บท 124: Poison Master
"No, you can't just drink it! Master Ashbrew, what if it's a failed product, you could get sick!"
Arthur tried to persuade one of his top alchemists to reconsider his actions. After Gerald left, Arthur quickly took the Potion of Focus to the brewing chambers for the masters there to examine it.
Master alchemist, Edon Ashbrew, was one of the most intelligent and capable people that worked for him. Arthur came to him especially because he was a master with poisons. If anything went wrong while trying out this new potion, he was the person that could stabilize the situation.
And now his insurance wanted to be the test subject. Artur tried hard to persuade him otherwise, but the old master Ashbrew was a stubborn person.
"Arthur, lad, I respect you, but please… I have been dying to learn more about this amazing person you keep talking about, and now you just brought me one of his great inventions. If the potion is even just half as good as you say, it could bring forth a revolution in alchemy and magic!"
Edon Ashbrew swiftly turned down any pleas from Arthur as he stared at the vial in his hands with fervor.
"I can't let this opportunity slide, only by trying the brew out for myself can I accurately judge its effectiveness! What would happen if my assistants gave the wrong assessment because of their inexperience?"
"But master Ashbrew… They have all been working under you for more than a decade, it's impossible for them to be inexperienced!" Arthur pleaded his case, but unfortunately, it fell on deaf ears.
"Bah! That's precisely the reason! They think they know it all and are becoming sloppy in their work. It's even more of a reason why I, as an open-minded person, must try it out by myself!" The old alchemist stayed adamant on this matter and did not budge no matter what Arthur said.
Although he was employed by the latter, he was, after all, a respected alchemist with many decades of hard work to stand as proof of his ability. The employer-employee relationship was only true on paper. In reality, they were of equal status, or maybe the old alchemist was even a tad higher.
Eventually, Arthur gave in and agreed to the crazy requests of the master alchemist.
They had to be alone in the alchemist's lab and if anything went wrong, Edon Ashbrew would consider himself solely responsible.
Just in case he prepared his best anti-poison and most common medicine for any ailments that could possibly arise.
"Wish me well…" The alchemist opened the vial and drank the peculiar liquid in seconds.
At first, nothing happened and the two men stared at each other awkwardly for the entire time, none of them saying a word.
But then suddenly the old alchemist slowly opened his eyes wide and stared blankly into the distance with a weird look, as if he has just seen the most unbelievable thing.
"Master Ashbrew?" Arthur called. There was no response. "Master Edon Ashbrew, are you alright? Say something!"
The continuous silence and the creepy stare were extremely unnerving for him, and Arthur almost wanted to call for help, when the old alchemist finally moved.
With a speed unusual for his years the old man started to rummage through his stuff as if searching for something.
Dried herbs and glass containers and papers flew around haphazardly as he went on a mad rampage.
These were his research papers and notes, experiments that he was extremely proud of, getting destroyed in seconds.
"Edon!" Arthur called him by his first name and tried to protect himself from the glass shards, "What are you doing? Stop!"
"Stop?!" The old alchemist suddenly roared and grabbed Arthur by the collar. "Do you realize how much time and effort I wasted on this trash? Years, decades! And it's all bullshit!"
Arthur was horrified to see his friend act like this, "What in the gods' names happened? Speak to me!"
"Sigh…" Master Edon sighed and released Arthur from his grip and found himself a chair to sit down.
"I have opened my eyes and saw the truth, that's what happened!"
"What do you mean?" Arthur questioned as he grabbed a chair, still completely bewildered.
"It's as if…" the alchemist started, "It's as if the fog around my mind was lifted and I could see the road in front of me. The doubts and questions I had for so long, clearly answered…"
"I'm going to be sixty-five soon and a good portion of my life was spent on studying potions and poisons alike. I tried to separate them, make them better, make them unique! Make them stand out on their own!"
"But I have unfortunately just realized that all my efforts led me in the wrong direction. I was going the complete opposite way from where I have hoped to go in my youth. The beneficial potions and deadly poisons are not separate… They are one and the same!"
The old alchemist hid his face in his palms, as if too ashamed to even look in the eye of the young man sitting across the room.
"I…" Arthur didn't know what to say to comfort his friend. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that, although I'm not completely sure what you are trying to say… Did the Potion of Focus do this to you, is it dangerous?"
"Dangerous?" The mood of the old alchemist lightened up and he burst into genuine loud laughter.
"My boy, this is the best potion I have ever seen! It wouldn't even be a stretch to call it a miracle! My old mind was getting slower and muddier with time, but now I feel like I have gotten decades younger!"
"My thoughts are sharp as a razor and my mind is crystal clear!" Edon paused and a frown formed on his forehead, "Actually, this might not be a bad thing… Yes, with this newfound wisdom and clarity I can once again focus on my studies! But this time, I'll go the right way!"
Arthur swiftly stood up worriedly and said, "Wait, what about the tests? We need to document the capabilities of the potion!"
"No time! I need to work! We will talk another time!" Alchemist Ashbrew rudely pushed Arthur out of the room and with a loud bang the door closed. Then there came the sound of the lock mechanism pushing the heavy iron bolt into the wall.
Arthur took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled, "Sigh, working with these eccentric alchemists is such a pain…"
***
Gerald sat at the dinner table with plates of steaming-hot dishes.
Boiled, fried, and roasted spider legs with a delicious cheesy sauce spread around him, but he wasn't feeling it.
He spent the day getting as much information as he could, regarding the beast meat and its miraculous effects.
The findings, however, although interesting, were also quite disappointing. He found the general knowledge about the subject, but that's about it.
No significant discoveries were made so as to what caused these phenomena. The only useful thing he found out was that the heart and liver usually carried around twice the effect as the rest of the body.
But then again, that wasn't much help as those organs usually took up only a few percent of the total body mass.
"Every time… Every freaking time! Why is it that whenever I find some great new discovery there's always a huge downside or an obstacle?" Gerald complained loudly while being slouched in his fancy chair at the table.
He was mindlessly moving around the pieces of meat, unusually uninterested in food.
"Why can't I get some amazing superpowers that would make me immediately invincible like in the books or movies?"
The reality was beating down on his morality with all the complex rules and regulations that governed the universe. Just when he thought humanity pretty much figured most stuff out, he gets thrown into a world of chaotic mess full of uncertainty.
"Sigh, I guess I'll just have to take it one step at a time…again!"
He then gently took a bite of his meal and suddenly, the world didn't seem so dark anymore.
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GoldenShadow
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