NOVEL NEXT Tutorial 25 – Tasty Surprises
Liam stared at the book he was reading contemplating some of the content. He found the Knowledge Theory Tactics of a Control Tower interesting. Out of all the books he’s read, besides Calming the Storm, this one he was really enthralled with.
It talked about how to best make plans and strategies with groups of two to seven people. What to look for during fights, how to best guide your teammates to be where you need them to be and more.
When he first came to the Tutorial Area and heard about Knowledge Theories, he was a bit skeptical. His thoughts were in the range of, ‘How can raising a stat like Knowledge and those Practicality sub-stats really help with understanding things better’ to ‘Why are the things he learns under the sub-stat Knowledge called Knowledge Theories?’ It made no sense to him at the time.
However, after gaining a few Knowledge Theories and raising those sub-stats he began to understand. The reason why they are Theories is because they were just that. Theories you can use to practice and gain better understanding of things with.
By gaining a Knowledge Theory you open your mind to possible ways of taking that subject and creating ways that can better help you. It was a lot like going to school and learning a new skill and practicing different methods to see which is a better way for you to understand it and use it. After all, everyone has different learning techniques that range from visionary, motion, kinesthetic, etc.
As Liam closed the book a fanfare noise echoed in his mind as a notification message appeared in front of him.
“Congratulations! Your Knowledge Theory Tactics of a Control Tower has reached level 10! Due to your study progression on the Knowledge Theory, you have obtained the Non-Combat Ability Perception of the Control Tower.”
“Perception of the Control Tower description – This ability allows you to see the HP, MP, and Stamina of those in your party. It will also allow you to see any beneficial or negative buffs along with a timer. Raise this ability to unlock more hidden features.”
Liam stared at the notification message stunned. “I didn’t think an ability like this was possible,” He muttered under his breath. “This can help out in so many ways. Judging when heals need to be done, when to take potions, who needs priority over who, when someone gets surprised attacked…the possibilities are endless.”
This ability excited Liam. It was just like a party status screen from all the games he used to play before the end of the world started to happen. The fact that he could unlock hidden features excited him even more. He wanted to know what he could get from this ability.
Liam closed the message and leaned back as he ran a hand down his face. If I can find a way to combine this ability with my perception on enemies…that would be an amazing combo. Liam shook his head. No, don’t get ahead of yourself. For now, I need to tie this in with what I can do already.
Liam looked at the notebook Mercer gave him. A smile crept up on his face. Those guys really saved time by doing that. He looked at his internal clock and read 10:07 pm.
Since they took the time to get me all this, I’ll have to show their trust in me isn’t in vain. I’ll just go over a few more ideas and then get some sleep.
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Liam ran through the crowded streets making his way over to the portal area. The Yooperlite stone hanging above was brightening up with each step he took.
“The one time I decide to sleep in, and I oversleep,” Liam cursed himself.
As he made his way up the hill, he spotted a familiar group standing around. One of the six members spotted Liam and waved a hand to him as he approached them.
“About time you made it,” Roman teased. He was wearing a pair of brown pants that ran into his tan boots that ran up to his mid shins, a chain-linked vest over a black cotton shirt, and spiked gloves.
“So, he says, but he just got here himself, “Ariyana giggled.
She was wearing a pair of cotton shorts that stopped right above her knees, a purple belt with a frilly cloth design hanging from under it, a pair of black knee-high laced boots that revealed the skin of her legs, a pair of black crisscrossed laced gloves that stopped mid forearm.
Her shirt was a three-quarter length black crop top with purple frills running along the edges of the bottom of the shirt, the cleavage area, and on her arms. It revealed her slimmed toned stomach and made her chest pop a little more than her previous robed attire.
Mercer laughed at Roman’s glare. Mercer was wearing a dark green cloak that ran over his shoulders and to his back, a dark green robe that opened up below the brown belt around his waist. He also had a pair of tan pants with dark brown leather boots.
Avery shook her head at Mercer as she said, “How can you make crude gear look so fancy?” She was wearing the same gear that she wore from their first attempt. The couple of dents that were on her breastplate from the last boss fight were gone.
“He did look a bit fancy the first time we met didn’t he,” Blair commented as she shook her head. The vines that hung from behind her helm moved along with her.
The rest of her armor was the same as before. The only thing that was different was she no longer had a buckler and sword. Instead in her right hand was a great axe. The weapon stood as tall as her with the shaft constructed of stout wood running to the ground. The top of the axe was a double-bladed head.
Artem shook his head as he stood next to Blair with the same armor equipped. He also had his Wither Tree Kite Shield on his back and an Crude Iron Mace in his left hand.
“I see some of you have gotten some new gear,” Liam stated as he looked them over. He then looked at Roman and asked, “I thought you were a spell caster? Isn’t that armor going to take away the bonus you had in the mage beginner set?”
Roman looked at him, “Yeah, but like I said yesterday, I want to be in the front lines. Whenever I need to cast a spell, I can jump back and use them, but I can’t move the way I’d like to with that armor set. So, I made a compromise with the armor and the magic bonus. I worked on my magic enough that I shouldn’t do horribly with it.”
Liam nodded, understanding what he was trying to get at. He then looked at Ariyana.
She caught him looking and gave a teasing smile as she struck a pose asking, “What do you think? Doesn’t this look so much better than that plain drab mage robe?”
Liam let out a cough as he looked down. “It definitely…suits you.”
Avery elbowed him in the side as she glared. “It doesn’t matter if it suits her if it’s not practical.”
Ariyana gave a giggle as she said, “Oh, I assure you that for my class its very much practical.”
Artem and Roman blushed as they turned their heads away before Avery looked at them.
Blair shook her head as she muttered, “What am I going to do with you guys?”
Mercer let out a laugh before saying, “Alright, that’s enough playing around. Are we set to make our next attempt?”
“Nope,” Artem stated without hesitation. “But we might as well get this done with.”
“Oh Artem,” Avery said with slight disappointment before they made their way to the Black Dungeon Portal.
As they approached it, Liam had a thought. He turned to the others and said, “You know I never asked, but how does the portal know where to take us?”
Before anyone could answer, a sweet grandmotherly voice replied, “The Dungeon portals have a way of remembering those who enter and with whom.”
The group turned to see Adva slowly approach them from behind.
“How though?” Liam asked again.
She gave a shrug. “No one really knows how it works. It’s not something even the current deities know. Since the portals pre-date them. However, if you place a hand on the portal a notification will appear. Go ahead and try it.”
Liam eyed her for a moment before reaching a hand out towards the portal. His hand stopped as he felt a barrier of sorts. A notification message appeared shortly after.
“Graveyard of the Forgotten Realm. Which floor would you like to go to? Floors available: 1st, 2nd,3rd.”
“That’s weird,” Liam muttered before looking at Adva. “Why is it stopping me from entering it and why did this notification ask which floor would I like to go to? Does this mean we can go back to the previous floors?”
“After you have conquered at least two floors and have decided to exit them it will record your progress and allow you to take another crack at the floors you have previously defeated,” Adva began her explanation. “However, if you choose to go back and attempt to try the previous floors again it will make the Floor Bosses and Elite Floor Monsters stronger. In the case of the Tutorial Area this means the limitations placed on them will gradually rise after each floor you conquer.”
“Are you saying that the monsters are weaker than they should be?” Artem asked as his eyes widened.
“Very much so,” a gruff strict voice replied.
Everyone turned to see Phorge appear next to Adva.
“These portals have a magic placed over them to restrict and limit the damage to help you beginners get used to things,” Phorge explained. “As you grow stronger so do they. So don’t go thinking you can go back and fight weak monsters for easy experience.”
Mercer, Liam, and Avery gave each other a quick look.
“Thank you for that tid bit of information,” Mercer thanked. “Is there anything else we should know before departing?”
Phorge looked at him for a moment. “There’s not much really to say for now. However, I can say after you conquer the fourth floor you get a surprise.” He grinned knowingly.
“I like surprises,” Artem stated with a slight smile.
Ignoring Artem’s comment Liam asked, “Does it wipe our progress if we decide to go back to a previous floor? Also is the first floor now open to a group attempt or is it still a solo dungeon floor?”
Adva shook her head. “If you guys decide to attempt a previous floor then it will not take away the amount of floors you have conquered already. And no, the first floor still remains a solo floor.”
Phorge smacked a hand against his forehead. “Oh, there is something else I can add to this.”
Everyone looked at him and waited.
“If you swap out party members then you can only go to the highest floor that either you or the newest member has gotten to. For example, say your newest member has only gotten to the third floor and you have made it to the fifth then you have to redo the third with the penalty of the monsters being stronger or visa versa. This is to persuade groups not to switch out members or find a loophole in getting to higher floors without putting in the effort.”
“I can understand that,” Avery said.
“That does sound reasonable,” Mercer agreed as he wrote it down.
“Thank you for that,” Liam said as he looked at the two.
“It’s no problem at all,” Adva smiled.
“It’s our job to help you out if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask,” Phorge said. “Now off you go. You’ve got a floor to conquer.”
“Right,” Liam said as he turned back to the notification and clicked the 3rd floor option.
“Are you entering with the team Artem, Ariyana, Avery, Blair, Mercer, and Roman? Yes No?”
Liam looked at it wide eyed. He then thought, How the hell does it know? He hesitated for a brief moment before clicking yes.
A new message appeared for a moment before disappearing too.
“Good luck.”
Adva and Phorge watched as the group entered the portal one at a time.
Adva sighed as she muttered, “They are going to need it.”
Sounds of dry heaving and gasping echoed around them as they took a moment trying to prevent the stomach from revolting against their wishes.
A chime sound rang in Liam’s head as he looked at the others. “No upchuck roulette today I guess,” Liam muttered as he tried fighting back the urge himself.
“That’s progress,” Avery said as she took her hand away from her mouth and straightened her back. “Where are we now?”
“It looks like a tunnel system,” Roman stated as he looked around.
They were standing in a wide open tunnel that rose up high enough and was wide enough for at least three groups of 5 people to stand side by side and weapons to be swung around with ease. Glow stones lined the rocky and dirt packed walls giving enough light to see.
Liam looked around the area they were in and got a sudden feeling in his stomach. He placed his goggles over his eyes and slowly rescanned the place. To the left side a few rocks faintly glowed a tannish color.
He walked over to it and assessed it while placing a hand over it.
“What’s up Liam? Did you find something?” Mercer asked as he watched Liam walk over to the wall.
Liam smiled as he took a step back, kept his hand out and said, “Harvest.”
Pieces of stone crumbled down the wall as a small hole appeared.
He then placed his hand over another spot on the wall and repeated, “Harvest.”
Just like the last spot another hole appeared.
“Congratulations. You have received the Gathering Craft Mining! Mining has reached level 1.”
“Congratulations. Mining has reached level 2!”
“Congratulations! Crafter Class skill Harvest has reached level 6.”
“Items have been placed into your inventory.”
As he turned back to the group, he pulled out two solid chunks of colored rocks. One had a coppery shine to it while the other had a dull silverish color.
“You found shiny rocks?” Roman questioned with a brow raised.
Everyone turned and gave a ‘Are you Serious?’ kind of look.
“What are these?” Mercer asked.
“This one,” Liam started as he lifted the copper-colored stone. “Is copper ore. While this one,” He then lifted the dull silver looking colored rock. “Is a tin ore.”
“Ok,” Blair said with a brow raised.
“When you smelt these together you make a bronze ingot,” Liam said as he started feeling a bit sheepish for getting excited.
Mercer’s brows furrowed. “Isn’t Bronze a step higher than iron?”
Liam nodded.
“Does this mean you can make bronze armor or weapons now?” Mercer asked.
Liam deflated a bit as he said, “No. My Weapon Craft and Armor craft isn’t high enough yet, but my smelting is high enough that I can get the ingots ready for when I can. Right now, the Smithy is only allowing me to smelt iron ingots.”
“What good is smelting them to ingots right now if you can’t craft them into anything?” Roman questioned.
Liam was about to say something until Mercer chimed in with realization sinking in. “If you can make as many Bronze Ingots as you can now before you can craft them then you’ll have a stock pile ready instead of waiting to be able to or having to pay for them.”
“Yes!” Liam said. “I can get a stock pile ready and make bronze tier equipment with them when I get high enough.”
“Oh!” Roman stated as it dawned on him. “If you’re only allowed to smelt the iron ore at the Smithy because the guys there don’t want you taking away from their progression then by supplying yourself with these ores here the guys there can’t complain.”
“Exactly!” Liam exclaimed as he pointed to him. He then calmed down as he said, “Sorry, I know it might slow us down, but I want to try and get as much as I can as we go. If that’s alright with you.”
Ariyana smiled as she said, “I don’t mind.”
“Neither do I,” Artem agreed.
“You getting materials also helps us out so get as much as you can,” Blair stated with a nod of approval.
“If you run out of room let us know. We can help,” Avery offered.
“Thanks guys,” Liam smiled as he scanned the room. “Doesn’t look like there’s any more in this room.”
“Alright then let’s proceed,” Mercer said.
“Hold up,” Liam started. “There’s a new ability I picked up from one of my Knowledge Theories I want to try.”
He looked at everyone as they looked at him. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He then said, “Perception of the Control Tower.”
Small images of Avery, Artem, Aryana, Blair, Mercer, and Roman appeared to the left of Liam’s vision. Three colored bars with numbers popped up next to their pictures. One green, blue, and yellow.
“Whoa,” Liam said as his eyes widened.
“What happened?” Blair asked curiously.
“My new non-combat ability, Perception of the Control Tower, allows me to track each of your HP, MP, and Stamina while we’re in here,” Liam said. His eyes widened as he looked at Artem’s and Blair’s HP. “Damn Artem and Blair! Your guy’s health pool is big.”
Everyone’s eyes bugged out as they shouted, “What!?”
“How does that even work?” Ariyana questioned.
“Simple, a picture of you is located where I can see it along with your HP, MP and Stamina numbers,” Liam started. “Whenever you get hit, use magic, or use stamina your numbers will drop. If you get attacked when I cant see you then I’ll know you’re under attack and I can send support. I can also guide Artem to heal who needs it the most and more. Oh I can also see how long we have with buffs and who’s debuffed.”
“The possibilities you have with this kind of ability,” Mercer said as he began thinking.
“I know. Once when I read it, I started forming ideas,” Liam stated with a smile.
“Well, it’s official. You are truly our Control Tower for this group,” Roman commented.
“You said it can tell how long buffs lasts? Does it specify the kind of buffs?” Artem asked.
Liam shrugged. “Not sure. Why do you ask?”
Every watched as he pulled out seven small colored muffins. Two were tan with brown sprinkles, three were tan with red sprinkles, and the last two had violet sprinkles. He passed a brown sprinkled muffin to Blair, the ones with red sprinkles to Avery, Roman, and Liam, and the last two to Aryana and Mercer.
“Try these out,” Artem said as he ate the last one with brown sprinkles.
They each ate the muffins.
After Liam was finished a notification appeared.
“You have eaten Poor Attack Muffin and received a weak offensive food buff. Damage increase by 2.5% for the next hour.”
Liam closed it and noticed a picture of a sword pointing up appear next to Roman’s and Avery’s pictures. A shield with a plus sign on the side appeared next to Artem’s and Blair’s picture as a wooden staff with a plus sign appeared next to Ariyana’s and Mercer’s pictures.
“Food buffs!? You can make buff’s with food!” Liam exclaimed.
“That’s so cool!” Roman shouted as he patted Artem’s shoulder.
Artem looked at Liam and asked, “Did it appear?”
Liam nodded as he responded, “It did appear. Looks like a timer of an hour is ticking down on the bottom of the buff too.”
Mercer wrote down what he was hearing. After he was done, he said, “These are amazing. Great job.”
“This taste so good!” Ariyana grinned happily. “You know the best way to charm a woman is well made sweets.” She winked.
Avery and Blair nodded in agreement subconsciously.
“Oh, speaking of good taste,” Liam started as he pulled out vials of green potions. “These are for you guys.”
“Great gross po…why is the color different?” Roman questioned as he stared at them.
“These are what I have been working on,” Liam said with a wide grin. “Weak Mint Health Potions. I haven’t been able to work on Mana or Stamina Potions yet.”
Mercer stared at them with disbelief as the name started to register in his mind. “Are you saying…”
Liam nodded as his grin grew even wider. “I was able to make potions with a different flavor. Say goodbye to that crappy, try not to upchuck, tasting potion and say hello to less distracting and much better tasting potions.”
“I could kiss you right now!” Ariyana and Mercer shouted.
They both looked at each other and started laughing.
“But I thought there wasn’t a way to make these?” Roman questioned as he eyed them.
“It’s not that there wasn’t a way,” Liam started. “Every Alchemist didn’t think it was cost efficient. Because of that thought no one tried to make them. Thanks to Alicia, a fellow Alchemist in training, she gave me an idea and I created the extraction needed to make these potions. It was tough I won’t lie trying to figure out the right proportions to make sure the taste didn’t overpower the effects and more.”
“Wait you created the extraction? Are you saying you made a new type of potion?” Avery inquired as a thought cropped up. “So those new potions that are being sold a bit higher, but get quickly sold out were your creations?”
Liam beamed with a grin. “Maybe.”
“I swear both you and Artem are proving how essential the crafts can be,” Mercer commented. “Full of surprises.”
“If no one else has any surprises, I’d say we’re truly ready for this Floor attempt,” Blair stated as she put away the potions. She tried hiding the smile that was creeping up on her face.
No one said anything as they turned to the open corridor that led deep into the tunneled system.
“Only thing left to do is to do this,” Roman said as he rolled his neck, cracked his knuckles, and bounced a couple times on his tip toes.
“Let’s go,” Liam agreed as they started walking.