Quies and Valerie approached one of the many entrances to the small town of Etris. A tall torii-like gate constructed from wood loomed above them. Blue shingles decorated its roof, and its edges each held a torch that illuminated the gate.
Past the gate stood a bridge that linked the segments of Etris together. Another gate stood on its other end, illuminating the exit. The hard wood of the bridge creaked as they walked across, a testament to its extended years of use.
"Want this?"
Valerie offered something to Quies, though he couldn't see what it was.
"Want what? I can't see what you're holding."
"Exactly. It's a night vision potion. Or, actually, it's a rhodopsin stimulizer to help your eyes adjust to the darkness better."
"...What's rhodopsin?"
"Just drink it!"
Valerie shoved the vial into his free hand. Quies still cradled the book in his right arm, careful not to drop it. He grabbed it tightly, but not too tight to the point where the glass breaks. From what he could feel, the Vial felt similar in shape to the amnesiac container he saw Valerie holding earlier.
"So do I just… pour it in my mouth?"
Quies was met with silence.
"Okay…"
Quies carefully moved the vial from his left hand to his right, and slowly started to undo the cork. At first, he only applied a moderate force to the seal, but it wasn't enough to get the cork out of its place. He pulled a little harder, but the cork still didn't budge.
"Okay, wait, this is kind of hard."
"Gimme."
"No wait, I think I got it."
Quies focused his blood enhancement towards his left arm. Over the past few days, he had been practicing and meditating to improve this passive bloodrend ability. As he progressed further, he noticed that the effectiveness of his ability increased. He could now hold his focus for a much longer period of time, and the enhancement he received from using his ability was noticeably greater.
However, Quies felt like he was about to plateau. It was hard to describe the feeling he was having. He felt like he had already explored all of the uses of this ability, and was now missing a linear path he needed to take in order to improve this ability further. It was like a mile runner who, despite practicing diligently with intensity and effort, just couldn't break past the 4:30 minute mark. It was the same for Quies. Despite constantly using blood enhancement, he felt like his progress was decreasing every day. He felt like he was reaching his maximum.
Pop
"Shoot!"
The cork flew out of the vial into the black nothingness. With the unexpected release of tension, Quies nearly let go of the vial, with some of the precious liquid sloshing out.
"That's why I told you to just give it to me…"
Quies couldn't see Valerie, but he imagined that she was rubbing her face in disappointment.
'I guess I just drink it now.'
Quies grabbed the vial with his left hand, moving it right. He kept it there for a moment, hesitant to drink it.
This was his first time ever trying a potion, after all. He could never recall any instances where his parents made him try one. They never had the money for that. When he lived at Erisia, coming across something as valuable as a potion was exceedingly rare.
'What's the worst that could happen?'
Quies set the vial on his lips and tilted it upwards, pouring the liquid into his mouth.
The taste was… unique.
It wasn't necessarily bad, per se. Quies had tasted worse things in his life, like the time where he was forced to eat the guts of an old slackfish after he had run out of meat and couldn't get a catch.
'Tasted like I was eating a redigested clump of bird feces.'
The thought of it made him gag.
However, the potion mixture didn't taste good either. Honestly, it was more tasteless than tasteful. The best thing he could compare it to was eating a salted puree of freshly mowed grass.
He noticed that the liquid was slightly more viscous than water, which made it have a weird texture. Perhaps the ingredients that were used to concoct the potion had something to do with its unique texture and taste.
He swallowed the liquid almost immediately, not wanting it to linger in his mouth for too long. The thin aftertaste lingered on his tongue for a few moments, and then disappeared.
'Holy…'
The potion didn't act immediately, however its effects kicked in quicker than he had expected. To be precise, it was fully absorbed 20 times quicker than the time it takes for caffeine to have an effect on the body.
Suddenly, Quies was able to see past the darkness. As more of the substance was absorbed, he could see further and further.
He was able to see his light hands contrasted against the dark stone path that he and Valerie were taking. However, his hands looked… weird. They seemed too smooth and perfect.
"My hands look weird… Actually, everything looks sort of smudgy."
"Quies, it's not like the potion is going to make night look like day. It's a rhodopsin stimulator. It lets your eyes take in more light, but the amount of light bouncing around us stays the same… if that makes sense. Oh! It's ike trying to draw really small details on a big canvas. You have more space to work with, but the reference you're using isn't taking advantage of that scale."
"Huh?"
"Nevermind. Oh, and try not to look at the moon. It's really bright."
Quies resisted the urge to turn his head towards the moon.
The two kept walking, their steps disrupting the dark silence of their surroundings. They were in the area where the town of Etris transitioned into the Etrean wilderness. Bugs and insects chirped every so often, and a rustle in the short grass would often follow. Eventually, the stone steps ended.
"Just going to do a little bit of hiking, that's all. We'll be stationing in the middle."
The two stood at the foot of one of the pyres surrounding the town. Compared to the one they were on before, this one was much wider, having areas with more forgiving inclines. Looking up, he saw a landing around half the size of the interstice of Etris.
That was where they would begin their objective.