The next morning Richard lounged around in bed instead of getting up right away. He had been feeling good as of late. Even a few home brews didn’t give him that little headache in the morning anymore. And he was even sleeping better. Was it because of his new found entertainment from going to the dungeons? Did having something meaningful to do increase his mental health? Or maybe just the bump in stats from gaining levels? Touching grass?

  It was probably a combo of all of them really. He dropped a pod into the coffee maker and stood there looking at the apartment building on the other side of the street. Due to the film on the glass it wasn’t even possible to see into another building. But there was something about the ritual that Richard enjoyed. Wondering if there was someone else out there looking at his building.

  Once the coffee was ready he sat at the kitchen table and opened his status for the first time since the day before yesterday. Richard knew that if he opened it while he was exploring then he would have been tempted to try and make something. Making something means selling it. And that if he sold another so soon after ‘finding’ the last potion it might raise some flags or something. He took a sip of the coffee.

  Searching the web and DungeonClues about potion drop rates didn’t provide any meaningful information. The claims of those posting went from never having seen a potion, to having them drop back to back. Once could be coincidence. While twice might be one too. But thrice is probably too many times. And Richard knew that he wouldn’t be able to contain his curiosity if he heard someone get 3 rare drops back to back to back.

  Slow life. That had been his mantra all morning. The whole 30 minutes he had been out of bed.

  Richard got out his notebook knowing that looking at the new recipes was probably going to bring about a lot of questions. First up he looked for anything that used the drops from the Cabbits. He had only seen 3 drops of 5 total. He was somewhat disappointed as the only new recipe was for a Bone Vial.

  Cabbit Bone Vial

  Contains a Cabbit’s life force.

  Given that vials seemed to be interchangeable between the potion recipes, would that mean that each potion would have a different effect depending on the vial used? How would the lifeforce of the cabbit react to a mana potion? In theory for a health potion it would aid or somehow increase its effect. And unlike the carapace vial it might have some effect on its own? At least assuming that the life force was created in such a way that it could be used by an explorer and didn’t harm them instead. There’s also the most important question, what if it was just flavor text?

  Too many questions again. There was also the question on why didn’t the pelt and teeth have a use in recipes? Richard double checked the list and also confirmed that nothing appeared for the Mushroom Caps that he had found. While he was able to find a couple recipes each in the Slime and Bug dungeons, the two in the big city weren’t as fruitful for an alchemist. Did that mean that other skills could use the other drops? The pelts could be used by anyone, for clothing or leather or armor. While the teeth seemed to be somewhat harder to put into use. At least from Richard’s current experience. It also cemented in the fact that the Walking Mushroom Dungeon was a complete waste of time.

  Richard put the pen down for a moment and massaged his hand. Writing down all of the questions was giving him a cramp.

  He found himself lamenting the fact that he didn’t keep some of the bone for himself to try with. But then he would have been stuck with the vial with no use due to the lack of other materials. And then probably would have gone back to the Union to see if there was a Healing Flower or Black Beetle Stomach to combine into a potion.

  Richard put his hands together and hummed as he slowly inhaled. Slow life. Sloooooow life.

  The only way to deal with his regret was to visit the Slime dungeon again. It had been a number of days since his last visit and with any luck enough time had passed for the Fist of Thorns guild to have gone deeper.

  With a goal in place Richard finished his now cold coffee, cleaned up, ate breakfast, and was out the door.

  ***

  The Slime Dungeon Center was empty and Richard didn’t have to wait in line to check in. Luckily Mark was working and Richard flagged him down. “Hopefully that guild has moved on by now right? No longer taking over the 1st floor?” Richard asked.

  Mark nodded. “That’s right. At least it’s right from what I can tell. They have been selling drops from the deeper floors. So I would guess that training has gone rather well for them so far.”

  “That’s what I wanted to hear. Since it made hunting here unfeasible from a financial sense.”

  “You could always see about trying for a staff position at the centers. If you want to work somewhere popular, the waiting list is pretty long. But if you don’t care there are postings all over the place. And once you get in it’s a stable wage, though that’s about all,” Mark said and laughed.

  Richard shrugged. “I’m enjoying things enough as it is. But it’s an idea in case anything changes.” Not that he would ever be out of a job proper with the Alchemy skill.

  The first drop of the day was the ever present Blue Slime Core. As were many of the others, and it wasn’t until the 16th drop that a Healing Flower finally appeared. There was also a Slime Puck which wasn’t something that Richard had seen or heard of before. It was a bouncy hockey puck sized drop that was the same translucent blue as the slimes. As soon as he IDed it up he quickly opened up the recipe list to see if it was something that he could use. But instead found nothing new.

  With his goal finally reached, after 6 hours of exploring, Richard found a place without anyone nearby. After a quick look he opened the recipe list and pressed on the Blue Core Vial. A moment later it was in his hands. It shared the same diamond shape as the Black Carapace Vial. Only it was a translucent blue color with a small amount of liquid, probably also blue, inside.

  With the Vial in hand Richard stared at the recipe for the Healing Potion. It should be fine right? Yesterday he was sure that it was too soon. But that was a whole day ago. It was the thrill wasn’t it? New experiences, new hobbies. Also money, but not so much as the other two. The slow life mantra that he had been chanting to himself all day was forgotten.

  After promising himself that it was the last time for at least a while, Richard quickly checked for people again and then confirmed the creation of the Healing Potion. He snatched it from the System Window once it was completed and inspected the potion. It was full to the top and the translucent stopper took on a red color. The System identified it as a Weak Healing Potion.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  While he wanted to give it a go to see how well it worked, Richard didn’t want to waste a potion on something small. And he also wasn’t willing to take the hits to see how it worked on a heavier injury. Then there was the fact that he wanted to sell it. As that the extra money would always be a nice offset to the loss from the Mushroom Dungeon.

  By the time that Richard finished for the day it was already into the evening. Mark was nowhere to be seen and must have already gone home. And instead there was a bored looking man with a combover working at reception.

  “I’d like to check out and then sell these,” Richard said and placed the cores, puck, and health potion into the counting tray. He scanned his Dungeon ID on the scanner when it prompted him.

  “Okay,” the man said and started counting the drops. His name tag had Poul on it. “Lucky day today huh? 14 Blue Slime Cores, and then both a puck and a potion?”

  “That’s right. Just about had a heart attack when the potion appeared. Also never heard of the puck before,” Richard said and leaned back to look at the screen with the first floor drops. From what he could tell the puck wasn’t listed.

  “I’d say. Health Potions are one of the bigger things you can find. A whole 30k for one little drop.”

  “Wait, that much?” The Mana Potion was a lot cheaper. And Richard had been assuming that the Health Potion would be more, but a difference of $7.5k? A Healing Potion before taxes sold for the same as his rent for the month. Sure it was the cheapest apartment in a small city. But still.

  “Yup. It’s like having a second life. Even with the weak ones. Most people save up and get one right away. And even if they use it, getting another one is the priority. If you live you can get more money.”

  “What is it for the proper Healing Potions? And not the weak ones.”

  “Ugh. I haven't seen one myself,” Poul said. “But let's see, oh. I sent the money over by the way.” Richard confirmed the amount on his phone, $39,750. A moment later Poul spoke again, “Looks like they go for around 40k. Which is quite the boost if you ask me.”

  Richard felt a shiver travel down his spine. If he could somehow make a proper Healing Potion then wouldn’t he be in much better shape? What happens if he could later make a strong or ex rank potion? He knew that greed was getting to him. But to be able to just take things easy after so many years of stress. He wasn’t a stranger to working hard. He never slacked at any of his jobs, mostly. But the constant lack of stability between work, funemployment, work, unemployment, work, ubi… “Wouldn't that be nice,” Richard said.

  “I know right,” Poul said with a smile.

  Richard felt that he was on cloud nine until he bumped into Calvin on the way out the door. “Oh! Hello Richard,” Calvin said with quite a wide grin. “Haven't seen you around of late.”

  “Ah Calvin? I heard that your teams have been diving deeper,” Richard said. The man’s sudden smile was a little unnerving. Were the two of them that close for Calvin to be that happy to see him?

  “Yes. Wonderful really. We’ve done this several times in the past and each time it goes a little bit better. Have you been checking out other dungeons?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Which ones so far? Assuming that you are staying in the safer ones, New Burl at least. Any luck in the Big City?”

  “Well. That’s right. Both Burl and Rowan City so far.”

  “Did you have a chance to check out the Crafter’s Union? They have quite the market there. And it’s possible to find many things for explorers.”

  “I was amazed at the size of the market at the Union. It was overwhelming really. Both the goods on display and the people.”

  “That’s great. It’s always nice to hear people checking out what our area has to offer,” Calvin said and looked Richard up and down. “Since you appear to be unarmored you must still be renting?”

  “Correct. Since I’ve been sticking around the 1st floors I don’t really see the need for anything better yet.”

  “A shame really. There is so much more to see in the dungeons deeper inside. If you are still on the fence about joining a guild, how about coming along on one of our dives one day?”

  “I’m not sure-”

  “Just think about it for now then. And we wouldn’t have to go too deep either. Just to the second floor which I”m sure is enough to get you interested. A little taste of what you can find deeper inside.”

  Richard had to admit to himself that it would be interesting to see what dropped from the monsters on the second floor. But he didn’t know if the people he wanted to go with were from the Hand of Thorns guild. “I’ll keep your offer in mind for if I do decide to go deeper,” Richard said. After a rather long goodbye he managed to escape Calvin and hopped onto the bus home.

  ***

  Calvin looked after the retreating Richard and failed to hold back the sneer that appeared on his face. He was certain that he witnessed Richard getting a skill book that day in the dungeon. And what would someone who got an attack skill do? Become drunk with power and race to the next floor, with or without a party. But someone taking it slowly? Checking out the other beginner dungeons in the area and then the Crafter’s Union?

  While it could be that Calvin was wrong, and it could certainly be something else, he strongly felt that there was a high chance that the skill was a crafting focused one. Something that all guilds needed. Almost to the point of kidnapping people who had the right skills and locking them underground. He chuckled at the thought. His guild would never make such a mistake.

  Calvin took his phone out and messaged the party leads going through the Slime Dungeon. He asked them to keep an eye out for Richard and to invite him deeper if given the chance. Probe him for his skills and anything else that might benefit the guild.

  When he went to the check in Poul smiled at him and spoke, “Oh hey boss. Welcome to the dungeon.”

  Calvin frowned and quickly looked around the lobby and found that it was empty of all but the two of them. “I thought that I told you not to call me that in public?”

  “Well yeah. But no one else is here.”

  “Still. Please remember for the next time Poul. You can’t be found to have ties with our guild.”

  “Alright. Alright already. I’ll get you checked in,” Poul said and processed Calvin’s Dungeon ID. “Did you know that guy from before? He had some real lucky drops today. Even a potion.”

  Calvin looked at Poul for a moment before he spoke, “Show me the potion. Quickly before anyone else comes in.”

  “Uh, yeah? Okay,” Poul said. He hadn’t finished processing it yet and retrieved it from under the counter. “First time that I’ve seen one since I started here. It’s a Weak Healing Potion.”

  Calvin took the potion in hand. Marvelled at the translucent blue color of the glass. “It’s amazing,” he said.

  “Nah, it’s just a potion yeah?”

  “That’s true. But all dungeon drop potions have a clear glass vial. This one is a translucent blue. It still looks like a dungeon potion. And that one little fact is enough to show that it might not be a drop.”

  “You think that guy made it?”

  “I more than think it,” Calvin said. He returned the potion to Poul and retrieved his phone. It was time to get a little more creative with their ‘recruitment’ methods. And he updated the message that he had just sent to the party leads.