Chapter 81: V2 Five

“The scorchers get two desert locust every second day, Sting will steal Scorch's, so make sure you’re watching, and that both get theirs. There’s hopping mice in the cold storage for the Cobra, just place it in some warm water to defrost before feeding it, and try not to get bitten. If you do get bitten, there are some vials of LeoS-17 in the vault. Helvara you’ve got the key, correct?” I queried, looking at the taller of the two elves standing beside me. 

“Yes, Craftmaster.” Helvara responded, straightening his shoulders as he spoke. 

“There are a handful of low grade mana crystals in the vault for M-Doreen, who I’ve shifted to the door separating my personal rooms from the lab. I don’t recommend attempting to approach, so just throw the crystal towards the door from over there.” I instructed, pointing to an area a good three meters away from the door. “Do not bring any higher grade mana crystals or creature cores into the lab, unless you want a hungry mimic chasing you for it. I’d also suggest you refrain from using any high level magic within the lab.” 

“Um, Craftmaster Kadia? What about the other mimic?” Sadie asked hesitantly, eyes looking around the room nervously. 

“M-Faux will be with me,” I reassured the younger girl, reaching up a hand to pat the maroon and gold trim capelet fastened over my shoulders. 

The two elves both took an immediate step away from me, and I fought back a laugh at the look of horror that overcame Sadie’s face as she realized how close she’d been to the mimic. The girl seemed to think the mimics were around every corner, possessing everything she might touch.

 Even though not a single person in the encampment had been killed by either of my mimics, stories about them killing anyone who entered ‘the fox den’ ran rampant through the guild.

 Aside from my alchemy, and transmutation apprentices, no one in the guild dared to enter my lab. I’d even ended up moving the potioneers further up the hall after they refused to work so close to my personal lab, which was guarded by Doreen.

I’d expanded the first two labs in the hallway into two potioneer workshops, which left the labs further down for Sadie and Helvara to use, and allowed more space for future alchemy novices. There were three more guild members who were traveling to the encampment who would either take up positions as alchemy apprentices or potioneers, along with a disciple who’d prayed to Trismegistus in my name.

 The disciple, named Lucas, had not only discovered the spark moss I’d been unable to find, but was able to ascertain it's used to create alchemic light even before completing his quest, and getting the recipe for light orbs from me. 

Thus, instead of using my newfound ability to hand out quests to claim the moss, I directed him to continue his ‘quest’ by bringing the moss to Sēkrit, by  traveling with the members of Eternia who would soon be departing Airus. 

Once the disciple arrived to deliver the moss, we would hopefully be able to recruit him to the guild. If not for the fact that I was trying to keep the whole high priestess thing under wraps then recruiting more alchemists would be a lot easier, but there was also the risk of it making things difficult if too many people learned about my new title. 

Dorian, the guild's main healer, was an acolyte of Vēdiovis, who had told me about another healer he knew of who’d been named a High priest of Vēdiovis. That player was hunted by every guild, citizen and player in Kaledon, all seeking ‘blessings’ from the poor man who’d since gone into hiding within the temple of Vēdiovis. 

Even with him sequestering himself in the temple, people still flocked to the temple seeking out the first non-artificial priest. I could only imagine what would happen if word got out that someone else had been given the title of high priestess, even if it was for a relatively unknown god like Trismegistus. From what I knew, there were only four non artificial citizens who held the title of priest, or priestess, but only one the high priest. Though it was entirely possible others existed, but were simply not open about their position. It appeared that most who gained high ranked positions in a gods clergy typically ended up spending most of their time inside the temples, forced into hiding by the pestering public.

I was sure Tris would have a temple, but he’d been silent on the matter when I asked about it. Alchemy wasn’t openly taught, and there were no artificial beings who were alchemists that taught the general populace. I’d been told there were some famed artificial alchemists in Valonia, but that each only sold a handful of potions. In my eyes, this made them potioneers, as a true alchemist would always have new creations. 

 Transmutation, on the other hand, was taught in the magical academy at Rivera. But, it was my understanding that transmutation was an ‘unpopular’ magical art due to its complex nature, and the precision needed to be able to draw a working transmutation circle. 

The Transmuter I’d previously met in Hathus told me that there was only one instructor for transmutation, who did very little actual instructing beyond having the students copy down the basic circles that the academy taught, and sending them to read in the library. Nadir didn’t even know Trismegistus existed, and seemed to think his instructor may have purposefully concealed the information, as he’d described the man as a ‘pompous ass’ who prided himself on his superior knowledge.

As for Astrology, people didn’t seem at all interested in learning astral magic, nor had Darius even heard of using stars to grant blessings. He’d been genuinely shocked when I told him the constellations were basically a bunch of spells that could be used to grant certain effects. Such as the Griffin, which gave fighters a boost to their vitality, so long as the caster could continue to feed mana into the stars that formed it. So far, I was yet to convince any of the guild members staying in the desert encampment to learn astral magic, as most didn’t seem keen on spending their nights studying the stars to learn how to connect to the constellations. 

-

Leaving the lab with my two apprentices in tow, I did a final check of each workspace in the hallway, all of which were currently unoccupied with the exception of the potioneers lab at the end of the hall. 

“Helvara, when the incoming novices arrive they are to begin work in lab P2, assign Cassidy to oversee that lab.” I instructed, gesturing to a human woman who was working in the lab. 

Cassidy was the most competent of the potioneers, so I hoped she would be able to help keep an eye on the new arrivals until I returned from the fire drake hunt. 

“Yes, Craftmaster.” Helvara responded. 

“P1 will take on the production of the improved light foot potion, paralysis poison, wound salve…'' I listed off, watching as Helvara scribbled frantically in his note book. “P2 will work on pain relieving tincture, hype juice, and burn relief cream. You and Sadie will continue working on the daylight salve, along with the light orb formula once the disciple bringing the spark moss arrives.” 

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“Shall we have him join P2 as well?” Sadie asked, as we continued out of the hall, and into the main gathering room, which was emptier than it normally was at this time of day. 

“No, he can assist with the light orb research if he agrees to join the guild. Hopefully he can be convinced to join us, if not then give him the book in reward for bringing the moss and send him on his way. Remember, if you need me, you can just pray. Try not to do it too often though, as connecting to you drains my mana.” I informed them as we passed the guard check point, and continued upwards to leave the underground encampment. 

The topside encampment was far busier than below, with eight of the fourteen hunting teams currently staying at the encampment preparing for departure to the canyons in the south-western region of the desert. Seeing the tall red skinned Kijo that was my team's captain towering over the crowd, I headed in her direction with the two apprentices still following close behind me. 

Victoria stood with her back to me, as she checked the bags strapped to the saddle of a beautiful black stallion. The elven bred Friesian stood patiently as the Kijo worked, but let out a high-pitched whinny when he noticed my arrival. Glancing over her shoulder, the captain gave me a nod, before stepping away from the stallion. 

“He’s all set Foxy, dunno what you plan to do with the menace though.” The captain said, jerking a thumb over her shoulder to where Leo, my Leosaur cub was rolling on the ground wrestling with a slender Faun. 

The cub had grown quickly in the time since I’d first encountered him. What was once a kitten-sized Leosaur was now comparable in size to a small dog, and growing larger with every week that passed. 

“I was going to let him run alongside Arion, as we won’t be moving fast, and he is too big to fit in his basket now.” I told Victoria, who nodded, looking thoughtful. 

“It’ll do him good to build up some endurance, he is big enough now that you need to start training him for combat.” The captain commented, before moving over to her own horse, a stocky gray shire horse that dwarfed my black Friesian. 

Letting out a whistle, I called Leo over from where he was chewing on Pia’s antlers. Immediately the cub left his game, to come bounding across the sand towards me, and the Faun he’d been playing with scrambled to her feet, a broad grin on her face as she chased after him. 

“Play times over Pia,” I told the Faun who looked ready to pounce on the cub from behind. 

“Aw, you’re no fun.” Pia whined, and I rolled my eyes in response. 

“Considering your idea of fun is clinging to the back of a sand whale as it carries you for miles across the desert, I’d have to agree.”  

Grinning, Pia was about to reply, but a loud call from our captain had the Faun moving away to mount behind the woman on her large shire horse. Turning to my own horse, I quickly mounted, before glancing back down at my two apprentices. 

“Pray if you need me, but don’t need me.” I informed them, causing both to let out a laugh as they inclined their heads. 

“Yes, high priestess.” They responded, and I let out a groan in response. 

“Just Kadia is fine.” I grumbled, before giving Arion a light tap to move forwards and fall into position to the left of Victoria’s horse. 

To the left of Victoria was Rainy and Kip, both riding a pair of bay geldings which had been borrowed from another hunting team who was remaining at the encampment. Only Victoria owned a horse of her own, with the others normally traveling in a cart pulled by the large gray mare. While my team could have purchased another three horses, they forwent the expense in favor of buying the cheaper cart, no doubt at the money hoarding Kip’s insistence. 

Riding out of the encampment's gates, we joined the larger riding formation, which sat stationary outside the gates, waiting for the commanders to give the order to depart. 

It would take three days to ride to Hathus, where we would enter the tunnels that ran beneath the desert. From there, we would remain in the tunnels until we reached a settlement called Harin, which was located two days north of Valonia. With our guild's reputation with the city of Valonia, we would not be able to leave the tunnel at the city's exit, so would leave the tunnel before reaching it. 

The sound of a horn from the front of the riding formation sent the crowd into silence as the front row, which consisted of two horses and a gray rhino began moving out across the desert. 

As one, the guild spurred their mounts forward, and after some jostling, managed to even out in lines of four as we rode behind the three commanders. I was certain that our group of forty three was a sight to behold as we rode past the slowly expanding settlement Sēkrit, and couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride as people gazed up at our guild as we rode. 

That feeling of pride quickly changed to pain, however, as an arrow imbedded itself into my shoulder. I let out an ear shattering scream, which was echoed by the shriek of the mimic disguised as my capelet. 

What is with people and shooting me in the shoulder! I raged silently, as I crumpled forwards in the saddle, clutching at my shoulder as our previously smooth riding formation descended into chaos. 

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