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/Shuaaa!/
/Galloping!/
In the middle of the desert, a Caravan made its way across the sand in the middle of a violent sandstorm.
Composed of several carts, all covered in green cloth to protect themselves from the sand, being dragged by strange reptilian creatures...
There were dozens, at least 5 dozen carts, a massive convoy of incredible proportions making its way across the golden brown ocean.
From inside one such cart was a girl, covered in a blanket and a bandana, to protect her face and body, holding her knees as the wood of the cart creaked and snapped.
She wasn't alone, next to her was another girl, and several boxes full of stuff, it was rather dangerous, if the wagon were to move too suddenly, some of those boxes could potentially fall on top of them...
Yet they stood there in silence, clutching onto themselves and a small bottle of hot water.
"Shouldn't we stop?" She asked worriedly as she heard the sand outside
'In these extreme conditions, finding a place to stay and gather should be the best solution...'
"It's like this..."
But before the other girl next to her could reply, the old driver said:
"I've taken this path many times, if we stop, we're going to end up worse."
"These storms only tend to worsen over time, if we had a place to take shelter then that would be the correct course of action, but now, the best choice is to move on and get out of its coverage zone."
"Normally, these storms would move to the South due to the Northern Mountain winds, but due to the Coastal Sothern Winds, the Storms are pressed to move either East or West, at least in this time of the year."
"There is a reason why we are using Basilotos instead of the standard Dromedary, we need their resilience, strength, and speed to push through them without stopping."
"We aren't far from our destination, we just need to pass through this storm..."
"This time we were lucky as we only met with natural disasters, I've seen people fall to worse." He said deeply as he steered the lizard to walk a bit faster
"Lucky huh..." The young lady said with a frown
"Giant Avian Predators, Sand Dwelers, all kinds of venomous insects and animals..."
"Some end you quickly, others not as much."
"We didn't have even a single person go sick this time, this is so rare that it's my first time seeing it, the Gods are with us today."
"You heard him, young lady…"
"Don't call me that, I told you this already didn't I?" The girl said seriously, slightly annoyed
"Yes… Apologies Erile, I lost focus there for a moment."
"Don't apologize so often Fey, it's not really that important anyway."
"No, it is, it is your choice, one I have failed to abide by, still… Why did you wish to come here like this?..." Fey asked as she rested her head on one of the boxes
'I would like to ask why she would like to come here at all... All of the funds she had accumulated over the years... Everything was used to make this convoy possible...'
'It seems rash, extremely so, these aren't the actions of a young Noble lady, even if she were excited for some adventure.'
'No matter how many times I thought about it, I couldn't reach a conclusion.'
"If I had asked father about this, he would've strictly forbidden my actions and scolded me for even thinking about it, and I cannot accept that, so this time, I'll be moving as myself without the help of the family."
"He'll be very worried, but thanks to the ruse we used at home, we should have a few months before he starts thinking that something is wrong..."
"And this matter dies here, from here on, I'm simply Erile, no family name attached, and this will last until we return, have I made myself clear?"
"As per your order." Fey said with a nod
"Same goes for you." She said as she turned to the driver
"Eh? Sorry, the storm is quite strong and I didn't hear it, did you call me?" The old driver asked as he pulled his bandana down
"... No, forget it." Erile said as she shook her head
…
/At the same time back in Resko…/
/Knock knock knock…/
"I'm a bit occupied, can you wait for a little?" Yumi replied as she heard someone knock on the door
"It's me."
"Dale? Get inside!" She replied suddenly
"..."
Dale grabbed the handle to Yumi's laboratory on the second floor of her house and turned…
/Poof…/
"Urg..."
Thick white smoke filled his vision, and he almost coughed.
"What happened here?" He asked as he looked around
'This place is always filled with smoke...'
"Sorry! I didn't expect a visit so soon!" Yumi replied apologetically as she looked around in distress
'Much less your's!... Although to be honest, he's the only one that visits me so frequently...'
'Urg! I should've paid more attention...'
She was wearing her usual white coat, but this time, she had a protective mask and a pair of goggles to protect her eyes.
"Can I open the window?"
"Uh? No!… Sunlight will interfere with the reaction… I'll be done soon, just let me finish this…" She said without taking her eyes off the beakers in front of her
She kept mixing, never stopping or altering her rhythm, it was certainly impressive to watch as she prepared one ingredient after the other with sharp precision.
"..."
Dale did not say much after, instead, he sat down on a chair nearby and waited.
/Sizzle… Bubble…/
He continued to observe her as she added more and more things to the main beaker, making the reaction sizzle more and more… As if it was on the verge of exploding violently.
Eventually…
/POOF!/
"Ahh!"
The beaker released a small cloud of purple smoke, making Yumi tumble backward.
/Thud/
"You okay?" Dale asked as he grabbed her back
"I'm fine… Can't say the same for the solution." She said in a worried tone as she adjusted her glasses
Her gaze went back to the beaker, and after thanking Dale, she checked it.
She had already become used to him holding her like this, as such, she barely even noticed it...
If she were to realize that... Just how embarrassed would she become?
"Hum… It burned a little, but that's okay, it's within the tolerable margin of error." Yumi said as she bit the end of her pencil
She took out a notepad and started to write on it.
"What's that for?"
"Oh? Because this is my first time making such a thing, I wrote the entire process down, including a few things to pay attention to here."
"I'm also making my own notes during the process wherever I can for future reference." She said with a small smile as she pulled her mask down
"How professional." Dale said with a smile
'She's starting to become like a crazy scientist... Albeit for potions and without the human experimentation part.'
Dale failed to realize that he was the Human she was experimenting on...
"It isn't that much…" She said, slightly embarrassed
[Yumi's Intimacy has increased slightly]
"With this… It should be done though." She said as she checked her notes
"We can add a few more substances to decrease side effects and its speculated taste..."
"Oh, don't forget to wait for it to cool off since it's boiling hot right now…"
"But that's all for the potion manufacturing process." She said with a nod as she closed her notebook
"Really? It was faster than I thought."
"It wasn't really complicated, and the materials were all here, I just had to put everything together." She said humbly
"It just so happens that putting everything together is about 90% of the work." Dale replied with a shrug
"Amazing work, as always… Under the premise, it works of course."
"Uhum…"
[Yumi's Intimacy has increased slightly]
"..."
/Silence…/
"Cough! I'll uh… Open the curtains!" Yumi said awkwardly as she pointed to the other side of the room
"... Sigh."
Dale could do nothing but watch and think.
'She's getting more and more uncomfortable around me… Is it due to that?' He asked himself as he looked above her head
A total of five Emerald Hearts were now floating there, there was already a sixth one growing.
Dale was unsure how much each one represented, and what exactly did they mean together, much less why they kept increasing...
Okay, that last one was a lie, he himself would sometimes try to act in a way to make them increase... Only to feel terrible after, he felt that it wasn't okay to play with someone else's emotions like that.
He speculated time and time again, reaching answers he himself does not know what to make of…
Some he thought to be absurd, but no matter what, there may be some level of truth within them.
In the end, he wasn't ready to face it, or he simply didn't want to, due to it, he remained silent and never once thought of asking her about her feelings since, in the first place, that isn't an easy thing to do or talk about.
Instead, he focused on the vial of purple liquid, the very same liquid he would drink soon enough.
Yumi noticed this movement and said:
"Be careful with it okay, I know what you're thinking of doing with it, and I prepared an antidote just in case, but I don't think the original intention of this recipe was to feed it to someone else… It's simply too dangerous."
"Hence, I was forced to make some alterations…"
"But I'm unsure of its final effects, you can never truly be…" She said in a deep tone
"Thank you, you're the best."
"That doesn't make me any happy…"
Dale waited for a few minutes to pass before grabbing the beaker, a normal person would suffer burns right now, Dale felt it was warm.
"It's still a bit hot…" Yumi warned as she saw him grab it
'He's the only one that'll hold a hot beaker that was in the fire without a care in the world...'
'Hum... A few others can too... But they don't look as cool... Almost as if, it was to be expected of them?'
'It's a bit unfair honestly...'
"No, this is good enough, if it cools down too much, it'll become too hard for me to drink…" Dale said deeply as he stared down at the viscous substance
'I may need some water...'
'This is getting strange... All this talk about swallowing...'
[Experiment E-X21
Effects: Upon consumption, stimulates the body and Massively increases the immune system's power, granting the Skill, Anomalous Status Resistance.
Description: Long ago, an eccentric Wizard grew tired of getting sick from his dangerous alchemical experiments, losing time, and getting stressed due to the pain of recovery, not to say all of the ridicule he got from his coworkers and competitors.
So he decided to make a cure-all and rid the problem from the root… But he failed, miserably.
So instead, he tried to increase his body's tolerance towards everything that could make him ill, so at the very least, he would fall sick less.
All because he did not have time to train his own body...
He succeeded, but it's unknown if he drank it or not as his name vanished with time, together with his aspirations and goals…
Over time, the recipe fell into the hands of the Southern Corps and was recorded and stashed away, never to be seen again due to how dangerous it was.
The Recipe was eventually modified by a talented Alchemist and is now slightly less dangerous…
Don't drink it unless you know what you're doing, and make sure to drink it before it cools down below 80 degrees Celcius, or else you may choke.
Be prepared for an upset stomach.
]
"But… Can you fetch me some water just in case?" Dale said with a twisted smile as he read the description of the potion
"Yes, just a minute." Yumi said as she left the room
"..."
'Watching her turn around and go to the counter, Dale started to think:'
'Potion making is such a wonder.'
'There are many interesting recipes I desire.'
'Like this one, it gives me a Skill if I meet the requirements, but there are other options like that as well.'
'There is even a potion that gives someone the Mana Conduction Skill, pretty much helping them jump an entire stage of training.'
'Elixirs, Stat boosters... Speaking of those...'
'I still have my Stat boosting potions from the Tutorial, but I never used them.'
'I previously held them because I thought my Stats were going to be locked due to the Gene Chain limit, but I easily surpassed that, since then, I've been holding them just in case...'
'Albeit they have a limit of how many Stats they can provide, they're just one of many kinds of Attribute potions.'
'Considering how skilled Yumi is, if she can get access to some rarer materials, then all of these potions...'
'It's a bit arrogant of me, but I would be the first in line to get all of those potions.'
'But still, that might be the natural course of action given everything that happened.'
'I've placed myself in a position where I am the person with the highest Constitution, offering myself to be a lab rat for her over these last two weeks.'
'Not to say my position as an Elder and also my relationship with her.'
'Just like today...'
…
She eventually came back with a large jar of water, and a small solution for burns, what a considerable person...
"Well… Now or never, cheers." Dale said as he raised his cup
"Don't cheer to that…" She said, annoyed
/Gulp!/
'Hot!... But it's bearable, like drinking hot tea or water straight out of the microwave...'
The heavy liquid made its way down his throat, it tasted terrible, the best he could say is that it tasted like very very bitter medicine.
Dale had to try his best to not puke it out...
In the end, he grabbed the bottle of water and drank it all at once, just to make things faster and to clean his tongue of any residual taste.
"Urg… Okay, all went down… But that was just the first step."
Dale sat down and waited… His body got hotter and hotter as he started to sweat heavily.
'Oh boy... This is tense...'
[DING!]
[Your Immune System is being stimulated]
"Are you okay? Can you open your mouth for a moment?" Yumi asked, concerned
"Yes… For now."
"Don't say something so ominous… Now, open your mouth."
"Uh... Cough!... I don't think you need to check my mouth..."
"If you can talk so damn much it means you must be okay, or are you going to open up and stop wasting our time?" Yumi said in a deep tone as she pulled his collar up
"I... Apologies." Dale said as he opened his mouth, surprised at her boldness
'How embarrassing...'
[Your body suppresses itself]
[Your Immune System has been strenghened]
[Your body suppresses itself]
[Your…]
"This will probably take a while." Dale said with a small smile as he closed his mouth
"I have all day, now open your mouth again, and come closer to the light if you can, I need to take a better look." Yumi replied with a small smile as well
'To think everything I needed to do to make him listen was to be a bit more direct...'
'Noted.' She thought mischievously
So the two waited, one in slight pain, and the other with great concern…
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Notes
