NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 3: Potion
February 27th, 1358
In the lounge of the Lee siblings' room, both Lumian and Aurore sat at the table on opposite sides, with Lumian hunching over a thick stack of exam papers, a pencil gripped in his hand, scribbling down his answers furiously. His eyes flicker to the clock mounted above the stove occasionally, noting the time he still had left.
Just before the clock struck 2 o'clock in the afternoon, Lumian placed his pencil neatly next to his exam papers and pushed his exam towards Aurore. "I'm done. Please mark it."
Pulling out a pen with red ink, Aurore took the stack of papers and scanned it carefully with her eyes, marking the papers with ticks for correct answers and x's for incorrect ones. Lumian simply watched nervously, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple despite the temperate spring weather.
'Hmm, he got all of the Sequence 9 names of the 22 pathways correct, as well as a general outline of their basic corresponding abilities. His knowledge about Sequence 8's is fantastic as well, but he accidentally switched the name of Lunatic and Unwinged Angel. The Sequence 7 section is pretty well done, but he forgot the names and corresponding abilities for Cryptologist, Nightmare and Appraiser.'
Flipping to the next five pages, she took a look at the short-answer questions regarding situational awareness and Beyonder common sense. This section comprised of questions asking what to do when certain circumstances arise such as a friend losing control or feeling like you're being watched. Aurore noticed that despite mainly getting the questions right, Lumian's answers tend to lean towards violence or finding ways to facilitate a solution through violence.
The final six pages were dedicated to an essay with no minimum or maximum word count, with a simple prompt: 'Do you really want to become a Beyonder? Why?' The essay also required the answer to be written in Hermes, Ancient Hermes or Ancient Feysac. Lumian had used every single bit of space available on these six pages, even writing on the margins. In his essay, Lumian used every iota of his literary and linguistic knowledge and capabilities to expound upon his sense of urgency to get stronger, his protectiveness over his sister border lining on obsession, his devaluation of paper degrees, and even revealed his fear of losing Aurore and being abandoned. This single essay alone, written over the course of 2 hours 27 minutes under Aurore's watchful supervision, revealed more of Lumian's fears and insecurities than he had over the course of his 17 year long life.
After taking a full hour to finish her marking, Aurore looked at Lumian, who had waited patiently for her to be done. Aurore's face betrayed no emotions, making Lumian more anxious of his results. Finally, the uncomfortable silence was broken.
"Congratulations, your score was 92 percent, you barely passed." Aurore smiled in an aggravating way. These past few months, her split personality disorder caused by Roche's memories clashing with hers has lessened somewhat, with her erratic behaviours showing up less often. Regardless, there were moments where she would accidentally say things like "my family" instead of Roche's family or act in a manner that was provocative or sadistic. This was one of those moments when some of Roche's personality resurfaced.
Heaving a hearty breath of relief and exasperation, Lumian slumped into the table, stress evaporating off him.
After that harrowing incident with the Soul Summoning spell, Lumian had endeavoured to absorb all mysticism knowledge that Aurore promised to enlighten him with in order to become a Beyonder. But, while she did fulfil her promise to instruct him, it wasn't quite what he expected.
To his despair, Aurore had made him study a full stack of books, meticulously detailing different rituals, explaining the 22 pathways of the divine, as well as their Sequences 9 to 7 general abilities, corruption, different rules in the Beyonder world such as the Rule of Beyonder Characteristic Indestructibility and Convergence. But the most agonising part of his study was by far mysticism languages, of which he was forced to study all three Hermes, Ancient Hermes and Ancient Feysac. According to Aurore, all Beyonders had to know at least one of these languages, but she made him learn all three purely to test his perseverance, telling him that it was because numerous rituals require switching to different languages.
Lumian had to force himself to remain indoors for months to study, practice and apply all of Aurore's knowledge. Oftentimes, when his friends came to invite him to come hang out, Lumian had to reluctantly decline, simply because he had not finished his homework, which Aurore often tyrannically set the deadline to be the same day that she handed out the homework. This was added up with homework from his regular education as well, leaving Lumian no free time in the afternoon. He was dead certain that Roche's personality must intentionally be resurfacing whenever he was handed homework, as Aurore always displayed a sadistic smile whenever she did it. Lumian always thought that Roche must harbour deep resentment for him too, because the homework he got assigned were always barely manageable for him, but it would always took him hours to complete.
But at last, all of Lumian's efforts and time had culminated in his success. The four hour long exam that he had completed was only the last in a series of exams, including a practical exam on performing rituals, three language exams on the mysticism languages, and a history exam on the Fourth Epoch, chronicling the War of Four Emperors and the Pale Disaster. All of which he had passed with flying colours.
"You must be the strictest tutor in the world. I've never heard of any exam having 90 percent as the minimum passing grade." Lumian complained.
"That's because Beyonders can't afford to be wrong more than one in ten times. Beyonders who make mistakes more often than that don't live for very long." Aurore said seriously, seemingly having gone back to normal. She wanted to both highlight the severity of the dangers of the Beyonder world as well as teach her brother to always have vigilance and stay alert.
"Did you really have to sneak in the language requirement for the essay as well? I already did the language exams."
"That's to teach you to always expect the unexpected, my previously ignorant brother." Aurore replied, which caused Lumian to groan in exhaustion.
"But now that every exam is finished," Aurore clapped, causing Lumian to suddenly perk up. "I think a reward is deserved." Aurore then took out a piece of paper with a table on it, illustrating the 22 paths of the divine and the Sequences and formulas she was aware of. This caused Lumian's eyes to sparkle with a glint.
The table had the name of the Sequences of all 22 pathways from Sequence 9 to 7, with the Mystery Pryer pathway as the sole pathway that Aurore knew names for both Sequence 6 and 5.
As for potion formula, Aurore knew the formulas up to Sequence 6 of the Mystery Pryer pathway, a formula that she deemed so expensive that she still has yet to save enough money for it. She also knew the Sequence 9 and 8 formulas for Savant, which was common within Intis and could be obtained for much cheaper than most other formulas due to the presence of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery. Aurore had come across them through sheer accident, but she had rationalised the incident with the law of Beyonder Characteristic Convergence.
"As agreed, you can pick a Sequence. If I don't already know the formula for it, I can go buy it for you free of charge. By the way, you do remember what happens if you pick the Assassin potion, right?" Aurore said, with her tone becoming teasing near the end.
"Of course," Lumian rolled his eyes. "At Sequence 7, every male who drinks the Witch potion becomes a woman, like that one silly member at your organisation. Don't worry, I'm not picking Assassin. I've already thought long and hard about my choice."
Aurore's teasing intensified. "I wouldn't judge if you chose Assassin, you know, I'm quite open-minded even for an Intisian. Who knows how pretty you'd be as a Witch." Any outsider who saw this wouldn't doubt for a second that she was the Prankster King of Cordu's sister, an image that she never displayed outside of her home.
"I'm choosing Hunter." Lumian said curtly, interrupting Aurore's teasing.
"Any particular reason?"
"When I first saw the name and the description of its abilities, I suddenly feel a sense of calling, as if something in me was drawing me towards it." Lumian explained, causing Aurore to frown.
"That sounds like some sort of spiritual intuition. Some normal people can have it despite not being Beyonders, but you've never shown that kind of aptitude before." Aurore said.
Lumian shrugged nonchalantly, seemingly putting much care into it. "Perhaps one of my ancestors was a Hunter, and his blood is influencing me to pick it. Afterall, I don't exactly know my ancestry, and Hunters are the most common Beyonders in Intis. Not to mention, since as a Warlock, you specialise in casting spells from afar, don't you think it is appropriate that I should handle close-quarters combat?"
"Then why not pick Warrior? It grants higher physical strength than Hunter and is purely about close-quarters combat."
Lumian shook his head. "Warrior is too focused. The Hunter pathway simply has more diversification of abilities, and at Sequence 7 Pyromaniac, the array of fire spells it gives is just much more powerful than what a Weapon Master has."
"Alright then, I'll go and contact my organisation to order the main ingredients for the Hunter potion now, seeing as we can easily gather the supplementary ingredients. You can go outside now; I know you've been dying to hang outside." Lumian beamed at the last sentence and quickly exited the house, nearly forgetting to close the door.
Shaking her head wryly at her brother's antics, Aurore made her way up to her bedroom. As she entered her bedroom, she marvelled at how her immature brother - whom she previously force to do his homework with more effort than pulling teeth – can easily dedicate himself towards studying if he has a strong enough incentive. Yet at the same time, she was anxious that his overzealous nature may position Lumian in dangerous situations if he aspires to further advance his Sequence after becoming a Beyonder.
Aurore went to her desk, where a strange mechanical contraption, with gears, pistons, springs and wires sat. The complicated contraption was shaped similarly to a typewriter, with electrical lines extending from the machine through her room's window to connect to the nearby telegraph office, a service that she had paid a hefty amount to bribe the telegraph officers there to complete for her. She started typing on the contraption, prefacing her queries with her alias 'Muggle'.
Muggle: Does anyone have a Hunter potion formula and corresponding Beyonder characteristic or the main ingredients for sale?
007: Muggle, aren't you a Warlock, why are buying ingredients for a Hunter potion?
Cinderella: *Gasp* Don't tell me that you've gone mad for power and is willing to become a monster?
Napoleon: I have both the main ingredients for the Hunter potion. I'm willing to sell them for 4000 verl d'or each, for a total of 8000 verl d'or. As for the formula, that will be 3000 verl d'or.
Hidden Blade: Woah there! I have a Hunter Beyonder characteristic that I'm willing to part with for cheap. Only 5500 verl d'or for a pretty lady like Muggle! In this day and age, you can just swallow it and become a Hunter, no potion needed!
Zoro: Ah, here comes the simp. Everyone! Hide your wives, hide your sisters! Hidden Blade has arrived!
Napoleon: Hidden Blade, you playboy! Did becoming a Witch fail to put a dent in your ravenous appetite for beautiful women? Now you're trying to steal my business too?!?
Hidden Blade: It's just common courtesy to be honest to beautiful women! Not to mention, your ingredients are way too overpriced. Main ingredients for Hunter potions would fetch for at most 3500 verl d'or each outside of Intis. Within Intis, it's even cheaper!
It was common knowledge within both official and wild Beyonder circles that Hunter pathway Beyonders could be found almost everywhere within Intis. Whether it was the military, gangs, nobles, hidden and official organisations, or even seats in the government. In fact, it would not be remiss to guess that Hunters made up one-fifth of all Beyonders in Intis.
Muggle: Thank you, Hidden Blade. But for extra safety, I'd like to purchase the formula as well. Afterall, I'm not actually buying it for myself. I want to make sure the process is as safe as possible for him.
Hidden Blade: Oh, I see. Alright, I'll attach the formulas as well free of charge. No need to thank me. But just being curious, this guy you're buying the Hunter potion for, is he you crush, boyfriend, husband or something like that?
Muggle: He's my little brother.
Hidden Blade: Oh…
Apparently embarrassed at being exposed for trying to profiteer from Muggle, Napoleon seemed to have left the group chat, allowing Hidden Blade to confirm the transaction with Aurore. Ignoring the awkward mood that Hidden Blade created, she swiftly wrote down a short letter detailing the specifics of the trade and gathered the necessary payment. Stepping away from her machine, Aurore then started to recite an incantation.
"The spirit wandering above the world, the friendly creature that can be subordinated, a messenger that belongs solely to Hela." When she finished, a human-like skull, seemingly forged from pure silver with pale-white flames burning in its eye sockets materialised in Aurore's room.
"I would like to request Madam Hela to process this transaction for me and Hidden Blade, the terms are included in this letter, along with the payment." Aurore handed the messenger her letter, along with an envelope containing the 5500 verl d'or she and Hidden Blade had agreed upon. The messenger took the letter and payment in its mouth and vanished in puff of green smoke, having gone to perform its task.
After ten minutes of waiting, the messenger returned, depositing a dark red pulsing blob in Aurore's hand – a Hunter Beyonder characteristic.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, after determining that both Lumian's physiological and psychological states were in sufficient condition, Aurore began preparing the Hunter potion.
Taking out a pot, Aurore began to throw the ingredients in. 80 millilitres of red wine, carefully measured, went in first. Next, went 10 grams of basil, 5 grams of poplar leaf powder and one Red Chestnut Flower. Finally, Aurore threw in the Hunter Beyonder characteristic. It quickly dissolved into the amalgamation of ingredients, forming a homogenous red liquid. Lumian watched this entire process with keen interest, memorising the entire process.
Decanting the potion into a glass, Aurore handed the potion to Lumian with a smug look on her face, as if saying 'Look at how your capable sister expertly make your potion! Here, drink it!'.
Gingerly taking the glass with both hands, Lumian brought it to his lips and chugged it down in a single go.
The rustic smell of blood immediately invaded his olfactory senses, and an intense pain rippled through his body, causing him to drop the glass, which was caught by Aurore.
Every single nerve in his body screamed out, drowning his brain with sensory overload. His veins started to bulge out, and voices started whispering indistinguishable sentences in his ears.
Straining against these effects, Lumian strived to remain conscious, as Aurore had advised him to do at all costs. Losing consciousness when consuming a potion means certain death!
After 10 minutes, with the pain lapping against him like waves on a full moon, Lumian opened his eyes to find himself lying on the ground, Aurore watching him with eyes full and anxiety and a subtle hint of regret. She leaned down and wiped his face with a piece of cloth, staining it with blood coming from bursted capillaries on his face. Touching his face, he felt no wounds or openings, realising that his body had healed when he fully overcame the potion.
'Sigh, he really did it. It will be hard for him to live as a normal person from now on, even as a Sequence 9 in a remote village like this. If possible, I would have preferred for him to never even found out about me being a Beyonder in the first place, but that was clearly impossible. Once he found out about my powers, him striving to become a Beyonder and eventually achieving it was inevitable.' Aurore thought.
His body suddenly felt full of vigour, as though he could run a marathon while burdened by sacks of wheat on his back. Stretching his body, he felt that his body has become much stronger and more agile.
"So, what differences do you feel?" Aurore asked.
Lumian threw a series of punches into the air, cracking it with sonic booms, making Aurore's eyes widened for a brief moment. Then, he did a consecutive series of backflips, landing not on his toes but on one fingertip, balancing effortlessly. He was doing this to both limit-test his capabilities and to show off to his sister.
Walking back to where Aurore stood analysing eyes, Lumian said. "My strength is probably over 10 times what it was before. On foot, I can probably outrun a galloping horse. I'm as agile as a cat, with much better balance than before. As for jumping, I haven't tried it out yet, but I can probably scale the entire house with some effort."
"Do you have to learn to control your strength? Back when I advanced to Sequence 8, I often got too excited with my new strength and shattered mugs and cups quite often." Aurore asked. Having met some Hunters in the past, she only knew that Hunters were much stronger and faster than ordinary folk, possesses enhanced senses but did not manage to find out more about their powerset.
'Is that why my favourite mug went missing?' Lumian thought.
"No, my coordination is fantastic, with no challenges in controlling my strength whatsoever." He shook his head. "Furthermore, my five senses are now all enhanced, being to detect people from far away and track targets from just faint impressions in the ground. Additionally, I can now detect weak points in my environment, such as weak points in walls. I suspect this will come in handy when making traps. Finally, I now have knowledge about wild plants and organs of animals, allowing me to make rudimentary healing agents with haemostatic plants or poisons to apply on weapons and traps. My intuition is also sharpened, allow me to detect dangers moments before they happen"
"Wow, as expected from the Hunter Sequence, all of your abilities are geared towards tracking, hunting and killing a target." Outwardly, Aurore seemed calm, but her thoughts were turbulent inside.
'What the actual fuck! How is a mere Sequence 9 so overpowered?!? He could easily kill me when I was a Sequence 8, let alone a Sequence 9. If I had known beforehand, I would have searched for a Hunter formula instead of making a potion from the first formula I got my hand on.' Not knowing whether to laugh or to cry inside, Aurore suggested that Lumian should try to turn on his Spirit Vision.
After seeing Lumian took a whole 5 minutes to barely activate Spirit Vision after struggling to even enter Cogitation , Aurore heaved a mental sigh of relief. Then, Aurore tried to get Lumian to perform some ritualistic magic with his spirituality, which all Beyonders were able to do.
This was when Aurore discovered the biggest weakness of the Hunter Sequence – its spirituality was pitiful. While still higher than a normal person, a Hunter's spirituality was miniscule compared to that of a Mystery Pryer's.
Having established full knowledge of a Hunter's strengths and weaknesses and updating Aurore's grimoires, she turned to Lumian and spoke.
"Well, I think this calls for a celebratory dinner!"
After going to the market to buy some extra ingredients, Lumian returned home with his arms laden with eggs, meats, a covered bucket of milk, a bag of flour and a jar of honey, all bought at the farmer's market.
Wearing a cooking apron, Aurore received the supplies gratefully and began to cook using to new ingredients and what they already had in stock at home. Lumian also donned his own apron and helped out with the cooking.
After two hours of cooking, the siblings sat down at the table, ravenous eyes scanning the veritable feast they've assembled.
Roasted lamb seasoned with honey soy sauce, mashed potatoes, garlic bread, foie gras, lamb stew with chopped parsley and beef pie. Aurore also specially made two dishes from her homeland before her transmigration - dumplings and a chicken dish she called Kentucky Fried Chicken, made with a combination of eleven herbs and spices. On Aurore's side of the table sat a glass of red wine while Lumian had to settle with sweet peach tea, as he was still forbidden from consuming alcohol at home.
Digging into the meal, Aurore found that Lumian's devoured the lamb stew and savoured more of the stew by dipping his garlic bread into it before eating the bread. He gulfed down his beef pie, Lumian moved onto the unfamiliar bucket of KFC. He took out a drumstick, and with no apprehension, gnawed down on it. A rich, unique flavour bloomed in his mouth, imprinting it onto his palate. Lumian slowly got used to the flavours created by Aurore's combination of herbs and spices, making her feel proud for having recreated the fried chicken perfectly.
Aurore then watched with satisfaction as Lumian tried the dumplings, forking a piece before dipping it into soy sauce and putting it into his mouth.
"How was it? Is my planet's food to your liking?" Aurore asked smugly.
"It's fantastic, you should start making this every day. Wait no, if I eat fried food like this every day, I'll get fat. Every week then."
As they ate and talked about various things in the village, such as Lumian's friend Reimund's crush on Ava, the padre's record-breaking streak of infidelity and the upcoming Lent, the feast they had prepared ended up entirely cleaned out.
Both Lumian and Aurore leaned back in their seat in satisfaction and contentment, their stomachs full. After cleaning the table and washing the dishes, they bid each other an early good night as they went to their respective rooms, eyelids burdened from sleepiness induced by having a huge meal.
Tucking themselves into bed, Lumian dreamed of eventually becoming strong enough to beat Voisin Sanson by himself and protect Aurore, while Aurore dreamed of how to escape with Lumian if Voisin ever discovered them.