The Autocraft Alchemist

The clan meeting had just finished. While less people showed up when compared to the last one. It was still enough for the hall to feel full, but not packed like it had before. As for Richard's father, he had elected to stay home with his message saying that he would hear about it later.

Edgar took the podium once the time came and went over that they were working with the province and the guilds on putting together a response to the orc threat. He explained how orcs tended to be active in the warmer months. Fighting, hunting, and raiding. And how they tended to hole up for the winter. Due to that behavior an assumption was made that the orcs shouldn't start raiding again until the spring. Though there was always a chance that something might happen before then.

He also assured those present that only those that wanted to fight would need to do so. And that there would be plenty of roles open to those that wanted to support the clan and the effort against the orcs in other ways. Finally Edgar asked for those interested to get in touch with either himself or Jackie. Which led to several groups approaching him as soon as Edgar's part finished.

Richard looked around the people gathered. He had found a chair out of the way and spotted several familiar faces in the crowd. Given that he had already made his intentions clear to Jackie and Edgar the day before he found himself at somewhat of a loss at what to do next.

He had spent the time in between testing potions and the clan meeting working on a list of the potions that he could make and the materials needed. While Richard had considered leaving out some of the more dangerous ones, he decided to trust in the clan leadership. If they thought that they really needed something like a Disease Potion he would craft it. As much as he hated the ratter drops.

And Richard found himself wanting to trust the clan. All of the people that he met were good people. And, outside of his family, it would be nice to have a community, a place, to belong to. To that end Richard was giving them trust that he hoped they would earn in time. And the chance to prove that they were worthy of that trust. If he ever found out that any potions he had provided were being misused he could always set stronger boundaries or stop entirely.

Jackie found Richard while he was still sitting down and had already passed him an order for 25 Flash Potions along with the materials. And while he could have created the potions right then and there. He knew that it would be better to continue playing the part of a normal alchemist. Not that he knew how such an alchemist would act.

"How long do you need for the potions?" Jackie asked. "Thanks for the list by the way. We are still setting up parties and the like. But I'll go over what there is with the leaders when we get a chance."

"Eh? Not long. I'll probably have them done by tomorrow."

"That soon? And have you given any consideration in putting together a workshop? It would save us some time if we had a place where we could just drop off some materials and you could have at it."

"That's… something that I have been thinking about. At first I had considered moving to Rowan, to be near the Crafter's Union. Only while most of the people that I have met have been good, part of the management appears to be a mess. And with the clan starting up operations I would rather be close in case I can help out with anything."

"Right," Jackie said and looked at Richard for a moment. While he wondered if she had anything to say about the guild drama, she kept it to herself. "Well, let's see what we can do for now. I think that we have some buildings downtown that we can tap into."

"Wait," Richard blinked, "buildings?"

Jackie laughed. "I know right? We got a profit share from the dungeons that we had control of for the first 15 years. Which has been paid out for a long time already, but it was enough money to build or buy some of the buildings downtown. I think that the Swords are in one of them. And the rent keeps money coming into the clan's coffers."

Richard shook his head. "Ah, I've been in that building once. The one where the Swords are."

"Good. Cause that's probably the one it's going to be in. My grandson is part of the Swords. Which means that we have some pull in the guild as well."

"Is that common? I mean for clan descendants to join a guild?"

"While I don't know about the numbers joining guilds," Jackie gestured to the people still milling around in the hall, "those that decided to enter dungeons was about 50/50. Some did. Some didn't. My own kids didn't bother with the dungeons. But then again they were old enough to see the damage that came from them. I still outlived some of them."

"Ah? I'm sorry to hear about it."

"It happens. To be expected really, as I'm already over 80. The kids that I had in my 20's are in their 60's. And there is something about the magic of stats that means that I'll probably see 100 easy. Same for many of the higher level white hairs here. And I'm not sure if that is a blessing or a curse." Jackie shook her head. "It's great to live for a long time. Only when you're the last one standing, it means that you buried all of the rest."

Richard took a look at the many older clan members present. Would he one day be like them? Aging slower than those around him that hadn't gained levels in the dungeons? He wasn't sure what to make of the emotions that swirled around his chest.

***

Jackie made good on her promise, and by Monday she had already arranged a space for Richard in the Sword Soul Guild building. He left his apartment as soon as he got the message along with a box packed with some things he had bought. And soon found himself standing outside of the building. Richard lingered for a moment and stared up at the plain and boring looking facade.

There still wasn't any guild emblem or signage on the outside. Which made more sense considering that they were only renting some number of floors. But would someday come when the Mourning Horns added their emblem to a building? Such a thought made him wonder what the clan emblem even looked like.

Once inside Richard found the same receptionist as last time. She had let her buzzed hair grow out a bit longer. And it was still the same bright pink. The receptionist glanced up from her computer and offered him a quick, "Hello, how can I help you?"

"Hello, my name is Richard and I'm here to meet with Daniel of the Sword Souls Guild," he said.

"Ah. Yeah. Daniel has been all over me about that. I'll let him know that you're here." She smiled and typed away at the keyboard in front of her.

A moment later the elevator dinged and a man stepped out. He was maybe around Richard's age, or a bit younger. His dark hair was done in a sharp looking style and he was wearing a dress shirt and pants. Only without a tie or jacket. He strode towards Richard and spoke, "Richard? I'm so glad to meet with you. My grand-," he coughed, "Jackie has told me about you."

"Nice to meet with you," Richard said and they shook hands.

Daniel invited him into the elevator and hit the floor button. "The workshop we've set up for you is on the 30th floor. The unit used to be some sort of test kitchen. It's a bit small and has been vacant for some time. But we've cleaned it up over the weekend and gotten some tables and chairs in. Just temporary ones for now, since it's what we had on hand. The whole business with the clan has been… surprising to be sure."

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Richard laughed. "I feel the same. Did you know about the clan before the invasion? My father- Hal, if you know him, sprung everything on me the night of the ratter invasion."

"Uncle Hal? And yeah, he's been around at times. And well, pretty much as soon as I became an adult Jackie was at me. I had always wanted to be an explorer, much to my parent's displeasure. And Jackie helped me get my bearings in the dungeon and find a good guild to join."

The last time that Richard visited the building, to speak with Sam and Em, he had gone all the way up to the 53rd floor. When he exited the elevator he found that the 30th floor had a similar layout, with hallways leading away from the elevators. One difference was that instead of only having numbers on the doors, many of them also had business names.

Daniel led him to suite 3019. "I have a key here for you. And I'm somewhat sorry to say, but Grandmother already has some orders she wanted done," Daniel said, scanned his key, and pushed open the door.

Inside was a small room with hardwood floors and a chandelier. There wasn't anything in it except for a couple of tables on one side piled with boxes of materials. On the back wall was a door leading deeper into the suite which held a much larger room that was the kitchen. It had a large stainless steel island that felt like it dominated the room. While to the right was a couple of gas ranges, what looked to be a fridge at the back, and more prep space to the left.

Really it was all a little much for what Richard needed it for. And he dropped the box he was carrying onto the island in the kitchen and returned to the dining room. "It should be enough for now. Do you know all that she wanted?" Richard asked as he walked over to the table with the materials.

"Not really. I know some Healing Potions. But it's all a little beyond me. I went triple physical skills like Grand-, Jackie did. She insisted that I follow after her and got me a Jump Skill Book for my 18th birthday."

"Ah. I've seen her use it to get around. Seems handy."

Daniel laughed and shook his head. "It only works like that since she has it at a high level. And do you have what you need for now? From what I understand the materials will be placed in here. While you can make the kitchen into your workshop with whatever changes you may need."

"That should work. Though I worry about who has access to the office?" Richard asked. "There were also several businesses on the floor already?"

"It's just me and Jackie for now. So we'll be the only ones coming by. Maybe some more hands if they are needed." Daniel pointed to the cameras in the ceiling corners. "As for security the Swords run it for the building. If anything happens we'll lock the elevators and fire doors to trap anyone trying anything."

"Right," Richard said and squinted where the cameras were supposed to be. They were quite well hidden and should hopefully be enough. "I suppose that I should get to work."

Daniel excused himself after handing over a key fob and a door pass to Richard. While the key would get him into the room, the door pass was needed for the elevator and for the receptionist. Apparently she was a retired explorer and quite capable of dealing with the wrong people trying to get into the building.

After locking the door Richard returned to the kitchen and started unpacking the box that he had brought. Inside was a second Burner, a Retort, a Mortar and Pestle, and a Crucible. If he was going to finally have a workshop he figured that it might as well look the part. Even if he wasn't going to actually be using the things right away. Though he might have a go at traditional alchemy if there was time for it.

Next he returned to the dining room and pulled out the 25 Flash Potions from his inventory. And then placed them on one of the tables with the waiting materials. While the box he brought with him was probably big enough that it could have also held the potions. Richard didn't want to risk breaking one of them in transit. If one of the Flash Potions had gone off at the wrong time who knew what kind of attention it could have drawn to him.

On top of the materials he found a list with Jackie's request. And Richard found that, aside from the Healing and Mana Potions, they mostly seemed to be for potions with buffing effects. 50 Healing Potions. 10 Mana Potions. 20 Vitality Potions. 20 Speed Potions. 20 Stoneskin Potions. 20 Ironskin Potions. And so on.

While it probably would have been a pain to deal crafting all of the potions traditionally. Or even before he had unlocked Bulk Autocraft. With the new skill it was possible to just stand at the table and the materials would be recognized by the System. And in the end the thing that took most of Richard's time was pulling the completed potions out of the crafting window.

Once Richard had finished he stood back and was somewhat amazed at all of the potions lined up and sitting on the table. Something that would have taken someone else an unknown amount of time was completed in 20 to 30 minutes. Thought it was a little too easy. And it made him feel somewhat unsatisfied with the whole process. Discovering new options and their effects scratched that itch so much more.

Since he was done with the work for the day Richard took a look at the equipment he had set out on the kitchen island. Chemistry wasn't something that he had bothered with in high school. And he felt pretty much over his head as he tried to consider what to even try. There was also the fact that it could take many failures before a successful potion method and recipe could be found.

It was something that he would have to tackle at some point. But that point could wait until later. And he packed the potions into the boxes that the materials once sat in. Turned off the lights and made sure that the dock locked. He would let Jackie know that the potions were ready later that evening.

***

Lala jumped and leaped through the thick forests of the Northern Wilds. They had overgrown to the point where one almost needed skills to safely and timely make their way through them. After so far north the roads had disappeared into the sea of green. Fully consumed by the rampant vegetation.

Likewise the further north that she had gone, the worse was the state of the cities and towns that she had found. And while, yes, there were orcs living in several of the former human settlements. The orcs seemed to be lacking the edge of the ones that she had found further south.

She had tried to get close to one of the dwellings that were on the outer edge of one small village. Using the trees and the ground cover to stay hidden. And Lala was surprised to find that children were running around playing. That men and women orcs were walking around without armor. Smiling and socializing. And that they appeared to be farming. Just what was going on?

From what she could recall such things were never recorded before. Orcs lived for one thing. War. They would fight, raid, and conquer during the warmer months. And then sit on and eat their spoils during the colder ones. Should they run out of food, war would start before spring. Never was there any such a thing as an orcish farmer.

Despite her desire to find out more about the behavior of the orcs, the time given for scouting was coming to an end. And she would need to report back to the clan soon about what she had found. So she turned around and started running back the way that she came. All while keeping an eye out for anything else that was different.

After several days of moving south Lala found something worrying. One of the settlements that she found on her way north had burned to the ground. She broke the cover of the trees and wandered around where houses had once been. All that remained were the blackened ribs of the buildings and several charred corpses.

From what Lala was able to tell there only appeared to be remains from orcs. And they died from violence. Could it have been another warren of ratters? But then they wouldn't have left the bodies behind. Too much fresh meat. So there must have been another explanation for it.

The next settlement that was populated with orcs was just empty. Each and every one of them had left. Lala quickly ran through it, hoping to find out something more about what had happened. It looked as if it was a planned abandonment. The houses were empty and very little was left behind.

As Lala mulled over what could have caused the orcs to leave her head snapped around to the south. The late fall wind of November blew around and through her and brought with it a chill. It should have been too early for them to march.

Lala threw herself into running south. Checking each settlement as she went. Only for a moment. Many of them were empty. The first orc that she found was dressed for battle. Limping forward and using its axe as a cane. At times it would cough and mutter something to itself. But still it trudged further south. She spared it a second glance before deciding to just leave it. It would be better to get back faster than risk injury with a random orc.

As Lala went further south, she found more and more of the same. Lame or injured orcs all ready for war and pushing south. Some had given up and were wheezing or coughing at the side of the trail they followed. Some had given up in the settlements and were slouched against the walls.

Lala ignored each orc and pushed on, harder, faster. All while wishing that she could fly like the wind.

It was nighttime when the final stronghold of the orcs came into view it was a riot of noise and fire. While she couldn't understand what was being said. The violent energy of the orcs was enough that she knew. They would be marching soon.

She forwent any thoughts of sleep and continued to race south.