100%!”

“Congratulations! Ailment Resistance Venom has reached level 8! Progression to level 9: 60%!”

“Congratulations! Mind Stat Wisdom Sub-stat Crafting Practicality has reached level 8! Progression to level 9: 100%!”

“Congratulations! Mind Stat Wisdom Sub-stat Crafting Practicality has reached level 9! Progression to level 10: 100%!”

“Congratulations! Mind Stat Wisdom Sub-stat Crafting Practicality has reached level 10! Progression to level 11: 0%! + 5% increase to speed when crafting items equal to or less than current crafting level. +5% to making crafted item a higher quality.”

 

Liam closed the notification windows as the nauseating feeling he felt earlier hit his stomach again. He felt like he was going to throw up. He looked at the vials in the mask at the corner of his eye and noticed they were empty.

Liam looked at Alicia and stated, “I’m going to step out. I think I’ve got a Poison Debuff.”

Alicia gave him a confused look until she saw the empty vials attached to the mask he wore. “Ah, ok. This will be fine if we step out for a few.”

Liam nodded as he walked out of the room.

Galin turned to look at his two students walking out. With a curious look he asked, “How did it go?”

“Well, actually,” Alicia replied as she took her mask off. “I’m actually kind of jealous he got it on the first try.”

Galin’s eyes rose. “He did?”

Liam gave him and Alicia a confused look. “You guys are acting like I was going to fail.”

“Usually, people do fail on their first try,” Galin stated. “It’s not unheard of for some people to not fail on their first try, but it’s rare.”

“Tell me,” Alicia started. “Do you have Mana Sight?”

“Yeah,” Liam nodded. “I got it when I received Mana Channeling.”

Galin shook his head. “Of course, you did.”

“Now I’m definitely jealous,” Alicia frowned. “It took me some time to get that ability.”

“Oh yeah?” Liam said a bit shocked.

“You’ll probably get Mana Control soon too at this rate,” Alicia huffed.

Piqued by hearing this Liam asked, “What’s Mana Control?”

“Mana Control allows a person to be able to have better control over their mana usage,” Alicia explained. “When you channel Mana into an object or spell, you can use mana control to put in more or less the amount of mana into it.”

“It’s also a staple ability mage users need to be able to create new spells when they reach a higher level,” Galin added. “Creating new spells or learning new spells which ever one chooses they will need Mana Control at a high level in order to pursue their desired path.”

Liam’s eyes widened at hearing this. You can make new spells? Liam thought. That ability is a must have! I need to tell the others about this, they will definitely want to hear this!

“However!” Galin continued. “You won’t be able to use it to make new spells till you have a much higher understanding of Magic and you have progressed past the Branch stage of the Arcane.”

“Branch stage of the Arcane?” Liam questioned. “What is that?”

“It’s something you’ll learn when you’re ready, but it’s after you have surpassed the Field of Study,” Galin stated. “Now, enough about that. What did you have him create?”

“A Weak Corrosive Toxin,” Alicia answered. “Nothing too tough. Just the basic.”

“Nothing too tough?” Liam countered. “It felt like that Weak Snake Venom was trying to poison me through my mana.”

“That’s right. It did manage to do that,” Alicia said, remembering why they had left the room.

She pulled out a small vial of diluted green liquid.

“Drink this. It’ll take care of that,” Alicia stated as she handed the vial to Liam.

Liam assessed the vial.

 

“Weak Poison Antidote. Item Quality: Weak. Item Rarity: Common. Description: Cleanses Weak Poison.”

 

Liam drank the contents and grimaced at the taste. He then looked at Alicia and asked, “What did you mean by that?”

“That Toxin Cleanse ran out a lot quicker than I thought it would. Once when it did it allowed the Weak Snake Venom to apply the Poison Debuff through your mana. That’s why you have to be careful when creating poisons.”

“Well damn,” Liam said with a shocked expression. “Poison Crafting is no joke.”

Alicia’s expression grew stern as she stated, “It’s not. You have to make sure you have proper knowledge, preparations, and counter measures when making them.”

Liam nodded, agreeing with her. He remembered someone who he used to know back on earth who was trained in poisons, and they said the same thing.

“That being said,” Alicia continued as she handed him a book. “If you are going to continue making poisons then make sure you read this book.”

Liam looked at it. The cover read Toxicology for Beginners.

“Also remember this,” Alicia added. “When you coat your weapons with poisons, make sure the poison is not a higher Quality than the weapon.”

“What happens if you coat a weapon with a higher quality?” Liam asked.

“It will melt the weapon or corrode it depending on the poison,” Alicia stated.

Liam grimaced at the thought of his weapons becoming useless from doing that.

“Dually noted,” Liam said writing it down in his notebook.

“Ok,” Alicia said. “Let’s get back in there and continue the lesson.”

“Yes ma’am,” Liam jokingly said with a playful smile.

Alicia frowned and countered, “Call me ma’am again and I’ll make sure you stay poisoned next time.”

Liam laughed in response.

 

                                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Liam closed the book he was reading and set it down on his bed. A chime echoed in his mind.

 

“Congratulations! Knowledge Theory - Toxicology has reached level 8! Progression to level 9: 15%!”

 

Poisons are no joke. Liam thought as he looked at the closed book. There are so many different ones, whether they are crafted, picked, harvested, gas, liquid, or in a natural form. The effects they can causes can really do some damage in the right hands…or the wrong ones.

Liam shook his head to get himself out of that line of thought.

He had spent a few hours training his Poison Craft. He was able to get it to level five from all the Weak Corrosive Toxins and a new one called Weak Paralytic Toxin.

The Weak Paralytic Toxin was a poison that causes a paralyzing affect around the area that was struck. It would last for thirty seconds, but it still did five damage per second.

Not only did he learn how to make that and get his Poison Craft up, he was also able to get his Mana Sight and Mana Channeling to level ten.

Liam felt he was on the cusp of learning something new but didn’t know what it was nor how to get it.

“Only way to figure it out is by pushing forward,” Liam muttered. He looked at his internal clock and added, “Speaking of pushing forward…That duel is today.”

Liam let out a sigh as he thought how stupid he was to agree after he tried to avoid it. Jude really got under his skin, and he wasn’t absolutely sure why. His goading Liam could have ignored, but he thought maybe it was how the man used his words.

Liam shook his head. No that wasn’t the case. Liam thought. Could it have been because Jude was from Earth like him?

It was a possibility that Liam felt was somewhat right.

If that’s the case then why didn’t Alicia, Octavius, or Olivia make him feel that way? Liam thought as he questioned it even more.

He let out another sigh before grumbling, “No point in fretting over it now. Just got to deal with it without attracting any more attention from that Steve guy.”

That’s another issue. Liam thought. What is the relationship between Steve and Jude? If they are working together then I’m going to need to be even more cautious during this fight.

Liam stood up and started to pull out everything he was going to use in the fight. “I’ve still got a few hours until the fight. I’ll just make sure everything is in order and make strategies for any possible encounters.”