Korak

The more she considered the option, the more her resolve strengthened. She'd made a deal with the System that she'd go beyond the given quest to drink just one today, that she'd drink all five instead; why wait? It had to happen, she was alone right now, and she'd just eaten breakfast. 

There wouldn't be a better opportunity.

Taking a deep breath, she locked the door of the office (sorry, dad, she thought in his direction) and laid a blanket over the floor. After her evolution had created such a mess, she wasn't sure what to expect. Then, she brought the room's small trash can to the center, where she sat cross-legged. 

She opened her inventory and took out the five bottles, setting them side-by-side within reach. 

Deep breath in, deep breath out.

"Here we go," she mumbled, grabbing a bottle and downing it in one go. It tasted just how it looked -- exactly like water.

She didn't hear or see any notifications, but when she went to look at the empty bottle in confusion, she saw that her right hand's thumb was now green. "Ahk!!" She yelped in surprise. "What the heck?"

[Interesting, interesting. Next one!]

What? That was it? All it did was change her thumb color? When the System didn't respond and nothing else happened, Alesha bit her lip and resigned herself to continue. She didn't know what was up with the Mystery Potion still not identifying itself as anything in particular. It did lead her to suspect, however, that each potion was a different kind. 

Tossing the first bottle into the trash, she grabbed the next. Down the hatch it went. 

This time, with the characteristic Ding! A notification appeared:

[You are now carnivorous.]

Alesha blanched. What?! "System! You knew this would happen! I'm fully freaking carnivorous now?! What in the seven hells is this?!" 

After laughing heartily for several seconds while Alesha fumed, the System finally responded. [No, I promise, I had no idea this would happen, it's just, it's just too funny!!! The irony is killing me! A potion that can do anything, and it does this?! Hahahhahhahaha!]

Wait… a potion that can do "anything?"

"What do you mean, 'a potion that can do anything?'" Alesha asked suspiciously.

[Exactly that! I wasn't sure before you ingested it, but these Mystery Potions are distilled Chaos Energy, or perhaps more accurately Chaos Essence, that can affect the drinker with an incredible variety of possible effects! I think after just a few more doses I'll be able to learn more about the stuff. Please, continue, this is quite enjoyable.]

Alesha wasn't sure if she wanted to continue now. But she'd promised, and she really didn't want to find out what the System would do if she went back on her word. Now that bodily possession was a potential quest failure penalty, she kind of felt like her whole life, perhaps even her family, was being held hostage by the System to get her to comply.

[Clever girl…] the System cooed. 

She tossed the second bottle and drank a third. 

[Host is now immune to fire damage]

This one made Alesha splutter. Immune to fire damage?! IMMUNE?! Holy crap that was overpowered!! Finally, something good!

[Amazing! Simply amazing!!] The System enthused. [This is even better than I hoped for! Keep going!]

Bolstered by this success, Alesha downed another Mystery Potion.

[Host now has an alternate form: Pink Panther. See Skill: Form Shift for details.]

"Uhhh okay…? Why specifically a pink one, though?" Alesha wondered, confused.

Meanwhile, the System was having a hoot. [Pink panther? Pink panther?! Hahahhahahah! But which one, are we taking a shot in the dark? Or maybe it's time to get some 'Amboogers? Hahahhahaah!]

"... What in Elantris's third hell are you talking about?" Alesha finally asked, completely lost. Had the System totally lost it?!

[Don't worry about it,] the System laughed, [You wouldn't understand.]

Rolling her eyes, Alesha grabbed the last bottle and drank it. The System felt like a completely alien being at times like this.

[Host will now find the act of eating fire to be immensely calming.]

"... Huh?"

[You're absurdly lucky that you got that one after becoming immune to fire,] the System stated.

"...Yeah, I guess I am," Alesha replied calmly. It wasn't guaranteed that the last potion's effect would have come with fire immunity or at least resistance, but with what the System had just said, it sounded ilke it wouldn't have. Even though the Mystery Potions' effects had all been either objectively harmless or absurdly beneficial, as long as you ignored that she was carnivorous now, the System had said 'anything' could happen.

"So, did you learn anything more about the Mystery Potion after I drank the rest of those?"

[I did indeed! You drank just enough for me to learn the important parts about what that potion is.]

When the System didn't elaborate, Alesha rubbed her forehead and asked for clarification.

[Ah, you should have said you wanted the details!]

"You knew full well that I wanted details!! You're just being obstinate today," she complained.

[Mayhaps… hehe. Ahem. So, this potion that you can "create," or perhaps more accurately, "manifest," is the distilled, barely contained liquid form of pure Chaos Energy. There are theoretically limitless possibilities of what could happen when you drink it, but the most probable effects number around a thousand. It's not an accurate number because some of those thousand pieces are further divided into smaller parts. The potion's name is Korak. Unlike unbridled Chaos Energy, it cannot and will not affect nonliving matter.]

[Another way in which Korak differs from Chaos Energy is that by dividing itself into these more-or-less set possible effects, the potential changes wrought by the potion skyrocket in how powerful they can be. For example, if a human were to be exposed to raw Chaos Energy, they would not be able to become fully immune to fire like you were. At best, they'd become resistant to fire damage. However, if a human were to do what you did and ingest the distilled and organized/bridled form of Chaos Energy known as Korak, they could experience what you did and lose their innate vulnerability to fire entirely. Creating and abiding by a unique set of laws allows Chaos Energy to affect those it touches in more powerful ways.]

Alesha smiled wryly. For having been so reluctant to start telling her about what it had learned, Rogork was sure chatty about the subject now.

[Perhaps the most significant difference between Chaos Energy and Korak, in your eyes, is that Korak is relatively safer for normal humans than pure Chaos Energy. You were extremely lucky that Dennis's body was slowly adapting to the Chaos Energy and didn't reject it entirely, thereby killing him. Of course, while I would've loved this next possibility, you'd probably hate it just as much: his body could have fully embraced the Chaos Energy and caused him to mutate far more quickly, fully becoming another species before you ever had a chance to find out he'd been exposed to Chaos Energy.]

Alesha shivered. Yeah, that was definitely a worst-case scenario she was very very glad to have avoided. "You're right about that… Dennis got really lucky, that's for sure. I want to clarify something, though. You said Korak is actually 'relatively safer' for normal humans than pure Chaos Energy. What did you mean by that exactly?"

[Pure Chaos Energy has a high probability of causing instant death to normal humans upon exposure. Korak does not.]

Simple enough. No "high probability of causing instant death" definitely qualifies as safer!!

[Ah, right, I forgot this. Here ya go:]

[Ding! Quest Completed!]

[Quest: Try the Mystery Potion! (x5)

Goal: Drink all 5 Mystery Potions today

Quest Conditions: Drink all 5 Mystery Potions by 22:00 tonight

Reward: System's Gratitude, ???]

[I realized that I never technically showed you the updated quest screen, but you figured it out just fine so I'm not gonna apologize for that. Just take your well-deserved quest rewards and be happy!]

[Rewards Granted! System's Gratitude, ???]

[??? Granted …]

As Alesha was processing this new message, she began to feel extremely sleepy. What the…? 

Her eyes now heavy and her body suddenly sluggish, Alesha started to crawl over to the mattress on the floor that served as her bed. She didn't make it before falling to her side, vision blurry through her eyelashes, her whole self warm with the kind of exhaustion that comes at the end of a long day. 

Wow, it had been a while since falling asleep felt this nice…