Chapter 48- Swords, Spells, and Science

"Er... well... that is...", Arctus fumbled his words in response to Alt as he began to think back to the brutal abuse the captain of his squad used to implement on non-human races.

Bloody scenes of beatings and rapes filled his mind, with Arctus silently standing by, biting his lip in discontent.

Arctus felt angry, but more with himself than with his captain and the other soldiers who committed the autrocities.

"How could I have just stood by and watched as those things happened? Did I truly believe that I was powerless to make a difference?"

Arctus cringed as he thought this.

"Even if I was powerless, I surely should have done something to stand up against that evil. However, I mustn't keep dwelling on the past. What is done is done, and I should now focus on doing what I can here with Lord Dubs."

"I will pay for my sins by giving my life to Lord Dubs' cause."

Arctus readied himself. "You are right, Duke Alt. I will take your wise words into account."

Alt grinned. "Very well. It is about time you both began to practice defending. I'm going to release quite a bit of offensive power on you both... do your best to survive...heh heh."

Arctus and Slyvester looked worried about the evil grin Alt had, but their eyes radiated courage.

Streams of dark energy began to surround Alt, forming blades, which swirled about before flying towards the knights.

"If you survive training with me, your strength will have increased multiple times over!", Alt exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Dubs went to check up on Reagan.

Arriving in the laboratory, Dubs set aside some of the items he had obtained from the journey.

He spread the herbs on a table, along with some of the coral and the bits of the sea creature. He placed these in test tubes with water.

"Darling! I've obtained some more samples for you to look into. If you have time come take a look at these."

Reagan was busy with her work, but lifted her head at the sound of new samples to experiment with.

"Hehe! Alright, 'Lord Dubs', as those knights have been calling you.", she replied.

"I have an idea regarding the creation of a regeneration potion... hear me out.", Reagan asked.

Dubs nodded and listened.

"Clearly the acid from the plant monster has the properties to destroy flesh. But what if we were to reverse engineer an acid with the exact opposite chemical properties? Rather than destroying flesh, it would instead restore it. I have been working on this for a while now."

Dubs nodded. "Brilliant! May I be informed of your findings thus far so I too can assist you with this project?"

Reagan blushed at being called brilliant, and responded shyly.

"Fiiine... let me show you what I have discovered so far."

Dubs walked over to the table where she had many test tubes of the acidic substance, and Reagan began to explain what she had discovered about chemistry in this world.