Chun rested his head on the back of the sofa as he tried not to shake with pleasure too much.
On her knees in front of him was Julian, her mouth wrapped around his cock. Her head bobbed up and down as her tongue licked every inch of him.
Chun could tell that Julian enjoyed it when those she pleasured showed little emotion in their actions, letting their bodies speak for themselves. Hence why the martial artist was trying to stay still. But his increased sensitivity made it very difficult. He couldn't even keep a straight face as his hands gripped the soft cushions of the sofa.
Kanta, on the other hand, who relaxed on a nearby chair, just watched the two with an amused grin. “Alright, Julian, that's enough of him. Come.”
At her mistress’s words, Julian released herself from Chun’s rod and got between Kanta’s legs as she spread them. The foreigner dug her face into the woman's groin and began to pleasure her with her tongue.
“So, as for alchemical equipment,” Kanta said, her voice not so much as faltering from the woman between her legs. “What do you need?”
Chun’s nerves were still tingly from the pleasure he'd experienced. He took a few breaths as his cock twitched at the edge of an orgasm as he answered. “Not sure,” he gasped. He held his breath for half a second and steadied his breathing before actually looking at Kanta. “Some ingredients for pills or elixirs, general stuff, it doesn't need to be super rare or anything. I have a book on some basic alchemical herbs as well as how to utilize them, but more books couldn't hurt. And obviously, equipment like vials, a small cauldron. Boxes for dry ingredients.” He paused for a moment as he was at a loss for what to think about. Ultimately, he just shrugged.
Kanta nodded and moved her hand to rub Julia’s head. “Doable. Though I'm not sure what you plan to make before the tournament. Outside equipment beyond your own armor and weapons is forbidden. Enchanted items cannot be taken into the arena either.” She said. She let out a soft moan and smiled down at Julia. “Good girl.”
The woman on her knees let out a satisfied ‘mhm’ but continued to lick at Kanta’s pussy.
Kanta waited a few seconds before gripping Julia’s hair and guiding her from between the native’s legs. She bent down and whispered something in her pet’s ear.
Julia looked towards Chun as Kanta said something the martial artist couldn't hear.
Once the whispering had stopped, Julia got between Chun’s legs again and gripped his shaft. She pulled down slightly to completely reveal his lower head. Then she spat it on. The warm saliva of the woman made him shiver after being exposed to the cold air. The next part, though, happened before Chun could stop the foreigner.
She pressed her palm against his tip and began rubbing it furiously. The fresh saliva kept the friction from feeling uncomfortable, but the pressure on his glands made Chun’s body react instantly. The pleasure was intense and immediate. Chun made a sputtering sound as his mind attempted to catch up with the sensation. Unfortunately, his cock, which was already on the edge of bursting, succumbed to the assault before he could do anything about it.
Orgasm Bonus: +3 all physical and mystical stats (duration 15 minutes)
The moment his cock began to spew its hot cum into the air, Julian took her chance to wrap her lips around his cock and begin slurping down his fluids. Chun’s mind was too shrouded in his orgasm to notice Julian’s eyes had widened in shock.
A few seconds and ropes of cum later, Julian released his cock with a satisfying pop.
“Your cum tastes amazing,” Julian said. There wasn't an ounce of lust in her voice like Chun had expected. It just sounded like a compliment. “Different, but amazing.”
“How different?” Kanta asked, raising a brow.
Julian rose from her knees to walk over and sit on the ground next to Kanta’s chair, paying no mind to the martial artist still winding down from his orgasm.
“Most of the time, sexual fluids are salty and kind of oily. His aren't. It tastes like a thick, rich cream. It's sweet if nothing else. Like milk mixed with sugar.” She explained.
Kanta looked at Chun quizzically. “Do you know some sort of art that changes the taste of your semen?” She asked, more curious than anything.
Chun shook his head as he pulled his pants back up, finally shaking off most of the pleasure. “It's just potent.”
“Potent how? Are you particularly fertile?”
“Quite the opposite, actually,” Chun said, though his face reddened slightly at the direct question. “But it's a bit of a long story.” It wasn't, but Chun didn't trust Kanta enough to tell her that he is the reincarnation (or something) of a person from a different reality who made the world they live in, which may or may not be some sort of hyper-advanced simulation.
Kanta smirked and stood up. “Oh well, I'm sure I'll hear about it in time. Now that we have been sufficiently relaxed, let's go get you some ingredients, shall we?”
***
Shopping with Kanta reminded Chun of shopping with his mother in his past life.
Kanta simply led him around the marketing district and browsed several shops. Kanta hardly looked at most of the items and simply bought the ‘essentials’. Those being a small furnace the size of a handheld lantern, a cauldron the size of a soup bowl, a mortar and pestle, a box filled with several glass vials and alembics. And that was just the physical equipment. She'd also tossed in a book called “Alchemical Martial Arts” for good measure.
In terms of ingredients, she'd bought a bulk of them in a box nearly the size of the storage chest Chun kept in his room. Chun wasn't sure of every ingredient within, but he spotted several herbs, pouches of powder of varying colors, mushroom caps, and what looked like dead insects. Among other things.
In the end, Kanta had spent well over 100 Imperial coins on the ordeal, more than Chun made in a season. Alchemy, even its ‘basic’ equipment (though he was sure Kanta had given him more than the bare minimum).
Ultimately, Kanta returned to the Rose Treasury Pavilion, leaving Chun to haul his equipment back to his apartment. To a normal person, carrying all the equipment would have been difficult over such a long way, but Chun was a martial artist. And an above-average one at that. He used his Light Steps art to lighten the load, something he'd only then found out he could actually do, and returned to his quarters.
As the depths of night encroached, he had splayed all the equipment across his floor. Both the ‘Guide to Basic Alchemy’ books he'd bought ages ago, as well as the ‘Alchemical Martial Arts’ books, were in front of him. Skimming through the first of the books helped refresh his memories on how alchemy worked. I was essentially just chemistry from his past life mixed with a healthy dose of eastern fantasy magic… at least that's how his past self would have described it.
All ingredients had various uses when altered in different ways, be it filtered into a liquid and boiled, made into a powder or mist, or a variety of other things. All alchemical ingredients held some form of affinity to the five elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Wood, and Metal. Depending on what elements you are mixing, it could alter the purity of what you are making, if not ruin it entirely. It also greatly mattered how long things were heated, how much of one item or another were put into the mixture, and a bunch of other sciencey stuff Chun had forced himself to read through for over four hours.
Despite being a naturally quick learner, with a five-times multiplier if he remembered correctly, it did not change how mind-numbingly boring the action of studying was, even if his mind seemed to absorb and hold knowledge like a cactus holds water.
He'd learned similar things about varying alchemical practices from ‘Alchemical Martial Arts’, though it mostly covered various ingredients and recipes for making combative enhancers. Basically, Dai’Gyo’s version of steroids. Chun would rather not need to use drugs to get a one-up on his opponent. He would much rather make elixirs that gave him permanent benefits. Luckily, the book covered that as well. Unfortunately, it didn't seem that Chun had most of the required ingredients for any worthwhile elixirs. Technically, he could make a pill that could unlock his Internal Energy… the only issue being that he already had it.
Chun decided to shelve the book for now and sift through the specific ingredients he had. He also took this time to utilize a Sorcerous art he had access to.
He reached into the box of ingredients and took out one of the more basic-looking herbs. It looked like a bundle of weeds tied together by a string. At their tips were small white flowers just beginning to bloom.
Chun channeled a small sliver of his internal energy into the ingredient, not even one point's worth of it, but information flowed into his mind in the form of a System Message.
Ingredient: Willow Weed
Attuned Elements: Earth
One of the most basic alchemical ingredients for restorative pills. While common, their potency is low; they make up for it in being easy to use in nearly all manner of alchemical concoction.
Chun waved away the system message. He hadn't expected the art to activate his system, but he supposed it made sense. His Iron Body Art did as well.
Next, he grabbed one of the pouches of a light blue powder and pressed his fingertip into it.
Ingredient: Dried Sapphire Algae
Attuned Element: Water
Algae found abundantly in the shallows of the Sapphire Lake. Acts as a slightly more potent alternative to traditional algae for alchemical use.
Chun put the pouch down and grabbed one of the mushroom caps.
Embershroom Cap
Attuned Element: Fire
The preserved cap of an Embershroom mushroom. Used in a variety of alchemical concoctions that can increase vitality.
Chun continued the process with each ingredient he had, ultimately finding he had basic ingredients from each element. Perfect.
He propped the basic alchemy book against his bedframe and set up the rest of his equipment. He flipped the book to one of the alchemical recipes he thought he’d try first: the Iron Pill.
Chun got to work, lighting a fire under the cauldron with a small piece of paper etched with a black symbol that, with a drop of his internal energy, lit on fire. The pack of ingredients had also come with a small stack of ember paper, a rather useful item.
He combined several of the various ingredients he had into the cauldron as well as the mortar and pestle, and followed the instructions within the book.
Another uniqueness of alchemy, Chun noticed, was that many of the listed ingredients for various recipes were easily substituted for other things, depending on the ingredient. The main rule was simply having the right element, potency, and ratios between the elements during the alchemical process. For example, the raw iron powder he was using for the pill, whose element was metal with “minuscule potency” as the book put it, could be substituted for another powder with the metal element, regardless of potency, as long as the ratio of the metal element and the fire element (the other primary element the Iron Pill used) stayed the same.
Two hours later, he extinguished a piece of ember paper within the furnace he had and opened up its front latch to reveal the fruit of his labor.
Within the furnace was a small brown and grey sphere that was slightly over a centimeter wide. It was rather smooth, smoother than Chun had expected from his first pill. The sphere had a faint luster to it that made it look like it was made out of a mix of raw iron and copper.
As he grabbed it, despite being within a heated furnace just a moment ago, the Iron Pill was warm to the touch rather than white hot.
Like the ingredients, Chun touched it with his internal energy.
Iron Pill
Purity: 60%
An alchemical pill used by aspiring warriors or travelers to embolden their bodies over time. Increases Durability when consumed. Increase is based on the current Durability and purity of the pill. It may take multiple Iron Pills to increase Durability by 1 point.
Chun was tempted to eat the pill then and there. But his mind was drawn to its purity. He glanced back at the alchemy book and read a passage from it.
“Fear not that your first many concoctions are flawed. Many great alchemists struggle on their road to success in the alchemical arts. Impurities such as faint lumps or discoloration of pills and elixirs is to be expected from all but the most skilled alchemists.”
Chun then flipped to the diagram of what a “high purity” Iron Pill looked like, then glanced at the pill in his hand. They were practically the same.
His very first pill was considered high purity. Though clearly not flawless. The pill was still 40% impure. Though he'd doubted he would have made a flawless pill anytime soon.
He rolled the pill around in his hand for a moment before shrugging and shoving the pill in his mouth.
He didn't chew it, but rather simply swallowed it whole. The pill was smooth and heavy as it washed down his throat. True to its name, it felt like swallowing a small spec of metal.
He practically felt it fall into his stomach and dissolve. In the same instance, a faint tingling feeling ran through his muscles and skin, originating from his core. Then a System Message echoed in his mind.
Iron Pill consumed.
Progress to next point of Durability: 10%
He wasn't sure what he expected. The Iron Pill was considered a relatively basic pill, and its durability was far more than it should have been for most at his stage. He would need nine more Iron Pills of similar purity to increase his Durability from six to seven.
Luckily, he had ample ingredients to do just that.
***
Iron Pill consumed.
Durability +1
It had taken him eleven Iron Pills in total to increase his Durability. This was mostly due to one of his pills being a complete dud as he’d kept it in its furnace for longer than he’d needed to while he flipped through other pages of ‘Martial Arts Alchemy’. That Iron Pill had had a purity of only 12% and hardly made any progress to his next point of durability at all.
Fortunately, it now took him hardly an hour to make a single Iron Pill, since he no longer had to double-check his measurements and timings constantly. Unfortunately, he had made eleven Iron Pills, and the sun was starting to rise.
Chun’s stomach dropped as he had just made a mistake many, including himself, often made in their past life: staying up all night, when one had work the next morning.