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Chapter 57: Reconvene and Reassess
🕑 Added 2021-06-15 16:00:02 +0000 UTCCongratulations! For applying knowledge of the physical makeup of the world to an alchemical formula, you have unlocked the Physical Alchemist path!
Congratulations! For successfully making an alchemical formula with no assistance and minimal gear, you have unlocked the Makeshift Alchemist path!
Congratulations! For creating a concoction and demonstrating advanced chemical knowledge, you have unlocked the Practical Alchemist path!
Congratulations! For displaying advanced knowledge regarding physical matter, you have unlocked the Chemist path!
Congratulations! For displaying advanced knowledge regarding living matter, you have unlocked the Biologist path!
Congratulations! For displaying advanced knowledge regarding physical laws, you have unlocked the Physicist path!
Congratulations! For attempting a well-considered variation upon a standardized concoction, you have unlocked the Experimenter path!
Congratulations! For demonstrating advanced knowledge regarding experimental methodology and physical laws, you have unlocked the Scientific Revolutionary path!
Congratulations! For experimenting with alchemical formulas utilizing unique insights into creations, you have unlocked the Forerunner path!
Congratulations! For successfully refining lye, you have unlocked the Purifier path!
You have unlocked the Purify skill!
Accept Skill? Y/N
You have unlocked the Lecture skill!
Accept Skill? Y/N
Level Up!
Skill Points 518→539
Progress to Tier 2: 735/1590
Alchemy Level 53→60
Basic Mana Sense Level 33→36
Firestarting Level 45→46
Identify Level 42→43
Nutrition Level 26→27
Outsider’s Almanac Level 80→82
Polyglot Level 30→36
Survival Level 33→34
Almost halfway to Tier 2! Sweet. He was probably due to reassess exactly how close he was at some point, though. He’d gotten a lot of Paths since he had divided everything up, and he sadly couldn’t take everything first. At his current rate, though, he should probably wait until he was closer to the time in question.
Purify was... tempting. That was exactly the sort of Skill which he’d find useful in Alchemy. But was it really exciting enough for one of his final few Skills? Ehhh… maybe. He’d decline it for the moment- he’d probably do it by accident if he didn’t, anyway- but he’d think about it and possibly take it later. He didn’t want to make a snap decision.
A passing thought brought up his Status, which always felt satisfying to do.
Name
Edwin Maxlin
Age
22 years
Race
Extraplanar Human
Class
Hedge Alchemist
Attributes
Mana 5
Skills
Magical
Basic Mana Sense: 36, Mana Infusion: 63 (Basic Mana Manipulation 9)
Physical
Athletics: 52, Breathing: 52, Flexibility: 27, Nutrition: 27, Packing 29, Seeing: 31, Sleeping: 29, Survival: 34, Walking: 40
Mental
Polyglot: 36 (Language 36), Mathematics: 39, Memory: 34 (Research 50), Visualization: 42
Combat
Bomb Throwing: 9 (Throwing Weapons 48)
Utility
Firestarting: 45, Alchemy: 60 (Improvisation 14), Outsider's Almanac: 82 (Status 22), Identify: 43, First Aid: 30
Paths
Skill Points: 539
Progress to Tier 2: 735/1590
Current Plan:
Adventurer 0/30, Warrior 0/60, Athlete 0/60, Researcher 0/60, Skilled Arcanist 0/60, Potioneer 0/60, Wanderer 0/60, Stonehide Vanquisher 0/60, Scientist 0/60, Outsider 0/60, Blackstone Conqueror 0/60, Mage 0/60, Novice Pyromancer 0/60, World Traveler 0/60, Physical Arcanist 0/60, Field Medic 0/60, Unkillable 0/90, Path Less Traveled 0/90
Save for Tier 2
Micro-Biomancer 0/90, Realm Traveler 0/120, Alchemical Warrior 0/90, Pioneer 0/60, Alchemical Medic 0/60, Titan Slayer 0/90, Explorer 0/60, Giant Slayer 0/60, Superior Alchemist 0/60
Maybe
Novice 0/12, Trainee 0/60, Trapper 0/60, System Scholar 0/60, Survivor 0/60, Daredevil 0/60, Escapee 0/30, Lecturer 0/30, Steadfast Medic 0/60, Rebel 0/30, Arsonist 0/60
Unsorted
Woodsman 0/30, Hunter 0/30, Novice Ritualist 0/60, Feycaller 0/60, Fey Friend 0/60, Feybound 0/60, Feytouched 0/90, Physical Alchemist 0/90, Makeshift Alchemist 0/60, Practical Alchemist 0/60, Chemist 0/60, Biologist 0/60, Physicist 0/60, Experimenter 0/60, Scientific Revolutionary 0/90, Forerunner 0/60, Purifier 0/30
Probably Not
Lumberjack 0/60, Way of the Empty Hand 0/60, Pyromaniac 0/30, Exile 0/30, Rebel 0/60, Master of the Ruined Tower 0/60, Razer of the Ruined Tower 0/60
No
Slave 0/12, Assassin 0/60, Killer 0/30, Traitor 0/60, Burglar 0/60
Completed Paths
CharLimitCanttalkmuchNocluewhathappenedDidmybesttohelpyouli, Mage, Skilled Arcanist, Physical Alchemist, Bomber, Linguist, Beginner
“Ooh! Are you looking at your Status?” Inion appeared from wherever she had vanished to once he stopped doing interesting things, “What are your Skills? I wanna help!”
Edwin tucked his head between his hands, “I’m not in the mood for this right now.”
She patted his shoulder reassuringly, which just made him shift slightly as he recoiled from the touch, “I won’t tell you what to do… yet,” she poked at him mischievously, her grin falling when she saw that he wasn’t fond of the joke, “Something wrong?”
“No, nothing.”
“Still an awful liar.”
“None of your business, then.”
“Nuh uh! It’s absolutely my business. You made a deal that you’d talk to me and that I’d try to help you to the best of my ability with your Skills. If you’ve got some problem that’s making you not wanna talk to me about that, it’s my duty to make you talk. And…” she started mimicking some voice or accident Edwin didn’t recognize, “We have… ways to make you talk.”
The naiad waited expectantly for some kind of reaction from Edwin, but when he didn’t give one, her face fell, “I swear, that joke always works,” which only prompted a shrug from him.
“Guess your sense of humor is as outdated as the rest of you.”
She glared at him, “You’re just asking for it, aren’t you?” As it turned out, even when falling, Inion still drifted as though she were suspended underwater, and as she floated to a seat, she schooled her face into a standard ‘I absolutely care about you because I’m obligated to’ expression, “But seriously, what’s wrong?”
Ah, Edwin’s favorite form of empathy. Contractually obligated. It was like a youth leader showing concern for him. No kidding, that’s what their job is. It was the rest of the time that…
No. No, Edwin. No getting worked up about that anymore. Just answer the question. Inion is practically your therapist at this point, anyway.
“Just… everyone has all these expectations of me, now that I’m here. You’d think that being ripped through the fabric of spacetime into a wholly separate world would mean I’d finally be able to escape people thinking I need to do this with my life, that I can’t go and do that, that I need to conform to exactly what they want…” he sighed, “Heck, worst of all are the ‘you can do whatever you like and we’ll be proud of you’ sorts of people, because you know they have some secret desire for you but refuse to actually share it.”
“Can’t say I can relate exactly, but I do understand. I… I… yeah. It’s not easy, is it? Still, give me a quick rundown on what you have, and we can talk about it some other time, ya? That way I can get a bit of time to think about it.”
He sighed, “Fine… Fine. Let’s start from the top, then? The first Skill I got was Basic Mana Sense….”
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Edwin finished weaving another rhoreed mat by the time they finished, as Inion wanted to know everything about all of his Skills and Paths. What they were, what level they were at, what they seemed to do, how he unlocked them, what he thought about them… She’d laughed when he outlined his hopes for Packing, but had stopped and considered it and told him it might work, she’d just never seen anyone actually try it before.
That was good enough for him. It wasn’t a high enough level yet, though. He estimated it would need to be level 50 or so before it was enough to even start, but once he did… well, it would be pretty great.
For now, though, he was finally getting around to trying to get meat from his deer. He only needed to eat a little more than once every two days at this point when he wasn’t being too physical, which was quite nice. Still, he needed to deal with this carcass sooner or later, and there was still a bit of light, so may as well do so now.
Inion had pulled it out of her pocket dimension or whatever it was exactly. It was as fresh as it had been before, to the point where it was still slightly bloody. Well… he could deal with that later. He had the meat hanging from a nearby tree, and started trying to cut away the skin. At first, he’d thought he might somehow cut the meat out, rather than the skin away, but had no clue how to even start with that, so here he was.
It ended up not being quite as hard as he worried. Still really hard, but it was at least doable. A few cuts here and there to get the skin started, ignoring the fur that kept getting on the meat, and then pull the skin off, bit by bit.
Once he was just dealing with a lot of meat, which was honestly pretty blood-free at this point, the last few drops having worked their way out while he’d been working, things… well, they weren’t more complicated, nor were they less complicated. Things changed in complexity, as now he had some fifty or sixty pounds of meat to deal with, which… yeah. He needed to do something with all of that.
Cutting off the legs and head left him with six- well, five really. He didn’t want to deal with the deer’s crushed head, so he tossed it into the woods- pieces of varying size, which he really didn’t know what to do with now. It was easier to deal with, at least. He didn’t really have any convenient way to grill, fry, or bake it, so… maybe smoking it or boiling it? The former of those sounded way more convenient, but it could wait for the morning. He passed what he had so far off to Inion, who was sitting at the edge of her pond doing… something. Weaving a cord of grass? And went to bed.
Level Up!
Survival 34→36
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The next morning, the drying potion still wasn’t done soaking into his test wood, so he decided to deal with his venison instead. After loading up his campfire with as much green wood as he could, making sure he only took branches from a vaguely maple-looking tree- he couldn’t remember why cedar and fir were bad for smoking, but he’d heard people discussing it at some point- he got the fire started with his Skill and started working with his meat.
He’d never been a big fan of gristle and had use for tallow besides, so his first task was just trimming as much fat as possible from the game as possible. It was all collected inside a jar and set off to the side, partially set into the creekbed to help keep it cool. From there, he started cutting slices from the leg he was working on, about an inch thick and six inches long, and laying them not directly on the coals, but suspended above it on wood-soaked green wood- his makeshift not-a-grill.
With no illusions that his wooden not-a-grill would withstand any level of fire, he kept his campfire going at a slow, but steady rate of coals and embers. It took hours for his meat to look essentially cooked and smoked both on the inside and out, but cutting up the venison was similarly time-consuming, so… it more or less balanced out.
It took most of the day for him to get his meat all prepared, and he was pretty certain he’d be utterly sick of venison jerky by the time it was all eaten, but it should at least function adequately as food until then.
Level Up!
Survival 36→37
Nutrition 27→28
He declined the Cooking and Harvest skills and, his cooking for the night completed, built up his fire again.
His jerky was… well, it was technically edible. It was somewhat flavorless and bland, chewy and difficult to eat, but it had the most important aspect: he could eat it, and that meant he could at least nominally use it for food. He had enough to last him for weeks, assuming he got fresh water (trivial) and some level of veggies and carbohydrates.
Hmm. He still had his bags of beans, and if he could find some talsanenris berries at some point, he might be able to figure out some kind of speed-growth fertilizer. Plus, Inion had Gardening by her own admission. She would probably help him with it? Eh, he’d deal with all of that later, once he’d made more progress on his cabin.
Hmm… Now that he thought about it, what exactly were his priorities at the moment? He needed materials and levels, both of which he had some help with from Inion, both of which he lagged massively behind both Earth and Joriah. He wasn’t able to excel as just a physicist, and his Skills were apparently insufficient. A quick call to his Status allowed Edwin’s gaze to linger upon one Path in particular, and the corners of his mouth flicked up.
Scientific Revolutionary.
Yeah. He liked the sounds of that.
Comments
Daedalus
He’s not taking any Paths until he can complete them all at once, because doing so would likely put him further into skill point debt and possibly soft lock his progression.
Joshua Helfen
So he likes Scientific Revolutionary, but not enough to take the path. What am I missing here? It seems like it would line up with his goals.
Daedalus
The Skill is on his shortlist. Remember, refusing a Skill is temporary. Taking a Skill is irreversible. Refusing and taking Purify later on is possible, whereas if he regrets taking it, there’s no undo button.
Guessed
I get his reluctance to take on skills willy nilly but refusing purify beggars belief, particularly given his tendency toward alchemy. Forget being able to make DI water and pure lye and the best quality reagents for whatever he's working on at a given point, what about making O- blood or potable water in any situation or hell probably just instantly doing laundry.
Daedalus
I did just add a paragraph explaining Edwin's thoughts: Basically "this is cool, I'll think about it and re-unlock/take it later if I think it's worthwhile."
NFH
I think there should be a passage explaining his reluctance to not take purify in order to keep his skill list as it is currently until he completes his full first round of paths.
Macronomicon
I'm gonna agree with the above and explain in detail why I think purify is a good grab. #1: It pays for itself in terms of time to level it. One dollop of mana applied to the purify skill and you take a several hour process and reduce it to a few minutes. then you can perform the experiment with a serious time discount, possibly enough to do another experiment, or prepare for another. Being able to do more experiments/reactions over time will allow both alchemy and purify to level faster. #2: extra power. Everyone knows the strength of a reaction is greatly affected by the purity/concentration of the things reacting.Purify seems great for concentrating things. With stronger reactions, he's more likely to unlock new paths/skills as his potions go BOOM. #3: Extra Accuracy. Tiny bits of foreign matter can totally change the intended result. Purify would make his potions less likely to fizzle. Again would raise the leveling speed of Alchemy. But you can do whatever you like, and I'll be proud of you. *fake smile*
Daedalus
More accurately, I didn’t properly explain his thoughts 😛 Basically, he thinks it might be a bit on the narrow side. At this point, new Skills need to either be inherently really awesome (like if he unlocked Teleport somehow) or broadly applicable to lots of different thing.
Jack Trowell
I suppose that it means that he refused the purify skill without even thinking about it? Because that's a skill with a lots of potential both in chemistry and raw survival : purify water, maybe purify the body to heal diseases once upgraded ...
