Adrian settled at an isolated table, far from the central hearth where mercenaries boasted of their exploits. In front of him, a bowl of mutton stew steamed. It was greasy, salty, and nutritionally acceptable. He ate mechanically, a spoon every four seconds.
“IRIS, project the acquired data. Display the list of the ten recipes found in the Almanac,” he thought.
The familiar micro-vibration crossed his optic nerve like a low-intensity electric current, triggering the activation of the neural processor. The data did not appear in a holographic overlay, but inscribed directly onto his retina in sharp, razor-sharp, electric-orange characters, cutting the tavern’s grimy reality into two distinct strata: the tangible world of rancid grease odors and raw, strained voices, and the icy abstraction of the figures.
The text scrolled vertically, floating in the space between his spoon and his cooling bowl of stew, indifferent to the wisps of smoke dancing around the candles. Every line was accompanied by a subtle pulsation behind his temples, as if his own brain was beating to the rhythm of the calculations.
[DATABASE ACCESS : STANDARD ALMANAC (ALCHEMISTS' GUILD) - COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS V1.3]
- MINOR REVITALIZATION POTION (Known as "The Blue")
- (Status : OPTIMIZED PROTOCOL / EFFICIENCY 90+%)
- IRIS Note : Fractional distillation for 4h30. The local standard (decoction at 98°C) destroys 78% of the active alkaloids. Their "medicine" is a molecular mush.
- Observation : The characteristic sapphire blue comes from the stabilized copper ion concentration. Visual signature now associated with your brand.
- BASIC ANTIDOTE (Against Common Venoms)
- (Main Ingredient: Marsh Serpent Bile - Unpurified)
- Local Success Rate : 38-42% (margin of error due to residual fecal impurities).
- Analysis : Ingesting toxins to counter toxins. Logic of a drunk shaman.
- Suggestion : Isolate active peptides via chromatography. Potential efficiency: 92%.
- IRONSKIN BALM (Artisanal Variant)
- (Ingredient: Ironbark Beetle Carapace - Mechanically Ground)
- Claimed Effect : 15% increase in dermal resistance.
- Analysis : Their grinding method destroys 63% of the chitin polymeric bonds. The resulting powder is as useful as a mud bandage. With controlled acid hydrolysis (2M HCl at 65°C), extraction of pure chitin fibers is possible (theoretical resistance: +47%).
- Priority : HIGH. Your current armor has an estimated lifespan of 3.2 combats before critical perforation.
- VIGOR ELIXIR (Muscular Stimulant)
- (Ingredient: Red Ginseng Root - Macerated in apple alcohol)
- Effect : 22% reduction in perceived fatigue (placebo included).
- Analysis : Biochemical equivalent of a double espresso.
- NIGHT VISION OIL (Eye Drops)
- (Ingredient: Cavern Bat Eye - Ground and Filtered)
- Claimed Effect : Improvement of scotopic vision.
- Analysis : Rhodopsin (photosensitive pigment) is denatured by their grinding process. Ocular application of unsterilized animal tissue carries a 37% risk of bacterial conjunctivitis. Their "improvement" is disguised temporary blindness.
- Alternative : Retinaldehyde synthesis in laboratory. Efficiency: 98% light transmission in low light.
- BLINDING POWDER (Organic Smoke Grenade)
- (Ingredient: Dried Smoker Mushroom - Pulverized)
- Tactical Use : Visual area denial (effective radius: 2.3m).
- Analysis : The mycelium contains irritating spores (concentration: 12μg/m3). Effective for disorientation, but limited duration (18-22 seconds before dissipation). Their version is a diluted variant of what an optimized tear gas agent could be.
- Possible Improvement : Addition of distilled capsicum (pepper) to increase the irritating effect by 400%.
- SILENCE OINTMENT (Anti-Sound Treatment)
- (Ingredient: Whispering Moss - Applied Raw)
- Effect : 30-35% reduction in footsteps noise.
- Analysis : The alveolar structure of the moss effectively absorbs sound vibrations, but their raw application is largely inefficient. Distillation at 80°C for 1h30 would extract a viscous oil capable of absorbing 85% of sound waves (20Hz-12kHz frequencies).
- Priority : CRITICAL. Your current acoustic signature is detectable from a distance by an average predator. Optimizing the recipe: inaudible within a few meters.
- COLD-BLOOD SERUM (Fear Inhibitor)
- (Ingredient: Crystalweaver Spider Venom - Diluted 1:10 in water)
- Claimed Effect : Temporary immunity to panic.
- Analysis : Their dilution is arbitrary. The venom contains a neurotoxin (Arachno-calmin) that blocks adrenergic receptors, but their dosage is unpredictable. At 0.05mg/kg, anxiolytic effect. At 0.07mg/kg, cardiac arrest in 4-6 minutes.
- Risk : Therapeutic window too narrow. To be proscribed without resuscitation equipment.
- MINOR MANA POTION (Raw Energy)
- (Ingredient: Ether Dust + Spring Water - Unstabilized)
- Effect : Temporary increase in bodily Etheric Density.
- Analysis : Drinking unbound Ether is the equivalent of injecting oneself with radioactive plasma. Their "potion" has a 68% rejection rate (internal burns, cellular mutations). Without a stable molecular vector (like your Anchoring Enzyme), this is slow suicide.
- Observation : Regular users develop liver lesions in 3-5 months (Etheric cirrhosis).
- LIQUID TORCH (Improvised Incendiary Weapon)
- (Ingredient: Troll Grease + Sulfur + Pine Resin)
- Use : Adhesive fuel for close combat.
- Analysis : Their recipe is functional but wasteful. Troll grease has a flash point of 132°C, but is barely superior to beef suet. However, their mixture lacks a gelling agent (such as guar gum) to improve adhesion to the target.
- Improvement : Addition of 3% magnesium powder to increase combustion temperature to 1200°C ("thermite light" effect).
- Warning : Using this weapon in a confined space increases the risk of asphyxiation by oxygen consumption (time before loss of consciousness: 45-60 seconds).
[STRATEGIC SYNTHESIS]
Recommendation :
- Immediate Priority : Silence Ointment (stealth) + Ironskin Balm (survival).
- Acceptable Risk : Blinding Powder (improved) for tactical escape.
- Absolutely Avoid : Local Mana Potion (lethality rate: 12% per ingestion).
- Commercial Opportunity : The optimized "Blue" has monopoly potential (profit margin: 340%).
- Threat : Your current Etheric Signature (0.001 EDI) makes you undetectable by scanners, but also incapable of defending yourself. Solution : Develop a serum before your invisibility becomes a life-threatening handicap.
[END OF REPORT]
The data overlay abruptly shut off, leaving Adrian facing his now empty bowl, the orange outlines of the characters seeming to burn his retina as they faded. He blinked, the throbbing migraine behind his forehead a cruel reminder of the limits of his neural interface. The stew tasted bland.
— They call that alchemy, he muttered, wiping a streak of grease on his sleeve. It’s molecular butchery.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
His gaze swept the room, lingering on the drunken mercenaries near the hearth. Their boiled leather armor and blunt swords would soon be relics of an era when sheer force was enough. At least against him. He would see to that. Here, in this world where magic was a physical law as tangible as gravity, their equipment already seemed obsolete compared to the possibilities he glimpsed.
And yet, terrifying as this world was, they survived. Because they had what he lacked: a sufficiently high Etheric Density. Which he was deficient in. For the moment.
Adrian clenched his fists under the table, feeling the pressure of his nails digging into his palms. He did not have the luxury of waiting. Not the luxury of ignorance.
— IRIS, initiate the sorting protocol. Isolate the three recipes with the best risk/benefit ratio for a Grade 0.001 subject in a hostile environment. And plan a cost simulation in time and resources.
The vibration resumed, more intense this time, like an electric current running up his spine. The data reappeared, but this time, they were no longer lines of text. They were equations. Survival probabilities.
And for the first time since his arrival in this world, the numbers smiled at him.
Their recipes were based on a primitive, sympathetic logic: “like cures like.” They ground eyeballs to acquire night vision, ignoring that the ingestion of retinal pigments did not activate any photosensitive receptors without an enzymatic vector. They mixed animal fat and sulfur, praying that it would ignite, confusing an uncontrolled oxidation reaction with magic.
It was not chemistry. It was witch’s cooking.
He pushed his empty bowl away, the stringy taste of the mutton fading to be replaced by the coldness of calculation. He had to choose his battles with surgical precision.
The equation of his immediate survival depended on three variables that he needed to urgently isolate.
Firstly, Defense: his Grade 0.00 skin would rip like tissue paper against the slightest Ether-impregnated claw.
Secondly, Stealth: physiologically unable to outrun a predator, his only viable option was to never come into contact.
And finally, Capital: because in this world as in his own, ambition required heavy funding.
— How to get rich without too much risk? he whispered between two mouthfuls of mutton.
The Mana Potion represented the economic "Holy Grail" of this world. Inexhaustible demand, an indecent profit margin, and immediate liquidity in any market. On paper, it was the royal road to capital accumulation. But technical analysis immediately cooled this fervor. For a Gradeless armed with medieval mouth-blown glassware, manipulating pure Ether—a substance with high energy instability—was like handling enriched uranium in a copper basin.
Without a containment system or, at least, borosilicate glass capable of absorbing the thermal fluctuations of a chain reaction, the attempt would end in a detonation. An instantaneous vaporization of his laboratory, and of himself with it. The risk/benefit ratio was catastrophic.
The Polyvalent Antidote, as for it, suffered from a structural defect: it was purely circumstantial. The toxicology of the Grey Sector was too vast; preparing a serum against the necrotic venom of rats would be useless against the paralyzing neurotoxin of a Crystalweaver Spider. It was a reactive measure, not a proactive one. And in his current physical condition, if he were bitten by a Grade 1 creature, traumatic shock or hemorrhage would kill him long before the poison reached his central nervous system. Investing rare resources in a remedy he likely wouldn't have time to ingest was a logistical non-sense.
He mentally discarded these options. He needed concrete solutions. Passive, durable improvements that would increase his survival statistics without relying on his faulty human reflexes.
His index finger traced two imaginary lines on the rough wooden table, isolating the critical variables. He settled on two recipes. Two projects achievable with the salvaged equipment he owned, and which would fill his most glaring deficiencies.
Target 1: The Ironskin Balm. The local recipe advocated grinding Ironbark Beetle carapaces and mixing them with suet. Result: a greasy paste that smelled bad and slightly hardened the skin. Adrian’s approach: Extract the chitin by acid hydrolysis, then synthesize it into a bio-adhesive polymer. Theoretical result: a flexible second skin capable of stopping a light blade.
Target 2: The Silence Ointment. The local recipe used the Whispering Moss as is, rubbed on the boots. Ineffective and messy. Adrian’s approach: Distill the essential oil of the moss, which possessed acoustic absorption properties (likely a micro-cellular structure trapping sound waves).
“IRIS, localize the habitats of the ingredients required for these two recipes.”
[CROSS-REFERENCING GEOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL DATA] [IRONBARK BEETLE : LIVES ON OLD OAK TREES AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE EAST SECTOR (ON THE ROAD TO THE CAVES).]
[WHISPERING MOSS : GROWS IN HUMID, DARK AREAS. PRESENCE CONFIRMED IN THE WEEPING CAVES.]
It was perfect. A straight line.
He finished his meal. He had a plan.
“IRIS, create a Priority Watch List. If we cross any of the following elements during the expedition, alert me immediately, regardless of the danger.”
[WATCH LIST ACTIVATED]
1. BLACK LOTUS (Estimated Price: 10 Gold/unit)
2. WYVERN BLOOD (Estimated Price: 50 Gold/vial)
3. PURE ETHER CRYSTAL (Estimated Price: Priceless)
4. ANY PLANT WITH A DENSITY SUPERIOR TO 2.0 EDI.
He emptied his bowl, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve, and stood up.
Now that he knew what to prioritize, he had to return to the Guild to find the quests that matched his new objectives.
Arriving at the Guild, he returned to the Quest Board. He ignored escort announcements and goblin hunts.
He specifically looked for quests related to the famous beetles and the whispering moss. He needed reliable low-cost armor and to be discreet.
He found what he was looking for in the bottom right corner of the immense board:
[EXAMINATION: IRONBARK BEETLES] [TARGET: 20 CARAPACES] [REASON: THEY ARE DEVOURING THE FRUIT TREES IN THE EAST ORCHARD] [REWARD: 300 COPPER]
Adrian smiled internally. Three hundred copper for twenty carapaces—it was a steal. Ironbark Beetles, with their almost metallic exoskeletons, were known to resist conventional weapons. Their elytra, capable of deflecting a standard iron blade, were worth far more than the offered price. But the Guild did not know what he planned to do with them.
For him, it was not a hunt. It was a targeted harvest.
He tore the parchment for this quest from the immense board with discreet satisfaction. The base of his future composite armor. And above all, he saw the organic magnesium contained in their carapaces, a key ingredient in chemistry.
He then looked through the announcements for the Whispering Moss. Nothing. No official contract. This was not surprising. The Guild did not know what he knew: that this grey, spongy moss, which grew in the damp recesses of the Weeping Caves, was capable of far more than absorbing sounds like a sponge. No one here understood its potential. No one but him.
There was no demand, but there was always a market. Official or not.
Thieves, assassins, spies... all would pay a fortune for an ointment capable of silencing their steps. And if he did not find a buyer, he would use it himself. After all, being undetectable in certain situations could save your life. That was worth far more than a few silver pieces.
Adrian stepped away from the board and came back toward the Guild counter, the soles of his worn boots lightly crunching on the stone floor. The reception counter, dark oak polished by years of elbows and parchments, shone faintly under the flickering light of the oil lamps.
Behind it, the receptionist—Magda, still there, barely looked up from her ledger. Her fingers, stained with purple ink, paused for a moment on the page before she slowly raised her head. Her dark circles, more pronounced than last time, dug dark half-moons under her tired eyelids.
— You are back already? she murmured, her voice slightly husky, as if she had not drunk since morning.
Adrian placed the beetle contract on the counter with a measured gesture. The parchment, slightly wrinkled at the corners, spread out between the two of them. The black ink of the quest terms—Ironbark Beetles, East Orchard, Reward: 300 copper—seemed to almost glow under the dim light.
— I’m taking this mission.
A muscle twitched in Magda's cheek. She grabbed the cork stamp, worn down to the core, and plunged it into the inkwell with a dull plop. The dry CLACK of the stamp on the parchment echoed in the relative silence of the reception hall.
— Beetles are not easy prey, she warned, blowing lightly to dry the ink. Their carapace... it’s harder than wrought iron. Even a sharp blade can slide off it like ice. You have to aim for the joints. Between the plates. Where the chitin is thinner.
She looked up at him, as if gauging his reaction. Adrian remained impassive, but his pupils contracted imperceptibly.
Data confirmed: weak points = intersegmental zones. Material: polymerized chitin, estimated resistance 1200-1500 psi.
— Understood, he replied simply, hands flat on the counter.
Magda hesitated. Her stamp remained suspended above the ledger, as if she was weighing her words. Then she lowered her voice, almost in spite of herself:
— And for the Weeping Caves... she paused, glancing furtively at the guards posted near the entrance, their leather armor faintly creaking with every movement. A Bronze team returned this morning. Three men. They looked... she tightened her lips, as if chasing away an unpleasant image. The critters over there are agitated. More than usual. The spiders are weaving webs twice as wide. Bats fly in tight swarms, as if something is urging them on. And the teams coming back talk about... she lowered her voice further, almost a whisper. Of vibrations. In the walls. As if the rock itself was alive.
A shiver ran down Adrian's spine. Vibrations. Abnormal faunal agitation. Hypotheses: 1) Undocumented seasonal migration. 2) Unidentified apex predator. 3) Geothermal activity 4) Local ethereal disturbance (unstable mana node?). Priority: on-site assessment.
— I will be careful, he assured her after his slight absence spent evaluating the situation that awaited him.
Magda exhaled slowly, as if relieved to have passed on the warning. Then she handed him the stamped parchment, her fingers barely trembling.
— Alright. Try not to end up like the others. She offered a joyless smile. Or at least, don't come back in pieces. It messes up the Guild's stats at Capital headquarters.
Adrian methodically folded the contract into quarters, before slipping it into the inner pocket of his tunic, against his chest.
— I'll do my best, he murmured, already turning toward the exit.
Behind him, Magda sighed again, longer this time. As if she already knew she would have to scratch another name off the list of the missing.
He left the Guild. The sun was beginning to set. He had a few hours of daylight left to reach the edge of the East Sector.
He checked his equipment. Dagger. Pouch. Empty satchel. And in his mind, a stolen encyclopedia and a tactical artificial intelligence.
He was not going on an adventure. He was going to work.
Question: If you could have ONE passive buff in real life (Silence, Hard Skin, Night Vision...), which one would you pick?