NOVEL NEXT Adventure 218 – Tasks given and an offer extended
Time passed as Liam spent his time inside the Crafting Room he used inside the Fiddler’s Spider Web. He made sure the Crafting Room had Potion Making, Poison Craft, and Chemicalized Creation rooms when he activated the room. While making Average Quality Common Rarity Health, Mana, and Stamina Potions, he made sure to work on some other creations he could use in case there a fight did break out like Lady Arachne felt would happen.
He didn’t take more time than needed adding in flavors. He didn’t have the stock on himself to make so many with flavor and neither did Silent Saboteur. Silent Saboteur did have enough stock for him to make several batches at a time. This was the first time he had to make batches.
Usually when he made the potions, they would be enough for four to five vials. These batches he was currently making filled up to twenty two medium sized vials per batch. He had to use bigger equipment and had to read up on the proper way to do this since his current Knowledge Theory book on making potions didn’t cover it.
It was Noxi who lent him the appropriate book on how to make bigger batches. Thanks to this he had received a new Knowledge Theory called Big Batch Potions. The name of the book he received it from was funnier and he had thought that was going to be the Knowledge Theory name. The name of the book was Big Batch Lots O’ Cash.
While making these big batches were great, they took up a lot of time. Each one took around thirty five to forty five minutes depending on the ingredients. He had learned, once he started making Average Quality Potions, that there were more ingredients involved. More parts of the plants he wasn’t using before were used in the other potions. This made Liam feel it was efficient, but now he didn’t feel like he was wasting the parts he couldn’t use before.
After he started getting into a rhythm during the making process he was able to time the Health, Mana, and Stamina so their finish time would happen around each other. He would prep the ingredients for each batch and start one them move to the next and then the third. The room he was using only had enough of the equipment he had to use for the three.
After each batch of three were made, he would step out from the crafting room and deliver three crate sized boxes with enough space for the amount he had made and separated. Either Lady Arachne, Orchid, or Midnight Claw would be waiting by the desk with a group of two to three Fiddler Spider Web members who happened to come by for more briefing on what was going on as well as waiting for the potions Lady Arachne promised to provide them.
Silent Saboteur popped in and out of the main hall to make sure Liam and Noxi were alright on their supplies. If any of them were low on anything, he would restock them. Cryptic Wing during this time was keeping an ear on any type of transmission being sent around that seemed suspicious. Liam didn’t know what they had meant by that since he was still trying to understand the way of communication worked on the world. Apparently there was a magical device that worked a lot like a walkie talkie with the distance of a whole city. Few used them, but those that did used them to send out certain messages because they involved using certain types of mana. He really needed to learn more about this world.
After the first batch was delivered Liam had to apologize to Lady Arachne because he had to use one of the Average Medium sized Stamina Potions before coming out. While he had never felt it before, probably due to the small amounts of crafting and only doing one craft at a time, he was starting to understand why Crafters leveled their Crafting Endurance sub-stat as well as the Improved Crafter’s Endurance Improvement (Weak) ability from his Production Craft Focus Point. After working on one batch of Health, Mana, and Stamina while trying to make some toxins, he had felt drained.
To him it felt like he had ran a marathon. He also felt drinking the disgusting non-flavored potions was a punishment for trying to bit off more than he could chew making these requested items while trying to craft other things for himself.
After the second round of crafting, he had leveled up both. His Crafter Endurance reached level twenty one and his Crafter’s Endurance Improvement (Weak) ability reached level nineteen. While it helped lessen a small bit of the strain from trying to multitask his crafting sessions between Potion Making, Poison Craft, and Chemicalized Creation, he still felt exhausted. He forced himself to switch between Poison Craft and Chemicalized Creation each other Potion Making session instead of trying to push himself to do all three at once. This gave him some time to drink a Stamina Potion, and a Mana Potion when needed, and rest a bit.
He ended up doing five rounds of this in total. After his second round of Potion Making, he came out to deliver his finished products and met an interesting couple of members who had decided to spark up a quick conversation with him.
One was a female Snake-folk while the other was a female Fox-folk. The fox-folk wasn’t anything like Roman though. She had a red tail and red ears. He had asked her if she was a Kitsune and was met with a sneer. Lady Arachne had to intervene and explain to them that he was new and was still learning everything this world had in it. This mollified the girl as she accepted his ignorance.
After that they had talked about how they were interested in learning Poison crafts since a lot of their fighting styles revolved around poisons. Liam asked them if they knew about Powdered Poisons and that seemed to catch their attention. He had a couple of jars left of the stuff and showed them. They were so enamored by the product that they swiftly asked if he would sell or trade them for one of the jars. He asked what they had to trade, and they brought out a few items they were thinking of selling to Silent Saboteur.
Two items they had caught his attention. They had two Weak Liquified Ice Mana Extracts, and two Weak Liquified Water Mana Extracts. While he had no Mana Control over the two he really wanted to have them and try to see if he could mix it with something he already had levels in.
They agreed to trade both of each for the jar. He didn’t think it was an even trade, but they waved him off saying something along the lines of the price of those items weren’t a lot to begin with if they tried to sell them to Silent Saboteur. He shrugged at that and went through with the transaction. Afterwards he told them that if they were going to learn how to make poisons and liked that item that they should look for a certain book.
After he was done he went back to work and while making the potions, he tried to make something new with those items with his Chemicalized Creations. And boy was he excited about these items.
“Weak Poisoned Bog Prison. Item Type – Chemicalized Creation (Alchemy). Item Quality – Weak. Item Rarity – Uncommon. Description – A shadowy body of water spread out in a ten foot radius. After the watery substance reaches the determined amount of area it will shoot up and engulf everything within it. Poisoned dark water will fill the area and cause damage to the skin. If anyone within the watery prison happens to open their mouth, their body will be poisoned as it swims down their throats.”
“Weak Poisoned Ice Mist. Item Type – Chemicalized Creation (Alchemy). Item Quality – Weak. Item Rarity – Uncommon. Description – A swirl of broken down Ice particles expands into a ten foot radius. Everything within the blast zone will feel a cold chill that slows their movements down. As the people trapped inside try to breath they will inhale Powdered particles of poisoned ice, causing both ice damage as well as poison damage within their body.”
He was able to make two of both of them, which made him happy as well as leveled up his Chemicalized Creation Section in Alchemy bringing it to level eight. The first one he was able to make by using Weak Liquified Shadow Mana Extract, Weak Liquified Water Mana Extract, and some Powdered Poison.
The other he tried something different. He used two weak liquified mana types he had no levels in control or manipulation in. They were Weak Liquified Air Mana Extract and Weak Liquified Ice Mana Extract. He also added some Powdered Poison to the mixture leaving him with half a jar of it left.
After he was finished the fifth round, Lady Arachne told him he could stop. The amount he had made was well over the number of people that were around. He didn’t realize this since the last two times he came out to leave the crate of potions on the desk, she wasn’t there to tell him. The ones that were there didn’t know when to have him stop as well so they just let him keep going.
He was quite happy with his results even though it made him tired so many times. He thought he would get a lot of levels with his Potion Making Section in Alchemy, but it had only leveled up once bringing it to level twenty two. He really wanted to know how the progression worked now since he believed making so many potions in large batches would increase it by a lot. However, he didn’t have a lot of knowledge on the topic, and he had other things he needed to focus on.
After he was fully rested and finished his task, Lady Arachne pulled him off to the side to talk to him.
“Is everything alright, Lady Arachne?” Liam asked.
“Yes,” she replied. “I just wanted to let you know that I haven’t forgotten about your reward from the Field Mission Test you successfully completed. However, with the urgency of the matter at hand I wanted you to know that once we have dealt with the matter you will receive it.”
Liam was confused at first. He had forgotten that she had said something about receiving a reward. With the ambush and him getting knocked out for a day, the promised reward was the last thing on his mind. He gave her a nod as he stated, “I understand. Thank you for letting me know.”
“That is not all,” Lady Arachne continued.
Liam stared at the shorter woman as he was puzzled on what she was going to say next.
“Thanks to your contribution on the Average Quality Health, Mana, and Stamina Potions, we have a stock ready and available for those who might run out if a major issue happens,” Lady Arachne announced. “That contribution will be noted and added to the final reward tally when this E.P.M. has concluded.”
Liam’s eyes widened slightly. He didn’t think they would have something like that during an event like this. He was surprised and confused because no one knew when or how long this would be going on for. While he had heard Lucy say they were going to move ahead of schedule, no one knew exactly how soon that entailed. It could be tomorrow, or it could be a month from now.
“I know you have just finished, but if you are wondering what you could…I might have something only you can,” Lady Arachne started to suggest with a wry smile.
Liam raised a brow as he stared at her. He was intrigued with what she had in mind, so he waited for her to continue.
“I would like you to use your Veil of Shadows to cloak yourself and check out the Green Dungeon, Goblin Forest, and see if there are any suspicious people hiding in there,” Lady Arachne stated. “I have heard of rumors of things happening in there that shouldn’t be.”
Liam grimaced at the mention of the Goblin Forest. That grimace remained a bit longer after he heard what she said and the memories of his experiences of his time running into the Zombified Hobgoblin and his diseased minions. That grimace slowly disappeared as he thought about how this time would be different. He no longer had the Stat Shatter Debuff holding him back as well as some items he could use if things got…dicey. He also had a quest from the Adventurer’s Association he needed to complete there as well.
Liam nodded as he decided he would do as she asked. “Alright, I accept the task you are providing me.”
Lady Arachne smiled. Before he could walk away Lady Arachne asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, what level is your Field of the Shadows?”
Even though Liam could hear the caution in her voice as she asked the question, it still made him stiffen a bit. Besides his old teammates, the four Legs that were present for his test knew about it. Even though they knew, he was still slightly worried. He took a moment to contemplate on whether he should reply or not. She hadn’t done anything that would cause him to worry about her having any issues with him having the magic field or wanting him to tell her how he had got it.
Liam’s brows furrowed at that last part of his thoughts. She didn’t seem like she was worried when he used the abilities, nor had she looked like she wanted his knowledge. Instead she seemed…excited that he had the field. That was a bit worrisome in of itself. Why did she seem excited he had it? His only guess on finding out the answer was to respond to her question.
With a silent gulp he said, “Its currently at level eighteen.” He watched her reaction to see if she would give away anything. She nodded as she brought a hand to her chin and looked like she was thinking something over.
After a few seconds had passed she finally said, “Not too high nor too low. Which of the three Focus Points is your highest?”
Liam was staring at her. His burning curiosity finally got the better of him as he asked, “I don’t mean to sound rude or anything, but why would you like to know?”
Lady Arachne smiled as she listened to the fair question. “I know you are new to both our world and our Association, so you wouldn’t know this,” she started. “I guess as a member of our Association and being the apprentice of the Wild Card I could let you in on a little secret not known to many outside of here.”
Liam stared at her, his body slightly starting to tense and ready itself in case he needed to sprint or something. He wasn’t entirely sure why he would need to, but he figured it was best that he prepared himself just in case.
“All first Legs of the Fiddler’s Spider Web are practitioners of the Field of the Shadow,” Lady Arachne informed. She then pointed a finger to her chest as she added, “Myself included.”
Liam’s jaw dropped. Thoughts swirled inside his head over her pronouncement. Some things started to make sense. That time during the second test, she was waiting inside a dark forest where no light shone. Even those spiders…Liam shuddered at the thought of them. But those spiders had a somewhat familiar feel to them. If that familiar feeling was because they were related to the Field of Shadows then that would make sense.
Lady Arachne let out a small chuckle as she watched the change of emotions wash over his eyes. This brought Liam out of his thoughts and back on her. A look of embarrassment finally took over as he looked away.
“I have been wanting to ask more about what abilities you have but the timing hasn’t been great,” Lady Arachne stated. “However, I wanted you to know if you need any pointers or have any questions you can come to me. I have no issues helping you figure out the best ways to use them.”
Liam didn’t respond to what she said. Instead he asked someone who had been telling him to be cautious with his Shadow Magic, Eri? What are your thoughts on this?
For the first time, Eri didn’t respond right away. It had taken her a few second before she finally said something.
“What she says looks to be true. At least the part about her having the Field of Shadows. However, she has already advanced that field pretty far. She could prove useful in aiding you on things related to the field…However, do not rely too heavily on her. Remember, those who have the field fall into two categories. One is they just happen to have a high affinity for it. The other…means they are tied to people who you must be wary of. – Eri.”
Liam didn’t like that last part. He wanted to know what she had meant, but was interrupted as Lady Arachne said, “However, if it makes you uncomfortable then please do not mind me. I was just a little excited that our newest member had a field I could really relate with.”
Liam continued to stare at her. He felt this was a good opportunity to learn more about the field, the possible abilities he could gain from the field, and if there were things he could improve upon with his current available abilities. However, what Eri had said brought forth the possibility of possible issues. He had to think about this carefully.
“I’m sorry,” Liam started to say. “I haven’t met others who could use the same field as I can, so it took me by surprise.” That was a lie. He had met one. That guy claiming he had something to do with the clan the man was in. That guy also had Shadow magic. If Eri’s warning about what category people fell into when it came to Shadow Magic were to be taken seriously then there was a chance this woman could fall in the same category as that man.
“That is quite alright,” Lady Arachne stated. “I can understand. Like I have previously stated you are still new to our world so there are things you still don’t know. It is good that you are cautious. How about this…go and take care of the task I have given you. Think about if you would like my help with understanding the possibilities of the field. If you believe it would be beneficial to you then we can talk more on it. If you do not wish for any help from me then I will abide by that as well.”
Liam was surprised by her response. He was prepared for her to try and come up with a thousand and one reasons as to why he would need or find her help…helpful. But telling him to think about it…yeah he wasn’t ready for that.
“I would like to gift you something before you go though,” Lady Arachne started back up. “Think of it as a welcome to our world gift from one Field of the Shadows user to another.” She then pulled a thin raven black book from her inventory.
Liam stared at it with caution before taking it from her. Before he placed it inside his inventory he glanced at the title. It read, “Ways to better Control the Shadows.” He raised a brow at that before looking back at the shorter woman. “Thank you. I will think about your offer and contemplate over it.”
“That is all I can ask right now,” Lady Arachne replied. “Now be safe on your task and return safely.”
Liam nodded at the woman before turning around and leaving the confines of the Association.