461 The Basics of Alchemy

[BONUS]

Whereas some items could be crafted with dried or preserved components, some potions or poisons required fresh-cut plants for true potency. Once gathered, plants and other organic ingredients wouldn't retain their freshness for long.

And oftentimes, it depends on their rarity like common plants would last up to 10 days. Uncommon to 7 days. Rare to 5 days and Legendary to 3 days or less.

Ren only wanted to craft the highest quality, so maintaining their freshness was a must.

In order to preserve their properties, many plants could be dried, pickled, and preserve in any form during periods of downtime and rest. Another option was to grow them in a sponge or container first and then transfer them to a home to grow for future use.

The latter was an appealing option for Ren, so he didn't have to go to certain places just to acquire these plants again. He could simply grow them in his workshop.

But of course, he didn't have the necessary space to grow every plant he foraged, so he would only care for the Rare and Legendary plants he got his hands on.

And since he was in the land of the Elves where most Herbs could be found, he might as well forage everything that Pii found.

In Alchemy, there were three kinds of ingredients. The basic ingredients, the mother ingredients, and then the special ingredients. Without the mother ingredient, an item or equipment couldn't be crafted, whereas the special ingredient added a special effect to that item.

For example, a special item could add healing percentage to [Health Potions] and [Mana Potions] or add extra time duration for Status Effect [Duds].

There were endless possibilities for one item to have different effects. Though some items were self-explanatory, like if Ren added poison berries, Potion would have a poison effect.

However, most items didn't go well with each other, and it might cause failure of creation and waste of time and precious resources!

That was why it was a must for Ren to get all these recipes from Vanadon-Necroth's lair. He wouldn't be able to sleep at night, knowing that he had just lost millions of rare ingredients to a failed creation.

Ren currently had the [Golden Pickaxe] and [Golden Knife] for foraging tools. His LCK was also high to acquire rare plants using only his hands. So it was a breeze for him to acquire a lot of rare plants in the area.

With the number of materials he gathered, Ren could definitely craft those simple potions like a [Healing Potion], [Mana Potions], and [Antidote] without the need for a workshop and cauldron.

However, whether he would succeed or not was based on his Crafting level. Since he was a [Beginner], Ren was confident that he could at least create simple potions for starters.

The earlier he sold his crafted items, the better. That was his plan.

Ren tried to create a [Healing Potion] from the recipes he had acquired before. It was quite simple. All he needed to do was pressed the [Alchemy] button on his screen and press [Craft] before selecting the tools, the container, and the ingredients he needed.

There was also a timer for each crafted item. The rarer it was, the longer it took to finish it. There was no limit to how many Ren could craft simultaneously within a day, providing that he had multiple tools for it.

The tools he needed for the simple [Healing Potion] were only a mortal and pastel, a burner, and a flask. At the same time, the ingredient was any green herb x1 that had healing properties and 5ml of water for every green herb.

There was also the slot for the Special ingredient. After checking all that was required, Ren just needed to press [Craft], and the item would be ready after the timer was finished, parched in his inventory for use.

That was the automatic way of doing things. There was also an option for manually doing Alchemy for those players who wanted to experience it.

But Ren didn't have the time, so he chose the automatic option. He also added the [Agua Aurea] on the special ingredient slot and it only took ten seconds after he pressed [Craft] and the potion was parched in his inventory, ready for use.

[Congratulations! You have Crafted, Potion of Greater Healing x1!]

[Potion of Greater Healing is added to the Recipe Compendium!]

Not bad. Ren thought to himself.

For a beginner crafter like him, a potion that could replenish 50% HP was more than good. If his [Crafting] skill increased to [Intermediate], then he would surely create a much higher level of potions.

However, at this time, there were already [Potions] in the market that could replenish full HP. So auctioning this [Potion] wouldn't get him any money. It was best to just use it.

If Ren wanted to craft [Healing Potions], then he needed something of an additional effect, like maybe curing all status effects or replenishing all mana. Or maybe the combination of both.

A [Full Heal] that completely recovered HP and cured all status effects and an [Elixir] that recovered both HP and MP. If combined, Ren wondered what the effect would be.

Ren could buy both in the market and combined them to see the result, but he was afraid that his [Crafting] level was still too low to create that kind of high-level potion that he wanted.

Maybe if he raised his [Crafting] skill to [Intermediate] and he would try it, just to see how it would end up.

At this point in time, Ren needed to increase his life skills first while foraging for ingredients and materials.

Lucky for him, the materials and ingredients were organized by land, so he would know where to look first if he wanted a specific item.

If he wanted to find herbs and all sorts of plants, then the best place to go was the Elven and Fey Realm. If he wanted pelts, claws, and fangs, then the desert in the south was where he should go. If he wanted furs, ores, and stones, then the north would give him what he wanted.

( . . . continuation on NOTES)