Chapter 5
“It’s a shame you can’t make steaks out of mud,” Trig bemoaned as I worked on the seed in the alchemy workshop, carefully cutting it down into different ingredients. Being on the road meant being far, far away from our usual alchemist team. I’d have to rely on my own alchemical abilities, though they were woefully lacking since I had stopped progressing in that area for quite some time. Alchemy was something I had left to my more adept allies.
One of the benefits of being part of an organization was that we didn’t need to fulfill all roles alone. Each member of the group could specialize into their chosen field without having to worry about branching out. Being alone, possibly for the next few months, meant we’d have to round out our own skills. I gave Trig the Bloodpoints for this kill, but the next one would be mine, primarily so I could advance my alchemical abilities.
One useful design of the Stabwagon was that it could distill alchemical ingredients while traveling. All I needed to do was place the proper material into the right cauldrons and vials, and then let the automated system work. Pouring most of the salvaged mud into a steel alembic, I then dumped the chunks of raw seed into an extraction device. This metal container would superheat the organic material over time and turn it into pure liquid Estoan and Firnin. Quite handy to have.
And last, but certainly not least, I took the core of the seed itself, a strange hollow cylinder that was tender like meat, but firm as bone, and began to fashion a charm out of the core. You could really never have too many charms, especially since I could change them out on the fly.
Aspect of the Glurp:
Amorphous (0/5): You no longer have weak spots.
Eupepsia (0/2): Food takes considerably longer to digest, extending your ability to survive. You can consume any organic material, regardless of its health hazards, and survive off it.
Motionless (0/2): You may enter a semi-conscious state where your metabolism slows down to near infinite survival, enabling you to survive extreme temperatures. While in this state, you can only perceive external stimuli. You may end this state at any time.
These were some rare finds! Was Amorphous truly able to remove my weak spots? If so, that would be incredible. Just think about it! Humans were basically composed of nothing but weak points. If I could mitigate the extra damage I was always taking from being stabbed somewhere vital, I’d be more or less unstoppable. I had to test this out right away.
“Stop trying to see if the mud is edible,” I said, finishing up my work on the unfortunately named Glurp Charm. I had fashioned the charm into a long, hoop style bracelet, one that slipped easily over either hand. I equipped the bracelet, turning off my Telepathy charm, and selected Amorphous.
At once I felt a strange shift in my body, as if everything was moving just a little bit. Instinctively, I began to rub my arms, feeling things crawling beneath and then, nothing. Everything felt more or less the same.
Trig wandered over to me with a frown. “I wasn’t eating the mud; I was thinking about eating it. You know, for science.”
“Right,” I said, ignoring the small smear of mud across the corner of his lip. “I want to test something.” I made a V with my fingers. “I want you to jab me in the eyes, as hard as you—”
Before I could finish my sentence, Trig complied with a startling amount of enthusiasm. He poked me straight in the eyes, causing me to instinctively reel back and clutch my face. It stung, of course, to be hit so hard, but it was no worse than being jabbed in the arm.
“Why did you do that without any hesitation?” I demanded, once I realized I wasn’t blinded by the attack. His fingers bounced off my eyeballs like they were solid.
“Because you told me to!” he said. “I mean, how many times do you get the opportunity to just poke someone in the eyes? I’m not going to let that go past me! But uh, did it work?”
I nodded and smacked him in the back of the head. “Yes, it worked. And you should be thankful for that.”
“Why am I getting in trouble for just following orders?” he grumbled as he climbed into the back of the wagon. It was my turn to take watch now. It wasn’t a bad deal; we’d work in 12 hour shifts. One would sleep and relax; the other would lead the cart forward. The only real drawback to the Stabwagon was the fact that it didn’t move very quickly. All of the gear, mixed with the reinforced steel frame designed to prevent larger monsters from eating it, weighed the thing down quite a bit. Our engineers used as much magic as they could to get it moving at a decent pace, but in reality, it could only move about as fast as a human could march.
Time alternated between fast and slow as I traveled along the pathway set out by the scouts. Some days would go by quickly, as Trig would wake up early and be in a chatting mood; other days would drag, as we both found ourselves running out of things to say. At one point, Trig found one of my romance novels and began to read it out loud, to mock me, but ended up becoming engrossed in it just as much as I was. Thankfully, it was one of the few clean books that I had bothered to pack, for that would have certainly been awkward to hear him try and read smut aloud. Discussions of the book broke up the
