"H-How?" was all Francoise could muster. "And only in 3 days?!"
A high-grade Suppressing Gem and a Diamond-class Weapon Gem was on his table.
Every weapon an Adventurer wields uses a Weapon Gem or WG. WGs boosts the weapon's grade that would influence a weapon's Potential. The WG is also used as an ID for the Adventurer. A weapon that is owned by an Adventurer can only be passed on to another by replacing the WG.
"B-But I can't use the Diamond WG," Francoise said. "If I use this, it will raise the Potential to 10 and you wouldn't be able to use it."
Elliot nodded but pursed his lips in disappointment. "I was looking forward to using this gem, but I guess I have to level up more, huh?"
Francoise nodded and shook his head. This kid was seriously something that's out of the ordinary. His innocence was so pure that a cynic like Francoise could only nod his head even when he disapproves.
This kid has never seen a glimpse of real life. Francoise thought.
"I will start forging your weapon. For now, its potential will only be 1," he said. "A basic Rock Weapon Gem would suffice."
"A-A rock?" Elliot asked and crunched his face.
"Unless you reach Level 10, I cannot work with other gems," Francoise said.
"So, I only have to reach Level 10?" Elliot asked. "Then raise the Potential to 3. I will be back in 2 days."
Francoise nodded before walking inside his studio.
Meanwhile, Elliot returned to his home after reading something interesting in the old book he saw. It was called The Manual and it says it contains the key to level up fast. And one hidden secret.
The book previously belonged to someone named April. Elliot suspected that April died and the voice inside his head was April's soul, guiding him. He also noticed that after hearing April's voice for the first time, the Guide didn't talk since. Instead, he got messages popping out from his console.
Another thing he noticed was that his Console did not looked the same as it was before. The colors were from dark blue to a light blue that was lightly transparent.
The book said that the shortcut to leveling up wasn't the mere fact of finishing quests or killing beasts for XP.
It was to Harness.
Harness the possibilities of materials through Crafting. The book required recipes for crafts that the user could use to level up fast.
"Is this true?" Elliot asked himself and looked at the first recipe.
<< Slime Juice >>
XP = 250
Recipe:
Slime X3
Blue Alter Mushroom X1
The first recipe was unbelievable at first glance. Slime beasts would usually drop up to 25XP and they weren't hard to kill. The continent was abundant in slimes that every village has them in their fields.
Although killing slimes weren't an ideal job for Adventurers. Their XP drop was so small and their item drop was even worse. Dropping from a boot to a broken sword. Adventurers would usually ignore them.
Blue Alter Mushrooms, meanwhile, was a bit tricky. Alter Mushrooms are small shrooms that changes its color 3 times per second. One's eyes and hands must be fast in order to get a specific colored mushroom.
"I think I could find these in the forest nearby," Elliot said and closed the book. He placed the Diamond WG with the other gems and hid his book under his bed.
Elliot started walking towards the forest when he saw a group of slimes. He grinned and sneaked up to the creatures.
"Hiya!" he yelled and started his hunt.
After eliminating a whole group of slimes, he had X11 slimes. His next destination was the forest. He made his way there and started exploring.
When he saw a small clearing with Alter Mushrooms, he hurried and started to collect the blue ones.
However, his stealth still wasn't enough. He only got X2 Blue AMs and he was about to go home disappointed. He picked 30 mushrooms and only got 2 of the color he needed.
I have to try Crafting these anyway. He thought and went back home.
When he was about to place the Blue AMs inside his pouch, the slimes were moving towards the mushrooms. Two slimes merged with each Alter Mushroom and it lit up.
After the light faded, he was holding a flask filled with slime and tiny chunks of blue mushrooms.
Looking at it desperately, he opened one and drank it. He scrunched his face at the weird taste. He shivered at the slime trickling down his throat.
'Slime Juice taken. +250 XP.'
His eyes widened after reading the message. The book was too real to be true yet it was. His luck might turn around after seeing The Manual.
After he drank the last drop of the sour slime juice, the flask disappeared. It was as if its only purpose was to hold the liquid.
Elliot drank the other Slime Juice and the same message appeared.
'Slime Juice taken. +250 XP.'
A grin etched on his face and he ran back home to study more recipes. Maybe he could level up faster than he thought.
The Manual was divided into 3 sections. The first one was about the recipes to level up, the second one was about crafting for weapon and its enhancement, and the last section contained hacks in being an Adventurer.
Elliot wasn't as interested in the other two as the first one. He knew leveling up would give him tons of opportunities. A guild would be nice too.
<< Glaze Snake Stew >>
<< Woodring Stag Soup >>
<< Dull Blue Falcon Cupcake >>
…
The ingredients were getting harder and harder to find as the XP increases, as expected. The last one was the << Phoenix Dragon Chimera Soup >>, although it would give him a whopping 1,000,000XP, it would sure as hell kill him.
He settled on the basic recipes. From slime to snakes, to a goblin's meat. The Common recipes weren't bad. But to be honest, all of the recipes were disgusting.
The XP he needed right now was still so much. He needed 9,450XP more to reach Level 9. Even after reaching Level 9, the XP cap was 10,000. He needed more XP.
His eye caught a recipe that wasn't as hard but gives a lot of XP.
<< Midnight Pheasant Porridge >>
XP = 2,500
Recipe:
Midnight Pheasant Meat X1
Cup of Black Rice X1
Shadow Pepper X3
Midnight Pheasants are rather weak beasts. Their only strong feature was that they only come out at night to which they fully camouflage.
Elliot was determined. When the dusk calls, he will venture into the forest and hunt a Midnight Pheasant. Maybe luck wasn't done raining on him.