There are reasons people are drawn to lay in the cool grass on a sunny day. When the sun is bright, and the wind is keeping it from being too warm, the kind of nap you can take and the dreams you will have been surprising. The best dreams one can have are when they are their most peaceful. This however doesn't stop the selfish of the world from seeking to interrupt those perfect dre-.
I was cut off mid internal monologue by a splash of water to my face. I sat up from my now slightly damp patch of warm grass, blinking against the light that beat down on me from the sun poking through the clouds. Floating just a foot off the ground next to me I saw misty bubbling at me as she always does when she wakes me up like this. Her body was no larger than my thumb and entirely made of little balls of water. As a minor water spirit this was expected. I sat up, crossing my legs as I stretched my arms out. A part of me wanted to lay back down for my afternoon nap but Misty usually only woke me up when there was something I had to do.
I rocked up to my feet, taking my glasses off and whipping the dew off on my shirt as I started to walk down the familiar path towards my home. I let out a big yawn as Stretched my arms, ducking under a small branch to avoid knocking my glasses asche. As I walked, I dusted the bits of grass off of my tan and black robes, stopping occasionally when I saw some useful herbs here and there. Placing them in my satchel at my side. Its magical energy hummed ever so slightly. It was probably the most expensive thing I have ever bought, costing 500 gold coins, but it was well worth it. Its magic was simple, items placed inside wouldn't spoil as quickly. So, from lunch, to herbs I want to bottle, to even emergency potions, it helps with all of them.
As I walked, I reached into the bag and pulled out a stalk of Galcorone, useful in many recipes, its main effect is in its ability to calm nerves, but I personally enjoy sucking on them because they have a minty taste, it's something my grandfather used to do and I just kind of picked up on it. As I walked Misty burbled at me and gestured towards a small pool of water that I used as my water supply on the mountain. As I stumbled over, I saw my reflection and that she was telling me about the small bits of grass still stuck in my hair. Using my reflection, I started to pick bits of the grass out as I looked to see if there were any big dirt splashes or anything else I should clean. Looking back at me was a young adult with large circular glasses, a set of talisman earrings that had once been made by my grandmother, and a head of wild darker green colored hair. On one sense finding what was grass and what was a stray hair was a pain with my hair color; in another sense it was easy to see where my hair shed in places at home so I could clean up.
Once I had picked out enough grass to meet Misty's satisfaction I stood up and continued down the path. As I rounded the bend in the path I saw my house, a simple log building with a bedroom, kitchen, and lab for my alchemy. As I made my way inside Misty pointed to a set of 2 empty vials.
"Right, I forgot to fill those, didn't I?"
I muttered as I quickly pulled off my leather glove. Holding my hand out over the empty vial I focused on my finger and spoke
"Liquid Crystal Consolidation"
I felt the slight drain I always felt when using a skill as from my finger, almost like a sudden surge of sweat, a trickle of a shimmering liquid fell and started to fill the vial. I activated the skill once more to fill the other one. As it finished, I turned away from the vials and said
"System"
The familiar blue screen appeared before me.
Aiden Hallowcreek
Age: 23
Class: Alchemist - LV.3
XP: 4,561/5000
HP: 14/14
MP: 34/54
Stats:
Str: 4
Dex: 12
Con: 13
Int: 21
Wis: 10
Cha: 0
Soul Skill:
Alchemy Attunement(D)
Passive
Increases your success rate with alchemical mixtures and allows you to feel minor fluctuations in potion consistency, improving the stability of mixtures.
Skills:
Quick Brew (E)
Passive
you quickly toss together ingredients to make potions with lesser effects on the fly.
Portioners Harvesting Guide (E)
Passive
You have a chance to obtain items used in potions more than others when searching
Liquid Crystal Consolidation (E)
10 MP
You channel your mana to gather the liquid crystal in the air into a liquid state and pour it into a vial.
I glanced over all of my skills and such and thought back to my tenth birthday when I unlocked my system. Everyone gains one on their 10th birthday, but the class can be different. I remember dreaming of being a mighty warrior, or a powerful mage. Instead, I got alchemist, just like my grandfather. At the time I thought my world was ending, but with age come wisdom, and as I have grown up, I realized things like liquid crystal consolidation is super useful. Alchemists without the class have to buy it from those with the class or pay the high price for a liquid crystal consolidator. Those could often cost over 2000 gold, but for one with the alchemist class it was a simple use of a bit of mana, and mana recovered with a good night's rest. It's practically printing money in some ways, if only the demand for it was higher.
Glancing over my stats I could see I was maybe a month or so from my next level up. For people who can swing swords around and fire off magic, leveling up is easy. Hunt a few monsters and you can usually get hundreds of XP at a time, but there aren't many monsters on the mountain, probably because of the town below, and even if there were I can't do much about it. I'm not the strongest guy, and I have no combat skills either, so I'm stuck with getting 1 or 2 XP occasionally when I brew something or gather herbs. Its slow, but honestly it's kind of peaceful.
As I corked the two new bottles and added them to the basket of others, I made my way over to the logbook to mark I had finished it. As I checked off the little box that marked, I had completed the order I saw I had to make a shipment to the shop.
"Looks like we will be headed down the mountain today, Misty"
I called as I started to pull out the herbs from my bag and started to place them in their respective jars. Moving the vials of liquid crystal as well as the order for 5 healing potions Jacklin ordered, and the bottle of stomach medication Zaila ordered and shook my bag once to make sure they were all in their little compartments. As I closed the top of my bag I turned to look at where Misty was floating.
"Let's get going, if you're good I'll get you another honey drop."
Misty spun in the air as her water droplet-like body seemed to wiggle which from my years of knowing her meant she was excited. I headed outside and shut the door behind me. I turned to the small hill that was the 9-mile trek into town and down the mountain.