Harold Greene gingerly swirled the glimmering fluid in the flask while heating it over a precisely controlled flame. He watched the emerald concoction like a hawk, waiting patiently for the exact moment that the correct temperature was reached and the color began to change. As soon as he saw the first speck of yellow shine through the center of the liquid, he pulled the glass container away from the fire and began counting the passing seconds so he could time the next, most crucial step, perfectly.

As the seconds ticked by, he reflected on his situation and still couldn’t believe he had really managed to get this far after so many years of setbacks.

Once he received the last ingredients he needed from the courier in the slums, Harold had been able to finish a proof of concept that he then presented to the City Lord. His elixir had successfully advanced a Peak Copper to Low Bronze, providing such an potent burst of pure, concentrated qi that there was even power to spare after all was said and done. The Ruler was so impressed with the results that he immediately gave Harold everything he needed to craft the elixir tailored for a Peak Bronze, along with some guards to protect him while he finished his work.

Many alchemists looked down on elixirs as less desirable than pills. They claimed that elixirs required less skill to make, had inconsistent effectiveness, and suffered from a shorter shelf life. Those alchemists were fools, of course. Elixirs were only inferior to pills if they were made with inferior equipment or recipes, and his accouterments did not lack in quality. In fact, he would even venture to claim that his tools and alchemy book–passed down like heavenly treasures through his family for generations–were unrivaled in this entire city.

He looked affectionately over the crown jewel of his collection: a masterwork cauldron. Expertly shaped from pure Jade, the outside was delicately scripted to mimic a cultivator’s ability to manipulate qi. When powered by spirit pearls, this cauldron allowed even non-cultivators like himself to craft high-quality medicinals fit for Lords, though it required ridiculously precise control to operate safely. Only someone like him who had dedicated his youth to learning how to properly utilize the cauldron could bring out its full potential.

There had been many times when he had considered selling the heirloom to get him out of financial binds. If he found the right buyer for it, he would have instantly gained enough wealth to live comfortably for the rest of his life. With how well things were going for him now, he was glad he never succumbed to the temptation. If he succeeded he would be able to bask in luxury and excess for five lifetimes over, but this was his last chance to do so.

This was his third and final attempt to get this elixir correct.

Harold hadn’t let his initial defeats discourage him, as failure when working on such a high grade medicinal was expected. This was why he had given himself some flexibility and asked for three times the amount of ingredients he would actually need. Alas, despite practicing countless times with lesser ingredients and working directly from the final recipe in his inherited alchemy tome, mistakes happened.

The first failure was an error in determining what beast cores he would need to use to fuel his cauldron. While the minutiae of core affinity went unappreciated by most cultivators as they typically only siphoned the power directly from them, getting complimentary affinities for an elixir were essential. He had initially thought fire and wind affinities would be a good choice for channeling explosive growth, but he didn’t properly account for the scarlet briar’s strong bias towards water affinities. This resulted in the effect of the elixir being muted, though he was able to salvage it and turned it into a weaker variant of the recipe. Even if it didn’t come out exactly how he wanted, it would’ve been incredibly wasteful to discard the potion entirely.

The second failure was the fault of his over excitement. His anticipation caused him to count too quickly in the final stages, resulting in the soul’s ambrosia being added too early and the whole thing turning to rancid sludge. Unlike the first failure, this attempt was completely unsaveable and he had to throw it out.

This time, though? This time he felt the success of it in his bones.

Harold set his alchemical flask–now filled with completely yellow liquid–down on a pre-warmed plate to keep the temperature consistent. As he finished the count in his head, he grabbed the final measure of soul’s ambrosia from the pouch at his waist, prayed to whatever gods were listening, and dropped the golden flower bud into the flask.

The elixir bubbled ominously for several seconds and threatened to boil out of the container. Harold held his breath as he watched the elixir go through an entire rainbow of colors–yellow, to red, to blue, to purple, and back to green again. Around and around it went until finally, after anxious minutes that seemed to stretch on for days, the bubbling stopped and the elixir’s color settled to a beautiful, pure, silver.

Harold jumped in the air and shouted in glee–he had done it! He had finally done it.

Tears welled up in his eyes at finally living up to a generations-long legacy. No longer would his ancestors be viewed as liars, cheats, or pariahs. No longer would his vast alchemical talents go to waste in places where people could not appreciate his genius. Finally, finally… things were turning around.

He calmed himself as he reflected on the fact that he wasn’t completely finished just yet. The elixir still needed time to mature so that it could reach its full strength, and it needed to be appropriately stored until then. So, he reverently transferred the contents of the flask into an enchanted vial and stoppered it, setting it down in the vial rack opposite to the lesser elixir.

He stepped back from his workbench and couldn’t help but marvel at his achievement yet again, stunned by the fact that even though the concoction was at its weakest potency he could still feel a tangible, raw power pouring off of it. It completely overshadowed the low hum of energy that came from his first attempt, though that would’ve been enough to impress anyone if viewed in isolation from his masterpiece. He was sure the City Lord would find a good use for it, or perhaps would permit Harold to sell the imperfect elixir to someone else.

Regardless, once the maturation process had finished and brought the elixir to its peak strength in exactly one week, he would deliver this bottled miracle to the Ruler and his life would be changed forever.

The City Lord would be pleased indeed.

Samantha looked down on the nondescript warehouse with deep suspicion. Ol’ Man Whisper had warned her that there would be guard contingents regularly patrolling this area since many businesses stored goods and products in the surrounding buildings… but this was ridiculous.

To a passing pedestrian the patrol pattern might not seem that unusual, but after nearly an hour of doing nothing but watching guards walk around, it was obvious that the target warehouse was the one being most aggressively protected. As soon as one set of guards rounded a corner and lost line of sight to an entrance, another set would appear from a different direction or angle to cover it. Not to mention that in every patrol there was at least one cultivator of Mid-Copper or Higher, which was extra concerning.

She hadn’t had much trouble navigating her way to the warehouse district itself, but the closer she got to the warehouse in question, the tighter the net of security became. Just in reaching this roof, still a full two buildings away from her goal, she had nearly been spotted twice. Only the stealth enhancing effects of her armor shielded her from notice. Silas had fared better, his translucence and speed making him nothing more than a blurred streak in the night–nearly impossible to spot.

“Can you feel the one on the roof? He’s strong.” Silas asked.

Samantha did, unfortunately. A Low Bronze was conspicuously perched on the roof of the target warehouse, letting his heavy killing intent wash over the immediate area. Even from this distance it made her skin crawl and stomach churn–especially since she needed to maintain aura stealthing and was unable to push back against the pressure effectively–but she was hopeful that she would actually start to feel better once she got closer.

First, she couldn’t imagine the aura penetrating the warehouse itself considering it would harm the mortal that worked inside of it. Second, none of the guards who walked the perimeter of the warehouse were looking sick or unsteady. This meant that the Low Bronze had to only be directing his aura above a certain height somehow, or maybe in some unique shape. Whatever he was doing, the amount of control it would take to manage such a feat was impressive, and it also served as a warning. With how blatantly he ‘announced’ himself and the precision with which he did it, it could only be a message to anyone foolish enough to try and get inside the building he guarded.

Tonight that fool was probably going to be her.

As she contemplated her options, she thought back over the conversation she had with Ol’ Man Whisper. He had tasked her with stealing the cultivation elixir that Harold Greene was crafting for the City Lord and bringing it back to him, but she was beginning to suspect that his actual goal was to get her killed. With all of his agents throughout the city, there was no way that he didn’t know how heavily guarded this area was.

Admittedly, he had offered her quite the nice reward if she succeeded: another 50 gold, the Braxand Family’s body hardening combat art (the same one Eileen had used in their fight), and the required elixir to successfully learn it. As nice as the reward was though, she would never consider taking this deal under normal circumstances. She didn’t feel she had many good alternatives available to her though.

She could try and cut her losses and just ascend to the second floor right now. This would definitively remove her as a threat to Lord Braxand, and he hopefully wouldn’t take her failure out on her family. However, going up into unknown territory with very little preparation would probably turn out even worse for her than just trying to do this job.

She could try and evacuate her family to a different city and leave Yivesh behind. This would likely mean that she would fail her quest however, and her ability to protect her family as they crossed the miles of wilderness would be hampered. This was also assuming that the Braxands didn’t get to them before they managed to exit the city. Not to mention, she doubted she could convince most of them to leave in a timely manner without telling them why the departure was so urgent, thus putting them in even greater danger.

She could try and go to the City Lord as Lord Braxand feared she would, but she didn’t actually know that much about Lord Braxands plans and had no proof backing her claims. In a best case scenario where the Ruler believed her, he could take her and her family under his wing and protect them from the wrath of the Braxand’s for a time. Unfortunately, generations-long blood feuds between families have been started over much less, and Samantha knew that the Lord’s protection wouldn’t last forever. In a worst case scenario where she wasn’t believed, she’d likely be blasted out of existence immediately. Accusing any person of treason was a risky proposition, but a High Bronze who’s also the Head of one of the most powerful families in the city? She might as well kill her entire family herself–at least she’d be quick about it.

She resisted the urge to sigh, fearing the sound would give away her position. She needed more information before she made any choices she would potentially regret.

“Silas, can you scout around the building while I look through your eyes? We need to see if there’s any way inside or if this is all really as impossible as it seems.” she sent.

Silas activated Translucence and hopped down off the roof with a mental affirmative, and Samantha laid down in a concealed corner of the roof and closed her eyes.

The shift from human senses–enhanced as they were–to Jackalope senses was as disorienting as ever. Samantha had to actively remind herself to stay perfectly still so as not to risk attracting any attention to her prone form as Silas darted into any nook or cranny he could find. Her heart raced as patrols passed by the spots where he hid, painfully aware that if any of the cultivators bothered to use their sphere of perception they would have no trouble discovering him. Luckily for them, cultivators’ trademark arrogance was on their side. Perhaps it was due to the confidence of having a Low Bronze watching over them, or the fact that they were surrounded on all sides by so many allies, but no one looked closely enough to pick up on Silas’s huddled form.

Silas strategically began circling the building, looking at different areas as directed by Samantha, until the wind direction shifted and he caught the overwhelming scent of herbs. Samantha couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose at the pungent scents of alchemy, but to Silas the smell was as sweet as honey.

Silas carefully followed his nose around the back of the building until he located the origin of the aroma. The east wall of the warehouse was barren of any doors or windows save for one. Towards the very top of the warehouse wall, perhaps 20 feet up, was a small, open, hinged window. Color tinted steam slowly wafted out of the window into the chill night air, scattering into the breeze as soon as it left the shelter of the building.

“I think that’ll be our best option given the circumstances... Come on back.” Samantha said.

Samantha returned her senses to her body and awaited Silas’s return, giving him a quick pet on arrival to convey her appreciation for his efforts.

By her estimates, the rectangular window was just large enough for her to squeeze through– about three feet wide and only one foot tall. The problem wasn’t necessarily getting through the open window though, so much as doing it quickly enough where she wouldn’t be spotted by guards. Even if she timed it so she climbed up the wall shortly after a patrolling group passed it, she would only have a few seconds at most to get wholly through it before another group saw her. This also wasn’t accounting for any sound that she made when climbing, which could also draw attention.

The more she thought about it, the more she doubted that she could manage both being quiet and unseen. Prioritizing speed or silence would hinder the other, and the patrols were too regimented to make any mistakes. She briefly considered trying to get Silas to cause a distraction, but that had a greater chance of hurting than helping. She didn’t believe the disciplined guards would abandon their posts to check out a strange sound, and in the end it would put them on a higher alert than before.

She thought about her choices again. None of them were good, and she couldn’t think of anything else. She didn’t have the luxury of wasting time trying to find some hidden solution that may or may not exist either. So, she decided to finish what she came here to do, no matter how low her chances of success were. However, she wasn’t going to just resign herself to failure. There was one last thing she could try to do in order to better her chances. If this was going to be the end of the line, she might as well give it everything.

Samantha opened her profile and looked over the bond ability section.

Bond Ability Points: 2 remaining

Swift (Rank 2 – 2 Points) - For every 1 qi point spent per second, you will gain +2 agility. After skill ends, effects will persist for 5 seconds, losing 1/5th of total value each second until original agility level reached. Herb Hunter (1 Point) – Like the Lunar Hare, you have an uncanny ability for finding the best quality herbs around. Translucence (1 Point) – For every 1 qi point spent, you will become partially transparent for 30 seconds. Remaining motionless while translucent will make you exceedingly difficult to spot. As One [Special] (Rank 3 – Cost 3 Points) – ????? Unavailable. Requirements not met.

She had been saving her points in case of an emergency on the second floor, but she had an even more pressing emergency right now.

Samantha purchased Translucence.

*Ding* Bond abilities selected! Changes have been made to your status page.

Samantha looked over the changes and nodded to herself. As expected, she only had one bond ability point left to spend. The next rank of Translucence was also unlocked for her to purchase if she had enough points for it in the future.

Translucence (Rank 2 - 2 Points) – For every 1 qi point spent, you will become mostly transparent for 60 seconds. All other signs of your presence will be partially muted (sound, smell, aura, etc). Remaining motionless while translucent will make you exceedingly difficult to spot.

The first change to the Rank 2 description was that ‘partially transparent’ would be upgraded to ‘mostly transparent’. She wasn’t sure what the exact difference between the two was, but it sounded significant. The duration had also increased from 30 seconds to 60 seconds, and the muted presence sounded useful too. A small part of her regretted she hadn’t saved another bond point somewhere along the line because the second rank would be incredibly beneficial in this situation, but there was no sense in lamenting what she couldn’t change. Besides, she knew her past bond abilities had helped her greatly to get this far, so she couldn’t complain too much.

Her most pressing concern at the moment was if this ability would work while she was clothed, or if she would need to strip down for it. For Silas, the tight-fitted vest he wore became transparent along with his body, implying that there was some sort of small field of translucence that was generated around him when the ability was activated. She didn’t assume this would be the case for her though, since their abilities didn’t always manifest the same way. There was really only one way to find out.

Samantha activated Translucence for the first time and then looked through Silas’s eyes to evaluate her appearance.

Oh thank goodness, I can keep my clothes on.

Samantha was covered head-to-toe in dark gray cloth armor, blending her neatly into any nearby shadows while also seeming to soften any sharp lines of her silhouette. It didn’t exactly blur her out of sight, but it made it much easier to discount her as if she was something out of focus far off in the background. Now, with Translucence activated, she looked somewhat like how she imagined a ghost would.

She could see through her body to the surrounding area, though anything viewed directly behind her seemed slightly distorted–like seeing it through fogged glass or a sheet of water. The effect wasn’t quite as pronounced as Silas’s own Translucence ability, but in combination with her Stealth gear it was difficult to keep focused on her form. Her vision felt like it wanted to glide or slide off of her, an odd sensation she hadn’t experienced before.

When she moved however, it was a different story. While still difficult to pinpoint, the scenery viewed through her body noticeably shifted in position, size, and form, causing a distortion that was easier to spot. Still, she believed that so long as no one looked too hard in her direction and she didn’t draw too much attention as she moved, she would be wholly overlooked. The darkness of night would aid her as well.

Satisfied that there wasn’t much more she could do, Samantha and Silas carefully moved to a different roof that had a better view of the east wall. Samantha spent another 20 minutes tracking the patrol patterns from this new vantage while waiting for her expended qi point to regenerate. She leveraged her mind meridian to the fullest as she tried to calculate the best moment to climb the earthen wall. What group looked the most lax? Which gap between patrols was longest? Which upcoming patrol would have the worst viewing angle on the window? Did some guards have the tendency to look around more than others?

By the time her qi pool refilled she had her answers.

“I’m going. Will you keep watch and let me know if anyone notices my presence? I’ll also need you to let me know when it’s safe for me to leave, provided things go smoothly.” Samantha said.

“I will.” Silas replied with determination. “And if things go bad, I will come save you.”

Samantha felt his conviction through their bond, and her chest tightened with both affection and a hint of sorrow. “Thanks. I’ll do my best so it won’t come to that.”

Seeing her opening approaching, Samantha made her way down from the roof, put a qi point into Translucence and Swift, and rushed the gap. Once she passed a certain point, as expected, she felt the heavy killing intent of the Low Bronze vanish and her movements became less strained. She was grateful that there was one less thing to worry about for the moment.

Now that she was more difficult to spot, she prioritized being quiet over fast. The two groups she was navigating between rarely looked upwards, so as long as she could grab hold of the window she could take the extra seconds to quietly squeeze through before the next patrol might see her.

She passed a mere 10 feet behind the first group of guards as she launched herself up and used the extra traction provided by Swift to take a second leap up to the window. She pulled herself up to the window and began easing her way through it using the strength of her upper body alone, preventing her feet from making any scuffing sounds against the wall as she ascended. She held her breath as her head, shoulders, and torso cleared the opening, not wanting to inhale whatever strange fumes might be exiting past her.

The Alchemy ‘Lab’ was actually a walled off portion of the warehouse. It took up around a 20x20 foot cube of space, with the window at the top of the room being used as an exhaust port. The fumes in question came from a small, cone-like cloth tent near the right side of the room. Coming out of the top of the cone was a thin metal tube which was suspended from the ceiling with strings so that it pointed towards the window. The only other things of note in the earthen room was an alchemy workbench with neatly arranged instruments, a shelf full of more instruments and varying ingredients, and a small writing desk set. Fortunately, no one was currently present inside.

The first patrol rounded the corner of an adjacent building and disappeared from view while she evaluated the space. A moment later, a second patrol took their place watching over the east wall as they circled the warehouse, putting her in their line of sight until they passed under her window. Not wanting to risk catching their eyes, Samantha put another qi point into Translucence and laid perfectly still.

As they walked beneath her, the thought of her rear end being prominently displayed as she half-hung out of the window brought a small smile to her face. In the face of mortal peril, some mundane embarrassment was actually a nice change of pace. Blessedly, the second group passed under her lower half without anyone being the wiser to her presence, and she successfully pulled the rest of her body through the narrow space.

Samantha quietly landed inside the lab underneath the window, rolling on impact to spread the force of the fall across her body and hopefully lessen the sound. Once she confirmed with her enhanced hearing that guards were not rushing to her location, she let out the breath she’d been holding and sighed in relief.

When a very faint, ominously familiar floral scent hit her nose, she immediately held her breath again. If she were not utilizing Prey’s Perception she doubted she would’ve noticed it at all, just like the first time.

You won’t catch me with the same trick twice.

When she had made the herb delivery to Harold Greene that fateful day, she had confronted him about abandoning Aiden to the Pack Rats. Harold, apparently threatened by her frustration towards him, discreetly affected her with a sleeping poison to make his escape from the gutter. Even if she hadn’t had her mind meridian opened, she would’ve remembered the scent of it anywhere.

In her experience the poison required continuous inhalation before it took effect, and considering Samantha’s superhuman physique (where she could hold her breath for several minutes without much strain) the threat was manageable. She began methodically tackling two issues at once, simultaneously searching for the open bottle of sleeping poison she knew was hidden somewhere in this room as well as the elixir she had been sent for. Everything was painstakingly and clearly labeled, which expedited the process greatly. All she had to do was look for something that was not in its appropriate place.

During her exploration, many of the items she came across would’ve piqued her curiosity and risked distracting her in different circumstances, but she stayed focused on her task. She passed by expensive herbs Silas would probably like, fancy equipment like a jade cauldron, and even other potions and medicines with only the slightest twinge of disappointment that she couldn’t take it all with her. Normally she was morally opposed to stealing anything, but given that it was from the alchemist that contributed to Aiden’s death, she would’ve made an exception.

The only storage on her person, considering she had to leave behind her somewhat bulky backpack, was a small pocket on the inside of her jacket that currently held her sublime healing pill and a few empty slots on the bandolier across her chest. She could potentially take a couple of items other than the elixir from this room, but she would need to be very choosy about what they were.

A quick search revealed the sleeping poison cleverly stashed behind empty bottles of a similar shape. This spot was particularly devious because the poison itself was clear like fresh water, making the container appear empty like its neighbors at a passing glance. As soon as she found it she grabbed it from the shelf and made a beeline for a box with differently sized corks she had passed earlier. After finding a plug that snugly fit the opening, she firmly stoppered it to prevent any more poison from dispersing. The small bottle, about 2 fingers wide and as tall as her palm, was still over half full.

She debated for a moment if the poison was worth sacrificing some of her limited storage space for, then decided to keep it with her unless she found something better. She slotted the poison into one of the empty spots on her bandolier, figuring there were several ways it could be helpful. If she didn’t immediately use it, she could build up her sleep poison resistance later.

She had not found the elixir yet during her search of the room, but there was still one place she hadn’t looked yet. She had left the conspicuous tent alone while she had been looking for the sleeping poison, figuring more fumes would not help her goal of avoiding poisoning. However, if it wasn’t there like she hoped, she would need to explore the warehouse itself to try and find it which would almost certainly result in her being caught.

Samantha took a deep breath in preparation for going inside the tent and cracked the door flap open.

A small wave of energy emitted from the gap as if a cultivator was exerting their killing intent at her intrusion, and Samantha immediately jumped back. She drew the long dagger from her thigh holster and held it in the ready position for a strike, crouching low to the ground in preparation for a crippling blow.

She waited… and waited… but no one emerged to confront her.

Just to be safe, Samantha moved to a spot in the room that was at least 15 feet away from any walls and turned on the active effect of Prey’s Awareness. While she didn’t think that her sphere of dominion could be detected by other cultivators if they walked through the area of effect, there was no reason to risk it.

In that fraction of a second she had the ability active, she was surprised to find that the tent did not have another cultivator in it at all. Instead, two small bottles resting in a vial rack were emitting energy into their surroundings. The qi concentration on the inside of the tent was much denser than outside of it, suggesting the tent was containing the energy and preventing any from leaking out into the room. These had to be what she was looking for–nothing else made any logical sense–but she had no idea why there were two elixirs. Looking a bit closer, one vial was giving off significantly more energy than the other, so she theorized that maybe they were two different potions.

She returned to only using Prey’s Awareness passively before mental fatigue or damage could set in and began another round of problem solving.

The tent was clearly enchanted to hide these items from outside observers, but it was too large to carry around and use herself. This meant that she had no way to shield the elixir’s energy, so as soon as she fully removed them from the tent she would be discovered. She didn’t see a viable way to avoid being found, meaning she needed to arrange for anyone pursuing her to have a very bad night.

Now fully appreciating the convenient, meticulously labeled ingredients all around her, she was confident that she could conjure up a little something that might do the trick. Although she had no background in alchemy, Harold had clearly marked the most volatile ingredients with the universal sign for danger, a skull.

Even children knew that an alchemy shop was no place for playing around, and that many of their ingredients could be deadly either alone or when improperly mixed together. With so many materials available to her… how hard could it be?