There are reasons people are drawn to lay in the cool grass on a sunny day. When the sun is bright, and the wind is keeping it from being too warm, the kind of nap you can take and the dreams you will be filled with things most profound and surprising. The best dreams one can have are when they are their most peaceful. This however doesn't stop the selfish of the world from seeking to interrupt those perfect dre-.
Aiden was cut off mid internal monologue by a splash of water to his face.
He sat up from his now slightly damp patch of warm grass, blinking against the light that beat down on him from the sun poking through the clouds. Floating just a foot off the ground next to him, Misty the water spirit floated bubbling as she always does when she wakes him up like this.
Her body was no larger than a thumb and entirely made of little balls of water. Even her eyes were nothing more than a set of vertical ovals made of bubbles that at the moment seemed to be scowling at Aiden.
He sat up, crossing his legs as he stretched his arms out. A part of Aiden wanted to lay back down for his afternoon nap, but Misty usually only woke him up when there was something he had to do.
Aiden rocked up to his feet, taking his glasses off and whipping the dew off on his shirt as he started to walk down the familiar path towards his home.
He let out a big yawn as he stretched, ducking under a small branch to avoid knocking his glasses askew. Aiden dusted the bits of grass off of his tan and black robes as he walked, stopping occasionally when he saw some useful herbs here and there, placing them in his satchel that was hanging at his side.
Its magical energy hummed ever so slightly, working its power over the items placed within. It was probably the most expensive thing Aiden has ever bought, costing 500 gold coins, but it was well worth it.
Its magic was simple; items placed inside wouldn't spoil as quickly. So, from lunch, to herbs he wants to bottle, and even emergency potions, it helps with all of them.
As he walked, Aiden reached into the bag and pulled out a stalk of Galcorone; Useful in many recipes, but its main effect is in its ability to calm nerves.
Aiden however personally enjoys sucking on them because they have a minty taste. It's something his grandfather used to do and he just kind of picked up on it.
Continuing down the trail, Misty burbled at him and gestured towards a small pool of water that they used as a backup water supply on the mountain.
Aiden stumbled over, checking his reflection and seeing that Misty was telling him about the small bits of grass still stuck in his hair. He began to use his reflection both to pick out the pieces of grass, and to check that nothing else on his clothes were dirty and would need cleaning.
Looking back from the water was a young adult with large circular glasses, a set of talisman earrings that had once been made by my grandmother, and a head of wild darker green colored hair.
In one sense finding what was grass and what was stray hair was a pain with his hair color; in another sense it was easy to see where his hair shed in places at home so he could clean up, especially after doing his own haircuts.
Once he had picked out enough grass to meet Misty's satisfaction Aiden stood up and continued down the path. Rounding the bend in the path a simple log building with a bedroom, kitchen, and lab for my alchemy merged from between the trees. The pair made their way inside, Misty pointing to a set of 2 empty vials that rested inside of a small wooden rack.
"Right, I forgot to fill those, didn't I?"
Aiden muttered as he quickly pulled off one of his leather gloves. Holding a hand over the empty vial, a simple mental command caused a feeling like pooling warm liquid in his body building at his finger before it began to pour as a sparkling clear liquid.
You have used skill Liquid Crystal Consolidation(E)
The small blue screen was a familiar sight as Aiden quickly dismissed it, he continued to hold his focus, shifting his finger to move over the other vial.
Every time he used the skill it would drain his mana, which was a feeling like being hungry but food not being the solution. Satisfied with a simple, but necessary chore done, Aiden decided to take a look at how much more XP he would need.
Doing so was simple, and something every 10-year-old in the world learned on their birthday. A simple command word with intention.
"System"
Before him, a glowing blue panel appeared, various stats, and abilities being displayed.
Aiden Hallowcreek
Age: 23
Class: Alchemist - LV.3
XP: 4,561/5000
HP: 14/14
MP: 34/54
Stats:
Str: 4
Dex: 12
Con: 13
Int: 21
Wis: 10
Cha: 0
Soul Skill:
Alchemy Attunement(D)
Passive
Increases your success rate with alchemical mixtures and allows you to feel minor fluctuations in potion consistency, improving the stability of mixtures.
Skills:
Quick Brew (E)
Passive
You quickly toss together ingredients to make potions with lesser effects on the fly.
Potioners Harvesting Guide (E)
Passive
You have a chance to obtain items used in potions more than others when searching.
Liquid Crystal Consolidation (E)
10 MP
You channel your mana to gather the liquid crystal in the air into a liquid state and pour it into a vial.
Aiden glanced over all of my skills and such, his eyes mainly focusing on the XP count.
When he was 9 Aiden remembered dreaming of being a mighty warrior, or a powerful mage. Instead, he got alchemist, just like his grandfather.
At the time he thought the world was ending, but with age comes wisdom, and as he grew up, he realized things like liquid crystal consolidation is super useful.
Alchemists without the class have to buy it from those with the class or pay the high price for a liquid crystal consolidator. Those could often cost over 2000 gold, but for one with the alchemist class it was a simple use of a bit of mana, and mana recovered with a good night's rest. It's practically printing money in some ways, if only the demand for it was higher.
Glancing over his stats Aiden could see that he was maybe a month or so from his next level up. For people who can swing swords around and fire off magic, leveling up is easy. Hunt a few monsters and you can usually get hundreds of XP at a time, but there aren't many monsters on the mountain, probably because of the town below, and even if there were, he can't do much about it.
Aiden was not the strongest guy, and had no combat skills either, so he was stuck with getting 1 or 2 XP occasionally when he brewed something or gathered herbs.
It's slow, but honestly, it's kind of peaceful.
Aiden thought as he corked the two new bottles and added them to the basket of others, he made his way over to the logbook to mark he had finished it. Checking off the little box, Aiden noticed that it was around the time for him to make a trip down to the shop.
"Looks like we will be headed down the mountain today, Misty"
Aiden called as he started to pull out the herbs from his bag and started to place them in their respective jars. He moved the vials of liquid crystal as well as the order for 5 healing potions Jacklin ordered, and the bottle of stomach medication Zaila ordered.
He shook my bag once to make sure they were all in their little compartments before closing the clasp of the bag and turned to look at where Misty was floating.
"Let's get going, if you're good, I'll get you another honey drop."
Misty spun in the air as her water droplet-like body seemed to wiggle which from years of knowing her meant she was excited.
Aiden headed outside and shut the door behind him before he turned to the small hill that was the 9-mile trek into town and down the mountain.