Help! I'm asexual and trapped in a dating sim!

Chapter Sixteen

This was much harder than I had anticipated. I'd imagined that potions couldn't be too difficult-- it was just following instructions, like cooking or the kind of science experiments you did in high school-- but I'd forgotten one crucial thing about this world. No scales.

"Add one handful of crushed radix roots to the cauldron," the professor called.

I looked at the heap of mushed up roots on my chopping board. How much was a handful? I had absolutely no idea. Hands were different sizes, goddammit! Why didn't they have more precise measurements? Even in ancient times on Earth there was at least some way of weighing things.

The answer was probably magic-- that seemed to be the answer for most things in this world. There was probably some kind of skill that let people know exactly how much of everything there was.

Unfortunately, I did not have that skill, so I poked at the pile with a sigh.

The root was mushy and horrible to the touch, and I couldn't help the grimace that spread across my face as I touched it. Caleb, who had snatched up the desk next to me the moment we entered the classroom, sidled up to my side.

"Nasty?" he asked sympathetically. I nodded, and he nudged me with his hip.
"Just tell me, yeah? I don't mind getting my hands dirty. I'll do the manky bits for you."

I beamed at him. "Really?"

"Sure I will!"

Having friends really was great, especially if they were willing to do your dirty work for you. It really was a stark contrast between this world and my last, in terms of people. And in terms of everything else, too-- I missed electricity. And phones. Magic could replace many of the modern conveniences that I was used to, but I really wanted my phone back. I hadn't had a chance to try gaming on whatever device thing Seth had been using, and I missed that too.

"You alright, Lee?"

"Hm?" I looked up to see Caleb, looking at me with a concerned expression.

"You looked a little sad, that's all."

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

I shook myself back into the moment. Apart from modern conveniences, there wasn't really anything else about Earth to miss. My family had practically disowned me once they got a biological son and my friends were only online. Really, the only thing I had that meant anything to me was my bow, and now I had the chance to potentially own that in real life!

Caleb grimaced as he plunged his hand into the pile of roots.

"Wow. You really crushed these up good, huh, Lee?"

"Yes."

I stared at him awkwardly for a moment. What was I meant to reply to that with? I had indeed crushed the roots well, like I had been told to do. I wasn't going to have my potion fail from lumpy roots.

He didn't seem to notice the awkwardness as he dropped the roots into my potion with a plop.

"Thanks, Caleb."

I picked up my stirring stick-- basically a long pole made of some purplish metal that, as I had learnt very quickly, you were not allowed to stab people jokingly in the gut with-- and began to vigorously mix the roots into the liquid. Well, liquid was a stretch. More like sludge.

"Lee!"

The piercing voice of the teacher rang out across the classroom, causing quite a few heads to turn my way.

"Have you even read the instructions? Don't stir that fast!"

I glanced at the instructions again. 'Stir moderately', it said. I thought that moderately meant medium. Was that wrong?