"One more thing," Mikayla asked as Nya went to pay for their Core purchases, "what could you do with this?"

  The shopkeeper boggled as she revealed the Giant Roc's Kaiju Pearl. "I, uh. I'm afraid that we don't Engrave Cores here. You would need to take it to the Engraver's Guild,"

  "Darn. Alright, thanks,"

  "You're sure you don't want to make any more purchases? I see several open slots in both your Core Controllers yet,"

  "Well, none of your Companion Cores liked me," Mikayla groused. As the shopkeeper had warned, of the half-dozen Companion Cores they'd had in the store every last one had gone into a fit as soon as Mikayla channeled Mana into them. She wondered why, but the shopkeeper hadn't been able to give an answer outside of 'they got too attached to the first person to use them.'

  Oh well. She would need to visit the Engraving Guild at some point to see what she could do about the Giant Roc's Kaiju Pearl. Maybe the best option was to turn that into a Companion Core. Somehow.

  "You really don't have to pay. We've got money," Mikayla reminded Nya as Ten started unloading small bundles of silfs.

  "Not as much as I do," was her response.

  They exited the store, Ten carrying the boxes for the newly purchased Cores. The boxes were empty, though, and Mikayla wasn't sure why Nya had insisted on keeping them when she and Keldryn were already screwing their new Cores into their Controllers.

  They made their way back out into the street, and Keldryn let out a slight whine as the noise of the city assaulted his sensitive (and adorably fluffy) ears once more.

  "You doing okay, Keldie?" Mikayla asked, worried.

  "Don't worry, I . ." Keldryn trailed off, tilting his head back and sniffing. "I smell smoke,"

  "What?"

  He took off, running through the crowds and leaving his classmates and Ten behind. Mikayla only took a moment to process before following after him.

  "Hey - wait, it's probably just -" Nya started, but they were already gone. "Ugh. Well, come on, Ten, we might as well go after them,"

  "As milady wishes,"

  It wasn't long until a pillar of smoke appeared between the houses, but by the time Mikayla had caught up to Keldryn he was already standing outside a charred and collapsed storefront. A small crowd had gathered, being kept back by a group of men in neon yellow Armour Cores.

  "We're too late. The fire's already out," he grunted.

  Peering over the heads of the crowd, Mikayla could see several victims wrapped in towels and laid on the ground.

  Behind them, Nya and Ten had caught up. "See? There was no need to rush. The fire brigade had it handled,"

  "Oh. You have people dedicated to putting out fires around here," Keldryn realised, looking a bit ashamed. "Sorry. Back in Farmshadow and Rootway, everyone was supposed to help out if there was a fire. Especially anyone with Armour Cores who could brave the smoke,"

  Mikayla blinked, and winced. She hadn't considered that at all. She'd just followed Keldryn because she didn't want to let him run into danger on his own.

  It was almost disgusting that she felt so relieved, that they wouldn't have to do anything or risk their lives because there was a functional fire brigade in this city. Maybe the magic powers had gone to her head. The last thing she needed was some kind of superhero complex.

  "Ah. That must have been hard," Nya grimaced, oblivious to her thoughts. "But don't worry. With that arsonist on the loose, the fire brigade's got plenty of funding and volunteers. There's no reason for the three of us to need to be involved in any fires,"

  Mikayla started. "Whoa, what was that about an arsonist?"

  "Oh, of course, you wouldn't have heard," For the first time, Nya didn't look happy to lord her knowledge of the city over her classmates. "Over the past couple of years, there have been a lot of unexplained fires in the City of Roses. It used to be only a few, but it's been happening often enough that people are convinced there's malicious intent behind it. There've been a few manhunts for this mysterious arsonist, but so far they haven't caught him,"

  "Seed of Chaos," Keldryn cursed.

  "That's awful," Mikayla agreed.

  "Indeed. But oh well, it's not our problem," Keldryn frowned at Nya, but she didn't notice. "Let's keep going, there are still other shops we need to visit,"

  "Might I suggest that madam make time in the day for a luncheon?" Ten interrupted as Nya led the group away from the burnt building. "I do know of a nearby bakery of excellent repute,"

  "A splendid idea. Have either of you any objections?"

  "I could eat," Keldryn shrugged.

  "It's been a whole month since I had a decent pastry, and I miss pancakes. Let's go," Mikayla concurred.

  In perhaps her favourite example of Guili architecture to date, the bakery had a counter with a half-moon window above it that was designed to look like a huge wooden croissant. For the better part of the next hour, the group enjoyed a lunch of syrupy pancakes and meat pies, chased with a drink that the System translation was insisting to be lemonade despite it tasting more like apples. Mikayla decided to christen it 'miflemonade', because what she'd actually heard in the second it took the System to adjust what she was hearing had been "Try some of the mif-lemonade,"

  She decided to just not think about what that implied for the System being capable of editing anything she heard at any time.

  "Well, that was lovely, but we have more shops to visit yet," Nya asserted, standing and stretching.

  Mikayla tried not to stare at her tail as it arched into a spiral. "Sure, what's next? Techniques? Potions?"

  "We are quite near to a family friend who specialises in alchemy," Ten informed them.

  "Oh! Yes! The Mitsuris! Didn't you say that you wished to look into creating a Neidan?" Nya had her confidence back as she rounded on Mikayla.

  "Alright, sure, that'll be our next stop," she agreed.

  <=====}—o

  Perhaps unsurprisingly, potions and Neidans were both alchemical creations, and by definition were made by alchemists.

  Mikayla was more surprised to hear that there were potions besides the ones that restored Health, Mana and Stamina. There were potions that could provide temporary bonuses to a person's Stats, or even temporarily grant them Health, Mana and Stamina in excess of their caps. There were even urban legends about potions that could permanently improve Statistics, but if such a thing truly existed even the bottomless coffers of the Han family could not secure a sample.

  Nya was happy to explain all this for the small satisfaction of smugly lording her knowledge over her two new friends.

  They entered a large and rounded building with a prominent chimney, shaped to look like a huge potion bottle, and were greeted by a very short woman with shockingly pale skin and plaited blonde hair, wearing a leather apron over loose cotton robes.

  Mikayla had to force herself not to say something awkward. It was, after all, her first time meeting a dwarf. Or so she assumed, at least. Would it be rude to ask? Better not risk it.

  "Good morning, Mrs. Mitsuri," Nya politely bowed her head to the woman, whose thick eyebrows had shot up when she entered.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  "Ah, Lady Han! Always a pleasure. What'll it be today? Ye're of an age to be headed off to Cloudscraper, aye? Time to stock up?"

  "Indeed it is, for myself and my teammates here. On that topic, this is Mikayla, she wants to talk to your husband about cultivating a Neidan,"

  Put on the spot, Mikayla could only offer a shy smile and a slight wave. Before she could think to say anything, Mrs. Mitsuri was nodding and cupping her hands, shouting into the back of the store. "Oi! Geng! We've got a prospective cultivator here, with backing too! Come take a look!" She nodded as the sound of faint footsteps approached, and turned back to Mikayla, gesturing her to a table. "Just wait over there for him, darling. Won't be a jiff,"

  Shrugging a bit, Mikayla leant on the table as Nya and Mrs. Mitsuri set to haggling, with Ten looming over them. Keldryn just hovered by the door, keeping one eye on both parties.

  She fished out the small satchel containing the Giant Roc eyes and set it on the counter, anticipating that she would need them close to hand as another dwarf made his way towards them.

  He was squat, with a thick brown beard tied into knots and matted hair that hung down his back. The usual robes that were Guili's fashion didn't seem to fit well on his burly frame. "Neidan, huh? Name's Geng,"

  "I'm Mikayla,"

  "Uh-huh. Let me see what you've got to cook with, girlie,"

  Mikayla handed over the bag, and Geng peered inside "These are the eyes of a Tier 13 Giant Roc with insane lightning magic," A bushy eyebrow shot up, and she hastily deflected, "I didn't kill it myself, I was just helping out some people who were much stronger than me and they let me take these,"

  Geng accepted the explanation, pinning a monocle to his eye and peering at the dismembered eyeballs.

  "Here's the deal. I've got two eyes. As I understand it, each of those could be brewed into a potion that gives someone a lightning-attuned Neidan. Correct?"

  "It's possible," Geng confirmed.

  "So. I want you to make me a Neidan using one of these eyes. And I'll pay you with the other," Mikayla proposed, raising her eyebrows.

  "That's a bum deal,"

  "Oh. I thought you were good enough at alchemy that you could guarantee making good brews out of both of them. That's disappointing. I guess I should look elsewhere," Mikayla sighed.

  "Don't try that on me, girlie," Geng blew a literal cloud of smoke from his nostrils at her. "I mean it'd be a bum deal for ye. Of course I could make two Neidan infusion brews outta these eyes, but ye don't want me to,"

  She frowned. "Why not?"

  "Look, girlie. How much do ye actually know about Neidans?"

  "You turn monster parts into a potion and they give you a special power," Mikayla summarised.

  Geng cracked a toothy smile. "Ye're not wrong, but . . yer main problem is this. You seem to have it in yer mind that a Neidan is static. Once ye drink up, ye have it and that's that. Wrong!"

  "How do you mean?"

  "A Neidan gotta grow as ye do. Ye gotta feed it with more sources of power, harvested from more dangerous monsters that share the affinity of yer Neidan. People've got it inna their heads that a Neidan will be better if'n they start with the rarest, strongest monster organs they find. And technically that's true. But wrong! Yer better off making a Neidan out of summat meh-quality then using yer rarer monster bits ta improve it. If ye could use exclusively rare and powerful monster parts, that'd be the tops for sure, but there just aren't enough to go round. Ye'd be doing yeself and some other poor sucker a disservice by selling me the second eye. We'd end up with two weak Neidans rather than one decent one,"

  "Okay," Mikayla processed this. So Keldryn had been completely wrong when he'd asserted that only the best parts of the strongest Kaijus were worthy of being used for Neidans. On the one hand, she couldn't blame him for not knowing the ins and outs of a specialty field like alchemy, but she was now trying very hard not to regret leaving the entire rest of the Giant Roc back in the ruins of Balmwind.

  "Thanks for telling me. That's good to know but also not helpful, because I don't have any other lightning monster pieces or the money to . ." She hesitated. "Nya might cover the bill, but I don't want to impose,"

  "Then go get some, ye daft little girl!" Geng boomed. "Ye're a Goliath Guard. Take a wander up the Coast, kill some Kaijus, sell their Pearls, and come back here once ye've got more monster bits. I'll even do ye a favour. Come with me,"

  He vanished through a door at the back of his shop, and Mikayla followed.

  Now this was what she'd pictured when she heard the words 'alchemy lab'.

  A row of cauldrons bubbled, with an entire basket full of what looked like reusable bottles nearby. An intricate mesh of glass tubes fed several beakers with bubbles. Transparent bottles ranging up to the size of a man were lined up, containing monster parts in liquids of various colours. Several wire-mesh cages contained an assortment of habitats for insects, frogs, and other small creatures.

  Geng had stopped by what looked like an industrial freezer. He unlocked the door and swung it open, and Mikayla realised that it was, in fact, an industrial freezer. Or at least a Raibalie equivalent thereof.

  "I'll stash yer Roc Eyes in here. It's the best preservation chamber from here to Furank, they shan't lose a drop of potency ta time. They'll be ready for ye when ye've rustled up some money and monster bits,"

  "And you'll keep them for yourself if I happen to die or vanish," Mikayla wryly commented.

  "Hah! Well, sure, but I'll give ye a couple of years at least before I even think about touching them. Professional courtesy, ye dig?"

  She sighed. "Fine. I'll trust you,"

  "That's a girlie!" If Geng was offended by her hesitation, he didn't show it.

  Mikayla was even less enthused by the fact that his theft protection seemed to consist of slapping a piece of paper with the words DO NOT TOUCH on her eyeball pouch.

  "Alright," She shook her head. "Well, hopefully I'll be back soon. Nya's probably done buying potions by now,"

  "I'll look forward ta it," Geng grinned, waving her away. "Show yeself out, might as well do inventory while I'm in 'ere,"

  Nodding, Mikayla left the room and rejoined her friends, who were waiting by the door. Ten had added several metal tubes in a wooden rack to the pile of boxes he was expertly balancing.

  "So, where next?" Mikayla asked.

  "We've done Cores, potions. Techniques?" Keldryn guessed.

  "No, there's no point in learning new Techniques at current. We need to train together, learn to fight as a group and identify weaknesses in our party before we think about changing our fighting styles. And you both must grow acclimatised to your new Cores. Then we can determine what Techniques you both need in order to round out your toolbox,"

  "Isn't more Techniques better?" Mikayla asked.

  "You can only focus on refining and improving so many Techniques. Better to hone a single skill to the point of mastery than become passingly familiar with every skill out there,"

  "I guess that makes sense. We can just come back to the city later, huh?"

  "Precisely,"