Izroth examined the Dark Abyssal Cauldron using his Appraisal skill. On his way to the meeting point, he had not spent his time idle. Izroth used Appraisal at every given opportunity.
Plants, stones, monsters, materials—whatever he passed by, if Appraisal was off cooldown, Izroth used it to discern their hidden features.
Of course, since his skill mastery with Appraisal was still too low, there was a limit to what information was shown. Nevertheless, he did manage to gain a few benefits along the way.
'My Appraisal has only reached 1.12% skill mastery after nearly two hours. Increasing it in the later stages may prove somewhat difficult. Still, even though it has not improved by much, there is something new this time around. However…'
Name: Dark Abyssal Cauldron(Soulbound)
Rank: B-
Durability: ∞(Indestructible)
Current Fire Core: Flame of Synthesis(B)
~Appraisal~
Classification: S
Evolution Progress: ???/???
~Appraisal~
Usage: An ancient pitch black cauldron made from an unknown indestructible material. It can be used by apothecaries to create pills that are grade-five or lower. The more an «Apothecary» pushes the limits of this cauldron, the stronger it will grow.
Special Note: This item cannot be replicated, traded, or sold and is soulbound to the user.
Back when Izroth first used Appraisal to view all the items in his inventory, naturally, the Dark Abyssal Cauldron was included. At that point, only the classification was shown under the appraisal area. But, this time, there was a new status attached to the Dark Abyssal Cauldron called Evolution Progress.
However, besides its name, there was no other information available regarding what purpose it served. Though, judging from its name alone, Izroth had a good idea of what it represented.
'Since the Dark Abyssal Cauldron is a growth-type item, there is a high chance that knowing the Evolution Progress will make it easier to improve its growth. Unfortunately, for now, I can only proceed in the dark.'
Izroth was a bit disappointed that he could not view more information about the Dark Abyssal Cauldron; however, he did not remove it from his inventory just for the sake of appraising it. His true goal was something he had wanted to test the moment he received it.
Bang!
Izroth smacked the side of the cauldron as a light green flame erupted from it.
Despite the fierce flames blazing appearance, it was comfortably warm. This was due to the Flame of Synthesis Fire Core's ability to switch between extreme cold and extreme heat. When the two were perfectly balanced, it created a warm atmosphere around the cauldron.
After starting up the cauldron, Izroth removed a few ingredients from his inventory. They were the exact reagents used to produce the Five Cycles Pill.
The Grade Three Five Cycles Pill was useless to Izroth, who had already taken the pill itself along with the Blessing of the Craft version of it. But, he was curious about something.
Izroth accessed his system interface and opened his skills list.
'I suspected that a Greater Blessing would provide incredible benefits, but this is beyond my expectations. Every part of the skill itself is useful; however, this passive stands out when it comes to crafting.'
Izroth's eyes landed on one area in particular of the skill Unparalleled Craftsman that he acquired from Mazi, The God of Craft, after accepting his blessing.
Skill Name: Unparalleled Craftsman
Skill Mastery: 0.00%
Skill Rank: SSS
…
Natural Talent(Passive) – Items crafted by the user have a [3%] chance (MIN: 0.1%) of their quality being automatically raised by one rank upon successful creation. The higher the item's quality, the lower the chances is of this effect occurring.
…
Natural Talent—this passive was, by all definition, a cheat-like skill. Having a 3% chance for a crafted item to automatically raise by one rank—this meant if Izroth crafted a grade three pill, it was possible that it would become a grade four pill! If any of the top guilds found out about such a skill, it would send them into an uproar!
While a 3% chance was not that impressive, for someone like Izroth, who could craft thousands of pills a day, it would not make a huge difference unless he was crafting something with rare materials. Not to mention, Unparalleled Craftsman was still at 0% skill mastery. If he improved the skill mastery, wouldn't the chances also increase along with it? In the future, it may be possible to reach 50% or even 100% with Natural Talent!
'Now… Let's get started, shall we?'
…
Around ten minutes later…
Rmmmmmble!
The cauldron shook violently before quieting down. The next moment, three pills rose out of the cauldron as Izroth took them into his hand.
'Will I get it this time?'
Izroth looked down at the three pills in his hands; however, he inwardly sighed in disappointment.
'Is it possible that both effects are unable to activate at the same time? No, I doubt the system would put such a restriction in place without a warning of sorts.'
Izroth checked the remaining ingredients in his inventory.
'I still have plenty of materials. Let's continue.'
Izroth set the three failed Five Cycles Pills into his inventory as he resumed crafting.
Five minutes…
Ten minutes…
Fifteen minutes…!
RMMMMMBLE!
Almost thirty minutes quickly went by since Izroth first began crafting, and this was the first time his cauldron had such a violent reaction near the end of the pill formation process.
Bang! Bang!
It sounded as if something was thrashing about within the depths of the Dark Abyssal Cauldron. As a result, Izroth immediately decreased the temperature as an invasive frost overtook the surroundings. It was to the point that the ground underneath the cauldron had a few ice crystals form on its surface. But, it appeared to work as the loud banging sound within the cauldron suddenly ceased.
Woosh! Woosh!
Pills with a strong medicinal scent shot out of the cauldron as Izroth caught them in his hands.
'Hm? Strange…'
When Izroth opened the palm of his hands, it revealed not the typical three Five Cycle Pills, but two. However, these two were different from the ones that came before them. A dark violet color replaced the light purple aura that normally lingered around the usual Five Cycle Pills. In addition, there were unique line patterns engraved into both pills' surfaces—this was not something that appeared during Izroth's previous attempts. But, immediately upon seeing this, even without looking at it through the system, Izroth could tell—he was successful.
'At last, I was able to get both effects at the same time. Though it took much longer than I anticipated, even with my four points of luck. Can it be that the chances were reduced due to my low Apothecary grade…? Still, these effects… As I thought, having both activate at the same time takes the pill to a whole new level.'
Name: Five Cycles Pill(IV)
Rank: Grade-Four*
Usage: The user who consumes this pill permanently gains the passive skill «Advanced Perception».
«Advanced Perception»: Increases the user senses of sight and hearing by 250%. Increases the user's senses of smell, taste, and touch by 75%.
*«Ultimate Sensory»: During a critical situation, the user will have their sense of perception increased by 2,000% for 3 seconds. The duration of this effect is doubled if the user's HP is below 20%. This effect will not activate more than once every 12 hours.
Special Note: This pill was made by one with great natural talent in pill crafting and has received a lesser blessing. Consuming this pill more than once will not grant any additional effect(s). However, consuming a higher grade version of the pill will replace its effect(s).
In truth, it took Izroth less than one minute to create a Five Cycle Pill that experienced the benefit of the Natural Talent passive. But, this was not Izroth's goal. What he wanted was a pill not only upgraded by Natural Talent but one that also contained the Blessing of the Craft!
After the first twenty minutes, Izroth started to truly believe that the two effects could not come into play simultaneously; however, he was determined to obtain his answer. In the end, his efforts paid off as he now held two pills with both the Natural Talent and Blessing of the Craft effects, and the increase in power was not small.
Superior Perception had changed to Advanced Perception and was now 150% more effective.
As for the Extreme Sensory passive granted by Blessing of the Craft, it was now known as Ultimate Sensory. Not only was the cooldown time cut in half and the perception boost doubled, but it was now guaranteed to activate in critical situations! Furthermore, the duration was greater and even increased twofold if the user's HP was below 20%!
But, this was not all that Izroth gained out of this crafting session.
〈System Alert: Congratulations! You are the first player to craft a Grade Four Pill and have been rewarded!〉
