Chương 2: The Cutest Alchemist's Potion

The exchange was a marketplace for awakened. Just like the status screen, the exchange was a holographic menu that allowed people to sell and buy items. The currency was 'points' which you can get by either climbing the tower or exchanging money. It was a 100: 1 ratio where 100 points equaled a dollar. Connecting my bank account was easy; Just a simple text verification and it was connected. Problems may occur later because of my identity issues, but I'll deal with that when the time comes.

"Now I need to create my profile…" Alias - Raccoon Title - N/A Followers - 0 Points - 50, 000 With that done and out of the way, I just needed the materials. [Opara Grass] Search Results: 4 [Opara Grass - 50 Points] [Opara Grass - 55 Points] [Opara Grass - 150 Points] [Opara Grass - 65 Points] There was literally almost no Opara grass on the exchange… It's not like this was some sort of rare ingredient either; It's literally grass even a goblin could obtain! Why is it so short on stock!?

"Haah," I groaned, "Fine…I'll have to make do with these." [This item has already been purchased.]"…" I stared at the screen in disbelief. The 50 point Opara grass had been purchased right before my eyes. Quickly shaking off that disgusting feeling of getting something stolen from me, I purchased the three remaining Opara grass. Three small bundles of grass appeared in front of me. They weren't even tied together or consistent. They looked like strands of grass plucked straight from the lawn…

"Is this…Not just grass?" [Opara Grass] Grade - F Grass haphazardly plucked by accident. My eye twitched as I read the material's description. Was this actually an ingredient for a recovery potion? It was too late for regret, I had already purchased them.

"Haah…" I sighed, almost already resigning myself to fate. In the pictures by CauldronBro, he had used approximately two bundles worth of grass in his recipe. I decided to plant the best looking bundle of grass in a flower pot.

"Grow…Grow…" My dejected voice sang to the grass. This won't do… I slapped both of my cheeks and focused. Wallowing in sadness was not the right option, I needed to focus on what really mattered. Making money.

"What kind of water should I use…?" I debated whether to use bottled water, sink water, or salt water. How would a goblin do it…

"Probably with some bacteria infested pond water?" Yeah, no. Not on board with that. I decided purified bottled water was the best and easiest option. For sap, I just purchased the cheapest tree sap on the exchange—2500 points. It appeared in front of me in a cute milk bottle. This would last for several potions. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Tree bark shavings weren't on the exchange but tree bark was.

For an unreasonable price if I may add. Like 4000 points? Who is paying 4000 points for bark off a tree!? It's only a meter long too! If it was the whole tree, I may understand, but 4000 points for a meter long piece of bark!? This is outrageous, I need to protest.

"Haah…" I'll protest later.

"How do I shave this?" … Bits and pieces of tree bark scattered all over my kitchen counter and floor. My cheese grater lay flat, completed destroyed and unusable. I put my hand over my heart and appreciated a moment of silence for my fallen utensil comrade. Ignoring the unrightful death of my kitchen tool, I now had a bowl of tree bark shavings. [Pine Tree Bark Shavings] Grade - F Inconsistent wood shavings made haphazardly in a rudimentary way.

[Maple Tree Sap] Grade - E Tree sap harvested from a maple tree using proper methods. Every material except the water was now classified by the system.

"Grade F…? Come on, I put my heart and soul into that!" I said in disagreement. But of course, the ignorant system wouldn't reply. Even though it's clearly in the wrong. I mean, what's so bad about a couple of shavings that have completely different sizes, textures, and appearance. Disgruntled, I lined up all the materials I'd use on the counter.

"An induction stove is like fire, no?" I turned on the stove and began heating up the pan. Though the steps were written extremely lazily and crudely, I could understand it with the help of the pictures CauldronBro provided.

"Add a bit of everything!" The wood shavings went in first. Smoke rose and the stench of burning wood immediately filled the air. Next was the grass, I only added a fourth of it for now. I could see the materials starting to burn so I quickly added water. Slowly stirring the mixture, I added a bit of sap.

"More grass and tree bark!" As I continued to stir and add materials, the color of the water gradually changed and the grass and shavings started to disintegrate—Or integrate into the liquid.

"Water!" I hummed as I concocted the greatest potion to ever exist. This is pretty fun. When I finished using all the grass, I took the pan off the burner.

"Now I need to store it and let it cool. But where should I store it?" When you think of potions, you think of bright red liquid in glass bottles. But did I really want to spend more money that I didn't have just for the aesthetic? Of course I did. [Purchase Successful] Using a funnel, I poured the finished mixture into the glass bottle. The potion filled about 75 ml of the 100 ml glass bottle. I twisted the cap on and put it in the fridge.

"Now I just wait until its cold, right?" I nodded in response to myself and headed to bed. Cleaning the kitchen could come later. As fun as it was, I want to laze around for a bit. …

"Huh…?" I slowly opened my eyes, sitting up. I ended up falling asleep for two hours. Yawning, I got out of bed and waddled my way to the kitchen.

"The potion should be done, right…?" Though CauldronBro was awesome for creating such a simple recipe, he could have at least mentioned how long it should take to cool. I ignored the messy and dirty counters and floor and opened the fridge. A small glass bottle filled with orange-brownish liquid greeted me.

"Why is it even orange? Where does it get that color from?" I briefly wondered but replaced those thoughts with excitement. It looked exactly as it did in the pictures. Did I really create a recovery potion? [Minor Recovery Potion] Grade E Creator: Raccoon A potion that accelerates injury recovery rate. If drunk, helps internal injury recovery speed. If applied to wound, closes injury and stops bleeding. I stared at the item description for a few seconds and reread it multiple times before I broke into a smile.

"Hehe!" I giggled, jumping around the room.

"I did it! I made a potion!" Ecstatic couldn't even describe the feeling I felt. The money I could make from this wasn't even on my mind, I was simply happy that I made a potion. I didn't know why it was so fun, but that didn't matter. This was a joy I should share with others! So, I decided to write my first post on the Alchemist Gallery. Not a troll post or bait post, but simply a post sharing my joy. [Thank You CauldronBro! Recovery Potion!] Author: BinLover I did it!

I made the recovery potion you posted a recipe for, CauldronBro! Look! It's perfect, isn't it!? (Picture of Minor Recovery Potion) Thank you for the recipe! This was fun to make!! → [CauldronBro:?] → [CauldronBro: You're welcome but… Who are you?] → [EfficiencyLord: I clicked this expecting a bait post but… Who is this?] → [HomunculusTheBest: BinLover? I've never seen this user before?] → [Juxtaps: This isn't even a lurker…? Their name wasn't in the user list before. Is this a genuine new gallery member?] → [SlimeLube: Have you thought about using slime in your recipes?] → [ObsidianTier: Why are you so excited over making a minor recovery potion…? Shouldn't you have made way better stuff by now?] ↳ [Love Fusion Mix Hands: Not everyone is as good as you!] ↳ [ObsidianTier: … Are YOU really saying that?] → [CauldronBro: Gallery Manager, can we get some info on the new user?] ↳ [✪Potions Are Easy: Checking, one sec…] ↳ [✪Potions Are Easy: Wait, this is an actual new member of the gallery. They just joined a month ago.] ↳ [EfficiencyLord: Wait fr?] → [HomunculusTheBest: Newbie! Do you use homunculus? Have you heard of their greatness?] → [Meditation Is Medicine: Have you heard of meditation?] → [Juxtaps: What's your specialty, BinLover?] → [✪Potions Are Easy: BinLover, could you tell us a little about yourself? We haven't had a new member in quite some time.] ↳ [BinLover: Yes! Hello! I awakened about a month ago as an alchemist, I just lurked and read over posts but I finally decided to make my first potion! Thanks to CauldronBro's recipe that even goblins could make, I was able to make a recovery potion!] ↳ [BinLover: I'm super excited to try and make the other potions I saw when I get the money!] ↳ [✪Potions Are Easy:?] ↳ [EfficiencyLord:?] ↳ [HomunculusTheBest:?] ↳ [SlimeLube:?] ↳ [Love Fusion Mix Hands:?] ↳ [Juxtaps:?] ↳ [ObsidianTier: Is this top-tier bait or…?] → [CauldronBro: Your first potion…?] ↳ [BinLover: Yes! Why is everyone spamming question marks?] ↳ [✪Potions Are Easy: Alchemists who have access to this place usually have created thousands if not millions of potions… A comparison would be like only Archmages have access to an archmage gallery, so like an 'Arch-Alchemist' would have access to this one.] ↳ [BinLover:?] ↳ [ObsidianTier: Wait, why are YOU confused?] ↳ [BinLover: Because you're all confusing me. Am I being trolled?] ↳ [✪Potions Are Easy: I just checked and BinLover has only made '1' potion.] ↳ [BinLover: Yeah, that's what I just said?] I shared my joy only to be confused by those trolls. Enough about whatever they're on about. They definitely cooled my head though. Looking on the exchange, I found other E-grade Minor Recovery Potions.

"7500 points…" It was definitely a profit. I only used a handful of bark shavings and 50 ml of tree sap. Assuming I can get more Opara Grass, I'd have enough to create about 25 potions. But, since I wasn't confident enough to visit the first floor myself to gather the material, I decided to outsource it. … A post appeared on the Awakener Gallery, only used by real awakeners. [Buying Opara Grass] Author: BinLover Looking to buy Opara Grass for 100 points per bundle.

Easily collectible on the first floor or in forests. (Picture of a bundle of Opara Grass) Takes like 10 seconds to harvest and is abundant. It was a simple post. But one that caught the eye of a few people. Though it was common for people to ask for materials, no one had asked for grass before. Opara Grass was more like a weed than useful material. It was abundant—overly so, being in most forests on any floor of the tower. In the very early days of the tower, people had tried to find a use for it but to no avail.

So, people eventually just started ignoring it. But now, someone was specifically asking for it? Could they have found a use for the seemingly useless material? But the thoughts were brief. Even if someone found a use for it, how useful could it actually be? It was an overabundant resource that anyone could get. A few awakeners decided to take up the job to make a quick buck. It couldn't be easier, pluck grass for a hundred points. That day, multiple people happily munched on chicken after an hours work.