“Crystals! So, so many crystals! ALL MINE! I’m rich! Wah-hahaha!
“No! No one shall take my crystals, or I’ll feed you to my flowerbed!
“You can’t find my secret vault down there! No one can!”
While mumbling, Jackson kept wiggling to and fro and returning all the magic crystals it just stole back onto Dave’s table.
Next, it commanded its vines to collect a pile of pebbles, before it happily carried them back underground.
Angor casually checked the crystals. He made sure not a single one was missing before putting them into his bracelet.
“What’s going on with this guy?” Dave gazed at Jackson’s silly moves in surprise.
“Simple. It is having a nice dream.”
“An illusion?”
“Yup.”
What Angor used on Jackson was an easy nightmare illusion that convinced the creature of a different reality, in which it successfully took all the money. The illusion wasn’t harmful, as long as Jackson could accept the bitter truth without suffering any mental trauma once it “woke up”. Angor did not use a deadlier punishment just because this was Leona’s home.
But how is he so good at both alchemy and illusions?
“Goddamn it. I thought I’m improving fast under Miss Leona’s care, but I’m nothing when you’re around.”
“Well, this is only the most basic illusion application—” Angor tried to comfort Dave, but he realized those words had made it worse.
“Yeah, right. I can’t even recognize a basic illusion. I should never try to compare myself to a master like you.”
A female’s voice suddenly joined them.
“He’s right. It is indeed one of the easiest illusions.”
A new, pleasant smell that surpassed all the flower scents reached their noses, causing Dave to blush badly.
Angor was not affected by the smell too much, though he felt it strange that he recognized it. It was the essence of Glutton Flower Lord.
This had told him who he was expecting.
Leona had a young lady’s look, which was further improved by her lovely pink hair and a long skirt decorated with rosebuds. The way she moved among the flowers made her look like a fairy in the stories.
“Miss Leona!” Angor stood up and bowed politely.
“Pro-professor.” Dave also greeted her, somewhat embarrassedly.
Angor glanced at Dave’s bashful look. As he remembered, the essence of Glutton Flower Lord could calm one’s mind and spirit. Why would Dave look so pumped up instead?
Leona nodded back and went to Jackson. “A level-1 Mind Manipulation cantrip, but added with another peculiar magic. Sunders’ specialty, I guess?”
Angor nodded.
“Nice. You made the cantrip as potent as level-2 cantrips. Dave was right to be surprised. Being able to cast this one instantly meant you got quite the skills.”
As she spoke, Leona dispelled the illusion from Jackson.
Jackson came to its senses with a start and quickly looked at the junk it was holding.
“WHAT DA F*CK DID YOU—”
“One more word, and I’ll replace you with something quieter.” Leona grabbed Jackson’s stem and warned, causing the flower to hide in the dirt like an ostrich.
Leona turned around and tossed a crystal-clear bottle to Angor. “It was my bad, letting you see Jackson’s rudeness. Here, something for your trouble.”
“There’s no need, Miss Leona. It was all a joke—”
“Just listen.” Leona stopped Angor. “You’re joining Madelyne on a big journey, am I right? Then this thing will help you a lot over there. Consider it an extra payment for the essence I got from you last time.”
Angor carefully checked the item. It was a glass bottle with a very fascinating design—an oval main body with diamond-like surface treatment, a triangular base, and a crown-shaped bottle cap, also with more decorative diamonds.
It contained some dark-violet liquid that filled about half of the bottle’s volume. The other half was full of fog-like vapor that glowed slightly. The item did look like a perfume container, but it wouldn’t be wrong to consider it a tabletop ornament that added to a room’s fanciness.
“This is Nether Balm, a special perfume made from a flower native to the Abyss Plane, and a perfect demon repellent. Having it on you is always better than not,” explained Leona.
Angor immediately knew what Leona just did. Leona was a professional “perfumer” in the organization, which meant her tool would be really helpful.
“Thank you very much!” Angor decided to accept the gift.
“Be careful out there. I’ll not ask you to return that token, so you can come here again if you need to learn about potions or perfumes. Why, I would welcome a nice alchemy discussion with you.”
Angor nodded again. That must have been what Leona truly wanted.
Satisfied, Leona walked away. But then she remembered something and asked, “What’s the name of the song in that music box Dave sold?”
...
Dave waited for his professor to leave before he whispered to Angor, “A lot of people have been trying to guess an answer. I never thought the name was so short though.”
Angor shrugged. “I think I mentioned it once, that the composer made this song for his friend, Elise.”
“So you’re going somewhere with Miss Madelyne? For what? My professor gave you that perfume, don’t tell me—”
“You’re right. I need to talk to my professor.”
“But you know the Abyss is—”
“I’m in a big hurry. Besides, going into danger is like our bread and butter, no?”
The “danger” in the Abyss Plane and in the wizarding world were clearly different things. However, Dave knew he should not argue with Angor.
“Just... stay safe, you hear?” Dave seemed to have more things to tell Angor during their reunion, but he didn’t bring them up in the somber mood.
Angor then tried to strike up more conversations about Dave’s alchemy studies to brighten up the mood. They did study different subjects, but some of the alchemy experience was beneficial to them both.
“Nausica sent a letter, right?” asked Angor, when they warmed back up a little.
“Yes. It’s for you, but she sent it to Prome’s because she knew you were not in Brute Cavern at that time.”
Dave took out an oilpaper envelope and handed it to Angor.
The addressee of the envelope was clearly written as Dave, but the greeting phrase of the letter suggested that Nausica wanted to talk to all of her friends.
Angor had been worried about Nausica because she wasn’t leaving Brute Cavern for training, but for absorbing a special bloodline called the Nidhogg Bloodline. Injecting bloodlines was already a risky task, let alone using the bloodline of a demon.
Nausica did mention that she gained enough help from books and Spivet, though this wouldn’t improve her chances much because such experience couldn’t be copied from others.
By leaving Brute Cavern and her friends, she probably meant that she would never come back if she messed up.
What she said in the letter, however, was comforting enough. She claimed that she already succeeded in the first step. Though she still needed some time out in the fields to get used to her new power.
“You’re all gonna get amazed by what happened to me when you see me again!” she said at the end of her message.
“Well, those Nidhogg things look like humans but a lot bigger.” Dave frowned. “Will she get really big too?”
“Bigger means stronger, so why not?”
Angor glanced at his right hand, which also grew abnormally “bigger”. It wouldn’t look pretty if he didn’t have Sunders’ glove to keep it hidden.