Master Of None

Gil tried to leave the alchemy lab, but found that Ignus had already arrived. Walking past him was a no go since Ignus seemed pretty angry to hear that all the food could be at risk for his people. He had been one of the dragons who found the food shortage in his territory to be an annoyance that never changed.

For the royal dragons, they needed to focus on the fact that their people were fed. Whether it was the dragonkin or his fellow dragon elders. At the time, they had been expanding territories enough to find better hunting grounds but for a dragon that wanted longevity, they knew that hunting too much would end their chances of survival.

That was why many dragons often slumbered for months at a time and had developed the ability to use mana as a sort of way to sate that hunger. Hence the reasoning why they focus on developing their innate elemental affinities too. It covered them for growing stronger and also for the fact that they could rarely eat to their hearts’ content.

With the way that Genesis had come together, dragons were able to eat properly consistently. Something that was out of the norm for them but something that was already showing benefits. There were newly hatched little dragons gaining strength faster. They were also affected by the better mana in the world, but their bodies grew better because they received the nutrition they needed perfectly compared to how they would have lived outside of Genesis. Especially the earth dragons who had left their eggs to grow by themselves and return when they were strong enough to be considered a dragon.

That didn’t mean it was an easy change to their society. Some elders still resisted these changes but could not look at the royal dragons who had all become dominator dragons and were approaching unseen advancements in strength within the world. Walker was very interested to see what the next step for them was since they didn’t get chained down like the dominator and spirit dragons within the elemental planes. They had their duties but that was that. Not that Walker was here to see what Gil was dealing with.

Ignus’s annoyance at this new pest was enough that Remey was also worked up. Basically, Gil found himself stuck between two fires that could burn him to a crisp.

”What are we doing to handle these pests?” Ignus could burn away all of them, but he knew that was the wrong answer. Only the worst of the worst situations would call for a forest fire using dragon flames. This had to have a solution that Remey could make if Gil had come right to her and then called for him and multiple others who could spread a potion to the farm fields quickly.

”I want to know that too. I rushed here because someone said that the farms might get eaten to ruin!?” The burst of energy from Scylla made them understand that she got in formation faster now. The demi-human population relied on farms. For them, the farms were just as important as water was to the water elves or to the merfolk. It was their lifeline and needed to be protected.

”Poison!” The evil grin that Remey had caused Gil to wonder if she was actually becoming an evil villain to face rather than some miracle causing alchemical brawler. Then again, she was always somewhat like this, so maybe it was fine.

”What kind of poison should we use? There are already potions used to handle pests to some degree but there are also monsters used to eat those pests. That’s what all the kept cattle are from.” Gil made a good point and Scylla was nodding along now that she saw they were preparing the proper measures. She had been rushed before because she wasn’t sure if anything was being done yet, now she knew.

”Forget the monsters kept as cattle that eat pests and the farmers or their plants. We are making a poison just for these little things that have eaten five leaves a piece since you brought them here.” This was something Gil and the others had not missed. The glutton aphids were eating rapidly if they would starve to death if they did not.

”You are catching on now?” Remeye saw Gil’s eyes glint. ”They are eating so fast because they have to, not because they want to. So, what happens if I give them a potion that makes them not hungry? To anyone else, it would just be a day of discomfort, but for them, it would be a poison that makes them starve to death in just a few minutes leaving them to be decayed back in to the soil as fertilizer.”

Remey was grabbing roots, leaves, and a few dried berries. She was moving as if she had made this potion a hundred times. In reality, she had just memorized herbs that caused side effects. The side effect in question was loss of appetite. ”So many of the healers complained that some potions and medicines were causing their elderly patients to feel less hungry or not at all. Since that was the case a few of the master alchemists worked with herbalists to make medicines in pill form that could help counter that. Some of the alchemists even remove the oils or burn off the liquid that causes those effects. Instead, I can extract them and we can spray it or have a water mage mist it over the trees.”

She was talking quickly but Gil was already sending out a few of the passing alchemist assistants to gather water mages. This would be the first step to spreading the potion that Remey made. ”You think you can make a concentrated potion? We can just add to barrels of water and bring them along the path to the elven forest territory?” Scylla was catching on to the idea overalls and wanted to make sure that she could help with what Gil needed too.

”Exactly, so just watch and learn how awesome I am.” Remey had her pride and it wasn’t unwarranted, but it was a little more prevalent since she spent all of her time with Ignus and a few other dragons lately. Then again, she was giving everyone exactly what they needed or better when it came to alchemy and fighting. So, she could have that if it made her feel better.

Flames formed balls around each herb while smoke started to stream off of them. However, the smoke was carried away by the larger wind rune formations and the cleansing rune formations in to chimneys. Remey had the control of her flames to such a high level that it was better to use them than focus on a cauldron unless she was in need of a larger ingredient amount for something.

Regardless, the sparks of color that came from the balls of flame were the elemental manas being forced out and only certain manas remaining. For anyone, especially a young alchemist, this was a scene close to awe inspiring or divine. No other alchemist used flames like this to create something so unique. Even Remey herself would never have imagined she would be at a level like this in her lifetime, let alone any alchemist at all be able to do this.

When Gil noticed that the herbs inside the fire balls were being brought together, he grabbed a larger glass jar to be able to hold the liquid that would run off. However, he was beaten by Ignus who had also grabbed some water mana crystals with density of water mana that caused ice to form around them. He had helped Remey and learned a great deal more about potions. He even had enough knowledge to be able to properly understand when he could draw away fire mana for Remey and cool potions down faster.

The dark yellow liquid that came from the fire balls after they were condensed was sour smelling and syrupy. But it was clearly water soluble and could dissolve in to a bunch of barrels of water easily. ”Like I said, for a normal person of any race or even monster, it would cause them not to be hungry for a day or maybe just a few hours. For something tiny like this food obsessed glutton aphid, it will kill them because they won’t eat enough to keep up their survival rate.”

None of them worried about how this would affect the population and food chain. The glutton aphid multiplied quickly and was surely a staple food for some monsters. But even more so, it was a pest that could multiply fast enough to forget that it should be eaten and kept at bay by certain monsters. It was just growing in the wrong place right now so other measures needed to be taken.

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