Azimuth: The Elden Throne

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/A few moments before…/

/Bubble…/

/Sizzle…/

Inside her laboratory, Yumi held a pipette as she stared at brown liquid boil in a flask atop a dim flame.

/Drip…/

"Hum..."

"One drop… Immediate reaction, a weak energetic reaction."

"Partial combustion of the initial resulting solution."

/Mix… Sizzle/

She mixed the contents with a stirring rod, noting all of the changes on a small pad on the table.

"Light mixing, formation of unexpected string-like material and a lot of smoke." She mumbled to herself as she pulled a transparent white string from the liquid

'How did… How did something like this form?' She thought with a frustrated expression as she looked at the string

'I'll set it aside for now.'

"This should be a result of the substitution of Witi Flower Petals for Gray Grass."

'I thought they possessed similar properties but the recipe was way more concise than I expected.'

'At this rate, this will be a dud too, even if the potion succeeds I can not allow this to be ingested, even if potions are meant to have risks, something that can clog one's insides is within one of the worst side effects for potions.'

'Further tests to calculate its resistance and reaction in the presence of stomach acid will be necessary if…'

Yumi ran over dozens of situations in her head as she wrote on her notepad before she added another drop onto the solution.

/Drip… Mix…/

The same process as before was repeated, and as expected, more strings appeared.

"At this point I can't even call this a potion, how did this turn into this?"

'What am I even making now?'

Her expression turning sour by the minute, she kept adding more and more into the flask, and in no time at all, most of the liquid within had turned into some sort of long bundle of strings…

/Exhale…/

"I give up, I can't find a substitute for those flowers… H-How did it even turn into strings?" She asked herself as she looked at the strings

/Tap tap…/

Tapping her fingers on the table, she decided to leave the thinking for later, she needed some air.

/Clack!/

So she went to the side and opened the windows, looking at the busy streets outside of her shop.

"!!"

And it was there, in the distance, she saw a man approach her shop.

/Dash!/

Different from all others, this particular person caused her to run out of the window, stopping only for her to check her own appearance in the reflection of a glass tool on the side.

Then, after checking how dirty her hands were, together with a quick inspection of her breath, Yumi ran to the door, opened it, and pulled her target inside the shop before anyone had the time to react!

…

/Later…/

"... Ouch!" Yumi yelped in pain as a small tear formed in the corner of her eyes

"Woah, calm down… It isn't going anywhere." Dale replied calmly and gently

"Take it slow, you can do it."

"Uhum… I just… Didn't expect it to hurt this much."

"I bet it does… We can continue later if you…"

"No! I'll… Continue my father's legacy. Don't stop me."

"I wasn't planning to anyway, otherwise, I wouldn't have come, just focus again, take a deep breath and… Keep moving when you feel like it."

"Though we may have to pass some cream on that to make sure it doesn't cause blisters." He added with a thoughtful expression

/Nod…/

Yumi nodded shyly as she focused on her task at hand… Brewing a potion.

What?...

"..."

'She's very hardworking, but she can't keep going like this.'

'She'll just end up regressing to the state she was before.'

With his arms crossed, Dale stared at Yumi as she mixed in several dangerous solutions together, one of which had just splashed into her left hand due to her carelessness, causing her momentary pain and almost ruining her efforts.

Right now, after he was done handing her all of the materials he acquired in the forest, Yumi decided it was time for her to brew a Master potion.

To see where her Skills as an Alchemist stood.

She had carefully selected a recipe, modifying it to fit their current situation and it was now time to prove that she could make it.

It wasn't just any recipe for any potion, it was one she believed could be of use to them and it would require extreme concentration and awareness of the process for it to be brewed.

Above all, due to how volatile it was, the potion would only last 5 minutes before it started to degrade, so Dale would be forced to drink it boiling hot, very much how he was forced to drink his past potion, the one that gave him his current Resistance Skill.

/Mix…/

She mixed the beakers, moving the solution from one side to the other, adding more materials into it as she did so.

Ground leaves, shells, droplets of something Dale couldn't recognize… Even blood.

Not theirs of course.

Usually, the higher the potion's level… The more numerous it's base materials are, and with each extra material that is added to the concoction, the more variables she is meant to look out for and resolve in real-time.

If she cannot appropriately judge every second, she could end up losing her chance to add a specific material or end up burning a small portion of the potion, which would be the same as spoiling it.

To hit the sweet spot amidst all this chaos…

/Splish Splash…/

"Focus, now add that sand over there." Dale said as he pointed at a small box full of a black powdery material

He was acting as her assistant, having memorized the recipe for the potion in a few moments, he was reciting what she was meant to do and the materials she was supposed to use.

He understood little of what she was doing, apart from her clear hand movements, but he could follow at least the order of the materials she was using.

"Ah! I almost forgot…"

/Tap…/

Dale tapped her head, saying:

"Take a deep breath."

"Don't worry, the potion won't bite, nothing here is working against you, just do what you always did."

"... I know." She replied with a light smile as she dropped her head slightly

[Yumi's Intimacy has increased slightly]

"..."

'Dale crossed his arms and waited.'

...

/A few minutes of extreme focus later.../

"Phew... I... I think it's done?" Yumi said as she looked at the bottle on the side

"It's not really the color I expected it to be... Maybe we..."

"Let me take a look." Dale said as he grabbed the hot bottle without care, interrupting Yumi

'As if I'll let her re-do this without even inspecting it.'

With a sharp gaze, Dale looked at the item's description:

[Strenghtning Potion: Constitution

Effects:

+5 to Constitution permanently, the effects may vary depending on one's slumbering potential.

Stimulates the growth of muscles and bones, and removes imperfections.

Can only be consumed once due to natural body resistance getting in the way of the potion's effects.

...

Description:

A Master-Class potion that targets the physical constitution of an individual, promoting the orderly growth of muscle and bone mass while also clearing it of past injuries and deformations.

The potion cannot create miracles, however.

It won't bring back lost limbs nor can it heal extreme physical trauma.

A slight modification of the original recipe made with the efficiency of the materials in mind, although there's still some room for improvement.

A single dose per individual is recommended to avoid possible body disfiguration.

]

As he read the potion's description, Yumi stood on the side, watching him with a heavy and expectant gaze.

"Hum... I think this is what we were looking for." He said with a smile as he turned to her

"Are you sure?... You don't need to make me feel better..."

"How about we put it to the test then?"

"Wh... You don't... H-HEY!"

/GULP!/

Dale gulped down the still-smoking hot potion, it hurt a little but not much, his already high Constitution made his neck strong enough to resist this heat, the only problem came from the reflexes that almost caused him to spit everything, just like before...

[DING]

[Your Constitution is rising]

"Don't do that! We didn't even test the potion!" Yumi said with a look of concern as she approached him, clutching onto his shirt

"I told you it was a good potion, if you can focus a bit more it'll be perfect."

[Yumi's Intimacy has increased]

"B-But that doesn't mean you can just drink it! What did the 'make some preliminary tests' go?!"

"... Into my belly?" Dale said as he touched his stomach with a satisfied expression

"##!!"

'He's doing this on purpose!'

[Yumi's Intimacy has slightly increased]

"... A-Anyway... How do you feel?" Yumi asked after a while as she fidget with her hair

"A bit stronger, I feel hot to... Maybe a tad too hot." Dale said as he saw his arms sweat a little

'This heat isn't coming from nowhere, I'll likely have to stop by Illia's restaurant and see if she can make me some food... I've actually eaten nothing with this body ever since I've woken up.'

'Only a ration but that wasn't really that good...'

As he thought of that, Dale took off his shirt, shocking Yumi so much that her glasses almost shattered on the spot

"Phew... I feel much better now." Dale mumbled to himself with a large smile as he held his shirt with his left hand

"Uhum..." Yumi replied numbly, as if in a trance

She was now gazing at his strong body that was glistering a little due to the faint droplets of moisture around his muscles.

[Yumi's Intimacy has greatly increased]

/Step.../

While she was in a trance, Dale approached her, now standing only a palm's distance from her.

"?!"

This caused her another momentary shock.

Due to their height difference, she had to tilt her head slightly to face him now.

She could even feel his breath... This wasn't good, her face was...

"Are you sure you're okay? Your face is..."

/THROW!/

/POOF!/

Before he could finish his words, Yumi grabbed a piece of wet cloth on the side and threw it at his face, taking a step back as she turned around, trying to calm her raging emotions as she adjusted her glasses again.

"Do not... Take out your clothes... So abruptly." She said slowly while Dale used the cloth to wipe out his body

"Ha... I'll keep that in mind." Dale replied with a light laugh

[Yumi's Intimacy has risen slightly]

'Like always... She's too easy to please...'

'In fact, I wonder... What our relationship actually is.'

'We are friends, but it seems... A bit awkward.'

'When did things turn out to be like this?... Was it always like this or...'

'If I were to say, it was during that night before we departed for the expedition.'

'It would be too stupid of me to not realize it then... Is this why she hadn't mentioned anything about the Expedition? Is she waiting for me to talk about it first?'

He raised his head, focusing.

When he did so, several floating hearts emerged above her head.

Like before, there were five Emerald Hearts above her head, shining in all their glory.

On the side, a sixth one could be seen growing, already relatively big, it seemed almost ready to take its spot amidst the other five.

/Turns.../

"Hum?"

"You... Stand still for a minute." Yumi said as she approached him suddenly

"Is something the matter?"

"Since you're so keen on taking risks, I'll... Uh... Make sure my future brews are up to par with... Your... Body..." She said slowly, her tone getting lower and lower with each word as her cheeks flushed

"..."

'That's 99% bulshit but okay... I'll go with your game.' Dale thought with a small smile as he looked at Yumi's cute display

/Step.../

She took another step forward, holding a small measuring tape as she raised it to his chest.

"...? Why did you stop?"

"Y-You... Are too sweaty, go dry yourself first."

"Oh, I apolo... Hum?"

'It was at this moment Dale decided to play a little as well.'

"Sorry, but I can't." Dale replied with a smirk as he looked at her

"Huh? Why?" Yumi asked, confused

'What's he's planning now?'

"Well, someone told me I had to stay still for a moment so... That's what I'm doing."

"You'll have to dry me yourself." He said as he looked straight into her eyes

"Eh?... Ehhh?... ?!"

'T-This!!...'

She first got a bit confused, then flustered, then red... And the reality finally downed on her.

"Um... O-Okay."

'T-This is all part of my... Work... Yes...'

So with an extremely red expression, she turned to the side, grabbed a dry towel, and started scrubbing his chest slowly.

But it was so slow and inefficient that at this rate they would be there all day long.

"... What's with that speed? This isn't your first time doing this." Dale said jokingly as he looked at her

"... I told you to stand still! That includes words... N-No words!" Yumi said strongly as she looked at the ground

"..."

Dale could only smile, it was indeed a very pleasurable experience, to have a cute girl do this for him. .

/Exhale.../

He then sighed loudly, truly, only in a video game would he be able to get such experiences.

Modern girls were all too...

[Yumi's Intimacy has risen slightly]

[Yumi's Intimacy has risen slightly]

[Yumi's Intimacy has risen slightly]

[Yumi's...]

"..."

'Wait a bit... Oh no...'

As the seconds passed and Yumi kept passing the towel across his body, multiple notifications played in his ears.

And with each one that passed, the Emerald Heart grew a little.

It was only then that Dale realized... He might've gone a bit too far with his joke.

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Notes

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