Lady Arachne and Silent Saboteur stared at the door Liam had just walked through. For a few seconds neither of them had moved nor said anything, only stared.
Silent Saboteur was the first to break the silence as he let out a loud belly shaking laugh. Lady Arachne shook her head before turning to look at the man.
“I like that guy,” Silent Saboteur stated as he turned to the smaller woman. “He knows when to hold onto something good and not blow it on something so small.”
“He is indeed an interesting one, “Lady Arachne agreed. “I thought for sure he would have used it for this order purchase.”
“So did I,” the portly man agreed. “I can see why Wild Card chose him. He’s got a good head on that shoulders of his. Would be a shame to see our competitors snatch him up.”
Lady Arachne nodded her head. “That’s why we’re not going to let them.”
Silent Saboteur stared at the woman. If his mask wasn’t on she would have seen the brow raised in question. She knew it was there. To further the conversation she elaborated, “Essentially he’s already passed. Him being the apprentice of that man guaranteed it. We both know the contributions he’s made to the association. It would be foolhardy to think he chose someone not fit to join.”
“I can agree to that,” Silent Saboteur nodded. “So, then…the tests…”
“Are to see what he’s currently capable of,” Lady Arachne clarified. “That…and to decide on his Web Name. As much as I am fond of setting it to Little Kitten since I know it bugs him.” She let out a short chuckle. “He thinks he’s doing a good job hiding it, yet he doesn’t realize the quick tightening of his hands he makes every time I call him it…Anyways, its unprofessional to have that as a Web Name.”
“To think I’d see the day that man gets himself an apprentice and one of our race to boot,” Silent Saboteur stated as he looked back at the door. As he stared at the door he made a decision. He made a mental command to one of his tamed owls and waited as it brought down an item.
Lady Arachne turned her focus on the item that was brought down and then gave the man a quizzical look. “What’s this?”
“It’s a Kassan’s Intermediate Crafter’s Bag,” Silent Saboteur replied. “Give this to him.”
Lady Arachne looked surprised as she looked from the bag to him. “Are you sure? Anything Kassan related is really hard to come by. I didn’t think any of his lower quality stuff still existed.”
“There are still some of his old makings floating around in the world. It’s not like he’s stopped making things just because he finally found his passion in a specific craft,” Silent Saboteur stated. “And yes. I am sure. He deserves it for pulling a move like that on me. Took me by surprise and everything. Must have a friend or a relative who has excellent merchant skills to think about that in that way.”
“Okay. If you insist,” Lady Arachne said as she grabbed the bag and started walking towards the door.
“Also,” Silent Saboteur called out.
Lady Arachne turned to look at him, stopping right in front of the door.
“Let me know when he does his tests. I want to see what he cooks up using those materials,” the tall, rounded man stated.
Lady Arachne nodded. “Will do. I’ll send Noxi in after you before we begin.”
“Sending a snake to an owl nest huh? That’s cold,” Silent Saboteur laughed as Lady Arachne shook her head before turning back and walking through the door.
Silent Saboteur slowly stopped laughing. He let out a sigh before turning to look at his giant tamed creature, Allie. The giant Lunar Tyto Alba cocked her head in a way owls can do as she stared back at her master. In a quiet and questioning tone of voice, Silent Saboteur asked, “Now what happened that could get you so riled up like that?”
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After Liam had walked through the door, his sight was flooded with text notifications from Eri just laughing. After he mentally closed it for the fifth time, she finally calmed down.
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“Did you see the look on their faces as you left that room? – Eri.”
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You know I couldn’t see it. Liam stated as the door shut behind him.
He then walked to the right of the door to wait for Lady Arachne. Even though he left before her he still needed her to guide on getting to one of the crafting rooms.
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“Well, the look they had was priceless. I think you left quite the impression. I must say though, as much as I love the small amount of chaos you create by doing that you give me whiplash from time to time. I don’t know where that brazen attitude of yours appears from time to time, but damn does it feel good to see my nature spread through those you affect with those moments. – Eri.”
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Liam’s brows scrunched as he read that message. He wasn’t sure what she meant by giving her whiplash. If she was referring to how he decided to handle that situation then he really didn’t see the issue.
He was aware that from time to time he would act arrogantly, but that usually happened when he was completely certain that the situation was in his favor. That or if he was completely pissed about the situation. He remembered when he was younger that his demeanor would change slightly when he was mad. He was told when his father brought him to a therapist, or what he and his brothers used to call a ‘talking doctor’, was a byproduct of him holding his anger in for so long.
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“Also, I know I said to try and leverage that situation to help save you on the cost of the materials, but I think your decision on the matter was wise. You are going to need some supplies for future experiments and equipment, and they are not going to be cheap in the slightest. Especially when you enter the gold coin range. So good job. I’m proud of you. – Eri.”
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Liam shrugged. He was about to respond to her, but then noticed Noxi and Orchid had started walking towards him. He fixed his attention on them.
“You alright?” Orchid questioned.
“Yeah, why?” Liam asked.
“You just look like you swallowed something sour,” Noxi replied. He then looked at the door and added, “Where’s Lady Arachne?”
Liam was about to answer, but before he could, the door opened back up and Lady Arachne walked out, materializing from the black, purple, and star speckled background. The three turned their attention to her.
Lady Arachne was surprised at seeing them all over at the door after closing. She looked at each of them before asking, “Is everything alright?”
Noxi and Orchid were about to reply until they noticed something in her arms. Both had looks of confusion.
“What is that?” Orchid inquired as she pointed to the bag.
Liam didn’t notice the bag until she had mentioned it and looked at it himself. It looked like a hiking backpack that had several different zippers for each section of it. The top back one was for the main compartment of the backpack with two more in front of it. There were two more on the sides and two in the very front. Each section was a different color switching between venom green, poison purple, raven black, and even crimson red.
Lady Arachne smiled at Orchid before turning to Liam and informing, “Silent Saboteur wishes to express his gratitude for amusing him and exceeding his expectations by offering you this inventory bag.”
Noxi and Orchid let out a choked gasp as they looked at Liam with surprised expressions.
“Are you serious?” Noxi questioned.
“That stickler is giving him an item for free?” Orchid added. She then assessed the bag and was taken back even more. She looked at Liam and asked, “What did you do? This is a Kasson crafted item.”
Liam’s brows scrunched as he heard the name. He found it familiar and tried to remember where he had heard it before. Liam’s eyes rose as he remembered. It was his old goggles. The ones that had broken on the sixth floor. He really liked those goggles. He then looked back at the bag and assessed it himself.
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“Kassan’s Intermediate Crafter’s Bag. Item Type – Inventory (Bag). Item Rarity – Uncommon. Item Quality – Above Average. Description – An Intermediate level bag made by Kasson for crafters. Can store and sort materials and crafting equipment. One section is designated for tools and equipment, one for creatures waited to be harvested, and the other five for materials by craft. If Crafter does not have five different crafts then when one section has been filled the materials for that will fill the next bag.”
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“Wow, first a Beginner’s item now an Intermediate,” Liam commented as he received the item from Lady Arachne. “I wonder what else he made. Can you tell Silent Saboteur thank yo…” Liam stopped talking as he looked at Lady Arachne and noticed all three of them were staring at him. “What?”
“Did you just say first a Beginner’s item?” Noxi questioned.
Liam slowly nodded before slowly replying dragging out the word, “Yes.”
“What was the item and where did you get it?” Noxi asked, curiosity filling him up.
“I got it in the Tutorial Area,” Liam answered. “It was called Kassan’s Beginner’s Goggles.”
The three looked even more shocked as Lady Arachne’s and Orchid’s mouths dropped while Noxi’s eyes widened.
“Do you still have them?” Noxi inquired as he grabbed Liam’s shoulders. “Please tell me you still have them.”
Confused as to why they were reacting this way, Liam was brought back to an unanswered question he had forgotten to clarity on.
Hey Eri…I know we’ve been busy with everything and I forgot to ask, but what happened to my goggles? Liam asked.
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“During the chaos of the fight against those creatures, that Jude guy went to grab you and his fingers caught the straps of your goggles and accidentally broke them. I had one of your old teammates pick them up before they carried you out from the dungeon. I think they might still have them. – Eri.”
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Huh. So that’s what happened to them. Hopefully they still have them. I really liked those goggles. Liam thought back to her before responding, “I don’t have them on me. Due to some…circumstances, they are currently with one of my old teammates.”
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Noxi nodded. “Hopefully they didn’t sell them, and you can get them back.”
This comment made Liam curious. “What do you mean by that?”
Noxi looked surprised again as he stared at Liam, “You mean you don’t know? Kasson is one of the best crafters out there. There are only a handful of Crafters who have ever made it to Iridescent or Master level in a few crafts. Anything they make, whether it is an item from their beginner days to now, is worth a lot of money. Crafters or even Collectors would kill or even sell an organ from their family members if they were asked for just to gain one of their items.”
Liam’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”
“Deadly,” Noxi stated bluntly. “Make sure you don’t flaunt this around other crafters or collectors unless you want a target on your back.”
“Noted,” Liam stated as he placed the item in his inventory. He then looked at Lady Arachne and was about to ask her about getting a crafting room until he noticed her staring at him with a particular look. “Is everything alright?”
“Yes,” she started while dragging the word out. “I’m just curious…How did you come across those goggles? The Kasson ones.”
“I got it with my starter pack,” Liam replied. “It was literally one of the first items I received. They were really good goggles. They helped me out with many crafts and even in fights.”
“Interesting,” Lady Arachne muttered. She seemed to be thinking something over, but reframed herself from speaking more on the topic.
Not wanting to waste any more time, Liam asked, “So about that Crafting room? I would like to get started so I can do my tests afterwards.”
“Ah, right,” Lady Arachne started back up, looking like she was taken out of whatever thoughts she had going on. “All you have to do is pick a door, grab the handle, and think Crafting Room.”
“Seems simple enough,” Liam stated as he walked over to the door he was closest to. He grabbed the knob and thought, Crafting Room.
As soon as he thought that, he felt something swiftly wash over him. He was taken a back from this. Even though he had only felt this once and it had been a while, it was something he couldn’t forget. After all it was right after he woke up and arrived in this brand new world. Before he could comment on it, a notification appeared in front of him.
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“Member analyzed! Crafting Rooms Available to use are based on what Member has unlocked. Please select the amount of and which Crafting Room you would like to use. Amount: Single, Double, Triple. Type: Alchemy (Potion Making, Poison Craft, Medicinal Creation, Chemicalized Creations, Magic Potions), Blacksmithing, Chef, Enchanting, Rune Craft, Tailoring.”
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Liam turned to look at Lady Arachne and asked, “What does this Select the amount of mean?”
“That option allows you to pick more than one room, so you don’t have to walk out then back in then back out to go back to the room you originally had at first,” Lady Arachne informed. “The area will manifest one, two or three rooms and create the crafting area in a way that doesn’t clash with each other, but still gives you what you need.”
“That’s convenient,” Liam nodded as he understood before looking back at the notification. He then made his selection. The notification disappeared only to be replaced with a new one.
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“You have selected: Double, Alchemy (Poison Craft), and Alchemy (Chemicalized Creations). Would you like to proceed with this selection? Yes No?”
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Liam mentally accepted. After this notification disappeared, he felt the doorknob loosen before opening up. The area inside the door was similar to the one that led to the Dark Nest.
He looked at the three that were around him and informed, “Alright, I’ll let you know when I’m finished and ready to take on the tests.”
Lady Arachne and the other two nodded in understanding.
“Good luck,” Orchid said with a smile.
“Try not to blow yourself up or poison yourself to the point of no return,” Noxi teased.
“I look forward to seeing what you make,” Lady Arachne finished up.
Liam nodded once more before walking through the door. After he entered through the door, it slowly closed behind him.
The mood shifted as soon as the door closed. The facial expressions they each wore changed into serious ones as they stared at the door.
“So...what do you think?” Noxi asked as his eyes shifted over to Lady Arachne.
“About him receiving those goggles?” Lady Arachne questioned. “I think our suspicions were on the mark.”
“Are you sure?” Orchid chimed in. “There never were any clear specifications on receiving that item after appearing in the Tutorial Area.”
“There were never any set in stone or said out loud,” Noxi clarified. “He might have said so himself, but…”
“But a pattern has been becoming clearer each time it happens,” Lady Arachne continued.
“What’s the pattern? I, myself, have never heard of one,” Orchid stated.
Noxi let out a snort. “That’s weird to hear. Isn’t Intelligence gathering one of your specialties?”
“Oh, bite me snake boy,” Orchid snapped as she glared at him.
Noxi was about to strike back with a comment about how she would probably like being the one being bitten for once, but was stopped as Lady Arachne raised a hand and frowned at him.
“Enough,” Lady Arachne started. She turned her gaze back at Orchid and continued, “There have been two key factors that have led to a pattern that has been noticeable so far. One is you have a knack and love for crafting. It doesn’t matter if you hadn’t realized it before coming to this world. And the other is race based.”
“Race based?” Orchid questioned, still not understanding what the shorter woman was getting at. “Each person that has received a Beginner’s Kasson item has had the same race. They each shared very same race that Kasson is.”
Orchid’s eyes widened. “Wait you’re telling me…”
Lady Arachne nodded. “If the patterns hold true then…we might have our very first member that belongs to the Cait Sith Beast-Folk race.”
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Liam appeared on the other side of the door and scanned the area immediately. After experiencing the sight of the Dark Web, he wasn’t completely sure if the crafting rooms he requested would be as exotic or grand as that. He didn’t want to be caught off guard if it was, but as soon as he looked around, he felt…underwhelmed.
The area he had walked into was a normal plain room with two doors spread out. Each door had a sign placed in the middle of it to help him understand which room was which. To his left was the Poison Craft room while to his right was the Chemicalized Creation room.
Regardless of whether this room looked plain compared to the Dark Nest, Liam was actually pretty excited. He had a place where he could craft without worrying about prying eyes. Not only that, but he was going to craft his very first Chemicalized Creation by himself.
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“Before you get lost in your crafting, go ahead and cancel Spirit Weave. Since no one will be coming here you are going to need to not only conserve on what amount of Spirit Pool you have left, but also refill it while you can. – Eri.”
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Liam nodded as he cancelled his ability. It wasn’t as low as it was last time he was here thanks to his Spirit Pool growing, but being able to not waste it was helpful. “Okay,” Liam started as he made his way to the door on his left. “Let’s see what we’re working with.”
After he opened the door he walked in. The room was spacious. Safety equipment were hung along the wall right by him. They ranged from full to half masks, gloves that covered the hands only to the hands and up to the elbows, and finished with aprons of different sizes.
As Liam scanned the safety equipment something caught his eye at the end of the row. He made his way over to and saw it was a light green button with a small sign with instructions on it right above the button. The sign read, “Air Purification. Press this button after you complete each Poison craft session to purify the air. Please wait ten minutes after each Air Purification usage to allow the magic to refill.”
Liam was impressed with that. This button and the magic that it provided was highly thought of for a room like this. He looked around the walls close to the ceiling and noticed there were a few ventilation systems covered by metal blinds. He believed that they would probably opened each time he pushed this button to allow any poisonous vapors that didn’t get purified to escape.
He then looked around the room to get a better feel for the area he was going to use. He noticed there were few desks that stood up to his stomach spread out. In three different areas of the room sat cauldrons. Each cauldron had a different set up compared to the other.
One was a bit small and sat on a desk while another was a medium size one that hung over a fire pit. Hanging above that cauldron was something that resembled a range hood. Liam wasn’t sure if it was there because of the smoke that would accompany the fire that would be lit or a mixture of that and the poisonous vapor.
The last one was another medium sized cauldron that rested on a metal grate over a fire pit. A range hood like ventilation system did hang above this one as well, but it wasn’t as close as the one cauldron due to the equipment that hung between the cauldron and the range hood. Several different tubes were connected to a cover that looked like it could be pulled down over the cauldron. The tubes twirled around and away from the cover and stretched to several different spots that looked like they would connect to some containers on a couple of desks.
Liam was very interested in what kind of Poison Craft required that set up. He had an idea on what it could be and if he was right he wasn’t anywhere near ready to make those poisons yet. They would be helpful in the future, but as it stood right now he needed to level up this section of Alchemy and study up on how to craft those vapor made poisons.
Off to one side of the room were cabinets and shelves that held vials and containers of different sizes as well as the racks to hold them. Some of the shelves also held tools like ladles, test tubes, pestles and mortars, and other equipment. There was also three rows in a cabinet dedicated to vials of Weak, Minor, and even Average Toxin Cleanse.
Close by that wall were barrels of different types of liquids. A sign hung above each barrel, letting Liam know what was in each one. He was actually quite surprised by how many different liquids there were. He didn’t know that some of these liquids were actually materials that could be used.
Liam shifted his attention back to the cabinets and shelves. For this first poison he needed to make, the small cauldron, some vial holders, and a few empty small vials were all he needed. He went and grabbed all he needed and started to prep. Liam placed a few small vials of each extract he had on different vial racks. He had one vial rack that contained empty small vials which he corrected by taking out a medium sized vials of Twin Fanged Adder Venom and filled each empty vial one by one.
After he set up his station around the small cauldron, Liam made sure to devour a couple of Soul Orbs to start replenishing his Spirit Pool. After that he made his way over to the safety equipment. He grabbed a half mask since he wanted to wear his Umbral Goggles to help him craft, a pair of gloves that covered his hands and up to his elbows, and an apron. After he placed all the safety equipment on, he walked over to the Cabinet full of Toxin Cleanse, grabbed two vials of the Average quality and attached them into the two holes on the filtration system of the mask.
After he was set to go, Liam made his way over to the cauldron and looked inside. Clear Purified Water filled it about three quarters of the way. He then asked Eri, “Alright so let me make sure I have the process down right. To make this poison the process is exactly similar to when I made my first poison, right? After I blend the extracts together perfectly, I need to add the Weak Liquified Lightning Mana Extract in order to bring the venomous effects of the Twin Fanged Adder poison out. If I can not do that then it will revert to a regular Corrosive Toxin?”
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“Correct. If you can not draw out the true effects of the venom then it will just remain as a regular Weak Corrosive Toxin. However, the beauty of this is even if you fail in your attempts you can keep trying to attempt it until you are successful. – Eri.”
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“Why would it revert to a regular corrosive toxin instead of the type of poison we are aiming to make it?” Liam asked.
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“Each poison, venom, and toxin has special properties that are sealed when you craft the poison. I guess sealed isn’t the right term to use. Hm, think of it as the properties become dormant due to the process and other materials used to make the crafted poison usable. By adding in the proper materials after crafting the poison, you can awaken those dormant properties. Doing this will increase their effects, making the poisons even deadlier than the basic crafted ones or the raw version. Not only that but with materials that are compatible with the poisons you can evolve them making them into something new. But that is more of an advanced technique. This poison I’m having you make will help you practice for those advanced poisons. – Eri.”
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“Okay,” Liam stated. He didn’t completely understand everything that Eri had been saying, but he had some ideas. He just couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that the properties in poisons were sealed due to the crafting process. If he could he wanted to try experimenting on ways to bypass that and just be able to have all the effects awake after the basic processing. However, that would be a later project. Right now, he needed to focus on the task at hand.
He remembered his first time creating a Weak Corrosive Toxin. He was surprised by how the materials tried fighting back while trying to devour each other. After practicing it over and over after that he was able to get a better feel for it. However, the poison he used for those crafted poisons were just plain Weak Snake Venom.
He was no expert when it came to differentiating between poisons, but he did have a gut feeling that this venom was a bit stronger than the other he was used to. He wanted to have complete focus on this because he felt that if he allowed his focus to sway even just a bit then the process would fail.
Liam grabbed two vials of Weak Stinger Nettle Extracts, one vial of Weak Blister Hogweed Extract, and two vials of Weak Twin Fanged Adder Venom. As he pour each vial into the cauldron, he activated his Mana Sight.
He saw the three colors that were swimming inside the cauldron and recognized the sickly green that represented the Blistering Hogweed Extract and the darker green that was the Stinger Nettle Extract. The last color was a harsh yellowish dark purple. This one was the Weak Twin Fanged Adder Venom.
As he stared at the last color he was surprised to see it wasn’t as active as the Weak Snake Venom he was used to. Instead, this one was calm and tranquil. If he wasn’t the one who had collected the material he would have thought it was something else.
He started channeling his mana into the cauldron as he stirred the contents inside. He focused it into the Weak Stinger Nettle Extract and blended them together. Since he had practiced making poisons this was now easier than his first time. After his mana and the Weak Stinger Nettle Extract were connected, he switched the direction of the spoon he was using to stir the Weak Stinger Nettle Extract and Mana blend right into the Weak Blistering Hogweed Extract.
He felt the Blistering Hogweed Extract try to escape the blended section he was trying to mix into it. The Blistering Hogweed Extract didn’t stand a chance as his mana blended the two extracts together. He felt that this was going smoothly and was about to start mixing the Twin Fanged Adder Venom until he felt something was off.
The once calm and tranquil venom had suddenly come alive. Almost like a snake waiting for its prey to grow tired or weaken, the venom spread out and attacked the mana blended extracts in a quick and overwhelming strike, swallowing it all at once and then suddenly disappeared making the once colorful liquid filled cauldron clear once again.
Liam’s mouth dropped as he stared at the cauldron. Before he could process anything a red notification suddenly appear, giving him bad news.
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“Poison Crafting session failed.”
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