Chapter 10: Alchemy Begins

Serayne turned the pouch over in her fingers, mulling over the prompt to infuse it with mana, until she remembered the sensation that accompanied casting Gathering. 

Every time she triggered the skill, an elusive current coursed through her body; though she had previously brushed it off as a mere byproduct of the spell, she now suspected that was precisely where she needed to focus her attention.

If mana is flowing through me then, maybe I don't need to reinvent the wheel…

Cradling the pouch in both hands, she closed her eyes and tried to replicate the familiar sensation without actually invoking Gathering. Her first attempt yielded little more than tight, strained shoulders. 

Only when she relaxed her fingers and stopped actively gripping the fabric did she feel a faint warmth drift toward her palm, followed by an abrupt expansion in her awareness.

She didn't see the interior with her physical eyes, yet she intuitively sensed where its boundaries lay - as if granted a mental glimpse into a compact, empty room a meter across on all sides.

Serayne opened her eyes and stared at the cloth in such disbelief that she didn't dare move a muscle.

“That’s… it?”

Reaching cautiously for the empty crate beside her, she dragged it closer and focused her intent on stowing it away. When the box vanished from the floorboards, she instantly felt its presence nestled within that pocket dimension. 

She withdrew it, shifted it a few inches, and tried again, her grin widening with every repetition. What had seemed like an obscure curiosity among her salvage actually worked.

A cubic meter might not sound especially glamorous to someone who hadn't spent half a day dragging their worldly possessions by hand, but after her recent ordeal, Serayne appreciated that humble pocket more than a spacious penthouse.

A few crates, tools, herbs… Holy shit, I could've spared myself half that hauling.

She refused to spoil her mood by brooding over how many unnecessary trips she'd made to the ruins, however. Setting the pouch within arm’s reach, she turned her eyes toward the translucent dagger. 

If an unassuming cloth bag was a spatial container, the blade that had launched a wooden plank across the cellar promised to be something even more delightful.

Laying the dagger onto the panel, she drew her fingers back from the rim and leaned forward as the console generated an appraisal.

[Moonstone Dagger  -  Rank C]

[Effect: Damage +50; Strength +30.]

[Description: A blade knapped from moonstone by a master artisan, endowed with exceptional sharpness. Prolonged mana starvation has weakened its properties. Continued mana infusion may gradually restore its former potency.]

Serayne stared at the Strength bonus, then brought up her status sheet on reflex. Comparing the miserable 2 on her panel to the +30 on the weapon, she had half a mind to burst out laughing.

Moments ago she had been dreading any task demanding physical effort, and now she held an item whose modifier eclipsed her natural attributes many times over.

So that plank wasn't just unusually light after all…

It didn't restore the feeling in her legs or magically teach her how to fight, but the mere prospect of having such strength at her disposal made her view the dagger with reverent awe. Better yet, the description hinted that its current state wasn't even its peak - just like the pouch.

“You two aren't leaving my side,” she muttered, lifting the weapon gingerly by its hilt.

For a second, she entertained the notion of sleeping with her precious loot clutched to her chest, but a glance at that razor edge convinced her that keeping it close was far wiser than cuddling a lethal weapon in her sleep.

Setting it safely beside the pouch, she placed the glowing mushrooms onto the panel instead, their azure luminescence casting a gentle sheen across the wood.

[Gloomflare  -  Rank E]

[Properties: Natural light source; alchemical reagent.]

[Description: A light-attuned mushroom that flourishes in damp, sunless environments. Widespread throughout Elyndra, it propagates readily under suitable conditions.]

Serayne read the entry with satisfaction, immediately picturing the sprawling colonies carpeting the subterranean workshop. She glanced toward the window, below which the stream murmured in the dark.

No shortage of water nearby… Lack of sun is the only hurdle.

She didn't know the first thing about cultivating fungi, so she wasn't about to stick them to the nearest damp root and expect them to multiply out of gratitude, but the prospect of cultivating her own supply of reagents was enticing. 

For now, she set the specimens aside so they wouldn't mingle with her herbs, and turned to the two newly acquired crates.

Alongside food and drinks, she found a lightweight quilt and a fist-sized glass orb, cool to the touch and housing an indistinct silhouette that shifted shape with every rotation. Serayne held it up to the lantern light to peer inside, then realized that with appraisal at her fingertips, there was no need to play guessing games.

[Sealing Orb  -  Rank E]

[Effect: Stores a single large-scale sealed object.]

[Activation: Infuse with mana to release the contents.]

[Description: A big item in a small package. Ensure adequate clearance before activation.]

Serayne eyed the sphere, then glanced at the cramped space between the console and her pallet, slowly pulling her hand back.

Big as in what? A chair? A wardrobe? Don't tell me someone stuffed a car in here.

After seeing a cubic meter packed into a pocket-sized pouch, she couldn't dismiss wild possibilities out of hand. But she had no desire to end up pinned against the wall by her own prize, so she scouted for an area that could accommodate something bulky. 

The landing platform outside offered more room than the cabin interior, even if she had to mind the drop. Carrying the orb out carefully, she paused by the threshold to listen to the forest.

Only then did she channel mana into it as she had with the pouch. When the glass flared with light and dissolved into shimmering motes, Serayne flinched back on instinct.

Before her lay a mattress.

A standard single mattress, roughly two meters long, just under a meter wide, and about fifteen centimeters thick, settling onto the wooden deck with a soft rustle.

Serayne stared at it in stunned silence, then looked down at her empty palm, as if checking whether that flashy burst of magic had left anything more dramatic behind.

“Right… So anything that doesn't fit in a crate counts as a massive object.”

Her grumbling didn't stop her from immediately hauling the prize inside. After endless hours of dragging herself across timber and hauling tools, the thought of an actual mattress sounded infinitely better than the most esoteric artifact. 

Shifting the bulk in careful increments, she dragged it inside, shut the door, and looked at the quilt with an open grin.

Alright, Asterra’s bulk-buy care packages are officially growing on me.

Clearing the straw and arranging the floor took a bit of effort, but once the mattress lay flat and the quilt was folded neatly at its side, Serayne reached out to press her palm into the soft cushion. Only the sight of her filthy sleeve kept her from collapsing straight onto it - after digging through ruins, her clothes looked like she’d dragged half the cellar home with her.

She looked at the pristine white dress, then down at her grimy hands, sighing as she realized proper rest would have to wait until she stopped smearing dirt over everything she touched.

“Potion first,” she decided, turning back toward her gear.

Exhaustion weighed heavy on her, but curiosity refused to let her call it a night, especially with the herbs, tools, and vessel all laid out before her. A maiden brewing attempt felt tantalizingly close, yet a glance at Avelra’s notes revealed just how many small details she had overlooked.

First of all, she needed water.

The cauldron could hold it, but it lacked a practical handle, and carrying it with both hands while navigating the branches sounded like a miserable repeat of the day's worst moments. The pouch opened up new options, but she still needed a container to hold the liquid rather than sloshing it loose in extradimensional space alongside her books and herbs.

Opening the Regional Exchange with a specific item in mind, she was pleased to see the number of listings had surged over the course of the day. 

Amid crates of supplies, odd tools, and miscellaneous salvage, she found a wooden bucket with a handle listed for ten units of basic materials. 

After checking the terms, she paid with a portion of her stored vines.

The bucket materialized on the floor beside the console rather than directly on the panel - a detail Serayne noted with interest, remembering the prompt about keeping clearance.

So larger items drop beside it…

Testing the handle, she cleared the walkway and peered outside, where bright moonlight filtered through the canopy. The stream glistened below, far easier to spot than the surrounding undergrowth, but the night woods were no less ominous. She hesitated, debating whether she truly needed to climb down right this second.

A glance at the gathered herbs settled it. Tightening her grip on the bucket handle, she locked in her resolve.

Down, fill up, back up…

The excursion was brief, but she moved with taut shoulders the entire time, listening intently and scanning every shadowy pocket between the roots. At the water's edge, she filled the bucket only to a level she could manage comfortably, then slipped the whole container into the pouch - testing the new function with cautious precision before beginning her ascent.

Only once the door was firmly shut did she let out a long breath, feeling as though she had returned from a trek far greater than a quick dip to the roots of her tree.

Before pouring water into the cauldron, she addressed the encrusted residue clinging to its surface, using some of the fresh water to scour the vessel and checking that the interior wouldn't crumble to the touch. 

Remembering the warnings about mana-saturated river water, she treated it strictly as a crafting reagent, not a beverage, with no intention of tasting whatever brewed in the pot just because it looked clearer once boiled. 

Avelra's journal incorporated water into the process, but Serayne was only beginning to grasp the formula; her initial goal was simply to produce something she could run through the console’s appraisal.

Setting the vessel near the doorway, she realized she had no hearth.

Pulling some stone from her market storage, she picked out uniform pieces and laid a small base on the exterior platform, insulating the area beneath the future fire so flames wouldn't touch the wood directly. She had no desire to build a fire inside, and out on the ledge she had to mind both drifting embers and nearby vines. She spent several minutes tweaking the stones until the cauldron sat level, leaving ample clearance for a small flame beneath.

Only then did she lay out the botanicals, open the journal, and compare her ingredients to the recipe.

“Ten grams of Serraleaf and ten grams of Ambertail per batch…” she murmured under her breath, glancing from the herbs to the water, and finally to her bare hands.

There was one glaring problem: Serayne didn't have a scale.

Nor was she certain how best to measure liquid volume. And when she peeked under the cauldron, she realized one more crucial detail that made her pinch her eyes shut in exasperation.

She had nothing to light a fire with.

Just great…

For a moment, she stood braced against the doorframe with an herb in each hand, sorely tempted to chuck them into the pot and call it a day. Instead, she set the plants aside and drifted back to the console. If she could buy a bucket, she could at least check whether someone was selling a way to strike a flame before she resorted to rubbing sticks together until dawn.

Scrolling through the exchange, she found a single petrol lighter listed in exchange for food. She opened a direct trade chat with the seller whose name was attached to the offer.

[Serayne Veyra: Is the lighter filled?]

[Kaela Vorn: Yes.]

Serayne took stock of her rations, weighing what she could part with without leaving herself short, and pulled out a packet of noodles.

[Serayne Veyra: I have instant noodles, large portion, 110 grams.]

The reply didn't come right away. She studied the woman's avatar - raven hair, wolf ears, and a vertical crimson streak slashing across her right cheekbone - before a new message flashed.

[Kaela Vorn: Deal, if you throw in a bottle of water.]

Serayne grimaced. She wanted to hoard her drinking water, but a glance at her beverage stash reminded her of the can she had mocked earlier.

[Serayne Veyra: I can add 500 ml of beer, or half a liter of tea.]

[Kaela Vorn has sent a trade request.]

[You will receive: Petrol Lighter ×1]

[You will provide: Instant Noodles ×1; Beer 500 ml ×1]

Serayne raised an eyebrow at the lightning-fast response; apparently, choosing the booze hadn't required much deliberation on Kaela's end.

Placing the agreed items onto the panel, she confirmed the trade and watched them dematerialize, replaced a heartbeat later by a compact metal lighter. She picked it up, flicked the wheel, and smiled warmly at the dancing flame - which, for once, wasn't born of a Talent, an ancient artifact, or arcane wizardry, but the dependable mechanics of an everyday tool.

A scale was nowhere to be found despite sifting through more listings, so she closed the exchange, deciding she had reached the limit of what bartering could achieve tonight. Her first attempt was meant to demystify the brewing process rather than produce a masterwork potion anyway, so she resolved to test a small portion of her herbs, keeping the bulk in reserve.

She portioned the ingredients as evenly as she could, weighed the handfuls by feel, and checked the journal once more, well aware that eyeballing measurements could easily yield something entirely different from Clear Mana Draught.

Fine… Worst case, I waste a bit of foliage and learn what not to do next time.

Dropping the prepared herbs into the cauldron, she arranged a bed of dry straw and kindling beneath it, ensuring nothing poked beyond the stone hearth. Flicking the lighter to life, she touched the flame to the tinder. The straw caught immediately, and Serayne drew her hand back, leaning over the notes to begin her maiden alchemical trial.