"What is this…?" Reina wondered aloud, holding the perfectly round gem between her index finger and thumb.
Not long after the strange witch had left, Reina closed up shop early to study the gifts she'd been given.
It was like a marble and had some heft to it despite its small size. An alchemical reagent? She pulled several tomes from the shelf and flipped through the pages until one detailed what she was looking for— a soul stone.
The witches back at the Academy used these to summon and create their own familiars. They were supposedly priceless to a witch. The reason being soul stones had no value to anyone else and were tightly controlled by the Elder Board that presided over the school of witchcraft.
Reina sucked on her gums.
People who came across a soul stone were instructed to send them directly back to the Academy. There was no telling which of the cardinal sins existed inside. The prideful soul was so dangerous, if bound to a familiar could wreak untold destruction.
But…
This was a lifetime opportunity to experiment and use it as an alchemy ingredient. What could she make? The possibilities might not be as endless as a philosopher's stone, but this came at a close second.
"Mmm. I smell a ripe soul," Perrwyn said, emerging from her petals. Her feet detached from the roots and marched up to the counter to inspect the stone.
"You can smell this?" Reina asked.
The alraune nodded. She held her hand out, expecting to be given the soul stone. Reina clenched her fist on it and shook her head.
No telling what would happen if an aberration like an alraune were to consume it. Best keep it near and safe.
"I feed you plenty. This was gifted to me by the witch— and speaking of the witch, you left me to fend for myself!"
Perrwyn's leafy hair sagged as if the sun had gone out. "She was extremely powerful. An almost nostalgic magic signature dwelled inside her."
Reina gulped.
Powerful?
What would have happened if she did have a philosopher's stone in her possession and refused to hand it over? During the encounter, the cold grip of death had briefly clenched around her soul.
She picked up the spell scroll. Judging by what the witch had said, it must act like a communication device. Unless she was lying and this turned out to contain an explosion spell.
"Let's just… put this away for now until I find out what it really is…" Reina sealed it inside a chest and placed it in a small cellar behind a trapdoor. As long as it didn't come into contact with a magic crystal, then it shouldn't activate.
Now what to do with the soul stone?
"Ah, screw it."
There existed a way to divine the identity of a soul stone through alchemy. Typically, a ritual was performed by multiple witches that required an enormous amount of magic. In recent times, a powerful witch who was also the hero of the Second Crimson Wars, Ellori Farrowghast, had discovered that familiars imbued with the soul of gluttony were able to identify a soul stone by smell.
Reina had neither a group of witches nor a familiar imbued with the gluttonous soul. But she did know alchemy.
The method to identify a soul stone through alchemy was a process called 'divining'. It had nothing to do with divinity or related to the gods for that matter. Removing the obscuration, the cloudiness that swirled within a soul stone, allowed an alchemist to peer into the soul and grasp the nature of its essence.
Though… the process might be way out of Reina's capacity as a journeyman alchemist.
Easy on paper, not so much in practice, as they said.
Reina returned all the books to the shelf save for one. The tome was old, so old that the spine was bound by fraying strings and belonged in a museum instead of in her hands. Imagine her surprise when Headmistress Parabelle gifted this to her and said it was the very first known alchemy tome. There were actually newer editions, and everything in here was transcribed onto modern textbooks already. Witches were pragmatic, not so much sentimental when it came to their history it seemed.
The instructions for divining a soul stone was among the very first pages.
Ten magic crystals were needed to stimulate the cauldron. The still beating heart of an innocent beast must be placed next to lull the soul into complacency; she didn't have that. Once the mixture had settled, and it wouldn't stay that way for long, a clatharis leaf and any-sized diamond must go in at the same time to reveal the soul in its reflection; she didn't have those either.
The final step was to sate the soul with a fruit blessed by the gods. Alchemists often gave up when it came to this step. While the other three ingredients could be found somewhere in the world or purchased from a merchant for a small fortune, a fruit blessed by a god was rarer than all of those combined.
Although… This city was named after a goddess. Vessyra to be exact. The Goddess of Love and Lust. She was worshipped by all, even beyond this pocket of civilization. Perhaps the High Priestesses had such a fruit.
"Ugh… One step at a time, I suppose. First, I need the heart of an innocent beast. Where would I find that?" she asked herself.
The door swung open and in came Neeks, carrying a basket of fresh apples.
"You wouldn't believe the haul I got today!" Neeks exclaimed, barreling through the door all smiles.
"An innocent beast…" Reina repeated, rubbing her chin thoughtfully as the harpy cocked her head sideways.
"It's been a while since we've flown together like this!" Neeks shouted.
Excited as her harpy friend sounded, Reina didn't share the same sentiment. After all, she was clinging onto Neeks' back because a hundred foot fall awaited her otherwise. She was quite literally her lifeline.
"You're feeling a lot better now?" Reina asked.
"Yep! I'm 100% especially after you gave me a potion to drink. I feel like I can take on the world!" The harpy barrel rolled through the sky and weaved through trees. "See?"
Reina fought the urge to vomit.
"I get it… just don't do that again…" she said.
Captured in Neeks' talons was a squirrel. That checked an innocent beast off the list. Next was a clatharis leaf and diamond. She distinctly remembered a certain female goblin who liked to horde her wealth. Maybe Rodelle might have one.
They returned to the atelier and placed the squirrel in a wooden cage. Reina filled all the gold she was given by the strange witch in a sack, then handed it to Neeks to carry since it was so heavy.
"Is that food?" Perrwyn asked from the corner of the room, peeking over her petals at the squirrel.
"I fed you earlier this morning! Don't eat the squirrel while I'm gone. I need it for an experiment," Reina said.
"Fine."
"Where to next?" Neeks asked, slinging the sack of gold on her shoulder.
"To Rodelle's workshop," she answered.
The goblin boss' construction company was situated at the edge of Erinmerch, bordering the inner districts surrounding the High Priestess' great tree. Rodelle carved her workshop into the stump that once belonged to a giant tree, and hollowed it out to operate from within.
They arrived to find Rodelle barking orders to a pair of orcs who were unloading large planks from a wagon. One of them lost hold and dropped a stack on his foot. He screamed in agony and hobbled away as Rodelle kicked his leg for the screw up.
"Ya idiot! Go grab a potion and get back out here," she screamed at the orc's back. "Sheesh. You'd think they'd have a brain to match the size of 'em."
"Now I know why you keep coming back for restoration potions. You guys are chugging them like water for the smallest injury," Reina remarked.
"I keep them working, the gold keeps flowing. Speaking of gold, I can hear the rattle of coins a mile away." The goblin turned to face Neeks, or more specifically, the sack in her hands.
Not knowing how to deal with a goblin was the fastest way to empty one's pockets. They were greedy. Always wanting more. Fortunately, Reina dealt with goblins like Rodelle long enough to know how their minds worked. If she showed how much gold she had first, the goblin would wring her dry and then some.
In order for Reina to get the most out of her gold, she had to lay down what she needed and went from there.
"I got here plans for a living wagon I need you to build. Plus two identical doors to the wagon." Reina handed Rodelle the drawn blueprint of the wagon she had in mind.
Rodelle sniffed and rolled up the plans to tuck into her pocket. "Piece of cake. Something like this I can get done in a week. That it?"
"I also need a diamond. I bet you got all sorts of jewels and gems stashed away somewhere. Even the smallest will do," she said.
"I may have one the size of a pebble to part with." The goblin raised a brow. "Gonna cost ya plenty for it all."
As expected. Rodelle didn't give an exact number. In her line of work, she should know the value of her workload. That was how she got away with legally robbing folks for more than what something was worth. If Reina were to reveal much gold she had, the goblin boss would no doubt state a much higher price.
Well. She didn't need to tell how much there was. Just letting Rodelle's imagination run wild should be enough.
In that case…
"Give her the bag, Neeks," Reina said.
Neeks placed the fat sack of gold on the ground and untied the top. Rodelle was having a hard time hiding her greed.
"That's, uh… That's a lot of gold ya got there. Make all that ka-ching from alchemy?" she asked, her eyes glistening from the gold's reflection as she stared into the sack.
"Honestly? I think I was bribed. But never mind that. I'm not here to negotiate, just to ask if we have a deal?" Reina grinned and stuck her hand out.
The goblin clicked her tongue. She wasn't given a chance to haggle more out of the deal after all.
"Alright. You got yourself a deal." Rodelle spat into her palm and shook.
