Lukas couldn’t be happier to have a second level up in one day. Not only that, but he’d gained a race level as well, and, going off the timing of when he gained that level, he guessed that race level was an average of both class levels. Seeing as he didn’t have a second class yet, being level zero by default, it felt like a safe guess.
The extra stats given from the race level were also nice, making him all the more powerful. For someone so low leveled, his stats were looking great thanks to his titles, making Lukas confident in taking on anyone several levels above him. He had already been doing that with beasts and monsters, but he hadn’t understood the power gap then, and he wasn’t sure he did now.
None of that mattered at the moment, however; he was in a safe place with no enemies to fight. Though, thinking back to all the kill notifications he’d received, Lukas wondered just how much experience he’d missed out on just because he didn’t have a class at the time.
Shaking his head free of the distracting thoughts, Lukas quickly dumped his three free points into wisdom for a larger mana pool, and got back to work. Standing from his spot at the lab table, he went over to the sink and, like many times before, dumped the failed concoction down the drain. Once back in his seat he continued to make failed potion attempts one after another like his life depended on it.
Lukas was so close to having it down; each craft came closer to success than the last, but that just meant every failure got more dangerous and more mana hungry. He took the hits and plowed ahead, refusing to let a few burns stop him. What could stop him was running out of mana, which he did. That wasn’t to say he only got a few attempts in; in fact, he got plenty despite how much mana he was wasting.
When the inevitable happened and Lukas ran out, he decided to call it for the day. It was disappointing to not have made his first potion yet, but he was buoyed by the goddess’s assurance that he was making quick progress for someone in his situation. Besides, he already knew he wasn’t likely to succeed that day anyway.
Leaving the lab behind, Lukas headed for the bedroom and the shower. He hadn’t cleaned himself in a few days, having been so consumed by his alchemy, and now he really needed to. He was covered in the foul goop that resulted from the failed mana potions, layers caked over one another creating an unholy amalgam of stench. It covered his skin and clothes, even managing to get in his hair. He wasn’t exactly smelling his best at the moment.
Entering the bedroom, Lukas slipped off his boots before striding into the bathroom. He was about to take off his clothes and get into the shower when he froze, remembering something the goddess had said: “I’ve been watching you since you entered…”
Lukas had already showered before, multiple times actually. Did that mean the goddess had watched him? Narrowing his eyes, he panned his gaze around the room, as if to look for hidden cameras.
At once a presence flooded the room, and with it came a voice: “I’m not going to watch you shower,” the amused voice teased, “unless you want me to, that is.”
Lukas’ head whipped around wildly, startled and trying to find the speaker. He was still alone, and he assumed the goddess had spoken with some kind of god-like power she had.
“Please don’t,” he pleaded aloud.
The presence disappeared as quickly as it came, leaving behind a faint sense of amusement.
Lukas could only sigh, knowing full well that no matter what the goddess said, he would have no idea whether or not she was watching him. With that in mind, he showered quickly, not lingering under the warm, cleansing water despite how much he wanted to.
Stepping out, he threw on some clothes from his inventory before making his way towards the bed. He was almost out the door when he caught himself in the mirror. He was nice and clean and all that, but what caught his eye was the mask he’d completely forgotten he was wearing.
Lukas stared at his reflection, slightly unnerved by the faceless figure that looked back. The mask made him seem like some kind of weird movie monster, and he kind of liked it. It was intimidating and unnerving, at least Lukas hoped it was. He wasn’t sure what the people of this world found unsettling, but he hoped the mask would make people less likely to ask questions.
The last thing he needed was anyone showing interest in him; that’d be a good way to get outed as an outworlder while trying to acclimate to this new world. No, better to be unapproachable, even if people thought he was some brooding weirdo.
Pulling himself away from the mirror, Lukas finally made his way to the bed, succumbing to sleep not much later. When he awoke hours later, he felt wholly refreshed, and ready to make a potion. He could feel it: by the time he slept next, he’d have created a mana potion. Mostly because he wouldn’t let himself sleep until he had succeeded.
With confidence in his step, Lukas entered the garden to refill his supply of ingredients before heading towards the lab. Once there, he sat himself down and got to work.
For the next few hours, Lukas wasted resources like no tomorrow, smashing his head into a brick wall until he made his way through. He made progress that only seemed to get slower and slower, like a lengthy download made with bad internet.
Multiple breaks had to be taken whenever Lukas ran out of mana; during these times, he’d go over his notes and meditate to consolidate and regenerate mana faster. It was during these times he contemplated every attempt he’d made so far, all the failures, setbacks, and things he learned, using everything to get closer to his goal.
Eventually, everything came together, but barely, as Lukas almost let it slip through his fingers once he realized this could be it. The roiling, swirling blue liquid settled, turning a pleasant light blue, the same color as the petals in the flowers used. A faint scent worked its way under the mask, filling Lukas’ nose with the smell of blueberries. A new notification awaited Lukas, and he didn’t hesitate to read it.
[Mana Potion (Lesser)] - Has been successfully crafted. This is a new creation, providing extra experience.
Unable to hold back a smile, Lukas moved towards a nearby cabinet filled with empty potion vials. Grabbing a few, he filled as many as he could with his first creation. He was only able to fill two bottles since much of the water and energy had burned off in the wildly inefficient process. It was a number that would have him labeled as a dunce, but Lukas did not care because he’d finally done it.
Stoppering vials, Lukas held them up and identified them:
[Mana Potion (Lesser)] - Restores 23 mana when consumed.
It wasn’t a lot; in fact, it gave less mana than it took to make, and the lesser rarity wasn’t good either, considering he’d used common ingredients to make. Still, Lukas didn’t care. It was just the first of many, and he planned on making them the best he possibly could.
Seeing that his mana was low and unable to help himself, Lukas instantly downed the liquid from one of the vials. As the potion passed down his throat, his mana pool instantly shot up by 23 points.
Smacking his lips, Lukas looked at the now empty vial in his hand. “Tastes like blueberry juice,” he noted.
Putting the remaining potion and empty bottles in his inventory, Lukas turned to the empty cauldron. Now it was time to really get to work. He could feel another level coming close thanks to all the extra experience gained from making his first mana potion, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to stop now.
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Lukas got straight back to work, his next few attempts failing as he lost control of the energies. He was a bit down about it, the failures raining on his parade. The party-pooping didn’t last long though, as he made one final attempt before running out of mana, and this time he had another success, and with it came a level.
[Mana Potion (Lesser)] - Has been successfully crafted. Experience earned.
Level gained: [Combat Alchemist] has reached level 3 - Stat points allocated.
Once again, Lukas only collected two potions from the attempt, but these gave 25 mana instead of 23, a tiny improvement but an improvement nonetheless. Smiling to himself once more, he put the potions away before being forced to take a break.
Going into the bedroom, Lukas checked his growing stats and put his free points into wisdom, resulting in a mana pool of 390. With that taken care of, he meditated for about an hour, at which point he took out one of his potions, downed it, and returned to the lab.
For what Lukas assumed was the next twelve hours or so, he turned into a potion making machine. He still failed a lot and the quality of the potions were still lacking, but he was making them. Now that he was actually making potions, he got a greater feel for the mana control needed and improved faster than before.
Slowly the number of failed creations declined as Lukas made more successful attempts. He was getting into the groove of things, as the quality of the potions increased. The process was becoming more efficient as he continued to grow more comfortable with the feel of the mana and other energies. It meant a slightly greater mana expenditure, but in return each potion restored even more mana.
Progress was not linear over the hours nor had it been in the days prior. There were setbacks as Lukas realized that one technique or another wouldn’t be suitable for long term growth. He’d have to start over, going back to the rickety foundations he’d built and figure out how to secure and build on them.
It was a tricky and frustrating experience, but Lukas knew it would all pay off in the end. Besides, whenever he overcame an obstacle he was filled with a rush of dopamine similar to whenever he got past a particularly difficult step in a puzzle. And that’s all this was, just a big puzzle Lukas wanted to solve.
Lukas only stopped his frenzied crafting session when he ran out of mana and meditated, or whenever he gained a new level in order to check his progress and allocate his free points. And with all the successful crafts and improvements he was doing, the levels were coming in. He had noticed that the speed in which he gained experience was slowing. It wasn’t really a surprise as he was only making lesser rarity mana potions, and it only made sense that there would be some kind of limiter.
It was this limiter that slowed his progress to level five down to a crawl. Eventually, though, Lukas managed to bulldoze his way into the new level, and this time something else came along with the stat points.
[Mana Potion (Lesser)] - Has been successfully crafted. Experience earned.
Level gained: [Combat Alchemist] has reached level 5 - Stat points allocated.
New ability earned: [Amber Eye of the Alchemist] - Ability: In the study of alchemy energy flow is supreme, and is what separates the good from the great. With your eyes turned to amber, all things get caught in them. This ability allows you to better see the magical energies around you passively. Allows you to slow your perception of time while focusing on crafting to better understand the flow of magical energies for a low mana-per-second cost. Mana cost: Low
Lukas barely managed to register the new and long notification before a painful prickling sensation began poking at his eyes. With a grunt, Lukas began blinking his eyes, but the poking quickly turned into a vicious burn like both his eyes had dozens of hairs in them. He brought his hands to his face to try to rub at them, but was stopped when his hands hit his mask. With another grunt, Lukas ripped off the mask, tossing it onto the table as he held his hands to his pain-filled eyes. Tears began to drip down his cheeks, and the burning intensified, drawing out more pain-filled hisses and groans.
Lukas continued to rub at his eyes to no avail, cursing and swearing all the while, and wondering why the hell his eyes felt like they were being melted. Thankfully, the burning sensation only lasted around a minute. As the pain began to fade, he tried opening his eyes and found his vision blurry.
Wiping the tears away, Lukas opened his eyes to find he wasn’t alone anymore. “Jesus Christ!” he yelled, nearly jumping to the ceiling in startled surprise.
Across from him, the goddess couldn’t help but smile.
***
Andrea, Kalic, Derek, and Naiome fought a beast in the complex forest environment not far from a small farming village. They had taken an open contract to help with the increased number of monsters and beasts in the area.
The group had already been in the village for a few days and had had their fair share of fights. Thankfully, the fights weren’t too difficult, the village not being so far into the forest as to have anything really dangerous nearby. That didn’t mean they couldn’t find a challenge, however.
At that very moment they were fighting a high mid-tier copper Pine Brute, a beast that barely qualified to fight low coppers. At least it wasn’t a Vipercat; if they had to face one of those, they likely would’ve had to run for aid. And sure, the Pine Brute was fast and strong, but it wasn’t agile, making it easy to dodge.
From the get-go Naiome, the archer, had acted as a scout. They’d stumbled across the beast on one of their patrols, and the moment Naiome spotted the thing she’d alerted the team, allowing them to get the jump on the beast.
The engagement started when Naiome climbed one of the large pine trees that gave the forest its name, and sent a barrage of arrows down at the Pine Brute. Before the thing even had a chance to get out of the way, it had three arrows sticking out of its back, blood running from its fresh wounds.
As more arrows rained down towards the creature, it didn’t take long for the Pine Brute to spot Naiome in the tree. Before it could ram itself into the tree, Andrea struck. Sneaking up behind the thing to deliver a good stab to the beast’s back, leaving a deep wound that left behind a burning affliction thanks to one of her abilities.
The Pine Brute roared in pain, and went to attack Andrea, but instead it saw Kalic coming in for a shield bash. The creature didn’t even hesitate as it moved to meet the scale kin. The two met, and no matter how much his abilities might have helped, they were no match for the strength of a more powerful foe.
Kalic was sent stumbling back as the beast smashed into him with its massive arms. He recovered quickly though, managing to get in a few good hits as the Pine Brute continued its attempt to squash him like a rotten melon.
Derek, not far behind Kalic, didn’t just sit and watch, but gave out buffs to the defender while shooting bolts of energy from a stave. The Pine Brute roared in outrage as it tried to get past Kalic’s shield in order to crush the two behind it. Kalic didn’t let it happen, however, knowing how to use his shield and how to keep it between his allies and the enemy.
With the beast mostly focused on Kalic and Derek, Andrea was free to get in glancing blows as she wove in and out of combat. Each of her strikes added to the burning effect depending on how deep the cuts were. All the while, arrow after arrow rained down from above, turning the beast into a pincushion.
The fight went on, the Pine Brute’s toughness and vitality keeping it in the battle far longer than most other monsters could stand. Andrea and Kalic both took their hits, Naiome still safe in a tree and Derek protected behind Kalic. Thankfully, neither of the two front liners took big hits, only glancing blows that caused them to stumble before getting back in the fight.
In the end, the Pine Brute wasn’t enough of a match for the team and fell. When the beast fell dead, the team gathered up to recover. All except Andrea, who could feel a familiar stinging sensation all over her body.
Grinning triumphantly, she said, “I’m about to gain a new ability.”
The other three all looked at her with smiles that matched her own. “That’s great!” Naiome said.
“Do you know which class it’s supposed to be?” Derek asked, pulling out material for a harvesting ritual.
“My fire magic one, I think. I was able to get some good burning afflictions in, and I’m hoping those helped get me over the line,” Andrea said, her voice becoming slightly strained as the prickling turned into slight pain.
“Hopefully it’ll be something with a bit more battle presence, even if the mana cost is higher,” Kalic said, allowing his summoned tower shield to dissolve. “Not to say those burning afflictions aren’t good, it’s just that they don’t do much until you’ve got enough on an enemy.”
Andrea opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when the instinctual knowledge of her new ability entered her mind. With a gleeful look in her eye, she turned towards a nearby moss-covered boulder and swung her sword through the air all while moving her mana through her new channels, consuming a large portion of her remaining mana.
As she swung, a blade of flames shot out of her sword, heading straight for the boulder. When it hit, the blade burst apart, burning the boulder and the moss on it. Once the flames dispersed, they revealed a boulder with black scorch marks and the moss nowhere in sight.
Naiome grinned. “Oh yeah, I think that’ll do just fine.”
