Chapter 53: Fifty one

Sitting in the underground lab, with my chin propped up in the palm of my left hand, I stared at the basket of Drakus flowers. 

So much potential, but how to harness it? 

 I don’t have a lot of Saltpeter, so using that isn’t a viable option, and I only brought one jar of Sulfur. 

“What to add?” I mused, picking up the three fire potion recipes again. 

The first recipe, ‘Light em up baby’, used a mixture of Russula mushrooms, fire berries, sugar, oil and Sulfur to create what it described as an adhesive fluid, which was packed into a clay canister with a fuse. When the fuse burnt down, and the liquid ignited it would explode, covering everything in a three-foot radius with the burning fluid. 

“Strange that it uses fire berries,” I mused, tracing my finger down the page to where it spoke about preparing the fire berries. 

Fire berries were Kaledon’s version of ghost peppers, and one of the main components in my ‘choke bomb’, which had been my attempt at recreating tear gas. 

“Isn’t this just jam?” I grumbled, as the recipe instructed to cook the fire berries and sugar in a pot until it thickened. 

Clicking my tongue in annoyance, I continued reading over the recipe, and found that the Russula mushrooms were to be dried and ground into a powder before being added to the ‘jam’. According to the notes, the Russula mushrooms would give the fluid a sticky consistency. 

“So, I can remove the Russula mushrooms from the recipe, and use something else or simply forgo it.” I concluded, setting aside the recipe. 

A search through my bags showed that my supply of the fire berries was limited, and I only had dried berries left. Though, with my budding new friendship with a Dryad, I hoped that my dwindling supply of ingredients could be replenished. The fire berries, with their deceptive strawberry like appearance, had dozens of small black seeds dotting its skin, seeds which Rainy could hopefully grow into more berries. 

Once I’d carefully removed the seeds from a dozen fire berries, I headed out of my lab in search of the Dryad. After checking our camping area, and not finding the Dryad, I went to my tent, intending to search through my saddle bags to see if I had any fresher berries in there. 

Entering my tent, I found Rainy sitting in my living area, Leo curled up in her lap as she sat reading. 

That’s right, I recalled.

 Rainy asked if she could sit in my tent to read, and offered to watch Leo while I worked in the lab. Hearing my approach, the pink-haired Dryad looked up from her book with a smile. 

After showing the Dryad the seeds, and explaining that I needed the berries for an experiment she was all too happy to help grow the flame berries. Rainy explained that if we planted the seeds, she could grow the bush and place it into a flowering cycle. Which would mean that the bush would bear fruit every three days, as opposed to the six months it would take to do so naturally. 

“Does speeding a plants growth like that affect them in any way? On earth, artificially grown vegetables contain less nutritional value than those grown traditionally.” 

“I’m not sure to be honest,” Rainy said as she place the seeds into the large sandstone pot I’d formed.

Luckily, the Dryad had brought a few sacks of soil with her to the desert, as the sand wasn’t the best environment for growing plants. While Rainy could sprout seeds without the need for soil, it would only live for as long as she continued feeding it her mana, once she cut the connection, the plant would wither and die. Sprouting plants in soil, used less mana and allowed the plant to sustain itself from the nutrients in the soil once the Dryad broke off her connection to the plant. 

 “It does have a detrimental effect on a plants life span, but I don’t know if it affects the plant in other ways. For example, a plant such as this, which would naturally flower every six months and do so for five to six years before dying, will wither and die within a month.”  

“I see,” chewing on the nail of my thumb I watched as Rainy sprouted the fire berries. “Will multiple flowerings drain the soil of nutrients? Do we need to fertilize it or is that something you can compensate for with magic.” 

“I will imbue the soil with magic to provide the nutrients needed to sustain the plant's growth. However, different plants have different needs, and some can not be grown as simply as these.” 

“Have you grown Viper vines before?” I asked, and Rainy glanced up at me with a curious expression on her face. 

“Viper vines? I haven’t heard of those,” she informed me. 

As we began picking fire berries from the four bushes the Dryad had grown, I told her about the Viper vines, and the paralyzing poison I created by distilling the toxin secreted by the Viper vines fang like thorns. 

“Have you any of these vines on you?” Rainy asked, her eyes taking on an almost hungry gleam as she stared at the pouches I wore strapped to my belt. 

“Not fresh ones, I’ve got some toxin stored and two dried vines I was planning to grind into powder for an experiment. They don’t reproduce through seeds, but by sending out shoots.” I explained. 

“May I see the dried vines? I might be able to revive it,” the Dryad asked, and I nodded. 

If she could revive the dried Viper vines, it would be extremely beneficial to me, as I’d sold a lot of the paralyzing poison to Killian for his arrows. Leaving my basket of berries on the floor, I stood and went to where I’d left my saddle bags, searching through the inventory screen until I found the container marked with VV on the front. 

Holding one vine coiled up in her cupped hands, Rainy closed her eyes and I watched in fascination as her hair moved as though blown by a non-existent wind. The pink blossoms that decorated her hair, raised up into the air, swirling around the kneeling Dryad as her green skin glowed softly. 

A sickly sweet scent permeated the air in my tent, and I quickly pulled up the scarf I wore to cover my face, the enchanted cloth filtering out the intoxicating scent the Dryad produced. 

I’m going to have to wear my mask at all times around Rainy. I know it’s not entirely her fault, being that it’s a natural Dryad ability, but I don’t like the effect her scent can have on me. 

The vine in Rainy’s hands twitched and shuddered. Then, like a snake shedding its skin, a healthy green Viper vine slithered across her palms, leaving behind a dried brown husk. 

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“Hello beautiful,” Rainy crooned, opening her eyes and smiling down at the vine curling around her wrists. 

The Dryad appeared rather taken with the newly revived vine, stroking her fingers over the vine’s length, cooing softly to it, in the same way one would a treasured pet. 

“May I keep this vine? The second has no traces of life left, and cannot be revived, but if I bond with this vine, I can create more.” Rainy said, stroking her fingers over the Viper vine curled around her arm. 

“Bond with the vine?” I asked.

The Dryad nodded, her eyes never leaving the vine as she spoke. “As a Dryad, I can bond with plants such as this one that have a strong magical essence. It will allow me to use this plant as a conduit for druidic magic.” 

“Use it how?” I questioned, wanting to learn more about my new teammates magical abilities. 

“Well, I am bonded to a type of vine already, which is called a grasping vine.” Rainy said, lifting a finger to touch what I’d thought was a necklace styled to look like a vine, but as it moved, I saw it was a live plant.

The vine curled around her free hand, and she raised it up for me to see.

“Because of this bond, I can do things like this.” 

Quick as a flash, dozens of vines shot out from the one Rainy held, and landed on the floor in front of me.

“I can conjure and control any plant I am bound to,” Rainy said, looking at the fire ball I’d reflexively conjured in amusement.

The vines twisted together, coiling tighter around each other to form a single large vine at one end, while staying separated at the other. As I watched, the vines, looking reminiscent of a multi-headed serpent, slithered over to the fire berry bushes and plucked the remaining berries, placing them into the half filled baskets on the floor. 

“Thats a neat trick,” I mumbled, watching the vines picking berries with a feeling of surrealism. 

“They are covered in tiny hairs which let them ‘grasp’ onto different surfaces. They’re also useful for restraining foes. Though, I feel that the Viper vine will be much better equipped for the latter task.” 

“You can have the vine, but, I’d appreciate it if you let me milk the venomous fluid from the vines under your control.” I said, memories of the struggle I’d had with the vines when first attempting to milk them coming to the forefront of my mind. 

If the Dryad could make the task easier by controlling the vines, then I was all for it. 

“Thank you,” Rainy said, a wicked-looking smile curling across her lips. “You know Kadia, I think we’re going to get along great.” 

“Grow me lots of plants and we’ll be the best of friends.” I joked, getting a laugh from the Dryad in response. 

“Help me find lots of strong, dangerous plants, and that’s certainly a given.” 

Once back in my lab, I filled a medium-sized caldron with fire berries, and after setting it on a stand, conjured a flame beneath it. Yuki, the other Kitsune in our guild had told me the best way to strengthen my fire, was to use it as much as possible, and I’d found using my own flames when working in the lab had helped my ability to control the element a lot. 

 While the berries simmered, I filled a glass orb with Drakus flowers, and ethanol, then added ten grams of sulfur to the mix. Sealing the orb, I moved to a second, this time adding both sulfur and saltpeter.

Let’s try some Scorcher saliva in this one, and in the next I’ll substitute the ethanol for diluted Scorcher venom. 

Once the berry jam had reached a suitable consistency, I used a pair of tongs to stir an ice wisp core through the mixture to cool it, before portioning it out into several jars. I’d left just enough mixture in the caldron for one orb which I filled with Drakus flowers, sulfur and the fire berry jam. 

“There’s still a little bit of jam left,” I mused, and decided to pour some ethanol into the caldron to mix with the jam coating the sides before adding the mixture to another Drakus orb.

Carrying the first orb over to the kiln, I placed it inside the top compartment. Then I focused my mana through the stone, picturing the stone enclosing the orb within a box. I repeated this with each of the orbs, placing them inside one by one, and sealing them inside their own little stone blast box. With the orbs all secured, I lit the fire and waited for several moments for the kiln to heat up, before sealing the opening, as an extra precaution.

That should keep any explosions contained. 

It was as that thought entered my head, that a thunderous noise filled the air, as the kiln exploded in a wave of rock and fire. Thrown back by the explosive force, I slammed against the far wall of the lab, as a swirling inferno overtook the room. 

Dazedly, I staggered to my feet, hand outstretched and pushing at the fire, doing all I could to keep it from overwhelming me. 

Put it out! I need to put it out. I thought franticly, as the fire shot up the tunnel leading out of my lab, still burning though it lacked anything to fuel it. 

Air, fire needs air. Starve it. Seal the lab, better to die then wipe out the encampment. 

Briefly taking my focus away from pushing back the flames, I turned my attention to the stone tunnel and flung my mana out towards it, an image of it collapsing and fusing together at the forefront of my mind, as the fiery inferno closed in around me. 

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