"STOP!" Striding into his laboratory, Aliester was surprised to find Suzette there tossing bottles and pouring his precious ingredients into various jugs or beakers with no respect for measurement - and actually juggling with full bottles! Zephyr was behind her, stirring a huge pot of boiling mug wort leaves with one hand, and what smelled like chicken soup with the other.

Suzette smiled over her shoulder as she picked up a jug of blue liquid and poured it into eight potion bottles without looking.

"Can't stop Aliester, you know that.

I'm in the middle of making potions.

It will ruin the batch.""Ruin what batch? How do you even know what you're making?"After she had stoppered two dozen bottles of various colors.

Suzette wiped her hands and turned on the stool to face Aliester.

"I'm sensing some hostility here.

Didn't you ask me to help you catch up on your potions for all the dungeon delvers?""I will admit to asking, yes.

But that is not the proper way to measure ingredients and you know it.

None of those will turn out correctly.

And why in the name of the Golden Order are there bubbles inside those bottles."

There was a proper way to do Alchemy, and while he had no idea what Suzette was doing, it wasn't proper!Suzette looked up at Aliester and smiled at him.

It was like the sun came out, and he had to remind himself he was married.

"Tell you what, I'll finish this batch while you watch.

Then you can check my work.

If they're bad I'll pay for them and go back to the old way.

But if the potions are good..." "They won't be.

They can't be.

They have bubbles!""But if the potions are good, you have to learn how I'm doing it and help me perfect it.

Deal?""Deal.

There is no way those are properly mixed."Suzette glanced at the two dozen potion bottles that were rapidly fermenting.

"Oh, well if you are so sure, how about we make it a real wager? You wife is making her cherry and rhubarb pie tonight.

I'll wager my piece of pie against yours." There was a gasp from Zephyr.

This was getting serious.Aliester was fond of pie and never gained weight.

This was a very good deal for him "I accept.

I'm looking forward to eating your slice in front of you."Over the next half hour, Suzette took four bottles at a time, uncorked them, and placed them on the heating pad until they reached the correct temperature for adding her mana to the mix.

Each one turned the traditional shade of red, blue, or yellow that signified a good potion.

Aliester then tested each one for quality.

As the last one was analyzed and identified, the alchemist grumbled something under his breath."I'm sorry, Aliester, I didn't hear that correctly, can you repeat that?""I said, and I repeat, You Cheated! Now show me how you did it.

You weren't even measuring!"Suzette shook her head.

"Nope, don't need to.

Once I've used a recipe, I can always toss the right amount of ingredients into the mix.

It's a barmaid skill called Mixology - let’s me put drinks together fast.

What are potions except fancy magic drinks?""And the fermentation?""Oh, that's more complicated." Suzette pulled a small notebook out of her apron.

"Notice that in each potion we have a base of alcohol and water.

You even showed me the method for turning a bottle of wine into a weak potion in an emergency.

My conjecture was that rather than starting with alcohol, I'd ferment it from the natural sugars and the potion ingredients.

Most ingredients are plant based and some are even fruit.

So, I started with those, some raw honey, and wine yeast.

The wine cantrip makes them ferment quickly and seems to bring out the effects of the ingredients.

Then I follow it up with empowering the potions in the normal way."Aliester studied her notes.

"I see, you are using brewing techniques to...brew potions...dammit, that seems so obvious when you put it that way.

How did you figure it out?"Zephyr wave her hand.

"She didn't daddy, I did."Suzette nodded her agreement with the girl, "Zephyr's been helping me out at the tavern and learning some of the brewing.

One day she said how nice it would be if we could brew potions in barrels the way we brew beer.

That got us brainstorming."

"We started mixing up the two systems and made a hell of a mess down in the basement.

Once we got the basics down, we worked over here with small batches and figured out how to perfect the process.

By my estimation I'm using about half the normal mana and the potions need twenty-five percent more ingredients to make, but also are fifty percent more effective.""And we have a new beer recipe.

We have a 2-gallon cask of lager that's aging over at the tavern.

Once we bottle it up it should make some nice healing potions.""Healing beer? And the advantage of that?""Normal potions all taste medicinal, these taste like beer.

Plus, they should go down nice after a boss battle.

Obviously better." Suzette racked the potions on the wall and started to clean up."Oh no, not so fast." Aliester began pulling out ingredients and grabbed another dozen empty bottles.

"If you're stealing my dessert, then you have to earn it.

I want to work through the whole process again so I understand it." He had a few points left from their dungeon diving.

He couldn't believe he was going to toss them away to learn brewing cantrips.

Zephyr could tell that dinner was going to be a bit late.

She made a snack for her mother and came back to assist with teaching an old dog a few new tricks.

Suzette thought the pie was especially tasty that night.

So was all the experience she'd gained from a week of playing mad scientist, making a lot of messes and creating a couple of small explosions.

You have successfully merged knowledge from Brewing and Alchemy to enhance each profession.

You have gained 500 experience in AlchemyYou have gained 100 experience in BrewingYou have gained 50 experience in HermeticsYou have gained 50 experience in Hedge wizardYou have gained 100 experience in TeachingFor pioneering a new type of Alchemy, enhanced by Brewing, you have earned a one-time bonus of +5 Core Skill Points.For pioneering a new type of Brewing, enhanced by Alchemy, you have earned a one-time bonus of +5 Core Skill Points.You have gained the following recipes that you may teach to others:- Honey Brewed Healing Potion- Honey Brewed Stamina Potion- Honey Brewed Mana Potion- Healing Beer