System Change

“I’m an Alchemist.” Roman said.

“Wait. What?” That didn’t make any sense to Derek. “Why would an Alchemist own a bar that caters to high-level adventurers?” He asked.

Roman put the now clean mug away under the bar counter. He laughed. “Easy. By complete accident.” He answered.

“Accident?” Derek asked.

“Yup. Back in the day, we…” Roman pointed between Shae and himself. “Used to run together. Came up together, actually. While Shae was busy sticking his spear in everything that moved, and not in the fun way, I made the potions that kept him and his team alive.”

“You see, I was never much of a fighter, so I was happy when the Great System gave me the choice of a crafting class. Of course, Shae was disappointed with me because he always wanted us to join the Adventurer’s Guild together and move up the ranks, but it was a relief to me. That asshole was… is a battle maniac, so he provided all the resources I needed early on, which let me supply him with potions at cost.” Roman continued.

“Seems like a pretty good deal.” Derek said.

“It’s a great dead when it works. I know a ton of crafters who make the same deal with adventurers. The problem is that either their craft stalls and falls behind the adventurers, or the adventurers either die or quit after some losses. Not everyone has a friend as talented as Shae.” The halfling said. “Don’t tell him I called him talented, by the way.”

Derek snorted. “I won’t.” He said. “That still doesn’t explain how you ended up here and not at an alchemy shop.”

“No need to be impatient. I’m getting there.” Roman said. “You know about his story?” He asked. “He usually doesn’t take that last shot to knock him out… unless he’s reminiscing about the past.”

“Yeah. Basically, he outgrew his team, and they used him up until they lost a member. Then he went at it solo.” Derek said.

Roman nodded. “That’s pretty much the gist of it.” He said. “Well, once he reached a certain level, he became the perfect test subject.” Roman grinned. “It’s nice to have someone with a Vitality and Endurance on your side when you’re an Alchemist.”

Derek shuddered at the halfling’s grin. “What do you mean?”

“Well, the Great System is very helpful when it comes to identifying most concoctions, but sometimes, you either make one that it has never seen or the Great System chooses to limit the information it gives, I haven’t figured out which one it is yet. You get back information like ‘Unknown Health Potion’ or ‘Unknown Poison,’ stuff like that. Sometimes you get even less information than that.” Roman explained.

“Interesting.” Derek said.

“It is, but it also creates a problem. Sometimes, you create an ‘Unknown Health Potion’ and you end up killing somebody. Like, it’s technically a healing potion, but if the user happens to have a certain constitution, it ends up being fatal. Well, the Great System doesn’t give the creator the full information until the potion is tested… by an intelligent user of the system.” Roman explained.

“That’s harsh.” Derek said.

Roman shrugged. “It is what it is.”

“So, you ended up making this ‘brew’ and Shae tested it?” Derek asked.

“Oh, heavens no.” Roman said. “If he would have drunk what’s in the jug back then, it probably would have killed him instantly. We were all much weaker back then. This brew has been perfected over the years.” He explained.

“No, Shae and his team had chosen a certain mission from the Adventurer’s Guild back then. There was this dungeon that nobody liked to complete because the monsters were a pain in the ass. They’re called Nightmares. They wield darkness and have a pesky little debuff skill called Fear.” Roman said.

“Ah, yeah that can be a pain in the ass for sure.” Derek had seen the skill in action back on Earth. Just like some of the RPGs he played as a kid, Fear affects the psyche and causes the target to have an unusual amount of fear towards the caster, causing the target to make moves that they wouldn’t usually, or even try to run away in the middle of battle. Potions, buffs, or a certain amount of Wisdom were all counters to the skill. Of course, killing the caster works as well.

“Well, potions to counter the skill are never in high demand, so when you do need it, it’s expensive.” The halfling said. “So, I heard about them taking the mission and decided to create a potion to counter the skill.”

“Eventually, the potion I made had the description of ‘Unknown Buff Potion.’ I thought I had done it, so I called Shae over to give it a test. Of course, I also made proper preparations just in case it had unexpected results. We had their healer on standby, along with multiple health potions and antidotes.” He explained.

“So, we’re sitting in my lab talking about the potion and upcoming mission. Finally, Shae takes the potion and drinks it. For a second, nothing happens, then… BANG!” Roman hit the counter, causing the glasses and jug to shake. “Blood flies out of Shae’s mouth, ears, eyes… basically every orifice. It was like an illusion brought upon by one of the Nightmares, except it was real.”

“We panicked. I grabbed the potions, and the healer channeled some spells. Before we were able to do anything, Shae stopped us. The man was half dead and slurring his speech, talking about how great of a potion I had made. He said, ‘What’s a little blood when a potion makes you feel this good.’” Roman shook his head.

“After that, the information on the potion came through. It was called ‘Toxin of Courage.’ A fuckin’ toxin that left the user with a buff.” The halfling laughed. “After that, Shae forced me to keep working on it until I was finally able to get rid of the blood. Sure, it’s still a toxin, but at least it doesn’t make a mess.”

Derek chuckled. “You literally made liquid courage.”

Roman’s eyes brightened. “Liquid Courage! What a name. We’ve always called it and all the lesser versions the ‘brew.’ I may steal that for my next updated brew.”

“Go ahead.” Derek said.

“The thing is, it’s a pretty expensive potion to make. Even more so when I need to make it for higher-level people. But I control the market on it.” The halfling explained. “You asked me why I don’t have an alchemy shop… well… I do!”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Roman confirmed. “I run this bar to get the money to run experiments and create new potions.” The halfling’s eyes brightened when he talked about creating potions.

“Ah, so your unique potion allows you to do what you love.” Derek said.

“Exactly!” Roman said. “And with Shae bringing in high-level adventurers occasionally, the really expensive stuff sells out easily. I don’t have to rely on any rich bastards to fund my experiments because of it. Most Alchemists… hell, most crafters in the Kingdom are beholden to someone else. My brew provides me with everything I need.”

“That’s great.” Derek said.

Roman seemed to be really excited when talking about process. “Even when there’s an ingredient that money can’t buy, I can usually trade for it with some of my brew. Or, I can do a three-way trade with it. The seller of the ingredient may not want my brew, but they may want something that Shae or some other customer has.”

Derek nodded. “So, getting a drink with a new Onyx Adventurer is basically a scheme to get you more business?”

Roman waved Derek off. “It’s nothing so sinister like that. I mean… well, that might happen, but it’s in everybody’s favor. I get a new customer, the customer gets a free drink, Shae gets a referral fee… it’s a win-win-win.”

“Well, it’s usually a win-win-win.” Roman sighed. “Sometimes, people don’t like to drink. Twice now, the brew hasn’t affected a person, and neither you nor the other person like it enough to justify the price of me upgrading my formula.”

“Oh. There was someone other than me that didn’t get drunk?” Derek asked.

“Yeah, the leader of the Adventurer’s Guild. You two are monsters. Shae is going to be terribly disappointed when he wakes up. He’s not going to be getting his referral fee to help pay for that jug of brew he bought this time.” Roman snickered. “Judy’s going to kill him. I wish I could see it.”

“Well, I’m sorry about my monster-like constitution.” Derek said. “But, I may be interested in some of your other alchemy products. I wouldn’t mind having a look.”

“That’s fine with me. It’s called ‘Roman’s Potions and Brews.’” The halfling smiled.

“You really like using that word.” Derek said.

“Well, it made me who I am today. It’s my good luck charm. Liquid Courage may sell and sound better, but it’s always going to be my brew.”

Derek laughed. “No sense trying to fix what ain’t broken.”

“Damn straight.” Roman said.

Derek looked over at the snoring Shae. “You think he would be mad if I cut his nap short?”

Roman snorted. “Probably. What do you have in mind?”

“Well, you said your brew was a toxin. Right?” Derek raised his hand and prepared Cure Toxin. Shae had tried to trick him into becoming a customer in his little scheme. Sure, he was going to be hurting after the price of that jug, but he might as well take it a small step further.

Roman laughed. “Go ahead.”