The Hidden World of Nitea [2 | The Other Realms Series]

Chapter Twenty

Grimelda flattened the wrinkles on her clothes as she entered PANACEA1. She strode through the doorway. At once, all brewmasters inside the laboratory halted and faced her. A sea of defeat swept over them.

Grimelda sighed. "Another failed batch?"

They nodded their heads.

"Just when we need them the most," she muttered to herself. It was the third successive time that they had failed to produce a single vial of first-class panacea. She then inquired, "What about the next batch?"

"It will be ready in fifteen days," one of them replied.

"We did manage to make second-class panaceas though," another stated. "PANACEA2 also managed to brew a dozen bottles of third-class panaceas."

Grimelda pressed a hand against her forehead. "A quarter of you, continue working on the next batch. Another quarter, transform the waste. The rest of you, help the other brewmasters in brewing Panacea GSH."

They obeyed her at once. While the other brewmasters scurried to their spots, Grimelda walked towards her private laboratory. Her apprentice was already waiting inside. He bowed as soon as she entered. She made her way to her work desk.

"Master Grimelda?" the apprentice called for her attention.

"What is it, apprentice?" she asked.

"Masters Ipso and Penn requested an urgent meeting with you. They're waiting outside the apothecary right now."

"Have you told them that I'm busy?"

"I have. They want to talk to you about the Panacea GSH. They say it's... not a panacea."

Master Grimelda screwed up her face in bewilderment. If the potion they had been brewing was not a panacea, then what was it? A poison? She commanded him, "Bring them here."

The apprentice bowed before he left the room. He returned a short while later. Master Ipso and Master Penn walked through the door, each carrying a thin tablet with one arm. Their bloodshot eyes spelled fretfulness and fatigue.

"Thank you, apprentice," Grimelda said. "Now leave us alone."

The apprentice left the room. As soon as the door closed, she spoke, "What is it?"

"It's about the invisible text," Master Penn answered her. "Remember when one of your students asked a Realm Seeker to transcribe the invisible text on the parchment? At the end of her notes is a poem and, after some analysis, I think we're actually brewing a liquid map."

"A liquid map?"

"A map to a panacea, not the panacea itself," Master Ipso elaborated. "It took me and Penn a couple of days to decipher its meaning."

"Can you show it to me, please?"

The two stepped forward at the same time, later retreating upon noticing that the other had advanced. Master Ipso and Master Penn exchanged glances. The latter gestured. Master Ipso then paced towards Grimelda. He held up his tablet. He tapped and swiped on its screen as he navigated to his copy of Stella's notes. When he had reached the final page, he handed it to Grimelda for her to view.