Second Story Online: Aiming To Become The World's Number 1. Ideal Witch Chapter 9 - Weeds Are Unexpectedly Delicious

… … ..

Good morning. Aah, the real morning sun is really dazzling. The current time is 5 AM, by the way. Yesterday, after shopping at the market, I logged out since it was already time for dinner. I wanted to play more after eating, but I decided against it on the reason that playiny was eating up too much of my time.

I went to sleep therefore, thinking that I should just play SSO tomorrow before breakfast. And, oh, I didn't purposely wake up early—I usually wake up at this time.

In the calm morning, I took out the VR equipment and covered my head with it. The device operates smoothly just like the many times I've used it before. After selecting SSO from the list of applications, the game started immediately.

I came back to the last place I was in the game—the town of Dilord. Apparently, the in-game time now is evening. It's Chloe's hour, [Dark Magic] time!

The best course of action would be to go hunting. However, I have a new objective this time too; I had gone over the strategy boards last night and was prepared for today's adventure. I won't be swindled out of my money anymore.

I'm going to employ a different strategy. I researched meticulously for methods on how to earn money for the future and among them was a pa.s.sive skill called [Compounding], which was something I have never used before. It seems to be the precursor for brewing potions. With this, I came up with the ingenious idea of making money through a production job.

Doesn't a witch make potions with her trusty cauldron? Yes, I took the idea for such a simple reason.. Well, it seems to be a useful skill regardless. It's a skill which requires great attention and effort from the player and bearing bountiful rewards.  

Since I've decided with this, the first order of business was to look for the necessary ingredients. Also from my research, I found out that a brewing kit is essential before we can formally make potions.

I had bought it earlier, a beginner's brewing kit which was 500 G. For an initial money of 1000 G, that looks quite expensive, isn't it?

Though shopping is roughly done through a purchase screen, It is necessary to talk to the person in the shop to catch their attention and start the bargain. Even if there was the problem of not knowing the language, I got through it just fine. I've become the master of pantomiming.

Aah.. I want to learn the language as soon as possible. Yet the skill still doesn't show up on the skill list. Are you telling me I have to speak more?

Presently, I was now nearing the [Twilight Forest]. According to the information I obtained, this area had a plethora of medicinal herbs that can be used for [Compounding]; I came here to gather such herbs.

Moreover, the [Twilight Forest] was actually an area beginners would have a hard time approaching. The place was dimly-lit and monsters, with strength incomparable to the creatures in the plains, would constantly swoop in such a stealthy manner the player would be caught off guard. People always seem to lose their sense of direction when venturing deep into the forest, with death the only escape. Such were the common obstacles uttered by the players.

But for me, darkness is convenient because my [Dark Magic] is strengthened because of it. Even if my vision is almost useless in the blackness, which was my biggest problem, it's still worth it.

Just a while ago, I had managed to raise my level to 8 by battling in the plains. Even at this level, the equipment is still effective. Hence, I have no problem with gathering herbs deep in the forest.

However, the entrance is a devious place. It made me hesitate to go through there,  remembering the tough rabbit I fought from last time.

In any case, at the face of danger, one should just escape! Yes that's the best course of action.

With such a conviction, I decided to start harvesting first in the surrounding area around the entrance of the forest. But another problem seems to rise up once again—there are a variety of gra.s.s growing around. I couldn't determine what kind each plant was.

I had researched pictures of the medicinal herbs from the strategy board beforehand, yet, it's actually no use, when the plants I was currently faced with at the moment are vastly different.

"Not around the entrance then?" was what I thought, but the cause seems to be different.

Without a plant appraisal skill, medicinal herbs couldn't be distinguished from simple weeds; the appearance would look the same for every herb.

Therefore, even if I had studied the pictures of the medicinal plants from the strategy boards, such herbs can't be found.

In the meantime, an appraisal skill hasn't appeared in my skill list yet. Appraisal skills should be initial skills; beginner players could probably even learn them from the Skill Master in town. That should mean anyone can learn such a skill.. except for me who can't talk with the NPC.

"Even here—language again!"

Would anyone have ever thought language was a necessity for gathering medicinal herbs?

In pa.s.sing, I had also already read from the strategy board that a language skill of an area only appears when one takes constantly with its local people. Which means, I still had to converse more in order to attain the skill.

When an opportunity presents itself, I should get back to town and speak more with the inhabitants. But for the time being, back to gathering herbs.

Now, a strategy—it's no brainer I can't tell the plants apart because I lack the appraisal skill. However, I think that it is possible to distinguish with another method…

I pulled out a herb from the earth. Physically, the leaves are narrow and it looks like any common weed. I plopped the gra.s.s inside my mouth and chewed it curiously.

"It's sweet.."

The leaves were surprisingly sweet. Somehow, I felt strangely rejuvenated; did my physical strength just recovered subtly? I couldn't tell because right now, the HP gauge was currently full, but it seems like a recovering status effect had briefly appeared when I wasn't looking.

I pulled another herb from the same place once again, and did the same procedure of chewing it; it still had the same sweet taste from the herb before. Afterwards, I was able to notice the green effect this time, signifying a recovering state.

This might be a recovery herb used for the concoction of recovery potions. But I couldn't tell for sure, since it's only displayed as a weed inside the item inventory despite the effect I received from chewing it.

For the time being, I will continue my collection by sampling weeds one by one.

This one is tasteless, there's also no change in status; this should just be plain gra.s.s. This one.. another sweet herb—must be a recovery herb. I ate another one and the same sugary flavor entered my mouth. No, wait a minute, this is too sweet! What's this? I took some damage?! Oh, poisoned state. If this is a poisonous herb then I should separate it for now. With the next weed, which happened to be another recovery herb, the HP I took from poisoning recovers back to full. Moving on to the next weed, I got paralyzed.. so this is a herb capable of paralysis. The weed there then. Ah.. I unexpectedly got a sleep condition.

I was momentarily caught in a vulnerable state of being half-dead from the poison, sleep and paralysis status. Luckily, an enemy hadn't appeared then, which was a good thing. Nevertheless.. did I go into a virtual reality game just to eat weeds?

Oh, Chloe. Let's not think too deeply about it.

As a result of my endeavors, I managed to gather the following herbs:

Recovery herb (?) x 20

Poison Herb (?) x 10

Paralysis Gra.s.s (?) x 5

Sleep Gra.s.s (?) x 5

While I was also eating the herbs, statuses had appeared one after another. Now that my collection is done, it should be time to depart from here.

Since the herbs were all cla.s.sified as weeds, I separated them by their visual characteristics. I was careful not to mix any of the weeds, or all that precious chewing would have been for nothing.

Now then, recovery herbs? Because I seemed to have obtained such a material, compounding should now be possible. The hard truth is, I took the long way just to get here.. All because I can't speak the language.

Regardless, it's time for breakfast! Although my character is full from eating weeds, with the hungry state currently not being displayed, for the real body it is a different story. I took a break and decided to treat my hungry stomach to a well-deserved breakfast.

Name: Chloe

Race: Human

s.e.x: Female

[Birth Status: Bradleys – Viscount family.]

[Personal History: I Ran Away From Home to Embark on an Adventure.]

LV 8 — Remaining SP 16

Basic Skills:

[Two-handed Staff LV 7]

[Dark Magic LV 8]

[Wind Magic LV 7]

[Magic Knowledge LV 8]

[Magical Power LV 8]

[Compounding LV ]

[Summon: Familiar LV 1]

[Command LV 1]

Unique Skills:

[Language: Hayes Region]

[Social Status: Ente Dukedom. Bradleys – Viscount Family]

[Camping]

[Land Familiarity]

There are no extra skill points added. Rather, as Chloe hasn't recently acquired a new skill, the remaining SP are just excess from leveling.