Chapter 3: The Shit Curving Belt

Their house sat in the center of a large clearing in a forest about half a mile off the coast. Next to it a small stick shack with a thatch roof, and a barely dressed small boy kneeling down. His hands moved raising a stone high and bringing it down, still Alexander wasn't thinking about that. No he was staring off into the distance, mind racing about the ingredients he needed for his potion. 

First, the main and paradoxically one of the easiest ingredients. A Great Red Wolves Skull and 100 milliliters of its blood. About 12 miles to the east there was a pack of them that Alexander had long learned to stay away from while he was still Crowley. They were all beyonder animals, and while not as powerful as someone who drank the hunter potion they were strong. 

With the physical strength of a bear, and a near human cunning they were terrifying enemies to face. When outnumbered eight to one it was nearly a death sentence. He shivered remembering his escape, and stared into the fire as it crackled. Next the red wine. . . Leonardo can make that, an off hand thought of that taking at least 5 weeks was a bit disheartening. 

Next Poplar leaf powder, he knew where a poplar tree was. He didn't remember if he had ever seen a red poplar flower, but Leonardo would, and he was sure he knew where some wild basil grew. That was what he was looking for the day before after all, he had wanted to make a stew instead of just roasting meat. 

Still meat and water do not make a soop, you need the herbs, the vegetables and the other goodies! Alexander pestered Leonardo to remember the ingredients for the rest of the potions, and his other body just snorted. Still he sent the words, Fire Salamander, and Magma Pyroxene which were the only ingredients he knew the location of. 

At this island center there had a large, thankfully dormant, volcano. He was sure there would be Fire salamanders, and Magma Pyroxene both parts of the Pyromaniac potion. With half a mind Leonardo sent the ingredients he remembered one after another. He only knew the supplemental ingredients of the Provoker, Distilled Liquor, Honeysuckle extract, Grapevine Powder, and Aqua Fern Grass Powder. 

Liquor just takes a while, honeysuckle's easy enough, he'll collect grape vines while getting the grapes for wine, and he had no fucking idea what Aqua Fern Grass was. Then Leonardo finished, and the sheer happiness radiating off him had Alexander smiling. Before all the information he asked for was beaten into his skull, he started planning what beyonder ingredients were easily collected on this island. 

This island was fucking LOADED, and Alexander silently demanded that Leo make a bigger boat. By the time they left this island they would be rich. Still it was sad he couldn't become a Provoker on the island, he didn't even know the main ingredient. 

Leonardo glowed with pride so Alexander humored him, "Sooo, what did you make?"

He bragged, "Curly Haired Baboon Belts!"

Alexander raised a single unamused eyebrow. The belts in truth "distorted" the trajectory of any projectile flung at it. Holy shit, Alexander stared at Leo with new eyes, no more shit in his hair. 

"Does it work on arrows?"

"No fuckin clue. . ."

This bastard. . . 

"Then you best start runnin boy." 

Note to self, it can distort arrows.

—

2 weeks later

The wine was coming along nicely, and Leonardo's plan for a gun was getting closer and closer every day. He finally had a semi-respectable workshop. Albeit it was outside, but he had an anvil, two hammers one for brute force the other precision work. He had clamps, and tongs, a small pit to quench steel, and a very poor attempt at making a bullet.

It was misshapen and slightly too large, plus he hadn't found the right shit for decent gunpowder. The best he had managed was barely a third as powerful as the stuff he was used back home. Still that baboon shit came in mighty handy when he started to stockpile saltpeter. Alexander had mimicked the ARK survival evolved strat and just made a few campfires for the needed charcoal.

Still the bullet casings were dificult, and the gun itself was too. Still progress was progress, Rome wasn't built in a day, and an AK-47 wasn't either. Honestly just making an AK was too complicated so he decided on making a rifle that works like a revolver. That way he has 8 semi-automatic shots, and can just make a dozen quickloaders. 

Make the bullets something big like 44 and BAM dead wolf. Once you have a dead wolf, and 80 milliliters of red wine he would have a Hunter potion. He had already started a garden—well Alexander had—he felt it was another part of being a hunter. Understanding what you can eat and what you can't, understanding what is useful and what must be cut away to reach goodness.

He had completely thrown himself into the role of a Red Priest going out to hunt the biggest game he could, planing setting traps and provoking them into it. Starting wars between a pack of Ghost Foxes, and a small herd of Big Mouthed Goats, and then collecting everything useful after. Leonardo had more leather, and bone than he knew what to do with. 

Sure a handle for a knife, or a pair of matching long coats. Dozens of pockets for all the little things an artisan or hunter would bring. Small firecrackers noisemakers, smoke bombs, a bottle of acid, all the while being thick enough to block arrows. Well if the arrows can get past the Baboon Belts. When first made they had about 13 months of battery life, but had dropped to about 12 in the two weeks with their rampant use of them. 

As a result Leonardo made a cabinet that stored Spiritual Energy inside meaning that items decay slower. Still that wasn't all for the coats, with a collar of spectral fox fur and the bones of the strongest beyonder creature they could kill as a team used to reinforce it. Magic powers let him basically forge bone like steel, and bone was about 74% lighter. 

Plus they were from a spiritual creature so they were stronger than any of the steel Leonardo could currently make, if he could have found a Merlock he could have made them grant a permanent invisible bodysuit of shotgun-resistant fish scales. Sadly he didn't, and thus had to make due with two armguards of gleaming crimson fish scales that place a barrier over the wearer's head. 

Legitimately everyday Leonardo lived was another day he thanked the Artisan class for being overpowered. Well he supposed he was a Sequence 6 trying to compare himself to a Sequence 9, but still the changes were great. He loved his new powers, and every day felt his potion digest more and more.

Archeologist remained practically undigested, but the second Savant characteristic was nearly 80% gone already. The Appraiser was getting slowly digested barley 5%, even with all the spiritual materials he had appraised. Flowers, vines, hemp, a few "Strange Faced" Pot Plants grow the Strange Face Canabis Crystal, the main ingredient of a Sequence 8 Briber. . . it wasn't that reason they collected it though. 

Leonard dreamed of the day when his clone was an Angel of the planter pathway and makes divine pot to grant enlightenment. Still even without powers Alexander's plants had been going well. Leonard had four of the heat bursts once after creating the belts, once after creating gunpowder, once after creating the coats, and finally after adding the invisible fishscale helmet to the coat.

Each of those had brought him about a third of the way to another clone, but he felt his skills sharpen with each pulse. Felt his characteristics digest even though he wasn't acting, Crowley loved it! He loved his cheat, and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. 

He was practically a weaker version of Minaga, the "All God Legion." God he loved that novel, it was only then that Leonard realized. . . a perfect memory means he can reread and plagiarism every book perfectly! All of Sanderson and King, all of Discworld and Malazan. He was going to steal Warhammer both Fantasy and 40k, and pre-digest his sequence 1 Author characteristic before even becoming a spectator. 

Leonard was thrilled to re-read Primal Hunter and see if he can find inspiration from Minaga's fighting style. Still he didn't think he would have that many clones for hundreds if not thousands of years. Then Leonard dropped his hammed and just gaped at the stupidity of his clone. 

Alexander screamed through the woods stripped naked and covered in oil a giant handmade megaphone cone at his lips

The lion ran from him—how the fuck are their lions on this island—even as the greased up master provoker threw a spear, it did practically nothing, and at that point the lion turned with a growl. Slipping Alexander laughed, and flung himself down the grassy hill. Momentum and angle letting him slide down at faster and faster speeds. . . then he smashed through a campfire arms first. 

There was an instant where he left his oily trail burned before he slid into the water like a fish. Moaning in comfort even as the entire path he slid down the mountain lit on fire and spread. Ez Pz Pyromaniac Pre-digestion BAYBE!

"ALEXANDER!!!" Leonardo came swinging.