6.30 - Unique Potion

6.30 - Unique Potion

Theo and Salire documented creating a fourth tier potion. Even just looking at the raw essence felt like viewing something momentous. The reaction was clean. Almost too stable for the alchemist’s liking, considering how powerful the resulting potion would be when compared to the last tier. The liquid inside the flask bubbled, leaving small amounts of froth near the top of the vial, but nothing more. What was left was a shining red liquid, glimmering with potential.

“There it is,” Theo said, smiling to himself as the prompt appeared.

[Unique Potion]

You are the first person to craft this potion. This potion has never been created by another mortal. Please select an attribute to boost from the following list:

Strength, Vigor, Dexterity, Wisdom, Intelligence, Willpower.

“You got it? Same deal as last time?” Salire asked.

No, it wasn’t the same prompt as last time. The last prompt claimed it was about a ‘potion of significance’ while this one was about a ‘unique potion’. The difference was subtle. Gaining attributes from the potions that were on a world-based timer made enough sense, since their creation came from impossibly difficult-to-find reagents. But this new prompt came from making a potion someone else hadn’t made. The surprising part was that others had made potions like the Potion of Limited Foresight and so on.

“I got it,” Theo said. “I should go full Wisdom, shouldn’t I?”

“Maybe. I guess that depends.” Salire placed her hands on her hips, humming for a moment. “Wait, we’re going to make at least one potion for all the other potions we’ve done, aren’t we?”Reêad latest novels at novelhall.com

“Yep. That’s a lot of free attributes. How many unique potions have we made? Aside from this one?”

“Twenty... something. I don’t know,” Salire said, going through her notes. “Wait, twenty times ten is two-hundred.”

“Two-hundred attributes to distribute how I see fit.” Theo rubbed his hands together. He felt a warm sensation flooding through his brain as he selected Wisdom on the prompt. “That’s insane.”

Salire swallowed hard, shaking her head. “I’m kinda scared.”

Theo watched as his precognition got slightly better. Ten points put him in another realm of Wisdom, giving him about two seconds of predictive power. On top of that, his Wisdom of the Soul prompts would give him better information. More mana didn’t hurt, but it wasn’t needed. While this would take a while for him to get used to, it was worth it.

“Oh,” Theo said, looking at the potion in his hand. “I guess I should inspect this.”

Salire chuckled.

[Major Healing Potion]

[Potion]

Epic

Created by: Theo Spencer

Grade: Good Quality

Alignment:

Tero’gal (Perfect Bond)

A healing potion. Drink to restore health.

Effect:

Instantly restores 250 health points.

“That’s a fine potion,” Theo said, holding it up to the light. The clarity was great, but so were most of his other potions now. The quality could have been higher, but it was good for now. “Not sure what I think about the process.”

“You might unlock an ability to make it easier.” Salire took the potion, wedging the stopper into the top. “How do you feel?”

“I’m good.” Theo watched as Salire moved across the room before she actually moved. He wondered why people didn’t take more Wisdom, but it was a tricky attribute. The points required to get to where he was likely only benefited artisans. Dexterity and Intelligence might have been more useful for them anyway. “I can see you move before you move.”

“Are you seeing fates, yet?” Salire asked.

“Nope. That must be reserved for ultra-high levels. Thank god for that, though.”

“You’re becoming your own god... look at the alignment on that potion.”

“You know what’s funny? The gods aren’t actually gods. Which means I was right when I got here. They’re just really strong people that convinced the system to give them a new name.” Theo paused for a long moment. Salire clearly had no interest in engaging in religious debates. He cast his eyes to the ceiling, as though he could peer through it and into the heavens. “Now that I said that out loud, I’m worried. What if...”

“Hah! I like that. There’s a hold on realms with thrones in them, so consider yourself lucky. No other realm is safe. I’m happy purging them all.” Void crossed his arms. He might have been glaring at Theo and Khahar from behind that swirling mask, but neither could tell. “Come on. What’s the pitch?”

“I’m sure you recall the shards.” Khahar bowed his head.

“Of course.”

“They aren’t here.”

“Yeah, they are.” Void tilted his head to the side.

“Did you check?”

“No, but they should be here. Everything would be in... disorder if... they weren’t... Okay I get it.” Void scoffed, waving a dismissive hand.

“You’ll need someone to go get them. Someone like Theo.”

“Why?”

“You cannot cross into the mortal realms. Not even a splinter realm.” Khahar’s face took on a look of confusion.

“I can go anywhere I want. We’re not bound by the stupid rules you guys made way-back-when. We’re already working on dismantling them so we can fix this stupid world.”

But if Void could just go pluck the shards from the far end of the void, why hadn’t he? Theo couldn’t figure this god out. There was something off about him. Perhaps he hadn’t gained his full power yet, or he was diminished in Tero’gal. Whatever the case, he wasn’t able to impart his full will on the world.

“You need us,” Theo said, self-assured. “Otherwise you would have gone. Right? So, why can’t you?”

Theo felt Void narrow his gaze, but saw nothing. “You remind me of someone... Very annoying.” After a hauntingly long pause, Void clapped his hands together once. “Okay, jerks. Here’s the deal. Since you’re the only two idiots not peeing your pants, you’re gonna fix this.”

Theo and Khahar shared a look. Only Khahar smiled as he said, “That was the plan.”

“Horns, get the shards back to the planet. Tall-and-fuzzy, muzzle these not-gods. You guys can designate a realm for each god to migrate to. Hey, don’t worry. You can keep yours if you have a throne. Everyone else needs to fight for a spot in the pantheon.”

“The twelve spots, right?” Theo asked.

“Yeah. Four are... Oh, you crafty little bastard!” Void turned, growing at nothing. “Do the job. Bye.”

Void vanished without another word.

Theo turned to Khahar, shaking his head. “How much of that did you predict?”

“What I saw was fuzzy. But I saw what drew him away.” A smile crept across Khahar’s face. “He didn’t expect our fake gods to fight back. Glantheir does battle.”

Things were officially moving too fast for Theo. He had big plans back in the mortal realm, and not enough time to accomplish what he planned. It seemed as though everyone with even a hint of power had plans of their own. But for once he was happy to see the once-gods rendered powerless. Compared to a true god, they were nothing. That answered a question Theo had since he arrived here. The ‘gods’ seemed so without power that they were useless. Well, there was the answer.

“Let’s organize these lesser ascendants,” Theo said, clapping a hand on Khahar’s shoulder.

Khahar nodded his agreement and they headed over to the cottage. The moment the door opened, the room went silent. Theo looked over those gathered for the meeting. Ascendants from every race were there, all in various states of anger or disbelief. The looks they shot to the entrance were as varied as their race. The alchemist was sad to see Benton among them.

“Here’s the deal.” Khahar’s voice carried over the crowd, silencing whatever murmurs remained. “We won’t tell you what to do. But if you return to your realms, you might die.”

“As in... die?” one ascendant asked. “Forever?”

Balkor’s eyes flashed from the crowd, the flare of green darkening the room. The dronon ascendant was one of few higher gods. Theo couldn’t get a read on him, but he could have been desperate.

“That’s right. Tero’gal and Kahak are happy to take you and whatever souls you want to bring over. Otherwise, I’m certain the other realms will collapse.” Khahar’s voice had a tone of finality that gave Theo chills.

“Even the high realms?” Balkor asked.

Theo locked eyes with the necromantic dronon ascendant. He looked like all other dronon he had seen, but with pale green skin and faded green eyes. One eye had lost its color, becoming a muted gray. He wore tattered robes. His fight was long, and the alchemist couldn’t forget how much of a catalyst he was. Evil or not, he helped get the world to this point.

“That’s right. Unless you can secure a spot in the new pantheon, you’re screwed.”

More questions came from the crowd. Everyone was upset about losing their realms, not understanding how an upstart like Theo got to keep his. Khahar didn’t give direct answers, instead skirting the issue and telling them to take it up with the new management. They only had so much time, and Khahar wasn’t willing to wait.

“We can’t explain it any differently,” Khahar said, holding his hands up to silence whatever questions came next. “Settle matters in your realms. Or die. That’s up to you.”