SWNOVELS Chapter 44: Alchemy
Alchemy
The Escape Goat that appears on Vale Labyrinths seventh floor is quite troublesome.contemporary romance
It runs away after three blows from magic or a single blow from Durandal.
When more than one appear, I have to quickly use five casts of [Fire Storm] to defeat them before they escape.
Even then, there is still the chance they will get away.
It’s even harder if they come out in a group with other monsters.
The timing of casting the fifth spell might be too slow if I have to exchange blows with a demon that came with it.
It’s best to use Durandal as a finisher.
First you use two magic shots.
Then you swing Durandal & the Escape Goat is killed.
The rest of the demons can be defeated without Durandal and only using magic.
There’s no room for error.
Even so, the efficiency is quite good.
Well, I guess I don’t really know for sure if the efficiency is good.
How fast does a fight need to be to make up for decreasing my [increased experienced] stat?
I can use the [10x increased experience] stat while using magic, but I’ve had to stop using [10x increased experience] to use Durandal on the Escape Goat’s so killing other demons is might be better.
Well, as long as the level of my Cook job is increasing I’m not really worried.
“So, you can’t use magic while using the sword?”
Roxanne asked while picking up the Goat Thread which was dropped by the Escape Goat.
It was the item I expected.
“It’s usable, but it will be less efficient. Is it causing trouble for Roxanne?”
“No, I am fine.”
“You’re very good as a vanguard, and you help me a lot.”
“Thank you.”
Sometimes Roxanne has to keep demons busy while I take time to get out Durandal.
I have a very high opinion of Roxanne’s agility.
She’ll almost never get hit even when fighting two or three demons.
I don’t know what things will be like in the future though.
Demon groups on the eighth floor can have up to four demons.
It’s something I need to think about.
Slow Rabbit’s started appearing on Quratar’s seventh floor and leave Rabbit furs.
To sell the furs we’ve been making a regular trip to the imperial capital.
There’s quite a variety of shops in the capital.
It’s because of the large amount of people that there is such a variety.
The furs are sold off as we walk around.
There’s a seasoning shop.
It has vinegar and fish sauce.
I was excited to taste it, but it didn’t taste anything like soy sauce.
The smell of it isn’t good either.
It reminds me of something from the Honshu area.
It might be good to cook pork with.
People open stall’s in the imperial capital’s main street to sell stuff as well.
Fast food in this world is limited to night stalls.
There’s a pizza style shop, and a crepe shop, and a shop selling chicken meat on sticks too.
There’s stalls making stuff and selling it straight away.
One stall has a food that’s a brown fried sort of color.
There’s a lot of children gathering there, is it cheap candy?
“Do you know what they are selling there?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Want to try some?”
I leave Roxanne and go stand in line.
While looking at the cheap brown candy I saw something like a wafer.
Is there such a thing here?
“They are 10 nars each.”
“I’ll take two.”
After ordering, the worker poured some kind of liquid into a small pan.
The wafer is in there and disappears into the liquid.
Will it be some kind of sponge?
Soon the liquid begins to expand.
A thick mountain appears in the pan.
The nearby children start cheering.
“It’s done.”
The workman removes it from the pan.
He wraps it in some kind of leaf and passes it to me.
I take out some nars and pay for it.
He’s a villager so my 30% discount doesn’t apply.
One is given to Roxanne.
The second one I passed to a cute girl nearby.
“Would you like this?”
“Yes.”
There’s no real reason.
It’s just a cute girl.
After that she waved cheerfully and left.
“Was it good?”
“The taste is unusual.”
I know what it is.
It’s caramel.
I learnt to make it in junior high school.
I don’t really remember the taste though.
I’m not sure if I could judge if it’s exactly the same even if I try it now.
I just have a memory of not thinking it was very delicious.
“It’s sweet and delicious.”
Oh wow, Roxanne is enthusiastically filling her mouth. It has a similar feeling to a modern Japanese high school student eating cake.
I watch the stall from nearby as I wait for Roxanne to finish.
When caramel melts from the heat of bicarbonate soda in liquid the carbonate acid dissipates and causes swelling.
I think that the stall making the cheap sweets uses the same method.
When the pan is warmed, the liquid swells rapidly.
The worker turns to the back as I watch.
A small box is opened, and something is taken out.
A powder was taken out, and placed in a tub of water. The liquid which becomes the origin of the caramel has been created.
Chance.
I use [Judgement] on the box.
It seems I can’t identify the powder.
If some of the item is missing, like a handful of Kobald Salt, then it can no longer be identified and will also no longer go into the item box.
Kobold Sucrose
Shell Powder
I could work out that Kobald Sucrose and Shell Powder were components of the powder in the box.
Even if I ask the worker directly, he won’t tell me because it’s a business secret.
I don’t want to make Caramel on it’s own, so if I can find out the raw materials name then that’s good enough.
Maybe the worker is mixing flour with the Kobald Sucrose and Shell Powder.
If sugar and bicarbonate of soda are mixed with flour then you can make caramel.
The Sucrose is sugar.
The Shell Powder must be bicarbonate of soda.
Shell powder = bicarbonate of soda = sodium hydrogencarbonate
“Ready to go?”
“Yes, Thank you for the delicious meal.”
I headed towards the adventurers guild with Roxanne when she finished eating.
“Do you know anything about Shell Powder?”
“It’s an extinguisher.”
“An extinguisher?”
“There isn’t any power to cancel out fire magic, but you can extinguish it as soon as possible and stop the fire from spreading as soon as possible with an extinguisher. With an extract from scallop shells and shell leaves you can counter-act the magic once.”
It’s different to bicarbonate of soda.
Well, the effects against magic shouldn’t matter.
“Can you mix it with flour and bake it, or use it for cleaning?”
“The Shell Powder?”
“Yes.”
“I haven’t heard anything like that.”
It’s different.
“Do you use vinegar to clean?”
“I haven’t heard of that.”
I asked just to check, but it seems even vinegar isn’t used.
There is vinegar in this world.
Vinegar is acidic, Bicarbonate of soda is an alkaline and both should be effective to wash off dirt.
If vinegar isn’t used for cleaning then the possibility they don’t know about using bicarbonate of soda for cleaning is high.
I bought some Shell Powder in the adventurers guild. I also bought a pan, and some wheat bran and then returned to the house.
I’m experimenting making caramel, though the main purpose isn’t the caramel.
Soap can be made using rice bran.
When the fatty acids in the vegetable oil react with the bicarbonate of soda, then it should become soap.
While in a school group, I had to make it in front of a teacher on my own, so I remember how to do it.
Bad memories.
All the members of the group should have had to help out.
Anyway, if there is bicarbonate of soda, then I can make soap.
Although it isn’t right, rice bran should be able to be replaced with the vegetable oil.
First I’ll try and use the wheat bran though.
Rice bran was probably only a substitute in the old days too.
After returning I went straight to the kitchen.
I brought half a pan of water to the boil.
If it works, this pan will be used exclusively for soap.
Shell Powder was put through the mill and added to the boiling water.
Bubbles come out.
It seems correct that Shell Powder is bicarbonate of soda.
After the bubbles die down, the wheat bran is added.
I’m just adding it gradually since I don’t know how much.
I recall that I had to add alot of rice bran.
It probably can’t be helped if I fail at first.
As I mix it a brown muddy liquid forms.
It seems to be going better than I expected.
I’m starting to get worn out from stirring it.
“What is this?”
Roxanne had been cleaning, but came over out of interest.
“Soap.”
“Soap? Is it going well?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
“Making soap is amazing.”
I wouldn’t have even thought of trying to make it if I didn’t know how to make it.
Soap seems like it would be quite valuable in this world.
It will be quite useful if I can make it well.
“If you use the Shell Powder for cleaning then the dirt will come right off.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“I had no idea. I’ll try it now.”
“If you find dirt that the Shell Powder doesn’t work on, try using vinegar instead and it might work.”
Bicarbonate of soda is an alkaline and works extremely well against acidic dirt, but it’s not very effective against alkaline dirt.
Acidic vinegar is used on the alkaline dirt.
The Shell Powder seems to have numerous uses.
I remember hearing that the hot spring at Nagano, where I went for my skiing training camp during junior high school was a bicarbonate of soda spring, so I can probably try and add some to the bath.
“Well, how do I use it? Do I just have to rub it on?”
Even though Roxanne raced off with excitement, she returned straight away.
The idea of dissolving it in water doesn’t seem to exist here.
“No, you should try dissolving it in water and then using it for wiping.”
I’ve never actually tried it, it’s just general knowledge.
Well, I think it’s supposed to be dissolved in water.
“Master, this is amazing.”
Before long, Roxanne flies back in with her eyes sparkling.
It seems that I was right.
I take the pan off the fire.
This looks to be going well also.
It will be finished now once it’s dry.
That night, it appears that my jobs have increased.
Alchemist Lv1
Effect: Small int rise, Medium dex rise, Skill – Plating.
An Alchemist.
Since making soap is a chemical reaction I likely got it from that.
The next morning I went to the Labyrinth.
I immediately tested out the Alchemist.
Kaga Michio: 17 year old male. Explorer Lv32, Hero Lv30, Wizard Lv32, Monk Lv30, Cook Lv25, Alchemist Lv1.
Equipment: Leather Gloves, Leather Armor, Leather Hat, Leather Shoes, Wand.
Roxanne: 16 year old female. Beast Warrior Lv18
Equipment: Sandals, Leather Jacket, Leather Hat, Wooden Shield, Scimitar.
I’m over-straining my points a bit and using the sixth job this time.
Monk is for emergencies, and Cook is for the rare ingredient drops from the Slow Rabbit.
My bonus points are currently distributed like this:
[Required Experience decreased to 10%] 31 points.
[Increased experience by 10x] 31 points.
[Crystallization increased by 32x] 31 points.
[Sixth Job] 31 points.
[Incantation omission] 3 points.
[Job Settings] [Judgement] [Character reset] 1 point each.
A total of 130 points.
When I don’t have the sixth job I use [5x MP recovery Speed].
When I became Explorer Lv31 and started to use the sixth job I started having to use Durandal more often for MP recovery.
The [MP Recovery Speed] skill probably is based on my natural recovery rate.
There is a noticeable difference when I go up to 5x.
Even so, the difference isn’t that extreme.
I went to the Labyrinth of Vale after breakfast to try out the Alchemist job.
Even if I use a sixth job instead of MP recovery speed the difference isn’t really a problem.
The difference is that small.
“Since I’m experimenting, can you try to find a single demon?”
“Certainly.”
“Thank you.”
What experiment am I doing? The Alchemists skill. I’m testing out [Plating].
When I tried to use [Plating] it required a target, so it isn’t a passive skill.
I tried [Plating] the pocket knife and the leather equipment but it didn’t work.
Maybe it can be used on something living, not an object.
The name sounds like it might be a defensive skill, but I can’t rule out it being offensive so I’ll try it on a demon first.
After [Plating] it, maybe it will become fragile and easy to break.
“May I ask what experiment you are doing this time?”
Roxanne spoke as we moved.
There have been a lot of experiments getting done since I met Roxanne.
Even yesterday had the experiment to make soap.
When her master does an experiment she might be quite amazed.
“Do you know about the job Alchemist?”
“Um, they are people who try to create money.”
They have that sort of person in this world?
Well, if you get the alchemist job from doing a chemical reaction then maybe it’s natural.
Aiming to make money with a chemical reaction is alchemy.
“This test is about the alchemist job.”
“Can you make money?”
Roxanne opened her eyes wide.
“No, yes, well, I’m not sure…”
Since there is magic in the world there may be a skill that produces money.
Or maybe not, the value of money would drop significantly if there was such a skill.
Or, it might be an extremely well kept secret.
Well, for now the only thing I can do is test [Plating].
Plating is that thing.
Covering something in brass and telling people that it’s gold.
It’s just fake.
“Here’s one.”
While lost in my own thoughts, Roxanne gets my attention.
A Slow Rabbit appeared, and I tried to activate [Plating] on it.
There doesn’t seem to be any changes on the Slow Rabbit.
Isn’t it an attack skill?
In the end it still took five spells to kill the Slow Rabbit Lv7.
It seems like it isn’t an attack skill.
I tried attacking one with Durandal instead of magic, but there still didn’t seem to be an effect.
If it’s an attack skill, does it have special conditions? Or is the Slow Rabbit resistant to it?
Later, after breakfast, we head to Vale Labyrinth’s second floor.
I put my bonus points into Intellect and found that I could kill something with one spell.
Previously it was impossible to kill something in one spell even with 99 bonus points into Intellect, so my spells have become stronger as my level went up.
I tried [Plating] a Needle Wood Lv2.
I wasn’t able to defeat it in one shot.
So it seems that Plating is a defensive skill.
If you consider the name, perhaps it is a skill that makes a defensive covering.
Since it still took 5 spells to defeat the Lv7 Slow Rabbit, it seems that the decrease in damage is less than 20%.
I thought of it, but I’m not sure.
Maybe Plating only works once?
If it’s a defensive layer, maybe it breaks after the first attack?
It should be easy to test.
After [Plating] the Needle Wood, Roxanne attacks it once with the Scimitar, and then I attack it once with magic.
It’s defeated in a single spell.
It seems to decrease the damage of one blow.
It is not possible to defeat it if the Scimitar is the second attack.
If Roxanne attacks it first, and then it’s plated again, it is not possible to defeat it with a [Fireball].
Since the plated Needle Wood isn’t able to be defeated with one spell even with 99 bonus points in Intellect I can’t be certain how much the damage reduction really is.
I continued to experiment with [Plating] as we moved through the floor.
I got a rough understanding of the skill.
[Plating] is a one attack only defense skill.
It doesn’t matter if it’s against magic or physical attacks.
There is no effect from additional casts before being hit.
The damage reduction is probably between 10% and 20%.
It isn’t strong, but it’s still a valuable defensive skill.
I will regularly use it in the future.
done.co