LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 29 – The Magic of Filter
Exiting the tavern, while taking in the beautiful morning scenery before me, I filled my lungs with a deep breath of fresh and crisp, cool summer’s air. The twin suns of Terra had finally started to break above the horizon and illuminate the rolling grassy planes with their yellow hue. Some of the light had also mischievously found its way inside my eyes, blinding me in the process. All around me was the breathtaking scenery of a comforting morning, ready to become a day filled with fun and adventure!
“Alright Inari, if you’re to gather all of these Adventurer’s Sage for Felice, then you’ll probably need to head to the Eldermyst forest again! There’s always plenty of herbs there!”
While I knew no one was around me; thanks to my enemy detection mana radar, I often found myself speaking out loud to myself during times like these. Little, verbal reminders like this, helped me stay focused on the various tasks I had to accomplish! After all, even I was aware at how distractible I was! So, with my thoughts collected, I began my short journey back towards the Eldermyst forest to begin my impossible herb gathering request.
---
Knowing how various sections of the Eldermyst forest had different soil compositions, I wandered towards the dense, jungle-like clearing to the south I frequently visited whenever I needed to gather Adventurer’s Sage for the guild! The plant was common amongst herbs, but difficult to find in both large quantities and good quality. As a result, it was often requested by the various guilds due to it’s simple use and popularity. Additionally, attempts to farm the herb domestically, have all been unsuccessful for reasons unknown. While I was by no means a botanist, figuring out why the herb couldn’t be cultivated was something on my master “list of tasks to accomplish as the best adventurer ever!” ... Whenever I would get around to it that is! After all, there was still so much I wanted to learn about in my studies!
Looking at the picture I had drawn in my journal, the plant possessed 5 main stems, with prickly, wide leaves. The most commonly used purpose for the herb, was in the creation of healing potions for adventurers. “To meowke a potion out in the field nayn, one simpurrrly has to crush the herb in a vial of mana-infused water nya! Then, meown can consume the bitter liquid to heal light injuries nayn!”
Well, that was the explanation Felice had given me at least. While I was curious at how simple the instructions in creating a healing potion had been, all of my attempts have resulted in anything but a simple healing potion! The end product was supposed to be a light, reddish colour with a creamy viscosity, whereas all of my attempts somehow turned a gross, greenish brown colour! Furthermore, the texture and thickness were more akin to sludge, than a calming restorative remedy!!!! And the taste! It was... All of my potions were anything but restorative! Resting my paw under my chin, I continued thinking about how I could successfully brew the supposedly easiest potion in the world.
...
Before closing my journal, I wrote a goal I was determined to accomplish today during my punishment:
“Successfully make a healing potion with Adventurer’s Sage.”
Smiling to myself, I confidently closed the old, worn-leather book, ready to begin. I had finally arrived at my destination and was eager to implement my new and improved strategy for herb gathering. Happily, I exclaimed out loud to myself in the empty field:
“Today is a new day, which means a new Inari! Anything is possible so long as I put my mind to it!”
Alright, based on my hypothesis, I should be able to create something similar to a mana detection radar, but for specific items only! The base principle would be the same, a wide-area, pulse-like scan for known mana signatures! However, while the idea was simple, the implementation would be tricky.
All living beings, creatures, and objects constantly “leaked” mana into the world, some in greater quantities than others. It was because of this principle; I was able to create my enemy-detection & mana detection radar spells! Felice had mentioned that I should constantly practice keeping this spell active since it would give me an “early-warning” to new information. But this is where the problem lies.
My radar spell is only effective, because the waste mana emitted from living creatures is really easy to detect. Conversely, objects like plants, furniture, and other miscellaneous things, expel waste mana in much finer, smaller quantities. The best comparison I could come up with, was if you looked into a room, you could easily spot a table. However, if you tried to only look based on the presence of mana, it would be like trying to spot a single grain of sugar in a pile of salt! It’s there, but easily blends in with all of the other, finer mana particles. In fact, lots of magic users have difficulty even detecting these particles in the first place!
“Well, now’s as good a time as any Inari! Let’s do this!”
Closing my eyes, I began focusing on the world around me through my ears and innate connection with all of the mana particles floating around me. I could sense the air flowing around my body with faint traces of moisture carried within. Gradually, fuzzy, wobbly images started to form inside my head regarding my surroundings. They were mixtures of greenish, grayish hues, sprinkled with blues and purples. Now that I had an understanding of my surroundings, I started implementing my super secret Inari herb gathering technique, version 23! Slowly, mana started to gather around my paws. I could feel the heat and warmth of my spell as I gradually gathered my strength and forced it into my environment. Picturing in my head the concept of appraisal to produce a status screen, I started weaving my will to cast the spell on all detectable things within my view. Next, I started trying to—
Gah!!! My head!!! It feels like it’s going to explode from trying to use appraisal on all of the mana signatures!! My focus waned slightly at the intense migraine I received! Grrrr! Just bare it Inari! You’re almost there!!! Just a little more—!
With command, I opened my eyes and shouted in my head the words to activate my custom spell while raising my paw towards the unsuspecting forest foliage.
Filter!
In an instant, thousands of appraisal status screens swarmed my vision as mana burst forth from my body, forcing reality to resonate with my power and return back all of the information I requested! Cognisant of my target, the small, identifiable primary signature for Adventurer’s Sage, I started closing the status screens that didn’t match the desired properties of my request.
“Yes!”
I let out an excited squeal! My spell had been a tremendous success! Left floating in my vision, was roughly 23 status screens, all for only Adventurer Sage! They were also conveniently located for me on my detection radar as well! This made locating them in between the forest vegetation super easy!
With a burst of energy, I quickly ran over to the nearest Adventurer’s Sage:
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Item Name: Adventurer’s Sage
Family: Herbus
Genus: Sageus
Species: Adventuerus
Quality: Poor (D)
Stats: Recovery Boost (Inert)
Magic Conductivity: N/A
Summary: A relatively common plant found all throughout Terra. It is commonly used by adventurers to brew healing potions by crushing the herb into a fine paste then mixing it with mana-infused water. Faint recovery and medicinal properties are present in the stems and leaves.
---
Hmmm, it seems I still have some tinkering to do with this spell. Mana wise, I had used roughly a 10th of my MP during the casting process, rather inefficient compared to proper mana weaving. Additionally, I was only able to locate all of the Adventurer’s Sage in the immediate area, not specifically ones of quality C or above like the request stated. Still pleased, I mumbled to myself:
“Well, it’s a start at least.”
Carefully, I went around to each remaining appraisal to check the quality of the Adventurer’s Sage identified and gathered them if they were of Average (C) quality or above. Using my nails, I carefully severed the base of the plant to avoid damaging the stems and leaves as I hopped between locations. Of the 23 Adventurer’s Sage I had located, only 7 of them had been of C quality. Fortunately, one of the herbs was of quality Good (B), so I had managed to collect at least 8 in total for this area of the forest. Not the best result, but it was still much quicker than having to manually observe and scavenge the whole area visually!
Next, I started examining in more detail the herbs that were of quality C or above. I also placed a D quality herb on the ground beside them. Sitting down beside the herbs, I began my pondering.
The primary signatures were all similar, meaning they were an “herb”. Sub signature wise, they were all different with 8 unique identifiers, which was to be expected from my analysis. Stubbornly, I racked my brain about how I could devise a way to search for the quality property of the herbs. Come on Inari! I mean, appraisal clearly lists the quality in the status screen! So how can I locate that property in the mana signature??? There must be some way to draw a connection or link the two concepts!!!
...
*Sigh*
“Well, if at first you don’t succeed, then just try again! After all, I still have 192 more Adventurer’s Sage to collect before the suns set!”
Realizing I wasn’t going to arrive at a solution anytime soon, I decided to gather up the herbs I had laid on the forest floor and placed them into my spatial storage to help preserve their freshness. Then, I began wandering towards the next area of the forest to continue my search.
---
After around a few hours of gathering herbs, the twin suns had finally started to reach their apex in the sky, signaling to me, it was time for a break! Looking over my spatial storage list, I had managed to collect 172 of the 200 Adventurer’s Sage for Felice’s requests. I was almost done with my impossible task, but exhaustion was starting to set in from all of my repeated casts of Filter. Based on my surroundings, I recognized the area I was in to be roughly an hour’s hike from the tavern. I was still in the Eldermyst forest, but much closer to the borders of Great Pine now. Some of the trees had already started to change from a usual leafy eldermyst, to the tall, common pine needles seen further west.
Looking forward to some much-needed relaxation, I decided to sit near a calm pond of water, sparsely illuminated by the tiny rays of sunlight peeking through the above canopy. There were also some small woodland critters nearby that didn’t seem disturbed by my presence. Once I had settled myself in, I pulled out my journal and quickly flipped to my entry on “Emergency First-Aid & Field Recovery Methods For Adventurers!”. Then, I quickly began reading through how to accomplish my side mission for today; successfully brewing my first ever healing potion! Without realizing it, I found myself lost in thought while mumbling out loud my battle plan as I meticulously read through all of my notes on the matter!
“Alright Inari! It says: “Grind the highest quality of Adventurer’s Sage you have on hand with a mortar & pestle, or any equivalent substitute (Note! A rock and decently flat surface may work if you forgot your mixing tools!!) into a fine, mushy paste. Then, combine the Adventurer’s Sage paste with a vial of mana-infused water while gently swirling the mixture until it becomes a reddish colour. The final product should exhibit a somewhat thick viscosity, somewhere between honey and heavy cream.””
Carefully, I followed all of my instructions for making a healing potion. From my spatial storage, I withdrew my mixing set, a Good (B) quality Adventurer’s Sage, and a small glass vial, then, I placed them on a patch of flat earth near the pond. Next, I gently scooped some water into the vial and infused some of the nearby mana particles into it, changing the clear liquid into a somewhat bubbly or fizzy solution. Satisfied my initial preparations were complete, I aggressively started grinding the herb into a fine, green paste! Actually, now that I think about it, why did the mixture turn into a reddish colour when it was combined? I mean, the herb paste was clearly green, yet it magically turns into a completely different colour when added to mana-infused water?? Clearly, I would need to do some more experimenting!!!
After a few minutes of reducing the Adventurer’s Sage into a fine paste, it was finally ready to be mixed into the mana-infused vial of water. I was also thankful for this, since my paws were starting to get sore from all of the repeated grinding!
Grabbing a vial of water with my right paw, I carefully added the paste and began gently swirling the mixture to combine everything...
“Careful Inari...! This is always the part wher—
...
*Sigh*
Well, that’s unfortunate... And after all of my hard work and planning too!”
Unfortunately, the potion mixing was another complete and authentic, Inari failure. On the 7th swirl, the mixture quickly shifted from a thin, murky green, into a bright red, before just as suddenly, solidifying into a gross, sludgy brown colour. I was really excited when the red colour briefly appeared, but then quickly became saddened at the finished products properties.
While still holding the repulsive solution, I cast Appraisal to view the specimen in greater detail.
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Item Name: Adventurer’s Healing Potion...?
Quality: Poor
Requirements: N/A
Effect: -3 HP on consumption
Magic Conductivity: N/A
Summary: A thick brown liquid that reduces an individual’s health rather than restoring it. This type of potion is the result of a failure from properly preparing the appropriate materials when mixing a traditional Adventurer’s Healing Potion.
---
Yep, I had somehow managed to make the opposite of a healing potion! Instead of restoring a person’s health by 3 HP, it would instead reduce it by 3!! This... This was basically the same thing as poison!!!... Right?
Placing the vial into my spatial storage to avoid contaminating the environment, I let out another sigh as I scribbled and marked my result in the journal. In the top corner of the potion mixing page, at the table I had drawn for successes and failures, I annoyingly added another “tick” to the failure column. Adding everything up, this now put my potion making attempts to: 0 successes, and 73 failures.
“Well, I better get back to collecting the remaining Adventurer’s Sage for Felice. After all, I still need to find 29 more of them!”.
Tidying up my mini laboratory, I quickly sprang back on my feet to eagerly start casting Filter again. Even though I was unsuccessful in my potion making attempt, it was still a valuable learning experience while I was waiting for my magic power to recover!
---
Thankfully, it didn’t take much longer to find the remaining herbs for the “urgent” requests, and I was finally able to start making my way back towards the Tavern! Casting magic all day was a recipe for hunger, and my stomach was just beginning to remind me that it had already finished it’s role of fried tofu digestion. The irritated grumbling noises signaled that it was already eagerly looking forward to it’s next meal.
When I arrived at the old, wooden entranceway to the Paws & Beans Tavern, I energetically pushed open the doors to the chorus of howls and laughter I was all so familiar with! Lupine was at his usual table drinking his favourite ale, Yarn was busily handling all of the lunchtime orders, and Felice was—
“Inari nayn! You’re back already meown?”
“Hi Felice! Yes! I just finished gathering 200 of the correct Adventurer’s Sage like you requested!”
Felice was standing behind the counter near the entranceway. They must have been expecting my return due to how quickly they called out to me! Their speckled tail was also excitedly wagging back and forth. For a moment, I almost thought his blue ribbon tied at the tail’s tip was going to come loose from all the wagging! Then, without delay, he quickly bound over the counter to join me with an outstretched hand.
“Hmm? Meown? Let’s see the Adventurer’s Sage then Inari nayn!”
So, with a confident smirk across my face, I happily removed from my spatial storage 200 Adventurer’s Sage that were of quality C or above. However, when I removed them, I made sure to dump all of them over Felice! Hehe! He did ask for all 200 of them, so I only did what he was asking for! Nothing wrong with a harmless prank to get back at them for such an unreasonable “punishmeownt”!
“Nayn!!”
Hehe! Felice was frantically scrambling to catch all of the falling herbs, but he was unable to keep up with the sheer volume of them! Finally, resolving himself to defeat, he simply let the remaining herbs land on the hardwood floors. Pouting at me with bits of Adventurer’s Sage stuck to their ears and maids’ outfit, Felice snapped their fingers to collect the remaining scattered plants with their magic, neatly tying them into bundles. Then, they annoyingly spoke to me.
“Meown, very funny Inari nayn. Howmeowver, I now require—”
“12 additional Adventurer’s Sage to replace the ones that were damaged from my prank?”
Still with a smile across my face, and following up on my quick interjection, I confidently handed Felice an additional 12 Adventurer’s Sage to replace the ones that had been damage from my antics. Shocked, but not completely taken back, they breathed a sigh of relief and mumbled their response to me.
“Fine meown... I guess this completes your punishmeownt nayn.”
“Oh, by the way Felice, is Ko still around? I was really hoping to speak with them after I completed the herb gather requests! There are so many things I want to talk to them about and– And I don’t think I ever actually thanked them for all of their help yesterday!”
Felice looked at me with their piercing green eyes, which appeared to almost be on the verge of tears. Then, they spoke to me in a soft and saddened tone.
“I’m sorry Inari nayn, but Ko nayn has already left for the City of Solara meown. That place... it’s... It’s where humeowns belong meow! They.... They won’t be coming back to the tavern. Meowvything will be taken care of for them there... So— They have meow reason to come back here!”
My heart sank. Looking at Felice, they too, appeared to be unhappy as they told me Ko had left for the city this morning. As we talked, I learned that Felice had personally wrote them a letter of introduction to meet with the king so they could explain their circumstances. They also told me that I should forget about Ko, since he would be used by the kingdom now to complete dangerous tasks.
After our talk, Felice excused himself to continue working on his “admeowninstrative” duties, leaving me standing alone in the entranceway. I could feel my ears drooping and my tail lame, as I walked over to the busy food counter to order some fried tofu from Yarn. Silently, I handed her the 2/5th bronze Solar while resting my head on the counter, using my arms as a makeshift pillow.
*Sigh*
“I guess it’s not like I could expect a human to want to stay here anyways. Felice is right, the city is a much better place for Ko. It’s where humans belong in the kingdom. It was wrong of me to think otherwise...”
My chest felt a different kind of heavy as I blankly stared into the busy dining hall. I was all too familiar with how sadness felt, but this was a new feeling I hadn’t really experienced before. It felt like I had lost something important and interesting to me, and that I would never find it again. A sense of fun, excitement, and mysteries I would never get to solve or see. A brief experience, with a longing and realization it would never happen again. Something I don’t think even fried tofu can fix...
So, I continued staring towards the entranceway, longing, and hoping for something that wouldn’t happen... I really was naïve to think I could be friends with a human, especially one from another world...
However, as I continued staring towards the simple, wooden doors, that’s when I noticed my tail had already started to wag, as a peculiar, yet familiar mana signature, entered the Paws & Beans Tavern.