Back in my own element, I couldn’t help but smile to myself as I created the potion. From careful measurements of the fermented liquids, pouring them into the cauldron and watching them puff up multi-colored smoke. You know, if I were an experimental druggy, I’d probably try inhaling some of it. But I wasn’t that adventurous.
The entire time, I was a bit on the nervous side, checking and rechecking everything, searching for even the slightest hint of a failure until a hand gently fell onto my shoulder. I glanced up to see Milia.
“Relax,” she said.
“Yeah, I know,” I said. “I just don’t want to screw this up.”
Milia had that knowing look again, as if she could see things beyond what my brain was capable of. After another minute of us watching the liquid dance at its simmer, slowly changing color, she spoke. “You’re the best of the best. Allow yourself to get a little… cocky, this once.”
Harmony, seated a short distance from the pot in a shop chair, nodded as she caressed Wolverine’s head.
“The mana circulating through the pot is unlike anything I’ve sensed before,” the blue-haired girl said.
“As tedious as the potion creation process is, the real test will be up to you, Harmony,” Milia said.
“Huh?” Harmony asked with a flinch.
Milia smiled. “Not only will you have to stomach it, but it will require you to cycle your mana. Normally, a meditation like this would require days, but thanks to Nate’s mana, it may just be mere hours, perhaps minutes.”
Harmony’s eyes widened almost like saucers.
“Don’t look at me,” I said with a shrug. “I don’t know how this works. And, well, I’m not really into the whole cultivating thing or the violence that comes with it. Sure, where I’m from has violence, but I was only a middle-class worker like anyone else. Hell, I got my sorry ass up for work every day and worked hard with no particular golden future in mine.”
I smirked. “Honestly, declaring this is kind of getting repetitive, even for me, so let me prove myself to be worth a damn.”
The two women and wolf cub were staring at me with unreadable expressions.
Eventually after a few farts from the cauldron and a fantastic display of color from the old ginseng, the moment of cooling came and passed, and we found ourselves bottling two potions. Yes, all of that work just for a yield of two. Milia seemed surprised, expecting one. I, on the other hand, hoped to have multiple secret uber-priced potions in my reserves.
“What should I do with the other?” I asked Milia.
“You’re the employer,” she said. “The decision rests on you.”
“Aha, but a good employer asks his employees and friends for opinions,” I said, shoving half the responsibility back to her.
“Opinions are there, but for this, you must decide its future,” Milia said, closing my hand around the small vial. “What will you do with it?”
I stared at the potion in my hand just a bit longer, as if it’d tell me the answer. In a way, it kind of did. This was my first major success under pressure. Honestly, I was sure I’d fuck this up, because that was kind of how it always went. For some reason, three or four or maybe seven tries at something finally told Lady Luck to give one a break.
“Is it okay if I just keep this, perhaps for display only or maybe in my room as a novelty?” I asked.
Milia nodded. “It will never go bad.”
[New special potion listing added, Mana Core Potion. New potion listing added: General Medicine Potion.]
[Current potions available: Health Potion, Energy Potion, General Medicine Potion.]
[Special potions: Night Vision, Mana Core.]
“Where did you learn of such a potion, Milia?” Harmony asked while gazing at the bottle in her hands. She took a sniff and grimaced.
“Another dryad from a forest within the Astral Empire told me,” Milia said. “It’s not very useful for us. Our cores are protected by the combined forests of the world. But knowledge is knowledge, so I kept that in mind. This is the first time I told anyone. Not that I interacted with many humans of this region.”
I nodded, thinking on the dryad’s words, before finally clapping my hands once.
“Alright, let’s get started,” I said. “Harmony, you consume your icky fruit juice. Milia, Wolverine, help me run the shop today. Any questions?”
The women smiled and shook their heads. Wolverine barked.
“I’ll get out some flyers,” Milia said.
“Good idea. I’m adding a general medicine potion to the list,” I said. “In fact, I’ll grab the herbs and have this thing brewed in about an hour.”
“Sounds good,” Milia said. “I’m off. Coming, Woofy?”
The wolf cub barked and followed the green-haired woman out of the door. Harmony found a corner of the shop, sat in the lotus position, but before proceeding, she asked a question I should’ve expected from her.
“Can humans and dryads marry and have children?”
I shrugged, knowing nothing of this world, except for the excerpts from the history books. “I don’t see why not. Not so sure about the children thing. What do we know about inter-being relations?”
“It’s happened between human and elves,” Harmony said.
“There are elves in this world?” I almost asked, but kept down the words. If there were dryads, spirit beasts, there were surely elves. What? Every fantasy nerd dreamt of interacting with the long-lived elves or the hardy, foulmouthed, booze-loving dwarves. Don’t judge me.
“Dragons and humans too,” the girl continued.
You know, I could play dumb, be like ‘Why do you ask?’ but I knew damn well how my relationship with Milia appeared to the outside. In this world, this was a step of courtship. The dryad most certainly knew this, perhaps saw me as more than something that sparked her curiosity. I did like her, don’t get me wrong. In my world, we didn’t move lightning fast. In this one, things were probably different. The mayor’s daughter formed the pretense in which she’d arrange the marriage between us, that much I read.
But the fact that I’m hearing this at all meant that at some point, she brought up the subject to Milia. Or at the very least, asked this very question. There was a possibility she knew the answer, brought up the other instances, and judged my reaction. What a busybody, though I wasn’t angry with her for trying. In only a month of knowing Milia, I did technically start courting her. We both knew what we were doing. Courting being the process of getting to know someone I was interested in. Things were different in this period, after all.
If I courted the mayor’s daughter, for instance, and for a certain period of time, the townspeople would expect me to ask the father for permission to marry her. Or arrange the marriage.
I chuckled. “For now, you focus on getting that potion down and your core repaired. You’ll have to earn any mystical wisdom from me. This isn’t the time for romance novel talk, it gets nowhere if one cannot bring in the income to support a family.”
I accidentally gave off an unintentional hint and the busybody simply smiled, took the potion, closed her eyes, and began meditating as instructed.
In the meantime, I set up a cauldron for the general medicine potion, then hurried outside to collect the required herbs, according to the system. The garden looked even more beautiful up close, an array of healthy herbs, fruits, vegetables, and questionable plants. I gathered the ingredients needed and headed back inside to start the batch of potions. An hour later, I had them bottled, labeled, and ready to sale.
That was when it occurred to me. What would customers think seeing Harmony in the corner with her eyes closed, obviously meditating? Thinking quickly, I grabbed some large pieces of plywood and made a makeshift room for her. It could be her little fortress. No boys allowed. I almost considered making the sign, but remembering the price of paper, changed my mind. It’d be a hell of an expensive prank that only I’d be laughing at. Sure, sometimes laughs like that are worth it, but in the case of paying out numerous silver pieces, yeah, no.
I was not expecting the wave of customers Milia brought in, but when I stopped to think about it, my shop had been a work in progress for about a month. The talk of the potion maker spread probably as far as the village a couple of days from here.
The morning batch sold out instantly, followed by the health and energy potions. Milia ran the shop at my side, but thankfully instead of awkward questions, we got brightened looks. I chuckled, grinning at the coin we made that day.
“I can finally relax a bit,” I told Milia. “We can invest in new things for the shop. I’m also hoping to get a refrigerator made.”
“A… refrigerator?” Milia asked, tilting her head.
“Think of it as ice-cold storage for food,” I told her.
“Oh!” she said. “I’ve never heard of something like that, except in the north where the natives use the elements for preservation. There are some that dig deep holes before the winter ends to store ice, but it is but a short-term solution at best.”
“If I can create something that stays incredibly cold, kind of like liquid nitrogen, then we can build a few ice boxes, store even meat inside. Cold drinks, water, and even some temperature-sensitive potions.” I raised a finger as another thought came to me. “Oh, we should get a cat just in case we end up with a pest or two, especially in the warehouse.”
Wolverine darted outside, eyes sharp as he patrolled his master’s domain with everything he had. Nothing would slip by his trusty nose. He started from one side of the grassland, darted to the other side, and then watched the town a bit. The wolf would not risk a pup magician appearing into their town from one of those black rolly-rolly things pulled by the neighing giants. After everything was to the sunlight wolf’s liking, he began today’s training. First, he allowed aura to manifest and practiced willing it as a weapon. Being a wolf, he easily formed a killing intent that held the potential to freeze prey in their tracks, strike with the kind of fear that made them easy pickings. Or for those with even a little honor, worthy foes. Maybe.
Wolverine sat, closed his eyes, and began to take in the mana from the surrounding area. Within his body, he used it to cleanse his power, expel the impurities. This was a daily process in which all living things participated in one way or another. The black aura changed to blue to signal one step toward defying the heavens.
Ever stepped outside only to catch your dog or wolf meditating? Neither have I, but man, what an interesting sight. The little guy was the definition of grace. Fuck, just watching him made me feel like that clumsy fat guy that sat on your couch, never got up, drank all your beers, and never volunteered to cook or watch the grill, but was oh so happy to eat up all the goddamn food. Yes, just watching Wolverine gave me that kind of insight.
I left him to it and took a walk into the town. People were out and about running errands, manning food stands, or carrying loads from one location to another. The usual small-town shit that would be seriously boring on a non-workday. Man, I missed the bliss of electricity, TV, or video games to entertain myself with after work, or that occasional girlfriend that loved going to the movies, supplying the snacks along the way.
My first stop was at the butcher for some beef and fat. Thanks to the garden and Milia, I didn’t have to worry about buying veggies. I still appreciated the hard work farmers put into their craft. Without them, the world would starve. That also applied to the hunters, the craftsmen and women that made the tools, and the woodworkers.
After that stop, I bought bread, and a sauce that was close to ketchup. These people never heard of a burger, but today, I’d introduce it. For Milia, I’ll make her a veggie burger using certain beans and vegetables that had a meat-like flavor. I already had salt and pepper, among a few other spices at home.
We had onion and other things in the garden, which left me with the simple task of manually preparing the meat, tossing it on the grill and seasoning it.
“Excuse me, Sir Potion Maker.”
I turned. A woman smiled at me. Her three-year-old son hid behind her leg, eyes on me curiously.
“I just wanted to thank you for the health potion earlier,” she said. “I’m able to work again thanks to you.”
I smiled, my heart warming, and hell, forced myself from allowing a tear of joy to slip. Something I made helped someone. Nothing could make me happier. Yeah, yeah, even I could be a sentimental bastard, sue me.
“You’re welcome. I’m just glad I can be of some use,” I said.
When I returned to the shop, I immediately set up a grilling area just beyond the porch and, with a bit of mana, heated the coals. Milia watched in fascination as I prepared the meat first, washed my hands with soap and water, then prepared the veggies. A good seasoning later, they were on the grill.
Damn, if only I could get my hands on some cheese. They probably had the strong aged stuff, likely affordable by nobles only.
“May I ask what you’re making?” Milia asked. “The vegetable version of… whatever it was, I’ve never seen anyone mix that and some bread crisps together.”
“What I’m making is a favorite from my homeland,” I said. “It’s called a burger.”
Right on time, the aroma of grilled meat filled the air, which naturally brought in Wolverine.
“Give it some time, buddy. I’ll give your share of meat,” I told him.
Wolverine barked once, his tail wagging in excitement.
“Burger… tis the first time I’ve heard of it, and to have a vegetable version,” Milia said. “How thoughtful.”
“Veggie burgers are actually really good,” I told her. “I prefer the meat as it is a token of my home, but not everyone there eats meat. So the veggie burger came about.”
“I see,” Milia said.
“By the way, since we’re celebrating the grand opening of the shop, would you like to spend the night?” I asked. “We have plenty of room and extra toothbrushes.”
“Is the tooth cleaning liquid mint flavored?” she asked, smiling.
“Indeed it is,” I said. “The other flavors, especially the tree sap, trigger my gag reflexes.”
The moment I stepped outside to check on the food, I took notice of a scene. A young boy about twenty meters away collapsed in the grass.
His sack spilled its contents consisting of, well, I wasn’t sure. From papers, a few oval-shaped objects containing mana, and a book. I sensed weak mana in him. But also looming death should he not receive any care.
Milia and I nodded at each other before hurrying to the boy. He looked about fourteen or fifteen years old with hair as red as cherries. Travel worn, dirty clothing with some tears signaled that the thin kid had gone through a hell of a journey. That also included some scratches, bruises, and spots that probably warranted a doctor. Which I wasn’t. Well, apparently he didn’t fucking need a doctor because a magical health potion reversed time on him. I had a feeling I should probably make sure word of the miracle liquids didn’t get out beyond the town. What if a guild of bastard doctors or medical companies lobbied for my disappearance or arrest for selling illegal drugs? Okay, maybe the government officials that came to collect taxes didn’t mind the potion shop. Also, I wasn’t the only maker around. I just had the weirdest product, quality so sky high that countries would probably go to war over it. Or me. Nah, let’s keep things realistic. I was in a small town in the middle of buttfuck nowhere. My life was already exciting with magic and new friends. It didn’t need the governments getting involved.
“Wolverine, let us know when he wakes up,” I said after setting him a pair of fresh clothes on the table next to his bed. That was supposed to be Milia’s bed, but I didn’t have the heart to make an injured patient sleep on a cot or the floor. “I’ll get one more bed for the other room in a few days. For tonight, you can have mine. I’ll take the cot.”
It was the gentlemanly thing to do. No one in my household would make a lady take the floor.
“I don’t mind shar—”
Harmony’s eyes shot open and, for the first time, we felt her aura.
“I… did it,” she said weakly. The blue-haired girl stretched.
“Well, I guess my disciple’s awake,” I said with a chuckle. “I hope you’re hungry.”
“Very,” Harmony said. “I hope you have wine too.”
“Of course,” I told her. “We’re celebrating the grand opening of the shop with a dish from my homeland.”
“He calls it a burger,” Milia said.
“Anyway, let’s get everything assembled,” I said. The meat was already off the grill and so after washing my hands again, drying them with my mana, I assembled everyone’s sandwiches. I gave wolverine slabs of meat without the bread, which he appreciated. I waited for their reactions and got what I hoped for. Delight, joy, and the desire for more. “We have a patient upstairs. When he gets up, we’ll have him try it too.”
“This is incredible,” Harmony said. “The vegetable version is amazing too. Where did you find this recipe?”
“Like I said, a token of my homeland,” I answered. “I hope to make a few more dishes whenever I find the ingredients. Hopefully, they don’t cost me an arm and a leg.”
The women smiled sadly at me.
