NOVEL NEXT Chapter 93: Reagents
Talking to the kids was always fun, in Luka's mind… even if they made him want to pull his hair out. Idly, he wondered if the other kids were like Ren and Nicole. To be honest, and he hesitated to admit it, he wondered if he should develop relationships with the other kids. On the one hand, they were villagers. On the other, they were kids. And child-strange-alien-adult-relationships were weird.
Ren and Nicole were, obviously, the exception to this… sentiment. Luka sighed long and loud. He weaved in and around guests, speed-walking past people who were stopped in the middle of the paths pointing at the decorations or scanning a map of the park.
I suppose I'll develop better relationships with the other kids as they grow up, Luka thought, knowing he was part of Emberwood Village for the long run. He had no reason to rush things, especially since most were already eager to work for the park—and in turn, him—once they were older.
In fact, thinking about it, Luka decided he would, with Tram's help, develop a managerial path for the orphans… Well, that sounded strange when he thought about it. He didn't want child labor, but he also had to admit these kids had a unique opportunity to work for the park when they grew up. If they wanted to work for the park, why not put them in the high-up positions after dedicated schooling? Annie could teach business classes, marketing, and a bunch of Earthen things.
The kids were legacies of the park and village, and their kids would likely run the park once Luka inevitably passed on. Why not set everyone up for success?
Luka paused mid step—a dwarven man a few paces behind grunted irately at him for stopping in the middle of the walkway.
Am I really thinking that far into the future? Luka asked himself. The answer was yes. It was a thought he had toyed with before: if anything happened to him right now, the park would likely close. Annie and Vlad could supply ideas for the park, Eve and Sol could likely maintain the magic already in the park, but expanding the park would tank, building new rides would fall flat, and expenses would steeply increase.
Luka's magic was simply too important for the longevity of the park. He resumed walking—he'd need to come up with ideas to fix that. He had time, though.
The flick and snap of a magical lighter pulled Luka's attention. A familiar gangster underling leaned against a post, his head bowed, but his eyes up. He stared at Luka, lighting a cigarette… menacingly.
Luka hadn't forgotten about Crime Lord Lanni, per say. But the man was not his first priority. Or his second. Or his third. Still, the man was a VIP, and they had a deal.
"I'll check on your boss' potions," Luka said to the underling before turning on his heel and B-lining to Sol's new alchemy building.
He wasn't sure of it, but all the reagents for Lanni's potions were likely already delivered. The man didn't want oddities or incredibly rare potions. In fact, most were "mundane" according to Sol, and required recipes she could figure out with a week or two of trial and error. But why do that when there were other, faster options? Luka spun his artifact ring around his finger.
The alchemy building was closer to Ressen and the park gates than the Stormcorsair Harbor and the Whirlpool Tavern. It was "outside" the park, hidden behind a wall of illusions that simply looked like a continuation of the emberwood forest. A half dozen buildings sat just beyond the illusion—staff buildings, as well as a few villager huts, and an employee break room.
There was also a mighty large pile of raw materials Luka needed to sort in preparation for the park's expansion.
The moment Luka stepped beyond the illusion, a startled beast hissed at him, snarling.
Luka stood petrified, staring into a maw of sharp fangs and claws the size of his head. It was a tiger-alpaca-rhino-monster-thing with silver fur that twinkled in the sunlight. It had been sunning itself, likely a lazy nap away from most of the hustle and bustle of the park… and Luka had just startled it.
Jear had been very adamant that the monsters within Ressen's domain would be pacified. Luka decided to trust them. He held his hands up, like he was surrendering.
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"Didn't mean to spook you," he said, as calmly as he could muster, suddenly glad Leo wasn't around to battle the beasty. That wouldn't have gone well. "There's a path here. People might walk through."
The monster eyed him suspiciously, its tail wrapped tightly around its back hoof. Its eyes then darted to its sunny spot, and the footprints in the dirt beside it. People have and would be walking through here.
To Luka's surprise, the monster nodded at his words. Then it looked into the forest, seemingly trying to decide where to go.
"Behind Ressen, the World Tree, I mean," Luka said, "there's a big area designed for beasts and friendly monsters. Plenty of sun, food, and you might make a friend or two. It's also guarded by Snake, a big snake…"
The monster stared at him. Considered his words. Then walked off toward Ressen.
Luka watched it disappear into the trees. He waited a moment, then turned and headed to the alchemy building.
I guess Jear was right, he thought, monsters do seem to be moving in.
Luka pushed open the door to the alchemy building and froze. It was empty, besides the shelves of… stuff, and Sol. The resident orc mystic had long done something to her skin that made her positively smooth—newborn, even. She, like most orcs, had black hair, and like Eve, hers shimmered in midnight waves. She wore a headdress, however, one that wove through her hair and was topped with a not-so-stuffed taxidermized raven familiar.
None of that was what made Luka freeze. He had grown used to the woman's eccentricities, but today she had something new. She wore a pair of neon pink heart-shaped sunglasses. They were massive, a comical souvenir Luka had made for one of the gift shops.
But that wasn't what made him freeze, either.
No, it was the twin pair of commercial neon pink heart-shaped sunglasses that her not-so-stuffed taxidermized raven familiar wore across his beak that made him freeze.
Caw! The creature-thing cried at him.
"Hello to you too," he muttered, quickly averting his eyes. That was the way Franky and Eve told him to deal with the raven. Under no circumstances make eye contact, acknowledge it more than a simple greeting, or ever ask Sol about it specifically.
So far, the mantra had worked well for him… not that he knew what not working well for him would look like.
"Crime Lord potions?" Sol asked.
"Yeah," Luka replied. "I'll gather the reagents."
He activated his ring:
Requirements for a Potion of Fertility (high grade):
5 dried nettle berries
The juice of a 1 moonbloom
A pinch of dragon's ash
2.5 oz of Etherstarch (for thickening)
5 oz of a mare's milk
Finding each reagent was easy enough… sort of. The building was as organized as orcishly possible. Every wall touched a shelf and every shelf was labeled. Every shelf contained jars, vials, pots, bowls, dried and tied hanging bouquet garni—he had Ren to thank for the term—powers in a loose pile, glyph circles filled with perishable items, and even a few bubbling glass spheres filled with various motes of the elements.
Luka set dried nettle berries, dragon's ash, Etherstarch, and mare's milk on the table, finding each in a matter of seconds.
Then he turned this attention to the not so organized section of the building—the horticultural corner. Through a glass door and onto a sandy pit, dozens of thriving plants introduced themselves to Luka. They were mostly magical in nature, and all wanted to shake his hand. Creepers, flowers, budding fruit trees—all were interested in him the moment he stepped in.
Fending off a bush of red-hot thorns, Luka wondered why someone would put this particular plant so close to the entrance. It was then he reminded himself that orcs were not ones for horticulture. Obviously Sol practiced the discipline, otherwise she would not have been able to cultivate such a room, but it was also obvious that she didn't really care.
The add-on room was twofold: day and night. Through the door and across the sandy pit, Luka stepped around unlabeled plants and ducked under horizontal-growing vines. Sol had told him how to build the room, and he did. A small stream—created from freshwater glyphs—cut through the room, and dozens of water plants took root. A handful of specially bred bugs flew back and forth, crossing pollen and eating pests.
Half-way into the room, Luka passed an invisible threshold. Suddenly there was no sunlight, and only moonlight. It was dark, like a room with the curtains drawn at dawn. Glowing mushrooms and other fungi grew unevenly around the room, their spores tossed haphazardly into the room by Sol days ago. They were small little guys, but Luka had been assured several times that mushrooms were a vital part of any night garden.
Whatever that truly meant, he had no clue.
Moonbloom, the last reagent he needed, was a fruit. That much he knew. What it looked like? He had no clue.
"It's the one that glows in the moonlight!" shouted Sol.
Luka turned, finding the mystic standing at the glass door watching him. He turned back, scanning his eyes across the night garden. He blinked. Everything was glowing!