Alchemiest and his tools

Встреча новичка с опытным алхимиком

The novice was nearing the end of his little journey. An old wooden house, battered by time and attacks by wild beasts, stood on a hill surrounded by flowers, bushes, and herbs. There was a smell in the air that was impossible to define. It was peculiar, containing elements of something spicy and tearful, mixed with something delicate and beautiful. Such a multitude of scents made my head spin. The newcomer approached the door, which bore the marks of an axe, bloodstains, and several holes, perhaps from a shotgun or harpoon. Above the door hung a rusted metal sign that read, "Alchemy and Medicine Shop. No freakin' way!" He knocked and waited for an answer. The strange beasts continued to sing in the bushes, but did not dare to show themselves.

Suddenly, with a popping sound, the inspection slit in the door opened, and a metal pipe peeked out. The beasts fell silent. The newcomer raised his hands and said:

• It's me, it's me! - his voice trembled with panic.

• А... Come in, my lock has been picked, the door is open... - I heard a hoarse voice. Now it was clear where the traces of blood and holes in the boards had come from. Inside there were many tables with tools, old and damaged things, carcasses cut up... all in all, the typical look of an experienced invader's home. Rooms succeeded each other, and at the end there was already a metal door. "Why didn't he install one at the entrance?" - thought the newcomer. The old man put his three-fingered hand on the electronic lock.

• Моя святая-святых... Я не пускаю каждого прохожего... Заходи, вытри ноги, надень халат, очки и противогаз. Иначе можешь погибнуть после первого опыта... И не споткнись о провод! Отлично, - старик указал рукой вперед, - это твое рабочее место, алхимический стол. На нем можно удобно разместить весь инструментарий... Но к этому вернемся позже. Как прошла твоя прогулка?

• My holy of holies... I don't let every passerby in... Come in, wipe your feet, put on a robe, goggles and a gas mask. Otherwise you might die after your first experience... And don't trip over the wire! Well," the old man pointed forward, "this is your workplace, the alchemical table. You can comfortably place all your tools on it... But we'll return to that later. How was your walk?

• Did you write down where you found all this stuff? In your notebook? - The old man asked.

• Sure. - The newcomer nodded and handed his work to the teacher.

• Good for you... As you already know, ingredients usually have several properties, usually four. What is the easiest way to determine these properties?

• Eat them!

• And then die of poisoning afterwards, right? Genius plan. No, the easiest way is to analyze them and observe the OTHER creature eating them! Use rat-worms! Find their burrow, dig them up and take them with you. Then feed them with the items you find and watch their reaction. If they don't show any negative effects, then you can try it yourself. You can't understand everything without feeling it for yourself. Here, by the way, is one rat... - The teacher took a worm rat out of its cage and put it on the table, - Give it something to eat.

• Here... - The newcomer held out a strange flower with red petals and green-blue spots.

• Wow, I even feel sorry for the little guy. Okay, watch this.

Silence reigned in the gloomy room as the newcomer carefully brought a sprig of the plant to his mouth and swallowed it in an instant. The poor rat-worm became a victim of this experiment, and the old man watched in silence what was happening.

The creature showed no reaction at first, just running haphazardly from side to side. Soon, however, the rat began to lop around like a drunk, and finally fell to the ground, spreading its legs. Bleeding scratches appeared on its body, and blood began to flow more and more heavily. The blood became uncontainable. The rat began to convulse violently, as if its body was in pain. The newcomer watched sadly as the rat passed away, deprived of its ability to withstand the poisonous properties of the plant.

• I guess you don't have to tell me that this plant is poisonous, right? - the old man asked mockingly, smiling crookedly. - It's the strongest combination I know. Did you write it all down? Good. By "ingredients" you usually mean plants, but it doesn't have to be. They can be the eggs of various creatures, algae, mushrooms, and more. Now I'll show you how to "cook." Take your plant and throw it into a mortar, kneading it while I tell you about the other tools.

The old man looked intently at the newcomer, explaining the other tools. He showed a knife for cutting ingredients, a dryer for drying substances, a cauldron for cooking, and a jar of alcohol, which was sometimes required to age an ingredient to achieve the desired effect. He warned about the need to write down ways to process ingredients, and talked about tools that could be found in junkyards or created by hand.

• You got the extract with the effects, okay? - The old man continued, smiling crookedly. - As you know, we're tough creatures. Even if you drink it, there's no guarantee that anything will happen. But that doesn't mean it'll go away without consequences. If you want a guaranteed effect, you should increase the dose by mixing two of the same extracts. Then the random effects will disappear if you're clumsy. But if you want a certain effect, mix it with another extract that has the same effect. The rest will disappear. There, you've got a jar of the potion. You can drink it if you want to die. But this potion can be used in other ways: to put it on bandages, to make an ointment, a smoke bomb, to put on tools... Okay, remember, keep the extracts and potions in an ice box, otherwise all the good or evil will go bad. The effects may change or disappear altogether. You can also get special oils for tools that increase speed. By dousing a pickaxe with this stuff, it will pass through the rock more easily. But the effect is short-lived; the oil fades over time. And remember, it can damage the tool. You can also get fertilizer and other useful things. How do you figure out what you'll get? It's simple - the gauge method. If one of the properties is oily, you get oil. If it accelerates plant growth, you get fertilizer. If it's fast burning, you get something explosive. And so on down the list. I advise you to write everything down so you don't forget.

The old man hesitated, as if remembering something, and then said slowly:

• There are special laws of alchemy. Opposing effects lead to powerful negative effects. If you give a small dose to a worm rat, you can get an antidote to the negative effects from its blood. If you combine the antidote with an extract or potion, the negative effect for which the antidote was needed will disappear. Sometimes the negative effects can slip into a potion, even if they didn't have a pair, if you have bad hands. The purer the extract, the stronger and longer its effects.

The old man suddenly stopped talking and hesitated before continuing:

• There is one more thing... The ingredients, tools and potions have to be created in a certain state of mind. This is very specific, and I don't really want to talk about it...

But suddenly the old man was hit and fell dead. The rookie, who had been pretending to be a rookie all this time, knew everything. He had been here for a year or two, the exact numbers didn't matter. The old man let his guard down. You couldn't do that on this planet. Anything here could kill. No, not could, it was bound to kill. The newcomer wanted to live. He needed a cure. And for the cure, he needed a brain. After all, his brain had begun to deteriorate long ago. He needed refreshment.

The newcomer walked over to the table and picked up a knife. A smile appeared on his face...