Remember those old PSAs about not mixing drugs and alcohol because there's no way to know the effects it might have on your body? Turns out it's the same with potions. Unfortunately the message came a bit too late to all those adventurers who decided to down as many as they could while invading my lair.

Don't worry, I took in the newly made slimes, Golems, and Chimeras, and put them to work replacing the staff I lost~

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4) 'Fluid’

“Is this it?” You questioned as you held the small vial high, looking at its shimmering orange interior.

“Mhmm. That potion will give you what you want. Dragon for the next couple days. But, I will warn you, I can't control what kind you’ll become. It's different for every person. You still want to take the risk?” The female alchemist questioned from behind the counter, putting away the cash you'd just paid her.

“Absolutely! Oh… they're going to be so surprised when I show up to the party” you chuckled, before downing the vial, immediately feeling it get to work, filling your body with a magical warmth.

“Hey hey hey! Not indoors! Do it outside! I am not chancing a 20 foot dragon suddenly appearing inside my store!” They protested

“Oh, don't worry. I'll be fine. What's the harm?” You said as you backed away towards the door, before a loud gurgle and somersault in your stomach forced you to stop.

Your body felt warm, no, hot. Too hot. You were boiling up! In fact, you could literally see your stomach starting to glow red as heat radiated off it. Against your better judgement, you attempted to feel your belly, only to wince and quickly recoil back as pain shot through your fingers. It was like touching a stove!

A gurgling noise turned your attention back from your singed fingers, as you noticed the skin around your belly harden and start to become translucent, turning into sculpted glass! And through the new window, you could see the potion boiling and bubbling away, filling every inch of your lower torso. And it was growing, you could feel it slowly seeping down into your legs, as you watched the glassification(?) spread down across them, making them wider, your feet expanded out into large glass talons that creaked against the wooden floor, the molten potion pooling in their hollow interiors.

With a loud creaking sound, a large conical tail pushed out from behind you, barely missing a nearby shelf, and already filling with the bubbling fluid.

“Okay! Out out!” The shopkeeper exclaimed, rushing over and trying to push you out of her store, only to immediately stop as your back suddenly heated up, the glass spreading across it, revealing bubbles of the potion slowly rising and falling within your chest, patches of glass spawning wherever they touched. From your back, two draconic wings spawned. Well, to call them wings was a bit of a misnomer, as they were far to small and heavy to ever carry you off the ground, more decorative attachments than anything

More bubbles floated up from your belly, brushing against the insides of your shoulders and chest as you felt them start to harden, glass slowly flowing down your arms, before halting at your hands, which fused together into three curved claws that clinked together with every slight movement.

Your interior continued to bubble away as you stared down at yourself in awe, still too distracted by the changes to notice the shopkeeper, who at this point had grabbed some oven mitts and begun slowly pushing your hollow form towards the doorway. Bubbles rose and fell, each wave slowly converting your neck to glass, making it slightly longer, more reptilian, until-

A bubble finally drifted up through your serpentine neck, reaching your head as it too turned to glass, your hair frozen in time forever atop your scalp, as two large curved horns pushed their way out, and your ears melted into the sides of your skull, vanishing completely. Your eyes blinked for the last time as they too hardened into glass, looking like cat's eye marbles. Or would they be dragon's eye in this case?

Despite the changes seeming to be almost over, the potion was far from done, as somehow your glass body became even hotter, pressure building as it slowly expanded, once again forcing the unfortunate shopkeeper back. Your clothes didn't stand a chance, torn to shreds and burnt to a crisp, leaving you completely naked, not that there was anything to see besides your new bubbling interior.

Pressure and heat built like a volcano, bubbles of orange and scarlet surging up your throat, until- “Fwoosh!” A small jet of the magma-esc liquid spewed forth from your jaw, splattering against the wooden floor of the shop, before immediately burning through it. A few stray drops dripped from your mouth as it pushed out into a jagged snout, your teeth fusing with your lips to create a single set of rounded fangs, and your tongue hardened against the floor of your new maw.

“Aww… great. You didn't consume any other substances before coming here, did you?” The shopkeeper interrogated as they stared down at the smouldering hole in their floor.

“Oh… I… uh… might have… had something on the way… but it was just an energy booster, I swear!” You said defensively, bubbles rapidly rising and falling within your torso

The shopkeeper tutted “You cannot mix potions! No matter how ‘minor’ you think they might be, mixing them will create unforeseen results! As you have so discovered. I don't know what other effects it could've had on your body, or how long the effects will last… it could even be permanent”

That outlook shocked you. “But you can fix it, right? Please? I don't want to be some large… lava lamp, dragon forever!”

“Well, maybe, but I'm going to need to keep you here to study it. And you have to pay off my ruined floor. So, how about you work for me? You can run the store while I work on your cure. Plus, someone of your… current build is perfect to draw in customers. Just how many stores can say they have a dragon? It's genius…” she didn't seem to be listening to you anymore, lost in her own thoughts as she muttered to herself. But you also didn't have any other choice. They were the only skilled alchemist for miles, and you certainly weren't going to walk to the next one in this body.

With a flustered groan, you gave in “Fine… I'll do it. But just make it quick”

“Great! There's uniforms in the back. I doubt any will fit you, but nothing lost by trying! And then you can start by bottling up that… mess.” She said, gesturing vaguely to the still bubbling and smouldering puddle.

True to her word, none of the usual uniforms fit you, so you had to resort to just wearing a jacket like a sleeveless vest and embarrassingly make your way back out, the Shopkeeper having to stiffen a laugh at the sight. “Oh, heh, don't worry, I'll work on getting you a better uniform tomorrow.”

Trying to hide her grin, she gestured to a corner of the store “Empty vials are over there. Try and scoop up as much as you can, and I'll use that to start researching a cure. Then just mop up the rest using the spill bucket there. I'll, heh, be in the back if you need me” she said, before scurrying off through the back door. Even through the solid oak, you could hear her muffled peals of laughter, your glass snout turning red, before you let out a deep breath, exhaling steam, as you set to work. This was going to be a long week…