You bet your ass I collected samples of the blackgrass before it all vanished. The hallow itself was gone without a trace, but it left behind some opportunity to gain new potions. The system rewarded me too.
[New special potion listing added, Shadow Potion. Upon consumption, you may hide in the shadows of anyone or object for a short time. You may also travel a small distance from shadow to shadow.]
[Current potions available: Health Potion, Energy Potion, General Medicine Potion.]
[Special potions: Night Vision, Mana Core, Water Breathing, Masking, Eagle Sight, Shadow.]
If the shadow potion wasn’t one of the most overpowered finds, behind the mana core restoration, then I don’t know what is. Unfortunately, it required materialized darkness, one of the ingredients I bottled as much as possible of before it finally all disappeared into the ether. This potion, despite being so powerful, was incredibly limited. And no, I would not be eagerly going on hallow hunts. Fighting to barely survive just wasn’t a potion maker’s style. Besides, I needed to find things to make for regular people, not fucking adventurers. I had no adventurer customers, for fuck’s sake. Me getting into battle was obviously for emergency situations, which I hoped would stay rare or never happen again.
The skeleton horses were gone too, as if they returned to whatever hell the hallow lived in. I mean, I did consider keeping them as pets, but knowing this time period, people would probably consider me a witch or something to be burned at the stake.
After a short debate regarding a multi-hour trip there and back, we decided to return to Kyushu for now. We easily recovered their wagon, which was thankfully undamaged, and all Mandi and the others needed were fresh horses. Being nobles, the prices didn’t affect them one bit. I, on the other hand, would’ve coughed my heart out.
Winn and Lou were stabilized by a health potion, but without a mana potion, they’d have to recover from severe mana depletion the hard way. That meant the trio would be stuck here until help from their House arrived. So the next day, Howie called for help.
The butler didn’t use the slow messenger man system like every normal person was stuck with. This motherfucker pulled out a cage containing a pigeon. He had it sent off with a letter secured to its leg within minutes.
“I hope you don’t mind us for a week, maybe two,” Howie told me. “We can’t move Winn and Lou much, not without our house magicians stabilizing them. If we do, we’ll risk crippling them for life.” He shook his head. “They’re lucky to be alive. The only problem now is if the recipient of this letter would believe us. Very few people escape hallows.”
Howie and I were currently in front of a house they rented from a minor noble landlord. Only because that noble didn’t offer me a place to rent out was I even more glad I built myself a custom house. Fuck that guy.
“What matters for now is that you guys are alive,” I said. “It’s the first time I’ve seen a hallow too, and believe me when I say I don’t want to see one again.”
“Is it okay if I assume you’re a wandering magician?” Howie asked. He flinched under my scrutinizing gaze, but after a moment, I cut him some slack.
“Magician? I’m just a potion maker,” I said and left it at that. There wasn’t a need to go into detail about having just one spell and not giving a damn. Magic spells didn’t pay my land taxes every month, that was for sure.
“I ask because we saw some of the fight and it is far from normal,” Howie said. “Excuse me for not just dropping the matter. We will honor the secrecy we swore and the debts when you come to collect. If not for you… well, we’d probably be suffering eternally in the hell of its belly.”
“It’d be best to forget what you saw yesterday,” I said cheerfully. There wasn’t really a threat in the air and, unlike the other three and that other guy from last time, Wingston’s butler, I respected Howie.
The next few days consisted of nothing too eventful, except Mandi stopping by daily, volunteering her help. At first, she was bothersome, with questions that tried to pry into my past, aiming for an angle to ask about my powers.
It took about two days for her to give up and, with that, she became far more tolerable. Harmony appreciated having less work to do. Milia’s animosity vanished too, appraising that the younger woman actually tried.
They even invited her over to dinner, though to me, this felt like a test run. He didn’t expect her to fall in love with his cooking, especially the veggie burgers. She wasn’t a huge meat eater, having grown up on a forced diet of less meat, increased fruits and vegetables. She accidentally let slip that she blamed the diet on her small chest but couldn’t understand her sister’s large size. I wisely stayed out of the women’s conversation.
Winn and Lou still remained out, supported by potions and the minuscule magic within their bodies that wasn’t disrupted by whatever the hallow did to them. Tom, Big Ham, and I hanged out with Howie sometimes. He slammed down plenty of ale, revealing his commoner roots, but never seemed to get drunk. I could get slightly buzzed at best, but never drunk due to the mana within, which pissed me off. Howie told me that the only way I’d feel excitement from alcohol again was to drink what sect leaders drank. A super strong wine they called Angel Tears. When he revealed the price to me, I tossed the idea in a mental titanium box of regrets and never looked back.
During the afternoon of the seventh day after the hallow attack, a knock on the shop’s door brought us unexpected guests. The teen Lucas and his blacksmith master. Milia had reminded me about the cauldron, but I decided to put off the idea for now to focus on other things. As a result, I successfully brewed the shadow potion. Let’s just say, test running it was more fun than it should’ve been. I even transported myself into Beakwing’s new barn! He was quite happy to hang out with me. I brought him apples. In case you’re wondering, yes, clothes and anything on your person went with you.
“It’s open, come in,” I said.
Nia, of course, looked far better than the last time I’d seen her. Dressed in a kimono, brown hair neat and in a bun, eyes cheery, but full of wisdom.
Lucas the half dwarf was also looking much better. Instead of the eyes of a child that lost everything, he looked like a young man aiming to eventually inherit a legacy, evolving it further or invent his own. A mood that suited him.
“Well, well, if it isn’t Master Nia and Sir Lucas,” I said, offering a handshake to the both of them. “Please come in, have tea.”
This timing couldn’t have been better.
“I hope this isn’t bad timing,” Nia said, which made me chuckle.
“We’re also here as customers,” Lucas followed up, seeming a bit awkward. Ah, I forgot. Magicians made people nervous. I spent so much time around people that saw me as Nate the friendly potion maker. If my power didn’t remind me it existed from time to time, I’d forget about them.
“You guys remember my betrothed, Milia,” I said as she walked in from tending the garden.
“Hello,” she said warmly. “Welcome to our humble abode.”
“Well met on this fine afternoon, lady of the house,” Nia said, her voice filled with too much respect.
“W… well met,” Lucas said, though he made sure not to stare at the dryad too long. I gave him a prideful grin that carried just a touch of a warning within. He flinched. Milia, as sharp as ever, caught onto that and would probably poke a little fun of me later, but she knew I was just messing with the kid.
“Speaking of customers,” I said as I led them to the dining room. “I’m looking to be one of yours.”
Nia’s eyes widened. “We could certainly use a customer.” She sighed as she relaxed, soaking in the friendly vibes Milia and I most likely left. I kind of wanted to fanboy over talking with a blacksmith that made fucking swords, axes, and other things that would make any fantasy lover melt, but held that in. “After the rebuilding, work slowed to a crawl. We’re considering packing up if things don’t improve.”
“I see,” I told her. “Before I reveal the order, I want to assume you’ve read the reply letter.”
“We have,” Nia said. “Thank you for replying. Your words were very kind.”
“I left the answer to Lucas’s request with a vague response because normally I do not take apprentices,” I said. “Not unless I’m looking for them.”
Lucas drooped and Nia rubbed his head like a comforting mother.
“But things have changed,” I said. “I can accept you as an apprentice, if you can figure out lodging. I’ll pay a fair wage and set a small bit aside to go to your landlord.”
“You’re paying?” Lucas exclaimed.
“Of course,” I said. “There’s no better encouragement for good work than getting paid for it.”
Nia nodded, flushing slightly. “There’s a first for everything, I suppose. Most apprentices live with their masters. The food and somewhere to sleep is the pay.”
“I don’t do the live-in thing,” I said. “But I do believe in actually paying. Just ask my current apprentice.”
I gestured at Harmony as she walked in, eyes narrowed at me. I made her plant a new section of the garden and also trained her at the same time. Judging by the pout, she was still quite pissed about that.
Good thing she learned early on to not wear white trousers or any dresses.
“Lodging is no problem,” Nia said. “I have a friend that lives in town, who will accept him while he works. Do you have a starting date?”
“Tomorrow, be early at sunrise and ready to work,” I said. “You’ll have magic training too.”
“T… tomorrow?”
“I’m joking,” I told the teenager. “Whenever you get your things.”
Lucas’s excitement exploded. “Thank you, Sir Nate!”
“If there’s anything we can do for you, let us know,” Nia said.
I grinned. “So about my order. And maybe the start of a new business friendship.” I held out my hand. She accepted it, though didn’t hold too long out of respect for the lady of the house.
