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An Otherworldly Scholar - 19
🕑 Added 2023-06-17 01:09:02 +0000 UTCThe orphans swarmed the kitchen like a pack of vultures over an animal carcass and Elincia had to expel them, directing them to go to the pump to wash their hands and faces. After hearing Elincia’s directions, Ilya instantly jumped down from her seat and herded them outside.
Elincia opened the shutters and stuck half of her slender body out of the window. “Don’t forget to wash under your nails!”
A distant ‘yes’ reached the kitchen where the more hygienic orphans were already waiting for the food.
The stories about the morning practice were spreading like fire which made me wonder how bad Holst’s lessons were to provoke such positive reactions in my pupils. At least Wolf was quietly sitting at the corner of the table, not answering questions.
“And then Mister Clarke was like shooooosh and waaaaaam, and he took the sword from Firana’s hands without even getting hit once.” Zaon mimicked my movements during the duel with surprising accuracy as the toddlers followed him with attentive eyes.
In any case, even if my body was inside the kitchen, my mind was light-years away.
“There’s no way that happened. Firana won't lose.” A human kid called Ash said with a mocking tone.
“Ask Mister Clarke, he will tell you.” Zaon replied with a self-sufficient smile. “Wasn't it like that, Mr. Clarke? Mr. Clarke?”
Elincia believed I was manly. Technically, she had said the way I interacted with the kids was manly, which was practically the same. I pulled the emergency brake of my train of thought. What if she was actually mocking me?
‘Awareness, please play the video.’ I thought.
[Awareness]: Memory playback failed. Psychic damage detected. File corrupted. Extending search. File Fragment found, Elincia_hugging_you.mem.
My expression was the most dumb thing I've ever seen in my life.
‘Elincia was just grateful because I brought the equivalent of a few weeks of food. I do admire her work and selflessness, and she likes the way I teach the kids. Our relationship is about mutual, professional admiration.’ I replied, not knowing if I was arguing against the System or myself. ‘In any case, we should focus on ensuring the orphanage’s long term sustainability and not whatever this is.’
[Awareness]: Self esteem issues detected. Contact therapist.
‘Whatever.’ I replied, ignoring the prompt.
One of the snakefolk kids made a hissing sound that sounded suspiciously like laughter. As I looked around, getting out of my daze, I found Elincia’s eyes perched on mine.
“Robert, are you listening?”
“Mister Clarke is getting scolded.” Shu sang with a melodious voice prompting a generalized laugh.
I froze for a moment, not because Elincia was glaring at me with a slightly annoyed expression nor due to being the laughing stock of the orphanage. Hearing the kids having a good time felt surprisingly great. It was like they had already forgotten about the week without any adults around.
“As I was saying…” Elincia put special emphasis in every word to ensure I was actually paying attention this time. Her way of addressing me, as if I was another of the orphans, seemed to be hilarious for the kids. “How hungry are you?”
How hungry was I? With all the problems piling one over the other I had forgotten hunger was an actual thing. Usually, I could eat a whole chicken after a long training session but now I just feel like I should keep going. As we spoke, the poison continued weakening the farm plot.
“Actually, I’m not hungry at all.” I replied.
“Me neither.” Elincia turned around to the counter so I was the only one who could hear her, “Should we check the farm before brewing the antidote? I want you to tell me exactly what your skill shows you.”
I nodded.
“Ilya, Zaon, Wolf, you three are in charge of lunch. Mister Clarke and I are going to check the farm.” Elincia announced as she crossed the kitchen with a decisive step. “I don’t want to see anybody coughing over Wolf. This goes for all you snotty brats.” She added with a kind smile.
Elincia guided me out of the manor and into the orphanage’s farm. The surviving plants were withering at an alarming rate. Their leaves were turning yellow and some fruit had fallen prematurely. The farm had a nice array of beets, carrots, peas, and squash. There were also green onions, garlic, and other greens similar to the ones on Earth but with much more exotic names.
“I wish I had the [Poison Detection] skill.” Elincia said. “Come on, Scholar, enlighten me.”
I told Elincia what [Identify] said about each plant. The prompts for each species were variations of the same message. [Poisoned], [Dying], [Withered], but no indication of what kind of poison Holst had used to kill the plants.
Elincia took a leaf from a poisoned carrot plant and took a bite just to spit it out after a second.
“What was that?!” I asked.
If Elincia dropped dead I didn’t know what I was going to do with the orphanage.
“My alchemy teacher told me you could detect certain poisons by taste.” Elincia replied, spitting to the side once again. By her grimace I could tell it wasn’t particularly tasty.
“So?” I asked again.
To my dismay, Elincia tasted the leaves again.
“I don’t know if this is good or bad. If this is Ashthorn poison then we are going to have a hard time using this plot of land for the foreseeable future, Ashthorn is nasty but expensive. Otherwise, I think I can brew an antidote to combat most common poisons.” Elincia said.
“Do we have the ingredients on hand?”
I was worried that if we left the orphanage unattended, the guardsmen were going to appear and take the older kids.
“Zaon told me that an anonymous donor gave him bundles of alchemical ingredients.” Elincia winked at me, making my heart stop for a moment.
I didn’t know if it was Elincia’s elven blood that made her so mysteriously attractive or if I was the one with a problem. I guessed it was the second option.
After examining a couple more plants, we returned to the manor. Luckily, Elincia didn’t drop dead even if she tasted a few more plants against my better advice.
The jolly chattering of the orphans in the kitchen reached me as we walked towards Elincia’s bedroom. Before we reached the sleeping quarters, I heard Ilya scolding the snakefolk twins for trying to steal potatoes, Zaon for not paying attention to the soup, and Wolf for letting the kids cough over him.
“Virdian and Nokti seem to like you. Everytime Holst visited the orphanage they didn’t stop hissing at him.” Elincia said, closing her bedroom’s door behind me.
We sat at the desk under the window.
“That’s flattering .” I replied with a hearty laugh.
I realized it was the first time I heard the snake-folks' names.
“Virdian is the boy, the green one. Nokti is the girl, the blue one. They are twins if you were wondering about it.” Elincia explained, realizing she hadn’t introduced me properly.
I did have quite a few questions about the snakefolk kids, but asking if they ate rats whole struck me as a bit tactless. Were they actually reptiles to begin with? I had taken them into my arms and they felt warm at least. Maybe scaled mammals?
In the end, I decided to ask something simpler.
“Is it normal that they don’t speak yet?”
Elincia gave me a confused glance.
“You don’t have snakefolk in your country?”
I shook my head.
“Well, it is normal for them to not speak Common until later, something related to the development of their larynx. They should be about to start speaking any day now.” Elincia replied with a hint of excitement. “Enough about the scaled ankle biters, it’s brewing time.”
Elincia opened the chest at the foot of the bed and started to take out her alchemist's kit. I could recognize some of the tools; a mortar and pestle, various cloth sieves, the magical scale, jars, glasses, and bowls with and without contents inside. Other tools were a bit more esoteric. Glasses with multicolored crystals, a twisted bottle without a hole, a sealed flask of a strange pulsating fluid.
“First time seeing Alchemy in action?” Elincia asked me with a smug smile. Only then I realized that I was staring.
“Actually, yes.” I replied, startled.
“Using [Identify] on me is strictly forbidden.” Elincia pointed at me with her stone pestle. Even if she said it with a certain jestering tone, I knew she was being serious. After living in a world infested by social media oversharing, it was refreshing to see people caring for privacy.
If I wasn’t allowed to spy on the alchemical process directly, I might as well start asking questions. My knowledge of this world was still too precarious. I wanted to ensure the kids got good Classes, but for that I had to figure out the process of getting a Class.
“So… people here can choose their Class? I remember you told me you chose to be an Alchemist when we were in the Farlands.” I asked as Elincia placed the ingredients on the table.
She didn’t say anything against Identifying the ingredients so I did. Dire Cress, Moon Laurel, Deadman Nettle, and Red Rat-tail. Then, she pulled out a small scalpel from her toolkit and started cutting the roots of the Dire Cress with surgical precision.
“What do you mean? Haven’t you heard about the System Altars?” Elincia stopped her task to look at me as if I was a green alien with googly eyes.
I was, in a sense.
“We obtain our Classes the natural way, like the System intended.” I replied, mockingly.
Elincia rolled her eyes and continued with the delicate process of cutting roots. I wondered if the roots had different properties than the rest of the cress.
“Well, Mister All-Natural, in this corner of the world using System Altars is the norm. Of course you can wait until the System grants you a class, but that could take years, even decades, and nobody is going to waste so much time being unable to properly level up.” Elincia explained.
I remember the orphans voicing the same concern during our training session. Why would they train if they couldn’t level up? I shook my head. The peoples of this world trusted too much in the System for their development when true progress could be achieved with effort and dedication.
“What’s it like? To choose a class?” I asked again.
“You touch the System Altar and you enter a state of meditation where you directly talk to the System.” Elincia calmly explained as she processed the rest of the ingredients. My theory about different parts of the plant having different properties seemed to be accurate.
“For me it was a summer forest with a small creek, but I heard it is different for everyone. There the System offers you a Class but you can also ask for something in particular. Of course, the System won’t give you something impossible, but classes like Soldier, Archer, Farmer, Lumberjack, and Miner are open to anyone.” The woman said with a dreamy tone as if she was reminicensing a distant memory.
“What about Scholars?” I asked.
“Scholar is an advanced class so it's a bit more uncommon. People usually start as Scribes and they evolve into Scholars later.” Elincia grinned. “But don’t get too cocky for getting an advanced class for starters, Alchemist is also the advanced version of Herbalist.”
I smiled. Elincia wanted to be a Hunter, and now I knew why she chose Alchemist. It was for the orphanage's sake. My admiration for her only grew.
“I suppose you’re just naturally gifted.” I grinned back.
Elinia rolled her eyes and focused on the ingredients. She put the Dire Cress and the Moon Laurel in the mortar and started grinding it. As soon as the pestle touched the mortar, mana started flowing through Elincia’s body and gathering into her hands. I could almost see the mana as a green and golden mist dancing and fluttering around her. She wasn’t just mashing the ingredients together, she was blending their magical properties into something completely different.
I dragged my chair to her side to take a closer look although I didn’t need my eyes to feel mana flowing. If Elincia noticed my presence, she didn’t complain. Instead, she continued mashing the ingredients with skilled touch.
Then I noticed the process was far from perfect, Elincia’s mana would leak from the ingredients hindering the process, or mana from the room would seep into the ingredients.
If mixing Dire Cress with Moon Laurel was like mixing red and blue, then the environmental mana dulled the perfectly mixed lilac, muddying it into an impure puce. It was just a comparison product of my brain’s lack of better representation.
Without asking for permission, I poured my mana into the mix, forming a protective mesh around the ingredients. As soon as my mana surrounded Elincia’s hands, the invasion of environmental mana into the mixture stopped almost completely. My technique still needed improvement but it produced a noticeable change in the purity of the blend.
Elincia put Deadman Nettle and Red Rat-tail into a medium glass and filled it with water. Then she started heating the water through magical means. Elincia made her mana mutate, turning it into a sparkly substance and casting a fire elemental spell. I silently offered Elincia my mana and she accepted it, fueling the fire spell.
The process continued for a few minutes, then Elincia strained the Deadman Nettle and Red Rat-tail infusion into the mortar with the blend of Dire Cress and Moon Laurel. We protected the mixture until the mana of the ingredients blended together in a uniform substance. Finally, Elincia put the mix into a cloth sieve and strained the liquid from the solid plant matter.
The golden mana mixture was poured into a small vial with the help of a funnel. Elincia corked it and stopped using her [Potion Crafting] skill. The potion was of a translucent pink color to the naked eye but I knew it was filled with golden mana.
I hadn't realized I was holding my breath. I took a deep breath and Elincia’s aroma assaulted my nose in a pleasant way. Only then I realized I was leaning over her shoulder grasping both her hands in mine. My lips were almost touching her pale and pointy ear.
Luckily enough, Elincia was focused on the potion.
“So, this is the power of a Scholar. Now I understand why they are in such high demand by nobles and wealthy merchants.” Elincia said thoughtfully as I retreated to the other side of the desk. “I heard Scholars could assist other crafting classes, but this is terrific!”
There was the chance she was so entranced in the process of brewing the potion that she had overlooked the fact I was practically hugging her.
“Shall we test it right now? I’m excited about the result.” Elincia jumped from her seat and scurried towards the door, barely looking at me. I didn’t see her face but I got a glance of the antidote in her hand.
Dire Cress-Moon Laurel Antidote. [Identify] Alchemy potion. Effect: High Toxicity: Medium. A High grade potion capable of nullifying the effects of most common poisons.
“Medium toxicity?” I asked. The fact an antidote was toxic seemed weird to say the least.
“Antidotes are just like any other potion. If you pour too much foreign mana into your body you are going to get corrupted.” Elincia replied.
The orphans were idling in the backyard after lunch. Ilya was looking after the younger ones as they scampered all over the esplanade while Zaon and Wolf measured with their steps the dimensions of the new farm plot. I was pleased they were taking the task so seriously, the more they achieved during the first days of training, the more their confidence would grow.
Confidence was key to success, but I was not completely sure if the antidote we crafted would work on plants. We needed that extra crop with urgency, otherwise the winter would be harsh for the orphanage.
“If this works I’m jumping naked into the Azur river.” Elincia whispered, kneeling near a withered squash plant.
As we examined the crops, the group of orphans approached with curiosity and stared at us from the edge of the farm plot.
“If this doesn’t work I’m hunting Holst to the edge of the world.” I whispered low enough for the orphans to not hear me. A smile was drawn on Elincia’s face. For some reason, she was strangely giggly.
“Mister Clarke shouldn’t act so vindictive in front of the kids.” Elincia drowned a laugh with some effort.
“I don’t think swimming naked is a great example either.” I retorted as I used [Identify] to find a poisoned plant that looked salvable.
Squash. [Identify] Cooking ingredient. Edible. Poisoned. Withering.
Elincia half of the contents of the bottle around the stem of the squash and deposited a few drops on the leaves. The mana flowed through the leaves and roots neutralizing the poison and clearing the plant from any trace of malicious mana inside.
Squash. [Identify] Cooking ingredient. Edible. Recovering. Lv.1 Vigor (temporary).
“It worked. The poison is healing.” I muttered, surprised by how fast the antidote had worked. It was magic, after all.
Elincia, not wanting to alert the orphans, subtly grabbed my hand and squeezed for a second. I squeezed her hand back as the weight fell from my shoulders.
“Hey! What are you two doing over there!” Ash yelled over the edge of the farm plot.
Elincia gave me a radiant smile before walking back to the manor, leaving me with the orphans that slowly invaded the farm plot to watch whatever we were doing. She was acting strange.
Comments
I Dare Korval
Aren't they going to have to make ALOT of antidote for the whole farm? I hope they have enough herbs to make it. And I'll be curious to see what Elincia would have to say if Robert described to her what he was seeing.
