Chapter 22: The Poison Potion

After the fight with the basilisk, Asuka went back to the hideout of the witches.

She knew that Chiyo should be up and about already by now.

Sure enough, Chiyo is in the brewery, preparing to make a potion.

"What do you need Hecate's poison for, Chiyo? Is there someone that you want killed discreetly? That explains why you had me hunt down a basilisk today."

"Perfect. You arrived right in time, my dear assistant. You're correct, there's someone I want killed. It could be one of those who used to be our allies, or it could be someone from the other faction. I waited for you to arrive so I could start making this poison potion. "

Asuka immediately removed the basilisk from her system inventory, then made the basilisk's carcass float to the table using spatial magic.

She brought out the dissecting tools, put on her gloves, hair net, apron, and mask, then started to cut away at the innards of the dead basilisk.

"Asuka. Are you trying to kill yourself? The innards of the basilisk are extremely toxic to humans. And that includes us. You should have prepared a protective spell against poison or something in advance."

Chiyo called up to Asuka, but too late, since Asuka is already busy cutting up basilisk parts.

"I obviously got protective equipment with me, dummy. Haven't you figured it out yet? The protective clothing I'm wearing is enchanted. I had it enchanted at the VIP Corner of a Blacksmith's shop somewhere in this game. Start preparing the ingredients already, so you can have the potion you need. I need to focus on locating the venom gland of this damn winged snake. "

Asuka replied back to Chiyo, then she went back to dissecting the basilisk part.

Chiyo mused in silence as she observed her assistant set to work removing the poison gland.

Chiyo knew that behind Asuka's sweet, cute, attractive face, and fair-skinned body, is actually a fierce, tough, smart and clever lady who also got a fierce attitude.

She decided not to disturb Asuka, and proceeded to prepare the rest of the other ingredients.

A few minutes of silence passed between both of them, as they both worked on their respective tasks to get the ingredients for the poison potion ready.

After the ingredients are ready, Asuka prepared the cauldron and lit up the fire, while Chiyo started adding the ingredients to the hot cauldron.

After all the ingredients have been added, they both held their hands and chanted over the cauldron:

"Oh Hecate the witch goddess, grant us the power to make a super potent poison potion."

After they finished chanting, the bubbling and frothy potion turned a dark shade of purple.

They decided to let the potion cool down, before transferring the potion to smaller flasks.

Both of them felt hungry, so Asuka chatted to the chief cook assigned in the kitchen of the witches' hideout.

"Fumihiro, are you there? This is Asuka talking to you. I and Chiyo are hungry. We'd like to have pancakes with syrup on top, along with iced tea and a full plate of bacon with gravy sauce. "

"Still the same as always, Asuka. Both of you got huge appetites for a lady."

"Stop fooling around already, be a good guy, and do what I asked to do. Remember that it was I who saved you from being food for a wild golden lion a few years ago. You're a disposable cook who can't even fight, that I can throw to the beasts anytime if you displease me. I'm not in a good mood today. And don't worsen it further."

Asuka snapped, typing back in a fierce reply to Fumihiro.

There's no reply on the other end. Good. That guy can't even fight off a golden lion, yet he got the guts to do nonsense stuff when I'm around.

Asuka thought to herself.

"Calm down, Asuka. Don't let that cook get into your nerves. You still got a fiery temper and a no-nonsense attitude as usual."

Chiyo chided Asuka, but gulped in surprise and barely managed to dodge when Asuka made flames materialize in both of her hands and flung them straight at the wall adjacent to where Chiyo sat down.

"I hear another word from you, Chiyo, the next fireball will get shoved straight down your throat."

Asuka warned, her eyes still glowing bright red until it returned to its normal orange-red hue, with the fireballs vanishing completely from her hand.

Just in time, the food they requested arrived at the potion brewery.

They felt so hungry that all they could do is eat and drink while reflecting on their past.

While Asuka munched on a piece of bacon and dipped it on the gravy sauce, she let the events of the past wash over her once more.

Asuka was once a nobody in RPG Fantasia, a newbie witch that elites in the game just ignored and taken for granted.

She got accepted into a low-ranked guild named The Venomsins Guild.

The entire guild blundered their way into a stage too high for them, and almost all of them got exterminated by a wild manticore.

All of them bravely attempted to put up a good fight, but to no avail.

Asuka was a few minutes away from death when someone who also seemed like a witch made a thunderbolt appear from the sky and prevented the manticore from flying away in an attempt to escape with gravity magic.

As the manticore struggled to get up and fly, paralyzed by the bolts of thunder overhead, Asuka saw a speeding blur holding a katana make swift, short slices at the manticore, then stop by and pick Asuka up before she could get crushed to death.

Ever since that day, she tagged along with the members of the Gamer Guild, eventually becoming Chiyo Chinen's trusty witch assistant, until the guild got dissolved when it was revealed that Chiyo Chinen had ties with the Necromancer Guild.