Chapter 4: Apothecaries Test (Part 1/9)

Upon return to the Virtual reality, I woke up to the early morning light peeking through the bedroom window. The covers I lay on were slightly rough and my bedroll had shifted to under me, but not in an uncomfortable way. Looking about, I saw on the dresser what appeared to be a small stack of clothing. This was likely the extra clothes that Victoria was talking about finding for me last night. Getting myself up out of the bed, my body felt well rested. However, my mind seemed to be torn between being worn out from my weird dream last night and being refreshed. It was an odd sensation. After further refreshing myself as much as I could, with a brief wash of ice water to my face and a change of clothing, I opened my bedroom door to be greeted by amazing smelling food. Taking a deep breath of the somewhat exotic yet mouthwatering scent, I followed it the short distance down the stairs it took to get to the dining room table. Victoria appeared to be washing up some dishes in the nearby kitchen as I entered the room. Looking up briefly from her work she spoke up. "Serve yourself and clean up your dishes when you are done. Don't worry about any leftover food as I'll take care of that." After saying that, she returned to her cleaning and didn't bother to speak any further with me. Set out across the dark wooden surface was an assortment of what looked like biscuits, eggs in the form of an omelet with various chunks, a jelly of some sort, and an orange drink that I assumed to be a citrus by the light tangy scent that intermingled everything else. I usually never ate breakfast, as my body felt it had no need for it. It was my assumption that it was due to how much I usually ate shortly before going to sleep for the night. I had read from online articles that it wasn't very healthy for me to eat so much all at one sitting, but it was a hard and filling habit to break. Here and now though, my body was more than ready and craving to dive in and consume the tasty meal set before me. It's strange. I didn't know if it was normal, but now each time I've been in this virtual reality, it felt like my senses were so much more alive and receptive to stimuli here, than in real life. Colors were more vibrant, sounds more attention grabbing, and smells more aromatic or off-putting. It was almost as if it was compensating for the lack of what I called my 6th sense or ability. *Sigh* I'd honestly rather have that sense back, to experience here, than have it be compensated for in other ways. I could feel an empty ache with the absence of what I had taken for granted for so long. Feeling a little frustrated, I hurriedly served myself from the pile of steaming food as a distraction. "Ohmygoodness!" I couldn't help but mutter under my breath as I took that first bite of omelet. This was far better than anything I had ever been able to make on my own. The texture and taste of the somewhat fluid yolk with the various chunks of mystery meat, vegetables, spices, and a heavenly unknown cheese exploded in my mouth. It had just the right combination of smooth and savory with crunchiness to distract even the most despairing from their current disposition. Pausing for a moment, I thought about what more this virtual reality world might have for me. Although deeply colorful, everything so far felt just too tame and relaxing. Lots of powerful beings existed, at least in the council. However, there had been no risk to my life or exhilarating thrill to be felt in this city. Despite my current goals not aligning with a more exciting and violent life, I did feel a little disappointed. Maybe if a fire breathing dragon was actively chasing me down, I may feel different. But right now, I was invested in enjoying a peaceful and tasty meal. Practically inhaling the rest of my breakfast, while barely leaving anything left to deal with, I then practically waddled over to the sink with my dishes to clean them as best as I could. Leaving them to dry on the same cloth that Victoria had lain out, I rushed to my washroom to clean up before joining Victoria in her shop. The Apothecary shop had already opened for the day, and there were a few customers looking over at the various extracts and tinctures on the walls. Victoria was working away at the mortar and pestle grinding a stack of leaves that looked like the ones that had been hanging from the ceiling when I had first come to her shop with Monroe. I guessed this from the now empty ceiling and the scent coming more strongly from Victoria's workspace. As I observed her, I noticed that she was wearing another attractive yet practical outfit, with a protective white apron this time as she focused on her work. A container of the finished product revealed that she was very studious with grinding down those leaves to the smallest of fine powder. Further along the counter, but still within her arms reach was a large and somewhat worn leather-bound book and an empty chair. Pausing in her work at the mortar, she turned to me. "As I promised Monroe that I would go easier on you, I won't have you do any menial tasks for now, but at the least, you need to begin gaining an understanding of the plants that I'll be having you work with and process." Nodding her head towards the book she continued explaining. "That is a book of common, uncommon, and even several rare plants with their accompanying known effects, uses, and general prime locations. I want you to study the first 3 plants today, after which I will quiz you on your knowledge at dinner. If you fail to answer my questions satisfactorily, then if you desire to remain under my training, you will need to start earning your stay through hard labor this week." My eyes widened at this training method, yet still she wasn't done explaining. "You will have time between chores throughout the week to further study, and if you succeed in satisfying me with your answers on the next time I quiz you, then your menial chores will be reduced the next week." Well, that was certainly a new method of teaching for me. Usually, schools just expected you to catch up on your own with no more consequence than a bad grade for the assignment if you fail to meet expectations. But it certainly made good sense to create an immediate and unenjoyable, yet practical consequence as stimulus and incentive to do better. As I sat in the empty chair, concern spiked through me as I gazed at the book. I was unsure if the pillar that granted me understanding of their language had a delayed effect for reading. I certainly couldn't understand a single written word that first day of arrival, and I feared that it was still the case. Flipping open the heavy cover to reveal a beautifully drawn flower with red and yellow petals and spiky green leaves, my eyes were drawn to the realistic artistry. However, as my gaze hovered over the characters surrounding it, I felt a sinking feeling about my illiteracy. I apparently could not read. Stealing a glance at Victoria, I hesitated with figuring out how to explain to her regarding my embarrassing situation. My expectation of awkwardness and being the cause of disappointment was not on my list of desirable outcomes for today. Dust it all! I hated these angsty hormones that flared up without warning. I suddenly felt like a middle school kid having to reveal his hidden back acne to the girl he was crushing on, in preparation for a joint swim meet. You'd think that having the mind of an adult would better help to suppress these hormones. Instead, what I've got, is an adult's understanding of romantic interaction, and a young teenager's body that wants to Go For It! Thinking logically, no matter how beautiful Victoria was, I wouldn't pursue her for at least 2 good reasons. One, she legitimately appears only interested in Monroe, and two, I've learned from past experience, that it is rarely a good idea to have romantic relations with a superior, subordinate, or frequently even co-worker in a work setting. The awkwardness that can ensue if or when things go wrong is simply the least of the worries in those situations. But tell that to my body! I guess I just needed to face the music and speak up. "Victoria. . ." I paused, feeling my mouth dry as she turned those devastatingly beautiful eyes on me. *cough* "I can't unders . . . read. I can't read at all." I felt the embarrassment in the form of heat traveling up my neck and cheeks. As if ignorant to my plight of embarrassment, her eyes narrowed in thought as she patiently listened to me further explain. All the while I suffered from stuttering on occasion. Included in my awkward explanation, I told her how I was most definitely literate in my world, but I couldn't understand a single character or word in hers. I then waited with bated breath as she pursed her lips in thought. "Hmm, a tutor would take too long, and having someone directly translate for you would be impractical for the long-term." Her face brightened after a moment of thought. "I guess there is no choice. I'll have to speak to our resident miracle worker to see what she may have." Victoria nodded to herself as if to confirm her own decision, she then stood up. "Attention patrons!" Her voice wasn't particularly loud so much as marked and clear. "I have some responsibilities to take care of for a moment. We will be closing the store momentarily, so if you have any items you'd like to purchase, come to the counter now. Otherwise, you may return later as we will only be closed a short while. 2 of the patrons come to the counter while 3 others, appearing somewhat regretful, put back the bottles that they had been handling. I wonder if they simply came for the experience of the scents rather than to buy. One of them was a middle-aged man with wolf like features, that I had noticed sneaking glances at Victoria several times, as he handled various extract bottles. I might have been more upset for her sake, if I hadn't been doing the same. However, instead I felt a sense of misplaced jealously that my more mature mind fought furiously to squash. It's wasn't my place to be my teacher's keeper, and I had a strong feeling that she could more than take care of herself. Finally, after the purchase transactions were done and the shop was emptied of her patrons, Victoria placed up a sign on her door and then we both departed after she locked things up. Taking a right turn, we headed further from the heart of the marketplace and away from the notable reverberations of the blacksmith striking in his forge. Leading me past several small but permanent looking shops, she took me to a far larger shop with a stained-glass store front. Now when I say stained glass, I wasn't doing it justice. That was simply the only type of art that I felt could vaguely describe what I was seeing. Deep vivid colors from what I guessed to be at least a million faceted gems made up a single panel of art. A total of 7 such panels with various tones and scenes of natural beauty decorated the storefront. One such panel had an exploding volcano, while another had what looked quite similar to the Niagara Falls I had seen earlier. Others held a dense green forest, a rainbow sand desert, a black abyss with what I guessed to be starlight, a yin and yang symbol, and a dark cyclone of wind amidst a cascade of lightning strikes. I had to admit, that if I was looking for a miracle as Victoria had said earlier, this would probably be the place to look for it. I wanted so badly to run my hands over the artwork if only to feel the detail better, but I held myself back. "Hah!" Leading by a small distance, Victoria had stopped to watch my interest in the gem filled murals. "I was wondering if you would be able to hold yourself back." A humored smile tugged at her lips. "The first time you try to touch it, a simple repelling ward will gently keep you back." Her smile then turned a little sinister as she further explained. "Any further attempts, results in a well-deserved and unpleasant surprise." She paused as if in reminiscence. "What I like most about her, is her creativity in dispensing punishment to would be vandals or those that question her skills."