"This is horrible..."
I've used fifty arrows already, and I only hit the tree eleven times. Shooting from the right side makes it easier to shoot more quickly, but my general accuracy is really bad. I'm lucky I can recover the arrows that didn't break, but I shudder to think about PvE battles if I'm this crappy.
On the up side, I'm getting better. From one of ten hits I've gotten to three of ten. My eyes are really helping, since my night vision gets expanded as it grows. Let's look at my progress:
Current Traits (+2)
[Alchemy 4] [Throw 3] [Eagle Eye 12] [Enchant 1] [Archery 6] [Crafting 2] [Mixing 5] [Mana Control 4] [Discovery 11] [Combining 2]
I've figured out that I get +1 for each sense that hits ten ranks, but as for what they're used for I'm still in the dark. Archery is moving nicely, but my accuracy still needs work. Power's fine - a few arrows dug themselves in up to the fletching.
Light filtered from my left, blinding me, and I saw the dark blue sky begin to tint purple. Dawn already? Dang, time moves fast.
Wait.
"Potions!" I yelped as I dropped everything and began scrambling for materials. Loki's Wine said something about Odin's Draught, and, with inductive reasoning, it may be a time-limited brew at dawn.
I just hope I can do it...
. . .
No luck. Twenty different combinations of herbs and whatnot (excluding the GraHerb, I'm not ready to part with that yet) and no Odin's Draught. I did, however, get a few new recipes.
Anti-Venom: Cures up to [Poison 3] Status.
Anti-Umbrum: Cures up to [Blind 3] Status.
Anti-Hypno: Cures up to [Sleep 3] Status.
Anti-Electrum: Cures up to [Stun 3] Status.
Yup, antidotes. The reason for the rank 3 cure would probably be because their counterparts, which I made out of frustration, inflict that level of anomaly. Different ratios would also make the antidotes occasionally, so I have quite the collection now. I got another +1 for Mixing, which hit ten when I blitzed, but I'm now out of status herbs and Elkthorn, which means I need to go restock.
I picked up my bow and the arrows that could be salvaged. I lost 12 arrows, which isn't that bad, but still... I lost arrows to a tree.
Oh, and get this. I tried dipping the arrows one by one into my extra Loki's Wine, but that took forever, and it was really hard to control how much got on the arrowhead. So, instead, I just grabbed a two sets of arrows and combined it with the flask. Only one hundred received the poison, but that's a huge ratio to reckon with. Thank you, whoever is in charge of combining ratios!
I packed up my crafting set and was about to head towards the collection point heaven when a sudden wind blew past me from behind. It smelled sweet, but in a sickly way, like the smell of Citrona Poison when it's brewing. An ominous aura followed the wind, and I looked back. The forest behind me, in contrast to the lush green spread I was just about to enter, was dark and eerie. Patches of the canopy looked dark red and black, almost as if it had been cursed or poisoned. As I stood there, shocked by the stark contrast, I saw in my peripherals that the anomaly was spreading, and the ground in front of me grew black. The grass was still there, but it now seemed almost alive, and curled around my shoes. I gave into instinct and dove right into the bleak ecosystem.
The forest seemed to curl away from me as I leaped through the underbrush and rush across the forest floor. Collection points sparkled all over the place, and with just a few visits I knew the place was going to be a gold mine. Venom Ivy, Electrum, Hypnoti, Elkthorn, something called Ignisbloom, even a few GraHerbs - they were just everywhere. But so were the monsters.
The first monster was not a slime, surprisingly. I thought that one's first monster in any RPG was a slime or something equally as squishy-looking. No, it was a spider - a three-foot tall spider with ruby eyes and pincers dripping with venom. Every hair on its legs were visible and bristled dangerously when it saw me. Its abdomen rose up, and a flower was printed in white on its black body.
Under normal circumstances, I would laugh at the flower print. But the spider looked very angry. It immediately began skittering towards me as I nocked an arrow. I fired, but it jumped back with a flip and shot a green strand from its spinnerets.
If I learned anything from retro RPG games, it was probably this: green is BAD. I dodged, and the tree that received the strand began burning with an acrid odor. If I didn't dodge... No, let's not think about that now. I aimed quickly at one of the spider eyes and yelled, "Precise Shot!" The arrow began glowing blue and became a streak of light upon release. It pierced right through the spider and embedded itself into the ground. The spider froze, then collapsed. I heard a loud crack as the carcass snapped the shaft. "There goes a dipped arrow..." I murmured, crestfallen. While I should be happy about the fact that these skills fix my accuracy, the loss of arrows strangely rips at my heart like a serrated claw. I tapped the carcass, and it dissolved into drop items. That's convenient. I was going to inspect the animal for its name, but deconstruction speeds up the collection ritual. I browse through the items.
Cursed Poison Sample (x3)
Forest Spider's Venom Glands (x2)
Forest Spider Fang (x2)
40 gold
Ooh, materials. I could probably craft the glands for flasks of venom. The fangs are either weapon craft material or profit drops, and the 40 gold must mean it's a weak monster. The cursed poison sample, though... I tapped the tube sample.
Cursed Poison Sample: A sample of the affliction endangering the forest.
It's... like some quest item. From what I see, this weird atmosphere is something caused by a poisoning of the forest. If I collect these samples and then counter the poison somehow, I can save the forest that I currently live in (basically). Furthermore, if my webnovel experience can be applied, I should find the source boss if I go deeper in the cursed sector of the forest and get something overpowered and whatnot. Thus I will continue. Wait, I should check my traits.
Current Traits (+2)
[Alchemy 4] [Throw 3] [Eagle Eye 14] [Enchant 1] [Archery 8] [Crafting 2] [Mixing 5] [Mana Control 7] [Discovery 13] [Combining 3]
They seem to be coming nicely. Though I wonder why my stats, my HP and MP don't show.
Nio (Unidentified Class Build)
HP 95/99
MP 150/165
Stats
STR 22 VIT 17
DEX 48 EVA 51
INT 33 LUK 26
Current Traits (+2)
[Alchemy 4] [Throw 3] [Eagle Eye 12] [Enchant 1] [Archery 6] [Crafting 2] [Mixing 5] [Mana Control 4] [Discovery 11] [Combining 2]
It appeared. Did it not show up before because I only requested traits? How nitpicky.
My stats look pretty skewed towards DEX and EVA. What's weird is that they reflect my actual self. I'm pretty weak compared to other people, but I make up for that with fleet footing and meticulous observation skills. My lack of VIT is probably from the reckless experimentation I'm known for... but hopefully it's not important to my goal. Though I wish I knew about this earlier.
What was I going to do again? Right, it was search for the source boss. Let's go.
YOU ARE READING
Trigger-Happy Potioneer
FantasySixty years from now, VR has advanced to the point that full-dive is possible and VRMMORPGs are everywhere (but really nothing else has gone as far). Since all the standard class-based games are boring, why not make a game with no classes?
