<Earning a Living> A Pot o' Potions [SP-F8](Complete)

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius was currently an underdog throughout Aincrad. There were dozens of people stronger than him and he needed to catch up. Besides grinding, which is near impossible for a tank, there is only one other way for Darius to catch up to the higher ranks: professions. There was on in particular that would help him: alchemy. The potions he could make would be invaluable to his kit, and he could make Col on the side to buy better equipment. With the boost to his kit he could become strong enough to grind, and in turn, level up. Darius had been looking for a teacher, listening for rumors and NPC hints at where he might find one. After days of searching he finally found one on Floor 8, in the Florenthia Village. It was time he learned how to craft potions, crystals, and more. It was time he became more useful.

Edited February 27, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius arrived in Forenthia Village, the branches that made up its location hanging imperiously over the dark waters below. If the fall wasn't deadly, the monsters waiting in the water were. Careful of wear he tread, as it would be far from noble falling to your death and being eating alive, he made his way through the town. He passed houses, inns, shops, and all. Every single one was carved into one of the many trunks that made up the village, or rested on the gigantic branches. This place was truly impressive, astonishing those who had not seen it before. The expansiveness and sheer size of the forest and everything in it led Darius to a short conclusion on why an alchemist might set up shop here. The forest around them must be teeming with all the materials an alchemist would ever need... materials Darius would need. No doubt he would learn quickly and adapt to his new profession in a place like this.

[Darius Verand 0]

After a lengthy walk through the village, Darius finally came to the alchemist's home. Home was a simple term. It was a rather large place, no doubt being a combination of his home and his shop. Shop, laboratory, whatever you called a place that made potions. That was something Darius would have to learn. He entered the shop, finding the old man standing like a sentinel behind the counter like all NPC shop keepers do. It eerie really, how still and devoted they were to their tasks unless asked to do something else. There were multiple options for the old man: talk, shop, learn. Darius would select the third, but the old man told him to come back after dinner, when the shop would be closed. Now dismal and rather displeased, Darius left the small shop and went to the local inn to sit around until it was his time.

[Darius Verand 0]

Having sat in an inn for over three hours, with his mood rapidly declining, it was finally time for him to return to the shop. He got up and stomped out of the inn, drawing stares from patrons coming in to eat supper. He returned, rather displeased, to the alchemist's shop. The NPC was waiting for Darius, Darius having activated the learning process from before. The old man invited him into the actual part of his home, leading Darius to a table in a study. The room was filled with books, scrolls, and pieces of parchment covered in notes, containing knowledge that was all too foreign to Darius. There was one thing that surprised Darius though. He thought such a room would smell musty from all of the tomes and such, but it had a sweet, plant-like fragrance to it. It was a soothing smell, a smell that would make learning easier. He sat down across from the old man and prepared to learn.

[Darius Verand 0]

First thing's first: the basics. A simple, non-in-depth lesson on what alchemy was and the things it entailed. Darius would normally say that it was a waste of time, but the lesson taught him a great deal that he had not known before. He knew that alchemists made potions and crystals, but had little knowledge on the diversity of possible affects being able to be added onto them. The old man did not go into detail, but the half dozen he had rattled off were foreign to Darius, as Darius knew only of health potions. Darius also learned about the different tiers and how they would inevitably affect the potency of the items Darius created. There was also a brief conversation about the ranks, how to create objects, run a shop, and the amount of crafts each rank can do per day. In what seemed like a half hour, multiple had passed and the night was late. The old man left for bed, and Darius went back to the inn, being given the instructions to gather materials so the old man can do physical demonstrations on how items are created.

[Darius Verand 0]

After sleeping like a rock, his brain absorbing and storing the information like a stomach digesting food, he woke fresh and energized. He had hours to kill until the old man closed his shop and could teach him more, which meant Darius had hours to search for possible alchemical materials. He gathered some basic provisions from the inn and headed out. The forest was truly massive, so expecting to go far was beyond Darius. Everything was ridiculously big, so it meant that it took that much more to cover ground. This floor was certainly not a place for someone with allergies. Giant plants, thick moss, expansive trees; all of it was a concoction to screw with someone's sinuses. Good thing Darius had no allergies... that he knew of.

[Darius Verand 0]

First thing's first, Darius had to find a suitable place to look for materials. He walked and walked throughout the massive branches of the floor, viewing all of the scenery strangely. Eventually, after about an hour, he found a section of land that looked like a massive crater. It was formed by enveloping roots of the massive nearby trees. Inside the basin, there was luscious moss, grass, ferns, and all sorts of vegetation that Darius knew was special to SAO, or that he had just never seen before. It took careful climbing down the smooth roots that made up the walls of the crater, then 'plop', Darius fell into the moss filled space. Just a glance around and he saw potential for materials an alchemist could use. Flowers, ferns, mushrooms, strange bugs, lichen, everything and beyond. Darius began his search.

ID: 49471
BD: 3
CD: 4
LD: 1
MD:4

Edited February 27, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius searched for the better part of an hour but had no luck finding anything. Considering how big the area was, and how selective Darius was being in his search, he was not discouraged. He still had six or seven hours until he had to head back, so he had plenty of time to continue searching. He combed back and forth throughout the massive basin he was in. Thankfully the roots managed to keep the water out that seemed to cover most of the floor below the treetops. Without the water there seemed to be a lack of monsters, especially in this enclosed space. It seemed like the perfect place to search and Darius did just that. He again went back to zealously searching every plant, bug, and hollow log that he could.

ID: 49472
BD: 2
CD: 11
LD: 2
MD: 6
 

Edited February 27, 2016 by Darius Verand
Incorporating dice roll

[Darius Verand 0]

Again, Darius spent around an hour searching for possible materials, but to no avail. He wasn't sure if it was entirely healthy to pick up random bugs, plants, mushrooms, and all of the various things he had been grabbing. This was a forest after all. Who knows if anything is poisonous or not. It bothered Darius for only a moment until he remembered, that hopefully, if anything was poisonous it wouldn't do enough damage to kill him. That would be hilarious. Dying to a poisonous beetle because he was curious on whether or not its wings would count as materials or not. The edges of his lips tugged upwards at the thought. All his hard work going to waste because of his drive to succeed. Darius still had sixish hours left before he had to return, so he continued searching. Hopefully he would find something for the old man.

ID: 49473
BD: 8
CD: 1
LD: 13
MD: 3

Edited February 27, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

And yet again Darius failed to find anything. Three hours he had spent searching and had nothing to prove his hard work. He was starting to get angry, but the old man had said that such things would take patience. Alchemy was a tricky trade, and tricky things took a great deal of time to learn correctly. Darius was trying his best to keep his smoldering temper under control, but at some point he had stuck his hand into some form of sap and now the fingers were stuck together like the had been glued. He had been waving his hand around to try to flick it off, but it had only made things worse. The air had dried in fast, hardening his fingers close together. Now he had a brick for a hand and five hours with it to boot. Irritated, he continued searching.

D: 49474
BD: 3
CD: 7
LD: 20
MD: 10

Edited February 27, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

Finally, towards the end of his fourth hour, Darius found something. It was an odd looking flower, and when he picked it up he was given the notification that he had obtained a material. He had almost given up hope that he would've found nothing this hour too, but apparently the SAO-based god, the creator of this realm, decided to bless him with a touch of good luck. Luck was not something Darius normally had, so it was nice to get a brush of it every now and again. Especially since he had tarnished his armor trying to get the sap off. He had been rubbing it into moss, dirt, on trees, and everything he could think of to try to get the glue-like substance off of his gauntlet, but to no avail. If anything, it only looked worse as it was now covered in dirt and had pieces of moss stuck to it. With a sigh, he continued searching. He had four hours left until he had to return.

+1 to Darius' Materials (1 total)

ID: 49474
BD: 7
CD: 9
LD: 3
MD: 6

Edited February 27, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

At the end of his fifth hour, again Darius had found nothing. By now, he had search almost half of the crater. He probably had enough ground left to cover over the next three hours that he could be busy until he had to leave. He kicked over a small mushroom next him to spite the forest. It was what it deserved for impeding his attempts to learn alchemy and gain vital supplies to his trade. The various scents around the forest were starting to fade as Darius grew used to them. He had been here a few days now and smelling nothing but lichen and sap was not the greatest of smells. He was thankful that his body could adapt in such a way and gave a huff. He had three hours left to kill, so he continued searching.

ID: 49476
BD: 2
CD: 12
LD: 2
MD: 5

Edited February 27, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

At the end of his sixth hour, Darius still only had one material. His smoldering anger had been quickly growing into a hot bed of coals and he had to resist the urge to start smashing tree trunks with his one handed warhammer. He thought it best to stop for a late lunch, as he was growing hungrier. He searched for a few minutes until he found a thick branch, which is all reality was tiny compared to the tree it had come off, and sat down against it. It went just over his head so he had enough back rest to lean effectively. He got out some of the minor provisions he had got, with some water, and started to enjoy what he had for lunch. He hoped that by the time he finished his anger would settle so he could continue to search and not have to tear up the landscape. So he sat eating and drinking, looking throughout the vast crater.

[Darius Verand 0]

Now it was the end of the seventh hour. He had finished his lunch some time ago, but had decided to continue sitting against the tree to calm down. It would certainly not be a good thing if he got mad enough to start tearing up the landscape around him, like he had before on the first floor. It had summoned a monster, and Darius by no means had the ability to kill one on the eighth floor. He needed to be careful. Heaving a great sigh, Darius stood. He had one hour left, and was on the far side of the crater he had climbed down into. He might as well make his way back, searching for supplies as he went. He could then go back to the old man and learn more. He hoped he could find at least one more on his way out to have something to show for his efforts. He started to walk back, searching as he went.

ID: 49478
BD: 5
CD: 1
LD: 7
MD: 4

Edited February 27, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

As Darius made his way back across the clearing he hadn't found anything. It wasn't much of a surprise. He had the worst luck in all of Aincrad, or so it seemed. When he reached the wall of the crater, which was a giant root, Darius thought of a way to get out. He hadn't exactly thought about an escape plan when he hopped in, and the towering wall seemed rather intimidating. To someone else maybe. Darius walked the expanse of it, traveling down its length until he found a section where there were sufficient vines that he might climb up. He unequipped his armor so he would weigh less, then scaled up the thick vines towards the top of the wall, his now hand freed since the sap had been on his gauntlet. When at the top, he reequipped his gear and headed back to town.

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius returned to the old man's shop with nothing but the flower he had gotten from the past nine hours. The old man seemed more than pleased though, and said he would use it later to demonstrate. For the lesson that night, they went into more depth on what enchantments you could put into a potion. The old man explained, in detail, what each did and how each tier affected it. The amount of information that was being poured into Darius' head was about as immense as the clearing he had been to before. That alone had taken most of their time, but the old man said they could go a bit longer than the night before. He explained the difference between potions, status affects, and crystals, telling what materials each cost, and what enchantments could be placed on each.

Edited February 27, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

To finish the lesson, with the material Darius had given him, the old man effortlessly crafted a potion. Darius learned the process from the old man, and found that it didn't seem that difficult. He could easily replicate it, but with varying degrees of success to be sure. The old man was most likely made to be a high level in alchemy, so he would obviously have a greater margin for success than Darius. With the final lesson of the night out of the way, Darius returned to the inn he had been staying at. He sat at the small desk he had in his room going over various notes and books the old man had given him, studying more than he needed to. Finally, when the hour was late, he unequipped his armor and flopped onto the soft bed, drifting to sleep with calculations and materials gliding through his mind.

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius woke late the next morning. Afternoon, really. The sun was almost in the middle of the sky, indicating it was around noon. It meant he had less time until his next lesson, so he would have to do less. He went downstairs to the innkeeper, got a light brunch, and enjoyed it in silence. Everyone that had been in the inn the night before had seemed to clear out, having important business to do that day. All the better. It meant Darius could be alone with his thoughts, again thinking back to all of the material he had been learning throughout the past two days. Having around five hours to kill, Darius got up and left. He thought he would explore the surrounding forest for a bit and see if he couldn't round up some more materials. He would need them after his training was complete.

[Darius Verand 0]

As Darius left town he thought he might as well start looking right off the bat. As he traveled from branch to branch, tree to tree, he had his eyes out for prospective materials. It was far harder than he thought it was going to be to get what he needed. Despite there being plenty of vegetation and hordes of bugs, he had only found one material yesterday, and would probably find none today. As he searched, also sightseeing the massive forest that the eight floor called its home, he thought of all f the possible strategies he could incorporate into his build with his soon to be alchemical skills. He also thought about what he could do with the prospective Col he could make from selling potions. It was a dizzying thought, knowing that you could make thousand off of such a simple thing.

ID: 49483
BD: 6
CD: 2
LD: 3
MD: 1

Edited February 27, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

As Darius explored the landscape of Floor Eight, he had failed to find materials. Again. It was such a humiliating thing, but he had to keep searching. Until he could get enough materials to order his equipment, he was utterly useless. His material gain from now to then would increase exponentially. Instead of doing one damage a hit, he would be able to do 18 from thorns, meaning he would be able to kill enemies at his level if they hit him once. If he could kill enemies every time they hit him, he could farm for hours and get such a large amount of materials he wouldn't know what to do with it. That it why he needed at least seven, but with giving one away to the old man, he currently only had four. Hopefully he could find three more within a day or two, and with that hope, he continued searching.

ID: 49484
BD: 6
CD: 10
LD: 19
MD: 10

Edited February 27, 2016 by Darius Verand