Dealing with the Curse II — Ambrosya

I emerged from the dungeon exhausted. The rejuvenation I felt from becoming Lappei's chosen one was gone. Reduced to atoms... or a memory. Whichever.

It was now approaching midday, and the sun was harsh. The breeze smelled of grass and tree bark. It blew gently against my face to counteract the growing heat of summer.

I walked back to the road, sweating underneath my cloak. I waited for a while, and eventually, a carriage passed by. I asked them to stop before asking for a ride toward my next destination.

I paid 2G to the carriage driver and hopped on. Two kids and their parents had rented this carriage. Through a little small talk, I discovered that I was heading to where they lived. A small fishing village by the Great Lake Mneis.

During such small talk, the topic of my translucent skin became a part of the conversation. I had to lie and make excuses to make sure they didn't decide to lynch me.

Luckily, despite my sluggish thoughts, I was able to craft a set of lies that they accepted.

Thus, we spent the rest of the morning and a little more on the road. When we arrived at the fishing village, the smell of mud and dried fish filled my nose.

At the side of the road, people selling all kinds of fish-based products were displaying their wares. The occasional steam car roared through the road and stopped before these stalls to make bulk purchases.

They were likely going to bring those products back to the city.

Just a hundred or two metres away were the docks, where many boats were floating on the calm waters of Mneis.

The lake itself shone in a beautiful emerald green near its shores and grew into a deep vibrant blue as one got further away. The waters reflected the shining sun like a mirror into my eyes, forcing me to squint.

White spruce trees grew next to the stone brick houses that littered the area, adding a little green and filling the place with life. In addition, portions of grass and shrubbery were present as islands surrounded by muddy concrete paths.

I disembarked from the carriage and swiftly made my way to the shore.

I needed a plant that grew around the lakes of the Great Plains. I looked around and discovered a lot of different plants growing near the shoreline.

"..."

It would make my life easier if I just asked a local.

Thus, I went over to the docks and asked around. I approached a particularly relaxed-looking man who had wrinkles around his eyes. He was probably around his forties, but being in the sun a lot had affected his skin.

He also carried terrifying, serrated harpoons at his side, and slung on his back. It looked like he was going whaling instead of fishing, which made sense. After all, the fish of this world were also considered beasts. Just like farmers, fishermen were fearsome combatants who could kill their prey with shocking efficiency.

"You're looking for them ol' Scarlet Clovers?" The fisherman chuckled, "You're looking at the wrong place, laddie. Go further east of 'ere and you'll find several patches of em."

I nodded.

I think I knew why there weren't any Scarlet Clovers in the area. Those plants stank of blood. It wasn't a fun plant to have around. The people of this village probably eliminated them all to keep the smell away.

"Thank you... kind sir," I sluggishly handed the man a coin. 0.50G left my pocket and fell into the hands of the fisherman.

"Anytime, laddie,"

I then left and headed east, still carrying my bags. I trudged along the shoreline in the early afternoon heat. I was sweating underneath my cloak, but I didn't mind. I breathed in mana and tried to assume a state of meditation.

It was harder than I thought.

"It's going to take me a while to learn this technique," I grumbled before trying again.

I had nothing else to do, anyway.

...

Time passed as the sun gradually moved.

I arrived at an area where there were indeed several patches of Scarlet Clovers. The place reeked of blood, and a few beasts were in the area, roaming around.

I hid behind a nearby tree and placed my bags down. I was going to execute a small stealth session.

In and out.

As swiftly and as carefully as I could, I plucked out a Scarlet Clover. I rushed back to my hiding spot, hoping that I did not alert any beast in the area.

I glanced around me, my eyes darting between the shrubbery.

When I saw that there wasn't any movement or sign of an approaching beast, I sighed in relief.

"Good,"

I gave myself a pat on the back.

"Time for the other three ingredients."

All of which were a lot less rare than the tube of ichor or the Scarlet Clover.

Thus, I dove into the lake for a Dark Veined Shell, extracted Birch Sap from one of the nearby birch trees, and dug at the ground to find the roots of Numbness Grass.

When I was done, I returned to the fishing village and paid for another carriage to make it back home for dinner.

I cooked myself some soup and had a decent, mana-filled meal. I took a shower to wash off the sweat of adventure and changed into some of the new clothes that I got from the dungeon.

I then started concocting the simple potion that was popularized in the ninth volume of the story. The Curse-Cleansing Cure.

It was a special potion that listened to the will of the person who drank it. It was invented by High Humans to combat the curses that Faeries loved to inflict. It was only possible since the gods were willing to donate their blood for its production.

If not, then only god slayers had the ability to produce them.

Or people like me, who made transactions with the gods.

I ground the Dark Veined Shell into powder with a mortar and pestle. Then, I used a fine mesh strainer to ensure only the finest pieces were going to be added. I boiled the Scarlet Clover in a mixture of milk and Birch Sap before placing the undisturbed Numbness Grass roots into the boiling mixture.

I let the boiling mixture cook for five more minutes and cool for ten minutes.

When that was done, I poured the mixture into a cup before pouring in Lappei's blood as well.

I made sure to mix the concoction as I slowly sprinkled in some Dark Veined Shell powder. Once I had added enough—as dictated by the concoction's colour change—I stopped.

The potion was ready.

So, without hesitation,

Gulp—

I chugged it all down in less than a second.