Chapter 123 Potions And Potion Holder
Arthur needed to prioritize making the potions since the raw materials he had weren't exactly stable. They would deteriorate the longer they were kept and lose their effects.
This was a common thing with many fresh ingredients and they needed to be processed to be kept for a longer time. It was a limitation that took some equipment and work to overcome, but for the start it was fine to use them as it is.
"Welcome, how may I help you?" At the potion shop, a young man greeted Arthur.
He looked to be eighteen or nineteen and was clearly not the owner of the shop.
"I would like to buy some small potion vials as well as wish to use the potioneer's workbench," Arthur replied.
"While I can sell the potion vials, I cannot personally give you the missioner to use the workbench. I'll have to ask Master about it first." The young man replied.
It was confirmed from his words that the young man was just an assistant at the shop.
"Sure, I'll wait." Arthur replied.
"Gimme five minutes," the assistant said before going back inside.
While he was gone, Arthur took a look around the shop. There were many items in the shop that ranged from dried potion ingredients, things kept in various vials, suspicious looking fluids that seemed to be wiggling in flasks, and other potioneering equipment.
~Creak~
The door opened again, announcing the assistant's return.
"You can use the workshop for 2 silver." The assistant stated.
"Sure," Arthur replied knowing that it was less than buying potions outright.
"As for the small potion vials, they are about twenty coppers for each vial." The assistant added.
"I'll take five then." Arthur said taking out three silver coins. "Here you go." He handed the coins.
"Thank you." The assistant kept the coins before handing Arthur five small potion vials.
These were one of the basic things one needed to make potions and store them. Without them, one wouldn't be able to take their potions everywhere and be ready to use.
"You can use the workshop in the next room." The assistant showed Arthur the place.
He opened another door to the left and revealed a room that was about half the size of the shop. Here, one could see a work table along with various potioneering equipment.
"This'll be more than enough." Arthur said as he got to work.
The process of making the potion was rather simple as all he needed was a mortar and pestle for now.
He quickly got to work and took out the materials he had gathered.
Arthur placed the Dew berries into the mortar and pestle first while keeping the Large Trunel Gerbil galls to the side,
He started to pound the berries using the pestle until they had turned into a puree.
Once that was done, he took a fine sieve and poured the puree through it into all the vials equally.
"Is it your first time making potions?" the assistant who had been watching him was surprised.
"Mmm… not exactly." Arthur replied.
"Your hands are so stable. It took me a while to get over the nervousness, haha." The assistant chuckled.
"Just needs some practice," Arthur replied though he knew that it was probably his stats that were helping here too.
The Dexterity stat was involved in a lot of occupations that needed fine and controlled work. Whether it be potioneering, blacksmithing or art, all benefited from having good dexterity.
Done with the Dew berries, Arthur worked on the gall bladders next. With them, all he needed to do was to puncture the bladders and pour out the fluid into the vials.
The assistant who saw Arthur do this was surprised.
'What is that?' the man couldn't recognize the ingredient.
It was normal since it would take quite some time for the players to discover this recipe for this healing potion in the future.
Once Arthur was done pouring the fluid, he closed the vials and shook them rapidly.
The green color of the dew berry juice and the dark green color of the bile mixed together and seemingly reacted. A few seconds later, the color changed before turning a vibrant leaf green in color!
>Player Arzhur has created Mid quality Small Healing Potions x 5!<
"You… made Mid Quality ones?" the assistant was astonished at seeing the results.
He had thought that the potion might not work, as Arthur was using some unknown ingredient. But somehow, he had succeeded in just one go. Not to mention, all five of them had the same quality, which showed that this was not a fluke.
Usually one would get varying results, and there should have been some low quality ones in there too. But all of them were good.
"Seems like I had some luck." Arthur replied, not elaborating further.
'Dragon's Insight!' instead, he just used the skill to see the information about the potions.
~DING~
——
Target: Mid Quality Small Healing Potion
Grade: F+
Effects: Heals 10% HP at once and then 0.5% every second for thirty seconds.
Restriction: Level 100 and below.
——
'Hmm… it heals a total of 25% of the HP. Definitely better than just the basic 10% healing.' Arthur confirmed the information.
It was something that would work for him good even during a battle as he could consume the potion and continue to fight while the healing continued.
'It even has a higher level restriction. Instead of being 50 for the usual, its level 100.' Arthur noted.
In Morpheus Online, not all potions worked for all characters. After all their stats varied and weaker potions would stop working on stronger players, forcing them to find better ones.
This depended on the grade of the potion. Lower grade potions worked on characters with lower levels.
For example, a Basic F grade potion would only work on players up to level 50. And the one that Arthur had could heal players up to level 100 as it was F+ grade.
This made it so that the players continued improving their potioneering skills and also continue to seek out better resources.
Of course, the large level gap also made it so that most players would have no issue accommodating this restriction. At the same time, it prevented players from hoarding potions and manipulating the market by restricting the supply.
'Though there are still ways to affect it… just need an indirect approach.' Arthur thought to himself.
It was one of his targets for the future, as potions were a very good money making venture. As long as one had a steady supply of materials, and a shop to sell, potions were a good source of income.
Most guilds in the game had their own potioneering department for this. Not only did they get their own supply but also turned a pretty profit on the side.
Once Arthur was done with the potion, he decided to leave. But when he was storing the potions in his satchel, the assistant spoke.
"Do you want to get a potion holder?" the man suggested. "It'll make things convenient for you."
"You have those? I didn't see them in the shop earlier." Arthur replied.
He was intending to get one already, but would have to go to a different place for it.
"Ah yeah, we don't have them in the shop. But I do have one for sale myself." The man said in a low voice.
It was clear that the man wanted to keep this a little secret.
"Come," he gestured to Arthur.
He took Arthur to the counter, from where he took out a leather potion holder.
"This is rather nice…" Arthur could tell from just a look that it was not a cheap potion holder.
At the very least, he wouldn't get it from the other shops either, unless he had asked for it to be custom made.
"Why are you selling it?" Arthur questioned. "You can still use it."
"My dreams of being an adventurer are over. Haha, I realized it wasn't for me. I'm too weak for that." The assistant replied. "This has been collecting dust for a while, may as well give it to someone who can use it better." The man spoke.
"How much do you want to sell it for?" Arthur inquired.
"About twenty silvers." The assistant said, a hint of nervousness in his voice.
"Hmm…" Arthur didn't reply right away, making the man more nervous.
"If you—" Unable to bear any longer, the assistant was about to speak when Arthur interrupted.
"Alright, I'll take it." Arthur said, making the man relieved.
"You won't regret it! It's a ten slot potion holder and can also accommodate larger ones." He enthusiastically said before handing the potion holder to Arthur.
"Here you go." Arthur handed the twenty silver coins to the man, knowing that he had gotten a bargain.
If he had custom ordered such a large potion holder, it would have cost him at least twice this.
Having taken the potion holder, Arthur equipped it over his chest. The potion holder was like a belt that hung diagonally in front of him.