Chapter 20 – Cooking Potions and Getting Rewards

Skill Seedling (F) is ready to evolve.

Please choose the evolution path for the skill.

Available Paths: Thistlethorn Seedling (E), Cinder-Seed (E), Restoration Sprout (E)

Thistlethorn Seedling (E) – A prickly seedling that grants a 10% Physical Defense buff for 10 minutes upon ingestion and restores 8% of your health over 7 minutes. Spirit Cost 30.

Can be planted to grow the Thistlethorn plant, whose flower can be used as an ingredient of defensive potions.

Cinder-Seed (E) – A warm, glowing seed that provides a 5% Spirit or Mana restoration buff for 5 minutes upon ingestion and will heal 7% of your health over the next 8 minutes. Spirit Cost 35.

Can be planted to grow a Cinder Lily, which may be consumed or brewed into potions that grant fire resistance and a Warmth buff.

Restoration Sprout (E) – A sprout of a Restoration Sunflower, that restores 10% of your health over the next 5 minutes. Spirit Cost 25.

Can be planted to grow the Restoration Sunflower, whose seeds can be used to increase the effectiveness of the healing potions.

Maximus sat on his bed, staring at the options.

This is incredible… The plant type actually changes. It seems whatever I choose will lock me into a specific evolutionary path, defense, restoration, or enhancement.

He leaned back slightly, eyes narrowing as he analyzed. I want all of them… But that’s not how this works. Hmmm, what am I lacking?

He compared the options against his current abilities. I already have healing. What I need is sustainability… And flexibility in combat and crafting. His decision became clear.

Skill evolution confirmed!

Skill Seedling (F) has evolved into the skill Cinder-Seed (E)

He instantly activated it and started going through the formula. Oooh, so that is the difference between this one and the Seedling; it changes the scope of the skill, giving it access to the resistance and resource regeneration branches of the plant evolution line.

He then started checking what he could edit and began to form a few ideas. He released the skill, and it burst within his palm in a flicker of radiant energy. Alright, I cannot change the elemental properties; it is limited to fire-attuned plants. But this should work then, right? He cast the spell again, this time delving further into the fire aspect of the formula and even altering the absorption rate of the elemental mana.

The skill shone a deep red before a small circular seed emerged within his palm, radiating steady heat.

New Skill Detected:

> Cinder-Seed: Scorching Lily

Scorching Lily – Once planted, the seed will start absorbing the heat from the environment and grow into a Scorching Lily plant, which will detonate the stored energy on touch.

Now I’ve got a trap plant. He smiled, satisfied, and cast the main skill to check its effects in full.

He swallowed the small radiant seed, and as it settled within his stomach, a wave of soothing warmth enveloped him as it restored his Spirit that he had just spent and seeped into his still sore ribs, easing and mending them.

Good, but what about my Seedling skill? It’s a shame to lose it. He checked his skills, and the Seedling skill was gone from the main list, but for some reason, under Subskills, the detoxify version was still there.

Oho! So, whatever I edit will stay. Through this skill, I can easily reverse the formula if I need more bean seedlings! Though it’s not like I don’t already have a mountain of them in storage. He smiled happily, pulled out Sprout from his hoodie, laid him next to his pillow, and stretched his body before going to sleep himself.

***

Early next morning, Felix and Oscar left to hunt monsters close to the village and level up in preparation for the hunt on the crocodile and their trip deeper into the First Plane. Maximus, on the other hand, harvested his beans and planted Cinder Lilies on the smaller patch of ground.

He spent the whole morning growing bright red lilies and harvesting the vivid, heat-laced flowers.

Finally, as the sun stood high in the middle of the sky, two men arrived carrying two large bags. “Are you Max?” one asked.

“Indeed, I am. How can I help you?” he asked politely.

“Chief Rose sent these for you. She said to tell you that she will be back in two days for her potions,” the guard said, and the duo quickly left.

Maximus opened the bags and smiled; within were Dawn Lilies, Redmother’s Root, and even a rarer ingredient, Silver-Vein Moss. “Oho, this will make some interesting potions. Let me first try to grow more,” he said, smiling to himself while Sprout ran around the garden, happily absorbing the excess spirit energy.

He plucked the bean sprouts and lilies, storing them all in the inventory as he started planting moss first in both small gardens. This should be very expensive; I’ll make a bunch first. He smiled greedily as he poured spirit energy into the moss, giving it enough power to spread rapidly across the garden. With a satisfied smile, he harvested it and repeated the process for an hour until he had more than enough.

He then did the same with the other plants, his Grow skill reaching level six; once he was finished with gardening, he picked up Sprout and entered the house.

***

He purchased around twenty bottles of water and started the fire in the fireplace as he prepared the first batch of ingredients.

He cleaned out the pods and filled a bowl with beans before tossing them into the boiling water, where they released a faint earthy aroma.

In the meantime, he prepared the Dawn Lily by separating the stalks from the flowers. He washed the Redmother’s Roots thoroughly before chopping them into fine pieces and adding them to the now green-tinted water.

This should work better if I want a stronger potion, he thought as he adjusted the recipe with practiced precision.

Next came the moss. After rinsing it clean, he chopped it repeatedly until it became a thick, glistening paste. He transferred it into another pot together with the Dawn Lily petals before removing the first pot from the fire to cool slowly.

I’ll need another pot,” he muttered.

After purchasing one more, he added the crushed Dawn Lily stalks to it before retrieving something else from his storage.

“Time to add some old Aurelius spice to this. It will blow Rose’s mind.” He chuckled and pulled out the Cinder Lilies he had cultivated earlier that day.

The flower possessed healing properties of its own, but Maximus was more interested in its Warmth effect. By gently heating the body and opening the arteries, it would allow the potion to spread faster and amplify the healing energy. Combined with the moss, which accelerated absorption almost instantly, and the restorative properties of both lilies, the final product would approach the peak quality of a Mid-Grade Potion.

He finely chopped the Cinder Lily petals and added them to boil alongside the Dawn Lily stalks.

Soon, three separate liquids simmered before him: one brown, one red, and one silver-green, each bubbling softly with contained energy.

Finally came the most delicate step: the final mixture.

Maximus sighed as he realized he needed yet another pot and purchased one from the Store. By this point, he had already spent nearly two hundred tokens on equipment and ingredients.

Using a small cup for precision, he carefully combined the mixtures.

“Two parts of the bean-root base first, then the strained moss extract…” he murmured. “And once it reaches a boil, the final portion of the Cinder Lily solution.”

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After another hour of careful brewing, twenty bottles of crimson potion stood completed upon the table, with enough remaining in the pots for himself and his companions.

Skill Leveled Up: [Potioncraft (D) LV.7]

[Healing Potion: Soothing Cure (C)]

Heals medium-type wounds like smaller broken bones and smaller, gaping wounds or burns instantly. 30% of maximum health healed instantly, and then 15% healed over the period of 10 minutes, for which time a buff ‘Soothing Warmth’ will be active, decreasing pain sensitivity and raising resistance to frost, cold environments, and related attacks by 10%.

Warning: The potion is not to be ingested more than three times a day due to the risk of healing overdose.

“This is better than I expected. Shame I already agreed on a price, though the ingredients I got should be worth a lot as well.” He smiled.

***

Meanwhile, to the west of the village, Felix had just finished planting Ice Traps. “The plan is to bait them one by one, alright? Nothing crazy. We bait them into the ice, freeze them, and kill.” Felix repeated the plan.

“I heard ya the first time as well!” Oscar groaned. “Stay here.”

Oscar used a body-enhancing ability as he whispered, “Agility,” and dashed toward the group of three Horned Hyena Dogs.

As soon as they saw him running, they began laughing loudly and spat thin beams of yellow light.

Oscar dodged to the left, his foot stumbling over a few rocks, making him fall. As he did, the Hyenas called their whole pack over, which rushed forward laughing like madmen.

“Shit… “Felix cursed as he exploded forward as fast as he could.