Experiments and an Assistant

I left Meredi’s home the moment the dawn leaked in and before Meredi woke up.

Thankfully, the house was quiet. No telltale steps from the other rooms. No Ravela, no Valray, no Cynthia. I’d succeeded in getting up before all of them.

By the time I was locking up the home’s door, I had braced myself for what had to be done next.

***

Back in my workshop, the stench hit me all over again.

The Gloomspawn brains were waiting for me—freshly prepared, but still foul-looking despite every effort I’d made to make them more appetizing. Fortunately, or maybe annoyingly, they hadn’t spoiled.

All that said, I still dry-heaved when I poked the first piece with a fork.

My mind knew the noble cause, but my body did not want to throw itself in front of the moms like this. It was uplifting, however. I I could overcome this, then I could continue to prove that to myself that I could do anything and everything for the moms. I thanked my body for this opportunity.

Even when my body rebelled, I remained steadfast.

“For the goddesses.”

No amount of pride and grit could make the thing taste better—but when I finally swallowed, and then sat there in the silence, waiting for some curse to surge up from my stomach or seize my lungs... nothing came.

No pain. No nausea. No buzzing in the ears or claws dragging across my brain. I barely even felt full despite having two brains, one after the other.

It was as if I hadn’t eaten anything at all.

Exercising caution, I took my time, double-checking all my potions as I waited for the negative effects. An hour passed, and still nothing. What a stark contrast.

Understanding that this was so significantly different than the first time, I closed my eyes and investigated the thing that had me most curious.

The fragmented images of being in the marshes came. I let them roll and roll.

Noise. Movement. Oppressive atmosphere. Wet stone and distant shrieks. I pushed my awareness inward like I was forcing my head beneath water.

Then it came. I found the critical scene. In front of my mind’s eye was me—Timaeus—standing in the swamp with the Merry Edge in his grip. And then Timaeus vanished. A few moments later, a phantom pain in my back.

And then everything went black.

I opened my eyes slowly. Shakily. “There it is,” I whispered.

I’d had the hunch. But now I knew. Eating the brains gave me fragmented memories I had to sift through. Completely different than how Timaeus’s memories integrated into my soul.

And that wasn’t all.

There was something like an awareness. Like knowing I had arms and legs. That was the best way I had to describe it. I was aware of two extra “limbs.”

Mana Vision and Invisibility.

And now that I was aware of them—truly aware—I felt something else too: a metaphorical range of motion. Like learning to wiggle each finger separately after years of only using your whole hand.

I had a new hypothesis. In the first game, there was a notion that ranking up made the earlier abilities easier to use. Now, I was thinking that maybe, along with the memories, consuming the brains raised my compatibility with the powers I would gain from the Gloomspawn.

Thinking about it, everything was based on compatibility. I could only consume them because of the unique circumstances of Timaeus’s birth, just like with the MC.

I took a breath. I reached out and let my fingers close around a simple flask on the table. I held my breath and focused, getting a sense of my phantom limb. It moved, detaching from my arm and extending just a little further.

It wasn’t dramatic. The flask just vanished.

Sweat broke out across my brow. I grinned like an idiot, panting through it.

“I did it! This is how I do it!” I cheered. “I can raise my intuitive awareness of the abilities by eating brains! And improve the weird memory inheritance, too! Yes! I can break the game!”

I went to my shelves of alchemical concoctions. The focus required to activate selective Invisibility was sweat-inducing, but maybe I could cheat it.

I pulled out a “Focus Enhancer,” drank it, and tried again. This potion would give serious tunnel vision and fixation on things the drinker managed to direct attention to.

Holding the notion of making objects invisible, I experimented for the next few hours.

***

With the brains not forcing me to knock myself out with Sleeping Beauty, the day had opened up considerably. Instead of lying in bed, I could work on my guard surveys.

I cleaned the remains of my experiments, packed up my notes, slung my gear over my shoulder, and stepped out the door—

Only to nearly bump straight into a cloaked figure.

She froze. Hood drawn low, hands balled in front of her chest. Then she looked up. I could only see her chin, but I knew her instantly. My thumping heart might have realized before I did.

“Lady Elsbeth?”

She pulled her hood back slightly, enough to let me see her stormy gray eyes. “Hi, Timmie,” she whispered.

My stomach did something weird. Like a swirl. Not a drop—not a punch—just a warm, dizzy spiral that stole the breath from my next question.

“Erm, you’re here,” I finally managed.

She smiled nervously, her hands fidgeting with the hem of her cloak. “I didn’t mean to come here. I was just walking and got lost in thought. And then, somehow, you were standing in front of me.”

I laughed quietly, still stunned. “You got lost in thought… and ended up at my door?”

“I guess I’m more directionally challenged than I thought,” she said, cheeks reddening.

“I’m honored,” I said, hoping to save her some embarrassment. “Thank you.”

Her smile broadened just a little. “Or maybe my thoughts were just… really determined,” she whispered.

Please, no more. My heart and fragile mind could barely handle it.

“So…” she said, voice feather-light, “were you going somewhere?”

“Yeah,” I said, tightening the strap on my bag. “I’m hoping to get started on a pretty big project. Surveying the guards at the barracks. Nothing fancy, but the people I’ve talked to are happy to have me come by.”

“Oh.” Her eyes lit again, but she tried to restrain them back into neutral. She wasn’t great at hiding how interested she was.

I hesitated—but only for a second. “Do you… want to come with me? I could use an assistant.”

Her whole face brightened. “Really?”

She had given up on restraint.

“Sure. If you don’t mind taking notes as I interview these people. It’ll probably be loud and smelly… I’d understand if you didn’t want to—”

“I’d love to!” she said, and her enthusiasm was so unfiltered, so pure, that it caught me off guard all over again.

I smiled, unable to help it. “Great.”

But then, I stopped. Took a step back and looked her over more carefully.

She blinked. “What?”

“Even with that dirty cloak, you’re very beautiful still,” I said.

She went red. “Oh, I see… Thank you.”

“If someone’s really paying attention, they’ll know who you are. Or at least guess that you’re someone well-off.”

Elsbeth frowned. “Oh… I didn’t really think about that. I guess I would be more in people’s faces if I were to be your assistant.”

“It’s okay. I can help.”

She leaned closer. “Really?”

I grinned. “Yeah. We’re going to make you disgusting.”

Her lips parted. Her happiness faded. She blinked a few times. “I love that.”

I opened my door again. “Follow me, assistant!”

She giggled. “Yes, Master Timaeus!”

I tripped over the threshold and she let out a small scream.

“Are you okay, Timmie?”

“Yeah, totally fine,” I replied, getting back up again.

I didn’t tell her, but her calling me Master was like a missile aimed directly at the backside of my heart.

I glanced at her one more time.

And when she looked up at me again, cheeks still pink, eyes wide and shimmering—I couldn’t help but feel that same warm spiral again. 

But then I felt an itch in my eyes and activated Mana Vision.

“Whoa,” I mumbled.

“What is it, Timmie?” she asked.

“Sorry, nothing,” I replied. “Come over here; the potion’s in the back.”

Elsbeth followed me as I kept sneaking glances at her. It was just so beautiful. With mana vision, I could see that she was wrapped in silver and purple auroras like they were heavenly sashes.

Elsbeth might have been way more notable in this world than the games ever suggested.