Symbiotic: Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Sara’s Basic Alchemist Workshop was less a room and more an avalanche of controlled chaos.

The walls were lined with shelves sagging under the weight of jars and vials. Herbs dried to brittle stalks, powders glittering faintly with mineral light, shards of Crystals of every hue and affinity glowing like captured stars. Each container bore a label, some neat System labels and others little more than a scribble that only she could decipher.

Workbenches stretched across the chamber, their surfaces cluttered with mortars, pestles, funnels, and tubing cobbled together from village glasswork and system treasures. Copper strainers blackened from repeated use leaned against stacks of parchment covered in half erased formulas. Heated plates glowed faintly, drying powders into brittle flakes, while crucibles bubbled with half finished experiments that hissed and spat like temperamental pets.

The floor was a canvas of stains and dusty remains.

It was chaos. Controlled chaos.

Sara moved through it with ease, sleeves rolled up, hair tied back, eyes sharp. She knew exactly where everything was, even if it looked like a jumble to anyone else. A vial of chosen dried herbs balanced precariously beside a jar of Lifewheat syrup. A tray of Life Crystal fragments soaking in purified waters waited near the press. To an outsider, it was madness. To Sara, it was order.

She stood at the center of it all, the burner flames glow painting her face in amber light. Her hands moved with practiced rhythm. Grinding, straining, thickening, drying, & turning raw possibility into something precise, something permanent.

The workshop was alive with opportunity. Every scorch mark told the story of a failed attempt. Every glowing vial whispered of discoveries yet to come. And in the middle of it, Sara felt perfectly at home, as if the clutter and the smoke were extensions of her own restless determination.

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Sara stood at her workbench, sleeves rolled up, eyes narrowed in concentration as she read the System Description for the Basic Pills.

Craft Basic Pill

Description: Craft Basic Pill Introduces Novice Alchemists to the art of pill crafting, unlocking the recipes for Basic Body Pill, Basic Mind Pill, and Basic Soul Pill. These pills are highly condensed forms of Body, Mind, or Soul energy, capable of permanently increasing the corresponding attribute when consumed. Basic Pills are the least potent and least refined of the Pill Crafting skills.

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Sara glanced around one last time, ensuring that all of her ingredients were all within reach.

She exhaled, steadying herself. “Alright. Step one.”

The crystals and herbs were ground together, strained through a fine mesh until they dissolved into a shimmering liquid. The mixture glowed faintly, threads of green and red energy swirling within. Sara stirred carefully over the flame, her movements precise, until the liquid thickened into a syrup.

“Step two.”

She spread the syrup across a heated plate, watching as it dried into brittle flakes. The flakes were scraped into a mortar, ground into a fine powder. The scent was sharp, metallic, tinged with the faint sweetness of Lifewheat essence she had added to stabilize the reaction.

“Step three.”

The powder was gathered, compressed under the weight of the alchemical press, condensed into a single, gleaming pill. It was small, unassuming, yet it pulsed faintly with energy, the product of hours of careful work.

Sara held it up to the light, her heart pounding. “My first pill.”

The System responded immediately, its voice resonating in her mind:

*Ping* Item Created: Basic Body Pill

• Effect: Permanently increases Body Force +1 and Body Spirit +1.

• Side Effect: Introduces 20% Blood Impurities into the consumer’s system.

• Restriction: Without purification or impurity reduction, a creature may consume a maximum of 5 Pills safely.

Consumable | Rare | Permanent Effect

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*Ping* 75 Crafting Experience Gained

[EXP 700 of 1000]

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Sara set the pill down gently, her hands trembling with both pride and caution. The implications were enormous. Permanent growth. But minor and at a cost.

She whispered to herself, half in awe, half in warning: “Power always comes with a price.”

Tas appeared in the air, arms crossed, watching her with a raised brow. “So… did it work?”

Sara nodded slowly, eyes still fixed on the pill. “Yes. But these Basic Pills carry impurities. Only just better than poison themselves. Without a way to cleanse the blood, five is the limit. Beyond that…” She trailed off, the danger unspoken.

Tas stepped closer, her expression thoughtful. “Then your next project is clear. If you want this to be more than a curiosity, you’ll need to find a way to purify.”

Sara smiled faintly, determination sparking in her eyes. “Exactly. This is only the beginning.”

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The workshop still smelled faintly of Lifewheat and strained herbs when Sara finished scrubbing down her tools. The mortar gleamed, the strainers were rinsed, and the alchemical press stood ready for another attempt. She tied her hair back again, determination sparking in her eyes.

“Alright,” she murmured, reaching for a new set of ingredients. “Let’s see about Mind Pills!”

The shards pulsed faintly in her hands, cool and luminous, threads of pale blue light dancing across their surface. She ground them carefully, mixing with stabilizing herbs until the crystals dissolved into a shimmering liquid.

Step by step, she repeated the process:

• Strain the liquid until it ran clear.

• Thicken it over the heated plate until it became a syrup.

• Dry the syrup into brittle flakes, grinding them into fine powder.

• Condense the powder under the press, shaping it into a single pill.

The pill gleamed faintly, its surface etched with tiny veins of blue light. Sara held it up, success in the palm of his hand.

The System chimed in her mind, sharp and clear:

*Ping* Item Created: Basic Mind Pill

• Effect: Permanently increases Mind Thought +1 and Mind Knowledge +1.

• Side Effect: Introduces 20% Blood Impurities into the consumer’s system.

• Restriction: Without purification or impurity reduction, a creature may consume a maximum of 5 Pills safely.

Status: Consumable | Rare | Permanent Effect

*Ping* 75 Crafting Experience Gained

[EXP 775 of 1000]

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Sara set the pill beside the first, her smile widening. Two gleaming tokens of progress complete and ready to empower. Body and Mind, force and thought.

This time, her goal was more ambitious. It was another first Basic Pill. A Basic Spirit Pill.

But there was a problem. She had no Spirit Crystals.

Her eyes lingered on a summoned small shard of Neutral Energy Crystal, pale and translucent, humming faintly with balanced resonance. “Let’s see if you little beauties do what you are supposed to.” she whispered, setting it carefully into the mortar.

She worked with painstaking care. The Neutral Crystal resisted, its energy slippery, refusing to bind as easily as Life or Mind. Sara slowed her grinding, adjusting the pressure, coaxing the shard into powder without shattering its delicate balance. The dust shimmered faintly, potential waiting to be shaped.

Step by step, she followed the process:

• Strain the mixture into liquid, watching the faint glow ripple like water disturbed by wind.

• Thicken it into syrup, careful not to let the energy destabilize.

• Dry the syrup into brittle flakes, grinding them into powder finer than ash.

• Condense the powder under the press, holding her breath as the energies aligned.

The pill formed slowly, until the Ping of success rang in her head. Sara lifted it, heart pounding. Against the odds, she had succeeded.

The System chime in her mind was sharp and clear:

*Ping* Item Created: Basic Spirit Pill

• Effect: Permanently increases Spirit Self+1 and Spirit Sum+1.

• Side Effect: Introduces 20% Blood Impurities into the consumer’s system.

• Restriction: Without purification or impurity reduction, a creature may consume a maximum of 5 Pills safely.

Status: Consumable | Rare | Permanent Effect

*Ping* 75 Crafting Experience Gained

[EXP 850 of 1000]

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Sara exhaled, a smile breaking across her face. Three pills now. Body, Mind, and Spirit. The triad complete.

She set the Spirit Pill beside the others, the three gleaming tokens of her progress lined up like a promise of power. “Balance,” she murmured, pride and caution mingling in her voice. “Body, Mind, Spirit. All paths open.”

The workshop crackled with energy, as if the cluttered chaos itself approved of her achievement.

Path scouted. Results proven. Now it was time to begin producing in volume.

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Hours later, ingredients consumed, Sara Sent Tas a request for her to add more ingredient gathering to the Villagers Job Board. And to add Mind and Spirit Crystal drops to the 2nd and 3rd floors of the dungeon. She needed Challengers to mine for her!

Looking at the three small piles of pills. It wasn’t much when there was a whole Valley of VDF to empower. But it was a visible, and successful Start.

Item Created: Basic Body Pill x4

Item Created: Basic Mind Pill x4

Item Created: Basic Spirit Pill x4

*Ping* 180 Crafting Experience Gained

[EXP 1030 of 1000]

*DING* [Skill Upgrade: Novice Alchemist → Level 4]

[EXP 1030 of 2000]

Skill Bonuses Gained:

• +10% Crafting Success Rate for Novice Recipe

• +1 Alchemy Slot – Can maintain one additional active recipe or experiment simultaneously.

• Experience Gain: Duplicate recipes now grant 20 EXP instead of 10.

• Passive: Hands of Precision – Slightly faster grinding, straining, and condensing actions, reducing crafting preparation time by 15%.

New Novice Recipe Gained:

• Purification Draught

o Effect: Reduces Blood Impurities by 10% when consumed. (Can be consumed no more that once per week without suffering Blood Toxicity effects.)

“Cause and Effect.”, Sara chuckled as the System added an obstacle and then provided a way over it.

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Sara stood in her workshop, the three gleaming piles of pills on the bench before her. Body, Mind, Spirit, each a boost, each a temptation. But she shook her head firmly. Not yet. Not for me.

Instead, she reached for the Neutral Energy Crystal shards and Lifewheat extract once more. “Purification Draughts first,” she murmured. “If the Valley Defense Force is to use these pills to grow stronger, they’ll need a way to cleanse the impurities.”

The process was delicate. She strained the Life crystal dust into liquid, thickened it with Lifewheat syrup, then dried it into powder. The powder shimmered faintly, balanced between light and shadow. With careful addition of life infused Tidal water, she condensed it into a vial of pale, glowing draught.

The System chimed softly in her mind:

*Ping* Item Created: Purification Draughts

Effect: Reduces Blood Impurities by 10% when consumed.

Restriction: May only be consumed once per week without suffering Blood Toxicity effects.

Sara exhaled, rolling her shoulders. Only a couple of hours remained in the day, and her list was far from finished. She wiped her hands clean, packed her case, and stepped out of the workshop into the cool valley air.

*Ping* 100 Crafting Experience Gained

[EXP 1130 of 2000]

Sara felt her Mind loosen from the restrictions of myopic focus on a new recipe. And, familiar with the process, Sara dug in to craft a few more.

*Ping* Item Created: Purification Draughts x5

*Ping* 75 Crafting Experience Gained

[EXP 1205 of 2000]

One after another, she repeated the process, her hands moving with precision. The workshop filled with the faint scent of herbs and the sharp tang of crystal energy. By the time the forge’s glow began to dim with evening, she had several vials lined up. Each one a Purification Draught, each one a safeguard against the creeping danger of Blood Impurities.

She corked them tightly, setting them into a wooden case beside the pouches of Basic Pills. “These go to the VDF Captains,” she said aloud, as if sealing the decision. “They’ll know how to distribute them wisely.”

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Her thoughts raced ahead to what else she wanted to get done before she could rest. She needed to adjust the crystal drop rates in the Dungeon, ensuring Spirit and Mind Crystals flowed steadily into Haven’s stores. And she needed to chat with her trusted companions would be waiting, ready to discuss the valley’s defenses, their patrols, and any questions about the defenses before she left the valley.

With steady steps, she headed toward the Dungeon Control chamber first, her mind awash with the list of adjustments she needed to make.

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