Lucas spent the rest of the week making a variety of potions. Other than practicing his swordsmanship every day and dealing with Heisenburgle's ego, that was pretty much all he did, but it was worth it. Day by day, and ingredient by ingredient, Lucas could feel his plan coming together. He'd be ready for the real test soon.

Some days, the gnome looked as eager as Lucas did. Mostly, that was because he wanted to mock his unorthodox creations, but sometimes, it was because Lucas hinted about the insights his talents gave him. He didn't reveal the numbers or anything, but the mere idea that Lucas was pushing the envelope in ways that Heisenburgle would never be able to make the gnome fixate on his experiments for reasons that were related as much to envy as to genuine interest.

First came the endurance potions; he made several of those. The first was a +9 Potion of Durability with no real side effects. That was his baseline test. He also made a +24 Elixir of the Earth-Hardened Body for his full test.

That one had a bit too much poison and negative qualities associated with it, but he'd already poured half his mana into making the gray, effervescent liquid. When the time came for a final version, he would clear those defects up, too. For now, he budgeted his limited resources since he had so much to do.

Potion of Durability (1 dose): +9 Endurance (tough), +1 poison (acid), +1 strength (ready). Duration: 5 minutes.

Elixir of the Earth Hardened Body (1 dose): + 24 Endurance (enduring), -2 intelligence (slow), -1 agility (delayed). Duration: 5 minutes. +25% more damage from air-aligned attacks.

His goal was a simple one. He planned to do two tests. In the first, he'd use three potions to bring his endurance, strength, and agility up to twenty across the board and gauge his abilities at that level. Then, the following day, if that went well, he would do it again at thirty-five.

Well, as close to thirty-five as I can get. He told himself as he looked over the fruits of his labor. Getting strength and endurance to that level hadn't been a problem, but getting agility that high would be impossible, even after empowering the potions without some ugly tradeoffs he didn't want to make. So, for now, he would have to settle for his Elixer of Divine Grace, which was a syrupy, sky-blue concoction that would get him to thirty-one.

Elixir of Divine Grace (1 dose): +21 Agility (flowing), +6 poison (inflaming), -2 intelligence (impatient). Duration: 5 minutes. Imbibing this potion causes sleeplessness for twelve to twenty-four hours.

Worst case, I can just up my agility by four if I need to close that gap, he told himself as he looked at the thing and went over the plan again in his mind. It would be eight points, which is almost as expensive as learning magic, but I could do it.

The fact was he didn't even really know if thirty-five was the limit or if it was even survivable. He was just going off what the achievement told him. Still, he was determined to try, and his first test went as smoothly as he could have hoped for. Not only did Lucas suffer no ill effects in the hours following his attempt to boost his physical attributes to twenty, but he blew away all his tests.

Lucas had already expected that he'd be able to lift four hundred pounds, and he'd done it in front of a crowd of workers and guards who had apparently been waiting for another show. What he hadn't expected was how fast he'd be. If he was as strong as an Olympic weightlifter, now he was as fast as a soccer player or a gymnast with a similar level of training.

No sooner had he put the scrap-filled cauldron down than he was picking up a sword and challenging guards to a dual. There was some joking about how many he should fight at once, but he was less concerned about fairness than about fighting as the clock ticked down on his boost potions. So, after only a moment, he just said, "Screw it, I'll take you all on once," to the half dozen guards that were bickering about who was going first.

That made them laugh, but not for long. The results were decisive. No, they were more than that. They were excessive. By the end, he was holding back a little just because he didn't want to accidentally hurt anyone too badly.

Unenhanced, Lucas had faith that he could beat any one of them and maybe any two of them with a little luck. However, today, bursting at the seams as he was the power of alchemy, none of them stood a chance. If someone was trying to hide behind a shield, he'd hammer it to knock them to the ground. If they were on the offensive, he'd step around the blade and attack the hilt to disarm them.

He'd been worried that the fight would last too long and that he'd run out of gas before it was done. That might have been true if he'd only enhanced his strength, but even with only two minutes on the clock at the start of the melee, all of his opponents were on the ground, unarmed, or both, before the effects started to expire.

That blew Lucas away, and as he helped the fallen guards to their feet, he saw as much fear in their eyes as he did admiration. "You can move like that? From a potion?" one of the guards asked him.

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"Well, I sure as hell can't do it the rest of the time, now can I?" Lucas asked with a laugh. He was trying to make a joke to lighten the mood, but few joined him in it, and when he turned around, he saw Heisenburgle watching the whole thing from the nearest balcony.

While Lucas wasn't bothered by that, he was surprised by it since the gnome was usually in bed by this time of day. Someone must have told him what I was up to, Lucas mused as he made his way back to his room. He expected the gnome to have a talk with him, but he never appeared.

"He probably thinks that shit is ominous," Lucas said as he kicked off his boots and lay down on his bed with hands behind his bed to look up at the ceiling. "But really, he'd just find some way to rain on my parade."

It wouldn't have worked, though. As Lucas played some of the more vivid moments of what he'd just done back in his mind, he grew more and more excited. If this was half power, he had no idea what he'd be able to do with his stats in the thirties. Assuming your body doesn't come apart at the seams, he reminded himself.

There was that. He kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, though, and it didn't seem to be happening. He'd moved like the wind and lifted truly punishing amounts of weight, and he was barely sore. There wasn't even any indication of addiction or potion sickness on his status sheet. As far as Lucas was concerned, he was golden, and he fell asleep that day with a smile on his face, eager to try taking things to the next level the following day.

Heisenburgle, to absolutely no one's surprise, was far from sanguine about what Lucas had done. After lecturing him on the dangers of mixing different potions and quizzing him about the ingredients he'd used for "His little spectacle," he only belatedly got around to asking what it was Lucas was up to.

"Well, you mentioned you made your little super soldier elixir for the Prince," Lucas offered. "I just thought that—"

"That was one potion with three effects," the gnome chided him, "Not three potions with one effect each!"

Lucas tried to explain to him that it was fine, but eventually, he had to invoke his talent for the gnome to back off on the point. "It doesn't matter anyway. It worked insanely well. I plan on trying an even stronger formulation tomorrow."

"A s-stronger formulation?!" the gnome wailed. "Lucas! You'll burn out your liver! You'll upset your humors. These are not things to be trifled with!"

"And yet they are perfectly safe," Lucas insisted.

"I could have your lab privileges revoked!" the gnome declared. "I could have you locked in your rooms for the duration of your stay!"

"But then you wouldn't get to see if it works," Lucas answered with a cocky grin. "Don't you want to push the bounds of alchemy?"

Heisenburgle hesitated. Even if I did, I don't think you should perform that test here," Heisenburgle said, saying what Lucas was thinking. "Really, I don't think you should test it at all, but I doubt you'll accept that answer, and I'm disinclined to bar your experimentation, at least for now."

"You, of all people, trying to place limits on Alchemy," Lucas joked. "I can't believe what I'm hearing!"

"I said no such thing!" the gnome grumbled as he wandered toward a map on the far side of the room. "If you aim to test your potions, however misguided that might be, I will only watch from afar. You simply should not do that testing where others can see. They will talk, and eventually, the Prince will hear of it."

"So, what do you suggest?" Lucas asked.

"We have several alternatives," Heisenburgle said, waving broadly at the map. "To the northwest, not far from the road we take to the city, there is an area frequented by bandits who—"

"Can we do this without killing people?" Lucas asked.

"That's where you draw the line, is it?" the gnome asked. "Very well, to the east, in the deep woods, there is a tribe of elves. They are unlikely to fight unless provoked, but if you were to burn down—"

"Dammit, man, elves are people too. They aren't goblins!" Lucas protested.

Heisenburgle glared at him before continuing, "People? Perhaps, but some might disagree. Regardless, I do not think that goblins are an appropriate test for the strength you displayed yesterday, let alone the strength you hope to display tomorrow."

"I agree, but surely there's something else I can fight, right?" Lucas looked over the map of the region, but besides a few notes about where certain mushrooms might be acquired and the seasons they were the most frequent, there were no labels on it to offer any insight.

"Well, there is a swamp ogre here and a nest of owlbears somewhere in this area," Heisenburgle said, pointing out each one, "But I do not expect that either of them would work for our purposes."

"Why's that?" Lucas asked, suppressing a sigh of relief that he wouldn't have to fight the monster that had almost ended him last time.

"Because I'm not traipsing through the woods or the swamps with you for half a day," Heisenburgle answered with a shake of his head. "It would be, in a word, exhausting. No, I think we'll go for the ice troll here, near the base of Mount Garthem. Now that it's warming up, the beast might well be hibernating, but a few pyrotechnics can solve that problem."

"Ice troll?" Lucas asked. "Don't they regenerate? I'm not sure that's the best test to—"

"We can make an acid blood poison for your blade to prevent that," the gnome nodded. "Otherwise, I think it will be a worthwhile test. It's been there for so long because I'd lose a dozen men to attack it, but if you really believe your potions are as potent as you say they are… well, then it should be quite suitable."

It only dawned on Lucas at that moment that the gnome was expecting him to back down. Heisenburgle had picked the most dangerous encounter he could think of. It was something that Lucas probably should have been more afraid of, but there, his ignorance saved him.

He was supposed to give Heisenburgle an excuse about why they should pick a different target right now. Lucas was sure of that, but he was way too psyched up at the idea. Instead, he said, "Let's do it. We can make the acid blood whatever and then go tonight!"

"Well…" Heisenburgle answered, suddenly backpedaling, "Maybe we shouldn't after all. What would the Prince say if you were to die on my in such a foolish way?"

"Fine," Lucas sighed. "I'll make your fucking backup plan."

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