Chương 79: Free Alchemy Practice

"'Forgot to feed the mouse!?'" Luna repeated as she tapped my forehead with her finger, "What am I!? Some type of pet that needs to be fed!?"

"Ah!!! I forgot! The mouse gets cranky when she's hungry!" I said, stifling my laughter. Hehe! No matter what, this is a losing battle, Mouse! I internally giggled as if I was a supervillain.

"You!!!!" She tapped harder, shooting daggers with her eyes. … It took another day to finish creating all the antidotes, but, now, I had enough that I wouldn't have to worry about getting poisoned while practicing. I'm not entirely sure if I'll go through them all while training, but, the more the better. At least I won't have detour into brewing more when I'm in the zone. Sitting at the dining table, I reread through my notes, making sure I wouldn't mess up.

"So," Luna said, "Are you not going to the AT room anymore?" She asked. Since I've completed my goal, there was no real reason to go anymore. At least, not currently. Maybe when I want to get stronger, sure, but for now, I can create all the potions I want with my current strength. Though, I am a little curious about the other areas. I wonder if I can collect quotes from every machine there?

"Probably not any time soon." I replied, "Are you gonna keep going?"

"Mm…Probably. After all, I've gotten into the habit; I don't really want to break that so soon."

"Mm…? You're making me sound like a lazy raccoon."

"You are, aren't you?" I stared at her for a moment and she stared back. I smiled,"Yeah~ I'm so lazy~ I might just be too lazy to make dinner~""Ah! No!" Luhna immediately jolted up, "You're very hardworking and motivated!"

"Hehe, okay! Sirloin for dinner!"

"Yay!"

"Alright!" Standing up, "Since I'm so motivated, it's time to start free alchemy!"

"Huh! W-wait!" Luna hurriedly stood up, "Don't you want to wait a bit? It's still early morning…I haven't even gone to the AT room yet."

"Hehe, don't be silly, Mouse! The grind never waits!"

"Yeah, but…can you at least wait until I get back home? Please?" Luna said. I froze. Seeing those puppy-eyes on Luna did mental damage. Did she put me under a spell or something? Why can't I seem to refuse her?

"…Alright. But, hurry back…" Ugh…I need to hurry up and clear this floor. And then… I didn't continue the thought process. Luna cheerfully put on her shoes,"I'll be back in a few hours." Luna said.

"See ya." I waved.

"Promise me you won't start practicing without me here." She said, standing in the doorway.

"Pfft," I stifled a laugh, "Alright, fine. Drive safe." She nodded and closed the door. Huh? Why is this imagery like this? Shouldn't it be the opposite? Well, whatever. Alone, I headed back to the kitchen. I guess I can make some more antidotes while I wait. … By the time Luna returned home, I had already made another 60 antidotes. I wonder how much these'll go for on the exchange… Hm… There's no market? At least none in the D+ grade. Oh wow, that means I can set the prices?

Well, whatever, I'll price them reasonably.

"You made more antidotes?" Luna asked, stepping to the counter.

"Well, yeah, I had to do something." I shrugged, "Do you want lunch now? Or in a bit?" Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

"Could you make it now? I'm starving…" She said, looking a little pitiful.

"Alright," I chuckled, "Sure, I'll make some sandwiches then?"

"Actually, can I take a shower first?" She asked, "I stink."

"Go ahead?" I replied. She nodded gratefully and headed to the bathroom. I tilted my head. Honestly, she doesn't even smell bad? Kind of like blueberries. While she showered, I went ahead and cleaned the kitchen. I'm sure Luna wouldn't want grass mixed into her sandwich. Thirty minutes later, Luna was sitting at the counter with slightly damp hair. I could smell the strawberry shampoo from a mile away. Unknowingly, my lips had curled to a smile again.

"Is a chicken sandwich good?" I asked.

"Mhm, thank you." She nodded. … Finally, it was time to train. The mouse was fed. I was fed. And I was completely prepared. Well…Okay, not completely. I still had to purchase the materials. I took a seat, several chairs away from where Luna was sitting. On the counter within arms reach was a few antidotes. The rest of them I had stored in a box with easy access.

"Alright, I'm starting." I said. Luna nodded and I quickly searched through the exchange. First, the giant huffpall. Next, the mossbranch vines, and finally… The jango shroom. Taking a deep breath, I hit purchase. As soon as the materials landed in front of me, I drew mana from my core and grabbed the jango shroom. First, I needed to isolate this thing, preventing any spores from reaching the huffpall. My mana threaded into the jango shroom, wrapping around its properties.

This prevented any toxic spores or fumes from leaving it. The downside was that now I'm on a timer. Instead of blowing into the air, the properties will start to corrode the bubble I made to enclose it. Next, I grabbed both the giant huffpall and the mossbranch vine. I drew another string of mana from my core, threading it into both of them simultaneously. Now, I had three strings of mana drawn out from my core. To simplify it, I drew a fourth string out and merged the three previous ones into it.

This was actually a precaution that the alchemy misters taught me. If the poison starts to affect my mana, I can cut the connection and stall it from getting to my core for a little longer. Grabbing a bottle I had prefilled with water, I connected a thread of mana to it. Now… It's time to mix. The string of mana connected to each of the materials latched onto the most potent part, where their properties are the most potent.

For the huffpall, it was in its cap; For the mossbranch vine, it was somewhere around the middle. And finally, the jango shroom's most potent part was in its stem. All at once, I agitated all their properties to the max, drawing them into my string of mana. At the same time, I temporarily cut it's connection to my core. The string that had drawn the jango shroom's property immediately darkened. The properties of all three materials converged into the central point of the strings of mana. It was like a battlefield.

There was no harmony between them. I had to force it. Grasping onto each property, I tried to merge them all into the mossbranch vine's property… The jango shroom's property broke free and jolted like a bolt of lightning straight into a a string of mana connected to my core; it ignored the cut connection, jumping across the gap. That string of mana blackened at a speed where I couldn't react, it corroded my mana and entered my core.

"Gah!" I coughed. A sharp pain ached in my chest"Stella!" Sparks flew off of Luna's body as she appeared next to me in an instant. I reached forward and grabbed a antidote and downed it. Closing my eyes, I focused on my core and saw a black spot on it. As I absorbed the antidote, a cool feeling spread throughout my body and converged onto that black spot, erasing it at a noticeable speed. I coughed a few more times before taking a few deep breaths and wiping my mouth.

"Stella, are you okay?" Luna asked hurriedly, rubbing my back, "Should we go to the hospital?" Instead of replying immediately, I rested my forehead on the back of my hand and thought about what went wrong. Why did it fail? But, the answer came immediately after I thought about it. Speed. I wasn't fast enough. None of it was fast enough at all. Instead of doing it step by step, I need to do it all in one go. Haah… Okay, let's go again. Opening my eyes, I noticed a completely panicked Luna next to me. Ah…

I need to calm the mouse first.

"I'm fine." I said, my voice slightly raspy.

"Stella, are you sure you need to do this?" She asked, the worry evident on her face, "How about we find another way instead?"

"Hehe," I smiled, gently patting her head and ruffling her hair, "It's alright."

"But…" She looked at me with pitiful eyes.

"Doesn't even hurt, not one bit." I said, "If I'm really pushing myself, I'll stop."

"Okay…"

"Alright, I'm trying again." Luna solemnly nodded, going back to her chair. She was a little anxious, tapping her foot on the ground repeatedly. I smiled before shaking my head and taking a deep breath. Round two, baby. I purchased another set of materials. Immediately as they hit the counter, I moved. Isolating the jango shroom, connecting a thread of mana to each material's most potent part and drawing the properties into my mana.

The three properties met at the central point once again and I merged them together. This time, I was successful in merging them, but, the success didn't last for long as it corroded and the properties became useless.

"Tsk," I clicked my tongue, transferring those properties to the water. The liquid became a murky gray. Drinking this would probably give you a stomach ache or something like that. Dumping the liquid into the sink, I refilled the bottle and purchased another set of materials. Round three. I wasn't fast enough, forcing me to drink another antidote and seeing another pitiful look from Luna. Round four. Fail. The properties destroyed one another in the merging process. Round five. Fail.

I screwed up and poisoned myself again. Another antidote drank, another pitiful look from Luna. … Round twenty-eight. Fail. When merging the properties, I used too much force, the mossbranch property couldn't handle it and became useless. … Round thirty-one. Fail. I successfully merged the three properties but didn't imbue it into the water in time. … Round thirty-six. Fail. Antidote drank. Luna sad. … Round forty. Fail. Useless potion. … I latched my string of mana onto the most potent part of each material.

Drawing their properties into the string. I moved every property at once, not towards the center, but towards the water. I've learnt that if I merge them before imbuing it, I'm too slow. The properties met in the liquid and I started the merge. At the same time, I began to imbue it. The water's color slowly started to change. From clear to a light pink. As soon as the properties had merged together, they were imbued into the liquid. Round forty-two. Success. The corners of my lips rose to my ears.

Just as I was about to break out in cheers and jump around, arms wrapped around my body and a high pitched voice came from my side.

"You did it!" Luna cheered jovially, "You did it!!" She repeated. Seeing Luna so high energy and acting like me threw me for a loop, but…It was infectious, that's for sure.

"Hehe!" I hugged her back and jumped, "I did it! I did it!" We stayed hugging each other and jumping with joy for a solid few moments. After the excitement started to wear down, Luna seemed to come to her senses and realized how she was acting. From the tips of her ears to the front of her cheeks, her face turned as red as a tomato. She quickly separated, coughing a few times.

"C-congrats." She said, embarrassed.

"Hehe, thanks." I said, stepping back with a smile, "But…This is just the first success of many."

"You're going again immediately?" She asked, "You don't want to celebrate a little more? Maybe a cake…?"

"Pfft," I stifled a laugh. This girl…She just wants to eat cake! Sighing internally, I continued to speak, "Hehe, I'll make cake later. While I'm in the zone, I need to continue practicing until I perfect it."

"Okay!" Luna nodded understandingly, "Then… Good luck. I'll be watching." I nodded and checked the description. [Nerve Paralysis Potion] Grade - C+ Creator: Raccoon A potion that paralyzes the nerves within seconds when ingested. C+ Grade! This is officially my second highest grade potion I've made! First if you don't count recipes that I haven't created! Hehe! Wait, did I really make a C+ grade potion within a minute? How much could I sell this for…? Holy!!! I'm rich!!

If I were to sell this potion, I'd get 250, 000 points! The materials cost 80, 000 points, so that's 170, 000 points profit! For a minute of work! Hehehe, after I clear this floor, I may have just found my get-rich-quick scheme. I'll finally be able to afford a cauldron! Just as I was about to make plans for my lavish lifestyle, the color of the potion started to dim. And before my eyes, the description had completely changed. [Stale Water] Grade - F This is water from a potion that expired. Then, it hit me.

I remembered something I jotted in my notes.

'Free Alchemy is a style that focuses on production speed and immediate effects; It is not recommended to use for standard potion production as the shelf life depends on the skill of the alchemist. For someone inexperienced with this style of alchemy, their potion's lifespan ranges from seconds to dozens of seconds. For a master of Free Alchemy, their potion's lifespan can reach up to a week. Note: Generally not worth it for profit. Note: High difficulty, high effort, high learning curve, low reward.

As efficiency mister would say: "Not very cost-effective or efficient."

' I stared at the now-dead potion in disbelief. A wave of lament washed over me. My get-rich-quick scheme had failed before it started.

"Bin?" Luna said from the side. I glanced towards her before shaking my head and ridding myself of distracting thoughts. Right! Forget about it! I can wallow in sorrow later! For now, I need to lock in! Purchasing another set of materials, I smiled. Time to practice!