It took about two weeks for them to make a breakthrough.

  Adama and Naaza watched as their compound attacked the poison, tearing into the dark purple liquid, situated in a tiny vial. Eventually it turned a dark blue. The young potion maker insisted that this would render the poison curable, but she still seemed grim despite the positive prognostication. They took their research to Airmid, the healer clearly in the midst of her own research as well. Her eyes lit up as she processed Naaza’s explanation:

  “This is cursed poison, an integration of curse magic directed at suppressing divine power and a powerful poison to slowly eat away at the victim. Dia Fratel would be able to purify either of them if they were on their own, but the curse and the poison form a bond of mutual reinforcement that makes them harder to get rid of. The specialized nature of the curse means that the poison won’t affect normal people or adventurers, but its effects will be further multiplied on the gods. It obviously wouldn’t affect them if they had their full power, but in their suppressed forms it could be ‘lethal’.”

  Airmid raised her eyebrows in shock while examining the blue compound:

  “Creating something like this…would require the input of a god familiar with both curses and poisons, right?”

  Naaza nodded gravely, animal ears twitching in irritation:

  “I believe so, yes. Perhaps just one, but more likely there were multiple evil gods consulting on this. Fortunately, the solution was simple, if difficult. If you break the bond between the curse and the poison, the curse naturally dissipates, leaving only the poison behind. That would make it more susceptible to healing magics and antidotes, even if the gods didn’t recover on their own.”

  The healer gestured at the bottle:

  “May I?”

  Naaza nodded, and Airmid began a long chant. When she finished, a ring of white light enveloped all of them, and Adama watched as the blue liquid turned totally clear, like water. As if in emphasis, Airmid unstopped the bottle and down the liquid, totally unharmed as she looked back at them and smiled:

  “This is brilliant work Naaza. To achieve all of this so quickly is so remarkable its almost too good to be true. So, what’s with the somber look?”

  She took the words right out of Adama’s mouth. The potion maker had held onto her grave expression up to this very moment, and he was keen to get an explanation:

  “They were one step ahead of us. Some of the materials required to create the Cursebreaker antidote are extremely rare. I used all my limited stock in the creation of the small amount that I used to purify that sample. I also happen to know that somebody has already cleared out Orario’s markets of those ingredients as well. I’ve already tried my international contacts. Nothing. I was wondering why these things had gotten so scarce before this entire debacle, but now I know.”

  Airmid leaned forward, concern clear now:

  “What do you need?”

  “Morgana’s White Lily, Maximum Purity 1000 Year Tree Sap, and a Sun Dragon’s Heart.”

  That prompted a sigh from the silver haired healer, piquing Adama’s concern. What level of the Dungeon could those materials be found in? Could they put out a quest? Maybe ask the Guild for help? He was already turning over trying to contact Fels and renegotiating their bargain before Airmid spoke:

  “That’s clever. Requiring materials that can’t be found in the Dungeon that are also nearly impossible to gather. I don’t have any of those either.”

  Adama’s raised eyebrows were question enough for Naaza to answer:

  “Morgana’s White Lily is an enigmatic plant that shows up in places around the world sporadically. Max purity 1000 Year Sap can only be found in Alv’s Royal Forest. The high elves who live there are notoriously xenophobic and hard to negotiate with. Taking the Sap by force would also be difficult, since fighting the elves in their own forest would be a death sentence for most. Even if you could beat them, their elven pride might prompt them to destroy their valuables before you could plunder them, simply out of spite. And Sun Dragons can only be found in The Valley of Dragons in the northernmost part of the continent. It’s one of the three great unexplored regions in the world, alongside The Macross Abyss and The Dungeon itself. That one should be the most straightforward, thankfully, but it’s very far from here.”

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  “Unexplored regions? We explore the Dungeon all the time.”

  “Unexplored in the sense that they aren’t fully explored or understood. Nobody has reached the bottom of the Dungeon or the Abyss, nor have they gotten to the center of the Valley. Of these areas, the Dungeon is the most explored and the most lucrative. The Valley is relatively less dangerous, especially when you compare it to the deep floors of the Dungeon, but it’s less well mapped due to the fact that exploring and mapping the Dungeon is simply more valuable.

  As for the Abyss…pray you never have to explore the Abyss. In fact, you could count yourself fortunate if you never even see it.”

  Now that left Adama curious, but he stayed on task:

  “Okay, so we need to bargain with the elves in Alv’s Forest and cut the heart out of some lizards in a valley. But what about the flower?”

  Naaza only furrowed her brow in response, and it was Airmid who saved them and chimed in:

  “I’ve heard from a reliable source that there were some Morgana Lilies growing in a hidden location near the center of the Beol Mountains, just north of here. That’s probably your best chance.”

  Adama nodded in thanks and turned to Naaza:

  “Then our plans are set. How soon can you leave?”

  He was begging the question of whether she would go with him, but Naaza knew exactly what the swordsman was talking about. Adama was already planning for a Quest, one to gather the materials they needed to cure their patrons. It went without question that she was all in, and the Mixer replied:

  “I only need a few hours to pack my things. Should we invite some of the others?”

  Adama frowned thoughtfully:

  “I’ll invite the other members of Hestia Familia, but we should keep our circle tight. You can never tell who we can trust, and a large group would slow us down.”

  She nodded and he continued:

  “I’ll want to take out an insurance policy before I go. Meet me by the North gate by five.”

  It was still early in the morning, so Tim was asking for the full day to prepare. Naaza looked a little confused by his cryptic statement about an insurance policy, but Adama explained his plan and got her consent before she scurried off to prepare. He turned to leave the clinic, but he didn’t go home immediately. Instead, he ambled on over to Takemikazuchi Familia. It was time to call in a favor.

  …

  “I want you to protect Hestia and Miach when we’re gone.”

  Tim had quickly gotten a sit-down session with Take and gone straight to business. The Far Eastern deity was more than sympathetic to his plight, and he immediately responded:

  “We will be happy to help.”

  Dian Cecht Familia’s medical ward wasn’t exactly guarded by great warriors since the clinic’s specialty had nothing to do with Dungeon exploration or getting stronger. Adama didn’t think that the actors responsible for these attacks would just lie down and watch their plans be foiled. Adama needed insurance if they got wind of his plans. He couldn’t leave his patron undefended, and Naaza felt the same way, so he called upon his old friends for help. Adama wasn’t sure if they had the military might to defeat the assassins, but Take Familia was quite good at guerilla warfare and information gathering, so they should act as capable guards. The clinic wouldn’t be overly happy with foreign soldiers stalking their halls, so Adama arranged to have Hestia and Miach moved to the Take Familia residence. It would make them easier to guard, and there wasn’t much more that Airmid could do for the patients anyways. That errand taken care of, he moved to inform Lilli and Emi of the Quest. Adama offered both the opportunity to stay behind and stand guard over the divinities, but they both turned him down:

  “We want to help Lady Hestia too!”

  “My magic can be useful!”

  That decided, they prepared for the Quest in a flurry of motion. Maps, supplies, anything they might need for a long journey. They didn’t have the time or packing space to gather a months’ worth of food or potions. Naaza would bring the many of the ingredients required to make the latter, and they would have to hunt for the former. It was still a difficult process, but time was of the essence. They threw together supplies from their current stock alongside what they could buy from the market and managed to meet Adama’s 5 o’clock deadline. Packs full, they met up with Naaza and set off into the wilderness, framed in the rays of the setting sun.

  …

  Behind the parapets of Orario’s walls lurked a sandy haired man with dark skin and blue eyes, a descendent from the denizens of the Kaios Desert to the west. He watched the figures of the adventurers leave, their feet eating up miles of road at a swift clip as they disappeared into the horizon. Tailing them further would be impossible, due to the open ground and lack of cover. Still, the Master would want to know about this.

  …

  30 minutes later, the sandy haired men knelt toward a shadowy figure in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. The Master had his back to him and had remained silent even after the minion finished his report. The kneeling figure didn’t know if his commander was thinking, or his was simply unhurried and willing to make him wait. Either way, he didn’t have the slightest discontent in his heart as he held his position, refusing to even twitch out of respect for the Master of Assassins. Finally, the man spoke, his pitch bland but cold as ice:

  “Send a message to our men in the north. Tell them to report on the groups movements but do nothing yet. And bring me the files on the antidote. Specifically, about its function, construction, ingredients, and possible substitutes to those ingredients.”

  As the minion nodded and rose to carry out orders, the Master pondered various possibilities. Had they really found a solution after only 2 weeks? If they had, who else knew about it? He had approved the targeting of the potion making god to avoid this scenario exactly, though he now suspected that he had both underestimated and emboldened that god’s pet adventurer. From everything that he knew of the swordsman, the man wouldn’t be leaving the city without something concrete, so the Master chose to take this seriously. His god getting caught in the crossfire was a stroke of bad luck.

  They would need to continue moving cautiously, but the Master of Assassins was already making plans in his mind to nip this problem in the bud.

  https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/105414/a-pioneers-blood