World of Karik: A Game of Villains 35 The Alchemy

Having spent twenty endurance points, I tested my new ability and, at the same time, tried to embed a sincere desire not to betray me into the girls. It seemingly worked, but the lack of any logs or notifications about this technique annoyed me. On the other hand, knowing this feature could come in handy in the future.

"Dasha, come back," I called the girl. Having made sure that they were attentively listening to me, I told them what I wanted them to do. To be honest, it seemed that they were waiting for me to give them rather unpleasant and humiliating tasks, but all I did was show them the Azure Holly and tell them that they should get me at least a hundred of them per day; hundred from Olga and half as much from Dasha. Our businesswoman should get a little bonus since she shared information with me. Their expectations should be considered as well, but not now. I wanted to make sure that I could survive until tomorrow. Everything else could wait.

And I must say, I was moving confidently toward this goal. It turned out that having incomplete stat bars had its benefit; as Ronald had once hinted quite transparently, albeit unwittingly. Recovery per point of endurance had decreased from ten to nine minutes and fifty seconds. It wasn't much, but at least I now knew what to focus on.

Pleased with myself, I filled my pockets with Holly and, leaving the girls to pick up the remains, went to the swamp. The description which said that the leaves needed to be processed into powder, a book that I had read as a child and a torn off piece of asphalt gave me an idea.

Getting deeper into the swamp, and away from any possible observers, I found a sunny spot and placed the big piece of asphalt that I had dragged here onto it. Of course, I could have done all of this next to the girls, but, like Olga, I did not want to share my secrets. Now I need to put the leaves on it and wait.

That, however, wasn't enough. First, I had to make some sort of an edge for my "solar stove" so that the leaves wouldn't get blown away by the wind; then I needed to cut them into pieces to speed up the process and finish drying them before it gets dark. At the very end, I managed to grind them with a stone. The name Azure Holly was firstly changed to A Piece of Azure Holly Leaf and then to Azure Holly Powder. Not a drop of experience, no points of deception, but I still smiled; creating something with your own hands brought more joy than destroying something. I have the powder. Time to decide what to do next… Nothing but the name had changed in the description just yet. What did the manual say? Pills, tincture and inhalation — well, let's try to make one of those then.

Wrapping a pile of powder into a plantain looking leaf and binding it with sedge was enough for the system to register my creation as a pill.

Holly Herbal Pill

Increases strength by 20 for 5 minutes.

It took me longer to make a tincture due to the lack of any sort of a bottle, but in the end I picked a thick reed stem and fashioned a flask in which I mixed the powder and swamp water.

Impure Holly Tincture

Increases strength by 20 for 1 minute.

The duration time was shorter, but I spent ten times less powder than I did on the pill. I wondered if it was possible to stack effects by consuming multiple portions. The idea that struck me, however, was quickly refuted by the harsh reality. Twenty points of strength was not that bad now, but I would need much more at higher levels.

What's left? Inhalation? It was worth checking out, but I had to return to the base. If I wasn't mistaken, this word was used for all sorts of sprays against the common cold, so I needed to invent something like that. Turning my tincture into gas and putting it into a sealed and pressurized container was hardly possible. So I needed an easier way to implement this idea. I rummaged through the nearby plants and found something like a water lily with an empty stem. Perfect: I put one end of my natural tube into a new portion of the tincture, and the other into my nose and inhaled sharply.

First attempt was unsuccessful and I ended up getting water into my nose. However, something happened on the second attempt. I wasn't sure if my invention really worked or if this world's combat system helped me out.

You have inhaled the vapors of the Holly Tincture.

Strength increased by 20 for 2 seconds.

At first I squeezed my lips in disappointment. Yes, I could sniff one flask for at least an hour, but what could you do in two seconds? All of a sudden, I felt like I was struck by lightning. I went deeper into the swamp, urgently looking for an enemy to test my theory on.

Small Kappa

Level 12

Great. Rushing forward, I managed dodged the dark funnel of the first spell. The second one hit me in the chest, but my magical defense was high enough to protect me. Finally we got into close combat. Even with my improved strength and a pretty good scythe, I could deal no more than twenty points of damage. The rest was absorbed by the monster's protection.

Time for experiments. Breathe in, increase the strength by twenty, put all temporary stats into the attack, and strike.

Sixty points of damage; that was three times as much. The effect wore off and I could repeat it all over again. Inhale, strengthen, strike. Inhale, strengthen, strike. I felt a bit strange with a tube stuck in my nostril, and the "flask" with the liquid tucked into my belt that was about to fall out, but the opportunity to strengthen each attack threefold was worth it.

What if I find herbs that can increase endurance, dexterity or intelligence? My mind painted a rather peculiar picture — me in heavy armor with colorful flasks fixed to it, hoses and tubes, like some snakes, stretching from them to my mouth and nose.

All right, let's finish off this Kappa.

Chapter end