Trigger-Happy Potioneer

A New Discovery

I didn't realize the forest was this big. Granted, I moved wherever the miasma was thicker, which in turn increased the encounter chance, but I still haven't found anything. I've visited at least a hundred collection points. I've killed twenty spiders, ten with fang drops from previous kills; three wolves with black fur; seven snakes, and one bear cub. I really didn't want to kill the bear cub, but seeing that parts of it were rotting due to poison, I couldn't bear to leave it to suffer. On the bright side, one of its drops was a recipe on miasma repellent, which required elkthorn and the samples I kept getting as drops in a one-to-one ratio. I used alchemy for it since I really didn't want to set out my crafting spread in an hostile area, but luckily there didn't seem to be a failure rate for this recipe.

Miasma Repellent: Dispels [Miasma Curse] upon external contact or consumption. Additional MP recovery upon consumption.

It was nice that it doubled as a mana pot. I guess that now, instead of wasting arrows on the poor animals, I could just sprinkle some repellent on them to dispel the curse. I don't know if it dispels aggro, but it's worth a try.

Anyways, I had made about sixty repellents when suddenly my head began to throb and alchemy failed to activate. A message from the system blinked in front of me. "Insufficient MP."

I checked my stats.

Nio (Unidentified Class Build)

HP 73/101

MP 0/190

Stats

STR 23 VIT 18

DEX 53 EVA 72

INT 35 LUK 26

Current Traits (+3)

[Alchemy 10] [Throw 7] [Eagle Eye 16] [Enchant 1] [Archery 9] [Crafting 3] [Mixing 5] [Mana Control 8] [Discovery 15] [Combining 3]

Yep, my mana's out. Let's see... 190/x>60... Alchemy's mana cost is around 5 points. Not bad, not bad. Wait, I used skills earlier, so didn't that also siphon my mana? I'll find the cost later. Lots of stats went up, and mana seems to have increased drastically since my last check despite only a point increases in INT. I've read that exhausting your mana completely increases your upper limit; is that it? The "overuse" system? Whatever, moving on. Don't have time to sweat the small stuff.

The EVA stat seems almost broken. I've only played for two days and it's about twenty points higher than DEX. That must be why I'm alive right now; I've been dodging the heavy damage.

More pressing matters are at hand. I drink a repellent and feel my mind clear. I check my mana again.

MP 38/190

20 percent, that's really good. Now, time to save the forest! "Forest Savior, away!"

... I can't believe I just said that. Thank God no one was close by to hear me. A rustle in the bush to my right brought me onto my toes. Another spider crawled from the brush, clacking its mandibles together. I see the front part rise up and instinctively jump out of the way as more green silk burn through the forest. I quickly spring once more, this time towards the spider, and splashed a tube of repellent onto the arachnid with a swipe of my arm. A bright light shot from the point of contact, and I, disoriented, stumbled upon landing and roll away. When the light finally disappears, the spider clacked its jaws excitedly and turned towards me.

It was no longer the spider I had come to know. Its eyes were light blue and its body was a beautiful dark emerald green. I stood up and approached it, unsure about how to react. It ran towards me, causing me to flinch, but all it did was rub its head on my leg, similar to a dog. I put my hand on its head. It was rough; the hairs poked at my hands like blunted cactus needles. It moved away, dipped its body to me, then skittered into the forest.

I was completely dumbfounded. That was... mind-blowing. I looked at where it was, and two items sat in the spot where it was purified.

Spider Silk: a rare material used in magic garments.

Loeta's Tear

Loeta's Tear?