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The battle had turned completely one-sided. After one round of focused attacks from several Mages, Duskwraith’s HP was only cut in half.

The two assassins were still waiting for the right moment to strike as their teammates fell one after another.

‘Their coordination is too poor,’ Zane shook his head.

Coupled with the gear disparity, the Rainflower Guild’s defeat was inevitable. With Lulu’s final strike, Drake collapsed to the ground, his face twisted in bitter resentment as he died.

Because he had attacked first, dying with PvP Status caused him to drop a ring.

The group tidied up the battlefield, trading all the equipment over to Duskwraith.

“Thanks a lot, Vice Guildmaster of Nether Dawn,” Zane said gratefully.

“No need to be so formal. Just call me Dusk,” Duskwraith waved his hand. “By the way, Bro, are you interested in joining Nether Dawn? You’ve seen our strength. If you join us, I guarantee no one from Rainflower will dare bother you again!” he thumped his chest with confidence.

“…No, not for now. At least for the time being, I still enjoy playing the game without constraints.”

“That’s a shame… Oh, right—if I’m not mistaken, you got the boss kill, didn’t you?”

Zane nodded.

“Agh, I knew it. Well, we’ll take our leave then. Take care! And hey, if you find any good loot, bring it to me first!”

“No problem!”

…

“Hey, I mean… can you stop following me already?” Zane turned around and looked speechlessly at DumbCitrus trailing behind him. She had been following him for the past hour, wherever he went to gather herbs, she would follow and do the same.

“It’s safe with you around! I didn’t expect even Nether Dawn would help you deal with Rainflower. That means if I gather herbs with you, I don’t have to be afraid anymore! Even Treants aren’t a problem!”

“Damn it, if you snatch another Bloodroot, I’ll kill you myself, no need to wait for Rainflower!”

“Ugh… fine, I won’t pick Bloodroots anymore. I’ll gather other stuff, okay…” she said with a pitiful look.

“Aren’t you going to level up?”

She shook her head. “Without any gear, it’s too hard. I can’t even make back the cost of the potions.”

That was true… without proper equipment, solo grinding was nearly impossible.

“Don’t you know anyone? Form a party and level together.”
“Nope… I’ve been playing this secretly behind my family’s back.”
“…”

Another half hour or so passed. No one from Rainflower showed up again. Zane had gathered over a hundred Bloodroots, which should be more than enough for a decent batch.

Waste no time at all, he began synthesizing right on the spot and opened the alchemy menu.

‘One portion of fresh water… toss that in. One red date… there you go. And finally, one portion of Bloodroot. Alright, light it up!’

The temperature surged, and flames danced brightly beneath the cauldron. Suddenly, the furnace stopped rotating, so he lifted the lid to take a look.

All that was left was a pile of blackened scraps.

‘Failed? What the hell? One more try!’

Seeing Zane waste materials like that, DumbCitrus cried out in distress, “Wait!”

“What is it?”

“That’s not how you synthesize medicine! You think just standing there watching is enough?!”

“Uh… it’s not?”

“…With how prices are right now, one Bloodroot costs 16 Yuan! One failure and there goes a whole meal!”

What! He hadn’t thought about it until she said it, but now that he did, he realized he had just thrown away an entire lunch… He had been far too careless.

“What’s the proper way to synthesize, then?”
“Start by prepping the ingredients, obviously! You didn’t even crush and break them up, how could that possibly work?”
“Fair point.”
“…”

After crushing the ingredients and mixing them thoroughly, he tossed them in the cauldron!

‘Not bad, I can finally start producing my own potions!’

However, he still needed 499 more experience points to reach Alchemy Level 3. And this was only Level 2. The required experience had already multiplied fivefold. It was no wonder Bloodroot was so expensive.

“Stupid Orange.”

“What? Hey! Who are you calling stupid, you’re the stupid one!”

“You haven’t switched to a combat class yet, have you?”

“…Nope. Just switching to Alchemist took me forever. I haven’t even had time to look at battle classes yet,” DumbCitrus sighed, then suddenly noticed a system prompt.

She bit her lip. “I told you, I haven’t picked a class yet. And besides, I don’t like leveling up when I’m not actually participating. I do appreciate you helping me earlier, but… I know how this goes. Girls who just get carried along never end up well.”

“What do you take me for?” Zane shot back.

“Would any normal person just stand there coldly and watch a beautiful maiden get slapped to death by a Treant?!”

Zane stared straight into her eyes. ‘Beautiful maiden? Are you serious right now?’

“…” Her cheeks turned a little red. “Anyway, once I finish gathering herbs here, I’m heading back to town!”

“Sigh, such a shame. There are so many herbs on these high-level maps, I can’t possibly gather them all on my own.” Zane clasped his hands behind his back and pretended to walk away forlornly.

One minute later, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed behind him.

“Wait for me!”

…

And so, another misfit—cough, a powerful alchemist—ended up adding Zane as a friend. According to her, she had already reached Alchemist Level 3, which placed her firmly among the top-tier alchemists in the game.

As for why that mattered: up until now, not a single Level 4 alchemist had appeared on the forums. Of course, it was possible that the true experts were simply keeping a low profile, but it also indicated that most players were stuck at Level 3.

She shared the list of items that a Level 3 alchemist could craft.

A 7% instant recovery, considering a Wisherkeeper class could have over 7,000 HP, meant the healing amount already outperformed high-grade HP potions. One gave over 490 HP, the other just 400.

Still, the effect felt like a drizzle, negligible for now. It would likely become more meaningful in the mid to late stages of the game.

Aside from the Mindstone, all other ingredients could be purchased in shops. Though a bit pricey, they were still more affordable compared to items in the auction house.

The real issue lay with the Mindstone. DumbCitrus had clearly done her homework. She had already looked into it and found a reference where someone mentioned that the general store owner, Jeno, once said that certain special Rock Golems might drop Mindstones.

Unfortunately, he refused to say anything more afterward. Which meant… it must be an unexplored map.

“Stupid Orange, what’s north of Mapleblossom Grove?”

“No idea… I’ve never made it across. Too many Treants in that area. And stop calling me Stupid Orange!”

“Also…” DumbCitrus couldn’t hold back any longer and finally said, “There’s a girl who’s been following us this whole time! Don’t you think that’s weird?”

“You’ve never been there, huh… Then today’s the perfect time to go check it out. We might just find a Mindstone!”

“Are you even listening to me?!”

“I’m listening, I’m listening,” Zane replied absentmindedly.

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