Experiment 1: After one hour of pure confusion the first phase of the apparatus was complete. A mesh of tubes, cylinders, beakers and vials were arranged and welded in a veritable lattice of steel. It was magnificent. Full cooperation was received and the process had boiled down to just a matter of precision. Thankfully, the scientists were extremely diligent and channeled an exceptional amount of obedience, dedication and satisfaction into their work. It was clear from their tired faces and fast movements they took pride in Sill’s recipe down to the most minute scratch. Twice researchers had to be pulled from the line after suffering from exhaustion, another almost fainted from the constant duress. A professor cut her hand on a vat and had to be sent to the infirmary and six more technicians disappeared in search for ingredients. Still they persisted. It was a burst of uncontained euphoria and adrenaline that fueled the most minute of measurements. The idea of success, taunted the taste of their lips, it was the idea of the word tickled by Sill’s lofty words that lured them to chase an impossible dream.

  They worked, bled and read like dead souls fighting for one last glimpse at a fleeting sun. Neural cysts were taken from the Dalious’s now dissected head and dried using bursts of [Lesser Wind 30]. With precision the once festering wads of flesh were ground to powder with mortar and pestle before mixed with salt and heated to boil. Only once the remains were collected did Sill order the liquid to be filtered and a “receptor map” revealed. Treadwell was fascinated by the process, Merle couldn’t care less and Laura ordered it to be completed faster.

  Failure happened when the water overboiled. The experiment was restarted from scratch.

  Experiment 54: Three more lab-tech’s fainted from exhaustion. Another spent hours chipping away at beakers to ensure the correct measurement’s to Sill’s command. The eggs were sourced from an auspicious farming guild with extra equipment rolled in by staff from nearby buildings. Guards and lab personnel from across the complex were drawn in like moth’s to flame from the busy stream of equipment and shouts from the building’s interior. They too aided in the experiments. Mimicing a cooking class that had suffered clerical breakdown the eggs were smashed and their egg whites whisked. Whisks of egg white or “albumen” as Sill roared were added slowly in a heated sand bath to the “receptor map” filtrate. Then dropwise secretions of a metal-vinegar solution were tweaked to slowly conjugate into the mixture.

  Laura repeated this step twice after she found her hand slipping on the thin metal bottle. She was wearing a lab-coat and goggles now with sweat glistening on her forehead while Sill continued to bark orders. Her mind slipped in and out of pergatory. This was as far as they had gotten so far. Only once they had created an alkaline ash solution did something extraordinary form. Powdery dry chalk rose up from the beaker's solution. It was something new with Sill praising the “aggregation” and a congregated group around them muttering in approval. Failure came when the next batch of alkaline ash was added too fast. The experiment was restarted from scratch.

  A lab-tech was nearly blown up, his arm having been shredded to bloody mesh by another vat explosion. The group used lesser healing to stitch him back together. They returned like nothing had happened. Normally, this would have heralded an end to proceedings and ear-marked a closure of an entire laboratory.

  Today it was progress.

  Experiment 73: Once the precipitate was formed Sill called for a healthy blood donor. While a “mythical” inanimate shouting for a vial of blood wasn’t exactly the most enlightening of experiences, it did make a few of the researchers begin to question the legitimacy of their recipe. After a sheepish protest towards the rock’s apparent blood sacrifice Laura herself ended up volunteering. At first the individuals were outright terrified by what the rock suggested. Merle too seemed less enamoured with the ingredients of their so called “beneficial creation” however after some convincing the process could be easily replicated through a small cut and traditional [Minor Healing 30].

  Only once the red vial swirled in her own hand and food was pressed into Laura’s mouth was the blood allowed to clot. Treadwell and others voiced visible concern collecting the serum and profound objection using [Freezing 40] to ice the resulting fluid however Sill seemed to think the process was crucial for globulin precipitation with the latter creating an “immune attack tag” which would inhibit the critical “tyrosine kinase” and enable a “phosphorylation cascade”. With little reason to question or understand why Sill needed to fight a faction of goblins through ice magic the group simply nodded and carried out orders. No failure occurred at this stage.

  “Hey you Jannic’s aren’t that bad!! You should be proud of yourselves! Commander Laura we should congratulate them!! Medal of Honour For Everyone!!!!!!” Sill screamed lightly.

  Experiment 76: Ligand powder was added to a saline and ethanol solution, then the same “opsonin” solution was introduced with pieces of copper. Sill ordered them to spin the solution using [Spin 30] in mid-air and the party stopped in amazement, only once mixed thoroughly did Treadwell and others use [Spin-Stomp 30] at Sill’s request to create pellets that we’re quickly washed with saline.

  Experiment 83: All three hundred eggs were cracked, enlisting the assembly line into a kind of mad scientist bakery. It was a complete insult to the small army of chickens that had been pilfered but Laura was starting to be thankful they held such a high importance in the recipe. A substance called “lectithin” was extracted from the egg yolks using cholesterol with casein from milk curd. Sill then ordered them to do a ritualistic “shaking of the vats” to churn the liquid into “micelles”. A young lab-tech gaped in shock as they preformed the recipe. Apparently the potion had to be lipid soluble in order to cross over the “blood-brain barrier”. The depth of magical knowledge the tiny rock exhibited today clearly out-grew and overshadowed some of the most potent of archmages.

  “I’ve never killed so many chickens” the inqusitor joked.

  “Relax the eggs are unfertilized!!! Shake harder!!!” Sill screamed.

  The inquisitor replied with a mean grunt.

  Merle did however feel rather silly shaking a giant glass of salty milk with his inquisitorial robes pancaked in a thick plaster of ingredients. Only once trace ethanol and saline was committed further with even more glycerin was the final product complete. Using [Condense 30] and Fabricate [30] easily yielded a fair product.

  “97% Efficient Commander Laura!!!!! We’re going to do this!!!”

  The entire room held onto one salient breath. They we’re into this together until the very end. A work-force of some three hundred graciously circled around their creation. Laura stood tall, her feet planted ontop of a laboratory desk while the others watched.

  It was time for testing.

  An infected chicken was brought into the room.

  So much was riding on it’s plucky beak and finely pressed feathers.

  Laura was the first to approach. The pill seemed small in her hand. It was a thimble that made her palm look like a sea. Various members of the group picked them up and lifted the drugs towards the light. The feeling of pure vindication that swelled in their hearts was equally unpalpable. It was beautifully horrifying that all of their blood, sweat and tears had culminated into something so tiny. A personification of hope sat on Laura’s palm and stared back at her. She liked what she saw.

  The entire experiment now rode on a single moment.

  Without hesitation Laura stepped forward and stuck the pill down the chicken’s throat. It seemed to cluck sideways, almost trying everything it could to stray form the medicine’s effects.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Then something amazing happened.

  It returned to normal.

  Merle gaped in awe. Sill cheered and Treadwell and the others couldn’t believe their eyes. A recipe that would normally have required sixteen weeks of constant surveillance had been reduced to mere hours. Slimy feathers were washed towards a white furl with the chicken clucking along the ground.

  The room erupted into cheer.

  “Wow, that uh…I’m going to be honest Commander Laura that was supposed to take more than three hours but instantaneous is something we can go for!!!” Sill responded sharply.

  The others positively beamed at the majesty of their creation.

  “Our first batch includes ten thousand pills Commander Laura!!!”

  “That’s good Commander Laura!!!! But now it’s time for us to mass produce the project, I think we’ll need a line of fifty blood donors, six more………..”

  [Duplicate 720]

  Treadwell pulled a lever on the side of the laboratory to have a gigantic enchanted stone swing forward. The apparatus looked tremendously ancient with cogs, gears and ropes dancing across the ceiling in a twisted marionette. In seconds a sharp electrifying zapp echoed across the room. He looked absolutely full of himself and swelled with pride.

  “Thats cheating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Sill roared.

  A duplication had been performed.

  Two hundred of the small capsules appeared in view. It was basic knowledge that duplicated items couldn’t be duplicated again however Sill seemed extremely pleased with the prospect of an enchanted tool. In fact two thousand years prior nobleman and famous industrialists had blundered entire fortunes on the prospect of subsequent duplication. Nuem Plentix had been the most famous, an archmage of little known renown who had perished in a factory fire during a routine test.

  “I had drawn up plans for a larger assembly line and everything!!! With this duplication machine we could easily convert our first three pill dose into, 90000 doses!”

  “The……the process is complete?” Treadwell responded.

  They all turned to Laura now. She had been the leader of the group.

  “All we need is a name?” another spoke.

  “Laura, would you like to decide?

  Focus shifted onto her and the young scribe tried her best to stand tall in the sea of faces.

  “You designed it mostly Sill, what do you want to call it?” She responded.

  The rock spoke quickly. He basked in the glory of their newfound creation.

  “You know what, all of you Jannic laboratory assistant’s aren’t that bad!! This may be the greatest feat a TACTI unit like me has ever done in the field of epidemiology! I can almost feel a commendation, an award!! Heck maybe I’ll even become a SACTI unit! Laura may become an Grand Admiral!! Lead our own fleet!!!!”

  “Answer the question Sill!” Laura barked.

  Then the rock said something truly kind.

  “Lanu’s Elixir!!!!”

  A swelter of warmpth cascaded over Laura’s shoulders. She squeezed her own hand slowly. A knot in her stomach she barely knew she had slowly began to unravel. Somewhere above the swirling clouds in the land where gods reigned and paradise still flourished, two people stood. The ghosts of her parents smiled proudly.

  —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Elder Scribe Danmu perched against his desk. His bald-egg shaped head reflected in the candlelight. It was daytime but he was squirrled away in his office and huddled over an aggrieved circle of books the blasted scribe Jan once again had “forgotten” to transcribe. Damnu’s quill dribbled ink over a freshly minted page. He sighed slowly before letting the tip of the feather brush lightly against his chin.

  Already the imbicle had been assigned to his twenty fourth stint of community service and Damnu could still remember the last time he had seen Jan picking up discarded magic ash in the park. Fat lot of good the assignment did him, Jan was the one who had made the magic ash in the first place. Mother of Groundsprout, The Perfect Groundsprout, My Life As A Max-Level Groundsprout, Super Grousproutive, The Wandering Groundsprout, these were all prime examples of classic literature that had been cast to shambles by Jan’s unyielding laziness. It was a shame, a true, tried and tested shame. Brown robes clung to Damnu’s feet like wet leaves to a forest floor. The old scribe felt the weight of a sheet in his hand before he his wrist begin to tire.

  Then he saw something he never in his entire life would ever have expected.

  Laura Lanu marched directly up to the library's great column with a sledgehammer.

  It was on the third swing that he started to realize what it was exactly she was doing.

  She was stealing the building's wardstone.

  —---------------------------------------------

  “Whats that for?” Treadwell asked.

  He was poking the archaic stone with a stick to see if the enchantments would still hold. Surprisingly, they did with tiny sparks arcing over the exterior like flakes of ash. Laura motioned to a nearby window. She didn’t have to speak, only let her finger guide their gaze towards the colloseum.

  “That wardstone hasn’t been used in over a thousand years. Not since riots flooded these streets in simpler times,” Laura responded coolly.

  “Simpler times? Those riots killed thousands?” Treadwell commented.

  He wasn’t looking at the window. He was ignorant to the innerworks of the world beyond their view.

  Laura and others saw what was going on outside.

  “These are far less simpler times”

  A blinding light erupted from the colosseum’s ceiling. A cloud of vaporous static stretched like thin wool on a loom with tendrils flailing through the hevans. She held her breath. It was larger and more powerful than anything she had seen before. Next a fluorescent turquoise pillar leetched towards sky. The two colossal powers etched and intertwined in a viscous tornado of blue. It was like a tribulation of two gods powers clashing in eternal starfire. The majesty of the sun had been blotted out like a simple tomato on wet grass.

  The battle had begun.

  She held her breath. Hopefully, Jan and Aloat would be okay.

  “Master’s flying creations!! Abominations inbound!! Looks like it knows what we’re doing here!!” Sill cried.

  The buildings shook mimicking a small earthquake. Scientists dashed to secure beakers and bottles. In seconds the libraries wardstone activated. A bright blue sphere enveloped the alchemical district and adjacent buildings in a brilliant hue. The hundreds inside we’re temporarily saved. It’s codes we’re still held by Damnu, a tradition attributed to the buildings caretaker but thought to be ceremonious at certain times.

  It was a shield that provided enormous comfort but would be colossally dwarfed by the city's own wardstones, which were still yet to activate.

  A researcher walked outside and placed a hand to the force field projection. It was powerful magic that caused his finger to jump back in an instant. They had tried their best to accumulate as many people as possible into the thin circle of protection.

  Damnu stood beside her. He at first had been confused when she started to deface public property. Now he was terrified.

  “Is that where Jan is?” the elder mage breathed.

  “What on earth is going on?”

  “Community Service,” Laura responded.

  He was helping to usher people inside. Merle and the guards stood at the ready. The elder scribe made a scrunched-up expression while he realized just exactly what was going on.

  “Dear God,” Damnu breathed.

  She could hear them now. A shriek that cut into the air like a dying gull. Great bats and flying monstrosities were streaking like river of carnivorous fish above their heads. Their faces we’re disjointed and their wings unnatural. Hundreds slammed into the field and sizzled like hot butter in it’s electrifying rays. The sound of the bugs wings filled the air in a horrifying hum.

  Cries from civilians and soldiers alike mimicked the sound of siege engines firing. Even more Flying cannon fodder had arrived to straife down on unsuspectring foes. Thankfully what few ballistas and anti-air defences the city had still operated. Paxter had likely put great effort into enforcing their ranks. For every magic missile or lick of fire that seeped into the air, hundreds died in droves.

  A bat creature slammed into the protection field to bubble and gurgle into a prostatic mass. The fleshy creature lay in the middle of the street with fumes rising from it’s discombobulating corpse.

  Another wave of energy rippled from the colosseum. It was enough to shake the leaves on trees a near kilometre away.

  Then she spun to shout more orders.

  “We need to talk distribution, this cure needs to go out to troops fast!”

  The sudden change of topic startled those who dared listen. The group struggled to pull out a map. It’s curled edges revealed the historic distribution of changeling cases.

  Laura took only a second to analze before grabbing a bag of pills and heading downstairs.

  “Use the wardstone codes to get these pills to Paxter immediately!” Laura shouted.

  They nodded and continued their distribution. Only ten or so thousand had made it to the front lines of late.

  “Where are you going?” Tread asked.

  “We’ll, these pills are water soluble no?”

  “Yes, Commander Laura!! Dispersion into any form of water supply would work as a good method to distribute the antidote?”

  “I’m confused. Where are you going?” Merle asked.

  She had taken a crowbar to a grate on the ground and started hacking away wildly.

  “Sewers!”

  Then she pulled on the older soldier's red robe.

  “I'm going to the sewers, and you’re coming too!”