All his attention was on the judges, half expecting them to disqualify the round after his efficient win. He’d followed all the rules they set, it’s just that they left him far too big of a loophole to waltz through.

  The entire arena had fallen into a whisper. Voices were in awe, confused, and uncertain. However, the audience’s reaction didn’t matter so much as the judges’ call.

  Ash waited, standing just two paces from the dumbfounded Mage Gorantla. The old man still couldn’t seem to fathom how he could do such a thing.

  The three judges sitting in the viewing booth in front of them were commiserating. Aside from their expressions and gesticulations, Ash couldn’t hear what they were saying thanks to a spell that kept their voices inside the area.

  To the side of them, the master of ceremonies stood stiffly, looking at the judges, but with glassy eyes, as if he also didn’t understand what just happened. There was no need for the discs to be gathered and tallied, as it was clear who the winner was, but attendants still rushed out to pick them up and confirm the hits.

  They were brought to the judge’s table. It seemed that they were going to at least make a show of verifying the discs.

  “There were at least a hundred discs.” Ash heard Mage Gorantla mumbling beside him. He glanced over and raised a brow. “A hundred...all different colors for different elements.” He looked at Ash with narrowed eyes filled with disbelief. “You memorized all of them and sent corresponding elemental attacks at once?”

  He didn’t say it out loud, but Ash could hear the underlying accusation. You monster.

  “According to the guidelines, each disc would only respond to a corresponding elemental attack. If I shot out all ice attacks, only the discs that could react to ice would have fallen.” Ash held out his arms and motioned to the metal pieces lying around the grounds. “Does it look like that’s all I did?”

  He could see the mage’s eyes dilate, refusing to believe it.

  The energy Ash released had been white in color, and no one would know what element it was until impact. It was also done at a high magic frequency, which was difficult, if not impossible, to read, even for the grandmaster mages. The amount of energy required to deactivate a disc was far lower than what Ash released, but this was intentional.

  Ash had an excellent memory, but he didn’t want to waste time.

  The energy that he released contained all the elements they were using. No matter what disc was hit, it would react to one of those elements and count as a hit.

  Of course, doing that in itself was an incredible waste of energy for most mages. After such expenditure, a mage would need to recover their energy, and in some cases, physical strength, before continuing.

  Ash smiled to himself and looked back at the judges. But I’m not most mages.

  Under his all-too pleasant smile, the judges seemed to reconvene after hearing their short conversation. Finally, the master of ceremonies was waved to step forward.

  As they spoke to him, the master of ceremonies nodded. His shoulder sank a bit as his eyes flickered to Ash with a glint of helplessness. He straightened up and nodded one last time before stepping out.

  The arena, which had started to fill with noise once more, quieted down as the master of ceremonies raised his arms to get their attention.

  “The winner! With 262 points this round: Guillermo von Sails!” The arena erupted with screaming and cheering, drowning out the master of ceremonies’ voice as he called the final total.

  He and Cyrus had 463 points.

  Mage Bo and Mage Gorantla had 211 points, less than half of Ash and Cyrus.

  For a moment, Ash couldn’t help but be a bit surprised that they actually called the round in his favor. Perhaps he was just too guarded against all mages affiliated with the Magic Tower after their sordid history. Or perhaps the judges were just concerned about inciting a riot if they didn’t.

  Still, it was a competition and despite the changes made in the last round, Ash gave them a small bow as thanks for their time, before turning around and heading towards his waiting area.

  He waved to the crowd as he cut through the arena.

  Cyrus was on his feet and clapping as Ash reached him. Ash gave him a knowing look. “Are you surprised?”

  “I held my breath, but really didn’t think they’d call it fairly,” Cyrus admitted. He patted Ash’s shoulder in congratulations and looked past him, towards the judges. “Two are affiliated with the Magic Tower from their robes, but the one at the end is one of Dareisol’s imperial mages.”

  “Ah...maybe that’s why they decided to have a conscience,” Ash replied before refilling his tea cup. “Imperial mages can work with, but must remain unaffiliated with the Magic Tower.”

  Their loyalty had to be with Dareisol.

  “He should also understand the situation better,” Cyrus replied. “This is his territory, in a way.”

  “Not to mention the imperial family is watching.” Ash took a seat as the preparations for the potions match was prepared. Attendants were taking the position plates, raking the ground, and wood was being pulled out to be assembled together in a large stage.

  Cyrus took a seat beside him, his eyes fixed on the attendants and workers outside. “In the next round, I can only help you as a runner.” He narrowed his eyes. “I hope I can get you what you need.”

  Ash nodded. “I will write you a list. Take your time, don’t worry about picking the items. Just take what they give you.”

  Cyrus looked over at him. “There is a chance they will give us inferior ingredients?”

  “What is inferior to most people may not be inferior at all in the right hands,” Ash replied after taking a sip. “Have you ever read The Art of Apothecary?”

  Cyrus furrowed his brows and shook his head. “No, I haven’t.”

  “Yimei Traceras, early 2nd century Lang Dynasty of Suna,” Ash said. He looked over at Cyrus with the corner of his lip curled up in a slight, knowing smirk. “I’ll lend it to you.”

  Cyrus’ eyes widened and he took in a low, deep breath. “Have you read the whole thing?”

  Ash nodded and looked back at the field. “All five volumes.” During their flee from Ashtar, Henry had been injured. Though he tired to hide it, Ash saw. He felt helpless, so he dove into books on medicine and healing. His brother and mother were protecting him; he had to pull his weight somehow.

  It was foundational work, but there was no apothecary tome currently in circulation that was so methodological and precise, let alone one that could be used directly as an instruction manual for the basics of potion and pill making. It was one thing to focus on apothecary and pharmacology.

  It was another to use magic with them.

  Miss Arelias’ elven mother was an apothecary, but did not dispense medicine with the aid of magic.

  The Magic Tower used magic to make medicine more potent, but their methods were not as good as what Ash had learned.

  The basic method was to take a plant leaf that could be made into a tea, which would help with someone’s sore throat, and put a spell on the leaf to increase its effectiveness and rate of absorption, making it more effective, as well as faster acting.

  The Traceras method would isolate the part of the leaf that was the most useful. Then, it would be steamed and dried, making it naturally more potent. Then, it would be crushed into a fine powder, and a spell would be used to coat each individual piece of powder with another spell that increased effectiveness and efficiency.

  The strength of the spell would be adjusted in accordance with the other ingredients, and the dosage.

  This was how Ash was able to create an underwater breathing pill that lasted a day, and why the cooling gel Terry was coated in was so effective in such a short amount of time.

  He’d been experimenting a good amount recently, so he had a lot of practice and was confident.

  “We can’t underestimate him,” Cyrus said in a solemn voice. “After all, he is a potions master.”

  Ash wasn’t so arrogant as to ignore the opponent’s abilities. Underestimating the enemy and not understanding the environment is what lost wars.

  “I know,” he said in a low breath. Though he was well above the average mage in making potions and pills, it wasn’t his strongest point, nor was it something he devoted his life to mastering.

  If the potion they needed to make was something that Mage Bo had done a thousand times, then certainly, Ash was in trouble.

  There was also the chance that Ash couldn’t figure out what potion he needed to make immediately. He looked over at Cyrus.

  This wasn’t Cyrus’ best skillset either. He was an adventurer most of his life. Of the two of them, Ash had the best chance.

  He took a deep breath and closed his eyes to calm himself. He needed to have a clear head, assess his situation, and then make a plan to follow through.

  The drums began to beat and Ash’s eyes opened. The stage had been put together, along with a long table and two large shelves with drawers and cabinets of different sizes. That was where the ingredients were being kept; Ash had seen many of them in his life.

  On the long table separating the ingredients from the horseshoe shaped potions making counter were weights, scales, and small ceramic bowls, glass measuring jars, and plates. There were two stools on the side with the cabinets.

  The competitors’ potions stations were identical in set up, with all the necessary tools and accessories used for apothecaries, chemists, and mages.

  Cyrus stood up. “It looks like they’re thorough.”

  “Well, they have to make the admission fee worth it,” Ash said. He finished his tea and stood up, placing his empty cup on the table.

  The two walked out, towards the stage where the master of ceremonies was waiting. Across from them, Mage Bo and Mage Gorantla were also approaching. Mage Bo appeared much more confident than he had been after the second round of the target portion.

  They climbed up the wooden steps to the stage and stood across from each other in front of the two potion stations.

  “Mage von Sails, Mage Amini, with a substantial lead, how do you two feel going into the second round?” the master of ceremonies asked.

  “It isn’t over until it's over,” Cyrus replied in a calm voice. “I dare not underestimate our opponents.”

  Across from them, Mage Gorantla let out a muffled snort. “At least one speaks with reason.”

  Cyrus’ eyes frosted over. “And our opponent should not underestimate us, either.”

  The master of ceremonies let out a small cough. “And you, Mage von Sails?”

  Ash put on a smile and looked at the two older mages across from them. “I hope that we have a fair match this time.” His voice was cheerful and pleasant, but only those who understood spoken magic text could hear the mocking in his words.

  Cyrus turned his head to the side and muffled a small chortle. Across from them, the two mages flushed with anger.

  “We can beat you at any match, even if it was judged in your favor!” Mage Bo seethed behind gritted teeth.

  “Oh, very strong words from someone who needed a sudden rule change to prevent me from crippling every shot you made.” Ash maintained his smile.

  Before Mage Bo could counter, Mage Gorantla held him back and shook his head. “We are also excited to start the match.” His voice was low and this time, spoken in Iverian Common which broke the confusion that went through the audience.

  The master of ceremonies jumped in and quickly put on a winning smile. “Excellent! Today’s potions match will be unique. Attendants! Bring them out!”

  “Them?” Ash raised a brow and turned his head towards another set of doors leading to the passageways beneath the arena. Two wooden carts were pushed into the arena by two attendants each. On each cart was a stone statue that was tied down in place by a series of ropes secured to the sides.

  Ash craned his neck and looked them up and down. The upright male statues were detailed and weren’t connected to a stone base or held up by a piece of stone in the back. Along with them were half a dozen soldiers that surrounded the carts as they lumbered forward.

  The closer they got, the more details Ash could see. The veins on their arms, the intricate patterns on their clothes, not to mention the stubble on their faces. Ash narrowed his eyes, his lips pulling into a tight line.

  He’d seen plenty of statues across the world, from private collections to temple shrines and locked away in museums. If it was one thing he noticed immediately, it was the flaws on the statues’ faces. Most statues tended to be idealized figures. Even if their body shapes no longer reflected the current standard of beauty, their faces always held a serene beauty to them.

  He’d seen them pensive, joyful, even with fear in the moments before battle, but rarely contorted with fear.

  Their arms were held up and their bodies were twisted, turning away from something. One of them had one foot off the ground. Ash had spent years training with his mother and reading body movement was something she emphasized the importance of. If the two statues were alive, they would have been in the middle of fleeing from something terrifying.

  Cyrus stiffened beside him. His eyes had widened and some color was lost from his face. “Those aren’t statues....” His voice was so quiet, only Ash heard him.

  “The Isle of Gorgades experienced an earthquake and subsequent tidal wave last year, damaging their most sacred shrine to the Three Sisters,” the master of ceremonies said. Ash took in a sharp breath. He knew where this was going. “The kingdom has been working to recover a portion of the Three Sisters Shrine that fell into the rocky shores along with aid from Dareisol, the Federation of Merchant Cities, and West Wind Valley. However, in the chaos of recovery, two men managed to sneak into the forbidden area of the shrine. As a result, the security measures of the shrine turned them to stone.”

  The audience started talking at once. The damaged shrine on the Isle of Gorgades was well known. The island itself was a subtropical resort island known for its deep sapphire blue waters and beautifully painted stone buildings. There was plenty of tourism. The Three Sisters Shrine was open to visitors, but the inner sanctums were for native Gorgons.

  Rumors flew that the inner sanctums were lined with gold and jewels, so it wasn’t surprising they’d be targets for theft. Although, it was well known that non-Gorgons who entered the inner sanctum, without the proper authorization, were turned to stone.

  “Are these two thieves?” Ash asked out loud. His words were what most others were thinking.

  “Indeed, Mage von Sails!” The master of ceremonies jumped off the stage and walked towards the two carts that had stopped to the side. “In order for the thieves to be properly tried and punished, they need to be turned back into flesh and bone. However, the recovery liquid used to do so was lost during the earthquake. Currently, the island has no means of turning stone back into a human. Which is why these two are here today!

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  “Originally, one was going to be sent to the Magic Tower while the other was going to be sent to the Dareisol Imperial Mages in hopes that they could turn them human. Therefore, your challenge is to use a potion to turn these two thieves back into humans!”

  The crowd erupted with chattering at once.

  Ash frowned and looked at Cyrus, who also frowned. “This is a bit unorthodox. I’m not sure how I feel using criminals as test subjects....”

  “Considering they were going to be test subjects anyway in order to try to find a replacement for the Gorgon recovery liquid, I wouldn’t put too much moral weight on it,” Ash replied. “We’d be assisting the Isle of Gorgades, and these two thieves, by doing so.”

  Cyrus let out a small hum of agreement, but still wore a serious look on his face.

  “The rules are as follows! As previously instructed, only one mage can prepare the potion. The second mage assists as a runner, going to and from the stage to pick up ingredients from the counter. They are only allowed to place the ingredients on the stage counter closest to the ingredients cabinet and cannot step any further into the potions station.” As he spoke, the master of ceremonies moved around the area, mimicking what each mage would be doing. “They have one hour to create a potion. When the hour is up, they must apply the potion to the stone thief. The thief must return to fully human within half an hour. If there is any part of them that remains stone, more potion can be administered until they are no longer any part stone. However, they must be fully human within that half hour, else the team will not receive any points.”

  “What if both teams manage to return them to flesh and bone within the designated amount of time?” Ash asked. “How will the scores be tallied?”

  “The first team who turns them fully human will receive the full 300 points. The second team will start deducting five points for every minute after the first team completes their task until either their statue becomes human or the thirty minutes are up!”

  That meant that if one team’s potion turned a statue human instantly, and the second team’s potion took the full thirty minutes, up to a 150 points could be lost. A full half of the possible amount of points. If he and Cyrus didn’t meet the time or recovery requirements, and received no points, they would still have 463.

  If the other mages succeeded within the half hour, they would get an additional 300 points, bringing them up to 511.

  This meant that at the very least; in order to maintain their lead, they had to turn a statue fully human within the thirty minutes.

  “What do you think?” Cyrus asked.

  Ash took a deep breath. “I think I’d like to take a closer look at the statue.” He looked at the master of ceremonies. “May I?”

  The master of ceremonies looked towards the judges’ table and they nodded. He held out his arms in a welcoming fashion. “I invite the mages to inspect both statues before we proceed. You have five minutes!”

  Ash jumped down from the stage at once, but heard one of the older mages mutter under his breath. “What’s the point of inspecting the statues?”

  “Just to make sure they’re real and we’re starting with statues that are equal in stone-ification,” Cyrus replied as he passed them. He gave them a curious look. “Don’t you want to make sure everything is fair?”

  They turned red once more and came down the stairs.

  Ash had already finished circling one statue before moving on to the next one. While their positions were different, they were about the same size. He looked at the guards and then at the master of ceremonies. “Can I touch them?”

  The guards nodded and the master of ceremonies agreed once he saw their approval. Ash reached up and touched what would’ve been the exposed flesh of their hands, forearms, shins, and feet. He pressed on the stone, his face set in a serious expression the entire time.

  He climbed on to the cart and checked their necks and faces. Those who were watching him wondered what he was doing. The mages also seemed to mimic his actions. Whether they were doing so for the reasons he was or not, Ash didn’t care.

  He’d made his assessment and jumped down.

  “Are we assigned a particular thief?” Cyrus asked the master of ceremonies.

  “No, but you may pick.”

  Ash opened his mouth and looked towards the statue closest to him. He was about to say that it didn’t matter, but his voice was cut off by Mage Gorantla.

  “We’ll take that one!” He pointed to the statue next to Ash.

  Ash rolled his eyes at once. Did they think he had some secret reason to pick that one? “Fine. I’ll take the other one.” He jumped off the cart and headed to the stage. He paused before reaching the potions station closest to him. “Do these gentlemen wish to pick a station, as well?”

  Mage Bo lifted his chin and sneered. “By all means, choose first.”

  “How generous of you.” Ash gave him a slight mocking smile and simply jumped over the counter of the closest station.

  Mage Bo walked to the second one. Both mages faced the ingredients as two attendants stood across from them, ready to dispense as needed. Cyrus and Mage Gorantla took their spots halfway between the stage and the ingredients counter.

  “Oh, I see everyone is ready to begin!” The master of ceremonies let out a loud laugh and raised his arms. “In that case...ready...set...begin!”

  He lowered his arms and the drums rang out around the arena.

  Ash immediately took a small pile of paper from the shelf along with a charcoal pencil provided. Cyrus lazily climbed up the steps to get to the counter that he was allowed to go to. On the other side, Mage Bo was yelling ingredients as Mage Gorantla ran across to get them from the ingredients counter.

  “Careful, Old Man!” Ash shouted as he hunched over and wrote on the paper as leisurely as one would write a letter. “You don’t want to overexert yourself and fall!”

  “Shut up!”

  “The judges ask that the competitors do not antagonize each other!” the master of ceremonies called out with a helpless expression.

  “It wasn’t antagonizing, it was a word of caution!” Ash continued to write. The papers were only about as large as his hand and he had moved on to a second piece.

  “How many ingredients do you need?” Cyrus asked in a quiet voice.

  “A bit,” Ash said. “Let’s just hope they have them.” He finished two and a half sheets before he handed them to Cyrus. “No rush. If they don’t have an ingredient, circle it, and let me know.”

  He snapped the charcoal pencil in half and gave it to Cyrus along with a basket from the station. The older man nodded and made his way to the ingredients counter.

  Ash ignored the chaos happening in the potion station next to him as he began to write out spells on pieces of paper and put them aside. He then began to go through the open shelves of the potion station to familiarize himself with all the items there and take out the ones he needed to use.

  He didn’t know what potion the mages would create, but if the Isle of Gorgades had sent the thieves to both the Magic Tower and the Imperial Mages, it meant that they didn’t know if one organization or the other would be able to recover the thieves, so the Magic Tower likely didn’t have a set potion.

  Mage Bo could only prepare what he knew to solve the problem.

  Ash had less experience than him in potions, if only because of age. He’d also never attempted to reverse a Gorgon security measure.

  However, like Cyrus, he was familiar with the problem.

  The Three Sisters Shrine’s legendary inner sanctum had statues of three Gorgons that were twice the size of normal people. The statues’ eyes were blue gems that reflected what looked into them and then turned them to stone. Gorgons were immune to this of course, and guests who had authorization wore veils over their eyes.

  That was it.

  That thin piece of specially woven fabric between the statues’ eyes and a human’s was enough to prevent being turned into a stone. He knew this because he’d accompanied his mother inside along with the Gorgon Queen for a religious ceremony involving Lunaya.

  His mother had danced before the statues, and he and Henry had played accompanying instruments. This had been done as a favor for the Gorgon Queen, as she was trying to have a child and the corresponding prayer dance hadn’t been used in so long on the island, that they needed to find an outside dancer.

  The Gorgon Queen’s eldest daughter and heir, Princess Keri, was named after Nera using the local translation of her name. Princess Keri and Effie were a year apart and pen pals.

  At the time of the prayer dance, the recovery liquid hadn’t been lost. Henry had been curious and asked about it. Ash didn’t know that at the time, it would help him in the strange situation he now found himself.

  “Ash, they don’t have the shells of South Dragon Sea abalone, nor do they have natural ocean glass.” Cyrus arrived with a basket of miscellaneous items, including damp seaweed and sea lichen.

  Ash furrowed his brows. “It doesn’t have to be abalone. Any shell from any mollusk from the South Dragon Sea will work. If they don’t have natural ocean glass, what about desert rose?”

  “I’ll ask!” Cyrus placed the basket on the counter and immediately turned around. Ash placed the seaweed and lichen on some papers with script that acted like his normal slips. As soon as he activated them, the items shriveled up, losing all their moisture to become thin crisps.

  Ash then took a small knife and began extracting the most useful portions. Cyrus returned as he finished the third piece of dried seaweed. He reported what he got and Ash nodded.

  “Limpets are good enough,” he said. “Take a rest, Cyrus. I’ll take care of the rest.”

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  “Stop pacing, you’re going to damage the rug.” Henry didn’t take his eyes off the cards in his hand. Near the balcony, Effie was going back and forth with her hands clasped behind her bag and a serious look on her little face.

  “It’s good quality. It’ll be fine,” Effie grumbled.

  “Effie, you should believe in your brother more,” the Dowager Empress said as she moved the cards in her hand. “Didn’t you say that he’s a better mage than anyone in this arena?”

  “In general, yes, but Second Brother doesn’t focus on potions, Grandma Rina. And this seems complicated.” Effie puffed out her cheeks and released her hands from her back. She grasped the sides of her head. “If I knew it had to do with stone people from Gorgades, I would’ve written to Keri!”

  “Effie, the Isle of Gorgades has been having trouble replacing the recovery liquid,” her mother told her. “That's why the thieves were sent to the mainland to begin with. They needed help.”

  “Have more faith in Ash,” Henry said. He tapped the table and the Dowager Empress’s head attendant dealt him another card. Henry immediately frowned upon receiving it.

  “Effie, I think your second brother really knows what he’s doing,” Prince Max said. He and his guards remained seated in the viewing balcony, watching the most boring part of the match with interest. “His movements are very quick...exact. He’s much calmer than the mages from the Magic Tower.”

  “Indeed, Miss Effie. The mages from the Magic Tower are going back and forth, constantly yelling at each other,” one of the imperial guards that escorted Prince Max told her.

  “I’ve noticed that they are communicating more than just calling for ingredients,” the other guard said. He furrowed his brows. “Are they trying to figure out the ingredients of the potion together?”

  “What!” At once Effie bristled. She rushed out and squeezed next to Prince Max. She craned her neck and squinted her eyes. “Is that allowed?”

  “They said only one mage can prepare it,” the first imperial guard replied. “But did not say that they could not discuss the potion.”

  Effie scrunched her face. Prince Max patted her shoulder. “It is fair. This means that your second brother and Mage Amini can discuss it, too.”

  Effie turned to look at her brother, who was carefully separating something on his counter. Cyrus was seated on the steps of the stage under the shade of an awning. Neither seemed to be talking. Her heart sank. “He’s doomed.” Henry sighed behind her.

  “You’re worried for nothing-”

  “I’m going to lose all my money!”

  “That’s what you’re worried about?” Henry asked with a scoff.

  “Second Brother isn’t even using any liquid! All he’s doing is grinding things!” Effie waved towards the arena floor.

  “Ash specializes in pills over potions,” Nera replied. She frowned and lowered her cards on the table. “I fold.”

  “But it’s a potions contest!”

  “Pills can be dissolved in water,” Nera told her with a sigh. “They didn’t say it had to start out as a liquid, after all.”

  Effie straightened up. Her eyes were wide, as if she’d had an epiphany. “You’re right....” She looked at Prince Max. “Second Brother makes a lot of pills! One time, my tummy hurt and I was throwing up everywhere-”

  “Must you say that in front of the Prince and Her Majesty?” Henry asked with a look of disapproval.

  “I don’t mind,” the Dowager Empress said before removing two cards. “Continue with the story, Effie.”

  “Yes, everything I drank kept getting thrown up, so Second Brother gave me a pill. It dissolved in my mouth and I got better very fast! My tummy stopped hurting and I was able to keep something down,” Effie said, patting her stomach as if to emphasize her point.

  “That sounds very useful,” Prince Max replied.

  One imperial guard looked interested. “Miss, does he sell his pills?”

  Effie shook her head. “No, but since he’s taking requests for magic products, he may take orders. We should discuss it after the competition.”

  “I win!” The Empress Dowager beamed and gathered several small gold coins towards her. She looked at a frustrated Henry and chuckled. “Oh, you worked hard this time, Henry.”

  “Perhaps we should try another game....”

  “Well, I’m always up for more money. Carlton, shuffle the cards.”

  Just as her head attendant gathered the cards and prepared to shuffle them, the master of ceremony’s voice filled the arena.

  “Mage Bo has completed his potion!”

  “What?” Henry shot up from his seat and even Nera knit her brows a bit.

  “I thought they had an hour,” she said.

  Henry’s eyes were narrowed. “I suppose it isn’t unexpected that they wouldn't use up the whole hour. They’ll just have to wait-”

  “Mage Bo will now administer his potion!”

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  “Wait a minute! I thought we had an hour!” Cyrus shot up from his seat, frowning. He marched towards the master of ceremonies who could only give him a sheepish smile.

  “Participants had up to an hour to create their potion! If they didn’t finish their potions by then, they would fail. However, if they finished earlier, then they could administer the potion earlier!” the master of ceremonies replied.

  Cyrus’ face heated up, but couldn’t counter with anything. That was what was said before they started. Whether it was meant to be misconstrued or not, it was easily thought to mean that they would not administer the potion until after the hour mark.

  “It’s fine,” Ash said as he began tapping pieces of paper with dried material into a grinding wheel along with crushed pieces of shells and crystal. “We haven’t failed yet.”

  Mage Bo sneered at him as he walked down the steps and approached the stone thief they’d selected. Using a stool, he stepped up beside the cart. The thief’s mouth was open. Mage Bo tilted the small glass vial into the open mouth. A dribble of dark green liquid trickled down the corner of the open mouth and down the side of the neck.

  Ash didn’t look up, but knew he was putting the potion into the statue’s mouth. After all, that was how most potions were consumed - orally.

  But most people were humans who could swallow.

  “It’s leaking out!” Mage Gorantla, who could only stand by and watch, gasped with wide eyes as the green liquid trickled to the side.

  Mage Bo climbed up another step and looked into the mouth of the thief.

  The statues were once human, the open orifice would still be an open orifice, but the muscles of the throat and mouth didn’t just allow anything to slide in. Ash didn’t need to look to know that a good portion of the liquid that did stay in the mouth just pooled in the back of it.

  “Give it a moment! It just needs to be absorbed!” Mage Bo shouted.

  “Go make another one to increase the dosage!” Mage Gorantla said. Mage Bo nodded and the two rushed apart. One to the potion station and the other to collect more ingredients.

  Meanwhile, Ash was grinding away, creating a fine powder.

  Normally, he’d use magic to compress the powder into little pills, but since it was a potion, he’d just funnel the powder into a small vial of water and shake. Using a small brush, he gathered all the fine powder onto a folded piece of paper.

  The Gorgon-caused transformation to stone wasn’t a single spell. It was a two layered spell that both froze the living being in time and then simultaneously turned the body into stone. Ash wasn’t sure if the Magic Tower mages knew about this, but he did, so his potion would address both.

  The recovery liquid from the island was lost because its source was a small corner cave where the liquid dripped down from a stalactite into a little pool as big as her cupped hand. The cave had fallen into the ocean during the earthquake. The liquid it produced was rich in energy from ancient plants and sea life that could neutralize the effects of a Gorgon’s eyes.

  Ash theorized that the reason Gorgons were immune to each other and the statues was because they had long consumed the water on the island.

  Thus, he wasn’t trying a new potion to reverse the effects of the Gorgon’s eyes; he was trying to replicate the recovery liquid.

  Honestly, if Aunt Hecata had just sent me a message, I could’ve worked on it for her.... Ash shook his head. If his potion worked, he’d send her a letter with a sample. Maybe he’d let him comb the island for useful ingredients and parts for Moonflower.

  He carefully split the pile of powder and weight a portion of it. He needed the right ratio to apply to the statue. He then held his hands over it and cast a spell, using his energy to coat the powder to quicken its effectiveness.

  He then gathered the small vial and filled it part way with water he’d purified.

  Then, he carefully tapped the measured powder into the vial and corked it.

  “Check his throat! Make sure the liquid can get inside!” Master Bo was heard ordering Master Gorantla.

  Ash looked up and saw Master Gorantla standing on the crate, putting his fingers down a statue’s mouth. Ash’s eyes crinkled up with disgust.

  “Imagine turning back to a human only to find an old man with his fingers down your throat....” Cyrus muttered as he stood to the side, just as disgusted as Ash, though his face hid it better.

  Ash shuddered and then began shaking the vial. Every so often, he checked to make sure it was dissolving well.

  “Now for a syringe....” Ash muttered to himself as he took a metal and glass syringe he’d found. There were three in the potions station and he picked the smallest one. If he did his work right, the potion was at least twice as strong as the recovery liquid, so less of it had to be used.

  He checked the syringe and then carried both it and the vial down the stairs. Cyrus turned around.

  “You’re done?” he asked.

  “Magic makes the process faster,” Ash replied. He walked towards one of the statues and squinted as he passed the two older mages pouring the second batch of the potion into the statue’s mouth, with similar results as the first time.

  “Mage von Sails, are you ready to administer your potion?” The master of ceremonies noticed him and came over.

  “I am,” Ash said.

  He heard a laugh coming from the two older mages. They looked over at him with mocking expressions. “How is the statue going to consume if their mouth is closed?”

  Ash and Cyrus both looked at the stone statue they were beside. Their statue’s head was turned away and while his lips were parted, his teeth were gritted tight, forming a seal around the inside of the mouth.

  Cyrus frowned at once. He glared at the other mages. “Is that why you wanted that statue?”

  “Why make our lives harder?” Master Gorantla sneered.

  Ash rolled his eyes. “I bet they didn’t even notice the statues’ heads until later.”

  “Even if we did, that doesn’t change the fact that you can’t feed your statue your potion,” Mage Bo retorted. “The mouth is practically sealed over!”

  “The mouth?” Ash chuckled. He held up the vial and then lifted up a metal and glass syringe. “Who said I’m going to administer the potion through the mouth?”

  Ash carefully filled the syringe with the murky pale liquid. He knelt down so he was almost eye level with a stone foot of a stone thief. He used his hand to press against the stone, looking for a soft spot.

  “How are you going to inject solid stone?” Mage Gorantla said with a sneer. “The needle on the syringe will break!”

  Ash shook his head. “You know, when a patient is given any sort of medication, their physical situation should be assessed so that the dosage is safe for them. The person administering the medication should also know how and where to do so on the patient.” He glanced over at Mage Gorantla. “Tell me, did you think that I was only making sure that both patients were the same so it would be fair?”

  “What else would you be looking for?” Mage Gorantla asked, his eyes filling with suspicion.

  Ash brought the syringe to the base of the uplifted stone foot and inserted the tip into soft, almost clay-like material. He pressed down, releasing the potion into the statue.

  “I was looking for a soft spot,” Ash said, pulling the syringe out. “If you know anything about people who are turned into stone by Gorgons, you’ll know that the transformation is almost instant, but starts from the eyes and spreads from the head down. Depending on how long one makes contact with a Gorgon’s eyes or...security measure, the transformation might not be completed all at once, especially in the feet. In particular, the base of the foot tends to harden the last.”

  “His leg is moving!” Cyrus’ eyes went wide as he pointed at the statue in front of Ash. “Guillermo! His muscle twitched!”

  Ash’s eyes crinkled up. “The recovery liquid softens the stone and returns it back into flesh,” Ash said. The statue between him and Mage Gorantla began to make small movements and shake. “So, the potion isn’t supposed to change stone to flesh directly, it’s supposed to neutralize the magic that turns flesh to stone, allowing a human to become human again.”

  The mouth of the statue cracked open, and a moment later, a guttural cry reached their ears.

  Ash glanced up and watched as the gold grayish-white stone that was once a statue faded into flushed red, sunburnt skin and worn, knotted fabric.

  The stone man-turned-human’s legs shook and he fell forward, his body folding in as he curled up in a ball, clutching his head and covering his eyes as he cried out in a raspy, panicked voice of someone who was scared out of their mind.

  Cyrus approached with caution. “It...it worked?” he asked, glancing at Ash.

  Ash tilted his head and circled the cart, studying the terrified thief. He nodded. “He’s completely human without a trace of stone on him.” He turned to look towards the judges and squinted. “And since our dear opponents’ statue is still...well...a statue, I guess we win this round.”