Tutorial Day 19

  It was easy to find what the new Skill was, but what it did wasn’t exactly clear. By context I could deduce it had to do with knowledge about Herbs, but didn’t Harvesting give me that information already?

  There was no way of knowing exactly what it did, at least not unless I went out and found a Crystal Mine—or someone selling Spent Mana Crystals. Still, it had to have come from the Mortar and Pestle, so working with it should bring the Skill level up—and maybe reveal the function of Herb Lore through context.

  So, in the end, I continued to work with the dried Herbs in my room. The five pounds of Fine Powder sold as I worked on twenty of the thirty-three dried Moon Stalks.

  Climbing out of this debt seemed like it was going to be easier than I initially thought—however, there was one problem. I took my eyes off the grinding Moon Stalk to look at what I still had left to convert to powder.

  42 Witch Hazel Flowers

  13 Moon Stalks

  22 Earth Roots

  9 Angry Fruits

  7 Assorted Stamen and Pistil

  24 Rock Lavender Petals

  21 Rock Lavender Leaves

  6 Rock Lavender Stems

  Actually, there were multiple problems. If I wanted to grind all these Herbs down and excluded the Angry Fruits, I’d need three to six more containers. I could rent them for a hundred Tp a day, and then return them once I’d finished experimenting with the herbs. But if I wanted to keep grinding down Witch Hazel with Qi—I’d need to buy at least one for permanency, right?

  I looked at the fused sapling with an arm of the Witch Hazel growing on it, and wondered if that would be sufficient to make a few batches of the stuff a day. Maybe—but probably not…

  Nearby were the leaf buckets with the Mana Apple core, and the Immature Red Middlemist. I decided to water both of them when I discovered that the soil was relatively dry.

  The math for getting a permanent container would mean that instead of about seven thousand of debt—I was sitting at close to eighty five hundred or more, depending on how many days this process would take.

  The other question was whether Witch Hazel would continue to sell or was just currently in demand.

  “Plus what about all these other Herbs?” I questioned aloud. “They could be more valuable, and I should probably test each one…”

  Unfortunately, testing them would mean selling them, which would take away the Herbs I had, making my experimentation with the Pill Crafting harder to attempt. It also meant that any wastage from the Cauldron learning process was at a cost far higher than I originally thought.

  So, was it better to purchase all the containers, and not try my hand at Pill Crafting at all?

  No, surely if the Herbs were worth this much than the Pills would be worth even more. I reminded myself with an exclamation.

  “I saw examples of F-Rank Pills in the shop being worth a ten thousand Tp or more!”

  And there lay the second problem…

  I needed to go out and collect more Herbs... To do that, I needed to have full Qi and Mana in case a Borker attacked me. So, how many batches of Qi-produced herbs could I make in a day?

  “One in the morning, and one late at night? But will my Qi regenerate overnight thanks to the remnants of my dinner?” I asked the empty bedroom.

  It was safe to say I could definitely accomplish making a single batch, and likely a second, which would easily have me out of debt and able to pay next month's room and board.

  Only if I could go out and keep collecting plants…

  Only if I could not split my haul with others…

  Only if I could avoid getting taxed by other Tribes…

  He didn’t fail to recall the fact that every day that he was stuck inside the Tutorial were fractions of days that he was estranged from his family and friends. This was about more than simply staying out of debt—it was about surviving and completing the Tutorial.

  Basically I either need to join up with a group that I could collect more Herbs with, or I need to go solo. He thought, coming to a conclusion. My near-death experience with London’s group is steering me firmly towards the latter like a cruise liner plotting a course through known seas to avoid Portal Breaks—where one or two Monsters might have survived.

  Only when I came out of my deep, entrancing thoughts, did I recognize that I had long since finished grinding down this batch of Moon Stalk. Chuckling to myself, I stood up and decided to go rent two more containers for now. I doubted I’d get through the Moon Stalk, and Earth Root today. So I wouldn’t be attempting the Rock Lavender parts until tomorrow, at the earliest.

  Before I knew it, the Sunstone was indicating that it was noon. My Qi had only just refilled about an hour ago, which was disappointing. If it had recovered faster, I could have created a second batch of Fine Powder, ate lunch and then headed out. As it was, lunch was just going to go to waste…

  Well, that wasn’t true. I still needed food—but the Qi that seemed to recharge from food would be wasted!

  Only when I noticed my shaking hand on the door handle to leave my room, did I fully comprehend what Mental Fortitude had been suppressing all night and morning. While my mind seemed to be able to cope with the near-death experience that felt like a lifetime ago, my body seemed to be reacting separately to it.

  “I need to go back out there,” I mumbled my thoughts aloud, hoping my body would hear me. It was like a mantra that I could hear Mental Fortitude repeating endlessly on a loop.

  Pulling up my hood once again, and the mantra got the door open and me down to lunch, where they served some type of green meat, orange tubers, and… rice? I was again a bit too busy to give the food much thought. My hands were still shaking as I shoveled the food into my mouth.

  The near death experience wasn’t even from the Monsters…

  That’s the problem. I realized all at once.

  I gazed around the room, my eyes widening. I had almost died at the hands of a person. To a single Skill use… a Skill I’d seen her use before, too.

  Every person in this room was an unknown—every one of them was likely someone with multiple Skills too. Or at least, those people existed. I was in a Tutorial with Monsters, and Monstrous Humans.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Recognizing the problem helped my Mental Fortitude address it. Pointing out to myself that I was going to be going alone, and that I could likely slowly build up my ability to move about undetected. That thought had me double-check my current attire.

  I was wearing the Alchemist Robes—which would likely make me stand out far too much outside of this building. However, my black set and Mining Gear was practically destroyed. So, what options did I really have?

  The answer gave my trembling body the reprieve it wanted, but also would put my Pill Cauldron experimentation on hold. I needed to wait. Essentially, I could make four batches or more of the Powder a day. Then, I could buy some less conspicuous gear, and head out.

  Sure, there was the risk that the ingredients would stop selling, but I doubted it…

  Belly full, I returned to my room and used my Qi to grind the Moon Stalks. I was slightly disappointed in the amount, but when I placed them in a container, and compared the differences, I was pleasantly surprised.

  Surely the increase in efficacy would mean that it sold for more. I rushed the three and a half cups of the much more grainy Moon Stalk to the labs, and then returned to my room.

  To my disappointment, the Moon Stalk didn’t sell even after I was finished with the final thirteen. I shrugged it off for the same reason I had this morning. Surely it was because people were already back at work. Plus, I’d soon have Qi enough to either grind more Witch Hazel or Earth Root.

  I moved the Earth Root into the Mortar and Pestle. It soon became abundantly apparent that the Earth Root was either not dried enough to be ground—or wasn’t going to be possible to grind. It was too much like a tree root, and that similarity led me to believe it might actually be something used entirely differently for Alchemy.

  I looked at the Pill Cauldron, and the two drawers. One I’d determined was meant for fire. Was this a type of fuel? It felt off, but what else could the wood-like root be for?

  “Well,” I admitted to myself. “It could be put into the crucible and converted to ash or a powder that way—but wouldn’t that be the same as burning it in the grate and catching it in the pan?”

  Shrugging, I put that experiment off for later and moved on, taking out the Rock Lavender Petals. I was about midway through grinding the first batch of four, when something red caught my eye.

  I looked up, knowing I was alone in the room and found a red plaque like I was used to seeing out in the Wilds. Except this plaque was hovering over one of the containers. Which one, became apparent without me having to see the label.

  I looked at the plaque and blinked. Then dropping the pestle, I scrambled for my notebook. Sure enough, there was a note I’d transcribed from one of the books in the Library. I read the entry “Powdered Witch Hazel seems to be linked with some form of healing promotion.”

  So, it would seem that Herb Lore was going to give me information on the Alchemical Properties of the Plants. That would certainly be helpful for Alchemy!

  I returned to grinding Rock Lavender Petals with a large smile. When I finished the batch and placed them in the second container I’d originally meant for the Earth Root—the container created a label.

  I checked the Moon Stalk container, hoping to find a plaque. There wasn’t one, but when I glanced across at the Witch Hazel as I sat down, something had changed.

  My smile grew and I put the next batch of four petals into my Mortar.

  By the time my Qi was full again, I had a plaque for Moon Stalks and a third piece of information on Powdered Witch Hazel.

  The information on Moon Stalk was far less helpful—but even as I checked my notebook again, I got some context. Giddy with excitement at the multiple entries on Moon Stalk I read:

  “Moon Stalk adds to the explosive properties of incendiary and explosive concoctions…”

  “—created a swamp-like effect that ruined a Skin-Tempering Potion.”

  “—increased the efficacy of the alertness effect found in tea’s, and Adrenaline Potions.”

  No wonder no one had known what it did. As I kept reading, I realized that it could create a negative association when its properties changed—or a multiplicative effect could take place, depending on the application.

  I decided to use my Qi on the Powdered Rock Lavender Petals, mostly to continue my experimentation. However, it was a tough decision. Now that I knew what Witch Hazel did—I could see why it might be the most popular ingredient I could make.

  Stabilizing a potion and ensuring you didn’t create something toxic or poisonous was surely valuable—unless, of course, you were attempting to make toxins or poisons…

  That of course, made my eyebrows jump to my hairline. Could I create a poison to coat a weapon in, that might help me take on a Borker?

  Usually, using poison on an animal you intended to butcher was a stupid choice—but I had a huge advantage with Cleanse, didn’t I?

  My jimmy leg started bouncing after I’d lowered myself onto the bed.

  Could I really go at this Tutorial solo?

  * * *

  Saturday, May 10th, 2069

  Willa woke up with a smile. Often mornings had been a time of stress for her. There were several reasons for that, starting with if her car would start—and ending in if P-Cubed would be able to maintain its bonus at the end of the week. Sad to say, that didn’t happen often.

  Now, under Alonzo’s Abyss, she had taken home eight thousand Greenbacks after her second week, and four thousand the weekend before. Sure, it wasn’t a large pool of data, but even with all the injuries they’d needed to heal–they had stayed in the positives. She turned her head on her pillow, wanting to share the moment with her husband, Steve.

  He wasn’t there. Her smile slipped to a frown, until she heard someone moving about in the kitchen. Steve was just getting things ready for the kids and school. She looked at the time, and realized it was already six-thirty in the morning and that Stevewould be leaving in the next fifteen minutes.

  Willa rushed out of bed, getting dressed in a hurry. Once outside, she stepped in and helped him finish up packing the lunches for little Bembe and Anacaona. One was in junior kindergarten and the other was in senior, separated by a year and a few months as they were. When she zipped up the Pinky Paws bag for Ana, Steve said, “You’ll drop them at school before heading to site?”

  Willa smiled and moved toward Steve for a hug. He opened his arm and kissed her forehead. Her face was buried in his chest as she replied, “Of course I be droppin’ em babe. Did I be tellin’ ya that I be makin’ twelve thousand last week?”

  “You texted it to me, while I was at work. Speaking of, I better try my car and make sure it will start.”

  His response wasn’t what Willa expected. She hadn’t looked at her phone this morning, but was pretty sure he should be more excited than this. Had he sent a text with that excitement after his shift yesterday evening? Or had she maybe sent the exciting news in broken english?

  “How late will ya be workin’ tonight?” Willa asked, trying very hard not to screw up her meaning. She wanted the conversation to shift to his long hours.

  “Fifteen hours today, babe. I’ll get overtime for all of that though.”

  “But we not be needin’ ya workin’ that much. Not anymore. Did you not be understandin’ my text or what I just be sayin’? Twelve thousand, babe…”

  Steve sighed, and met her eyes with a sad expression. “Baby, do you remember when you started at P-cubed?” Willa nodded. “Remember when the first bonus came in?”

  Willa let her head droop. He wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t understanding something. “But it ain’t like that, this time. Babe, I be a Specialist. I be gettin’ fifty an hour without dem bonuses.”

  “How much did you go into debt the last time you purchased Enchanted Gear. baby?” Steve asked.

  “But this gear ain’t be breakin’ babe. None of our gear be breakin’. It all be like my Pick,” Willa responded, hotly. She didn’t like having her mistakes thrown back at her like this. Sure, she had lost some of their savings but the money had been from her bonuses. Steve worked at Border Control, and while he made a good wage–she made more.

  “That’s what you said last time sweetheart. I’ve got to go, but I’ll believe that this time is different when we aren’t renting a two bedroom, rent controlled, townhome.”

  Willa clamped her mouth shut, not wanting to scream at her husband, and knowing that’s what would happen if she tried to respond. She had a response to. Something along the lines of, ‘I’m a Skilled Specialist you asshat!

  Probably a good thing I didn’t yell that, she managed to think as she heard one of the two children in the second bedroom stir. She’d text Steve that response later–when they got the bonus numbers for today. With all the Miner’s using Brodie’s repairing Pickaxes, they’d surely keep earning them. All of them could even reach the Evolved version that Gary, Brodie’s and hers reached after the Golem!

  For now, she’d start on breakfast for Ana and Bembe.

  * * *

  Willa Sharded a Crystal and cursed under her breath at it, and herself. And Steve. Her mood had been off since this morning, and she knew it was because she was upset she hadn’t explained the situation better.

  She’d told Steve about her new Skill, she was sure of it–but sometimes when she got excited, things got mixed up. So, while she knew she’d brought it up and found his lack of reaction strange, she’d thought he was just tired. The man just worked so hard. He was Selfless, through and through. Well, he might be if he hadn’t been born a Pooler, like her.

  Maybe she should have sent him a text explaining things better before entering this Portal with the Snow Birds? Since, she still wasn’t entirely calm–Willa was able to admit to herself how that text would have gone. Passive aggressive would be the best she could have hoped for.

  She took a breather, not wanting to Shard any more Crystals due to anger. In that moment Willa somewhat wished she was in a chamber with Jarred or Gary. Like the old days. They would have been fine with her venting about it. As it were, she had a group of five people she ‘knew’ but knew nothing about. Not even a one of them were her drinking buddies after work.

  Willa decided that she was done with Crystals for now–they really needed to hire some Pooler’s that could do the task. Otherwise, Jagger would edge them out on the bigger contract in the future. She shrugged even as she moved toward a deposit that could be Fool’s Gold or True Gold. At the moment she didn’t care. Not really.

  She just wanted to hit something harder than the Crystals, with her Skill. Maybe not harder, even. Something that wasn’t valuable–or that she could destroy? It was hard to pinpoint what she ‘needed’ in the moment. However, obliterating a deposit would work for her.

  She pictured the Ore as a shiny mirror, and swung while connecting her Mana Rivers to the Shatter Ocean. Smegma had told her this was a representation of her Soul, and the imagery of the island surrounded by water, helped calm her. Her Pick, with it’s ebony handle and gleaming ‘steel’ head began to glow.

  Now that she was calm, she had a moment to reconsider, but chose to follow through. Therapy was expensive now a days.

  The tip of the Pick hit dead center on the soft Ore, and it a bright light blinded and disoriented Willa. She stumbled away from its source before realizing that her strike had been the cause. Shouts and nervous screams sounded out from the other Miners in the cavern.

  When her vision began to clear, she was unsure what she was looking at. That, and her nose was overwhelmed by the smell of sulfur. Blinking her eyes didn’t make the pulsing stars go away. She shook herself, hoping he hadn’t damaged her eyeballs in a moment of stupidity.

  Then, her vision cleared more, and she realized that what she’d mistaken as stars was a fine powder. It was coating the floor around her, and hovering through the room like thousands of fireflies. She pulled up her mask so she didn’t breathe in any more of it, but continued to watch, mesmerized by the scene she’d created.

  It was strangely beautiful.

  Willa’s eyes, which were already wide, attempted to get bigger. Maybe she’d need to blow up some more shit around here.