99 Ashan 717
How lucky F'mos was for that to have landed right into his lap just as he was agonizing over the method to realize his next creation. While he believed just about anything could be made through alchemy, he was still limited by his imagination and as expected for an aukari, his imagination was sorely lacking. It was good his idea for the material he wanted to work on, the Skinbane he brought back with him from Ne'haer, was fueled by his encounter with the creature itself. He already had an idea of how the Skinbane's ability worked after it dodged his attack but, it was only after the people of Ironridge explained it to him that he realised the possibilities. How could he not want to make use of it after he found out about it?However all he had was a rough idea of how it would come together. As the alchemist used his own blood in his creations, he assumed the brute he met was under a similar curse; the electrifying shock the man used was as a creation of those heinous Immortals. There was no other explanation for the abnormally large man's method to knock F'mos out and, the mysterious circumstances which surrounded his disappearance. While the aukari was not conscious to see it himself, along with Lizzie there were plenty of witnesses to speak of it for trials to come. Definitely an unnatural creation of the Immortals although unlike those he slew in Oscillus which used ice, shadow and fire; the brute left the scene through a bright, blinding light and plenty of gore.
Had he not been there, F'mos would have thought the rest of Etzos mad; a result of some hazardous gas from the Underground or a mutant, the poor unfortunates to always get the blame...
And a mutant would have made it easier for the alchemist to use of the item he acquired, probably, but with only the brute's blood the aukari could only make the best assumption to get him closer to his goal. He needed the shock, the lightning, the spark; whatever it was and it was those things he worked towards trying to release through the chemical processes he learned for certain reactions. The idea was simple enough but to find the appropriate method for the reaction he needed proved far more difficult. So focused the alchemist was on his attempts to electrify himself with the potential of his creation that he did not anticipate the likelihood of another result from his experimentation.
At first it went as expected, shocks of varied time and intensity were released and each brought the aukari closer to that perfect level of the zing he needed. Then, he reached the level he thought was at the peak of any shock he could reach. With that bright, blinding light which enveloped him, F'mos thought he succeeded and was horrified to think that perhaps, he succeeded a little too well. He did not even feel a hint of the shock in him like those he had felt for most of the break or, from the electrifying punch of the brute. Perhaps he already reached the Afterlife, with a pain so intense it did not even register to him well after the event. In a sense, the Afterlife came as quite the shock as it was nothing like it was described to him in Parvos. Of course it could just be the usual fearmongering of Sirothelle, but...
Something felt off and it was not because of any misguided belief of whatever came after death for an Aukari. As one against everything Sirothelle and Faldrun stood for, the Afterlife felt a little too familiar to F'mos. An area with calming greens and a gentle breeze was not what the aukari expected to see after the light cleared and it took him a few bits to realize his assumptions were wrong. As he had been with Rowan on his hunting trips for the Kettle far too often, F'mos quickly identified he was in the woods which surrounded Etzos. He only had to turn around and take a few steps back beyond the trees to confirm he was not far from the city or more accurately, that he was not far enough. He knew he had to leave soon as anyone could have seen that light and if the wrong person decided to check up on it, it would be a lot of trouble for him.
It was only after he got over the initial shock that the alchemist realized what happened. It explained the mystery of the brute's disappearance after he terrorized the tavern with his ridiculous challenge. He did not just simply disappear, spirited away by those accursed Immortals after his mission was accomplished. The coward after being beaten by the aukari in a fair contest shamelessly fled, with a final blow after the result was clear to appear triumphant- probably his intention with the entire debacle if F'mos recalled the details of the brute's initial conflict with Nightshade correctly. He might have asked himself why, but it was a waste of his time when there was a more important problem to solve.
Try as he might, F'mos was unable to replicate the earlier accident. While he had blinked in and out here and there, it was never too far from where he worked and, never as far into the woods. Eventually, returned to examine the spot in the woods more thoroughly in case it was something in the environment which drew him there but found nothing of the sort. Instead, the aukari found signs of a presence which like him, appeared out of nowhere before it made its way out of the woods. While the signs have diminished over the trials, there were still faint hints of them around the area and most noteworthy of them; a scrap of cloth and dried up blood which after F'mos tested gave him a shock. That was all he needed to know.
Somehow through his experiments, he followed the brute right to the end of his escape out of Etzos eventhough it was already trials after the incident.
Intrigued with his new discovery, his initial plan was forgotten as he pursued the possibilities further. Through more tests he found each time he blinked out after he stimulated the blood, he would appear at yet another random location. There was no apparent pattern to where he would reappear except for the time which remained consistently within a few trills and, the distance which never seemed to pass a certain point away from his origin. He even ended up in the air once and it was only through his charm he was able to return to the ground unscathed which set back his experiments for a whole break and then, another whole break each time he decided to continue after that once it was ready to transform him again. Going splat was not a part of the plan for the aukari.
Each warp felt like a pull to towards wherever he next appeared and F'mos knew he needed a way to direct it if he wanted to make use of this new discovery. Perhaps an anchor of sorts. Not an actual anchor though as the aukari needed something light and portable to use it the way he imagined. As his arm brushed along the knife he used which scraped him with bits of magnetic dust utilized to determine the qualities of the pull- like the dust trail towards where he last appeared, it was as though he was struck with another bolt of inspiration. A dagger he could throw quickly and easily, hard and sharp enough to embed itself into whatever he needed to get to and, a good enough weapon to have by him for the occasion.
After he determined the blend of materials he would use, two metals which gave a good bright shock together and got him as far as possible; he paid a visit to the smith. He told him what he wanted, a dagger made from the metal from his home, sharp enough to stab into most things and another oddity made of various blends of metal; both made into a dagger with the additional zing added to the weapon during the process as the smith was instructed to do. He knew how it should work from the tests he made and was sure any variation of would be the fault of the smith and communicated it as such, especially the fact any error would ensure the man's pay reduced.
Actually, allowing a margin for failure might as well mean the alchemist was ready to accept it which, he was not. He insisted to be along during the smithing process, something the smith did not agree to until the aukari pointed out if he was a smith himself, he would not have needed the man in the first place. Whatever secrets the man had in his process was not something which interested F'mos as the alchemist was more interested in protecting his own secrets. After his weapon was completed, he left the smith. No more elaboration, no explanation to the bright light the smith commented on. Just the gold he was promised by the aukari. There was no need for F'mos to get any undue attention in Etzos.
The test on his way home was a success, thankfully. He tossed the dagger towards a dark, empty stretch and thought something had to be done with the stupid light if it will be released everytime- before he was pulled towards where the dagger was a few thrills later. His hand on its hilt, he immediately stuffed it into his pocket before he headed off through a shortcut in the Underground where he hopefully would not be followed. While more tests would confirm the effectiveness of his new tool he was already elated at his success. It was as good as he hoped.
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You poisoned my friend and stuff but maybe you can teach Niv some Alchemy sometime