102: Blood in the Water, Part Seventeen

Blood in the Water, Part Seventeen

The look on Erin's face, as she put the weapon on back at the safe zone, made the pain Neve had gone through feel like it was worth it. 

"Oh my goodness!" The lamia just about squeaked. "What is this!?" 

Sitting beside Ahlakan, Neve held back a laugh. The alchemist also looked rather amused, if slightly jealous as well. It stung to see that, but Neve promised in her heart that she'd do something about that in the near future. 

The weapon Neve had picked up from the chest looked like a pair of black gloves. Upon Erin putting them on, however, her hands turned draconic. Her claws gained some length, and her hands were covered in black scales. 

What Neve was the most curious about, of course, were the techniques the item apparently came with. 

She wasn't about to interrupt Erin's nerd-out moment, though. 

"With claws like these, I'm practically wielding hands made of daggers! The range alone is exceptional, but I can *feel* how much stronger this is than my own natural claws. And, as soon as I put them on..." 

The warrior princess then threw a punch forward that lifted some dust off the floor. She held that draconic fist in the air and grinned. 

"I can tell that my power has increased!" She turned toward Neve. "Is it really okay that I take this for myself?" 

"Yeah," Neve told her from the bench. "It's not like I could get any use out of it." 

"Well, if you wanted to use these things, I could teach you how to fight with them. Do you still wish to give them to me?" 

"It's not... I *can't* learn how to use them," Neve said. "It's a System, uh, rules thing." 

"Ahhhh, I see." Understanding what Neve was getting at, Erin let go of that matter and continued to strike the air, swiping with her claws and throwing out quick, practiced punches. 

There was one thing Neve was interested to see that Erin hadn't displayed yet, though. 

The Dragon Techniques. 

"So, um, when you put those things on, did you learn anything?" Neve asked. 

"Indeed," Erin replied, stopping for a second. "Some moves I did not know previously suddenly became a part of my memories. Since you're asking me about them, I take it that this is related to those 'rules' and voices of yours?" 

"Something like that. Those moves you picked up should be pretty strong, though. You want to try them out?" 

"Certainly." 

Erin then took up a fighting stance that seemed a little more cautious than the position she usually took with her swords. She stuck one hand out but kept the other close to her chest, as though she was worried about being attacked from the side and wanted to be ready to block. 

Then, she lunged forward, her tail straightening out a bit, as her right hand produced flames. With her claws, she slashed at the air. The fires faded as soon as the attack was done. 

Neve looked through Erin's Techniques then, finding the one she'd just used. 

Dragon's Divine Swipe

{Cooldown: 10 seconds}

{Shrouding your right hand with divine dragon flames, throw out a powerful, enhanced attack. Grants 25% increased damage until combat ends.} 

Erin pulled back a little, took both her fists, and punched forward with them simultaneously. For a split second, Neve swore she could see the image of a dragon's head covering the woman's fists. 

Dragon's Divine Bite

{Cooldown: 10 seconds} 

{Strike with the same force produced by a dragon's maw, crushing enemies between its teeth. Grants 25% increased damage until combat ends.} 

The lamia then, with the same position, pushed her hands forward. Fire poured out from her palms, scorching the space in front of her. Ahlakan flinched, holding onto Neve's arm when she saw that. 

Dragon's Divine Breath

{Cooldown: 10 seconds} 

{Bathe your enemies in the flames of a dragon. Grants 25% increased damage until combat ends}

Last but not least, Erin's body began to tremble before she leaned back, tilted her head up, and roared. 

The sound that escaped from her lips did not sound like it came from her, but Neve could hear Erin's own voice intertwined with it. 

Dragon's Divine Call

{Cooldown: 10 seconds} 

{Put forth a roar that shakes lesser foes to their core. Any enemies below your level will gain the {Fear} status effect. Grants 25% increased damage until the end of combat.} 

{Fear: Reduces Strength, Speed, and Precision by 10 each.} 

In between doing each of these moves, Erin had waited for a short bit, looking down at her own hands with some confusion. 

Neve's brows shot up. 

[... This is all really, really good. The damage increase specifically is what puts this all over the top. Seriously, isn't this...] 

She was about to say, "isn't this completely broken?" However, a small note made at the end of this new list of Techniques stopped her. 

{Note: If one Divine Dragon Technique is on cooldown, the user cannot use any other Divine Dragon Techniques until the original ability is off cooldown.} 

[Ahh,] Neve nodded. [And, there's the attempt to balance this broken ability.] She crossed her legs, putting this piece of the puzzle into its place in her mind. [So, what that means is that you can't just use all four techniques at once and instantly gain the full damage buff. Erin has to use one technique, wait 10 seconds, and then she can use another, building her damage up slowly.] 

Erin continued to try out the techniques in front of her, as Neve factored in yet another important detail. 

[The problem is, Erin is a summon. The intention behind these items is to basically make the user wait 40 seconds before being able to use their full power for the rest of the fight. For Erin, though, that means, at best, she'd only get to use this to its fullest potential for 20 seconds, before I would have to summon her again. And that's if she doesn't get distracted and is able to cast all her Techniques as quickly as possible, as soon as she's able to. Realistically, it's more like 10 seconds.] 

She sighed, looking down at the floor. 

[... I need to answer one question before I can fully assess this weapon's strength. Unfortunately, though, the buff went away as soon as she fully stacked it because she's not in combat right now. I'll have to wait until we get into another fight before I can answer what's on my mind. That being, if I resummon Erin after she's fully stacked this thing's damage, will the stacks stay? Or, will she have to stack it again?] 

Ahlakan squeezed a little on her arm, and that brought Neve's attention over to her. Something came to her mind and she said: 

"Oh, by the way, I wanted to show you something." 

"Hm?" Ahlakan turned toward her. "Me?" 

"Yeah. Come." 

Holding Ahlakan's hand, Neve gently pulled her over to their shared tent. Seeing this, Erin smirked but didn't say anything, continuing to focus instead on her new toy. 

As they walked into the tent, Neve guided the alchemist to the mortar and pestle that she'd laid down on a table, near the bed. 

"What's...?" 

"I found something," Neve told her. "Something you might be able to make a potion out of." 

As soon as she heard that, Ahlakan beamed a bright smile. 

"You did?" 

"Yeah, hold on, let me get it out." 

As quickly as she could, she went into her Inventory and extracted the Eel Slime material she'd found previously.  2

It dropped onto the table, falling out of Neve's interdimensional storage with a plop. 

Instantly, both Neve and Ahlakan reached up and covered their noses. 

[Oh, God, that smells horrible!] 

Ahlakan coughed twice. Her excitement had noticeably simmered down as she laid eyes on this stuff. 

"A-Are you sure that this is an alchemic material?" Ahlakan asked. "It... Well, it looks like..." 

[Like shit,] Neve finished for her in her thoughts. 

"Yeah, yeah, it is," Neve answered. "Um, can you do anything with it?" 

Taking a step back, Ahlakan responded:

"Then, if it is, I should be able to... But, first I need to figure out if this is a catalyst or a reagent first." 

Hearing that, Neve turned toward her, curious. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Um, all alchemic materials fall into two categories," she began to explain. "Catalysts and reagents. Reagents are magical materials that, when ingested, produce certain effects. But, on their own, they're useless. It is when they're combined with catalysts that they can then show off those effects. To put it differently, catalysts are the foundation of each potion. The reagent, however, is what determines the potion's effect." 

Pulling something out from her drawers, Ahlakan walked over to the table and placed a pile of herbs on it. 

Rorvan Leaves

{Alchemic Material} 

{Unique}

"This is what I'd been using as catalysts up until now. If this thing really is an alchemic material, then when combined with this, it'll produce... some sort of an effect. I am running a little low on them, though." 

As she heard this explanation, all sorts of questions began to go through Neve's mind. She didn't want to overwhelm Ahlakan, though, so she just asked the most important one. 

"Can you use multiple reagents in one potion?" 

"Probably," Ahlakan replied, shrugging. "I've never tried it, though." 

A message popped up, then. One provided by the System to elaborate on that answer. 

Ahlakan

{Hub NPC}

Alchemy: 25

Mood: 40% (Neutral)

{Note: Can only use 1 reagent, currently}

{Note: Upon reaching 50 Alchemy, will be able to use 2 reagents. Upon reaching 75 will be able to use 3, and upon reaching 100 will be able to use 4.} 

[Oh. Got it.]

"Well," Ahlakan said. "I'm going to give this a shot, then... Though, with that scent, I do not anticipate this turning into anything you would want to put in your mouth." 

"Meh, if you're making it, then I doubt that. Those other potions you made got me through some pretty bad spots, you know?" 

Her cheeks took a slightly brighter shade of grey as she heard that.

"Really?"

"Yeah." 

"Ah... I see," Ahlakan said, taking her alchemy tools with a little smile. "I'll try my best not to disappoint." 

The System's message, which was still over the girl's head, adjusted as those words left her mouth.

Mood: 45% (Neutral)

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