Chapter 6
Inside a room in the castle.
Looking at the materials covering the table and the unopened box before her, Mo Xi’s eyes filled with satisfaction.
Although the risk of extorting them this time had been rather high, the corresponding rewards were almost terrifyingly lucrative.
“I thought they’d only give me ten portions of materials to start with. I never expected them to give me thirty.” Looking at the materials on the table, Mo Xi could barely contain her delight.
At first glance, these thirty portions of materials might not seem like much. But what if Mo Xi told you they were actually enough for nearly a hundred?
As an apothecary, Mo Xi knew the list she’d drawn up wouldn’t fool a real master. But since the castle’s mistress had to hire an apothecary to help her, she clearly knew nothing about Potioncraft.
So, by taking advantage of this information gap, Mo Xi had secured enough materials to gain nearly a hundred portions’ worth of Potioncraft experience. That experience was precious to her, since it could improve her skill.
Of course, Mo Xi, caught up in her delight, hadn’t forgotten the greatest reward of all. After a moment to prepare herself, she decisively opened the box.
There was no dazzling display of light or hidden trap. The box simply opened without fanfare, revealing the equipment inside.
[Academic Gloves (Damaged)]
Quality: Green—Growth Type
Origin: Greedy Maw
Durability: 27/30
Rating: 30 (Note: Green-quality equipment is rated from 10 to 30. Green equipment with a rating of 30 comes with an additional effect.)
Spell Attack: 17–32 points (affected by the strength of the wearer’s skills)
Effect—Clarity: Mana recovery speed +15%
Effect—Devour: Can consume equipment of the same quality to gain advancement progress. When the progress is full, this equipment’s quality can be upgraded.
Additional Effect—Knowledge Companion: Increases the rate at which all knowledge abilities improve by 10% when equipped.
Equipment Requirements: Intelligence 8 or higher, Charisma 8 or higher, Constitution 8 or higher.
Description: These gloves were left behind by a certain sage. It is said that once they are repaired, the wearer will learn all knowledge.
Price: 6,000 Paradise Coins
After reading the equipment panel, Mo Xi felt a little dazed. The only word she could use to describe these gloves was “elegant.”
Mana recovery, growth potential, and faster improvement of knowledge abilities—each of these effects was useful on its own. Put all three on a single piece of equipment, and it was practically a god-tier item for a mage!
Mo Xi had once seen a blue-quality melee weapon with a similar effect at the trading market. Its starting bid had been 50,000 Paradise Coins...
Without hesitation, Mo Xi equipped the gloves.
As her mind suddenly felt much clearer, Mo Xi found it far easier to control the energy within her. It was like a wage slave who’d been working 996—or even 007—suddenly getting a full night’s sleep. It felt as if the whole world had changed.
“All right, next up: potions.”
Mo Xi looked at the materials on the table and began carefully setting up her workspace.
First, she needed to set up the beginner’s alchemy table, which the Paradise sold for 9.9. To be clear, an alchemy table really was just a table. The only difference from an ordinary one was that it was perfectly flat.
Next, she had to grind the specified amounts of each material into powder and thoroughly combine them with a potion solution using a Life-attribute base. During this process, she needed to manually apply mana to catalyze the reaction, linking the desired potion factors while watching for any reaction among the useless ones. If there was none, she could move on to purification and bottling.
Finally, seal it up, and the potion was done.
Put simply, the main challenge in brewing low-level potions was catalyzing the reaction. Amid all those scattered factors, using mana to link the potion factors was like playing Pac-Man.
The higher one’s Potioncraft level, the easier the Pac-Man stage; the two were inversely related.
Maybe the abundance of materials gave Mo Xi confidence, or maybe the equipment was helping. Whatever the reason, she was in excellent form while brewing her first potion.
When she finished, Mo Xi looked at the potion before her—a far cry from a “Crude Potion”—and felt a deep sense of accomplishment.
Recovery Potion
Quality: White (Common)
Origin: Tiny Nightmare—Castle
Rating: 8
Effect: Slowly restores 10% of Health.
Description: The earnest work of a certain Potioncraft apprentice.
Price: 50 Paradise Coins (Cannot be taken out of the world)
Looking at the pure-green potion and its decent effect, Mo Xi finally felt that she was truly brewing a potion, rather than mixing up a batch of murky sludge.
“It’s just a shame that potions brewed with materials from inside the world can’t be taken out.” Mo Xi sighed regretfully as she set the potion aside.
The success of her first potion greatly boosted Mo Xi’s confidence. She began brewing one potion after another. She failed quite a few times along the way, but she kept a positive attitude and continued.
As the materials on the table dwindled, Mo Xi’s Potioncraft experience rose rapidly, and her success rate climbed along with it.
Gradually, Mo Xi’s attention grew more and more focused. Her once-clumsy technique became practiced, and the quality of her potions steadily improved. Only when she reached for more materials without thinking and found nothing there did she slowly come back to herself.
“Phew~”
After letting out a breath, Mo Xi rubbed her temples. Keeping her attention fixed on such precise work took a heavy toll on her mental energy.
Just as Mo Xi was about to check her success rate, a special potion immediately caught her eye.
“What’s this?”
Life Potion
Quality: Green (Sublimation)
Origin: Tiny Nightmare—Castle
Rating: 30
Effect: Permanently increases Constitution by 1 point.
(Note: The permanent increase granted by this recipe can only be triggered once per person, and has no effect on a Constitution of 49 or higher.)
Description: A work that surpasses perfection!
Price: 2,500 Paradise Coins (Cannot be taken out)
At a single glance, Mo Xi understood just how absurdly valuable this potion was.
A permanent attribute boost!
Even if a person could only use it once, one point was still one point.
As Mo Xi stared in astonishment, she suddenly seemed to realize something and sucked in a sharp breath.
“Hiss, wait... Didn’t I just use nearly a hundred portions of materials? Even if the 33% chance of triggering Sublimation only applies when brewing successfully, the odds of getting one in a hundred tries are way too low!”
Unable to accept that her luck could be this bad, Mo Xi thought it over for a long time. In the end, she could only blame her pathetic Luck stat of -1.
“Forget it. Bad luck is bad luck. At least I raised Potioncraft from LV2 to LV6, and even unlocked a potion recipe along the way.” Mo Xi leaned back in her chair and sighed helplessly.
That’s right. Brewing potions often required a recipe. Without one, it was difficult for an apothecary to concoct potions at a low level.
Hmm...
Still, unlocking a recipe didn’t always mean she could brew the potion. Mo Xi’s ability to turn the Recovery Potion’s slow 10% restoration into the Crude Potion’s chance to drain health was proof enough.