CH 81

Episode 81 – Synthesizing Dumbbell Weed

It had been two days since I finished drinking all of the Minimum-grade Magic Potions. Within these last two days, I had done my special sword training routine and measured the rates of increase in magic power capacity from the Medium-grade and High-grade Magic Potions. Incidentally, the Medium-grade Magic Potions cost me 1 gold coin per bottle and increased my magic power capacity by 2 each. The High-grade Magic Potions resulted in a magic power capacity increase of 10 for 3 bottles, and each bottle was worth 2 gold coins. In conclusion, the Minimum-grade Magic Potions were the most cost-effective, and, in general, the cost-effectiveness decreased as the quality increased. Well, this evaluation was purely based on money alone.

Assuming I could drink 20 Magic Potions in one day, the Minimum-grade Magic Potions would only increase my magic power capacity by 12, while the High-grade Magic Potions would increase it by 60. As I had thought earlier, it was a matter of prioritizing time versus prioritizing money…

In the future, if I could earn enough money to be able to shell out money without having to think twice, it would be fine… otherwise it would be inefficient to use High-grade Magic Potions to increase my magic power capacity. For now, I felt that it would be best to ask the grandma to brew mainly Minimum-grade or Low-grade Magic Potions for me using the Magical Grass I’d give her.

Still, it was frightening to think that I had used 30 gold coins in the last three days. My total magic power capacity was 79, which was about five times higher than it was just three days ago, so at least I had something to show for it.

But the problems were yet to come. In the end, with this magic power capacity of 79, would I be able to produce Dumbbell Weed? If I wasn’t able to synthesize Dumbbell Weed, I would have to immediately go on another plant and herb gathering expedition, so I definitely wanted to succeed in synthesizing it right now. I was wishing for that with all of my heart, but I was most worried about its abnormally high level and effect. Taking those two things into account, I felt like there was a good chance I wouldn’t be able to synthesize it at all.

“….Fuuuu…Haa–” (Lewin)

Taking a deep breath, I decided to start synthesizing Dumbbell Weed. Lying down on the bed so I would be ready for any weakness, I got to work. Concentrating on the palm of my left hand, the moment I started synthesizing, I felt a slightly different sensation flow through my left hand. For Medical Herbs and Magical Grass, they would appear in my hand in a flash. But as I was trying to synthesize Dumbbell Weed, I could feel my power noticeably being drained from my left hand, which was gradually spiraling away at a quicker rate. My left hand started shaking and trembling.

Did I fail?

The moment I thought that… the intense draining sensation in my left hand vanished, and in its place was a single Dumbbell Weed, lying in my grasp.

“Did… I do it?” (Lewin)

This was my first time being able to perceive the consumption of magic power while synthesizing something with [Plant Master]. However, I could still move my body, and I wasn’t affected by any weakness symptoms. I doubted for a bit whether or not this was actually Dumbbell Weed, so I appraised it just to make sure.

[Name: Dumbbell Weed]

[Level: 50]

[Effect: Muscle Strengthening (Small)

…Alright! YES!! This was, without a doubt, Dumbbell Weed. I tightly grasped it in my hand and celebrated, rejoicing in the synthesis of my first Dumbbell Weed. It had taken me quite a long time in order to reach this point. Since that first moment of picking my first Dumbbell Weed, I had always been moving forward with this goal in mind… Honestly, so much had happened— all of the people I met and the incidents that occurred since I left the Healer’s Guild… all of the good people and the bad people, the good days and the rough days… As the memories of these moments raced through my mind, my emotions swelled up, and I felt tears well up in my eyes. But when they threatened to overflow, I clenched my teeth and held them back.

…Not yet. My end goal was not to synthesize Dumbbell Weed.

In order to fulfill my promise to Ahmed, I couldn’t be satisfied just yet. If anything, being able to finally synthesize Dumbbell Weed only put me at the starting line. There were still tons of things that I had to do.

I shook my head, extinguishing the sentimental mood, and immediately got to synthesizing Medical Herbs to determine the exact magic power cost of the Dumbbell Weed. If possible, I wanted the magic power cost of Dumbbell Weed to be under 40, but… was that too much to ask?

I stayed lying down as I synthesized the Medical Herbs. I was maintaining a good tempo until the fourth Medical Herb, but I started feeling the weakness symptoms halfway through the fifth one.

I see… Synthesis of Dumbbell Weed costs 75 units of magic power.

As expected, since the level was high and the effect was useful, the magic power consumption for its synthesis was nasty. From this, I knew I wouldn’t be able to produce two in one day as I wanted, but this was good enough for now. Starting tomorrow, I would make a routine of synthesizing one Dumbbell Weed per day, drying it, and then eating it the next day. That meant I would have to make curry every single day, so I might struggle to pay for the spices, but tomorrow I would be able to receive the Magic Potions I requested the grandma to brew for me. Using those Magic Potions, I could increase my magic power capacity by a bit more and could then synthesize a Glutamate Herb each day on top of the daily Dumbbell Weed. If I could do that, I wouldn’t have to worry too much about the costs of the spices. I still wasn’t sure what would happen with the price of Glutamate Herb in the future, but I could probably expect to earn about 3 silver coins per day as a lowball estimate.

At last, I finally made it to the starting line, and I was excited to be traversing down the road to become stronger. In my heart, I swore to myself that I would make every effort in catching up with Ahmed as soon as possible, starting tomorrow.