Three weeks later
Thick smoke covered the room. Its pungent smell filled not just Ava’s room but the entire house. Surprisingly, Shaman Gaas didn’t know on her doors just to ask her if she was still alive.
By now, the old man had been used to it.
This wasn’t the first time that the same smoke had filled Ava’s room, or the entire house for that matter. But this was the first time that the smoke managed to stay inside her room. In the past, it would seep through the cracks and find itself into the living room, and then the next thing that Ava knew, the entire house smelled like sulfur.
"I think I got it! I think I got it!" Ava said before she wiped the beads of sweat on her forehead. She brushed her tangled hair up before she continue staring at the sparkling liquid inside the small vial that she was holding. The liquid turned green before it slowly turned silver until it became transparent.
Seeing this, Ava’s eyes twinkled with glee. She didn’t hide the smugness in her smile.
Potion brewing was something that she was never good at simply because she didn’t know how to control fire which required control of magick. You see, to make a potion, one needed a very specific temperature of the fire.
And since Ava couldn’t maintain a fire for so long, she also couldn’t maintain a certain temperature. In the past, every time she try to brew a potion, it would cause a big explosion and more fire.
Because of this, she learned to avoid trying how to brew the ones that require proper control of magick.
But today...
She was able to make her own potion!
Something that should be useful inside the Pits!
Ava wanted to pat her own back, then she realized how smelly she was.
She looked at the calendar and sighed.
She hasn’t had a bath for three days now. How gross.
She knew she smelled, but she couldn’t just take her mind off the fire that she was using to brew this potion.
That’s right. It took her three straight days of brewing to make a small vial of the basic Elixir of Hunger.
As the name suggested, this vial would stop her body from feeling hungry for three days. Once taken, she could survive for three days without food and water! Isn’t that amazing?
If only humans could consume something like this, then...
"Ehem..." Shaman Gaas’s voice attracted her attention. She slowly turned towards the old man, beaming.
"The smell is rather peculiar."
"Is it?"
"Elixir of hunger usually tastes good and smells good. Are you certain you are concocting an Elixir of Hunger and not poison?"
Ava cleared her throat in embarrassment. "I purposely made it that way." ƒгeewebnovёl_com
The old man lifted her eyebrow. "You purposely made it smell bad?"
"Not just smell. The same goes for the taste."
"And why is that?"
"I — I don’t want to use it."
The old man blinked. Then he blinked again.
"I failed to comprehend the meaning behind your actions?"
"You see... if it tastes and smells good, then what’s stopping me from consuming it whenever I want to?"
Again, the old man blinked.
"I just don’t want something appetizing," Ava added. "I want to consume it only when I need to. Only when my life is at stake." Isn’t that a brilliant reason?
But for some reason, the old man didn’t look too... please?
"That makes little sense. Unless you are planning to use this as sustenance— Did you think you could consume the Elixir every day?"
"Well..." She gave him a sheepish smile. Was that her fault? Again, she doesn’t know what’s inside The Pits. Is there food? Is there water? What if there’s none? What if the only available meat came from... a human body? Like a witch’s body or a shifter?
So she thought of using the Elixer the moment she arrived, even if it’s not really necessary. Was that wrong?
But then she recalled she would go there to survive. Meaning that she needed to do her best to survive and not rely on her magick. It is a different world. An unfamiliar environment. She needed to adapt and survive.
So, she made the elixir as undesirable as possible.
"So, you are telling me that the reason it took you three days is that you tried to change its proportion and change the ingredients?"
Ava bit her lower lip.
"Give me the liquid."
Ava hesitated for a few seconds before she finally gave the vial to the old man. In the first place, she was using the ingredients given to her by the Shaman. The house and the tools belonged to the Shaman too. Meaning that he had the right to at least check the Elixir.
"I was planning to give it to you anyway," she said. "I was planning to let you check it."
The old man held the vial against the candle before he smelled it. Then his face turned uglier. His already wizened countenance seemed to age the moment he smelled the liquid.
"This— "
"Is it poison?" she asked. She was confident that it wasn’t, though. The book said that poisons have a darker color and they usually smell bad unless you add something to balance their smell. Meanwhile, her elixir is clear! Though it definitely smelled like... poop.
"What is it?" she asked.
"It’s an Elixir of Hunger."
Ava breathed a sigh of relief after the old man’s words.
"So, I succeeded?"
"You did," he nodded. "But this... this is a more potent version of the elixir."
"More potent?"
"You said you changed the proportions?"
"I — " Ava started explaining the things that she did. The things that caused a lot of smoke and smell and slight explosions.
"Hmmm.... " The old man stared at the Elixir again. "You passed."
"Really?" Ava almost jumped with joy. This was actually the first time that she succeeded in making a potion like this — or any potion that is helpful to her.
"The control of fire was perfect. This Elixir should give you sustenance for as long as four days. If sold in the market in this place, it would be very expensive!"
"Really?"
The old man nodded. "Clean yourself. I am going to bring you to the market. It is time that you visit the Death Valley."
Death Valley? Ava curiously stared at the old man.
As if sensing her thoughts, he added. "It is the place where Bounty Hunters drink. A... bar."
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