The Alcumist's Assistant

"Okay miss, I have all your information recorded, here is your adventurer card and your adventurer tag. Welcome to the Starfall Guild! We wish you the best on your adventures!" the woman behind to counter said with a hopeful, cheery tone as she held out her hands with an item in each. In one hand was a guild card which held all the information about an adventurer on it, her level, which Guild she registered with, and other information. In the other hand was a necklace with a bronze piece of metal which identified her rank to the public. "If you're ready the job board is behind you, go ahead and find one you like and bring it to me." the woman behind the counter said with a polite and cheerful tone.

Amelie turned her head around and looked behind her as she stared at the job board on the wall behind her. She smiled and turned back to face the woman behind the counter, she took the card and necklace from her, and a soft voice left her lips. "Thank you." was all she said with a faint smile before she turned around and walked over to the job board. She put her card away in her belt bag, then she put on her necklace. When she had a closer look at it, she found that it was more of a collar than a necklace, but she figured it must be to avoid it getting caught or lost. She put on the necklace and once the clasp clicked behind her neck, the necklace shrunk in size to fit around her neck.

She looked up at the job board, there were hundreds of papers pinned to the board, all of them of varying difficulty and pay. A few of them interested her, but because of her rank, she found that getting a job that paid well would not be possible. She paced the board back and forth, moving out of the way of other adventurers stepping up and pulling any job off the wall. She'd watch them walk away and over to the guild desk where they would accept the job and be given directions on who to talk to and where to go. She looked at that board up and down, inspecting each job for its difficulty and the pay offered, most of them were helping farmers, collecting herbs, or cutting firewood. None of that manual or menial labor interested her, but what was left were jobs requesting goblin nests to be cleared or hunting animals in the forests and collecting their pelts and other parts.

Amelie continued her search for a job she wanted, she did not want to settle, but she also knew she couldn't take a job higher than her rank. As she stared at the board, her sapphire blue eyes darting across each job, one of the other adventurers stepped up and grabbed one of the higher-ranked jobs off the board. He looked down at her, his figure towered over hers, for a half-elf she only stood at 5 feet, one inch, while he stood over her at 6 feet. "If you're looking for work, why don't you join my party little elf?" he said to her with a smile on his face and a smug tone. She looked up at him, her bright blue eyes dulled from her disinterest in him and her impatience with him.

He backed off, chuckling to himself, and leaving a snide remark before walking away, "If you ever get tired of being alone, I can promise you won't be lonely if you join my party." She stared him down till he was out of her sight, then she refocused her attention on the job board. She looked at the empty space that should've been there when he took that job posting, but to her surprise, there was a job posting hidden underneath. She reached up and pulled it off the board, her eyes scanning the paper as she read every detail there.

"Hiring! Assistant to local Alchemist! Adventurers needed to collect monster parts for potions! Pay GOOD!" read the paper pinned to the job board. It sounded too good to be true, a bronze-rank job-hunting monsters and collecting their parts to make potions. She looked back up at the board which seemed much larger than before, and she clenched the paper to her chest. She had made up her mind, she turned around and walked back over to the counter. The woman who had helped her earlier walked over, a smile on her face, and greeted her. "Hello miss. I see you found a job that interests you. I'm so glad to see an adventurer put some thought into their first job. Most just grab whatever they see on the wall, and I must send them back to pick something appropriate for their rank-" she said with a cheerful tone which ended once she started to read the job posting. She stared at it for a moment, then looked back at Amelie, then back at the paper she was holding. The expression on her face changed from a cheerful smile to a stern stare as she leaned forward.

"Are you sure you want to accept this job?" she asked, still staring at Amelie intensely, the cheer in her voice gone, replaced by a serious tone. Amelie was confused, she didn't understand why she was being asked if she wanted to accept the job. Amelie looked around, but there was no one else around just her and the woman behind the desk.

"I'd like to take this job." her soft voice once again spoke up and broke the silence. Amelie stared back at her, hoping that this answer would satisfy her curiosity. The woman stared at her for a few more seconds, before she sighed.

"Okay. You have accepted this job. You will report to the Alchemist's shop near the eastern edge of town." she said to Amelie, her tone was stern and the expression on her face was serious. She stamped the paper, leaving a dark blue stamp of a falling star surrounded by a ring of two circles. She handed the paper back to Amelie and said to her, "Thank you miss. I hope to see you soon."

Amelie took the paper and put it away in her belt bag, she looked back up at the lady to thank her, but she'd already stepped away from the counter. Amelie looked around for her but could not find her. She shrugged and figured she must've had other things to tend to since the Guild was always so busy anyway. She left the guild and made her way to the Alchemist's shop on the east side of the town.

It didn't take Amelie long to find the shop, she followed one of the roads that forked away from the Guild that went east. As she walked down the road, she noticed that some of the buildings had signs that hung down above the door. On these signs, there were different symbols drawn on them. She took the job posting out of her belt bag and checked to see if it had a symbol like the ones on the buildings she walked past. She noticed a symbol at the bottom of the paper, a mortar and pestle. She looked around and tried to match the symbol on the paper to one on the signs.

She was nearing the edge of town and at the end of the road, the buildings around her seemed to be abandoned and in disrepair. She felt as if she had gone the wrong way when she approached the last building at the end of the road. She was pleased to see it was the one she was searching for. It wasn't large, but it was bigger than the buildings around it. The door had two windows on either side of it. She could see the windows were filled with displays of various potions and bottles. She walked towards the door and entered the building.

A bell rang as she opened the door, but she wasn't greeted as she walked in. She closed the door behind her, and the bell went off again. Once again, no one answered as she walked in. She looked around, the entranceway was a small room with three windows on each wall, all filled with displays. The rest of the building was blocked off by the counter that the Alchemist would stand behind. The was a gap on the right where a part of the counter would lift and close which would allow the Alchemist to walk in and out from behind the counter.

She approached the counter and stood for a few minutes, waiting for someone to come and address her. There wasn't a sound in the shop, no sounds of tools being used, feet shuffling on the stone floor, and not even any voices talking. She peaked towards the back of the shop only to be met with darkness. She cleared her throat and raised her voice, "Hello?" She stood there silently and waited for a reply. No reply came back, not a voice, not a sound, just the silence she found when she entered.

She sighed and cleared her throat louder and this time gave a shout out into the darkness, "HELLO?!" She stood there silently and again waited for a reply that never came. She didn't like it that no one answered, there wasn't a sign either that the owner of this shop was out. She reached behind her back and pulled a dagger from a sheath that she hid behind on her waist. She slowly made her way toward the back of the shop. As she walked further into the darkness, her eyes adjusted, and she could see that the shop had been used recently. A dimly lit fire in the hearth, she could tell someone had been here recently.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and started to listen, focusing on all sounds. She could hear the embers of the fire cracking, the sounds of the wind creeping inside the building, the creaking of the wood columns that supported the house, and then she heard a faint gasp. Her eyes shot open, and she made her way toward the sound she had just heard. She opened a door and, on the floor, lay a large man face down in a pile of red liquid.

In her eyes, she just found a man who was injured and bleeding on the floor. She got on her knees and rolled the man on his back. That's when she saw the bottle in his hand as he groaned. She looked at the bottle and then the red liquid on the floor, then she smelled him. He reeked of alcohol. She sighed and realized she wasn't saving someone who was injured and just helping a drunken fool get off the floor.

"Who are you pretty girl?" the man asked her as she helped him off the floor. He stood up and looked down at her, he was an older man, tall, but his figure was hidden underneath his robes. Dark purple with shades of gold and black made up his robes, his face had a scar that went down from his right brow to down his right cheek. He dusted himself off, mumbling to himself, before looking back at her. "What do you want?" he asked, his tone sounding annoyed that she was there to ruin his fun.

She reached into her waistband and pulled out the paper which had the job posting on it. She unrolled the paper and placed it down on a table next to her. "I heard you were hiring, sir" she told him flatly. He stared at her for a moment, then looked at the paper and picked it up. He moved toward and away from his face as he tried to focus on the writing. He was reading out loud under his breath as he read the words on the paper. He would occasionally look at her, then back at the paper, back at her, and then back at the paper again. He rolled up the paper and walked down the hall towards the front of the shop. He never said a word to her, but she figured she might as well follow him.

They both walked out into the front of the shop, he walked behind the counter, placing the paper down. She followed him and then walked to the other side of the counter, waiting for his answer. He pulled out a brown satchel, and as he set it on the desk, she could hear the clinking of glass. He opened the satchel and cleared his throat. "Do you know how potions are made?" his tone sounded more serious, but the alcohol still made him slur his words.

She looked back at him, a little confused, but guessing she might not understand the process of making potions. "Monster parts are used to make potions, the higher the rank of the monster. The higher quality the potion will become." She answered, giving him the most basic level of understanding that most had of the creation of potions. The blank expression on her face and the monotone drone of her voice as she repeated the knowledge she read out of a book, showing she only understood the basic foundations of alchemy.

Clicking his tongue and shaking his head, he disagreed with her explanation. "Monster parts can be used to create potions, but the true experts in their craft wouldn't dare use them. What crafts high quality potions are the essence of monsters." A spark ignited in his eyes as he started to explain the true magic of alchemy. "Yes. With monster parts the rank of the monster matters, but with monster parts you only get a diluted product. Not worth the effort, but it's what most alchemists can get because adventurers aren't taught the correct way." As he spoke his hands shifted side to side, his fingers closing and opening, expressing himself with his hands.

"Monster essence is what all alchemists desire to work with, but obtaining such material is hard." He said as the expression on his face saddened with disappointment, raising his hand to his face to rub his forehead. He was obviously frustrated, or his hangover was starting to catch up with him.

Amelie asked him, "are you alright?" Her voice was soft, and she did sound concerned, but she just wanted him to get on with his story. She came here for a job, not a lecture on alchemy.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Where were we?" he said, pausing as he tried to gather his thoughts, his eyes closed, still rubbing his forehead. "Right. Monster essence is the fluids collected from them. Each one holds a special property. The blood of a monster can be used to craft health potions. Their sweat can be collected to create stamina potions. The saliva can be used to craft potions of resistance. Their urine can be used to mask your scent and render you invisible to them if they don't see you. While their sperm, monster sperm, is a highly valued item, in both regular markets and in black markets. It can be used to create a potent love potion, whereas most love potions can take up to an hour to work, a love potion crafted with monster essence works in seconds." Once again, he moved his hands around expressing himself as he spoke, and the light in his eye never dimmed.

She stared at him and most of what he said went over her head, except for the fact that when she heard that those potions were highly valued. She knew that items that were high valued would sell for high prices, meaning she could make a lot of coin. "So how does one collect a monster's essence?" she asked, knowing that the monster had to be alive for most of their fluids to be collected. She had hoped he could offer her an answer, but her stare was met with a blank look.

"There is a no, singular way to collect a monster's essence. The blood is the easiest, cut their throat and bleed them dry. Their urine can be collected from cutting out their bladder, but I've heard that's messy, and the product easily ruined. As for sweat and spit, I've never heard how that was collected. Sperm may be another easy one to collect, you can stroke their cocks till they cum, use your mouth and spit it out into a vial, or, if all else fails, use your body and collect it that way." That last sentence he said, staring at her intensely, his eyes drifting up and down her body.

She sighed, it was either this or going out into the wood and foraging for herbs. "I'll do it." She said annoyed, with a scowl on her face. "So, what do I need to do the job and where should I go looking?" She rested her hands on her hips and stared up at him.

He smiled and he bent down to grab something behind the counter, standing up and setting a satchel down on the counter. "Here is your starter bag. A satchel containing six vials. Fill them up. Bring them back and I'll pay you. Simple as that." he said, pushing the satchel towards her, staring back at her with a smile.

Amelie looked at the bag and then back at him. "You haven't told me what I'd be hunting for."

He stared at her blankly before replying, "Right. Since this is your first job. We should make it simple. I've heard rumors of a goblin nest starting to form in the forests to the east of town. Just head out the east gate and walk into the forests. Goblins aren't the brightest creatures, so you should be able to find them quickly."

She stared back at him, annoyed that he gave her only a vague location to work with, but if the coin was worth it, she might as well try. She grabbed the satchel and hung the strap over her arm, and she turned and began to walk out of the shop. She grabbed the door handle and then said to him, without looking back, "I'll be back. Have my coin ready." Then she walked out the door and out on the streets of the town.

She walked out of town as quickly as she could, she didn't like being surrounded by the town folk as many of them liked to stare at her. As she approached the forest east of town, she stopped at the edge and kneeled to inspect the grass around the edge. She noticed a few tracks, mostly animal tracks, deer, fox, wolf, a few humans foragers or hunters from the town, but one track stood out to her. The feet were human-like, but they were smaller and whoever they were, were moving in a group.

She followed the tracks into the forest, her eyes darting at the forest floor and then back up to see where they were taking her. Deeper and deeper into the forest she went, following the tracks until she heard something deeper in the forest. The cry of a wounded animal, a snap of a few branches, and what sounds like voices speaking. She crept through the forest, taking each step slowly as she approached the voices. She could hear their voices only a few feet in front of her, so peeked her head around a tree and that's when she saw them.

A pack of goblins were dancing around the body of a deer, she counted six goblins as her eyes scanned the area. They stopped dancing and four of them grabbed the legs of the deer and began to drag it off. One of them led while another stayed in the back and followed them. She waited till they were far enough that she could move without them hearing her. She followed them deeper into the forest as they dragged their prey back to their nest. She was expecting either a cave or a clearing deep in the forest.

They had finally reached their den, a small cave that protruded out of the side of a small hill. She watched them drag the body of the deer inside, a trail of blood leading inside the cave. She knew if she went in their haphazard it could end terribly for her. She had her stories of new adventurers who saw goblins as weak creatures, only to end up being overwhelmed by their numbers. She stayed hidden waiting to see if any more came out of the cave. Time passed and nothing came out, and nothing went in.

She knew she didn't have a lot of time left, so she prepared herself. She removed the cloak she was wearing, wrapping it up and placing it at the foot of the tree she was hiding behind. She checked the strap of the satchel to make sure it wasn't going to snap and break. She moved the satchel behind her back, and she checked her weapons. She carried a dagger on her hip, behind her back on her waist, and one hidden in her boot. She felt she was ready, so she stepped out from her hiding spot and approached the cave.

It was a cave like any other she had seen before, having camped in a couple once or twice, so she stepped inside. She spoke an incantation under breath and a small light dimly lit her way. She followed the trail of blood on the cave floor and as she went deeper inside the cave the lower the ceiling became. It starts off as her having to lower her head, to her having to crouch, until finally she was to crawl on her knees. Further down the small tunnel she went until she could see a faint light in the distance. She spoke under her breath again and the light that lit her way faded out.

She slowly crept down the tunnel approaching the light which grew brighter as she got closer. She could finally make out the color of the light, it glowed yellow and orange and flickered. The closer she got; she could make out the faint smell of smoke and burning meat. Finally, she pokes her out of the opening, and she sees that it led to a large open chamber. She crept in quietly and she hid behind a large rock near the entrance she crawled through, this spot allowed her to look around the room while remaining hidden.