Ubel CH9

Squiggly lines pervaded my vision and in nonsensical patterns that I couldn’t parse. It was worse than another language because I knew what some of the runes meant. They each had powerful meanings that should impart their meanings onto me. I should be able to sketch them into metal and make them do something. Effects like magnetism and a simple on-off switch should be as easy as breathing for an alchemist in the second tier. I cracked the code and figured out how to bend the ingredients over a table and fuck them. That was about all the sex I could actually do until I managed to get out of my cursed gear. To hell with Red, I’m glad my mentor will be gone from this world soon.

“Breathe,” Veronica said.

She was reading a much more advanced tome and slowly sketching out a pattern with knitting needles. The intricate weaving boggled the mind; how was she so good with knitting needles. I couldn’t even figure out the rules for runes; they slipped out of my brain like water off a duck’s ass.

I sucked in a breath, held it, and let it out. “I need to train; there isn’t time to study all day.” She looked up at me and smirked.

“While I might not be at your level in alchemy, I am very good with runes. I could tutor you if you ask, or should I make you a sandwich instead?” Veronica asked.

Her lips twitched, and we both knew I wouldn’t ask. After my sandwich comment I had been feeling pretty good until the enchantment books came in. Three days and I was no closer to gaining the profession. All I had to do was enchant anything to get into the alchemy profession. I was closer to getting a wood carver profession than enchanting.

All I had to do for alchemy was break down an ingredient. Enchanting felt like an unfair jump in difficulty. Was there any class I could get that would bridge the gap in my skills?

It was more proof than anything that the intelligence stat didn’t make me smarter. A part of me hoped it would have, but that was foolishness on my part.

I took to my new gym, where Mos was already hard at work. She squatted in the mirror with a barbell with a 50lbs of weights on each side. Adding the bar, it weighed roughly 145lbs. She weighed about 80lbs, so it was a good number. She had been all about raising her stats before ranking up.

I tried to clear my thoughts while watching her stretch the new tight-fitting body suit Mos and Veronica found while out shopping. The dungeon handed out all sorts of goodies while I was in there, and most of it was on the market. The suit gave a 50% increase to STR, DEX, and VIT. It was nothing compared to the raw increases my training gear gave, but at least it wasn’t cursed. Seeing her big booty ripple with muscle and show off her tight camel toe was a sight to behold.

My attention moved to my bench where five 50lbs weights lined my barbel on each side. Even though my strength was growing at a steady rate, these weights wouldn’t be enough to give me the gains I wanted. It was sad but true. I needed something a little heavier. That’s where the magnetism idea came from. I could make magnetic enchantments on the floor to pull the weights downward. That would be so much more weight and help me get stronger at a much faster rate.

It was out of my reach, maybe because I didn’t have a real grounding in the subject. I opened a complicated text and had no hope of bridging the gap of my missing knowledge. Even the system database I had access to didn’t have the answers until lvl100. Information level caps were the worst. So, I was stuck and had no way to move forward.

On the walk toward my bench I felt a wave of dizziness and quickly pulled a stamina potion out of my inventory and chugged it down. Then I took a healing potion and chugged it, just in case. That started happening a day ago. Despite my skill, Battery Cells restoring my stamina through my tribulation lightning, I didn’t feel refreshed. I shouldn’t get tired anymore, so something must be wrong with me.

“Are you ok?” Mos asked.

She was clearly watching me through the mirror. I gave a thumbs-up and waited for another dizzy spell, but nothing happened. With that cleared up, I made my way to the bend and started doing my own squats. My legs were my foundation, so I preferred to give them the most care instead of my chest or arms.

Using Battery Cells and exercising at the same time was strange. My body felt the burn, but I didn’t get tired. Healing potions made to slowly heal instead of healing all at once took care of the broken-down muscle and helped me get stronger in real-time. Food intake took care of the rest, which left only the burn of a good workout.

I hated the burning sensation of my exhausted muscles before, but constant exposure and feeling the results changed my opinion. The burn meant weakness was leaving my body. It was probably why I had those dizzy spells in the first place. The weakness leaving me wanted a final kind of revenge.

Hours of working out sent me into a rage-fueled frenzy as I counted down the numbers, and my muscles bulged from the workout. Wearing two layers of training gear was only the beginning; soon, I would put on my third layer, and progress would be even faster. Who said I had to stop at 1000? I could really push myself and go even further beyond.

What would happen if I took a few months off the dungeon and trained at home. I couldn’t imagine the gains, and that was what really excited me. Seeing my number go up despite how difficult it was to get the next number was addicting. That didn’t even grasp the sheer strength that came with high numbers. My physical strength had long since surpassed my magical might. If I wasn’t wearing my training armor, I had no idea how fast and strong I would become.

Tactile Telekinesis had leveled once more during the week when I started using it on my tongue. That led me down a rabbit hole of discovery. I could enhance every part of my body with the skill that had nerves. It was mind-blowing.

All I needed was to get rid of my armor.

The weight held me back so much more than anything else. Tribulation lightning couldn’t touch it; only the hope from an offhand comment by Red gave me any hope. Surely, when my strength reached 1000, the armor would let me go.

If not, I didn’t know what I would do. The only part of me that was exposed beyond my armor was my face. Turning my tongue into a sexual organ through alchemy seemed like a dangerous thing to do.

Another dizzy spell hit me, and I barely managed to wrack my weight in time. “Atom,” Mos yelled, but I waved my hand and managed to crawl my way back up.

“I’m fine,” I said.

Yellow eyes looked at me in a way that clearly said she didn’t believe me. That was fair. I didn’t really believe me either. My teeth ached even though I could probably bite through rocks without chipping a tooth. Sweat poured all over my body, and I downed a potion to compensate. I had to find a cure for whatever was making me sick. For all I knew, it could be the suit itself.

“I need to do some alchemy,” I said.

“Maybe you should rest a bit,” Mos said.

I spoke more fiercely than I intended. “There isn’t any time.”

Mos took a step back for the first time, showing fear of me. I didn’t like it.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to annoy you. I’ll see if your Veronica needs anything.” Mos said.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to raise my voice.” Mos left me there in the room.

…

This sickness was making it hard to concentrate. I downed another stamina potion and electrified my Battery Cells. Every time I lost focus, they seemed drained; maybe there was something inside of me doing it. A parasite could be the culprit; it was the best lead I had. I searched my ingredients for anything that could help.

Like the disease cure potion, parasite cure or repellent wasn’t difficult to make. With my lightning, nothing was completely out of my control. A dizzy spell took me again, and I stood there for minutes, trying to bring my thoughts into order. I downed another stamina potion, thankful I made them by the cauldron load. My mind cleared immediately the time it remained clear was getting shorter every time.

I searched through my inventory and brought out the ingredients I thought might work. When was the last time I slept? The thought invaded my mind, but I didn’t feel tired at all.

Lightning crackled along my armored hand as I thought through the story carefully. Parasites were stealthy creatures that could hide in bodies and slowly kill off their host. I made a potion with four ingredients and kept a few in reserve all to a theme of getting rid of internal dangers. My mind blanked, and suddenly, I was holding a potion in my hand. A bubbling orange liquid was still warm, and a complete mystery sat in my hand.

I thought about taking it but shoved the thought aside. Not even if I followed the recipe correctly would I take a potion after a dizzy spell. The parasite must have a way of tricking my waking mind. The only way to get rid of it was with Heavenly Tribulation.

My contempt for parasites caused my mana to drain and angry black clouds to appear overhead. A booming thunderclap resounded as a bolt of lightning fell upon me. Once the building stopped shaking, I tried to feel for something, anything that would mean I got it. When no improvement came, I struck myself again.

The door slammed open, and I turned to see Veronica.

I took a stumbling step forward and stumbled. My body was giving out.

My hand reached out with a stamina potion, and she yanked it from my hand. The mystery became completely obvious: she had poisoned me. The answer came swiftly and with it rage. How had I been such a fool?

The power coursing through my body had insulated me from reality. Veronica had used that to slowly poison me in the last few days. Maybe she planned to slit my throat and be done with the charade.

“How many of these have you been drinking?”

Perhaps the poison wasn’t supposed to hit me yet. She must have wanted to wait and plan her escape first.

“Many,” I said.

“These aren’t a substitute for sleep.” My mind lingered on those words, but I couldn’t understand. I haven’t felt tired, only dizzy.

“You must have a skill or perk that restores your stamina. This is a disaster; you need to close your eyes and go to sleep, or you’ll die.” I opened my mouth and closed it before glaring at her. “Please give it a try; it’s the only way to save you.”

“You were jealous of my alchemy skills and decided to poison me,” I said.

“I’m great at alchemy; you have primitive tools. If we were in a lab in my sorority, you wouldn’t know what to do.” Veronica said with a smug tone of voice.

“I would take out my cauldron,” I said.

“I’m sure you would and what would you do when the professors wanted to see the tables for your recipes?” Veronica asked.

“I was a jerk to you, and I don’t know how to ask for help.” I shook my head. “The whole incident makes me cringe. I thought I was over that after being trapped in my gear.”

“No one is ever over cringe. How about you apologize and I will only bring it up when I want to win an argument.” Veronica said.

“There is no time to rest. I need to get stronger, so I’m not useless. Why did I say I would be free of it in a month?” I asked.

Veronica rolled her eyes at me and removed my potion. “I can’t carry you to bed. I think you would break it.” Veronica said.

I nodded. I was too heavy to move, and any spot was good enough. When I blinked, sunlight glared down on me through the windows. I looked up to see Veronica and Mos sitting on my chest back to back. Mos was reading a book on history while Veronica continued reading about enchanting.

“Is feeling like an idiot normal?” I asked.

“You’re a filthy male peasant, so yes, and I forgive you for your natural shortcomings. I know it comes from ignorance instead of malice.” Veronica said.

“I think you should wallow in it and remember why sleep is important. Why did you set a deadline for yourself if you knew you couldn’t meet it?” Mos asked.

“Enchanting would have made it possible, but I’m terrible at it,” I said.

Veronica closed her book, and Mos hopped off my chest. “Enchanting can’t be learned by starting from an intermediate book. Alchemy is the same, but I guess that’s where you are absurdly skilled. Let's start with something simple. What did you want to do with enchanting?” Veronica said.

“It should be obvious,” Mos said.

I grunted in return and Veronica stared us both down. The ebony-haired woman brushed her dress off and started marching toward the training room.

The witch turned around. “When you’re prepared for tutoring, come find me, but you’ll only learn if you tell me what you’re planning.”

I rolled over on my side and checked my system clock. I had been out for 12 hours and lost so much time.

“I think you’re starting to grow on her. She told me that those with stamina-restoring perks or skills that weren’t born with them have the same problem as you. They forget they need sleep and stay up for days until their mind deteriorates. You could have caused permanent damage or killed yourself.” Mos said.

“Should I apologize?” I asked.

“We are yours, that is the truth, but that doesn’t mean we are just that. If you feel you need to apologize, then do so; if not, then do not. You are the man, not me.” Mos said.

Suddenly, having relationships was much more difficult than I thought it would be. Would it be worth it? My hormones said yes. I was pushing myself to the brink for them, but I didn’t want to destroy myself. Where could I draw the line before pushing forward and charging off a cliff?

I closed my eyes and gave it some thought. Veronica was new, shiny, and very much a noble lady who was used to holding power. She treated this situation as temporary for the first few days, but it seemed she had begun to feel attached. I didn’t want to apologize, but I was clearly in the wrong for making her worry.

Responsibility was hard to handle. I should apologize and ask Veronica to teach me.

…

Veronica was busy squatting naked in the mirror when I walked in. She gave me a cold glare before returning to what she was doing. I watched her well-trimmed pink pussy dip low as she brought the barbell down. Seeing her flexing white rear in the mirror did things to me. I felt completely out of my depth most of the time when dealing with her. Of the women in my life, Veronica was the newest and possibly the most knowledgeable about magic.

“You wanted to hear my plan,” I said.

“I don’t care about that anymore. My last name is Summers. There now you can ransom me back to my mother and collect a reward. I’m sure it will be more than enough to purchase a primer in enchanting. Go away and let me finish my reps in peace. I don’t like your eyes on me.”

“It was stupid, really a completely idiotic idea. Enchanting wasn’t really enough; I would need to use some of my alchemy and maybe learn smithing. I gave up on smithing I didn’t really have time to learn, and I wanted quality work. Do you know how magnets work?” I asked.

She stared at me through the mirror for a long moment. I walked in behind her, and she tossed the weight down, hitting my foot. It sat there doing no damage to my weighted training boots.

“Stupid is sending a company of witches on a hunch to ruin a Ducal minister's plans to recruit an alchemist. What were the higher-ups thinking? You make potions that are hardly groundbreaking. Lightning Elementalists are nothing new even here. If we had heard about your rapid increase in strength, we might have mobilized three companies. Now you’re saying you planned to use magnets to make the weight in here even heavier. No one couldn’t handle that kind of weight; it's insane.” I opened my mouth and closed it. “You could kill yourself. With the way you’re going about learning, you will kill yourself. Focus on your alchemy and leave the enchanting to me. I’ll tell you when I need something or when it's ready.”

“That’s a lot of responsibility. Are you sure you can handle it?” I asked.

“It’s a magnetized weight set. I can do it in my sleep. Making the emergency shut-off will be interesting, but I should be able to get it done. Besides that, there are going to be some changes around here. Mos and I rely on you to bring home the gold, and I’m used to a standard of living you can’t imagine. So you will sleep at least 5 hours a night every night this isn’t negotiable. Mos and I will draw up a contract if we have to.”

I raised my hands in surrender. “I was being dumb. I’ll try and get some sleep more often,” I said.

“You better,” go away. I have reps to finish and a project to plan. I’ll let you watch me put it together if you want, but as my assistant, you’ll be in charge of making me sandwiches.” I cringed, and Veronica laughed.

…

Letting go of one of my problems felt freeing. With my newfound freedom, I worked on things I could make an impact on. Alchemy was, more than ever, my bread and butter. While Mos was out getting food, I worked hard to make a potion that would increase my gains. With the second tier in alchemy and my Heavenly Tribulation, I could remove parts of ingredients I didn’t need in my potions. In this case, I was making a potion that would increase the gains I made by 20% after my training gear effects. My goal was 50 percent, but I was heading in the right direction.

Time-based herbs were needed to trick causality, but tribulation lightning won out with the right amount of work. Once I wrote down my recipe and started on the portions, it would be possible to use appliances or factory machinery to create potions in mass. That was the next step in most small-time operations like mine. Mos was searching the market for any appliances.

One of the problems with being mostly self-taught about alchemy was that I didn’t know what I didn’t know. Most of the books I used were outdated or written by groups who started from scratch themselves. While I could do a lot with a cauldron and a dream, that would only take me so far.

Far was using alchemy to turn my tongue into a sexual organ. While I wouldn’t really need it, the idea hadn’t left me completely. This situation wouldn’t have been so bad if I had a means to really pleasure and impregnate the girls. With that in mind, I ran through a series of tables through the system to find a set that could be the groundwork for my potion.

Getting 1000 points in strength would be easier than the potion I planned to make. Potions that modified the body weren’t rare only unpredictable. Some did exactly what the user wanted up until the stars aligned, and they became piles of flesh on the ground. I didn’t think the stars aligning was literal but there were many factors in making potions. Healing potions were the standard but were by no means the limit.

From what I could tell, most groups used drinkable potions instead of pills. I felt that pills were a little more concentrated, while potions felt watered down. That wasn’t really true, but magic and feelings could mean anything. The feeling could mean I was better at making pills than potions; there were some studies done by adventurers that were completely inconclusive.

I liked and hated that about adventurers; they had more information than any group around, but it was scattered and somewhat unreliable. Getting to the bottom of something was a process of centuries instead of months or years. With them gone, so much research would be unfinished. I was certain there would be a rush to collect as many adventurer databases as possible. That only made sense.

Those thoughts were excellent at taking my mind off the horrible conclusion I had come up with. Red might not have set a point where I could take the training gear off. Those thoughts felt completely heretical to my very soul, but it was possible.

When I heard Mos return, I turned off my cauldron and walked out. She had to know, even if she might have already come to the same conclusion. A few books that I didn’t order were tucked away, but I didn’t pay them any attention. Mos could read whatever she wanted.

“I need to talk to you,” I said.

Her yellow eyes glanced up and down at me. “You look good today; the extra sleep is helping. What did you want to talk about?”

“I’m not sure how to say this.”

“Then spit it out,” Mos said.

“I don’t know if reaching 1000 strength will free me from my training gear,” I said.

“You seemed sure before. What caused you to change your mind?”

I sucked in a breath and let it out. This was so much harder than I expected it to be. I had been trapped for too long, but I couldn’t lie to Mos like I had been lying to myself.

“Red didn’t tell me I had a curse to begin with. He said that adventurers with less than 1000 strength can’t even fight around raid bosses, or they would be blown away.” I said.

I let that sink in and Mos’s eyes widened larger than I had ever seen before. “Do you know what that means?” I winced at her words. Half of me expected the executioner's ax to fall on our relationship at any moment. “I don’t know if it’s a hint or not. You know your teacher better than me. The guy sounds like a Warg’s butt, but do you think he would doom you to a life encased in training gear.”

“I only knew him for a short time, and he seemed genuine, but then he put the training gear on me. The only thing I know of that can even cut the stuff is this rock.” I said.

I showed her the rock and cut off a side of the training gear that closed immediately upon being cut.

Mos quickly grabbed the sharp rock and gave it a look over. “I’ve never heard of metal like this, but I bet a metallurgist has. Let me show this to him, and maybe we can get some more. All we need is a knife made of this stuff, and we can get you out.” Mos said.

She turned around to leave, and I stopped her. “It's already late why don’t we get ready to eat. I’ll turn on the next installment of your favorite documentary.” I said.

“Gotta Catch Them All,” Mos said.

“That’s the one I have saved. It has over a hundred seasons. There is more content here than I’ve been alive.” I said.

“I love the adventure of the ignorant monster tamer and his journey to become a demon lord. He reminds me of you.” Mos said and stuck her tongue out.

I leaned in and kissed her, making the redhead flush a darker shade of green.

“What are we having?” I asked.

Mos lit up. “We are having Steaks medium rare topped with caramelized onions, cabbage wilted in steak grease, and baked potatoes covered in melted goat cheese and butter. For dessert, I’m making my first cheesecake.”

All of it sounded good, and Mos was having the time of her life in the kitchen. With hands like mine covered in three layers of gloves, it was impossible to cook for myself. Her help was a DEV-sent blessing. I gave some of Veronica’s notes a look over.

They were the basics of enchanting. I wanted to learn, but with Veronica’s help, I didn’t need to learn enchanting. While I was sure to add the profession, eventually, my second slot could go to anything. I might be better off finding something I wanted to learn instead of going with something like enchanting. From what I could tell, I had no inborn advantage, but it beat me.

That thought alone kept me coming back to Veronica’s notes and fighting through them to get a scrap of insight into the profession. It mostly read as Gnoll to me, but with time, reading one set of notes at a time maybe I could learn it right.

“What are we watching tonight? You two are spoiling me. I have to do more squats every day to work off the extra food. I’m used to savory cuts of meat, not 72oz steaks piled high with onions. I’m a witch; I’m not supposed to become a brawler. Oh, and it's done.” Veronica said.

I stopped what I was doing and rushed over and hugged her. The witch giggled as I twirled her around once and sat her back down.

“This will help me more than you know.”

“I don’t know at the rate I’m going; I might use it too in a few decades,” Veronica said.

“Don’t sell yourself short. apparently, to even stand near a raid boss, you need 1000 strength.” Moz said.

Veronica nodded her head like it made all the sense in the world. “I saw some interesting potions while I was snooping in your lab. That place needs to be labeled. I don’t know a health potion from a bowel-clearing potion.” The witch said.

“Yeah, both are red. It would suck if you poured that on a wound.” I shook my head, got up, and carefully took a pen from a drawer. On the list of things for Mos to get from town, I added labels.

“Are we going to continue watching that wretch as he gets pitted by the officials and captures monsters? All should aspire to be as fortunate as that man. If I ever find one of his statues, I will drop my trousers and take a shit on it.” Veronica said.

I sighed and plastered a smile on my face as I made a screen visible.

…

After I downed the latest iteration of my physical gain potion, I left for my workout room. Dos’s construction crew really helped out in a fast expansion. They did the work far faster than any other construction crew I’ve ever heard of. The smell of the new floor still gave me chills after two weeks of enjoying them. My workout bench also saw an upgrade under Veronica’s helpful hand.

I tested it out and found the shut-off was instant. The second my feet were even a little out of position, the magnets would shut off. So, the only way to get the full weight of the magnetism was to keep my position perfect. As for bench press the answer had been as simple as grips. When my hands were out of position, the magnets shut off.

While this iteration didn’t have higher levels of magnetism, added weights practically multiplied the difficulty. Every workout had become an incredible challenge, thanks to Veronica. A day after the workout, all my physical stats broke the 700th mark. I was in the home stretch while every future point was a little harder to get than the last, I knew I could do it. 3 layers of training gear and magnetized weights pushed me harder and faster than ever before. Mos kept me fed, and Veronica took time out of her day to teach me a little about enchantment and tweaked the enchantments as well.

Week three rolled around, and when I finally hit the 900s, I was behind schedule but still closing in slowly but surely. It was happening. I would get this blasted training gear off one way or another. I could feel my strength and skill Tactile Telekinesis, grow my leaps and bounds. Every point felt like an incredible milestone as I raced against my deadline. Mos and Veronica slept on my chest every night instead of the bed. The thought of the bed was almost as attractive as them. I could finally sleep in comfort before too long. All I had to do was keep pushing myself. This was it; after months of separation, I would be able to touch people again. I wouldn’t be separated by weighted clothing. I would finally feel my girls in my arms.