Liam walked down the road with a head full of new alchemy ideas, a lighter wallet, and a fuller inventory. He had found out from Abby that the best place to gather the ingredients he needed for Medicinal Creations were located in the assigned crafting area located on the Southern side of the Island, the same section the Crafting Association was on.
He had asked her how popular the place was and if there was competition for harvesting the ingredients he would need to find, but she shook her head and said that Medicinal Creations wasn’t the most sought after section of Alchemy and many who were focused on or specialized in it were not on the island. If there were anyone looking for the ingredients then they were either just passing the time or they were hired by merchants so they could sell them to lazy Alchemists who didn’t like harvesting their own ingredients.
Liam chuckled at that last part. After talking with the little Tabby Cat-folk girl he had started to understand she really loved Alchemy. She also really like those who were in the craft and put in the work, not just the crafting, but the harvesting of ingredients as well.
She just might grow up to be one hell of an Alchemist if she keeps it up. Liam thought to himself before stopping in front of a giant sign that stood on the edge of town.
The sign was just letting people know this was the edge of town and a designated crafting and harvesting area for crafters. There was a warning that Poison Crafting and Chemicalized Creations were prohibited along with Construction Crafting that went beyond small structures that couldn’t be broken down.
Seeing that portion of the sign reminded him that he still hasn’t worked on that craft yet. He really didn’t have a need for it yet besides setting up a campsite.
He looked up in to the sky and noticed the sun was starting to go down. He estimated that he still had at least less than an hour before the sun started to set. He’d have to harvest as much ingredients as he could before the sun set so he could find a place to set up his mobile crafting station and a small campfire so he would have some light.
He could use the stations that were set up over to the side. He said stations, but they were really tables spread out for crafts that needed them as well as a few poor looking anvils and forges. After looking at them though he decided it was best to use his Mobile Crafting ability since it would be better and he could level it up.
“Looks like I’ll need to hurry,” Liam muttered to himself before making his way into the forest looking area.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Liam walked up to a clearing in the middle of the forested area he was in. He could hear the sound of waves crashing off in the distance making him know he was close to the ocean. The sun had already set, and he was surrounded by darkness. The trees were spread out giving enough space between them to allow Liam to see the dark sky.
He wasn’t blind to the darkness though. His Dark Sight racial ability allowed him to see better in the darkness. The more he used it the more experience he was able to gain and level it up. The higher the level the ability got the better he was able to see in the dark.
It was thanks to this ability he didn’t need any lamps or fire to see ingredients on the ground as he looked for a suitable spot to make a campfire and set up his Mobile Crafting station.
As he walked into this clearing he looked around and saw the ground was a mixture of grass with large patches of dirt. The crowns of the trees around him didn’t cover over, but instead circled around this small clearing.
He believed this spot to be perfect since he didn’t want anything to catch fire nor have the smoke from the fire be blocked by branches or leaves, limiting his breathing to smoke fumes.
He activated his Small Creations Knowledge to see the best place to set the fire camp and how to set one up without any issues. This got the ability to level up to level three after he got the pit dug, the wood placed, and the fire lit.
After he set that up, he focused on his Mobile Crafter ability.
“Which would you like to use? Available Crafting Stations – Alchemy (Small), Blacksmithing (Small). Unavailable Crafting Stations – Tailoring (Small), Cooking (Small).”
Looks like I have all the required equipment for a small Blacksmithing Crafting Station like I thought. Liam thought as he read over the available list. He then noticed the new entry in the Unavailable Crafting Stations. Artem will be pleased to know about this. Liam then grew a sad smile as he continued his thoughts. If I ever see him again.
He mentally clicked on the Alchemy station and watched as the familiar ethereal outline appeared before him. He moved the outline around with his vision until he found a close enough spot to the fire before the colored outline turned red.
He accepted the spot and watched as a stone structure emerged from the ground and molded itself into a desk. The Alchemy equipment that had appeared last time he used the ability also appeared in place.
He was curious on if he could place more equipment onto the stone desk and pulled out a stand and a Cucurbit and placed it on the surface. A new notification appeared after he placed them down.
“Warning! Extra equipment detected on surface of Mobile Crafter – Alchemy (Small) Crafting Station. Note – extra equipment are not secured to station. Can and will fall off of station if Crafter is not careful. To prevent possible equipment from breaking please level Class Ability – Mobile Crafter to level 10 to add more equipment to station’s safety locks.”
Liam stared at the red notification and read it a few times. This notification helped him understand some things about this ability. First, it confirmed that he was able to place more equipment on the crafted desk. Second, the equipment the Mobile Crafter used for the station was secured so if there was an earthquake then they wouldn’t go flying. Lastly, if he leveled the ability then he could add more equipment to the station.
“That’s all good things to know,” Liam muttered to himself. He then pondered, “Are the secured equipment indestructible then since they are secure or is it just so they don’t go sliding off the table?”
Liam’s brows furrowed. “It would be great if I could find someone else who had a Crafter Class as their starting class. Then maybe I could get some ideas on how to use this ability better and what the limits are.”
Liam then shook his head as he stated, “Oh well, I’ll just figure it out as I go. For now, let’s get to crafting.”
Liam pulled out a few empty vials and placed them in one of the small vial racks. He then placed vials filled with different colored liquids. These ones had both the Weak and Minor Qualities of Minty Shallow Bell Extracts, Blueberry Lily Crowns Extracts, and Orange Canarina Bell Extracts he needed to make his Weak and Minor Minty Health Potions, Blueberry Mana Potions, and Orange Stamina Potions.
He wanted to make a few batches of the three to showcase tomorrow, however, as he was walking earlier in the city he came across some fruits he didn’t see in the Tutorial area and wanted to try them out to help grow the flavor bases of the potions.
He pulled out one of each of the three fruits he wanted to try and looked at them. One was a green apple. The second was a small thing of grapes. The last was a tangerine.
He knew he was sticking to a color theme by choosing these fruits for each type of potion, but that was only to see if they would work.
He took out a small knife and cut the apple into small diced portions. After he did this he pulled five decent sized grapes and then peeled the tangerine.
After he finished that he pulled out six flowers. The first two were the violet bell-shaped flowers known as the Shallow Bell. The next two were stems with several small white bell shaped flowers running up the stem called Lily Crowns. The last two were a red with orange stripped bell shaped flowers called the Canarina Bell.
Each of these flowers held different types of restorative properties. For now, since he could only make weak and minor potions the stems were the only parts needed. The weak extracts only needed one stem to make, but the minor extracts needed two stems. He worked on plucking off the bulbs of each flower and placed the bulbs down next to the separated stems so he wouldn’t forget which were which.
He had done that once. He mixed two different stems without realizing it. The extract name was so convoluted that he didn’t even want to remember it. The color of the extract looked like it was in constant flux that it wasn’t sure what color it wanted to stay as.
For fun he decided to try and make it into a potion and the results were both surprising and confusing.
“Minor Potion of Health or Stamina. Item Type – Consumable (Potion). Item Rarity – Poor. Item Quality – Minor. Item Description – A potion that can give either health or stamina. It’s a gamble on which effect will be given. Good Luck.”
He remembered the look Galin gave him when he showed him the potion. He was both intrigued and disappointed Liam wasn’t paying attention. Alicia had laughed so hard she was crying and made fun of him for messing an easy potion up. Galin had told him not to make the same mistake because no one would buy those types of potions and would label him as an erratic Alchemist.
Suffice to say Liam didn’t listen and made random types of potions similar to that one for fun.
He let out a small chuckle before setting back to the task before him. He added two of the Shadow Bell Stems, a quarter of the diced apple, and some purified water. After he corked it he placed it on the Vial rack that held the empty vials.
He then put two Lily Crowns stems, five grapes, and purified water into another vial. Since the grapes were a bit bigger than the blueberries he had used before he wasn’t sure if five or six was a good amount. If five wasn’t enough he would try six. He then corked it and placed it next to the apple Shallow Bell vial.
Lastly he then wrapped three tangerine peels onto each of the Canarina Bell stems and placed them into a vial with purified water. After corking it, he sett it next to the other two vials in the empty rack.
While he waited for the extraction process to go with the three experiments he got ready to make a Minor Minty Health Potion.
He grabbed two vials of Minor Minty Shallow Bell Extracts and poured them into the Cucurbit. He then poured in a small amount of purified water. After that he softly chanted as he held an open hand, palm up, in front of him, “Come forth heat of flames and burn the pyre I set before you. Become the tool that will help in my endeavor. Light and Burn.”
A small flame flickered alive over his palm. He moved the flame to his index finger before guiding it to the small rod that was underneath the Cucurbit called a Bunsen burner. After the flame settled above the open end of the Bunsen Burner, Liam reached for the knob on the side of the metal rod and adjusted the flame to the right size.
He then waited to make sure the process would work smoothly and watched as the liquid started to bubble slowly. After confirming it was going to work as it should he readied a second set of Cucurbit, Alembic, Bunsen Burner, and a medium sized beaker.
After he got everything set in the right place he grabbed two Minor Blueberry Lily Crowns Extracts and poured them into the Cucurbit. After he did that he grabbed a Minor Arcane Mana Extract from his inventory and poured it in as well. Once when the contents were poured in he added some purified water into the mix.
Because this one had an extra ingredient, the Minor Arcane Mana Extract, Liam had to make sure the amount of both that ingredient and the purified water were similar so they would mix just right.
Arcane Mana Extract was an ingredient he made through the process of adding his Arcane Mana and purified water. He had to make sure the right amount of Arcane Mana would mix with the water as the extraction process was going on. Just like when he made the Weak Lightning Mana Extract for the first time, he needed to make sure he had a stable amount of Arcane Mana being extracted for the type of extract he needed to make.
If he didn’t put enough in there was a chance the extraction would fail or turn into a Weak Arcane Mana Extract. Put too much in and the vial would be too unstable, and it would explode in his face.
In the beginning it wasn’t easy to make these extracts, but after some practice though he was beginning to get a better feel for the Weak and Minor ones. He’d have to get used to the Average level ones when he got to that level. For now, he’ll continue practicing.
After he got the Bunsen burner going for this potion he watched to make sure it would process smoothly. After he confirmed there were no issues or irregularities he looked for something he could use as a seat. Off in the distance was a chopped log tall enough for him to tip it over to its side and use as a chair.
He pulled it closer to the desk and sat down. He then pulled out his newly bought ‘Grind it, Smush it, Wet it, Work it. Salves and Balms for the Beginner Medicinal Creator’ Knowledge Theory Book and opened it up to start reading.
The first section of the book talked about the different types of Medicinal Creation items. They were Salves, Ointments, Balms, Pills, and Tonics. It explained a little of what each item was used for. It also talked about the pros and cons of salves and why people used them when a potion could help better in certain situations.
He felt the answer to that last part was very informational. While Salves healed less and weren’t instantaneous versus a potion that healed more and was instantaneous, they were a heal over time effect item that covered over an open wound.
Some salves could restore both health and stamina as well reduce aches and pains. And lastly, if your health isn’t low enough that a health potion was worth using and your health regeneration wasn’t that good, a salve could boost that HP regen and help save your potions.
That alone was good enough to learn how to make these. As Liam read more into the book he noticed the section he was currently on only talked about Salves. It even gave him a few recipes for both Weak and Minor salves.
Since he hasn’t put in any work for Medicinal Creations before this, he focused on the weak recipes.
“Item – Weak Healing Salve. Ingredients: 3 Shallow Bell flowers, 3 Canarina Bell flowers, 2 splashes of Weak Shallow Bell Extracts, and 2 splashes of Weak Canarina Bell Extracts.
Instructions – Place a Shallow Bell flower (Petals and all minus the stem) and a Canarina Bell flower (Petals and all minus the stem) into the mortar and smash with pestle until it turns into a paste. After that splash a small amount of Weak Shallow Bell Extract and a splash of Weak Canarina Bell Extract. Mix the liquid and the paste together for a minute then throw in another Shallow Bell flower and a Canarina Bell flower and smash it until it becomes another paste. Then add another splash a small amount of Weak Shallow Bell Extract and a splash of Weak Canarina Bell Extract. Mix the liquid and the paste together for another minute then throw in the last Shallow Bell flower and the last Canarina Bell flower and smash it until the consistency and texture is smooth and creamy.
Effects – Heals any open wound salve is spread upon. Restores 15 Health and Stamina per 10 seconds for the next minute.”
Liam stared at the effects the salve gave. He knew the effects weren’t all that great since they were only at Weak Quality, but he wasn’t expecting them to be this bad. The book was right to include the information on the pros and cons of salves and why people used them when they could just use potions instead.
The two good things he could say about this weak salve though were it could heal open wounds and it restored both health and stamina instead of just one.
Liam let out a sigh. He really hoped the effects got better as the quality grew.
He was about to start making his first Medicinal Creation until a few echoes chimed in his mind.
“Congratulations! You have received Knowledge Theory – Medicinal Creations for Beginners! Knowledge Theory – Medicinal Creations for Beginners has reached level one! Progression to level 2: 0%!”
“Congratulations! Weak Apple Shallow Bell Extract has finished extracting!”
“Note – Sufficient ingredients detected to further Weak Apple Shallow Bell Extract to Minor Apple Shallow Bell Extract. If you wish to continue Extraction process to try and make Minor Apple Shallow Bell Extract then do not move contents out of vial.”
“Congratulations! Weak Grape Lily Crowns Extract has finished extracting!”
“Note – Sufficient ingredients detected to further Weak Grape Lily Crowns Extract to Minor Grape Lily Crowns Extract. If you wish to continue Extraction process to try and make Minor Grape Lily Crowns Extract then do not move contents out of vial.”
“Congratulations! Weak Tangerine Canarina Bell Extract has finished extracting!”
“Note – Sufficient ingredients detected to further Weak Tangerine Canarina Bell Extract to Minor Tangerine Canarina Bell Extract. If you wish to continue Extraction process to try and make Minor Tangerine Canarina Bell then do not move contents out of vial.”
Liam’s brows furrowed as he read the new notifications. He was happy that his experimenting had worked, but he noticed something odd about it.
He stared at it and kept trying to think about what it was that was nagging at the back of his brain. After thinking about it for so long he finally realized what it was that was bugging him.
When he first made the Minty Shallow Bell Extract, Blueberry Lily Crowns Extract, and Orange Canarina Bell Extract he had received notifications saying he had discovered a new Extraction ingredient. The fact he didn’t see that pop up with these new notifications told him that the extractions were not new at all. This confused Liam.
He was told that no one would waste their time looking to make flavored potions so these extract ingredients should be new. However, to see they weren’t meant that there were people who made flavored potions. This contradicted everything Galin had told him back in the Tutorial Area.
Did Galin lie to me? Liam thought to himself.
“Did Galin lie to you about what? – Eri.”
I was told that no one made flavored potions because it’s not cost efficient and that some of the ingredients are expensive. Liam stated.
“Pfft. That’s an obvious lie. Flavored potions were always a thing before I got locked up. I don’t know what happened to change that, but it sounds like something or someone is restricting flavored potions for some reason. – Eri.”
You think so? I guess we’ll find out sooner or later once when I try to sell these. Liam stated before looking over at the Minty Health Potion and Blueberry Mana Potion being made. They were both about a quarter done.
Liam nodded confirming he still had time to work on something before he had to prevent the flames from burning an empty Cucurbit.
He summoned his goggles over his head and pulled down on them. The shadows that wrapped around the lens slowly spread out to the sides of his head, allowing him to see through the lens. After they were placed and set he then grabbed the mortar and pestle and placed it in front of him near the ingredients he needed to make his first Salve.
He opened the book and propped it in place so he could see the recipe.
Liam shifted all of his attention on what he needed to do as he grabbed the violet bell shaped flower from the Shallow Bell flower pile and placed it into the mortar. He then grabbed the reddish orange bell shaped flower from the Canarina Bell flower pile and tossed it over the other flower in the mortar.
Liam then grabbed the crude looking pestle with his right hand. It was a solid circular stone piece. It was small with no hand holds and wasn’t decorative like the ones he saw at the Cat’s Paw-ldron. The length of it was slightly longer than his hand. He held the tool like he was holding a dagger with the bigger end closer to his pinky and the smaller end close to his index.
He stared at it and noticed that both ends barely stuck out from his hand. He wasn’t entirely sure how he was supposed to grip it, but he knew that if he held it this way he’d barely get the bigger end of the pestle into the mortar. He readjusted the pestle allowing it to slide down his palm, a little more towards the pinky side of his hand.
He then took his free hand and held the mortar in place as he pushed the pestle down on top of the flowers. He then moved it a bit before bringing it back up and pushing down on another part of the flowers he didn’t smush.
He continued doing this for a couple of minutes until the contents looked like they were some kind of paste. He then sat the pestle down and looked at his vial rack full of Extracts.
As he stared at them he realized he didn’t have any regular Weak Shallow Bell or Canarina Extracts. He only had the flavored ones. He didn’t want to waste any time waiting for regular ones to process so he figured he’d try the recipe out with the flavored ones and see what happened.
He reached for a Weak Minty Shallow Bell Extract. He popped open the cork and tipped it over carefully not to let a lot of the contents pour out. He tapped his hand in a swift motion once when the liquid had reached the edge of the vial and pulled back so not a lot spilled out.
He wasn’t sure how much a splash was, but he figured it was supposed to be enough to wet it a bit. He corked the vial, placed it back in the slot it was in and repeated the process with the Weak Orange Canarina Extract.
After he put the extract back, he grabbed another Shallow Bell flower and Canarina Bell flower and placed them into the mortar. He then pressed down on the flower heads as slowly as he could, trying not to send any of the liquids out from the bowl. However, he didn’t need to worry as the liquid from the two extracts seeped into the paste he had made from pressing the pestle down over and over.
After the flower heads had disappeared from the continuous pressing and smashing of the pestle, Liam noticed the color of the paste start to change as well as the texture of the contents.
Liam grabbed one of the two Weak extracts he was using and splashed a little more of the liquid into the mortar. He repeated the process with the other one before placing the last two flower heads in.
He then spent a few more minutes twisting, pressing, and smashing the contents until a notification suddenly appeared.
“Congratulations! You have unlocked the Medicinal Creations section in Alchemy! Medicinal Creations has reached level 1! Progression to level 2: 3%!”
“Congratulations! You have discovered a new Salve recipe!”
“Congratulations! You have discovered a new Salve creation!”
“New Salve item - Weak Orange Mint Healing Salve! Item Type – Medicinal (Alchemy). Item Rarity – Poor. Item Quality – Weak. Item Description - Heals any open wound salve is spread upon. Restores 15 health and stamina per 10 seconds for the next minute. Has an Orange Mint scent to it.”
Liam stared at the contents within the mortar and was amazed and shocked that it had worked. He wasn’t sure what the results were going to be since he was using a different extract ingredient, but it had resulted in a new discovery.
Liam smiled as he stared down at the creation. He focused so much on it he didn’t notice that something was on the other side of his crafting station until a sad calm deep voice stated, “I am surprised you were successful creating the salve with that poor technique you used.”
Being taken completely off guard, Liam let out a very loud and surprised yell.
Liam walked down the road with a head full of new alchemy ideas, a lighter wallet, and a fuller inventory. He had found out from Abby that the best place to gather the ingredients he needed for Medicinal Creations were located in the assigned crafting area located on the Southern side of the Island, the same section the Crafting Association was on.
He had asked her how popular the place was and if there was competition for harvesting the ingredients he would need to find, but she shook her head and said that Medicinal Creations wasn’t the most sought after section of Alchemy and many who were focused on or specialized in it were not on the island. If there were anyone looking for the ingredients then they were either just passing the time or they were hired by merchants so they could sell them to lazy Alchemists who didn’t like harvesting their own ingredients.
Liam chuckled at that last part. After talking with the little Tabby Cat-folk girl he had started to understand she really loved Alchemy. She also really like those who were in the craft and put in the work, not just the crafting, but the harvesting of ingredients as well.
She just might grow up to be one hell of an Alchemist if she keeps it up. Liam thought to himself before stopping in front of a giant sign that stood on the edge of town.
The sign was just letting people know this was the edge of town and a designated crafting and harvesting area for crafters. There was a warning that Poison Crafting and Chemicalized Creations were prohibited along with Construction Crafting that went beyond small structures that couldn’t be broken down.
Seeing that portion of the sign reminded him that he still hasn’t worked on that craft yet. He really didn’t have a need for it yet besides setting up a campsite.
He looked up in to the sky and noticed the sun was starting to go down. He estimated that he still had at least less than an hour before the sun started to set. He’d have to harvest as much ingredients as he could before the sun set so he could find a place to set up his mobile crafting station and a small campfire so he would have some light.
He could use the stations that were set up over to the side. He said stations, but they were really tables spread out for crafts that needed them as well as a few poor looking anvils and forges. After looking at them though he decided it was best to use his Mobile Crafting ability since it would be better and he could level it up.
“Looks like I’ll need to hurry,” Liam muttered to himself before making his way into the forest looking area.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Liam walked up to a clearing in the middle of the forested area he was in. He could hear the sound of waves crashing off in the distance making him know he was close to the ocean. The sun had already set, and he was surrounded by darkness. The trees were spread out giving enough space between them to allow Liam to see the dark sky.
He wasn’t blind to the darkness though. His Dark Sight racial ability allowed him to see better in the darkness. The more he used it the more experience he was able to gain and level it up. The higher the level the ability got the better he was able to see in the dark.
It was thanks to this ability he didn’t need any lamps or fire to see ingredients on the ground as he looked for a suitable spot to make a campfire and set up his Mobile Crafting station.
As he walked into this clearing he looked around and saw the ground was a mixture of grass with large patches of dirt. The crowns of the trees around him didn’t cover over, but instead circled around this small clearing.
He believed this spot to be perfect since he didn’t want anything to catch fire nor have the smoke from the fire be blocked by branches or leaves, limiting his breathing to smoke fumes.
He activated his Small Creations Knowledge to see the best place to set the fire camp and how to set one up without any issues. This got the ability to level up to level three after he got the pit dug, the wood placed, and the fire lit.
After he set that up, he focused on his Mobile Crafter ability.
“Which would you like to use? Available Crafting Stations – Alchemy (Small), Blacksmithing (Small). Unavailable Crafting Stations – Tailoring (Small), Cooking (Small).”
Looks like I have all the required equipment for a small Blacksmithing Crafting Station like I thought. Liam thought as he read over the available list. He then noticed the new entry in the Unavailable Crafting Stations. Artem will be pleased to know about this. Liam then grew a sad smile as he continued his thoughts. If I ever see him again.
He mentally clicked on the Alchemy station and watched as the familiar ethereal outline appeared before him. He moved the outline around with his vision until he found a close enough spot to the fire before the colored outline turned red.
He accepted the spot and watched as a stone structure emerged from the ground and molded itself into a desk. The Alchemy equipment that had appeared last time he used the ability also appeared in place.
He was curious on if he could place more equipment onto the stone desk and pulled out a stand and a Cucurbit and placed it on the surface. A new notification appeared after he placed them down.
“Warning! Extra equipment detected on surface of Mobile Crafter – Alchemy (Small) Crafting Station. Note – extra equipment are not secured to station. Can and will fall off of station if Crafter is not careful. To prevent possible equipment from breaking please level Class Ability – Mobile Crafter to level 10 to add more equipment to station’s safety locks.”
Liam stared at the red notification and read it a few times. This notification helped him understand some things about this ability. First, it confirmed that he was able to place more equipment on the crafted desk. Second, the equipment the Mobile Crafter used for the station was secured so if there was an earthquake then they wouldn’t go flying. Lastly, if he leveled the ability then he could add more equipment to the station.
“That’s all good things to know,” Liam muttered to himself. He then pondered, “Are the secured equipment indestructible then since they are secure or is it just so they don’t go sliding off the table?”
Liam’s brows furrowed. “It would be great if I could find someone else who had a Crafter Class as their starting class. Then maybe I could get some ideas on how to use this ability better and what the limits are.”
Liam then shook his head as he stated, “Oh well, I’ll just figure it out as I go. For now, let’s get to crafting.”
Liam pulled out a few empty vials and placed them in one of the small vial racks. He then placed vials filled with different colored liquids. These ones had both the Weak and Minor Qualities of Minty Shallow Bell Extracts, Blueberry Lily Crowns Extracts, and Orange Canarina Bell Extracts he needed to make his Weak and Minor Minty Health Potions, Blueberry Mana Potions, and Orange Stamina Potions.
He wanted to make a few batches of the three to showcase tomorrow, however, as he was walking earlier in the city he came across some fruits he didn’t see in the Tutorial area and wanted to try them out to help grow the flavor bases of the potions.
He pulled out one of each of the three fruits he wanted to try and looked at them. One was a green apple. The second was a small thing of grapes. The last was a tangerine.
He knew he was sticking to a color theme by choosing these fruits for each type of potion, but that was only to see if they would work.
He took out a small knife and cut the apple into small diced portions. After he did this he pulled five decent sized grapes and then peeled the tangerine.
After he finished that he pulled out six flowers. The first two were the violet bell-shaped flowers known as the Shallow Bell. The next two were stems with several small white bell shaped flowers running up the stem called Lily Crowns. The last two were a red with orange stripped bell shaped flowers called the Canarina Bell.
Each of these flowers held different types of restorative properties. For now, since he could only make weak and minor potions the stems were the only parts needed. The weak extracts only needed one stem to make, but the minor extracts needed two stems. He worked on plucking off the bulbs of each flower and placed the bulbs down next to the separated stems so he wouldn’t forget which were which.
He had done that once. He mixed two different stems without realizing it. The extract name was so convoluted that he didn’t even want to remember it. The color of the extract looked like it was in constant flux that it wasn’t sure what color it wanted to stay as.
For fun he decided to try and make it into a potion and the results were both surprising and confusing.
“Minor Potion of Health or Stamina. Item Type – Consumable (Potion). Item Rarity – Poor. Item Quality – Minor. Item Description – A potion that can give either health or stamina. It’s a gamble on which effect will be given. Good Luck.”
He remembered the look Galin gave him when he showed him the potion. He was both intrigued and disappointed Liam wasn’t paying attention. Alicia had laughed so hard she was crying and made fun of him for messing an easy potion up. Galin had told him not to make the same mistake because no one would buy those types of potions and would label him as an erratic Alchemist.
Suffice to say Liam didn’t listen and made random types of potions similar to that one for fun.
He let out a small chuckle before setting back to the task before him. He added two of the Shadow Bell Stems, a quarter of the diced apple, and some purified water. After he corked it he placed it on the Vial rack that held the empty vials.
He then put two Lily Crowns stems, five grapes, and purified water into another vial. Since the grapes were a bit bigger than the blueberries he had used before he wasn’t sure if five or six was a good amount. If five wasn’t enough he would try six. He then corked it and placed it next to the apple Shallow Bell vial.
Lastly he then wrapped three tangerine peels onto each of the Canarina Bell stems and placed them into a vial with purified water. After corking it, he sett it next to the other two vials in the empty rack.
While he waited for the extraction process to go with the three experiments he got ready to make a Minor Minty Health Potion.
He grabbed two vials of Minor Minty Shallow Bell Extracts and poured them into the Cucurbit. He then poured in a small amount of purified water. After that he softly chanted as he held an open hand, palm up, in front of him, “Come forth heat of flames and burn the pyre I set before you. Become the tool that will help in my endeavor. Light and Burn.”
A small flame flickered alive over his palm. He moved the flame to his index finger before guiding it to the small rod that was underneath the Cucurbit called a Bunsen burner. After the flame settled above the open end of the Bunsen Burner, Liam reached for the knob on the side of the metal rod and adjusted the flame to the right size.
He then waited to make sure the process would work smoothly and watched as the liquid started to bubble slowly. After confirming it was going to work as it should he readied a second set of Cucurbit, Alembic, Bunsen Burner, and a medium sized beaker.
After he got everything set in the right place he grabbed two Minor Blueberry Lily Crowns Extracts and poured them into the Cucurbit. After he did that he grabbed a Minor Arcane Mana Extract from his inventory and poured it in as well. Once when the contents were poured in he added some purified water into the mix.
Because this one had an extra ingredient, the Minor Arcane Mana Extract, Liam had to make sure the amount of both that ingredient and the purified water were similar so they would mix just right.
Arcane Mana Extract was an ingredient he made through the process of adding his Arcane Mana and purified water. He had to make sure the right amount of Arcane Mana would mix with the water as the extraction process was going on. Just like when he made the Weak Lightning Mana Extract for the first time, he needed to make sure he had a stable amount of Arcane Mana being extracted for the type of extract he needed to make.
If he didn’t put enough in there was a chance the extraction would fail or turn into a Weak Arcane Mana Extract. Put too much in and the vial would be too unstable, and it would explode in his face.
In the beginning it wasn’t easy to make these extracts, but after some practice though he was beginning to get a better feel for the Weak and Minor ones. He’d have to get used to the Average level ones when he got to that level. For now, he’ll continue practicing.
After he got the Bunsen burner going for this potion he watched to make sure it would process smoothly. After he confirmed there were no issues or irregularities he looked for something he could use as a seat. Off in the distance was a chopped log tall enough for him to tip it over to its side and use as a chair.
He pulled it closer to the desk and sat down. He then pulled out his newly bought ‘Grind it, Smush it, Wet it, Work it. Salves and Balms for the Beginner Medicinal Creator’ Knowledge Theory Book and opened it up to start reading.
The first section of the book talked about the different types of Medicinal Creation items. They were Salves, Ointments, Balms, Pills, and Tonics. It explained a little of what each item was used for. It also talked about the pros and cons of salves and why people used them when a potion could help better in certain situations.
He felt the answer to that last part was very informational. While Salves healed less and weren’t instantaneous versus a potion that healed more and was instantaneous, they were a heal over time effect item that covered over an open wound.
Some salves could restore both health and stamina as well reduce aches and pains. And lastly, if your health isn’t low enough that a health potion was worth using and your health regeneration wasn’t that good, a salve could boost that HP regen and help save your potions.
That alone was good enough to learn how to make these. As Liam read more into the book he noticed the section he was currently on only talked about Salves. It even gave him a few recipes for both Weak and Minor salves.
Since he hasn’t put in any work for Medicinal Creations before this, he focused on the weak recipes.
“Item – Weak Healing Salve. Ingredients: 3 Shallow Bell flowers, 3 Canarina Bell flowers, 2 splashes of Weak Shallow Bell Extracts, and 2 splashes of Weak Canarina Bell Extracts.
Instructions – Place a Shallow Bell flower (Petals and all minus the stem) and a Canarina Bell flower (Petals and all minus the stem) into the mortar and smash with pestle until it turns into a paste. After that splash a small amount of Weak Shallow Bell Extract and a splash of Weak Canarina Bell Extract. Mix the liquid and the paste together for a minute then throw in another Shallow Bell flower and a Canarina Bell flower and smash it until it becomes another paste. Then add another splash a small amount of Weak Shallow Bell Extract and a splash of Weak Canarina Bell Extract. Mix the liquid and the paste together for another minute then throw in the last Shallow Bell flower and the last Canarina Bell flower and smash it until the consistency and texture is smooth and creamy.
Effects – Heals any open wound salve is spread upon. Restores 15 Health and Stamina per 10 seconds for the next minute.”
Liam stared at the effects the salve gave. He knew the effects weren’t all that great since they were only at Weak Quality, but he wasn’t expecting them to be this bad. The book was right to include the information on the pros and cons of salves and why people used them when they could just use potions instead.
The two good things he could say about this weak salve though were it could heal open wounds and it restored both health and stamina instead of just one.
Liam let out a sigh. He really hoped the effects got better as the quality grew.
He was about to start making his first Medicinal Creation until a few echoes chimed in his mind.
“Congratulations! You have received Knowledge Theory – Medicinal Creations for Beginners! Knowledge Theory – Medicinal Creations for Beginners has reached level one! Progression to level 2: 0%!”
“Congratulations! Weak Apple Shallow Bell Extract has finished extracting!”
“Note – Sufficient ingredients detected to further Weak Apple Shallow Bell Extract to Minor Apple Shallow Bell Extract. If you wish to continue Extraction process to try and make Minor Apple Shallow Bell Extract then do not move contents out of vial.”
“Congratulations! Weak Grape Lily Crowns Extract has finished extracting!”
“Note – Sufficient ingredients detected to further Weak Grape Lily Crowns Extract to Minor Grape Lily Crowns Extract. If you wish to continue Extraction process to try and make Minor Grape Lily Crowns Extract then do not move contents out of vial.”
“Congratulations! Weak Tangerine Canarina Bell Extract has finished extracting!”
“Note – Sufficient ingredients detected to further Weak Tangerine Canarina Bell Extract to Minor Tangerine Canarina Bell Extract. If you wish to continue Extraction process to try and make Minor Tangerine Canarina Bell then do not move contents out of vial.”
Liam’s brows furrowed as he read the new notifications. He was happy that his experimenting had worked, but he noticed something odd about it.
He stared at it and kept trying to think about what it was that was nagging at the back of his brain. After thinking about it for so long he finally realized what it was that was bugging him.
When he first made the Minty Shallow Bell Extract, Blueberry Lily Crowns Extract, and Orange Canarina Bell Extract he had received notifications saying he had discovered a new Extraction ingredient. The fact he didn’t see that pop up with these new notifications told him that the extractions were not new at all. This confused Liam.
He was told that no one would waste their time looking to make flavored potions so these extract ingredients should be new. However, to see they weren’t meant that there were people who made flavored potions. This contradicted everything Galin had told him back in the Tutorial Area.
Did Galin lie to me? Liam thought to himself.
“Did Galin lie to you about what? – Eri.”
I was told that no one made flavored potions because it’s not cost efficient and that some of the ingredients are expensive. Liam stated.
“Pfft. That’s an obvious lie. Flavored potions were always a thing before I got locked up. I don’t know what happened to change that, but it sounds like something or someone is restricting flavored potions for some reason. – Eri.”
You think so? I guess we’ll find out sooner or later once when I try to sell these. Liam stated before looking over at the Minty Health Potion and Blueberry Mana Potion being made. They were both about a quarter done.
Liam nodded confirming he still had time to work on something before he had to prevent the flames from burning an empty Cucurbit.
He summoned his goggles over his head and pulled down on them. The shadows that wrapped around the lens slowly spread out to the sides of his head, allowing him to see through the lens. After they were placed and set he then grabbed the mortar and pestle and placed it in front of him near the ingredients he needed to make his first Salve.
He opened the book and propped it in place so he could see the recipe.
Liam shifted all of his attention on what he needed to do as he grabbed the violet bell shaped flower from the Shallow Bell flower pile and placed it into the mortar. He then grabbed the reddish orange bell shaped flower from the Canarina Bell flower pile and tossed it over the other flower in the mortar.
Liam then grabbed the crude looking pestle with his right hand. It was a solid circular stone piece. It was small with no hand holds and wasn’t decorative like the ones he saw at the Cat’s Paw-ldron. The length of it was slightly longer than his hand. He held the tool like he was holding a dagger with the bigger end closer to his pinky and the smaller end close to his index.
He stared at it and noticed that both ends barely stuck out from his hand. He wasn’t entirely sure how he was supposed to grip it, but he knew that if he held it this way he’d barely get the bigger end of the pestle into the mortar. He readjusted the pestle allowing it to slide down his palm, a little more towards the pinky side of his hand.
He then took his free hand and held the mortar in place as he pushed the pestle down on top of the flowers. He then moved it a bit before bringing it back up and pushing down on another part of the flowers he didn’t smush.
He continued doing this for a couple of minutes until the contents looked like they were some kind of paste. He then sat the pestle down and looked at his vial rack full of Extracts.
As he stared at them he realized he didn’t have any regular Weak Shallow Bell or Canarina Extracts. He only had the flavored ones. He didn’t want to waste any time waiting for regular ones to process so he figured he’d try the recipe out with the flavored ones and see what happened.
He reached for a Weak Minty Shallow Bell Extract. He popped open the cork and tipped it over carefully not to let a lot of the contents pour out. He tapped his hand in a swift motion once when the liquid had reached the edge of the vial and pulled back so not a lot spilled out.
He wasn’t sure how much a splash was, but he figured it was supposed to be enough to wet it a bit. He corked the vial, placed it back in the slot it was in and repeated the process with the Weak Orange Canarina Extract.
After he put the extract back, he grabbed another Shallow Bell flower and Canarina Bell flower and placed them into the mortar. He then pressed down on the flower heads as slowly as he could, trying not to send any of the liquids out from the bowl. However, he didn’t need to worry as the liquid from the two extracts seeped into the paste he had made from pressing the pestle down over and over.
After the flower heads had disappeared from the continuous pressing and smashing of the pestle, Liam noticed the color of the paste start to change as well as the texture of the contents.
Liam grabbed one of the two Weak extracts he was using and splashed a little more of the liquid into the mortar. He repeated the process with the other one before placing the last two flower heads in.
He then spent a few more minutes twisting, pressing, and smashing the contents until a notification suddenly appeared.
“Congratulations! You have unlocked the Medicinal Creations section in Alchemy! Medicinal Creations has reached level 1! Progression to level 2: 3%!”
“Congratulations! You have discovered a new Salve recipe!”
“Congratulations! You have discovered a new Salve creation!”
“New Salve item - Weak Orange Mint Healing Salve! Item Type – Medicinal (Alchemy). Item Rarity – Poor. Item Quality – Weak. Item Description - Heals any open wound salve is spread upon. Restores 15 health and stamina per 10 seconds for the next minute. Has an Orange Mint scent to it.”
Liam stared at the contents within the mortar and was amazed and shocked that it had worked. He wasn’t sure what the results were going to be since he was using a different extract ingredient, but it had resulted in a new discovery.
Liam smiled as he stared down at the creation. He focused so much on it he didn’t notice that something was on the other side of his crafting station until a sad calm deep voice stated, “I am surprised you were successful creating the salve with that poor technique you used.”
Being taken completely off guard, Liam let out a very loud and surprised yell.
