Jein read the words, sounding out the last one he saw on the page.
"What's a stimulant?" He asked.
"Something that keeps you awake."
"I see…"
"Anyways...let's continue. The Potion of Renewed Vigor requires two ingredients: the paste of the head of a St. Rhoto's Wort, and the Essence of five leaves of the Little King."
Gillium stepped up to the table and removed the cloth atop the crate that hid its contents from both of them. On top of the pile, there was a single journal with the image of the head of wheat carved in the leather, and embroidered with gold-tinged green that shifted hues beneath the light.
"He really went all out on this, didn't he?" Gillium muttered.
"What do you mean?"
"Here, let me see your hand."
Jein held out his hand, and Gillium grasped it. With one fluid motion, he dragged a dagger across The Boy's palm. Jein hissed and tried to pull away as Gillium pressed his hand against the leather. His blood sank into the cover, and the Window of the World opened in front of him.
[Herbalist's Journal soulbound]
And
[Novice Herbalist sub-Destiny Unlocked 0/1000]
Gillium noticed Jein's eyes staring up at the sky.
"Pretty neat, huh?"
"What is it?"
"This journal will automatically categorize any medicinal plant you come across and tell you of its uses. With the only caveat being this: you have to either eat it, or cut yourself and allow yourself to bleed over it."
"And it's bound to me?'
"It is. There are similar ones for different professions: Farmers have one for farm animals and plants — how best to breed and cultivate what they have, Hunters have one for animals they hunt; how to break them down, and how to , Adventurers also have one, though they're pretty expensive. It catalogues different monsters you've faced, lists your achievements, deeds, and also what Anomalous Zones are currently in your control. It's useful if you're bragadocious and want to prove you, say, actually did those things that you're claiming you did."
"Does the church?"
"We do."
Gillium reached into his back pocket and removed a small black journal.
"This one in particular is handed out when you reach Advent. It's called the Inferno Compendium — it details demons you encounter, and prayers to counter them."
He flipped to a page to reveal a hideous monstrosity: a giant, goat-headed creature, with fur as black as tar. Its arms were too long for its body and ended with massive, club-like hands.
Gigantus Satyrii was the title at the top.
A Demon in the Satyr family. Uncommonly large for its breed, this creature is commonly called upon by apostates for mass destruction. Weak to: Light Magic, Bludgeoning Damage, ???, ???, and Exorcisms
Encountered 1 in Astaire, 26th of Last Frost, 10,545 PS (Exorcised)
The Paladin Advent Gillium faced bravely against it, keeping its attention long enough for the Church's Priests to execute the Five Seal Exorcism upon it.
"This is the demon that the Warlock summoned the other day," Gillium said.
Jein barely saw it beneath the bottled fog that Gillium had thrown.
"Do enchanters have one as well?"
"They do. They can typically be bought at bookstores, though they're expensive. Greater Destiny ones, however, are locked in the institutions dedicated to them. Though Sub-Destinies, like Herbalists, are readily available to anyone who wants to learn. "
"That's neat…so Enchanting would be locked behind an institution?"
"It normally would be." Gillium said, "But seeing as you'll be joining the Conclave, I imagine they'd readily allow you access to one."
"Really?"
"Really. Magi have a Journal as well, "He said. "I don't know what it does — your kind is rare enough, though I imagine the agent of the Conclave will bring it to you once he arrives," Gillium said. "Make sure you tell me what it does, alright?"
Jein nodded.
"Ah, right, they also have another neat function."
"What?" Jein asked as he held up the Herbalism Journal.
"Open it to the back cover."
Jein nodded and flipped through the pages, tinted the color of a newly born sapling, barely pushing out of the frost, until he got to the end of the journal. On the leather of the back, it had the following:
Jein Unnamed
[Novice Herbalist 0/1000]
Advancement Tasks:
[Pick an Herb: 0/1 +50 XP]
[Identify all usable parts 0/1] +50 XP
[Reach Apprentice] +1 Presence
"Neat!"
It showed the Advancement tab without having to bring it up through the Window of the World. This would be useful.
"I'll thank the High Priest later."
"You make sure to do that," Gillium said. "Now, onto the rest of the things…"
He pulled out a large green bowl with a bit of a pig-curled twist at the top. It was attached, via a copper tube, to a small, clear glass flask.
"This is an alembic."
"What is it used for?"
"It's used for distillation. We use this to separate the water inside an item from its essence."
"Water inside?"
"You'll see."
Gillium then picked up two bundles of herbs. Jein recognized them as some of the plants that the gardeners attended to near the sparring ring. One had a long, verdant stem, with violet sprigs growing inches from it. Its leaves were serrated and smelled sweetly.
The other was a flower with five white petals springing out of a central hole, from which a pair of golden stamens sprouted. Each white petal had a singular red streak that started from the stamen, up to the pointed tip.
"I suppose he wants us to make Potions of Renewed Vigor," Gillum said. "One of these sharpens the mind, while the other reduces inflammation. Here, we'll use this opportunity so you can learn how your journal works."
Gillium took one flower from each bundle and handed it to Jein.
"First, take a petal from the white one here."
Jein nodded and plucked one of the white and red petals from the flower.
"Eat it."
The Boy's nose scrunched as he put the flower into his mouth. He chewed it up for a moment — it was bitter, and he nearly choked as he forced it down his throat. The journal in his pocket shook violently. He pulled it out. The journal forced itself open, and the sapling-green leaves shuffled as it landed somewhere in the middle.
"Hypericum sancti-rhotonis — St. Rhoto's Wort." Wrote itself out in crimson ink on the top of the page.
An image of the plant appeared on the page as if drawn by some invisible artist. From the petals, there came a line with the words:
"Can be smeared as a paste to reduce swelling."
Similar lines with "????," appeared connected to the drawing's leaves, stems and roots; none of which were on the plants.
"What about those?" Jein pointed to those empty lines.
"Well, you also have to eat those parts." Gillium said. "But of those…" He pointed to the leaves, "If you eat those with the petals, you could very well die, and…" He pointed to the roots, "You can only harvest these once the plant stops producing flowers during the year."
"Why, what happens if you try to harvest them before?"
Gillium examined Jein's face for a moment. His green eyes stared at his so intensely that Jein was sure he was going to say something profound that would alter his perspective of the art of herbalism forever.
"….well you can't get the flower then, can you?"
Jein felt dumb all of a sudden. The two of them sat in silence with one another: neither pressing to fill that void until Gillium stirred it with a loud clearing of his throat.
"Do the other one, now: the leaves, in particular."
Jein nodded and took one of the leaves. Small, fuzzy hairs covered the top of it that pricked the skin of his thumb as he dragged it across its emerald surface. He brought it up to his lips, squeezed his eyes shut and took a bite. He winced at first, but the taste was incredibly sweet and mellow. He finished it off, and his mouth felt clean.
The journal flew open to somewhere near the front. On the top came the words, "Menthum Regalis — Little King's Mint."
A sketch of the plant appeared, with arrows pointing to its leaves, stem, and roots. The roots were a small network of worm looking things. The arrow from the leaves read:
"Helps one's concentration when chewed or brewed into a tea."
He took a bite of the stem next, and the ???? by the line that pointed to it vanished, and was replaced with.
"When chewed excessively, can become a potent stimulant."
Gillium reached into Jein's clothes chest and pulled the bloodied shirt from it. He folded it up nicely and set it on the table. He then reached the crate and pulled out the large object, which contained the two glass bowls and the copper pipe. He set another thing on the table: a large stone bowl that reminded him of the mortar and pestle set atop the folded shirt. Inside that, he put the larger of the glass bowls, near the table's edge. He set the other end on the ground.
"As I said, this is called an alembic. You unscrew the top here…" He motioned to a small cap that had, up until that point, been hidden from his view by the fact that it had been turned towards the man, "Pluck five leaves from the Little Kings…" He motioned to the violet flowers.
"Why are they called Little Kings?"
Gillium looked to the boy.
"Purple is a color often associated with royalty. I expect the shepherds who discovered the uses of the plants and got to name them, did so derisively."
"Really?"
"Indeed, in fact, under the rule of Kalso the Mad, wearing purple as a commoner was grounds to get you executed on the spot."
"Why?"
Jein had heard of Kalso the Mad. There was a song that children sang sometimes when they skipped rope:
Kalso the Mad was a very bad man. A very bad man was he. If he didn't like you, it was off with your head: how many heads can you see? 1, 2. 3….
He just didn't know that Kalso the Mad was a real figure.
"I don't know." Gillium said with a sigh, "Who could know the mind of a mad man...anyways...pick five of the leaves."
Jein plucked five leaves from a single plant.
"Tear them up, and stuff them into here." He motioned to the hole, and Jein did so, using his finger to push the clustering shards of leaves down into the bowl.
"Now, to make potions of higher quality," Gillium reached into the crate and pulled out a glass flask of dark, red liquid. "You'd want to let it seep in this wine for up to 40 days."
"A full month?"
"Yes."
Gillium brought the liquid to his own lips before swallowing a mouthful. Dark red droplets fell out of the side of his mouth, and his nose rose in a sneer.
"Why?"
"The coarse salts of the liquid will tear the shards of The Little Kings apart, and that's necessary to draw out their essence."
"Why?"
"Well, this thing." He slapped the side of the alembic, "Well, you can see it as a proximate of a stomach. It absorbs the important bits," He motioned to the shards of leaves swirling around within it, "removes the waste," his finger slid across the top of the copper tube, "And deposits it," he tapped on the edge of the smaller flask on the ground. "What's left in here," his finger tapped the larger glass bowl; it sang like a full bladder of water, "is what we're after."
"So we're going to have to wait 40 days? "
Gillium shook his head.
"There's another way to break them apart. Especially in salty wine like this."
"How?"
Jein watched carefully. If it were a spell, he would have to learn it to fulfill his promise to Aurrior in time in order to learn the Arrow of Light. Gillium bent down, detached the copper tubing, pulled the glass bowl out of the stone, and lifted it. He took a step down and grasped it.
"Watch closely."
Jein nodded.
With the large glass flask firmly in his grasp, Gillium began shaking violently. The shards of leaves within were kicked up by the movement as the wine sloshed against the curved glass walls. Once a minute or so passed, he stopped, held it up to the light, and shook it again.
"That's it?"
"Hey, it works," Gillium said.
He stopped and held it up once more and motioned for Jein to come closer. Jein stepped across the room and around the table. He leaned forward and saw that the chunks of leaves were now little shards about the size of half his fingernail.
"When they're about this size, they're good," Gillium said.
He walked back over to the table, reached into the crate.
"Now this is best done over a flame." He said, "But as you don't exactly have one, the High Priest left you with something else…"
He pulled out a small metal bucket filled with red-orange eggshells. Resting on the rim were a pair of tongs. Jein reached into the bucket and prodded at one of the shells. He hissed and immediately recoiled.
"What is that?"
Jein stuck his burnt finger into his mouth.
"Those are shells of the egg of a Fire Hen."
"Fire Hen?"
"It's an elemental beast: one raised specifically for their feathers and their eggs. They're good for quick fire starters, if you can contain them."
Gillium picked up the tongs, took a single shell, and set it in the stone bowl on the table. He crushed it with the point of the tongs and set them all back inside the crate. He then set the glass bowl on top of that.
"Now what?"
"Now we wait."
"Really?"
Jein sighed.