>>2547178
>She and you did some mutual favors that ended up getting you your shop, and also making you more than a few enemies. They weren't exactly your proudest years as an alchemist, but they're behind you now.

>She had earned her plate armor and rank, and you had your shop, so you unceremoniously split with the unspoken promise of not dealing with eachother again.
>Her sudden appearance is nothing short of ominous, but only the two of you would ever realize that.

Will give it an hour or so more before updating.

>She and you did some mutual favors that ended up getting you your shop, and also making you more than a few enemies. They weren't exactly your proudest years as an alchemist, but they're behind you now.

>She had earned her plate armor and rank, and you had your shop, so you unceremoniously split with the unspoken promise of not dealing with eachother again.
>Her sudden appearance is nothing short of ominous, but only the two of you would ever realize that.

"I'm guessing it's not a coincidence that you've shown up *just after* the one time I might have needed your help, Aia," you say dryly.
A much deeper and gruffer voice speaks up behind her, "Still do," it mumbles loudly. It comes from another armored figured, standing nine feet tall. An ogre, most likely. Not the most common sight in the Holy Order, but there are stranger things in the world.
"Do I, now? Well, then, let's have a seat in my office.

You take a seat behind your office desk and look the room over. Aia and the ogre sit across from you, while Rin just sort of stands awkwardly in the corner. "We're trying to involve your employee as little as possible," Aia starts, "He's likely seen more than he should have already, so Thrugg will keep things simple and brief. You, on the other hand, have a bit more explaining to do."

"Are you accusing me of some sort of malpractice? Because you, of all people should know-"

She cuts you off, "Based on our evidence, we can conclude that whatever has happened, it's mostly not your fault."

"Well, isn't that comforting?"

"It would simplify things if you could simply give me a quick summary of what happened before I arrived."

You summarize today's events. How the man came in offering a demon heart, how he pulled out a wand and threatened you, and how in the ensuing struggle you had a bunch of potions spilled on you. You leave out the details of them all being expired and stored on a dubiously stable shelf. Then Rin got shot and your heart was ripped out and you died. Rin managed to get a hold of a potion to heal himself, while you didn't really need one. In what seemed to have been just a minute or so, you came back to life. Rin corrects you, saying that something like an hour had passed. No reason to doubt that.

cont.

>>2547617
Aia and Thrugg look at eachother. Thrugg shrugs. They look back at you, "As unlikely as that sounds," she looks around the room, surveying the extensive damage, "That matches up with several details that you couldn't possibly otherwise know about. The man that attacked you has a name, but it's not safe to speak it. He's referred to as Subject H, and he's a recent escapee from the Lunar Halls."

It's hard to keep yourself from rolling your eyes. The Lunar Halls was supposedly some secret dystopian nightmare torture facility where they kept dangerous criminals and magical anomalies. Most people dismiss it as a conspiracy theory. If it's real, though, then the world is suddenly a much scarier and more dangerous place.

"Subject H has a number of dangerous abilities, most of which are nullified by the Lunar Halls' containment field. He was also fitted with a magic inhibitor in case of containment breach. Thrugg and I figured that removing the inhibitor would be high on his list of priorities, and there are very few things that could make that possible here in Thannis. Now, I'm assuming that since you're an alchemist, you aren't storing any Starfall metal or any other sort of ancient relic, as those have no practical application for alchemy. That leaves one particular alchemical reagent that he could have detected here: A greater demon heart." She lets those words hang in the air.

"We'll work any other details later; what's important now is to determine whether Subject H possesses a greater demon heart or not. So tell me, Archer, when your heart burst from its chest, what color was it?"

"Red, definitely red," Rin blurts. His eyes are wide, avoiding contact with anyone else's. Dumbass couldn't make it any more obvious that he was lying.

Aia tenses at that, then says, "Out of respect for our... past relationship, I will ask, rather than order your assistance in this matter. Subject H is extremely dangerous, and will become exponentially more so if he hanages to break his inhibitor. The City is at stake here, Archer."

>"Nuh uh, I'm done playing 'hero.' You're a big girl, and an even bigger boy. You can solve your own problems."
>"Not for free, I won't. I know you remember how our favors worked."
>"That bastard ripped my heart out, nearly killed my employee, and trashed my shop. You can count me in."
>Write in

>>2547619
>"Not for free, I won't. I know you remember how our favors worked."
We need to make sure we get our heart back as part of the payment, plus a little extra

>>2547619
>"Not for free, I won't. He's an alright boy who PROBABLY won't explode himself, but I can't leave Rin to run the shop alone. For the time I'd be helping you we'd be BOTH unemployed."
>"And there's the matter of my shop being trashed and no compensation in sight..."

>>2547672
>>2548003
>We need to make sure we get our heart back as part of the payment, plus a little extra
You felt your heartbeat when you revived, so you can reasonably conclude that your heart regrew. Still, perhaps you feel some sentimental attachment to it.

"Not for free, I won't," you say, leaning forward. "I know you remember how our favors worked."

Aia sighs and nods, "Figures. You're as self-serving as ever."

"The greater good doesn't put food on the table, and it sure as hell doesn't fix my shop," you say, pointing to the gaping hole in your floor. "If you think I'm gonna help you, you'd better have my shop fixed, and..."

>"... get me a lens with a stabilizer built in, so that I can look through this eye without cancelling out all magic.
>"... get me a class C alchemy license. My colleagues at the Guild have a grudge against me. I know you have the connections to make it happen."
>"... get me a homunculus to help me out in the lab.
>Write in. Don't go *too* much crazier than the options presented.

>>2548051
>>"... get me a lens with a stabilizer built in, so that I can look through this eye without cancelling out all magic.
either this or
>"... get me a class C alchemy license. My colleagues at the Guild have a grudge against me. I know you have the connections to make it happen."

>>2548077
>>2548051

Both, actually. The city's at stake and we're gonna need the license and the lens to be of most use.

Lens over license, though. We'll get the license somehow or other, eventually.

>>"... get me a lens with a stabilizer built in, so that I can look through this eye without cancelling out all magic.
>>"... get me a class C alchemy license. My colleagues at the Guild have a grudge against me. I know you have the connections to make it happen."

Jokingly:

A brain for my idiot helper Rin.

>>2548051
>>2548077
>>2548170

Yeah, both seems appropriate.

Also, what kind of lens is it?

>>2548427
Are you asking if it's a monocle, or are you asking for me to explain how magic and anti-magic work?

>>2548441
Yeah, is it a monocle or not.

>>2548456
The default would be more like a single goggle strapped around your head since a monocle can be knocked off rather easily.

>>2548051
>>"... get me a lens with a stabilizer built in, so that I can look through this eye without cancelling out all magic.

>>2548051
Lens. We can disguise its true purpose by making sure it looks like one of those strap-on-your-head microscopes that lets you judge jewels and such in great detail, but that might somewhat limit field of view.

>>2548077
>>2548170
"... get me a lens with a stabilizer built in, so that I can look through this eye without cancelling out all magic," you say as you stand, leaning over the table on your palms and outstretched fingers.
"Hmph, easier said than done, Archer. Stabilizers aren't exactly common, nor are they cheap."
You continue, as if not having heard her comment, "And I want a C class alchemy license. I know you have the contacts to set that up for me, Aia. I've been stuck in D class for over a year now, and some of my colleagues are preventing me from being considered for advancement," you're about to continue, before Aia interrupts.
"Now, hold on just a minute, the lens by itself is already almost more trouble than this is worth. Pulling strings to get around the Alchemist's Guild, though? Nuh uh, that's too much, I-"
You interrupt, folding your arms, "I'll throw in five bottles of brandy disguised as medicine to take back to your convent when this is all done." Your old negotiation tactics when working with Aia are all flooding back to memory. Aia sure loved her drink back in those days, even though the Holy Order forbade it. You wonder if she still does now.
"Deal," she says. Looks like it. Though she takes a moment to realize what she just said, and her face turns red. She slowly turns her head to look at Thrugg, clearly expecting verbal if not physical abuse.
Instead, the ogre simply shrugs, "Your funeral if you're caught."
Aia sighs with relief, "It's settled, then. We'll find Subject H, contain him, and I'll get you your lens and license. The lens we can handle quickly enough; we can pick it up during our search. As for your license, well, that'll take a bit more time. I'll get that for you after Subject H is contained. Now, I suggest you get ready, I'll explain our next move as we leave."

Time to prepare for the hunt. You've never been the most physically capable person, nor do you have a particular taste for combat. But, you have your potion and a trusty satchel to keep them safe in. You can bring up to five potions with you. Choose wisely!

>cont.

>>2548650 ((I forgot to add an extra space between paragraphs; that probably looks like an abomination to read.))

AVAILABLE POTIONS:
Lesser potions: You have more of any given type of these than you can carry and even if you do run out, they brew quickly and cheaply.
>Healing: Neutralizes most poisons. Quickly cures cuts or fractured bones.
>Grease: An incredibly slippery compound that expands when its bottle is broken. Makes it hard to stand in a given area, or makes an object or person extremely difficult to hold onto
>Night-vision: Provides vision in the dark for a while
>Acid: Causes painful acid burns which can incapacitate for a while. Generally will not kill
>write in

Common potions: These exist in limited supply. (Can take up to three of any)
>Dragon breath: The kind of potion you tried using earlier on Subject H. Except this one isn't expired and will allow you to spew jets of super hot flame. The flame is hot enough to melt iron.
>Healing: Neutralizes all but the most powerful and deadly poisons. Cures most diseases. Restores mangled limbs to perfect condition. Kills pain.
>Stone: Instantly expands and hardenes to fill any space, effectively creating a stone wall wherever thrown. Good for blocking off exits.
>Invisibility: Turns you invisible for fifteen minutes.
>write in

Greater potions: You can only muster the resources to make one of these every once in a while. They are *highly* potent, however. (Can take one of this category.)
>Medusa: Weapons-grade potion. Restricted to military use only. When drunk, the first person the imbiber looks at turns to stone. This process can be reversed, but using it while not being part of the Thannisian army is *very* illegal
>Go-juice: Barely qualifying as a potion, this has more in common with a hard drug. Makes the imbiber immune to pain, turns the skin, muscle, and bone to metal, and the fingers become like spear tips. Strength, speed, and reaction time are all greatly enhanced, though when the effects wear off, the crash is brutal.
>Healing: Will heal any injury, save having your heart or brain removed from the body. How unlucky you were.
>write in. Go nuts with this category, greater potions are meant to be extremely strong.

Superior potions: A C class license or above is required to brew a Superior potion.

>>2548657
>Go-juice
>2 Common Healing
>Invisibility
>Acid

>>2548657
>Greater Oxidation: Originally intended to non-lethally capture armed men. Any metal caught within the initial, fairly weak explosion will rust away in an incredibly hot reaction. The problem is that blood has iron in it.

>Stone
>Common Healing
>Common Bless: Not actually sanctified through alchemy, this is just holy water that expands into a fine mist when broken.

>Night-vision

>>2548671
+1 vote

Go-juice will likely be given to the Ogre if/when we need to give chase and need it now.
Healing for obvious shit.
Invisibility for making last-second trickery if we get into trouble.
and Acid to torture any poor mooks that get in our way, assuming the knights will let us.

>>2548657
Some write-ins for your consideration (though I've no idea how to class them):
>Truth Serum: Any individuals who imbibe this serum become unable to willingly lie for the duration of its effect. (Optional: It produces a visually-apparent effect over the duration, making it clear to observers when it expires.) (Possible upgrade: Imbibers are now compelled to answer any questions directed at them that they are able to, and may not attempt to deceive the questioner by speaking half-truths or lying by omission.)

>Potion of Disguise: When imbibed, the imbiber assumes the form of an individual which they must mentally picture, and maintain they form for the duration. They will instinctively become aware when the effect is about to expire. This effect is not limited by race or sex, and the form assumed need not be of a pre-existing individual, but must still be of a humanoid. (Possible downgrade: This effect is only illusory, and may fail when observers come into physical contact with the imbiber.)

>Telepathy Potion: Any individuals who imbibe from the same batch of this potion are mentally bonded for the duration of its effect, gaining the ability to communicate telepathically and becoming instinctively aware of each other's relative locations. You had enough components to brew a tiny vial of the stuff, enough for at most two or three sips.

>Potion of Flight: When imbibed, grants the user the ability to fly for the duration of its effect. This effect is controlled mentally; if the user's concentration is broken, they will remain in the same position in midair until control is regained. The user will become instinctively aware when the effect is about to expire, and at the end of the duration will float gently downwards to the ground. (Possible downgrade: This effect is achieved by granting the user a set of wings which sprout from their back, rather than a direct magical flight effect. Damaging these wings will impair the user's ability to fly.) (Possible downgrade: The user must maintain concentration while flying, or else float downwards as if the effect was expiring.) (Possible downgrade: The user does not float gently downwards at the end of the effect, instead falling instantly when it expires.)

>Potion of Phasing: When imbibed, grants the user the ability to selectively pass through solid objects for the duration of its effect. The user will become instinctively aware when the effect is about to expire, and at the end of the duration will be shunted to an open space of their choice at the boundary of any object through which they are still phasing.

>Glowing Vial: This liquid glows for a duration when shaken with force or when exposed to air, allowing the vial to be used as a light source. It is not intended to be drunk, and may cause stomach pains if imbibed.

Hrm, it was probably a mistake to present that many options. I'll wrap up this little scene then go to bed. People can continue talking about what potions they want to bring until the next installment. Update coming soon.

You pick the potions that are irrefutably the best option and pack them into your satchel. Heading toward the exit, you ask Aia, "Any idea where this asshole's hiding?"

"Just a few very educated guesses."

"Real solid start we're off to, then."

"Educated guesses are what got Thragg and I here, after all."

"Yeah, *after* I died and my lab was nearly burnt down."

"Well, it'd go by quicker if we split up and cover ground individually. I'm sure you're just *itching* to get into hand to hand combat with him again. Unless you have a better plan?"

"Point taken," you sigh. You call back to your wage slave, "Rin! Make sure you lock the door on our way out!"

"Got it, boss!" He shouts. You hear a mechanical click confiming that the store, besides the gaping hole in the floor underneath, is secure. "I'll be right with you!" Ugh, the kid thinks he's coming with you.

>"No you're fucking not."
>"Sorry, no room for airheaded children this time."
>"You have some sort of death wish?"
>"Alright, just make sure to run at the first sign of trouble!"
>Write in

>>2548960
>>"You have some sort of death wish?"
last time this happened you had a hole blown in your stomach and i had to bail you out, we are not repeating this.

>>2548960
>>"You have some sort of death wish?"

>>2548967
>>2548995

"You have some sort of death wish? Wasn't it just an *hour* ago that you had a hole blown in your stomach and I had to bail you out? Go home and take care of your kids or something. Find something else to do!" He doesn't seem to have a response for that. He hangs his head low and heads off in some other direction.

Shop's locked, satchel's loaded, wage slave's told the fuck off, and a superpowered madman is out there on the run. You're not what you'd call a likely hero, but damnit if you won't make that asshole pay. If the city just so happens to get saved in the process, so be it.

((EOS. Thanks for participating. Sorry again for that 5 day downtime with no notice. I'll avoid it in the future. I've archive the threads; they can be accessed here: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Revivor

I'll be looking over this thread every once in a while in case more people post about what potions they want the MC to bring along. The next installment should start in a few days after my batteries recharge.))

>>2549028
>Go juice

For common:

>Stone
>Invisibility
>Dragon breath

Lesser:
>Glowing vial from >>2548845

>>2548749
>>Common Bless: Not actually sanctified through alchemy, this is just holy water that expands into a fine mist when broken.

>wants to bring holy water

We're a demon, remember?

No.

>>2548802

Why are we torturing anyone that isn't the guy that tore out our heart?

I think we need a better idea.

>>2548657
>Go-juice
If we need to hold our own in combat against Subject H.

>Healing (common)
For the crash after taking go-juice and for any combat problems on the way.

>Grease
Most under-appreciated effect ever. Changing the battlefield conditions typically fucks with everyone and everything, so let's go with this.

>Night-vision
Useful to see what we're trying to hit without giving away our position.

>Potion of Flight (common)
Useful for pursuit or escape. The target is very mobile when it wants to be. Also ensures we won't be completely fucked by our use of a grease potion at the right time.

>>2549747
Supporting this

K, you little shit, why didn’t you say your Quest was actually *good*?

>>2555189
Ain't my job, bucko

>>2555204
Not your job to shill your own quest? Fine, I guess that’s my job.

Everyone, this is my GM, and he’s a heck of a guy. He’s really good about player suggestions, and the Thannis setting is phenomenal. This quest is going places, trust me.

bump for quest potential

>>2549747
Is OP kill?

OP pls