[SP-F1] <<Earning a Living>> Mix This & Mix That [Complete]

[Raun 0]

It was a beautiful morning; Aincrad’s weather setting was just perfect for Raun. However, while he would have enjoyed such a thing under normal circumstances, currently he had no time for that. The previous night, he had stumbled upon a master alchemist at the local tavern and he was rather surprised with the amount of knowledge Raun had regarding the alchemical reagents. Ever since the first day when he came across many useful plants that could potentially be used to create potions and crystals, Raun had been very curious. He went onto read a lot about it on the Guidebook and also through conversations with other NPCs and few PCs.

The master alchemist he met the previous evening invited him to become her apprentice and learn the subtle art of Alchemy. This was part of Raun’s plan, so he readily agreed. “Be there at 9 AM sharp; I don’t like tardiness,” she had said with a giggle, in her brain-addled state. Raun wondered if she would even remember saying such a thing, but he decided it is worth a try. And hence, at 8:58 AM, he was standing in front of Lorelei’s Pots & Crystals, knocking on her door.

Edited March 21, 2016 by Raun

[Raun 0]

“Who is it?” a voice yelled from inside. “Umm… This is Raun. You asked me-” before he could finish his sentence, the door opened and an extremely sober-looking Lorelei welcomed him in. “Ah… It’s you. Welcome,” she said, opening the door wider and stepping aside so that he could walk in. “Thank you,” Raun muttered, glad that she still remembers him. Her shop was not very big, but it was completely filled. There were reagents, plants, pots of potions, and crystals all over the place; every nook and cranny. Raun admired the entirety of it with his mouth wide open. This is really cool… “Alright then, let’s get to work. Firstly, I need you to go out of town and fetch me these ingredients I have mentioned in the list. They are probably guarded by some Frenzy Boars; so, first deal with them before touching it,” she said, thrusting a piece of paper against his chest. She then went on back to her business without another word. “Alright… I’ll get to it right away,” Raun muttered before leaving the place. He knew the sooner he got this over with, the sooner he can level up, making his chances of finding his sister high.

Raun quickly rushed out of the town and began looking for the plants Lorelei had requested of him. He spotted the first of them under the shade of a huge tree. Luckily nothing was guarding it; the young man quickly ran towards it and plucked it off the ground.

Spoiler

ID: #52356 | Battle: 4 | Craft: 12 | Loot: 15 | MOB: 3

+1 Mat

 

Edited March 20, 2016 by Raun

[Raun 0]

One down, five more to go. Happy that he found the first ingredient rather quickly, Raun went on to search for the others with new vigour. He accessed the menu and looked up the quest objectives again, memorizing what plants he had to collect and how each of them looked like. Raun’s memory wasn’t great; so, it took him a while. Finally, he managed to memorize it all. He then ran into the fields looking for the said reagents. About ten to fifteen feet away from him, something looked like the plant he was supposed to collect. He went to take a closer look. And yes, it was indeed the plant he was looking for. I'm on a roll today. He plucked the plant, put it in his inventory and moved on.

Spoiler

ID: #52358 | Battle: 4 | Craft: 1 | Loot: 16 | MOB: 10

+1 Mat

 

Edited March 20, 2016 by Raun

[Raun 0]

Raun had been lucky all this while, collecting the required reagents without encountering any mobs. But he wasn’t sure how long that will last. The young man roamed and roamed the grasslands for the next five minutes looking for the other reagents. However, he couldn’t find even one of them; nor did he find any boars. Finally, he gave up on trying to do this all by himself and sought help from an NPC who was working on the fields nearby. He walked up to the middle-aged man and asked politely, “Hello! Could you please tell me where I can find these plants?” Raun showed him the images from his UI. The man squinted at him for a second and then nodded. “Yes… Go down south from here and you will find a small cave. That’s where you’ll find the purple flower and nowhere else. But beware, that cave is known to host a colony of bats that attack anyone who ventures too deep.” Raun wasn’t scared of some bats. He thanked the man for his information and headed straight to the cave.

Spoiler

ID: #52359 | Craft: 4 | Loot: 2 | MOB: 2

 

Edited March 20, 2016 by Raun

[Raun 0]

As he walked south, he approached the cave that the NPC had mentioned. Reliable information! Raun was glad he chose to ask when he did; otherwise, there was no way he would have found this location out. He heeded the NPC’s warning about bats. He unsheathed his sword and was on high alert as he walked into the cave. While the cave wasn’t very dark in the beginning, the further he walked in, the darker it became. Until now, he neither encountered the bats nor did he find he purple flower. A few more feet ahead and he began to hear faint screeches. Ah-ha… He gripped on to his sword, knowing what’s coming. And just as he suspected, two small bats came out of nowhere, attempting to claw into his face. Because Raun was ready for it, he easily dodged it and even managed to slash one of the bats on its back. Let’s dance…

Spoiler

ID: #52361 | Battle: 7 | Craft: 7 | Loot: 2 | MOB: 5

<<Small Bat>> Miss! | HP: 3/4 | DMG: 3 | MIT: 1
<<Small Bat>> Miss! | HP: 4/4 | DMG: 3 | MIT: 1

Raun Success! | HP: 8/8 | DMG: 2 | MIT: 9 | ACC: 0 | EVA: 0

 

Edited March 20, 2016 by Raun

[Raun 0]

Unfortunately, what followed next wasn’t pleasant. Raun got overconfident as he could easily dodge the two bats’ first attacks and went charging straight at them, swinging his sword around recklessly. Both the bats dodged his attacks easily, simply flying to the sides and then above him. Raun tried to jump up and hit at least one of them, but he missed and then fell down, losing his balance entirely. “Oh my… This isn’t going to end well.” Of course, the bats did not lose this opportunity. They flew straight to the fallen man and scratched his face using their claws. While Raun felt no pain, it was rather annoying to have bats claw on his face, not to mention the drop in his health bar. He wouldn’t give up however; he stood back up and readied himself for round two.

Spoiler

ID: #52363 | Battle: 4 | Craft: 9 | Loot: 19 | MOB: 10

<<Small Bat>> Crit! | HP: 3/4 | DMG: 3 (+2 Crit) | MIT: 1
<<Small Bat>> Crit! | HP: 4/4 | DMG: 3 (+2 Crit) | MIT: 1

Raun Miss! | HP: 6/8 | DMG: 2 | MIT: 9 | EVA: 0 | ACC: 0

 

Edited March 20, 2016 by Raun

[Raun 0]

Raun realized that the bats have an advantage of flight, which he doesn’t. No matter! He noticed that the cave’s ceiling is not very high where he currently is. So, he ran towards the nearest wall, placed his leg on top of a jagged edge and pushed himself up to amplify his jump. Now, the bats were in his range. He slashed his Scimitar at the closest bat dealing massive amounts of damage to it, and then landed safely on the ground. Now, to the next one. However, the bats did not give him the opportunity. The enraged bats came at him with full speed and attacked him on his back before he could turn around to see where they were. The armour’s thorn enhancement dealt more than enough damage to both the bats, turning them into pixel dust. Furthermore, the mitigation enhancement took most of the damage the bats dealt, leaving his HP bar fairly healthy. After killing the bats, he noticed that a purple flower and a thorny grass was added to his inventory. Wonderful! That’s four down. Only two more to go.

Spoiler

ID: #52365 | Battle: 10 | Craft: 1 | Loot: 1 | MOB: 6

<<Small Bat>> Success! | HP: 0/4 (Dead)| DMG: 3 | MIT: 1
<<Small Bat>> Success! | HP: 0/4 (Dead)| DMG: 3 | MIT: 1

Raun Crit! | HP: 4/8 | DMG: 2 (+7 Thorns) | MIT: 9 | EVA: 0 | ACC: 0

+2 Mat

 

Edited March 20, 2016 by Raun

[Raun 0]

Raun was amazed at what the armour could do. Haha! It deals more damage than my weapon does. This is crazy. Not to mention it targets multiple opponents. While he was admiring the power of the armour he had acquired, his exit was blocked by three more bats. Ah crap… He either had to fight the three bats ahead or run further into the cave. Running further into the cave was obviously a bad idea. There is bound to be more bats in there, swarming him and essentially killing him. Raun wasn’t sure if he would be able to take on these three, let alone a swarm. If they hit my armour, the damage is mitigated and they die… He had a plan. He swung his sword back, held it at the ready position and charged towards the nearest bat. Like before, he used the terrain to amplify his jump and strike at one bat. He did decent damage to this one. Immediately after he landed, he rolled into a ball exposing his armour mostly and covering every other part underneath it as much as possible. Just as he planned, the three bats attacked him together, all hitting the armoured part, and then dying. Raun was left with 1 HP. His heart beat raced and he ran out of the cave, tumbling and rolling along the way. He lay there at the entrance of the cave, breathless, but relieved.

Spoiler

ID: #52366 | Battle: 10 | Craft: 5 | Loot: 7 | MOB: 7

<<Small Bat>> Success! | HP: 0/4 (Dead)| DMG: 3 | MIT: 1
<<Small Bat>> Success! | HP: 0/4 (Dead)| DMG: 3 | MIT: 1
<<Small Bat>> Success! | HP: 0/4 (Dead)| DMG: 3 | MIT: 1

Raun Crit! | HP: 1/8 | DMG: 2 (+7 Thorns) | MIT: 9 | EVA: 0 | ACC: 0

+3 Mat

 

Edited March 20, 2016 by Raun

[Raun 0]

It took Raun a few minutes to collect himself and recover from the possibility that he could have just died. That was close… One more bat and he would have been killed. The armour did protect him from a lot of damage, but does not make him invulnerable. He realize he needed to be more careful. He picked himself up, dusted off his clothes and armour and walked towards his next target. He still needed to find one more reagent. The Mirage Fruit. All the information he had was that the fruit constantly changed colour and grew near small water holes. Raun opened the map, but the map didn’t give him the geography of his surroundings in such great detail. So, I have to do this myself, eh? Again, he chose to ask for help, but there were no one in the vicinity. He figured he is likely to find someone on the paved path than out in the grasslands and hence made his way towards the road.

Spoiler

ID: #52368 | Battle: 1 | Craft: 1 | Loot: 8 | MOB: 7

 

Edited March 20, 2016 by Raun

[Raun 0]

As he walked towards the pathway, he noticed a several small pods of water all around him. Woah… These are water holes? Excited that he found the location without any help, he started looking for the Mirage Fruit. It was a vast expanse of such pods and he could not spot even a single colour-changing fruit in his vicinity. He felt that’s very odd. After much contemplation, he decided he will actually check inside the water hole. So, he knelt down beside one and slid his hand into the water hole. Within few inches, he felt something round and silky. He pulled it out and bingo! It was the Mirage Fruit. Like mentioned in the description given to him, the fruit changed colours constantly. “Wonderful! Now, I can head back to Lorelei.” He put the fruit in his inventory and made his way back into town. “I’m back! I got all the ingredients in the list,” he informed Lorelei. “That was really quick. You’ll make a fine alchemist. Now, let’s get to the interesting part,” she said, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.

Spoiler

ID: #52369 | Battle: 5 | Craft: 2 | Loot: 19 | MOB: 3

+1 Mat

 

Edited March 20, 2016 by Raun

[Raun 0]

Raun was excited about learning how to concoct potions and crystals. He followed Lorelei and listened to her instructions carefully. “Keep the flame at one-quarter and let the water boil first. Once the water is boiling, add the Thorny Grass, which I believe you are very familiar with. Remember, for positive effects, always add Thorny Grass at first, and add it at the end for negative effects,” she said, looking at him apprehensively before continuing. “Once the thorns have been softened, add a pinch of sugar – people complain about the bitterness otherwise – before adding the mountain flower. Do all that right and you’ll be able to make a decent health potion. Now, off you go. Try it out,” she would finish. Raun listened to each and everything, and also made notes using his message UI. He saved it in drafts and went to the alchemy station to begin concocting his very first potion.

Despite following all of her instructions to the ‘t’, Raun was unable to make an useful potion. Whatever he made looked charred and repulsive. Lorelei was not surprised though. “Your flame is too high boy. Keep it down a little.”

Spoiler

ID: #52370 | Battle: 1 | Craft: 6 | Loot: 10 | MOB: 7

 

Edited March 20, 2016 by Raun

[Raun 0]

Raun was scared Lorelei would be disappointed with him, but she was not. “Alchemy is a subtle art. No one gets it right the first time. Don’t lose heart and keep trying. You will get the hang of it eventually. The important lesson is to never give up,” she said. Her words of encouragement made Raun smile and want to try again. Maybe if this wasn’t a death game, it really would have been an enjoyable one. He repeated the procedure and hoped that he did it right this time. Meticulously setting the flame as close to one-quarter as possible, he began boiling the water. Alright… Let’s do this. He carefully added the Thorny Grass and waited for it to soften before adding the mountain flower. He waited for the concoction to brew. Lorelei, who was sitting in her chair and reading something, suddenly stood up and walked to him swiftly. For a moment, Raun thought he had done something wrong, but her reaction said otherwise. “This is perfect… I have never seen anyone craft a perfect potion in their second attempt. You will be a legendary alchemist boy; mark my words,” she said, pride obvious in her tone.

Spoiler

ID: #52391 | Battle: 7 | Craft: 12 | Loot: 18 | MOB: 6

 

Edited March 21, 2016 by Raun

[Raun 0]

“You are ready to be certified as an alchemist now. But… Since you show promise, I’m going to teach you one more thing. This is rather difficult to concoct even for a master alchemist. So, don’t worry if you don’t get it right. Keep trying and you will one day. Are you ready?” Lorelei asked Raun, who was jubilant to hear this. “Yes! Of course,” Raun replied with enthusiasm. “Wonderful… Now, you should exercise caution. Explosion potential is high with this one; I just repainted my workshop. Don’t ruin it,” she would say, jokingly. “This is a potion that increases the power of the consumer. It is also known to heal the user for a small amount of health if done right. Keep the flame at three-quarters and, as usual, add the thorny grass and wait for it to soften. Until this point, the process is the same, except for the three-quarter flame. So, be careful; the grass will soften much sooner than you expect. Once that is done, add the petals of the purple flower. Only the petals. The stem and the core are not for positive effects. Once the concoction turns into an orange tinge, add the mirage fruit pulp to it.”

[Raun 0]

Again, Raun listened to all the instructions carefully and took notes. Determined to get this right, he moved to the alchemy station again and began the process. He kept the reagents ready on the side and set the flame to three-quarters. Lorelei was standing right behind him and corrected the flame slightly once he set it. “Yes… That is precisely three-quarters,” she said, after making minor corrections. Raun took note of the position of the knob and the intensity of the flame so that he knows to do it himself the next time. He then placed the container on top and poured water into it, waiting for it to boil. While the water boiled, he began chopping the mirage fruit. Once the water boiled, he added the thorny grass and carefully monitored it to see when it softens. Surprisingly, like Lorelei said, it didn’t take long for the grass to soften. In less than a minute, he had to add the petals of the purple flower. He meticulously plucked the petals, ensuring there are no residual part of the core or the stem and then added it to the concoction. “Now, get back to chopping the mirage fruit. This will take a while,” Lorelei suggested. Raun nodded and continued chopping the mirage fruit; once the fruit was cut into fine pieces, he put it in a mortar and squashed it into pulp using the pestle. And finally, when it was time to add the pulp, he did.

Lorelei took a whiff of the concoction and nodded with an amused expression. “Not bad… Not bad at all. It’s not perfect; but this is incredible for a beginner like you. I was right in choosing you,” she said. “I now announce you a Beginner Alchemist. You may practice your craft anywhere in Aincrad and are certified to open a shop if you wish. Now… Off you go.” Raun thanked her several times and left her workshop. Now… Let me gather material to actually make a stock of potions.

Spoiler

ID: #52471 | Battle: 10 | Craft: 10 | Loot: 1 | MOB: 9

 

Edited March 21, 2016 by Raun

[Raun 0]

Raun exited the town of beginnings and returned to the cave he was in before. He figured he would kill a few more bats and collect purple flowers before going on to collect other ingredients. He wasn’t a fool though; he knew he would be ambushed if he went in and the bats might try to block his path again. So, instead of going in, he picked up a small stone and threw it in. He figured the stone would scare a few bats, forcing them out. And he was right; three bats came out screeching. Smirking at his success, Raun unsheathed his sword and got ready to fight.

The confused and frightened bats were further annoyed by the sunlight. Raun took this opportunity to strike at one of them. He jumped up high and slashed at one of the bats’ right wing. The bat flinched and flew a few feet away from him, and the other two followed suit.

Spoiler

ID: #52478 | Battle: 6 | Craft: 9 | Loot: 14 | MOB: 5

<<Small Bat>> Miss! | HP: 3/4 | DMG: 3 | MIT: 1
<<Small Bat>> Miss! | HP: 4/4 | DMG: 3 | MIT: 1
<<Small Bat>> Miss! | HP: 4/4 | DMG: 3 | MIT: 1

Raun Success! | HP: 8/8 | DMG: 2 | MIT: 0 | EVA: 0 | ACC: 0

 

Edited March 21, 2016 by Raun

[Raun 0]

The three bats still hadn’t recovered from the shock and the bright sun was keeping them so confused that they couldn’t target Raun at all. One of them tried to claw at his shoulders, but Raun easily dodged it. He then realized, he shouldn’t have dodged it, because it would have hit his armour and the Thorns enhancement would have killed it anyway. But his reflexes urged him to dodge and he did. Grinning at the success of his plan, he went after the same bat that he hit before. This particular bat was really out of luck. It flew a little too low to escape Raun’s attack. He didn’t have to jump too high; it was well within his Scimitar’s range. However, it was to his left. No matter! He shifted the weapon to his left hand and then struck it right across its gut, killing it instantly. Oh yeah… Now, for you two.

Spoiler

ID: #52479 | Battle: 10 | Craft: 12 | Loot: 8 | MOB: 1

<<Small Bat>> Miss! | HP: 0/4 (Dead) | DMG: 3 | MIT: 1
<<Small Bat>> Miss! | HP: 4/4 | DMG: 3 | MIT: 1
<<Small Bat>> Miss! | HP: 4/4 | DMG: 3 | MIT: 1

Raun Critical Success! | HP: 8/8 | DMG: 2 (+2 Crit) | MIT: 0 | EVA: 0 | ACC: 0

+1 Mat

 

Edited March 21, 2016 by Raun

[Raun 0]

Raun wasn’t sure if the bats got accustomed to the light or if they were angry about their kin dying by his hand. In any case, they started flying in a more organized way and could target him fairly well this time. He jumped again to hit the next bat; although the bat was in his range while he swung, it had moved away at the last moment missing most of his attack. He still managed to hit one of its legs though. While it didn’t kill the bat, Raun was happy he had landed his attack.

The enraged bats came after him the second he landed. Since he had just landed from a jump, he couldn’t immediately move away from the attack and both the bats managed to hit him. Raun, however, did not care. He knew what would happen if they hit his armour and that’s exactly what they did. And his thorns killed them both. “Woohoo… More purple flowers!”

Spoiler

ID: #52483 | Battle: 6 | Craft: 4 | Loot: 4 | MOB: 7

<<Small Bat>> Success! | HP: 0/4 (Dead)| DMG: 3 | MIT: 1
<<Small Bat>> Success! | HP: 0/4 (Dead)| DMG: 3 | MIT: 1

Raun Success! | HP: 6/8 | DMG: 2 (+7 Thorns) | MIT: 0 | EVA: 0 | ACC: 0

+2 Mat

 

Edited March 21, 2016 by Raun

[Raun 0]

Raun knew it would be best to go for the mirage fruit and leave the bat cave. However, the temptation was too much. He picked up a stone and threw it again into the cave. What came out this time did not please him. It wasn’t a small bat anymore. It was a large one. “Uh-oh…” Raun tried to make a run for it, but the bat was too fast. It flew straight to him and scratched his face really hard with its claws. Raun was extremely pissed. You bloody bat! The bat was very aggressive. It came in to attack him again. But Raun wouldn’t have it. When it zoomed towards him, he swirled around to strike at it. Despite giving his all behind that attack, it didn’t do much damage to the bat. “Alright then… This is going to be long.”

Spoiler

ID: #52484 | Battle: 6 | Craft: 5 | Loot: 8 | MOB: 9

<<Large Bat>> Critical Success! | HP: 5/6 | DMG: 6 | MIT: 2

Raun Success! | HP: 5/8 | DMG: 2 | MIT: 9 | EVA: 0 | ACC: 0

 

Edited March 21, 2016 by Raun

[Raun 0]

Raun realized it was a really bad idea to throw more stones into the cave. This bat was very aggressive and powerful. He hadn’t dealt much damage to it and the bat was consistently doing damage to it. Again, the large bat flew straight at him. Despite Raun trying to expose only the armoured part of him, the bat was clever enough to attack him again in his head and not touch the armour. “Damn it!” he cried, chasing after the bat. If someone was looking from afar, this scene would be extremely comical, with a man chasing after a flying bat with his Scimitar. But Raun didn’t chase mindlessly. He had a plan. He jumped up and activated the Sword Art, Reaver. He may not be able to reach it physically himself. But the game mechanic would ensure he hits. He targeted the bat and struck the right pose. Bang! His sword art hit and the bat’s HP dropped further.

Spoiler

ID: #52489 | Battle: 8 | Craft: 9 | Loot: 7 | MOB: 10

<<Large Bat>> Critical Success! | HP: 4/6 | DMG: 6 | MIT: 2

Raun Success! | HP: 4/8 | DMG: 2 | MIT: 9 | EVA: 0 | ACC: 0

 

Edited March 21, 2016 by Raun

[Raun 0]

The bat, realizing it is also losing HP from Raun’s attack, started to play the dodge game. And Raun followed suit. Both of them started circling each other, looking for the right opportunity to attack. The bat made the first move. It flew towards his right, faked an attack, and then attempted to strike his head again. Raun wasn’t a fool. He had figured out the bat’s strategy. He knew it will always go for the unprotected part of his body. So, he was well prepared to defend his head when it was about to strike. He went extremely defensive the moment the bat moved and was smart and lithe enough to foresee the feint and dodge the actual attack. Unfortunately, the bat too seemed smart. When Raun attempted to strike it after its failed attempt, it flipped backwards in mid-air and flew out of his range.

Spoiler

ID: #52490 | Battle: 3 | Craft: 2 | Loot: 20 | MOB: 5

<<Large Bat>> Miss! | HP: 4/6 | DMG: 6 | MIT: 2

Raun Miss! | HP: 4/8 | Energy: 1/2 | DMG: 2 | MIT: 9 | EVA: 0 | ACC: 0

 

Edited March 21, 2016 by Raun