Legacy of the M'Zee Chapter 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

Here is chapter 1 of the sequel to Monster Island! I'm hoping to get 50k words into both stories by the end of the month (as my stretch goal for NaNoWriMo) or at lest 25k words as my base goal. 

Happy Halloween!

***AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

I carefully cycled my Aether through my meridians, keeping it just on the edge of pain. The scar tissue left over from my battle with the Illyrian champion and subsequent running fight through the city was mostly gone after a week of medical treatment and three days of constant work.

I was tired, having skipped sleep to get as far as I had. That thought brought a giant yawn to my face, and I had to quickly turn my head aside before I inhaled ground Nettle Leaf. I failed, and the resulting sneeze set me back ten minutes of preparing herbs. “Light,” I exclaimed, before stepping back from the work table before I broke something in irritation. “Gotta start again. At least this is giving me a good workout in Aether control.” I shook my head, yawning again, before grabbing a cloth and wiping down the table.

I was in the middle of cleaning my mortar out when I heard the door creak open behind me. “Aiden,” Jamila said,  her tone low and chiding. I looked over at her, smiling at the beautiful young woman. She was a little under average height for a seventeen year old, or fifteen in the extended years of Zemia, the planet I’d been on for almost a year now. She looked like a live-action Jasmine from Aladdin, a heart shaped face with caramel skin and long luscious black hair. She wore it in a ponytail, exposing her graceful neck. It also exposed the burn scars covering half her face, remnants unable to be healed until she grew strong enough to gain control of the insidious Aether left by the Core-level Illyrian whose attack she got caught in.

“You look beautiful,” I said.

She just shook her head. “Have you slept at all since your healing?”

I held my arms open at her, holding a yawn in, “Hug?”

“Just because you are cute does not get you out of trouble,” she grumbled into my chest. “You need to rest.”

“There’s no time,” I said. “Plus they don’t have the right herbs here, so I had to adapt the recipes I know. I only got a working gathering powder better than the stuff from the shop down the street last night.”

“You know they are considered one of the best Alchemist shops around, right?” She smacked my chest.

“Yeah, but no one specializes in powders. Not here, not back in Craesti or Azyl City either. Except Librarian Narwan and me, as his apprentice,” I said. “Plus, working on powders keeps my mind occupied but is still simple enough I can cycle my Aether to clear the damage at the same time.” I pointed over to the pile of completed powders. “See, these are all almost as good as my Complete Gathering Powder.”

“Good. Now you can hand those out and sell the recipe after,” she emphasized that word strongly, “taking a nap. We still have four more days before the gate opens, and you do not want to collapse from exhaustion and miss it, do you?”

I looked down at her, still holding her tightly. “Okay. Can you take half of those and take them to Nicole, if we don’t run into her on the way back to our rooms?”

She nodded, then helped me back the powders, which I’d taken to calling Monster Miracle Mowders because alliteration is fun, into two bags. We then walked arm in arm back to the inn. Nicole was nowhere to be seen, so Jamila left me at the door to my room to attempt to track down the young woman who had scars similar to Jamila, but a much easier target for gaining strength to remove them.

The room was empty, Jon out somwhere. I looked out the window and realized it was mid-afternoon. I’d completely spaced out on the walk back. “Yeah, I need to sleep,” I thought out loud, then laughed at myself. I contemplated the bed, then collapsed into it without bothering to take off anything I was wearing.

I slept for three hours, before Jon shook me awake. He was a bit taller than i was, only a few centimeters short of two meters tall, and built like a brick. He’d grown both taller and thicker as he dove into his role on our team. He fought with a sword and shield, holding the line so the rest of us could do the damage. His short black hair had started to get hints of purple in it as his Ice Affinity continued to advance, reaching the same Outstanding level that my Lightning, Fire, and Air were at. “Come on, it is time for dinner,” he said. “Vaya and Jamila both told me you need to eat. Princess Aleksandra might have said the same thing if she was not with Vaya at the time.”

“Sure I can’t keep sleeping?” I asked with a yawn.

“You know better. Light, you got on my boat about that time a few months ago,” he said while hauling me to my feet.

“Yeah, yeah. You’ve got free rein to make fun of me for forgetting my own advice,” I laughed self-deprecatingly as I brushed off my tunic in an attempt to smooth out the wrinkles. Also to get out the leftover pieces of ground herbs from the stains covering the shirt I hadn’t changed in three days. “Uh, I’m gonna take a shower real quick, and change clothes.”

“I will let them know you are coming. Get pretty for your girlfriends,” he said, a grin splitting his face.

“Uh huh, ‘cause you didn’t buy that shirt because Bridget said you looked good in green?” I smirked at him then rolled my eyes. “Yeah, we’re both smitten.” He laughed and left the room while I collected a change of clothes and some toiletries. A quick shower after my nap left me feeling mostly human again. I hurriedly got dressed, pulling a blue tunic and black pants on before looking in the mirror. Heh, I still remember what I looked like when I first arrived in this world. Now look at me. Darkness knows I wasn’t this strong or good looking back on Earth. I resisted the urge to flex before rolling my eyes at my antics.

I quickly smoothed my short-cropped black hair, then tossled it slightly in a futile attempt to make a cool looking messy hairdo. “Eh, good enough,” I laughed at myself, then headed downstairs to join my friends for food.

Aleks was the first to notice me. She stood, walked over to the entry into the dining room to intercept me. “Knight Aiden,” her frosty tone let me know how much I’d messed up. “You are a Knight of the realm and head of a new noble household. You are to be a shining example of the best a gatherer can be. Not an idiot who tries to work himself to death while recovering from a significant injury.” She crossed her arms under her chest, her blue eyes flaring at me.

“I know. I won’t make the same mistake again,” I told her, holding my hands up as if to shield from her wrath. My stomach chose that moment to growl loudly.

“Come on. You need to eat,” she grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the table where she had been sitting with Lilianna, Milenna, Vaya, and Jamila. The only girls missing were Hanna and Lea. Xiao, Ming, Bridget and Jon were sitting at the table next to the young women.

“Uh, how are Hanna and Lea doing?” I asked as I sat. Lindsay showed up within seconds, dropping a large plate of steak nod veggies in front of me with a giant smile.

“Lea’s legs are almost done growing back,” Ming said from the table behind me. “They are expecting to be finished tomorrow morning, so she will have a couple of days to get used to them before we go into the Divine Territory.”

“That’s awesome!” I exclaimed.

“Hanna is mostly recovered, but she went to sleep early today. You missed her by ten minutes,” Aleks said.

“Good. So, what’ve you all been up to the last couple of days?” I asked as I cut my steak into bite-sized chunks.

“Jamila and I have been working on a new healing technique with some of the Ashkhas healers,” Vaya said. “In return we have been working at a clinic helping civilians recover from the attack.”

“Ooh, what technique?” Milenna asked, leaning forward.

“They call it the (name). It is a technique that speeds up someone’s natural healing, rather than using Aether to force it. The main benefit if Aether efficiency, as it uses very little for the healing it does and we can set it up before a fight to heal minor scrapes as they happen,” Vaya explained.

“It will also help keep all of you safer. Even if you get knocked unconscious or severely injured, it will prevent you from bleeding out, giving us time to reach you,” Jamila interjected, looking over at me, at Milenna, and then behind her at Ming. “I do not want any of you to get crippled or killed.”

“That is great, Jamila, Vaya,” I said, reaching over to catch their hands. “We trust you to keep us safe and healed.” I looked over everyone, about to say more when Aleks spoke up.

“As your Princess, I command you to prioritize coming back alive over any benefit the Divine Territory can provide,” she said forcefully. “I know there are supposed to be treasures and resources that are not available anywhere else, things that can significantly increase your gathering level or capabilities, but you have to be alive to benefit. War is upon our Kingdom, and we will all be instrumental in the fights to come. Get stronger and take risks if you must, but be smart about it.” She took a deep breath, then said quieter, “I do not want to lose any more friends.”

“We’ll all cover for each other, and work together to bring back riches for the Kingdom, and ourselves, successfully,” I said with a grin. “And what have you been up to?”

Aleks shrugged, “Training mostly, working to improve my area techniques.”

“Do not be shy, Princess,” Lilianna said. “She has been negotiating a new trade treaty between our Kingdom, the Ashkhas, the Weltreich, and the Topraki. Our performance here, and the war with the Illyrians, might have finally stopped the cross border skirmishes with the Topraki.”

Aleks looked away with a blush.

“I took my team and Lilianna to the Dungeon you found,” Ming said. “It was an intense experience. We finished the first wave and left, getting a good set of Cores to work with, along with a Core-level sword and a set of bracers that strengthen Air attacks.”

I looked over at Jon and Bridget, then winked at Vaya, “We’ll have to go back before the Territory opens.”

“You got it,” Jon said with a grin. “Hopefully I’ll be able to get a new shield from it. My last one is barely holding together, but they do not sell many at the higher qualities here.”

“Could be. We could ask when we run it. (Name) might be amenable, if he’s allowed to be,” I said with a shrug. “Did you make any more of your bombs?”

“Of course,” Jon said, acting offended. “I have got dozens of them ready now, along with a bunch of healing powders.”

“Remind me to show you the recipe I figured out a bit ago,” I said. “I adapted the Complete Gatehring Powder with local ingredients.”

“Great!” Jon said.

We chatted for another half hour, and I put down a second plate of the steak. Finally we wrapped up dinner. “Come on, Jon, let’s go work on some Alchemy,” I said as I stood.

“Two hours,” Vaya said, “then you really need to rest some more.”

“Will do,” I smiled at one of my girlfriends, then followed Jon out the door and down the block to the rented workrooms Librarian Narwan and Knight Kaminski had secured for us to use when we arrived in the massive city. We spent the next two hours doing Alchemy, where I explained what I’d done to reach the recipe I had, and Jon shot holes in my thinking.

”Why did you use powdered Neem Tree Leaves instead of the bark?” He asked me. “The bark would balance out the Metal from the Hadid Stem better, I think.”

“Good point,” I said with a self-deprecating grin. “I used the leaf because it was what I had available in the middle of the night.”

“Well, you should not be making new recipes without access to Herbalist shops,” Jon shook his head.

“Any other thoughts?” I asked.

“Not yet,” he answered. “Let us work through it for a bit, see if anything jumps out at me.”

I laughed, “Sure.” I pulled out all the ingredients, and Jon added in a few chunks of Neem Tree Bark so we could try the difference. Two hours quickly flew by as we rejiggered the recipe a few more times, changing proportions and trying out a few new ingredients, before Jon finished up one last powder set.

He popped a portion of the powder into his mouth and nodded. “Another ten percent increase in strength,” he said after a few seconds.

“Yeah, but a twenty percent increase in cost. I think the recipe I came up with using the bark instead is the best value for the cost,” I said.

“Probably. We could sell both recipes and let whoever buys them decide which to make,” Jon said. “Well, let’s head to the Alchemist’s Treasures. Alchemist Michal treated me well when I went to get ingredients from them.”

“Sounds good,” I said. We spent a few minutes cleaning and packing up before leaving the workshop. I followed Jon a bit over a block away to a large store with vines growing down on either side of the door. “Neat, these are Star Vines. Their flowers are used in several pills to help blood flow and heart disease risks.”

“Huh, I thought they were just decoration,” Jon said with a shrug. He then pushed through the door into the shop. There were four freestanding shelves forming five aisles that led to a large counter at the front of the store. A bored looking  Ashkhas teenager read a large Alchemical reference book behind the counter. “(Name) is Alchemist Michal available?”

“Oh, Jon,” the young woman said, hopping to her feet. “Let me check.” She hurried through the door at the rear of the store.

I turned and browsed through the powders on the third set of shelves. The first two shelves were ingredients and then two shelves of powders. Under the counter were pills, all in locked cabinets. There were hundreds of types of powders, all labeled with names, a short description of effects, and a price. I’ve got a gold on me, that should cover everything I might need for the Dungeon run tomorrow. Hmm, let’s find, ooh, nice. I pulled a small bottle of Lightning Aether Flow Powder, which said it would give a quick infusion of Lightning, Air, and Fire Aether to fill your center after emptying it.

I grabbed ten of those, then ten focused on Wood, Water, and Earth, and ten centered on Ice. I would have bought more, but that was every one of them there. “Like most powders that refill your center, those are less effective when taken in succession,” an older gravelly voice sounded from behind me.

“That’s why I’m grabbing ten,” I said while turning to find a positively ancient looking human. “Alchemist Michal, it is a pleasure to meet you.” I bowed to him, carefully shifting my hands to not drop any of the powders.

“And I you, Knight Aiden, (hero title from MI) of the city,” Alchemist Michal bowed lower than I did. “What can my humble shop do for you?”

“Uh, I wanted to purchase some powders to prepare for a series of fights,” I said, “and I wanted to trade two upgraded powder recipes.”

“A series of fights, hmm? Headed to that Dungeon then?” He asked.

“You know about it?” Jon asked from beside him.

“My son is a captain in the Sayaad Pavilion, and he told me about it. Only get five of each of those, they will be nearly worthless after that many in an hour. There are two other recipes that are overall refills, you can take three before they stop working. Now this set here,” he pulled another powder out, “is a single type, and you can only take one of each per day, but someone at your level should be able to convert Aether types well enough.”

“I would like four of each of those, then,” I said. “And what about that refill pill?” I walked to the front and pointed.

“That will fill a normal Complete Condensation gatherer, and you can take two in a day without losing efficacy,” the old man nodded. “Hmm, tell me about this powder recipe.”

I nodded, “The recipe Jon and I came up with is a tweaking of a powder recipe I perfected over the last few months, focusing on effectiveness for the least cost. There are two, one that is roughly fifty percent more effective than the Common Gathering Powder you sold, and it only cost ten coppers to make. Jon came up with a recipe that is sixty percent better, but it costs forty coppers.”

“I will take both recipes if you want to trade. That amount of powders and pills are not worth the trade, though, so how about I pay you,” he thought for a second, “five gold?”

“Ten gold, but it will only be paid in Alchemical goods from your shop,” I countered. “Goods purchased at cost.”

“I can accept that,” he nodded. “(Name), please get my journal.” The Ashkhas teenager, who’d been staring at me unabashedly for the entirety of our discussion, nearly tripped over her own tail in an attempt to rush as fast as she could to the back room. She came back shortly with a quill pen, ink pot, and large notebook, and handed them to Alchemist Michal carefully. He took them with a nod, then quickly penned out our agreement on its own page. I detailed the recipes we’d figured out, and he recorded us as spending fifteen silver, forty less than the list price, for the refill powders and pills we’d purchased.

Jon spent another five on healing and blood clotting powders, then we bowed goodbye to the Alchemist and his assistant, who immediately closed the store to go focus on producing the new powders.

Back at the inn, we found Vaya and Bridget waiting in the lobby with four cups of tea. “It has been three hours, not two,” Vaya stated calmly.

“It has,” I replied. “We finished experimenting with the recipes after two hours, then cleaned up the workroom and did some shopping.” I gestured at the bag and described what we got. “So we should be much better prepared this time.”

“I made another five of the Earthen Anchored Barrier Inscriptions,” Bridget said, “along with a couple dozen various attack inscriptions.”

“I can’t wait to hit the Dungeon again,” I said exuberantly. We chatted for another hour, drinking tea and just being friends.