Loop Mob – A Mob’s Interdimensional Travel Caught in a Loop

Chapter 48: Potion Making

Now, amidst the hustle and bustle of brewing alcohol and the engagement, alchemy was, of course, flourishing.

“Strictly speaking, this isn’t alchemy.”

Today, my master, or rather Urrica, and I were grinding medicinal herbs together. As far as I was concerned, I considered this alchemy, but when I thought about it calmly, this was pharmacology. Well, that makes sense.

In this country’s Ministry of Magic, there are divisions for studying magic circles, training military mages, creating magical tools, and the formerly alchemy division, now enchantment division. Anything that doesn’t fall into the first three categories is categorized under alchemy. This is a common understanding among the human race.

However, for the forest-dwelling elves, everything is the same and at the same time different. The utilization of magical elements in the natural world, including the extraction of magical elements from plants, is a part of it. Potion making is both pharmacology and magic, as well as practical wisdom for everyday life.

Crushing, adding water, boiling, filtering. Pharmaceutical synthesis is difficult to master, but with appraisal, it’s a breeze. How much to grind, how much water to add, how much to heat, and in what proportions to mix. Urrica marveled at how I effortlessly created high-quality potions.

“Are you really a human who has only lived for about 18 years?”

It’s something that a human race, which hasn’t lived for much more than that, can do. Well, I don’t remember how many loops I’ve been through, so I don’t know. And considering the past life and the cheat, it’s there too.

I’ve studied pharmaceuticals using herbs that can be harvested around here. What should I learn next? But before that.

“Master… Urrica, what would happen if I enchant this potion?”

Urrica grinned.

“Oh, you noticed that?”

Potions can be enchanted, just like weapons and armor. It’s nothing special. Fire attribute adds flame attribute, fire resistance, increased attack power, and POW boost. Water attribute adds water (ice) attribute, resistance, increased magic power, and INT boost. The effects vary depending on the material of the ether. It resulted in the same as simply applying it to weapons and armor. However, like potions, the effects are temporary. In that case, it’s more cost-effective to enchant equipment.

So what if I enchant the material before making it into a potion? It worked just fine. And you can also enchant a potion made from enchanted material. However, since it’s a consumable, it’s still temporary. The duration of the effect may increase, or multiple effects may be simultaneously applied. Of course, compatibility issues with the enchanting ether are still present, and materials with poor compatibility may cancel each other out or reduce the effect.

“Well, it’s good to try everything. Curiosity nurtures learning.”

She has been conducting this research for a long time too. At least, for over a few hundred years, when the Kabaneru family has been governing this land. Everything I tried seems to be within her expectations. Materials, especially ether materials picked up in dungeons, are piled up like mountains. Let’s enchant them indiscriminately.

By the way, the potion could be enchanted at both the material stage and the finished product stage. So, what if I enchant the material that becomes the ether before turning it into ether?

First, let’s start with the most stocked dragonfly wings that helped us in the early stages.

– Dragonfly Wing
→ Wind Attribute, Weight 0.1

Then this becomes,

– Dragonfly Wing +1
→ Wind Attribute, Weight 0.1

“What’s with this +1, +1…?”

That’s right. I remember seeing a “+1” on the expensive boots I splurged on when I acquired the Appraisal skill in the second loop. It made sense; even if it’s the same item, the performance can differ. So, if I enchant this wing, can I create a better-performing Akitsu series?

As I started looking for a base to apply enchantments, I suddenly realized something.

What would happen if I enchanted this Dragonfly Wing +1 again?

– Dragonfly Wing +2
→ Wind Attribute, Weight 0.1

It worked. It just went from 1 to 2. But really, how far can this “+1” go? I have to try to find out.

In conclusion, I could enchant the wing up to +10. Instead of displaying +10, it showed +Max. For dropped items, I could stack the same thing up to 10 times. For different items, only once, and in that case, there was no “+”. For example, adding the earth attribute of a pill bug shell would look like this:

– Dragonfly Wing
→ Wind Attribute, Weight 0.1, Slight Defense Increase

When adding the same thing, like adding ether created from +1 to another +1, it becomes +3. It seems to depend on the number of wings used. Adding +5 to +5 results in just enough ether absorption for one Dragonfly Wing, settling at +Max.

“Oh, you’re doing that. Quite interesting…”

Urrica, who had finished her work, was frozen as she looked at my hands. In front of her gaze was the +Max wing, still resembling a dragonfly wing but emitting a faint green glow characteristic of wind attributes.

From there, both of us continuously turned dragonfly wings into ether and repeated the enchantment. She seemed to have tried various combinations, but apparently, she never had the same thing ten times.

“Normally, it’s impossible for the same material to gather!”

Is that so? I think there have been adventurers who made a fortune in monster houses before. Maybe they leave items that won’t earn them money. After all, picking them up is a bit bothersome.

So, with that, we created 100 +Max wings. When adding enchantments to ordinary materials, it varies from 1 piece for scarce ones to 10-100 pieces for equipment. Better ones require even more. For now, let’s go with the strongest one in my possession, the Damascus Knife. This is a boss drop from Marol’s advanced dungeon. The ether infiltrated more than I expected, and to reach the limit, it required a whopping 180 +Max wings.

– Akitsu Knife +Max
→ Attack Power 248, Weight -100, Flight Fly

“…”

We ended up creating an incredible artifact. The usual Akitsu series, which I was so excited about last time, suddenly seemed overshadowed. Once you know about this, there’s no choice but to make it. To create the next Akitsu Max, we began grappling with Dragonfly Wings once again.