System Change

Derek woke up from his nap, or rather, extremely long sleep, the next morning. He was surprised that nobody bothered to disturb him, and he was able to sleep all the way through the day, then all the way through the night. It was something he hadn’t done in a really, really long time. Luckily, because of the system and his stats, the awful feeling that he would normally get when he slept too long did not appear.

Instead, he only felt mentally rejuvenated. So much so that he couldn’t help but wonder why he had even been hesitating over something as small as taking out a person who threatened those he cared about. Huh… maybe I really did need a super long nap, he thought with a chuckle.

“Oh good,” a voice said from the entrance. It was Malorie waiting with a big mug of something that was giving off a bunch of steam. “You’re finally awake.”

“I am!” Derek replied cheerfully as he hopped up from his chair and made his way to Malorie. Looking at the mug once again, Derek paused. “Oh… no…” he muttered.

“Did you realize it?” Malorie asked.

“Why didn’t you come wake me up?” Derek asked. He had been looking forward to the dinner that Silvi had been planning on making with the wood from the Echoing Willow and her dragon flame all day the previous day. Then, he’d gone and slept through it because nobody chose to wake him.

“Silvi actually came to get you, but after seeing you, she decided not to wake you. Your companion is at least a little considerate when it comes to you,” Malorie replied.

“Yeah… that, or she decided that having one less mouth to feed would mean that there was more for her to eat,” Derek said.

“Well… there is that, too,” Malorie chuckled.

“So… how was it?” Derek asked as he reached forward and took the mug that Malorie offered him, glad that she hadn’t been holding it to just tease him. He took a sip of some of the most divine, strong black coffee that he ever had. “This is fantastic,” he said and took another sip.“It is,” Malorie said. “As for your question… I do not know.”

“What do you mean?” Derek asked. “Did you not eat it?”

“Nobody did,” Malorie said. “Except for Silvi, but she only ‘tasted’ it to make sure it was good. We ended up all having stored dinners instead. Which, there was nothing wrong with because her cooking is so good no matter what it is, but yes, we were a little disappointed.”

“Why did that happen?” Derek asked.

“Why?” Malorie tilted her head and looked at him. “Because you were asleep,” she said. “Silvi stored it all and we will have it tonight instead.”

“Really?” Derek asked with a gleam in his eyes. “She actually did that?”

“She did,” Malorie said. “I was surprised. I can’t tell if your companion is maturing a little, or if it was just one of her whims.”

Derek and Malorie stared at each other for a few moments, then, they both said at the same time, “It was one of her whims.”

After a snort, Malorie said, “Roman was looking for you yesterday. I told him that you were busy and asked if it could wait until today. You are to meet him at his bar whenever you get the chance today.” 𐍂à𝐍ọ₿ЕＳ

“Oh?” Derek muttered. It had been a long time since he’d met with the halfling Alchemist. He wondered what the man had been able to do with all the ingredients that Malorie had been supplying him with while he and Alanah were gone. “He wants to meet at his bar, though?”

“That’s what he said,” Malorie replied.

“Did he tell you why?”

“Nope.” Malorie shook her head. “Just that he had a surprise for you.”

“Then I guess I’ll head that way,” Derek replied. “It’s…” He checked the time and saw that it was actually almost noon. “Oh… wow. I slept even longer than I thought. I missed dinner and breakfast.”

“Looks like it,” Malorie replied. “Now, I have more work to get through. If you need anything, I’ll be in my new office. Also, Brandi is back and working in the basement if you need her.”

“Great,” Derek said. “I may check on her once I’m back from Roman’s.”

After that, Malorie nodded and left the sitting room, which had turned into Derek’s bedroom for an entire day. Derek sighed, took out one of his already prepared breakfasts, then left his shop and headed toward Roman’s bar while eating and drinking his coffee. Doing so while traveling through the city earned him some odd looks, but the second they saw the merit badge, along with his Adventurer’s Guild badge that he made sure to pin to him, any passerby quickly adverted their gaze.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Love these badges,” Derek muttered as he tossed a piece of bacon in his mouth and munched on it.

By the time he made it to Roman’s rundown bar, he had eaten three of the bacon-ish breakfasts that he kept in his storage ring at all times. The thought of Silvi’s cooking—and almost missing it—had made him ravenous on the way to Roman’s. He was very happy that the young bunny was willing to wait on him—even if it ended up being for completely selfish reasons.

Derek opened the door and walked inside. Just like last time, there was a small crowd of rowdy drunks hanging around in the back, and there were a couple of people at the end of the bar. Derek took a seat at the opposite end of those people and waited for Roman.

Before Roman got there, another bartender came to him. Derek had wondered what the halfling did with the bar when he was at his alchemy store—which was the majority of the time—and he guessed he found his answer.

“What will you have?” an average sized man with a potbelly asked.

“Oh, I’m good,” Derek said. “I’m just waiting on Roman.”

“Huh?” The man’s eyes widened, then he looked Derek up and down a few times before it seemed like something registered in his mind. “Oh! Give me a minute,” the man said, then took off.

“I don’t even think he saw the badges,” Derek muttered to himself. Looks like he still recognized me, though. He was probably told that I’d be coming in sometime today, he thought.

It only took a couple of minutes for Roman to make his way out of the back and come up to the bar.

“Derek! You made it!” Roman said with a big smile.

“I did,” Derek replied. “I didn’t think you’d be coming here very often. I was surprised when Malorie told me that you wanted to meet here.”

“I don’t come here too often,” Roman said. “But I at least try to come here and see how everything is going a time or two a week.”

“I see,” Derek said. “So, what is it you need?” he asked.

“Well, Ms. Fields has kept me supplied with lots of different ingredients that you picked up during that raid,” Roman said. “And, while I haven’t been able to do much with some of the materials, I have had very good success with others.”

“Is that so?” Derek asked.

“It is!”

“Like what?” Derek asked.

“Do you recall the Vortex Drifters?” Roman asked.

“The floating octopus things?” Derek replied after thinking for a bit.

“Exactly!” Roman said. “Well, I was having a hard time creating any good potions with the materials from them, and I felt like I was wasting them because Ms. Fields didn’t give me a lot on account of good they taste when your companion cooks them, so, hearing that, I got an idea.”

“And what idea was that?”

“Well, I figured that if they could be made to taste good cooked, maybe I could use them to create a passable brew for people with higher levels,” Roman said.

“And you succeeded?” Derek asked.

“I did!” Roman said as he waved his hand and made a jug appear in front of Derek. “And the best thing about it is that the brew doesn’t actually require that much from the Vortex Drifters. Just a drop or two of the ink is enough to brew a rather strong concoction. Though the other materials aren’t exactly common, I don’t have much of a problem obtaining them—especially with all the open borders now. So, the only really rare ingredient is the ink from the drifters, and I was able to get a lot of that from Ms. Fields and Silvi. Your cooking companion isn’t too fond of it.”

“So, as long as you ration the ink, you’ll be able to create a lot of this new brew,” Derek said.

“Yes!” Roman said. “As long as I can keep a supply of the other ingredients, I have enough ink to make tens of thousands of jugs of the new brew, if not more.”

“That’s good,” Derek said. “Does it sell well?” He finally reached forward and grabbed the jug after asking the question. He could tell that Roman was on the edge of his seat, waiting for him to take a drink.

As the liquid entered his mouth, he felt that it was a little denser than most liquids he was used to. It wasn’t syrupy by any means, but it was definitely heavier than water. As he sloshed the brew around to get a good taste, he could feel it trying, and failing, to eat through the inside of his mouth. Finally, he swallowed. Surprisingly, the drink had a more floral and spicier flavor to it instead of the fishy flavor that he’d expected. This actually doesn’t taste half bad, he thought. Much better than that other stuff that was just there to try to get people drunk.

“What do you think?” Roman asked. “Do you think it sells well?”

Derek saw his health pool take a relatively big hit, then recover, once the drink entered his stomach. It was enough of a hit to kill some mid-level or even higher adventurers. Still, he figured that he could drain the entire mug and it wouldn’t even be able to give him even the slightest buzz. But, when I’m tired of coffee and tea, this would pair great with some good cooking, he thought. But I’d have to be very careful with it. Though I doubt it would instantly kill someone because of how it is, I don’t doubt it would be able to instantly push someone to a Dying State.

“It’s good,” Derek said. “Really good.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Roman asked with joy.

“So, is it a good seller?” Derek asked again.

“Nope!” Roman laughed. “Well… yes and no.”

“What do you mean?” Derek asked.

“Do you see these jugs on the wall behind me?” Roman asked and pointed over his shoulder with his thumb.

“What about it?” Derek asked.

“Well, because I can’t have customers coming in and dying because they think they can handle anything, I’ve created a new system,” the halfling said.

“What system is that?”

“Starting from the left, each brew in the jug gets more potent and thus, more dangerous,” Roman began to explain. “But those are all trash brews. They just happen to mirror what would happen if you were to drink one of my actual brews.”

“I see,” Derek said. “So, they are basically just poison with no redeeming qualities that you used to see if someone has the constitution to handle some of your real stuff.”

“Exactly that,” Roman said.

“Which brings you to the new brew not selling well,” Derek said.

“Yeah…” Roman replied. “There have only been a few people able to work their way all the way up the wall and reach the new brew. And of those people, one almost died because the brew is still a little more potent than the rightmost jug on the wall.”

“But you said it does sell?” Derek asked.

“It does,” Roman said. “There’s an odd dwarf that seems to have taken a liking to the brew, and I swear he is just made of money. Buys jug after jug with no haggling at all.”

“That’s good,” Derek said. “But is this all you wanted to show me? Don’t get me wrong, this is some really good stuff, and I’d be happy to take a couple dozen jugs off of you if you have them. But we could have done this anywhere.”

“Oh, no,” Roman said, and Derek saw a gleam appear in his eyes. He pulled out another jug and sat it gently on the bar in front of Derek. “Remember the dark wyvern you killed?”