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((Sorry for the late posting of this entry. I didn't have time to type it up until a few moments ago. I will begin working on Day 13 and Day 14's entry shortly. Story is getting good so I don't want to stop writing.))

Dream World Mirau by Josephina Mari
Day Twelve of NaNoWriMo

“I’ll be out in a moment Karou.” I said to him through the room door as I stuffed my math book into my backpack again and then I buckled the flap of the backpack to close it. Once again homework somehow fit in between my busy schedule involving saving this world. I wonder if my teacher would give me a break if I told her I was fighting to save the lives of countless people...Probably not. She would probably think I’d gone crazy. I stood up from my sitting position on the floor, grabbed my room key from a table near by, then I put it in my pocket before I made my way over to the door where I knew Karou was waiting on the other side. “Sorry Karou. You are right, we should find Baer as soon as possible. Which way do we go to find the Alchemy Shop?” I said hoping Karou would know the way as I closed the door to my inn room. “It’s not really that far from here actually. We should see it in a few minutes after we get out of here.” Karou said as we walked towards the exit of the inn. I followed Karou through the city trying my best to keep up with him. I didn’t want to get lost since I would have a hard time finding my way back. All the buildings looked the same, except every once in awhile we would pass a sign with words written in the native language on them. I wanted to ask Karou what the signs said, but it probably wouldn’t help us in finding the Alchemy Shop since Karou didn’t even give them a second look as we passed by. “See I told you it wasn’t too far away. This is Coasta Bleu’s one and only Alchemy and Magical Arts Shop. Looks like the place is still in one piece. Maybe Baer hasn’t arrived here yet---“ Karou said and then I looked at him surprised as his voice trailed off. “Why wouldn’t it still be in one piece after Baer came here? I thought he loved Alchemy so why would be want to destroy a shop full of it?” I thought to myself and then suddenly the answer to my questions became crystal clear as a small explosion went off inside the Alchemy Shop. I followed Karou inside to investigate what had happened and to make sure everyone inside was alright including our new friend Baer. The owner of the Alchemist Shop looked like he was trying hard to hold in his laughter and at first I couldn’t understand why until I saw Baer. He was standing near a table on the other side of the room, surrounded by mysterious scorch marks, with a confused look on his face. It was clear Baer had caused the explosion earlier, but the questions now were “How?” and “Why?” and before I could ask either Karou beat me to the punch. “What happened here Baer?” Karou said curiously waiting for his reply.

“It is a funny story really. I had a little accident when I tried to recreate a potion that is only sold here. I made a bet with the store owner that if I could make an exact duplicate of the potion then I could have five of them for free. You see the potions here are rather expensive and that one although it has a price tag of six hundred and fifty cero per potion it’s benefits are well worth it. It can cure illnesses and raise ones over all heath. Imagine the effects it would have on me if I had five of them! In any case I don’t understand what went wrong, I was certain I had all of the right ingredients with me. I must have used too much calbrisele in the potion, that has to be cause.” Baer said as he mentally went over the steps and ingredients he used prior to the little accident occurring. “Okay Mr. Alchemist Shopkeeper! I’m ready to try again. This time I’m sure I have it right, so prepare to hand over those holy waters!” Baer said in a tone of voice that worried me. Something in the back of my mind was telling me that there was three possible outcomes to Baer’s next experiment. The first outcome was that Baer got the holy water combination correct this time and received the five free ones as promised, but the other two outcomes weren’t as pleasant. The next possible outcome would involve the ingredients still being wrong causing a more minor explosion that was easy to laugh off until the repair bill came in for all the damage Baer caused. The last possible outcome was the one I feared most of all, which was Baer getting the potion completely wrong causing a huge explosion that took out half of the Alchemy Shop along with it. Karou seemed to pickup my uneasiness as I went over the outcomes in my head and then he walked over to Baer and said “ Baer I don’t think that is a good idea. You may think it is a fun challenge, but if you destroy anymore property here you are going to owe the Master Alchemist more money than you have in your coin pouch. I’ll buy you five holy waters and some magic tonics if you promise me you won’t attempt to make that potion again until you figure out what the correct formula is.” Karou said to Baer who looked pleasantly surprised at the offer and then he said in a very cheerful tone of voice that seemed to erase everything that just happened a moment ago from my mind “Agreed Karou! I promise I won’t attempt to make anymore potions until I am sure what the formula and ingredients are.” Baer seemed like a very easy person to please thankfully. As Baer stood over at the glass display counter staring at the various colored potions and magical tonics he reminded me of a young kid in a candy store. Baer was grinning from ear to ear as Karou ran off a list of potion names and how many of each he needed to the Master Alchemist. Karou bought several types of potions, dividing them into four bags, including the holy water potions that Baer tried unsuccessfully to make earlier. “If made incorrectly it seemed the potions had an explosive property to them so was it really safe to carry them around none the less consume them?” I thought to myself as Karou handed me the smallest bag of potions, then the handed the two largest bags of potions over to Baer to carry, before he picked up the last medium bag for himself. He paid for all of the potions, narrowing his eyes as he was told the amount due, and then Karou apologized and thanked the Master Alchemist in nearly the same breath after he received his change back from the rather large transaction. Baer was still smiling wide as we left the Alchemist shop with our purchased goods. Karou didn’t tell me what the potions were for so I wondered if they were intended for me to use or if I was just carrying them around for Baer who had his hands full already. Next stop was the armory to get me suited up in proper battle attire and then after that we would go to the weapon shop to purchase a basic started bow and arrow set and a basic short sword for training.

Once we arrived at the Armory I traded my casual attire, which consisted of a tee-shirt, jeans, and my favorite pair of chucks, for more common looking clothing. I picked out a pale blue long sleeve shirt to go under a leather chest plate Karou picked out for me. Baer helped me select a pair of thicker tan colored pants which he told me “All good warriors in this world wore” and I couldn’t help but to giggle at that remark. Baer would make a good salesman if his alchemist apprenticeship didn’t work out. The last thing I needed was a pair of sturdy shoes to complete my new look. Karou helped me pick out a pair of tan leather shoes that seemed ticker and heavier then my chucks. I changed into my new wardrobe in one of the dressing rooms while Karou paid for everything at the register. Baer decided he would also buy some new clothes while he and Karou waited. Baer’s new outfit looked somewhat similar to his old one in basic design. It is a completely white monk style robe, with a long sleeve pull over design that went from his neck and shoulders down to his ankles. It also had a hood that could be worn to shield the wearer from the elements, but what attracted Baer the most was the detailed floral stitched design that traveled along the right side of the robe giving it a more regal look casing this particular robe to cost more in price compared to others that were plainer looking. Baer quickly changed his clothes and then he walked over to the register and paid his bill with some of the money he carried with him. Baer left his old robe with the Armory owner explaining that he had no more need for it. Sometimes old clothes could be sewn up and resold to people in need for them at a lesser price, so Baer hoped that his old robe might be repurposed in that manner.

After I finished changing I exited the dressing room and walked over to the check out area where Karou and Baer were waiting for me. I folded up my tee-shirt and jeans and then I placed them into a bag the Armory owner gave me along with my chucks which I placed on the top. I carefully put the smaller bag of potions inside the larger bag with my old clothes inside to make sure I didn’t leave it somewhere by accident. My new outfit would take some time to get use to that was for sure, but at least now I didn’t feel like such an outsider. As we exited the Armory I heard Karou thank the owner and then Baer said to me “I think your new clothes suit you Mari. Now you are officially a citizen of Mirau, and we welcome you.” Baer said in a low voice as he bowed formally to me. For the first time I couldn’t come up with anything to say. Karou laughed at the remark and said “Oh, so now you think you are Mr. Fancy-Pants since you got some new expensive clothes huh Baer? Well I hate to break it to you, but changing your clothes doesn’t change who you are.” At first I thought Karou was talking to me, but as he addressed Baer I felt a little more at ease as I let out a quiet sigh. “Is that coming from the voice of experience I wonder? Anyways let’s be moving on to the weapon shop. I wonder if they sell the Blazen Karas Tome here. I’ve been searching for that master piece for quiet some time now, but no one seems to know where to get it. It’s rumored whoever can get their hands on that book will be able to learn the spell words for a powerful fire based spell that can either act as a shield to protect the caster or an ally or it can be molded into an smaller disc shape to throw at an enemy to cause fire based damage from a distance.” Baer said looking like he was day dreaming in euphoria while we walked. I was halfway expecting Baer to run into something like a trashcan or the side of a building, but he was somehow able to dodge any obstacle that came into his path towards the weapon shop. I couldn’t figure out how exactly he managed to do so in his state of bliss, but maybe it was something I did best not know. The world was full of unanswered freak phenomenon after all, and this was probably one of those things.