Page 2 of Roverpowered 6

“Bilge and barnacles,” Yorian muttered, stepping in to take a closer look. “That’s the mortal limit.”

Although Wanda didn’t voice her curiosity, she felt her eyebrows knit together, and apparently Parriel noticed. “It’s a nickname for the green gradient. That’s said to be the most might a person can muster without mana. Not to say that most ever do. A person without magic who could turn the rock yellow would be renowned for their strength, generationally rare. Those who can manage to produce green are usually such figures who have then trained themselves with unwavering dedication.”

“Yet Wanda just managed it days after drinking that potion.” Escador was peering down at a ledger small enough to fit in his pocket, where he’d been recording their results. “I’m certainly no alchemist, but I thought these sorts of effects would fade, not strengthen.”

“Honestly, I’ve never even heard of a potion that could improve someone’s strength to such a staggering degree outside of old legends,” Yorian added. “Why would Kurlain keep such a powerful potion on hand, rather than drinking it? None of this adds up.”

Parriel rubbed a small rune indented on the top of the rainbow rock, resetting it to the blank white slate. “Which means there are pieces we’re missing. Wanda, you’re our alchemist, have you ever heard about anything along these lines?”

Wanda sat with the question for a good while, truly pondering back to all of Garumph’s lessons. They’d only had a few weeks of traveling together while he helped her reach civilization, yet the man loved to talk about alchemy. Ingredients, techniques, theories, and even a few myths.

One of which was somewhat germane to the topic. “Permanent potions aren’t totally unheard of. We just don’t see them up here very often because you need ingredients that can only grow in incredibly occoreal-saturated environments, like chasm towns and tunnels.”

That earned a sharp intake of air from Yorian and a dour frown from Escador. Chasm towns were settlements below the world’s surface, where wizards had braved their way down through chasm vents, widening them into true tunnels. Garumph had warned her to steer clear of even the regions with their entrances, due to how many occorites roamed those lands.

The towns themselves were even worse; it was akin to living inside a nonstop chasm vent eruption. Every single item down there had to be enchanted, else it would instantly shift into an occorite. And the occorites that formed in the tunnels around the towns grew swiftly in power.

Yet for all the danger, there was opportunity to be claimed in those depths. Ingredients that grew nowhere else in the world, materials that had been utterly ensconced in occoreal, even ruins that dated before The Second Cleaving. There was a reason creatures as powerful as dragons made their nests below the surface.

But for a quartet of wizards who hadn’t moved past their imbuement phases, chasm towns weren’t even a matter of consideration.

“While we obviously won’t be attempting to venture down a chasm tunnel anytime soon, maybe there’s more we can learn up here,” Parriel suggested. “If these potions are known to exist, surely the Alchemy Union will have some documentation upon them.”

“Not a lot of help there until we get our names cleared.” Yorian appeared to realize the solution just as he reached the end of his own rebuttal. “Except our host is an alchemist, too. And someone who gets picked up by a bearship is bound to have a personal library somewhere around here.”

Escador crossed his arms. “It’s viable. However, there is a strong chance that such a questioning will alert him to our situation. We have to make sure Wanda is alright with her secret potentially being compromised before it can be seriously considered.”

All eyes turned to Wanda, who’d been so enjoying the parts of the conversation where she didn’t have to jump in. There was no getting around this one, though. They were right. Whatever was going on, it was happening to her. No one else could rightly choose.

That said, it wasn’t an especially tough decision. Wanda liked Lenar, he’d been polite in all their interactions, and even offered her aid more than once. If it weren’t for him, they wouldn’t even be on the bearship to begin with. She already trusted Lenar this much, and there didn’t seem to be a good reason to keep him in the dark any longer. Especially when he might be able to point them toward some actual answers.

“I think it’s time Lenar and I had a chat about alchemy, and what goes in to making a permanent potion.”

THREE

Although the atmosphere was festive, bordering on rowdy, Wumble himself was subdued.

He lounged in a grassy park section where a skylight allowed beams of lovely golden sun in which to lay, a chewing treat partially gnawed through poking out from under his snout. Wumble had learned that enjoying such delights required delicacy. Shattering them in a single chomp took all the enjoyment out of the experience.

Wumble had been learning a great deal about himself as of late, including something entirely unexpected: his limitations.

Such a notion had seemed… distant, ever since biting the strange golden orb that vanished. With such power coursing through him, Wumble hadn’t found himself capable of imagining a true threat to he and Wanda. Especially once their bond had solidified, and his mana was able to empower her own.

Yet a single trap rendered all that physical might ineffectual. A trap that weaker wizards had circumvented by merely being heavier than him, meaning it wasn’t even an especially complex challenge. As they met other wizards and dealt with more developed occorites, magic would become a factor that had to be accounted for. Raw power came with its own limits, and in that sense, so too did Wumble.

The difference was, he could grow beyond such constraints.

Now that his failing had been highlighted, the beginnings of a plan were taking shape. Wumble needed to form their next imbuements as soon as possible, foundational skills that could cover for he and Wanda’s vulnerabilities. While he had no regrets about Scoot, it fundamentally allowed him to do something he was already capable of, just better. Enhanced speed was worth such a trade-off, especially since it helped Wumble to better protect Wanda.

But their next imbuement needed to be more. It had to take advantage of magic’s fundamental ability to do the impossible. And it would absolutely have to be a power that could neutralize something as trivial as a floatation trap.

Flipping over on his back, Wumble let the sunshine wash over his stomach while softly gnawing on his chew-treat. He could hear enthusiastic splashing coming from a nearby aquatic section where various familiars were enjoying a dip. Gurgenforth had waved until Wumble barked in acknowledgement, creating waves that nearly sent several other familiars flopping onto land.

It was a peaceful, serene way to spend the morning. But Wumble dearly wished they would reach civilization already. Because the one feature the bearship lacked entirely were occorites to hunt. No degree of wishing or planning was going to manifest a second imbuement, which meant Wumble was left feeling vulnerable until he and Wanda could harvest enough occoreal.

In hindsight, Wumble could see that he’d been… lax. Overconfident, maybe. Even if the amount of occoreal that could pass through the bond was limited by how fast Wanda could absorb it, that spare energy didn’t just vanish into nothingness. He’d felt it sinking somewhere into the very bond that connected them, though there hadn’t been any noticeable changes from the process. But if Wumble was able to truly hunt, then he could overcome the issue with simple quantity.

There was no consideration of forming the imbuement before Wanda was ready. They were partners, and that was that. However, Wumble was fairly certain that if he hunted enough occorites, the energy would do something to help them along. Maybe a stronger bond would help her absorb faster, or perhaps it would all slowly trickle over as her body absorbed the occoreal.