World of Karik: A Game of Villains 57 A New Opportunity

However, I didn't sleep for long. I woke up at dawn, having had a vulgar dream about Vlada. Everything was cut off, as usual, at the most interesting part. Although I woke up with a splitting headache, I didn't want to sleep after that.

Feeling gloomy, I left the cave and, shielding my eyes from the bright sunlight, moved toward the campfire. Burning wood was crackling merrily and thick clouds of steam were rising from the pot. Judging by the smell, we had porridge on the menu. Ravshana and the archer, who was obviously not feeling very good after drinking the night before, were cooking breakfast.

"Hello, Vasily," she said, her voice hoarse. Ravshana nodded silently, having looked at me a bit fearfully.

"Hello," I cheerfully replied. "What's for breakfast today?"

Having chatted a little with the girls, I casually asked Dasha about my herbs. She froze, thought about it and then nodded as if saying that everything was done as requested. Asking Ravshana to take care of the cooking, Dasha went toward the cave and motioned me to follow her. I could have waited outside but I followed her to their room for some reason. At the entrance to the cave, Dasha turned around and looked at me accusingly.

"I'll wait here," I said, embarrassed. Why is it always like this? When life is on the line, all the conventions don't mean anything. But the moment I feel safe, all sorts of nonsense come to mind. On the other hand, following her out of principle would be stupid; so I waited.

Dasha dived into her room, rummaged through it for some time and came out with a handful of herbs. Contrary to my expectations, and their assurance, they hadn't gathered much. It was a considerable amount, of course, but I had expected more.

"You said you collected a lot," I had to say it.

"This is a lot," Dasha said, feeling pressured. "You don't know what it cost us. First of all, your Stonerose was almost impossible to find so we had to search the cliffs. I almost fell." She took a deep breath, "A 'thank you' would have been nice."

"Thank you," I said. "And where's Sedge?"

"Olga will show you where she hid it when she wakes up. We gathered a lot of it..."

Hearing this, I sighed in relief. Sedge increased dexterity and the rare Stonerose increased endurance. I had to make sure that I will have enough time to prepare the tincture before our re-campaign. Being prepared couldn't hurt.

After asking the girls for a flat metal bowl, I moved away from the base. My interest in plants was no longer a secret but I didn't want to stand out more than I already did. Ravshana's surprised gaze followed me as I walked past her with a handful of Stoneroses. Moreover, the swamp, which had become my own private corner, had water within reach and plants with hollow stems that could be used for crafting tubes and flasks.

The base was very lively. Our new allies were sleeping side by side around a campfire that had already been extinguished. As they had no place to live yet, they had to make a temporary camp. They had spread out some rags and skins on the ground and slept on them. This, of course, couldn't continue, which meant that the construction of a new base should begin today. "Good morning, Vasily," Vlada greeted, appearing from behind a tree.

There was not a trace of fatigue on her face. She really knew how to keep herself presentable. Was that why she appeared in my dream? Enough, Vasily, forget about that.

"Kind of," I made an awkward joke.

"Our first night at a new place wasn't all that good," Vlada pointed out.

"Yeah, I can imagine," I nodded. "Many of us have already reached level twenty… We should have a normal settlement soon... I'm sorry, I'm in a hurry."

The last part came as a surprise for both of us. Vlada clearly wanted to talk but I kept avoiding the conversation. Maybe I was doing it because I was attracted to her. I wondered if the feeling was mutual. Both curious and anxious, I went deep into the forest, heading for the swamp and leaving her behind.

Having reached my safe haven, I went to work in order to distract myself. I put the Stoneroses into a bowl and started grinding them into a pulp. Once I had processed the entire stock I realized that I didn't have enough. I wondered for how long I would last with this. I should tell the girls to get me more Stoneroses before we leave. Unless, of course, Dasha lied to me and there actually weren't a lot of Sedges.

The pulp of the Stoneroses leaves dried up quickly in the morning sunlight and turned into powder. I kept stirring the contents of the bowl, bringing it to a uniform state in order to speed up the process. All I had to do now was follow an already familiar scheme: pour the finished substance into the hollow stalks and fill them with swamp water.

Dirty Stonerose Tincture

Increases endurance by 20. Effect lasts for 1 minute.

I wondered what would happen if I poured clear water, like from a stream or a river. Or boiled water. Existence of "dirty water" and "dirty tincture" implied that there were such things as "pure water" and "pure tincture", too. I looked at the remaining powder. There was enough for one more experiment. All I had to do was find a source of clean water.

Covering the bowl with a wide water lily, I headed toward the base. I made a small detour along the way, hoping that I'd end up near the river bank.

There was a small cliff near the river. Our base was vaguely visible from afar. I transferred the rest of the powder into a flask that I had crafted earlier and poured some clear river water into it.

Stonerose Tincture

Increases endurance by 30. Effect lasts for 1 minute.

It worked! If I could find some distilled water, I'd be a happy man. I was convinced that there was a purer tincture than this one. However, that could wait. I had to get back to the camp.

I took a different route on my way back, going along the shore, as I didn't want to wander through the woods. A loud crunch came from behind me, making me turn around and summon my scythe. But what I saw was not a monster, or a nomad killer or even another Reaper.

"Have you been following me?" I didn't sound as surprised as I did angry.
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Innokenty grimaced, obviously wanting to curse at the treacherous, dry branch. The bastard seemed to have been following me the entire time. He might have also seen my experiments with the Stonerose. How did he manage to stay hidden for so long? He probably saw me chatting with Vlada, too. I had underestimated him. I really had.

"I've been spying on you!" he answered. "And now you will tell me what you were doing and why."

His distorted face became calm and even businesslike in a matter of seconds.

Chapter end