NOVEL NEXT 62: Essence
We set up our camp that evening right on the border with the forest, so we finally got to collect firewood. Liane and Jen both went hunting in the forest as soon as we stopped. I knew what Liane would be looking for—so did Jen, which was why she chose to go as well.
I was about to wander off myself and use Foraging, but Hari put a hand on my shoulder.
"I know their running recklessly like that gives the impression the forest is safe, Trev, but it's not. Please don't wander in there without someone with you," he said, looking in the direction the two girls had run.
And he was right. The dangers of the forest didn't even enter my mind—I just saw blue. I swear I saw Dilwater berries in the distance, along with Virfolium.
Nodding, I said, "No problem, I won't wander off. I do see lots of useful stuff from here if someone could help me out later, though."
Milo had just walked back into camp as I said it, carrying a large stack of wood on a cushion of air.
"I'll take you in there once I've set up the building," Milo said.
"Thank you! And Crisplet, you heard what Hari said—be careful!" I called to the little elemental, who was already on an ever-growing exploratory mission. It felt a little hypocritical of me to tell Crisplet to be careful while exploring when Hari had just told me the same thing.
I heard Hari yell out, "Oh, also Trev—armour on when you go in there!"
I nodded again. I hadn't worn it all day, but I knew once we entered the forest I would need to wear it whenever I wasn't inside the structure—just in case a stray blow or projectile hit me.
I got to work preparing dinner for the night. I wanted to keep it fairly simple since I'd be spending time foraging, so I decided to make something I hadn't made in a long while: a stew.
I really wanted to cook something from the Galvonson or the drake—just to test—but part of me insisted I get some magical ingredients like death caps, blood tears, or virfolium to go with it, to do it justice.
I had learnt a lot since I'd last made one, so I was confident I could make a really nice one tonight. Using one of the Buvul rumps, I diced it into cubes and seared them in the pan. In the pot I added diced tubers, carrots, onions, Garlic Grass, mushrooms, and some very ripe tomatoes, then poured in the meat and all the juices as well, covering it with water.
Leaving that by the fire for Crisplet to work his magic, I got my armour on. It took a while because I wasn't used to all the straps, and in the end Milo still had to help me with it to make sure it was fitted properly and not going to rub.
After saying goodbye to Crisplet, we went towards the forest!
I activated my foraging ability and directed Milo straight to where I'd spotted the berries. I happily discovered two small bunches of Dilwater berries. I immediately cast Transformation on both so I wouldn't forget they were toxic, then stored them.
As I was looking around, I spotted the plant I'd seen earlier with leaves on it—but before that, below the ground, a small round potato-sized blue glow. Was that another truffle?
"Milo, I think I spot another truffle!" I said excitedly, leading the way.
"Nice! This time we'll get to eat it, right?" he asked as he followed along.
"Sure will!" I said as we arrived at the spot.
This one was harder than the others to reach, as it seemed to have been growing near a cavity below the tree's roots. But after a bit of work from Milo, we managed to reach it, and sure enough—
Would you like to store [Uncommon] Mana Truffle x1 for 5 mana? Yes/No
It wasn't a rare one like the book said it could be, but this was amazing!
Once that was stored, I looked around me. Obviously, I saw the leaves up ahead and knew we'd be going there next, but I wanted to check if I could spot anything else. That was easier said than done, because practically everything inside the forest was glowing at least a little bit—unlike the mountains, where things stood out clearly.
In my excitement, I felt a sharp pain in my arm.
"Ow! What was that?" I cried out, shaking my arm. Looking down, I saw a spider—a Leaf-Bladed Spider, the kind Liane likes to eat—had bitten me. A moment later, it was cut in half by one of Milo's wind blades.
Quickly checking my notifications to see how bad it was…
Notifications:
You have earned 25 experience for making an enjoyable meal
…
You have earned 100 bonus experience for a buff used in combat
You have earned 100 bonus experience for a buff used in combat
You have earned 100 bonus experience for a buff used in combat
…
You suffered 15 damage!
Poison attempt failed: Poison immunity.
You have earned 100 bonus experience for a buff used in combat
Well, it wasn't that bad at least.
"Trev, are you okay?" Milo asked, coming up to inspect my arm.
"Yeah, fine I think. It did a little bit of damage, but it failed to poison me," I said, seeing my hitpoints were still 275/290.
"Also, I'm getting a buff in combat experience," I added curiously.
"Yeah, we all had some jerky for this reason. You said you're close to level 20, right?" Milo chuckled, grabbing my arm to inspect it properly.
I just nodded. I was super close to level 20—maybe I'd hit it tonight?
But I focused back on the task at hand. Reaching down, I stored the two halves of the spider. I didn't think Liane would mind if it was split in half, and there was no point wasting it.
As we made our way to the leaves, I was surprised they weren't Virfolium. Instead, it appeared to be something I had not seen before. The leaves were a mix of red and green, and they gave off a very fresh smell—like every breath of it was cool air.
Picking it and storing it—
Would you like to store [Uncommon] Frost Nettle x16 for 5 mana? Yes/No
Selecting Yes, I told Milo what they were, but he only shrugged. I would need to check the book later tonight.
We wandered around for a while longer. I found some more Frost Nettle, two Death Cap mushrooms, and a small amount of Virfolium. Overall, I was super happy with my haul—especially the new items. And I would finally get to try the Mana Truffle myself!
I also looked at my notifications again to see how close everything was…
Notifications:
…
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You have earned 100 bonus experience for a buff used in combat
You have earned 100 bonus experience for a buff used in combat
You have reached Level 20 in Arcane Chef
You have +2 unspent stat points
You have a new ability selection
You have earned 100 bonus experience for a buff used in combat
...
You have reached level 5 in Basic Meal Prep
You have 1 available Evolution Quest
You have earned 100 bonus experience for a buff used in combat
Oh, wow—a lot had happened! This was exciting!
It felt like it had been a long time since I'd got a new ability, and now I had managed to get a new evolution quest as well!
"Hey Milo, can we head back now? I think the stew is ready, because I just hit level five in Basic Meal Prep—and I also hit level twenty!" I said excitedly. The smile on my face would have been huge!
He just chuckled but agreed, and we made our way back to camp.
Once I was there, I thanked Crisplet for taking care of the stew, receiving a burst of sparks in response while he went back to playing in the fire—and, if I was not mistaken, building something out of coals.
I got the simple one out of the way first:
Congratulations! Your Basic Meal Prep skill has 1 available Evolution Quest:
Create 10 unique dishes. - 0/10
Huh, that seemed easy? I just needed to make ten dishes that were different? Easy. I'd get that done in a couple of days.
Then I turned to the difficult choices…
Congratulations on Level 20!
Choose from the following options:
Mana Pan
Skill type: Active
The perfect tool does exist.
Allows you to create a pan of various sizes out of Mana.
Gourmand's Insight
Skill type: Active
Everyone has taste.
Identify your target's favourite and most hated ingredients.
Feast of Power
Skill type: Active
A meal everyone can enjoy.
Can prepare one 'Feast Dish' per 24 hours and will grant increased buff quality and increased buff time.
Stock Reduction
Skill type: Active
Reduce, Reuse, Re-buff
Able to reduce ingredients down to their purest essence, this essence can be passed to a dish to provide flavour and buffs.
Well, now to decide. I ruled out Mana Pan—it didn't seem that useful now that I had a selection of pans to use. Gourmand's Insight sounded interesting, and it would be really nice to know what everyone liked and disliked, but the next two seemed really strong.
Essentially, buffing one meal a day to make it more potent seemed very useful, and the increased buff time would likewise be incredibly handy.
Then there was Stock Reduction. If drake meat was inedible to people, would I be able to reduce it down, extract its flavour and buffs, and transfer it into—oh, I don't know—the stew sitting in front of me?
That seemed incredibly useful. Or, if I made those cookies from the cookbook and infused them with essence from the spiders, Liane could have cookies that gave her increased stealth.
My mind raced with ideas of what I could do with it, but just in case I was missing something, I decided to run it past Milo and Hari.
"Hey, so I wanted to run my new abilities by you. Let me know what you think," I said, before repeating all four of my choices and adding my thought process as well.
Hari was the first to speak. "Feast of Power absolutely sounds useful. Increased buff quality means what, though? Does it take increased earth magic potency to greater increased? Or is it just a minor increase? As for the reduction one, that sounds incredibly useful—especially for creating items with desired buffs and qualities. I don't know, Trev… with the information you have, I'm leaning towards Stock Reduction. Maybe pick up Feast of Power if it shows up again at 25?"
Milo was nodding as Hari spoke. "I mostly agree with Hari. There are too many unknowns with the feast. It could be absolutely amazing—or just mediocre. But the Stock Reduction, even if it only does the basics of what it describes, the uses would be fantastic," he added.
Looking up, I saw Crisplet shoot off four sparks. Was he listening? Or was that just by chance?
Oh well. I selected Stock Reduction.
Congratulations! You have gained the ability Stock Reduction
Pulling up my stats and that skill, I wanted to see if there was any more information—but I didn't expect much.
Stock Reduction
Level: 1
Experience: 0/100
Strip to essence, Stir in power.
Honestly, I didn't know why I expected any different. I let out a laugh, pulling up my status to distribute my points.
Time for testing, I guess? I decided to start with the spider we had collected. Pulling out the cut spider, I placed it on the ground and attempted to use the ability.
Unable to reduce: [Uncommon] Leaf-Bladed Spider. Skill level too low.
Skill level too low? Storing it again, I decided to pull out something different—something I knew was common quality.
Would you like to reduce [Common] Bark Viper for 100 mana? Yes/No
Ouch! 100 mana was expensive. But I selected Yes.
The whole viper glowed a bright green before the light started to condense in on itself, leaving me with a gem-like, vibrant green ball. Looking at it, it was amazing. It looked like there was smoke trapped inside the ball, and it was hard to describe—it was hard to the touch, but also not. It wasn't like a glass orb, or like Crisplet…
I attempted to store it to see what it would be called.
Would you like to store [Common] Bark Viper Essence for 5 mana? Yes/No
Okay, well… only one thing left to test then, I guess.
Heading over to the stew, I sat down and attempted to place it in—but nothing happened.
I tried to will it into the stew, but again, it just floated there on the surface. Odd.
I thought I'd attempt to Infuse the dish since I hadn't already.
Would you like to infuse [Common] Buvul and Mushroom stew for 50 mana? Yes/No
Again selecting Yes, the essence stayed there, floating on the surface.
I was just about to remove it, but when I touched it I saw the prompt—
Would you like to infuse this essence into [Common] Buvul and Mushroom stew for 50 mana? Yes/No
I selected Yes again and watched as the essence broke into green particles before disappearing into the stew.
"Well, that was interesting. I learnt a few things there," I said aloud.
"Oh? Do tell! That looked very interesting," Milo said, taking a seat next to me and looking at the stew.
"Well, the main thing is it looks like I can only reduce common ingredients at level one, and it's costing me 100 mana to reduce and 50 mana to infuse it. But it seems to only work on something already infused," I explained.
Milo nodded. "That makes sense. It's fairly common in crafting professions for levels to be required for different qualities of materials—usually level one is common, two is uncommon, three rare, and so on," he said.
"Well, it didn't tell me what the essence contained, but that should be a basic Buvul stew, so it should provide just fire immunity and strength. Anything else might have come from the snake," I said, looking at the stew.
"I wonder if it'll taste like snake now?" I pondered.
I looked over my full status sheet after placing my four unspent points into intelligence.
Name: Trevor
Class: Arcane Chef
Rarity: Rare
Level: 20
Experience: 510/16284
Hit points: 276/290
Mana: 130/590
Stamina: 184/290
Strength: 13
Dexterity: 30
Endurance: 29
Intelligence: 59
Wisdom: 27
Charisma: 10
Willpower: 12
Perception: 8
Luck: 6
Unspent: 0
Abilities:
Basic Meal Prep: 5
Butchery: 4
Carving Touch: 1
Infused Flavour: 4
Chef's Pantry: 4
Culinary Transformation: 2
Arcane Foraging: 2
Fiery-sous: 4
Stock Reduction: 1
Active evolution quest:
Create 10 unique dishes. - 0/10
Fiery-Sous (Active)
Crisplet
Level: 4
Experience: 712/1056
Hit Points: 290/290
Mana: 340/590
Stamina: 230/290
Abilities:
Flame Control
Fire Immunity
Fire Conjuration
Mana Enhancement