World’s Cutest Alchemist

To say I had a ‘Eureka!’ moment was an understatement. As soon as I registered the giant huffpall, everything just seemed to click into place.

The giant huffpall, a material that can either be used to amplify potent poisons or create antidotes. It was the first uncommon material I found in the tower. It’s something I’ve thought about several times but had no opportunity to use.

Then, there was another poisonous plant in that forest that I’ve found several times. The jango mushroom, a plant that emits deadly neurotoxins from its spores. Within an hour of ingestion it can completely shut down your nervous system and lead to death.

I’ve never kept one in my garden and always listed them on the exchange when I found them since they were just too deadly.

But…

After seeing that trapper clear…The blurry mind fog seemed to clear and now the ideas flowed out like a waterfall.

I could use the giant huffpall to amplify the jango mushroom potency, so that the effect takes place within seconds. But that wouldn’t be enough, I’d also need something to bind the properties. Opara grass wouldn’t work, I’d need something else I can find in the forest.

But, else what is there? Materials…Plants…Foliage…C’mon brain, think.

Vines? Mossbranch vines, they grow on various trees that are covered completely by shade. They’re sticky, durable, and pointy. It’s rudimentary, but it’ll at least temporarily clump all the properties together.

Yes, that should be fine. Next I need a neutral liquid to store everything…If I had free reign of ingredients, sap would be my go-to. But, I need to substitute since I can’t use items so…Water? That works.

Then, I’d need to agitate the properties. Heat. I need to use heat. How do I create the fire?

Wait…It’s all coming together.

Simple potions that even goblins could make. They’d make a campfire with twigs, leaves, and the such. But, as long as I don’t use [Items] then it’s fine? A lighter, charcoal, and lighter fluid…That’d work.

Next, I need a container to do alchemy in. Could I use my pot? No—I need something that heats up faster. I only have five minutes of prep time. What conducts heat the fastest? Wood? Steel? No, isn’t it silver? I’ll have to order a silver pot.

It feels like I’ll use everything else before a cauldron. I internally chuckled at the thought.

Back to the recipe—It’s a race against time so I need to use anything I can to shorten how long it takes to make.

What if I crush the jango mushroom? It’d be dangerous, but that’d be the fastest way to bring out all of it’s properties.

I’m starting to see the path but…Even with all the shortcuts I can think of, it’d still take around 30 minutes to brew.

Darn it…How can I make it faster?

I need help. I’m not skilled or experienced enough to figure out a solution.

[How can I brew a potion faster?]

Author: BinLover

What’s the fastest way I can brew a potion? I need to brew a potion within 5 minutes—no, less. Is there a way I can brew a potion within a short amount of time? I don’t need to worry about how long it lasts or if it’ll kill the enemy.

My current idea is...

(Omitted)

The goal would be to paralyze the hobgoblin so it freezes long enough for me to kill it. Even better if the potion could do it itself, but I doubt that with the materials I have available, that’s possible.

So, please help me, seniors. I can’t think of any other way to defeat this floor.

→ [CauldronBro: With standard alchemy methods, it’s impossible for you to make the potion in the time frame you want.]

↳ [CauldronBro: You simply won’t be able to draw out the properties and bind them into the liquid fast enough.]

↳ [CauldronBro: If I assume correctly, you’re trying to make a nerve paralysis potion—something to shut down the body’s functions rendering them incapable of movement.]

↳ [Juxtaps: Bro, stop beating around the bush and just answer the question already LOL]

↳ [CauldronBro: …]

↳ [CauldronBro: There’s an alchemy style called ‘Free Alchemy’ which would allow you to barely create the desired potion in time.]

↳ [CauldronBro: It’s a style that prioritizes speed and control over the potion’s effects. At a high level of mastery, alchemists can cut a singular potion production time to less than 30 seconds.]

↳ [CauldronBro: However, it’s not a recommended style for new alchemists such as yourself. First, it requires tremendous mana manipulation skill, a single mistake could ruin the materials and even cause the alchemist harm. Second, batch potions aren’t worth doing when using free alchemy. Third, the amount of materials used are higher than regular as you’re basically cutting corners and pulling only the desired properties immediately and leaving the rest for dead.]

↳ [BinLover: But, it will allow me to create the potion in time, correct?]

↳ [CauldronBro: Yes.]

↳ [BinLover: I want to learn it—No, I need to learn it. I have no other way to beat this floor without this method, I’m too weak physically to have a chance against a hobgoblin in a fight and I can’t use methods outside of my own means.]

↳ [HomunculusTheBest: A homunculus would be within your own means, no?]

↳ [BinLover: Yes, but I don’t have the money or means to create one. Plus, even if it’s stupid I want to use a potion to clear this floor—My own pride, I guess.]

→ [Love Fusion Mix Hands: Aww, cutie called us ‘seniors’ for the first time. Bin must be really serious this time.]

→ [Juxtaps: What a long break you took from the gallery LOLOL]

↳ [ObsidianTier: Yeah…Feels like just yesterday when they said they’ll be taking a long break. Wait…]

→ [SlimeLube: Slime! Slime! Slime!]

→ [✪Potions Are Easy: Glad to see you’re doing better. As Cauldron said, free alchemy would solve your time problem. But actually learning and using it is a different story.

Just the basics alone would take years. You also need an in depth understanding of every material you plan on using. Learning it this early would also shape your style of alchemy towards free alchemy when you haven’t had the chance to experience the world yet. This is a major reason why unless an alchemist has a teacher, we recommend sticking with the more traditional alchemy style until they find their desired path.]

↳ [BinLover: But…I have no other way then using free alchemy.]

↳ [✪Potions Are Easy: What are the specific limitations set upon you?]

↳ [BinLover: (Omitted).]

↳ [✪Potions Are Easy: No [Items], huh. It’s unfamiliar and I don’t understand what would and wouldn’t be classified as an [Item], so, I’ll just assume that those materials are your limitation.

In that case, instead of fully committing to learning free alchemy. Let’s only learn what you need and will use for this one potion—Pseudo Free Alchemy if you will.]

↳ [BinLover: Please teach me, teacher.]

↳ [✪Potions Are Easy: I’ll write a separate post for you right now.]

↳ [Love Fusion Mix Hands: Call me teacher too!]

[Pseudo Free Alchemy Style]

Author: ✪Potions Are Easy

First, let’s learn about free alchemy.

Free Alchemy is a style of alchemy that focuses on production speed and immediate effects. The basis to free alchemy is mana manipulation. You need tremendous control over your mana to even attempt to start learning this style.

Making a mistake during alchemy can cause severe backlash and hurt the alchemist tremendously. Especially when attempting to concoct poison.

This is not a style recommended for beginners or those without a teacher.

When using free alchemy, you connect a string of mana to all the materials you’re using at once. Since you’re prioritizing speed, you ignore all the factors you’re not using in the potion and only draw the properties you need.

The mana should go directly from the most potent part of the material to the next. However, doing so could cause you to not have enough of the property you need, which is why you often need multiple of the same materials for just one potion. Luckily for you, Bin, you only need one of each material for the potion you’re aiming to make.

Inside your own body, you should be continuously expending mana to have a constant flow through the materials.

So, the prerequisites now include:

* Precise mana manipulation

* Large enough mana pool

* Multi-tasking ability

* In-depth knowledge of every and any material you plan on using

Since we’re not actually learning free alchemy itself, you only need to extensively learn about the three materials you plan on using: Giant Huffpall, Jango Mushroom, and the Mossbranch Vine.

However, before any of that. You need to reach a level of mana manipulation that we say is enough. Once we believe you have enough skill, then we can move onto the next step.

→ [BinLover: What level of mana manipulation do I need?]

↳ [✪Potions Are Easy: You need to be capable of projecting your mana externally into a shape that maintains form without breaking. Once you form the shape, you must stop supplying mana to it and it must maintain itself for ten minutes.]

↳ [BinLover: …Excuse me?]

↳ [BinLover: How…How am I supposed to do that? I can’t even project mana from finger to finger…?]

↳ [✪Potions Are Easy: Practice. I’ll teach you a method. But, be warned that it may take you months or even years until you’re ready for step 2.]

↳ [BinLover: I’ll do it. What’s the method?]

↳ [✪Potions Are Easy: Do you know how to weave blankets?]

…

I stared at the screen in silence.

Was this really…The method for practicing mana manipulation?

“Weaving blankets…” I mumbled.

Well, at least it was free. When the manager said I needed to practice mana manipulation, I thought I was going to have to buy a mana manipulation machine for over ten million points.

Seeing that there was a training method I could use for free made me breathe a sigh of relief.

There goes the plans for brewing potions today—the manager said that it may take months or even years for me to reach a satisfactory level. But…I don’t think it’ll take that long.

That’s not me thinking cockily. Rather, it’s stubbornest. With a goal in mind and in sight, I won’t stop until I complete it. Because that’s my obsession.

Turning to leave the room—

“Eek!” I flinched at the sudden sight of Luna standing there in silence, “Mouse? When did you get here…?” I trailed off, remembering how I told her to shut up.

“I’m sorry.” I apologized, “…You didn’t actually have to appreciate me in silence, you know?”

Luna smiled and shook her head,

“Don’t worry, I understand. You were completely focused and lost in thought—if I had disrupted your train of thought, I’d have felt terrible. It seems like you thought of a way to clear the floor? I heard you mumbling some things, but I didn’t get any of it.”

“Mm,” I nodded, “I’m going to brew a poison during the prep time to paralyze the hobgoblin.”

“…Is that possible? I thought alchemy took hours? Can you really make something within five minutes that could paralyze the hobgoblin? Do you have a skill or something?”

“No,” I shook my head, “No skill. Is it possible…” I trailed off, remembering the training method, “I’ll have to find out.”

“Okay.” She nodded and didn’t ask more, perhaps seeing me in thought, “By the way, you looked really cool when you were serious earlier.”

“Huh? Oh, did I? When I said those words as well?” I was referring to when I told her to be quiet.

“Yes. And I really did appreciate you in silence.” She laughed.

“…Do you like harsh words or something?”

“W-what!? No! I just thought your serious side was admirable! How could you get that from this!?”

I pursed my lips and tilted my head.

I wasn’t even teasing this time.

Shrugging, I walked towards the door,

“Anyways, I see a path ahead now. It really might take months or years, are you still going to stay even then?”

“Yes.” She resolutely nodded, “What’s the first step?” She asked.

“Mm…Do you know about knitting blankets?”

“…?”