Chương 21: Mana Potion

At my computer desk, I jotted down information about the key material for mana potions—Hiroki Shrooms. I didn't need to do this because of my trait, but it makes it easier to digest and organize my stored knowledge. Looking on the exchange, I found that Hiroki Shrooms were quite expensive. They were sold by the pound for 50, 000 points per. They're sold like this because of how popular and important they are.

There are other main ingredients you could use to create a mana potion, but these are the most common because of their effectiveness, utility, and harvestability. Every alchemist has used them at least once in their career. After purchase, a bundle of mushrooms appeared in front of me. Hiroki shrooms had a light blue stem and a deep blue cap dotted with white. They had an mossy smell and tasted extremely bitter. How do I know that…?

"Bleh!" I spat out the mushroom and tried to wipe my tongue.

"Disgusting!" I tried to let out before quickly grabbing my water and cleansing my palette. Curiosity got the better of me. I only tried to eat one because they were described as 'A disgustingly bitter mushroom that is kind of addictive' by a gallery member. I'll return my grievances! DK Royal! Ah, that's another member of the alchemist gallery, one I haven't seen before. Apparently, he's been so busy with stuff in his own world that he doesn't have time to check the gallery.

Anyways, after getting that disgusting lingering feeling out of my mouth, I checked the material description. [Hiroki Shroom] Grade D Found by an explorer named 'Hiroki' these mushrooms grow in dark, humid caverns. They are found abundantly in small batches of less than a dozen and are a staple food for most cavern dwellers. They are filled with natural mana, which, when eaten will slowly replenish your own mana. This is called a 'Mana Regen' property.

They emit a light blue glow when they are in the adult cycle of their life; During the adult cycle, their properties become the most prominent and effective they can naturally become. It takes two months to reach the adult cycle from spawn. In an emergency, if you're out of mana potions, you can eat one of the mushrooms raw. It will be less effective than a potion, but will recover your mana nevertheless. This specific Hiroki Shroom was farmed and harvested. There is no damage to the mushroom.

After reading the description, I nodded. It matched what I had written down in my notebook. This was another effect of my [Material Knowledge] trait. It updated material descriptions based on what I've learnt and kept track of. All of the materials I've used before now have updated descriptions. Speaking of, the next ingredient I plan on using… [Opara Grass] Grade D No one is certain where the name comes from, Opara Grass is thought to be created by the Goddess 'Naturia' herself.

It is said that hair that falls from the Goddess' head carries Opara Grass seeds that spread all over the land. Opara Grass can be found all over land which is not filled with death. However, when planted in Death-Energy filled soil, over time, the Opara Grass will heal and purify, bringing the land back to its natural state. All stages of Opara Grass have the 'Life Regen' property, but it is most effective when fully grown and nurtured with care.

With proper tending, it is thought that Opara Grass can even be reformed into Goddess Naturia's hair. When surrendered completely to nature, Opara Grass will grow to its most natural state and can even grow as tall as trees. An adventurer once treaded what they thought was a jungle, only for it to be discovered that it was Opara Grass grown over centuries. This specific bundle of Opara Grass was carefully harvested before being replanted and nurtured with care.

Mana was gently injected into the grass, stimulating its 'Growth' property. A hopeful wish by the tender has reached the grass' properties, aiding in its quality; "Grow up big and strong! ~" The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Hehe," I smiled looking at the material. My love and care had caused it to reach D grade! Even the system itself acknowledged my tenderness! I couldn't help but be happy. This was the only batch of opara grass to reach D grade so far, but the others probably aren't far behind. If I kept nurturing opara grass, could I eventually bring it to S grade?! Maybe even reform Naturia's hair!? —Whoever that is. Honestly, I wasn't exactly sold on the description.

All this stuff about it being a Goddess' hair follicles was complete superstition that I only kept note of for the sake of it. It might be the case in their world, but I'm not even sure a God or Goddess exists in ours. It's one of those things where I wouldn't be surprised if they did, but I'm not certain they don't. I mean, we have a tower for goodness' sake! But, I digress. Mana potions were surprisingly easy to create.

I mean, you don't even really need a potion, you could just eat the hiroki shrooms raw and that'd regen your mana. But, making it into a potion will make everything about it better. The effectiveness, taste, and quantity. I had looked up some recipes from the gallery, but I wasn't planning on using them. I just wanted a feel of how others create them; I felt like I definitely had enough knowledge that I could create simple potions. It might not be as cost-effective, but I'll be darned if it isn't fun.

The only problem is I still don't have a cauldron. They're just too expensive. Even if I am doing well in the points department, I had nowhere near enough for a good cauldron. And there's no way I was buying a cheap one, my alchemist pride wouldn't allow it. So, I have no choice but to make-do with my good ol' stainless steel pot. The mana potion I was creating had two main ingredients: Hiroki shrooms and opara grass. The shrooms will give the potion its mana regen property and opara grass will boost it.

I'll add honey to neutralize the bitterness of the hiroki shroom. And for the flavor, I'll add concentrated strawberry liquid. Beyond that is just water for the neutral liquid that brings everything together. First things first, I need to make the flavor for the potion. Heading to my garden, I picked out a bunch of the best strawberries I had. [Homegrown Strawberry] Grade D This specific strawberry was picked from a plant planted in C grade soil and nurtured daily with love and care.

Mana was gently injected into the strawberry, stimulating its 'Growth' property. A hopeful wish by the tender has reach the strawberry's properties, aiding in its quality; "Grow up big and strong! ~""Hehe!" I may or may not have eaten a few. But, I'd imagine they'd taste incredibly sweet and delicious. Definitely not speaking from personal experience. Nope. Back in the kitchen, first, I needed to blend the strawberries. I added a bunch to the blender and a few spoons of sugar alongside it before blending.

After a while, I was left with a liquid with a smoothie-like consistency. I strained it before adding it back to the blender with a bit more sugar. Repeating this a few times, eventually I was left with almost purely liquid strawberry. Pouring the juice into the pot, I stirred before bringing it to a boil. Carefully, I adjusted the heat as needed, removing the foam that formed the top of the liquid. Soon enough, I turned off the heat before storing the liquid in a glass bottle.

What remained was a beautiful red liquid that smelt extremely sweet. [Concentrated Sweet Strawberry Juice] Grade D Liquid made from strawberries and sugar.

"Oh!" It was nice to see the system itemize it for me. It was a good confirmation that I did things right. I set the bottle of strawberry juice into the fridge for now and cleaned the pot. Now, it was time for the mana potion itself. Filling the pot with water, I added a few hiroki shrooms and a bundle of opara grass that I sliced in half. I brought the pot to a boil, before closing my eyes and holding the handle.

If this was a cauldron, I could put my hands directly on the sides itself, making it easier to manipulate mana, but alas, I'm just too poor.

"Ugh…" I groaned, trying to move my mana through the pot. It was extremely inconductive and difficult. It felt like my mana was hitting a wall every time I tried to move it—Like I was trying to tread through marsh. The reason I was trying to use this pot like a cauldron was to maximize the effectiveness of the potion. Yes, I could make it crudely like a goblin with nearly zero mana manipulation, but then I'd just be left with a mediocre potion that even goblins could make! There's no way I'd be satisfied with that.

Especially not after playing that alchemy game at the arcade. Crude potions just can't satisfy me anymore! I can't go back! It's just so much more better… fun and rewarding than the boring ol' pot method. Forcing my string of mana through the sludge of a pot, I withdrew more mana from my core to strengthen the string so I could maintain connection. After a hard-fought battle that lasted minutes, I finally connected with the materials.

I had to concentrate constantly, else the pot would break my string of mana, severing my connection with the materials completely. If I was in the midst of drawing out the properties, it'd ruin the batch completely. Ah, I didn't mention it, did I? I'm trying to make more than just one potion at a time—another commonality with using the cauldron method. In the pot, I put in materials for ten potions worth. It was definitely harder and only possible while using the pot like a cauldron.

I needed to extract the properties of ten hiroki shrooms at the same time and infuse them into the water. While doing this, I had to section off the opara grass in to make sure it didn't overlap or connect with the infusion while I was doing this. Needless to say, my mind was overloading and sweat was beading down my head already. I was breathing heavy, yet, I endured and continued to manipulate the mana.

"Extract…" I mumbled. Slowly, I pulled the 'Mana Regen' property from the shrooms into my string of mana and infused it into the water. As mana started to fill the water, it got harder to sense and feel my own string of mana. Yet, I endured, licking my lips and finishing the extraction of the property.

"Haah… Haah…" With deep breaths, I swallowed air and continued to work. Now, I needed to isolate the shrooms. Just as I did with the opara grass, I coated the hiroki shrooms with my mana. Next, I started to extract the 'Life Regen' property from the opara grass. Slowly and steadily, I pulled the property into my own string of mana. Then, I opened a connection with the 'Mana Regen' property in the water. Carefully, I infused the 'Life Regen' property into it.

If I infused it into the water itself like I did with the mana regen property, the two properties would fight for control instead of boosting the mana regen property.

"Infuse…" I mumbled through deep breaths. And then. I did it. The life regen property mixed with the mana regen. The mana part of the property overpowered and devoured the life aspect, leaving only the regeneration aspect.

"Hehe…" I smiled, but I wasn't done just yet. Now, I needed to fix the flavor. If left alone, I'd be left with a working mana potion that tasted extremely bitter. Opening my eyes, I used a ladle to remove the opara grass and hiroki shrooms. Only after they left the water could I finally stop coating them with mana. If I didn't, they'd reabsorb the properties I painstakingly removed. But, it'd reabsorb it incorrectly, entering places they shouldn't and completely ruining the properties and in consequence, the batch.

"Haah…" I let out a deep breath of relief, I was sweating and my core was drained. Mana manipulation without a cauldron costs way too much… Looking at the time, I didn't even realize that two hours had passed.

"Wow…" I mumbled before shaking my head. I still had work to do. Retrieving the strawberry juice from my fridge, it had completely cooled down and now felt a little cold. Back at the pot, first, I lowered the heat then added in honey to neutralize the bitterness. Stirring until it felt right, I raised the heat before finally adding in the strawberry juice.

"Stir~ Stir~ Stir~" I hummed. At long last, I turned off the heat.

"Hehe!" I giggled, happily looking at my creation. The last step was to funnel the liquid into bottles. [Sweet Mana Regeneration Potion] Grade D Creator: Raccoon A sweet tasting mana recovery potion. Drinking this potion will instantly regenerate a small amount of mana before increasing internal mana regeneration rate. Instantly recovers a small amount of mana. Increases mana regeneration rate.