["An alchemist never worries about money. An alchemist has no interest in money."]
— Albert
Gurgle, gurgle...
Flames licked at the bottom of the crucible, and the water inside had long since been boiling.
Lan Qingyou stood outside her door before the crucible, using a branch about three fingers thick to continuously stir the liquid clockwise.
This was already the sixth hour since she'd started the fire.
The branch in her hand had been picked up four hours ago during a water-fetching trip, grabbed on a whim to prevent the brew from boiling dry.
Was potion-brewing fun? Absolutely.
But it was also tedious.
Repeating the same motion over and over, even someone as sharp as her was starting to feel drowsy.
But according to the alchemy notes, a single pot of potion needed at least eight hours of brewing. That meant her batch would be more or less done by the time the sun came up.
Still, compared to the mind-numbing boredom of lying in bed doing absolutely nothing, this kind of tedium was nothing.
So she gritted her teeth and — while continuing to stir — pulled out the "Basic Herbology" she'd found earlier that day.
She'd actually read through it once before, right when she started the fire. Taking it out again now was just to refresh her memory and keep herself alert.
She'd even taken the magical lantern from inside the room and hung it on a branch outside the door.
And honestly:
Despite being titled "Basic," the book covered everything from herb identification, harvesting, preparation, drying, grinding, storage, usage, and precautions.
It also catalogued the illustrations of numerous E-rank herbs, allowing her to identify each one with far greater accuracy.
She had to admit — this book was considerably more detailed than Albert's notes.
But the man had been writing personal reflections, not a textbook. There was no fair comparison.
Lan Qingyou wasn't about to complain. Taking someone's generously left-behind notebook and then comparing it unfavorably to a textbook — she couldn't stoop that low.
Ring-ring-ring-ring—
Just as Lan Qingyou's eyelids were starting to war with each other, the mechanical alarm clock sitting on the windowsill erupted with a shrill ring that jolted her awake.
"That's eight hours!"
Lan Qingyou snapped to attention, immediately set down the stirring rod, and turned off the alarm.
The wind-up mechanical alarm clock was another Exchange purchase — twenty units of basic materials.
If she was going to be making potions, she had to keep her timing precise.
She'd even gone to a nearby tree and used the Gathering Skill three times specifically for that purpose.
With the herb bag, gathering resources had become much more convenient.
She'd discovered that as long as she stayed in the treetops, there was basically no danger. So now she was willing to leave the Shelter even at night.
Don't misunderstand — it wasn't anything courageous. She was just picking on wolves that couldn't climb trees.
In an Abandoned Forest devoid of flying monsters, Lan Qingyou was thriving like a fish in water.
Come to think of it, why were there no bird-type monsters in such an enormous forest?
Lan Qingyou found that puzzling too, but ultimately chalked it up to the Novice Protection Period.
Sure, wolf packs roamed around, but even the Karim World Will probably hadn't anticipated that someone would awaken a flying talent.
Hiss — hiss—
Lan Qingyou scooped water from the bucket with the wooden bowl and doused the flames beneath the crucible. Then she leaned in to check the pot.
The potion had reduced by half — and that was after she'd already added water once.
Without that top-up, the pot might've boiled dry entirely.
The herbal smell, at least, wasn't as overpowering as she'd expected.
"Did it... work?"
Lan Qingyou wasn't sure. She flew over to a nearby tree, used the Gathering Skill to collect some Wood — storing it in the herb bag — then returned and ladled herself a small bowlful.
After letting it cool, she took a sip and stared at her status panel.
Watching her Mana Points tick upward, Lan Qingyou fell into a conflicted silence — unsure whether to celebrate or despair.
The reason was simple.
She'd succeeded. But she hadn't completely succeeded.
According to Albert's notes, a proper Apprentice-Level Mana Potion was supposed to restore 5 points per second for 10 seconds.
A total recovery of 50 Mana Points.
Hers restored 1 point per second for 10 seconds...
'Forget it, forget it. First attempt, rushed conditions, incomplete tools, insufficient knowledge — the fact that she'd produced something usable at all was already impressive.'
After all, she'd gone in fully expecting to waste some herbs and end up with a dud.
So while she couldn't compare to the genius Albert — who'd brewed a perfect Apprentice-Level potion on his first day as an apprentice — she could at least consider herself a minor genius, right?
With that thought, Lan Qingyou headed to the Magic Desk.
Since she'd actually produced something, there was no reason not to use it.
Even the worst potion was still a potion. Selling it would bring in at least a little income.
She'd considered using a mineral water bottle, but the mental image of sucking mana potion from a plastic bottle like some energy drink felt like a desecration of the alchemical arts.
She couldn't help it — the visual was too vivid. Impossible to unsee.
And of course,
The real issue was pricing. How exactly did you price a 550 ml bottle of mana potion?
"Glass bottles are too big. Shot glasses — inconvenient to carry. Ideally, I need something small, portable, and easy to drink from."
"Something like these 15 ml test tubes would be perfect. They even come with little wooden plugs."
'Wait. Test tubes!'
'Yes!'
'Test tubes satisfy every single one of my requirements!'
'They're practically heaven-sent vessels for potions!'
The moment she spotted them, Lan Qingyou didn't hesitate — she bought them immediately.
A box of ten for just one basic unit of Stone.
Clearly, for people who had no use for them, these were truly useless. Selling them for next to nothing was their idea of clearing out junk — and it was her lucky break.
The Exchange was full of items like this, really.
After all, Supply Boxes could produce all sorts of daily necessities.
Some were genuinely useful for survival — towels, mattresses, and the like. And naturally, some were survival-irrelevant — toothpicks, test tubes, and so on.
Once the test tubes arrived, Lan Qingyou immediately poured the potion in, filled one to the brim, and corked it with the wooden plug.
"This should count as one dose, right?"
Lan Qingyou eyed the blue-green liquid in the test tube uncertainly.
Then she walked inside and placed it on the small screen.
'When in doubt, appraise it.' No amount of fretting on her own would solve anything.
[Crude Mana Potion (E-)]
[Effect: Restores 1 Mana Point per second for 10 seconds.]
[Description: A shoddily made mana potion that reeks of blood. Hard to imagine which "master" this came from. The dosage is way too large, too. Recommend sending both the potion and the alchemist back to the drawing board.]