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Sitting on her throne, Alchemy let out a sigh.
'I freaked out again… I was lucky that the new units weren't harmed this time, but will I be okay? It's too naive of me to think that a war won't eventually break out. I only just narrowly managed to avoid one here. I need to steel myself.' Alchemy told herself.
Sure, everything worked out, and she got terrific rewards! But all she could do was ask herself over and over again.
When would her lucky street end? If she had to guess, it would be when humans enter the picture.
Pushing the idle thoughts away, Alchemy stood from her throne. She wanted to look at the rewards she got from her most recent mission as well as what the [Rare+] monster dropped, but she had guests to entertain.
Everything else could wait till after these two ticking time bombs left her land.
Stepping out of her hut, Alchemy was greeted by all four heroes, sitting at a large round table with wooden cups and plates.
It was a sight that would be beyond amusing to Alchemy if not for how dangerous this situation was.
All of their subordinates had already returned to their homes, fearing a full-on turf war if the two groups were to meet.
"What is this… Bizarre item? Is it food?" Gravana questioned, poking at the weird-looking fruit on his plate.
"It's a Meat Fruit. You could say it's an item that can only be grown by the Verminae. I'd serve you regular meat, but I think giving you unseasoned food is the biggest slight against a guest I, as a host, could manage." Alchemy explained.
The Meat Fruit was a spherical purple fruit with tiny spike-like protrusions that became silver when cooked over a fire, and its insides were identical to raw meat. As the name suggests, it was a food item that could be consumed by carnivores and herbivores, not that such a feature mattered too much when the only non-omnivore was Sapphire.
Walking over to the table, Alchemy sat between Nera and Gravana. She didn't want to give herself this seat, but Nera had been glaring daggers into him this entire time, and it was evident that the relationship between Gravana and Rio wasn't excellent.
So, to avoid conflicts that might arise, she took the single most dangerous seat.
"If you're worried I poisoned it, I could always make you some meat, but it'd taste worse." Alchemy continued, taking a bite out of the meat fruit.
Her teeth sunk into the dense, fibrous fruit. It was somewhere between a melon and a tender cooked meat. The outer skin had a slightly salty taste, but after she got into the meat, a warm, savory juice flooded into her mouth, reminding her of a slow-roasted stew with how rich and surprisingly hearty it was.
She was sure she could still make it miles better if she had anything remotely close to seasoning, but alas, Alchemy couldn't begin looking for spices and condiments until the [Research Center] was made, which luckily wasn't far off anymore since the system gave her the ticket she needed.
Metals were still an immediate issue, but at least she had the means of remaining productive until she could secure them.
"What the! This is so good! I must share this with the boys back home! Monarch, would you mind giving me some to bring back?" Gravana exclaimed, causing Alchemy to chuckle.
'Trying to kill me and then asking me to feed his people? I suppose him being this bold should've been obvious.'
Not that Alchemy disliked his bold attitude. It reminded her a little bit of her younger self.
"I'd love to, but the amount we have is limited due to time. That being said, we'd be willing to trade, though."
Gravana didn't need to know that she could produce ten fruits a day, a rather exorbitant amount when considering the life cycle of typical fruit plants and the fact that its average size was comparable to that of a grapefruit.
"Oh? And what makes you think I won't just take it?"
"You DARE threaten Mother Goddess in our own base? Are you looking to die, doggy?" Nera scoffed.
"If you're looking for a fight, I'll welcome you anytime, shapeshifter!"
"Calm down, Nera." Alchemy rolled her eyes at her unruly daughter, returning her attention to Gravana.
"You could. Unfortunately, these fruits can only be grown in the land blessed by the Seraphim Verminae. You kill me; you cut off the supply." Alchemy smiled, totally not terrified out of her mind.
If her divine body were capable of releasing waste, she would be pissing herself.
"An interesting gambit, Monarch. Are you sure you don't want to become my disciple?" Gravana continued to laugh, catching onto what Alchemy was doing immediately.
"I'm considering it. First and foremost, I must ensure the Verminae are satisfied and happy. As you can tell by how empty this area is, it still requires much work."
"Hohoho, what a dedicated little Goddess you are." Rio chuckled, taking a sip from his wooden cup.
"On my Ancestors! This liquid is delicious! This certainly isn't something native to the outer forest. Now, will you tell us that this is also something only you can make?"
'I half expected it from the monkey, but even the werewolf caught on instantly. Whatever, I still have the upper hand for now.' Alchemy sighed inwardly.
"It is native. It's juice from the poisonous Celestians. It's mixed with trace amounts of Holy Water to neutralize the poison. So long as you have the means to neutralize the toxins reliably, you could enjoy this one freely."
Luckily, naturally occurring poisons were easy to deal with. Back in A.O.A., you must mix poisons to make more potent ones. And since Holy Water acted as a Tier 2 Antidote when ingested, regardless of how deadly the poison was, so long as it didn't succeed Tier 2, holy water could completely neutralize it.
For the Verminae, it's usually quite a useless feature for the Verminae since the insects and arachnids had an intrinsic immunity to low-tier poisons, but it found its use.
"Clever indeed." Rio approved.
He knew how to make the antidote for Celestian poisoning, but it was far too complex of a recipe to make simply for enjoying good juice.