Liam placed a hand over his heart as he looked down to see a short Cat-folk girl with long ashy grey colored hair with lightly stripped cat ears and a matching tail swishing behind her excitedly. She had a pair of goggles resting on her forehead pushing up the bangs that slightly hung over the lens.
She wore a long sleaved white shirt with a tannish green vest and brown fingerless gloves. A short skirt with light grey stockings that ran into a pair of brown ankle high boots. She had on a dark green apron with the shops logo over the middle of the apron and the name at the top.
Liam gave her a smile as he said making sure he had it right, “Abby, right?”
Abby nodded her head vigorously, looking very happy Liam remembered her name. “Yes! And you’re Liam right?”
Liam nodded. “You got it.”
Abby let out a short giggle.
Liam noticed the few customers that were in the store turned to look at them.
Abby noticed it as well then straightened her posture, grabbed the sides of her apron closer to the bottom of her skit, then curtsied, and greeted, “Welcome to the Cat’s Paw-ldron. Your one stop shop for most Alchemy Supplies. How can I help you today?”
Liam couldn’t help but smile at her display of customer service. She looked adorable the way she curtsied and her greeting reminded him of a child helping around her family’s shop. She must be the poster girl for the store.
“Can you tell me all that you have here?” Liam asked as he looked around. “I don’t see any supplies for Poison Craft or Chemicalized Creations. So, I must assume you don’t carry anything related to those sections of Alchemy.”
Abby nodded her head. “Your assumption is correct. Many of the crafting stores and Workshops have specialties and focuses. Our is on Potions, both restorative and magical, and Medicinal Creations. Poison Craft is located at a different store, same with Chemicalized Creations. Though the latter is not located within this town, but rather within the Kingdom’s territory.”
Liam raised a brow at what she had informed. If there wasn’t a store that focused on Chemicalized Creations then he would have to wait a bit longer before he could start working on those. He was fine with that since he had gotten the Knowledge Theory book on it from Galin. He could just focus on gaining more knowledge on it before he started experimenting there.
He didn’t know much about Magic Potions, but he figured he’d learn that later as well. For now, he could get some practice in on a different section of Alchemy. Medicinal Creations.
“That’s interesting. I guess for now I could use some vials for making potions and…,” Liam looked around and tried to figure out what else he needed. He noticed the Knowledge Theory books at the back corner of the store and some supplies on a table that said, ‘Medicinal Creation Supplies.’
“If you have any, do you have any Knowledge Theory books on Medicinal Creations for first time creators and whatever supplies needed to make them that you can recommend,” Liam finished.
Abby stared up at him with a smile. “I can help you with that. Are you planning to craft any time soon?”
Liam nodded. “Yes I need to make batches of Health, Mana, and Stamina Potions. I’m thinking of making some Mana Extracts as well while I’m at it. While that is going on I figured I could learn how to make Medicinal Creations in between.”
“Awesome!” Abby beamed. “If you’d like, you can use our workshop in the back.”
Liam smiled at her. He wasn’t sure why she was being so friendly or helpful, but he was grateful for it. He was about to inform her that he couldn’t use their workshop until he heard a voice.
“Who’s your friend here Abby?” A man asked as he approached them from behind Abby.
He was a little taller than Liam and had the same racial features as Abby. He looked to be in his late forties, early fifties. He had a clean shaven face and small patches of grey hairs could be seen in his hair. His uniform was almost similar to Abby’s except he wore black pants and dress shoes.
Abby turned to look at the man and said with an excited voice, “Uncle Farry. This is Liam. He’s a fellow Cat-folk and is new to town.”
“Is that so?” Farry replied as he turned to look at Liam. He took in Liam’s features and had a slightly confused look.
Liam understood why he had that look and pointed to his eyes under the sunglasses.
Farry quickly understood what Liam meant and gave him a smile as he nodded. “My apologies.”
Liam shook his head. He returned his smile with one of his own as he said, “It’s alright. You’re not the first today.”
Farry let out a small chuckle as he replied, “I bet. Sorry to interrupt. I overheard Abby say something about using the workshop and made my way over here. Are you an experienced Alchemist?”
“I’m still new to the craft. I’ve only had about a month’s worth of training,” Liam started to say.
“Only a month's worth of training? That isn’t much time,” Farry commented.
“I agree, which is why I was going to get some time in while I’m waiting to hear back on if I can get access to the Arkadian Kingdom,” Liam agreed.
“That is a wise decision,” Farry nodded. “So then are you going to want to use our workshop while you’re here? It’s open from ten a.m. to eight p.m.”
Liam gave him a boyish grin as he explained, “I was just about to tell Abby here that I won’t be able to until I get my C.I.D. tomorrow.”
Abby’s eyes widened. “What do you mean? Why can’t you use our workshop until you get your C.I.D.?”
Farry looked at Liam with a puzzled expression as he tried to understand what was going on. He looked like he had some idea what was going on, but before he asked he explained to Abby, “People without a C.I.D. can not craft in any workshop if they are looking to sell any of their extra crafted items. It’s the law.”
Abby still looked a little confused as she stated, “But I only have a temporary Assistant C.I.D. not a full one and I can use the workshop.”
Farry smiled, “That is because your type of C.I.D. allows you to use the workshop to help me here at the store since you have expressed a desire to learn Alchemy.”
Liam gave him a curious look. “Something like that is possible?”
Farry nodded. “Yes, it is to help the younger generation who want to learn crafts while helping out at stores. Since they help out, the completed crafts can technically be sold, and no one wants to hoard a magnitude of crafted items over the years to collect dust. So, the Crafter’s Association created this solution. However, they are limited to what they can craft. In Abby’s case with Alchemy, she can only learn Extract, Distill, Potion Making, and Medicinal Creations.”
“That’s actually a really good idea,” Liam stated.
Farry nodded. “Going back to you though. If you’re still waiting for a C.I.D. but have been learning how to do Alchemy then you must be a newly integrated person to our world. Is that right?”
Liam nodded. “Yes. I am still learning the rules to this world as I go. This is my first day here.”
“Well, I must say thank you for coming here on your first day and welcome to Cashat Post. Do you plan on making any showcase Alchemy items to show off to potential Merchants or Alchemy Stores?”
“Yes, I was planning on going to one of those assigned areas and working on some Health, Mana, and Stamina Potions. I figured I’d study and learn how to make Medicinal Creations while I’m at it,” Liam replied.
“That’s a good idea. So, you’re looking for supplies and some ingredients for your stock right?” Farry questioned. “Do you have the proper equipment to make potions? How about for the Medicinal Creations?”
“I’m good on the potion making part. I received a Crude Pestle and Crude Mortar, but I’m not entirely sure if that’s all I need,” Liam stated. “As for ingredients, I don’t see a lot of herbs here so I’m not sure what kind of ingredients you are talking about.”
“Ah the ingredients I’m referring to are ones you’ll need for Medicinal Creations. We don’t sell a lot of herbs here because you can easily find majority out in the wild. Instead, we do carry stuff like different types of oils, beeswax, and other stuff that is harder to find out there,” Farry explained before raising a hand to his chin. He started muttering to himself as he let his mind start working. He then looked at Liam and asked, “Do you need vials, beakers, or flasks? What kind of budget do you have?”
Liam took a look at the coins he had in his inventory and noticed he had sixty two silver coins, three hundred and eleven copper coins, and four hundred and seventy two iron coins. He still wasn’t sure how the economy was here in this part of the world nor in the entire world, but he was going to have to learn quickly.
“The highest coins I have are in the silvers,” Liam stated. “Not sure how the economy here is so I’ll just say I have some silver coins and a lot of the lower coins to use.”
Farry looked at Liam with a confused expression.
“What?” Liam questioned, feeling like he might have said something he shouldn’t have.
“You said you just arrived to our world today right?” Farry questioned.
Liam slowly nodded.
“How do you already have silver coins then? You have to be the richest newcomer to come out of the Tutorial Area. Do you have merchant related skills?” Farry inquired.
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Liam shook his head. “I don’t have any. My mentor helped me sell what I made will I studied under him. He gave me my portion of the profits from all the potions I made while I was in the Tutorial Area.”
Farry stared at Liam with a shocked look on his face. “If you were able to make that much just from selling potions and dungeon diving then you might have some good potions.”
Liam remembered that the potions he made were completely different than the ones the people from this world was used to. He still thought it was a waste that the Alchemists of this world sacrificed taste over gains.
For Liam he didn’t care if others thought it be a cost lost by adding in some flavor to a potion that tasted like crap. He carried over knowledge from his world that he believed could be exploited here. Prices can change depending on how bad someone wanted something. And judging by the reactions he saw from his cousin Mila and her team, he knew the price of the potions would rise to a satisfying price.
He smiled as a twinkle shined in his eyes. “You have no idea. I’ll have to show you after I make some.”
Farry smiled as he replied, “I will look forward to that. Now let me see what I can find for you. Go ahead and take a look around as I prepare a selection of items I will advise you to get.”
Liam nodded as he said, “Alright, sounds good.”
“Abby come help me please,” Farry stated as he turned around and walked towards the back.
“Yes Uncle Farry,” Abby said as she skipped behind him.
After the two disappeared, Liam looked around and thought about what he wanted to check out. After a few seconds he walked over to the section that really pulled on to his curiosity. The Knowledge Theory section.
As Liam stared at the books on the shelves he noticed they were spaced out with the covers facing out for people to get a good look at them, along with the price that was displayed under them.
Liam grimaced as he saw the two top shelves held books whose costs were in the gold coin ranges. He could understand as he read some of the titles. They were for Advanced to Master level techniques and recipes.
“I’ll get to that level one day,” Liam muttered to himself as he focused his attention down to the books under those ones.
The Intermediate level Alchemy books ranged from the high copper coin price range to mid silver coin price range.
He was almost there with his Potion Making, but was still not there. He then looked at the beginner level Knowledge Theory Alchemy books and saw there were different ones. He saw the Extract to Distill, My Potion be Still Knowledge Theory book he had been given when he first started learning and chuckled a bit.
He moved on to the next ones and saw a book called Poison Begone! He was curious about what it was and took a peek into it. After reading the first page he recognized it to be a Knowledge Theory book on Antidotes against weak poisons.
He didn’t know if this book was in the Potion Making section or a different section of Alchemy. He decided to grab it and ask. The price was set at what he thought was a reasonable price at fifty-five copper coins. He moved on to the next one and read the title.
“Grind it, smush it, wet it, work it. Salves and Balms for the Beginner Medicinal Creator,” Liam whispered before letting out a small chuckle.
The beginning part of the title reminded him of an EDM song from his world. He decided to get this book. Not because he now had the song playing in his head. It was for his progression with Alchemy.
Liam was about to stop there, but a title suddenly caught the corner of his eye. He turned to see if what he saw was correct and was curious. The title was called Beating to the Rhythm. Beginner’s guide to HOT Pots.
“What the hell is this? A cook book?” Liam muttered as he reached out for it.
He grabbed it and was starting to pull it towards him to look at it. Then suddenly Abby appeared behind Liam and asked, “Something caught your eye?”
Liam swiftly jumped to his feet, releasing the books he had in his hands and spun around. His heart paced quickly as he looked down at Abby. He squinted his eyes as he muttered, “I don’t know how you’re doing that, but please stop that.”
Abby tilted her head and gave Liam an innocently confused look as she replied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Uh huh, sure you don’t,” Liam commented as he went to pick up the couple of books he dropped.
Abby bent down and picked up the book Liam was going to look at and read the cover. As she stood back up she asked, “Are you interested in H.O.T. Pots?”
“I’m not sure,” Liam started as he looked at her. “Are we talking food or something else?”
Abby tilted her head and gave him a confused look. “Food? There are Healing over time potions that are food?”
Liam blinked a few times as he stared at her. “H.O.T. Pots stands for Healing over time Potions?”
Abby let out a laugh as she still gave him a confused look. “Yeah, what else would it be?”
Liam coughed, feeling a bit embarrassed as he explained, “Well, back on my old world we had a food called Hot Pot. It was a bunch of food cooked over a very hot cooking pot…I’m not entirely sure what it all had because I never got to try it, but I did want to try.”
Abby raised a brow as she kept her head tilted. “You’re weird you know that?”
“I’ve been told that more than once before,” Liam replied, a bit confused by what she said.
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“*Laughs out loud* I like this little girl. – Eri”
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Liam shook his head as he made the text disappear.
“So, this book is about a different style of potion making?” Liam asked.
Abby nodded her head. “There are three types of regular potions that do not fall in the Magic Potion section. They are Normal Potions. This entails regular one time fill amounts like Health, Mana, and Stamina. The second is Curatives. This group entails Antidotes, Curse Cures, and Disease Cures. And the last is H.O.T. Pots. Which is short for Heal Over Time Potions. They are Health Pulse, Mana Pulse, and Stamina Pulse.”
Liam stared at her for a moment. He was never told this. He only thought that Potion Making entailed Health, Mana, and Stamina Potions. If this was the case then he still had a lot to learn with Alchemy.
“Thank you for explaining all that,” Liam said as he reached for the book.
“No problem, but you might want to wait before getting this book. It requires you have Mana Channeling, Mana Manipulation, and Mana Control at least at level ten to be able to make any of the H.O.T. Pots,” Abby suggested.
“Ah, no worries there. I already have them past that,” Liam said as he looked down at her.
Abby’s eyes widened as she heard Liam proclaim this. With some skepticism she said, “How? You said you just came out from the Tutorial Area today so you shouldn’t even have any knowledge on Mana Manipulation or Control.”
“Let’s just say I am a quick learner,” Laim said, trying not to give away more.
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“More like an experiment and hope it works type of learner. – Eri.”
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Hush you. Liam quipped back.
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“*Chuckles* - Eri.”
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Abby eyed him with disbelief as he made his way to the counter where Farry was standing with a few items spread out. She quickly followed him over to the counter.
“Uncle Farry,” Abby started. “Did you just hear what he just said?”
Liam turned his head to look at her.
“No. what did he just say?” Farry asked.
“He just told me he has his Mana Channeling, Manipulation, and Control passed level ten already,” Abby stated. “Do you think that is possible?”
Farry looked at Abby with a confused look before looking at Liam. “Is that true?”
Liam let out a sigh before nodding.
Farry stared at him for a moment longer before looking back at Abby and scolding, “Abby it is rude to call a person’s skills and abilities into questions. No matter how odd it is, that is his personal information that he trusted you with.” He then looked back at Liam and apologized, “I am sorry for my niece’s loose lips.”
Liam waved a hand as he said, “It’s alright. As long as she doesn’t go around telling other people then I don’t mind telling you. It will actually help since I didn’t know you needed those skills at a certain level to make H.O.T. Pots.” Liam then muttered to himself, “It’s going to take a bit for me to get used to saying that.”
Farry gave Liam an appreciative look. “Here are the items I recommend as well as a crate of small, medium, and large vials, some flasks, and beakers. I have a small barrel of purified water. You might already have one, but I have a couple of Bunsen Burners so you can work on more than one potion at a time. Do you need another Cucurbits’ and Alembics?”
“I could use a couple more to match the two Bunsen Burners you have here,” Liam said as he stared at the stuff on the counter.
Farry nodded as he continued, “Since you said you were interested in Medicinal Creations I have a mixing bowl so you can use for items that require a lot of ingredients as well as tins for you to put the completed items in. As for ingredients I have a tub of beeswax, Jalix wax, Flara Leaves, flask of CoCo oil, Denden Oil, and Sweet Narctic Oil. I’d offer you a grinding Mortar and Pestle, but I don’t have any ingredients you could use it on. If you can find the ingredients for it then I’ll sell you one.”
“What is that used for? What ingredients are needed to use it?” Liam asked with some curiosity.
“It’s used to break down things like crystals and bones into dust. It’s needed for things like some Medicinal Creations, the H.O.T. Pots you’re interested in making, and some Chemicalized Creations as well as poisons,” Farry explained.
Liam looked at him and thought about what he had in his inventory. He didn’t have any crystals, but he did have bones that ranged from poor to average quality.
“I have a stock of bones on me,” Liam informed. “I might have enough that I could sell you some if you’d like?”
Farry gave Liam a surprised look before asking, “You have a lot? If you don’t then I suggest you keep them since you’ll need a lot of bone dust for H.O.T. Pots.”
Liam waved a hand out in front of him. “I have a lot. The dungeon I was assigned to in the Tutorial Area was a Black Dungeon full of skeletons.”
Both Farry and Abby stared at Liam with wide eyes.
“What?” Liam asked, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable.
“Sorry, it’s just you don’t hear a lot of people actually taking on a Black Dungeon,” Farry explained.
“What do you mean? Are Black Dungeons rare or something?” Liam asked.
Farry nodded. “It is really rare for them to appear anywhere. They are usually found around graveyards or places where a lot of death have happened, but they still don’t appear as frequently as the other colored dungeons.”
Liam was surprised by what he had said. He then had a question and asked, “So then how does people normally get bones for crafting?”
“Many people get lucky when they harvest creatures they kill both in and out the dungeons,” Abby replied.
Liam tilted his head to the side as he latched on to something the little Tabby Cat-folk girl said. “What do you mean outside the dungeons? Are there monsters that roam outside of dungeons?”
“You really don’t know anything do you?” Abby stated.
Liam pressed his lips tightly not wanting to remind her that he had just come out from the Tutorial Area and was still learning about the world. Instead, he waited for someone to explain.
“There are plenty of dungeons out there not discovered yet. If a dungeon goes too long without anyone defeating it then it causes a Dungeon Breakthrough which allows the monsters to escape from the dungeon. It starts off small letting the weaker ones out first. After a certain amount of time passes and no one kills them off or defeats the final boss inside the dungeon then more powerful ones flow out and this keeps continuing until someone defeats the final Boss inside the dungeon,” Farry explained.
“Does the Final Boss ever come out?” Liam asked, interested to hear about this.
“No. They stay inside for who knows what reason, but there hasn’t been any report of a Boss monster coming out,” Abby informed.
“That’s interesting,” Liam stated. “I wonder why that is.”
Abby shrugged before forming a scowl, stared at the counter, and she said, “Who knows, but there are researchers who are looking into them with what they call Controlled Breakthroughs. They claim this helps out with resources.” Abby let out a scoff before adding, “People’s lives shouldn’t be at risk for resources they don’t ever see.”
Liam caught the look she was giving. He looked at Farry for an explanation.
“Her parents got caught up in one of those researches. A very powerful monster came out and killed them and a bunch of others,” Farry explained.
“Ah, I see,” Liam started before looking at Abby and adding, “I’m sorry.”
Abby shrugged and forced the frown away. She then let out a sigh and looked back at Liam and said, “Anyways, the ones no one knows about will keep sending out new monsters and those monsters spread out throughout the world.”
Liam felt bad for the girl. He didn’t want to say anything that would upset her, so he was glad she changed the topic. He nodded at what she had told him and was starting to understand what Lucy meant when she mentioned that there was a port for those who were brave enough to take the sea instead of the Transportation Portals.
He didn’t understand what she meant at the time, but now he did. There were powerful monsters in the water.
Liam reached out and ruffled Abby’s hair a bit before saying, “Thank you for explaining all of that.”
Abby protested to Liam’s hand suddenly messing up her hair and glared at him for a moment before replying, “You’re welcome.”
“Alright,” Liam said as he looked back at Farry. “Let’s go over all this and see what the damage will be especially after adding the Knowledge Theory books.”
Farry and Abby both grew wide suspicious grins at each other before giving Laim a look that reminded him a lot like Mercer before he started his professional Merchant offers.