Chapter 34 – Cooking Some Poison

The village grew more restless as the rumors spread of the scouts’ demise. The new leader spent the whole night discussing plans with the strongest members of the village and the old leader, who would be leaving soon as well.

On the other hand, Maximus spent his time meditating and tending to his garden, his Grow skill finally gaining a level up alongside his Seed and Sprout as well.
Then, knocking awoke him. “Max, get out here!” Oscar shouted.

Maximus took a slow breath as he stood up and went to see what the fuss was about, Sprout following cheerfully on all fours.

***

“What is it?” he asked as he exited the house.

“The whole place is preparing to hunt the wolves. Seems like the tracking party was obliterated. Only one managed to return alive,” Felix explained.

“Do you think it’s smart to fight with only two days left? Why don’t you two just rest and wait for the time to elapse?” Maximus asked, slightly worried about anything happening in the last few days.

“Feels rubbish hidin’ away, innit. Why not lend a hand while we can?” Oscar added.

Maximus shook his head in disapproval. “If you insist on going, I will help you. I would also benefit from not having to worry about being attacked while I head for the Wildlands,” Maximus said.

“So, what is the plan?” he added.

“Anyone who wants to fight is to assemble in the square by midday,” Felix explained.

“Alright, here, take two more bottles each. It should do you good.” Maximus summoned four bottles of potion and handed them over.

“Let’s eat something before it’s time, then,” he said, calling forth Silex. Embi, on the other hand, had returned to the spirit realm to rest, as staying in the real world for too long was taxing on the small spirit.

***

Later that day.

“Everyone, as you know, I’ve taken the leader position from Bruno here. He leaves for the second plane in less than two days. But before that, we have a big problem we must deal with, or we will be stuck here until the first trial is over,” Franko said loudly as he stood before the fifty or so participants.

“From what we have learned, something has made the Blood King and his pack move away from the Wildlands. As the hunger curse still forces them to devour anything that lives, we find ourselves in quite a situation, since the monster horde will spawn as well in two days.” He explained.

“So, not only are we losing some of our friends, but we are also surrounded.” Franko sighed heavily.

“I ask you all to join hands and help me fight these beasts. Let us prepare traps before they arrive. The plan is to take down as many as we can from a safe distance and then descend on the King with the full might of our little settlement!” He said loudly.

“What if they don’t attack but wait for you to leave the village?” Maximus suddenly asked.

“The traps will come in handy against the horde. Either way, we don’t lose anything by preparing. If they don’t attack us, then we will have to bring the fight to them,” Franko explained.

“Isn’t that far too risky?” Maximus pressed.

“It is, but what option do we have? Wait here to be drowned in monsters?” Franko raised his tone, already annoyed by Maximus’s questions.

“Alright, I will help you prepare the traps. Come to my home in the back, the one with the strong medicinal fragrance in the air. We shall talk more,” Maximus said, then turned and left.

Felix shook his head, amused, as Oscar chuckled, and they followed Maximus, with Silex already at his side.

***

“See, that’s what I was on about earlier. You’re proper full of yourself, Max.” Oscar patted his shoulder.

“I wasn’t ‘full of myself’. I simply told him that I would assist them. They should be grateful to have me on their side,” Maximus said plainly.

“Bloody hell, listen to him! You hearing this, Felix?” Oscar laughed.

“I mean, I can see why he would be arrogant, but I’m not so sure the leader and the others will be too happy about his tone,” Felix added.

“Regardless, I don’t care what they think. I will be cooking some poison, so try to avoid my place for a while, alright?” Maximus added as he entered the house, leaving the two behind him, mouths slightly open.

“Christ on a bike, did he say poison?” Oscar asked.

“And not to come close…” Felix added. “He is making something crazy again,” Felix chuckled.

“This could be a proper game-changer. Come on, let’s go get sorted,” Oscar urged as he left Felix behind.

***

“Silex buddy, if the air gets too toxic, please exit into the garden. Alright?” Maximus warned as he purchased a large cauldron for 500 tokens.

[Acidweb Tarantula’s Venom Sacs x2]

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

[Madcap Mushroom x 10]

[Creeping Death x 3]

I wonder if a simple glyph for dispersion would still work? Shame that I have no Magic Ink. Hmmm… Could I make some with what I’ve got here? He thought, taking out the small pieces of spirit crystals he had left from making the puppet for Sprout.

Spending 50 more tokens, he bought a small pestle and mortar and started grinding them into fine dust.

Then he used a bit of the sap he had stored and mixed it all with mana water. He ended up with a thick, sticky paste.

This should conduct spirit energy properly, right? Well… Hopefully. He chuckled and purchased some empty scrolls.

He dipped his finger into the paste and used it to draw a glyph in Old Elven. Using Elven should enhance the Runeword. He thought as he poured some spirit energy into the glyph, and the scroll burst into a small gust of wind.

“Hahaha, it works! Though it’s much weaker than what mana would do! Oh right, mana!” He smiled crazily as he grabbed control over a sliver of ambient mana and poured it into another scroll. He made. The glyph activated, but instead of creating wind, it detonated in a small green explosion.

“Oh, my stars… I could use this reaction.” His eyes widened as a far more sinister idea took shape in his mind. He tied an old shirt around his mouth and nose and grabbed the venom sacs. Shame that I only have these two sacks. He shrugged and cut them open, draining the venom into the cauldron.

The stench of the venom hung thick in the air, making Silex run outside with a displeased growl. Maximus only nodded and poured mana-enriched water into the cauldron, adding the shrooms and the black flowers. He had left a few shrooms and a flower aside to grow more if needed.

He placed the cauldron over the flames and cooked it until it began to boil, black smoke quickly filling the room.