The Newt and Demon-7.51 - Poke or Slash

“I don’t see why I need to help you if you’re not going to let me be a bard.” Tresk said, her face wearing a sour expression as she stood in the open field.

Breaking from tradition, Theo wanted to test his potions in the real world. Well, the potions that wouldn’t drive a person insane, anyway. He brought the marshaling along to a field outside of the harbor. It had once been a place that was rarely visited by locals, but had since become something of a crossroads. The path worn into the landscape by so many traveling feet went from the harbor to Qavell and to the causeway.

There were plenty of tough rocks littering the area. They would be perfect for testing these two new potions, and Tresk was the ideal person to conduct the tests.

“Don’t worry about becoming a bard. You can’t carry a tune,” Theo said. “Now, I assume you have at least a few daggers you don’t mind losing in that arsenal of yours.”

“All my babies are precious,” Tresk said, withdrawing a chipped and rusted dagger from her inventory. “Even Henry here. He’s one of my favorites.”

Theo withdrew his own junk dagger from his inventory, holding it by the blade and handing it over. He had a few more of similar quality ready for the test. “As I thought,” he said, “I brought a few spares from the smithy for you to work with. The first potion we’re testing is the Sharp Potion.”

Tresk cradled the dagger for a moment, sighing. “I want to give him a name, but then I’ll get attached. Okay, hand me the potion.”

“Baseline first,” Theo said, gesturing to a stone. It looked like a decent stone to split.

Tresk shrugged. Holding the weapon with both hands, she raised it high above her head and then brought it down in an arc as it struck the side of the large rock. It bit into the surface. However, when she withdrew it, there were deep chips on the blade, and the structure of the weapon itself had been compromised.

“It probably wouldn’t survive another hit,” Tresk said, rolling the blade over in her hands for further inspection. “There’s a seam that goes all the way to the back. It’ll break in half soon enough.”

“As expected,” Theo said, pulling another dagger from his inventory and holding it up. This time, he also gave her the sharp potion, which she knew exactly how to use. The marshling poured it over the blade and watched as the magic took hold. A silver sheen rushed over the surface, with visible beads of light gathering near the edge. She held it aloft and nodded with approval.

“Ready?” Tresk asked, holding the blade above her head with both hands. When the alchemist nodded, she brought it down in a tight arc. It left behind a stream of silver that traced a perfect line through the stone. The rock itself didn’t split from the force but was instead perfectly cut all the way to the ground, where the blade continued to bite until it was buried up to the handle in the dirt. “This is the part where you ask for about a thousand of these potions.”

“If they pass a few more tests, I’ll be mass producing these,” Theo said. “So there’s no worry. It should give people without very good weapons an edge in combat.”

“An edge!” Tresk shouted, laughing and slapping her knees. “I get it. So what’s the other test?”

Theo then produced a new blade, a stout sword imbued with system-generated magical enchantments. It was one of many items that had been rewarded or given by locals over the past few months. He understood it wasn’t the most powerful weapon, but it should have been strong enough to stop an unenchanted iron dagger.

“Hit this. Not me, Tresk. The blade,” Theo said, holding it out as far as he could.

The marshling coiled back as though she would dive straight for his heart and then winked, pulling the blade through the air and leaving a silver streak that went straight through the magical weapon. Her cut was so clean that the sword maintained its form for a few moments before splitting in half, the top end tumbling to embed itself into the ground.

“I think I’ll need more than a few thousand of those potions,” Tresk said, licking her lips. “We need to figure out how hard of a material this thing can cut through in the Dreamwalk.”

This single potion would level the playing field for many people in Broken Tusk. It seemed like a simple thing at first, but if it made any bladed weapon significantly more effective, it would make any adventurer holding that weapon massively more powerful. He had some worries about it coming into the hands of someone who would use it for nefarious purposes, but as the reset drew nearer, he felt less risk-averse.

“We still have another potion to test,” Theo said, pulling a spear from his inventory and tossing it over to Tresk.

“Yeah, I don’t use these,” Tresk said.

“Yeah, but I do,” Sarisa said, emerging from Theo’s shadow and jogging over to take the spear. “What are we doing? Am I stabbing you? Please tell me I’m stabbing you today.”

“You’re going to stab me after you take a potion. Well, I suppose we should do a baseline first to see if you can stab me with your own merit. It might be good training for my new ability.”

Theo felt the tingle of danger before he even gave the order for Sarisa to strike. The spear flashed through the air in slow motion a moment later, and the alchemist relied on his abnormally high dexterity to move to the side, swatting the spear away and preventing himself from kicking forward. Sarisa stumbled to one side, looking up with a raised brow.

“You’re a quick one, aren’t you?” Sarisa said, coming in again.

As Theo danced over the open landscape, he gained a better understanding of his new ability. Recognizing the connection between the sensation of danger and the slowing down of time was paramount. Without that connection, the ability would not even activate. However, with it, he perceived each of her attacks coming slowly and could manipulate his body to move out of the way or otherwise foil the attacks before they arrived. He also gained a decent estimation of Sarisa’s abilities with the spear.

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“Take a moment to regain your breath,” Theo said, adjusting his coat.

Sarisa lay on the ground, panting for breath as she gave the thumbs-up.

By the time the half-ogre woman had recovered, Theo had a decent mental image of how well she fought. The problem with the Poke Potion was that the description was vague. It claimed to increase the effectiveness of thrusting-style attacks, stating that it would make them deal more damage and that they would be harder to parry. But there was only one way to figure out what that meant exactly. Of course, he wasn’t about to give her a real spear for this, instead opting for a simple wooden quarterstaff.

“I guess I can still poke with this,” Sarisa said, giving it a few test pokes. “Now, where’s the potion?”

Theo handed over the Poke Potion and watched her quaff it. Sarisa stood there for quite some time, eventually shrugging when nothing seemed to happen.

“Focus on how you feel while under the effects of the potion,” Theo said.

Salire didn’t wait much longer than that. Theo felt a sense of impending doom as he watched her move. When her thrust came this time, it blurred in his vision. The alchemist went to slap it to the side, but his parry failed. His hand rolled over the staff as it thrust toward his chest. Then, his entire body shifted to the left by about a foot, and the strike missed.

“Oh, come on! I had you,” Salire said, frowning. “What happened?”

“I took a Potion of Limited Foresight earlier. Since I knew that would happen.”

“Cheater!” Tresk shouted, growling. “Take the hit like a man.”

Theo turned, narrowing his gaze at the marshling. “We’re testing a potion, not dueling.”

There were some important things to note from that singular attack. The thrust was very difficult for Theo to parry, and he wasn’t certain if he could ever make it happen. Dodging the attack might be possible, but if he ended up taking a hit from it, the potion claimed the damage would be increased. Well, there was only one way to know for certain.

“Let’s go again. I’m going to dodge this time,” Theo said.

“It’s bad form to announce what you’re doing before you do it,” Sarisa said, tightening her grip on the staff. “Let’s see you dodge this.”

The alchemist stepped to the side as she launched forward, watching the weapon pass in slow motion. She performed another quick thrust, which he moved out of the way of. Just to test it, he parried the next strike by slapping the staff away, but as expected, his hand rolled off the staff and his body shifted to one side about a foot again. He wondered if parrying was impossible. The potion, combined with Sarisa’s natural ability with the spear, created a frightening opponent.

“So, are we counting both potions as a success?” Tresk asked.

“I think so,” Theo said. “Important thing to note is that these shells are common, so we can make a lot.”

“I have concerns,” Rowan said, stepping from Sarisa’s shadow.

“So, do you guys just live in people’s shadows?” Tresk asked, folding her arms.

“Kinda,” Rowan said with a shrug. “Don’t see any other shadows around here, so we gotta use yours.”

Tresk cleared her throat. “Right. Continue.”

“These potions seem powerful,” Rowan said. “You’re always harping on about keeping the weapon-style potions out of the hands of people who don’t deserve them. Why are these different?”

Theo smiled to himself. The creation of exported weapons had been a hot topic for quite some time now. At first, he didn’t want to make those weapons because it made him think of his old life too much. Now he didn’t want to make them because he didn’t want others to have them. Perhaps that was a selfish thought, but there were still enemies out there. They might have been few in the waning days of the world, but they were still there.

“Things are calm,” Theo explained. “And you know what happens when stuff gets calm in Broken Tusk?”

“That’s when the monsters come out,” Tresk said, rubbing her hands together.

“You think we’ll need these potions?” Rowan asked.

“Maybe. If a few slip out of the town, we have people around who can deal with troublemakers. I guess I should count myself among those people, actually.” Theo had to think about it. He had been powerless for so long, but now that he had grasped some measure of strength he could use it.

“Our big bad alchemist,” Tresk said, slapping Theo on the butt. “Just watch. He’ll chug thirty potions and go to town on any nasty boys.”

“There’s a few more things I’d like to test with the Poke Potion,” Sarisa said, interrupting the concerns of her brother and bringing the group back to the task at hand.

“What is it?” Theo asked.

Sarisa wanted to see the limits of the Poke Potion. She entered the role of an alchemical researcher easily, helping Theo map the limits of the potion. There was a lot of magic involved, ensuring that whoever had consumed the potion became significantly more effective with a spear. But skill was still required. When Tresk took up the staff, she was significantly less successful at hitting the alchemist. She missed most of her hits, meaning he didn’t need to parry the strikes.

Next, they tested the increased damage of the potion’s effect. As expected, the increase to damage was significant. But unlike the Sharp Potion, it did nothing to protect the weapon. Sarisa thrust forward with a spear Theo had bought for this purpose. It slammed against a rock, bending in the middle before snapping. The stone still chipped, sending shards flying into the air to pepper those observing the demonstration.

“I would like a few of these potions,” Sarisa said, holding the ruined half of a staff. “With my enchanted spear, this could easily double my strength.”

“What about a glaive?” Theo asked. “Pair the Sharp Potion with the Poke Potion.”

Sarisa’s eyes went wide. “That’s not a bad idea.”

Of all the things Theo could have found to produce good potions, he would have never expected a conch shell to be it. This made him wonder how many reagents were lurking just under his nose. Once the experimentation was done with the two potions, Tresk, Sarisa, and Rowan just screwed around with their effects for a while. They tested to see how big of a rock the marshling could chop in half, and how hard Sarisa’s enchanted spear could hit.

A field of boulders sliced in half or otherwise exploded sprawled far into the distance by the time they were done. Theo had fun watching them experiment, and made mental notes about the effectiveness of those potions. Perhaps the Sharp and Poke properties would be the perfect ones to pair with something like a Strength Potion using his infusion methods. A mental tingle told him it might be a decent path forward.

But there was only one way to tell. Through experimentation.

Unfortunately, Tresk was eager to test the effects of the Call of the Sea potion. She knew the drill, though. As Theo had classed this as an extremely dangerous potion, she wouldn’t mention it aloud. The reagent would be stored in the alchemist’s inventory, and even Salire wouldn’t be allowed to reveal the properties. That was the only way he could ensure it didn’t get out into the wild.

“Wanna ride around on Alex until dinner?” Tresk asked.

“Why not? What better way to whittle away the day than riding our dragon-goose?”

“More dragon than goose lately,” Tresk muttered, whistling. Alex descended from the sky moments later, stirring up clouds of dust as she landed.

“We gonna do some tricks?” she asked.

“You know it!”