A Heart To Heart

I smile and gently start petting Ramia.

"Why? Because you've been a big help. That and because that's just the type of person I am." I answer her and she finishes wiping her tears.

"Ramia." Asami says before hugging the Elven girl from behind. "Forget whatever bad things happened in your past okay? You're safe here. I promise." She says and I nod in agreement.

"B-but I'm not good at a-anything." Ramia responds.

"That's not true. Your potions were amazing. Your the only person I know who could make anything that good." I tell her.

"B-but I'm g-going to waste a l-lot of materials on my r-research."

"That's fine. And if you really feel bad about it. Then you can make some potions and I'll sell them." I tell her and before Ramia can respond Luna chimes in.

"You should give up now Ramia." She says while smiling. "Alpha is way to stubborn. He'll find an answer for every reason you list."

"B-but I..." She starts but I stop her by rubbing her head a bit harder.

"But nothing. I don't care if you don't use magic. I care if you're happy. So tell me Ramia, are you happy here?" I ask her.

"Y-Yes!" She quietly says and I smile.

"Good, then they're yours." I say taking the blood out of my inventory. She stares at the vials for a moment before jumping past them and hugging me.

"Thank you!" She happily says, barley above a whisper.

"You're very welcome." I whisper back while petting her. She pulls away and I see her pretty face smiling.

"Come on Innu, Luna. Let's go make a feast!" Asami says and the two girls jump up excitedly.

"E-Eric? While they c-cook dinner, do you w-want me to teach you A-Alchemy?" Ramia asks me.

"Sure, but only if you show me how you'll research the blood." I tell her and she smiles before nodding. We get out of the spring and dry off. She waits until I've finished before getting out herself. I equip my clothes and wait for her outside the cabin. I see her running up in to me.

"S-sorry for taking so long." She says, out of breath.

"It's fine. Are you ready?" I ask and she nods before pulling me inside. I chuckle and we make our way upstairs. I take the vials of Devil Blood out of my inventory and place them down where she says to. She takes one and walks over to a small counter. On it are some vials of various liquids and a small machine with tubes all over it.

"First, we n-need to do some tests." She says opening the vial. "We p-pour a drop into these s-six vials and after a-about an hour they'll change colors. T-that'll let us know what k-kind of effects it will have." She explains and I nod along. She carefully pours a single drop into the six vials on a wooden stand and moves it aside. "Next, we w-will pour the rest into here." She continues while pulling the machine and connected tubes towards her. "This w-will separate it into two and m-mix one with the Swamp Elemental Core you h-have. I don't e-expect it to make anything u-usable but we'll learn if it can b-be used in p-poison or curse potions. The other half w-will be turned into a v-vapor. Sometimes l-liquids, like blood, change their e-effects when turned into a vapor. S-so we'll need to redo this test." She gestures to the vials she set aside. "With the vapor. A-any questions?"

"Nope. But thank you. I didn't know Alchemy had this many steps. So what do you do to make a potion once you know what your ingredients do?" I ask her and she walks over to the large rectangular table in the center of the room.

"Here, I'll m-make a Invisibility Potion for y-you. So first we take the s-skin of a Magic Chameleon." She says before I interrupt her.

"Where'd you get that?" I ask out of curiosity.

"I b-brought it with me. When I h-had to leave my home, m-my parents gave them to me."

"Are your parents still at the village?" I ask her and she nods.

"They w-wanted to come with me, b-but they're under a pact. They c-can't leave for another year a-and a half. But in return t-they get all their expenses paid for."

"Why couldn't they agree to stay then? Why did they enter the pact?"

"The Elven E-Elders didn't t-trust them so they made them enter the p-pact. We were at w-war with the Lizard Folk at the t-time and needed the potions." She explains and I pet her.

"Thank you Ramia." I tell her and she smiles before looking away.

"L-let's get b-back on topic." She says and I chuckle. "S-so we take the skin and you b-boil it in water. It t-takes six hours, but I have one t-that's done. It'll be soft and squishy l-like this, see?" She says holding it up. It's white and about half an inch thick. I feel it and am shocked at how squishy it is. It feels like rubber but the texture is completely different. She sets it back on the table and grabs an almost two foot tall and a foot and a half wide pot. "So now w-we need to boil the skin and t-this Arcane Eye. It comes from a m-monster called Gaze. Now normally you'd u-use water to boil it. But I use boiled S-Slime. It's just Slime boiled b-but it has more magic, making the potion last l-longer." She says and I nod. She place the ingredients in the pot and fills it with a sticky blue liquid. "N-now we place it over a f-fire and l-leave it for twelve hours."

"Twelve hours!?" I ask shocked.

"Yeah." She says before giggling. "Alchemy takes t-time." She tries to pick up the pot but struggles.

"Here, let me." I say reaching over and picking it up. It's heavier than I though but not to much to be a problem. She thanks me and leads me over to the center of the back wall. Once there I see a fire pit, made of stone with large stone walls and a thin stone ceiling. I place the pots handle on the hook, hanging from the metal pole embedded in the walls. She lights the fire underneath and grabs a electric clock from a small desk next to it. She sets a twelve hour alarm and places it back down. "I'm so glad you're here. If I we're on my own, I have no doubt I'd waste a bunch of resources." I tell her.

"T-thanks." She says.

"Dinners done!" Luna says while jumping from behind us. She lands with her arms around our shoulders and scares the both of us.

"Jesus Luna!" I say in shock and she laughs.

"Sorry, but not really. Now come on! I'm hungry and Asami won't let me eat until you two join us!" She start tugging on my arm and I smile.

"Okay, okay. Are you ready Ramia?" I ask her and she nods. We go downstairs and eat a very filling dinner before going to bed.