Chương 179: Chapter 174 - Now What?

Stromni reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He glanced around the cellar briefly before lifting the lantern and placing it flat on a barrel.

"Been thinkin' 'bout barrels and red beards and whatnot. So I drew the stamp, like we talked about." Stromni said with a big grin, pointing to the paper. Alric leaned closer, studying the drawing. For several seconds, he said nothing. The drawing showed two people staring at the viewer; one was short and incredibly broad. The short figure looked like their body had waged a war with their beard and their beard had won; the beard was enormous and bushy.

Alric would have described it as closer to a short yeti with a human head. The other figure was tall and had spikey hair. Both figures had one arm raised with a thumb pointing upward. Alric looked at Stromni skeptically.

"It's us o' course. Think I got ya eyes right." Stromni said, pointing at it and grinning. It was surprisingly clear other than the spiky hair and even more beard than normal; he had even attempted to capture Maggie in the background, although she looked less like a still and more like a kettle with a chimney.

"Stromni, this is far too much detail to put into a barrel stamp, you need something much simpler than this," Alric explained, pointing to the small lines.

"But it's us, lad. Both of us, you an' me—" Stromni began with a slight frown.

"Stromni buddy, you have individual fingers here. When that's a stamp, it's going to just be a black blob." Alric said, pointing to the fingers.

"I can get that in the metal lad, I know it's fine—" Stromni began pointing at his own fingers.

"It's not that buddy, I believe you could. Barrels are not that flat though. If this was for ink, it would be great." Alric explained, he looked at the fine detail. Stromni opened his mouth and closed it again, frowning.

"Half the detail is going to disappear into the wood, we will just end up looking like two injured goblins. The beard is good though, that will make it." Alric said, pointing to the beard and the various fine lines.

"That bad?" Stromni asked, deflating a bit.

"I don't think so, I just think it's too much detail, but I get the sentiment. Thank you." Alric said, patting him on the shoulder. Alric pulled out a new sheet of paper from his item box and put it down on the barrel.

"This is what I was thinking." He explained as he drew a circle. Inside the circle, Alric drew a shape that looked like a carved watermelon. Then a big spiky shape underneath it.

"See, this bit here, helmet, then beard," Alric said, pointing to the two shapes.

"That's a lot o' beard lad," Stromni said, taking the charcoal; he immediately began cleaning up the various lines. He was about to draw eyes when Alric stopped him.

"Don't draw eyes, just shade it in, dark, like a shadow," Alric explained, pointing to it. Stromni glanced at him but shaded the area. He began adding details to the centre of the beard when Alric stopped him again.

"Alright, so write the word Redbeard here in common first, and then Redbeard underneath in dwarven."

"Ya ain't in this at all lad?" Stromni said, looking at Alric with his eyes wide.

"That's the point, I hate to say it, but are humans known for spirits? So, we bank on that. Now see this top space." Alric explained, showing the top blank.

"We can put the word 'whisky' or 'brandy' or 'spirits' or whatever up there." Stromni stared at the drawing for a long time before making the beard larger and more bushy at the sides, bringing it down to a point at the bottom. His thumb ran down the side of the drawing.

"Redbeard." He said, staring at it. Alric patted him on the back, saying nothing. Stromni just nodded, looking down at it.

"Aye, that'll stamp clean," Stromni said after clearing his throat.

"I think so too," Alric said, looking down at the cartoonish-looking drawing.

"Good name on a barrel," Stromni said, studying the nearby barrels. He lifted the drawing and folded it carefully, far more carefully than the first Alric noted, before putting it into his inner pocket. Stromni avoided eye contact for a while before he finally pointed up.

"So, bout them herbs lad?"

"Oh yeah… I made a thing." Alric said wincing slightly, his hand went to the back of his neck, "Do you want me to walk you through all of it or just the final?"

"Take me through it all lad, I want ta understand what ya did." Stromni said with a smile. Alric walked him over to the not-alchemy section and began explaining the various processes. It was pretty clear he had lost Stromni along the way of his explanation. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Lad, I didn't catch 'alf o' that. Ya said sumin bout wine?" Stromni asked his eyes wide while blinking at Alric.

"Yes, something from my old world. Something called acidity, it's what makes something taste sour." Alric began, he gestured vaguely toward the wine barrels.

"You know lye? That's the opposite. To make it simpler, the mana part of wickleak doesn't do well in something like wine or even water."

"Aye? Keep it simple lad." Stromni said nodding slowly.

"Alright, so to make something safer to drink and to keep the mana parts, I had to make something called a bicarbonate. I bubbled beer through lye liquor to make it." He said pointing to the still. It had still been going with the beer, new crystals had grown around the copper pipe on the thumper. Stromni blinked at it before looking back at Alric and then the crystals again.

"And… then?" He asked, looking at the samples on the shelf.

"Then I could concentrate it by heating it, and finally I made this," Alric said, retrieving the inkpot from his item box. There was a lapse as Alric trailed off; the inkpot in his hand was completely inert. He remembered the sword did the same thing before. It was also less impressive without the glow effect, just an ugly green bottle with something inside it. Alric put it down on the table for Stromni to look at.

"I'd forgotten about that. If I put mana in something and put it in the item box, when I bring it out the mana isn't there," Alric explained. Stromni lifted the bottle, closing one eye to look at it. After Alric spoke, he opened both eyes to stare at him.

"Where's the mana go, lad?" Stromni asked, holding a fixed stare.

"I get it, I guess it comes back to me," Alric explained with a wave of his hand. Stromni's cheeks flared, and he shook his head slightly.

"Not sure ya know this lad, but mages have a limit o' how many mana potions they can drink. Ya could… go on forever?" Stromni asked, still staring at him. Alric shrugged, "I don't know, never tried. Anyway, don't think that's important right now. Try not to stare at it." Alric extended a finger and began moving mana to the liquid, it accepted it eagerly, almost greedily. It still felt strange, the Wickleaf had rejected so forcefully but now it just could barely get enough.

The liquid inside the bottle began to shine brighter. Eventually, Alric could feel the edges of the resistance stage and stopped.

"Fwah," Stromni said, squinting at it. He placed it carefully on the workbench and removed the cork. The light coming out of the top was far more intense, a light blue.

"It's not hot? Not gonna explode?"

"No, its pretty stable. I haven't thrown it at anything if that's what you mean. If you don't like your hand, can you test shaking it for me?" Alric asked with a grin. Stromni chuckled, "Even I can tell, this is a lot of mana." He ran his hand through the light beam coming out of the top.

"Well lad, remember I said I thought ya were a genius or a sage or sumin' and ya explained ya were remembering things?"

"Yes?" Alric said, turning his head to the side.

"None o' this were in ya old world lad, ya figured this out on ya own," Stromni said, waggling his eyebrows and nodding with a grin. Alric considered that; he had essentially mixed something close to baking soda with a crushed herb and then heated it up. The oil fracturing he had worked out from the recipe Margaret had given him.

"I appreciate you saying that, but I'm standing on the shoulders of giants. It's hard to explain, but none of this is new. It was bringing things I already understood together." Alric explained, waving his hand at it.

"Aye, well, lad, how ya wanna be remembered? Like we said, the man who gets potions ta the people will be remembered better than some hero." Stromni said with a wide grin.

"I… Stromni I don't… I'll admit I was having fun with that, but I don't know if I'm brave enough to do something like that yet." Alric said quickly and then heard the last.

"Yet? Eh… lad…" Stromni's grin widened.

"I'm enjoying discovering things, but I don't think I want to fight that fight honestly," Alric said with a shrug. Stromni nodded at that.

"Ya know, ya studying ya plants and things, building Maggie, happiest I ever seen ya lad." Alric just shrugged; he wasn't going to deny he was having fun with it. He took the cork back, covered the bottle, then put it away in his item box. He paid attention to it this time and felt the mana return.

"I know ya scared o' it lad. I am too, but if ya can't get the next puzzle piece then it don't matter." Stromni said with a shrug.

"Why are you so interested in this Strom? You've never said." Alric said with a frown. Stromni paused; he looked down.

"Lad, everyone lost someone cause we couldn't afford a potion. Me da tried ta sell the forge ta buy one for me sister, they wouldn't sell ta a Redbeard, it wouldn't a been enough anyway." Stromni said, looking up at Alric, "Thing is lad, my tale ain't a new one. Think everyone lost someone, but they tried."

"I see. I'm sorry Stromni." Alric said looking away.

"Not ya fault lad, but I can promise ya, if ya ask anyone, they all wished for a potion once for someone else en didn't get it. This ain't ya world, I know that, but, not sure who else could do anything if I'm honest lad." Stromni said. He glanced at a nearby barrel, frowning. The words struck Alric hard. This ain't ya world. He tilted forward slightly as the implications of those landed.

"Uh…" Alric began but found he didn't have words past that.

"Still lad, just one-piece o' the puzzle, if ya can't figure out the stamina and healing, it just don't matter," Stromni said with a shrug, looking away. Alric nodded, still feeling lightheaded.

"Uh… I did make something to drink from the Wickleaf," he said, trying to change the subject to something more familiar.

"Oh ya did? What ya got?" Stromni asked, brightening.

"It's… It's called gin." He said, he swallowed as he pulled the two bottles from his item box together with a tankard. The gin itself and some juniper water he had made. Seren had managed to get some juniper for him after he asked; he suspected it was from a tavern, but he didn't ask any questions. He opened the bottle and tried to pour but found he was shaking.

"Ya alright, lad?" Stromni asked, noticing the shaking.

"Yeah, I just. I need to think, a bit later though. Let's… I want you to try this." Alric explained. He handed the bottle to Stromni, who frowned at him. The dwarf stared at him for a long moment, but he didn't say anything. Eventually, he just shrugged and poured it into the tankard. He took a deep sniff of the raw gin without juniper before taking a sip. He held the tankard out and blinked at it rapidly.

"Alright, now add some of this, or rather a lot of it." Alric said, taking a deep breath and pointing to the juniper water. Stromni nodded and did so before he took another sip.

"Ooh, that's good. Don't think it's for everyone, reckon elves'll like this a lot lad. Just check if it's right." Stromni said, passing the tankard to Alric. He took a sip and rolled it in his mouth. It needed more gin. He took a deep breath before pouring more, this time without shaking and getting the balance right. He passed it back to Stromni without a word. Stromni sipped it again slowly, "Aye lad, that'll do it. Reckon elves'll fight ya for this stuff. It's just their kinda thing. Herby…"

he concluded nodding.

"So now what lad?"

"I asked the cellar the same thing yesterday," Alric said, glancing at the grate. Voices drifted through, people arguing about either lunch or missing paperwork.