Page 8 of Roverpowered 6

Not that Kettlin gave him much chance to consider it. Her now healed arm clapped down on Juthan’s shoulder, the one where his familiar wasn’t sitting, taking a tight grip. “You mentioned him committing crimes, wasn’t it? Sounds like the sort of thing your union would want to be sure he’d be held accountable for. I’m sure Mister Five-Hundred-Gellen won’t mind being confined to his quarters until we turn him over to some proper authorities. I’ll drop the parrot off in the recreation facility on our way.”

Surprisingly, Juthan went without protest. If anything, he was eager to be as far away from Lenar as possible. A few of the other wizards on deck were whispering, eyes darting to her friend as he walked over to her side. “Are you alright?”

“I’m okay.” The words might have been more convincing if her voice weren’t wobbling. Even with Juthan gone, it still felt like the whole ship was looking their way. Wanda clutched Wumble, careful not to grip too tightly lest she accidentally injure him with her newly discovered strength.

After one quick glance around the deck, Lenar gently took Wanda’s elbow and began leading her back toward a stairway. Karlisle walked in front, growling softly to ensure a path was opened. Magic wielders or not, it was a rare soul who could stare down an approaching tiger. Especially one that could have potentially awoken magic of its own.

Yet one such shadow did fall across their path, just before reaching the stairwell. Captain Sharshaw stood taller than Wanda or Lenar, towering over them with an owl perched atop her hat, adding further to her perceived stature. “I saw what happened. Take a moment to put yourself together, but make sure you get back here soon. If another swarm attacks, we’ll need every able wizard onboard to pitch in. And now I’m down an alchemist to boot.”

“Based on the potion he was peddling, I’d argue we did you a favor there. But if you’ve got any ingredients, that would be perfect. Brewing a potion is how Wanda likes to settle her nerves.”

Wanda rapidly blinked, the moment of surprise cutting through her attention-induced-fugue. It hadn’t even been that long since she mentioned that, so it wasn’t shocking Lenar could recall such a detail. She just hadn’t considered he would feel any sort of need to store it away. A small act of consideration in the grand scheme of things, but it was enough to bring a warm smile to Wanda’s face. Since she had her gaze turned toward Wumble, though, only her familiar got to enjoy the sight.

Captain Sharshaw rummaged in her coat and produced a purple key, tossing it to Lenar. “You’ve got permission to raid the alchemy storage lockers. If you can use it, you can have it. What’s the union rate for potions if I provide the ingredients?”

“Percentage off based on amount provided, topping out at a fifty percent discount. Anything lower could imply the alchemist is less vital than the ingredients, so the union draws a hard line there.”

“So long as you’ve got potions when we need them, I’m not going to complain.” Captain Sharshaw stepped out of their way. “You’re both excused from combat deck while you’re brewing, but if I announce an attack, make sure one of you starts running those potions up here. They won’t do us any good sitting down below.”

Wanda’s mouth moved automatically, the response ingrained deep within her by every single lesson she’d pried out of Garumph. At some point in the lecture, he would always utter the same words in some variation or another, and he’d then grind everything to a halt until Wanda repeated it back.

“Of course, potions are meant to be used.”

What was odd was it sounded like there had been an echo, despite the open air of the Main Deck. Only when she noted Lenar’s puzzled expression did Wanda realize he’d said essentially the same thing at the same time, leading to the illusion of an echo.

“Glad you’re both of an accord. Hopefully, you find something decent among the supplies.” Captain Sharshaw tapped her hat, and the owl atop it flew off with a mighty flap of its wings. “I feel trouble on these winds, even if Ovander can’t see it yet.”

Leaving the captain to her watch, Lenar and Wanda continued onto the stairs, heading down to Deck Five, where the recreation facilities for humans were available. They walked past blacksmithing anvils, enchanting suites, even the very training room Wanda had been using with her team earlier that very day. On they went, until arriving at an area clearly designated for alchemists. There were burners, chopping boards, and a large metal locker with several runes etched onto it, no doubt to preserve the ingredients inside.

What Wanda did notice to be lacking were any actual tools. There wasn’t a single cauldron, bottle, or even knife to be seen. Thinking back, she hadn’t seen tongs or hammers near the blacksmith anvils either.

Lenar appeared to notice her uncertainty. “It’s standard for those who practice any trade to keep their own tools on hand. Most crafters tend to trust the implements they’ve trained themselves on, and it minimizes the potential for sabotage. That’s part of why Alaroz gave us all travel cauldrons for our graduation. To ensure we’d always have them on us… and of course, as I say that, mine is back in the room.”

If not for Wumble in her arms, Wanda might have plucked her own from the portalable on her wrist, but the armful of nuzzling familiar blocked any motions of the sort. Lucky thing, too, since Lenar hadn’t been done speaking.

“That’s quite the trek though. If you’re up for learning something new, I have a perfect spell for this situation.”

ELEVEN

The alchemy station in the human recreation facilities wasn’t as bad as Wanda had prepared herself for. She was happy to discover the dedicated burners, a sizable space for ingredient preparation, even a sink that was enchanted to produce extremely pure water. While a storage locker that matched the key Captain Sharshaw provided them was sizable, upon opening it, the container proved to be nowhere near at its capacity. The runes around its base explained why everything was so fresh, albeit sparse.

“What do you think? I’d say we can get a few batches out of it. Enough to make the crew… maybe ten discounted potions?” Lenar rummaged around as he spoke, carefully examining each piece of foliage contained within. Wanda recognized a few mullin vines as well as a single lumpy julpem fruit.

With a few sniffs, she dug out a grey root with what looked to be blue moss growing across it. Wanda wasn’t entirely sure what it was, only that it had the same sort of base scent as the vines and fruit. A kind of… pep, like there was so much vitality inside, even a deep sniff soothed away slight weariness.

“How many of these can you find?”

Digging his hand through the locker, Lenar produced a handful. “Looks like a good deal of them. I’ve never seen these before, and I’m guessing none of the alchemists who’ve taken the flight did either. They’re just about the only ingredient that isn’t picked over.” Hesitating for a moment, Lenar added, “Do you know what they are?”

Taking one more sniff to be sure, Wanda repressed a twinge of residual nerves from the ordeal on deck. There was no room in her mind for that sort of distraction when alchemy was at work. “Not a clue. But they have the same core smell as the mullin vines and julpem fruit. I think we can use them to make healing potions.”

“Well then, I suppose we’ve no time to lose.” Reaching into a bag on his hip, one that had been well hidden by his well-made blue coat, Lenar produced a ledger of pages that was far too large to have fit inside.

With a jolt, Wanda realized that not only did Lenar have a portalable, he’d just revealed its existence to her. Lenar noticed her reaction, though he didn’t appear surprised. “It’s not much of one by portalable standards, can’t even hold a cauldron, but it’s useful for a few items too precious to leave lying about.”

Opening the ledger, Lenar set it down in the ingredient preparation space, flipping through what had to be at least five spell-patterns before stopping on the sixth. Given what Wanda had seen spell patterns go for back in Kalamaz, that had to represent a small fortune in gellen. No wonder Lenar kept it on him at all times.

“Much as I love my grandfather, his standards can be exacting. This so-called ‘gift’ was provided upon departure with the expectation that I would begin studying the spells within as soon as Karlisle and I were bonded. I barely learned all of the spells castable at one’s base phase before Karlisle formed our first imbuement, and progress with spells suitable for an imbuement phase wizard is even slower. Still, I can’t say Grandfather assigned me tasks without merit.”