Rather than pick anything from the bag of materials Runa already had, she decided to leave for a few minutes only to return with even more materials. There were a few, small pouches, what looked like an extra-large mushroom of some sort, and a jar of what looked like… red jelly?

“Oi, what’s all that?” Tabitha asked.

“Stuff from our kitchen!” Runa answered. “Oh, and this,” she nudged the mushroom, “is Pilz.”

“Pilz?”

Runa nodded. “It’s a really big mushroom I found that I had no idea what to do with, so I kept it and used it as a pillow a couple of times since it’s really soft.”

“You… ya used a mushroom as a pillow?”

“It’s really soft!”

“And it hasn’t gone bad or anythin’?”

“Nope!”

“Huh. Well, then… uh, are ya sure ya want to use it for alchemy?”

Runa nodded again, as she tended to do. “It’ll eventually go bad, so I don’t want it to go to waste!”

“Ya know it might still end up goin’ to waste since I’m just doin’ random stuff here, right?”

“Being used for your alchemy isn’t a waste even if the result isn’t good!”

Tabitha shrugged and looked the mushroom over again. It was about as large as their heads and definitely did look to have an exceptionally soft cap. “Too bad I ain’t workin’ on a cookin’ path yet. Then again, I could always start… but I’d rather see what happens if we throw that into the cauldron. Now, wonder if we should chop it up first.”

“I think you only need to crush or chop things if they’re too big to fit in the cauldron. I’ve seen Hanne throw some pretty big things into her cauldron before.”

“Good to know. Guess I’ll be lazy then. Well, toss whatever ya want in there and then I’ll mix it up!”

With her third nod in a short time, Runa stepped up to throw everything into the cauldron only for Tabitha to stop her.

“Hold on. Actually, hand them to me first so I can use Analyze on everythin’,” Tabitha explained.

“Oh! Sure! Here.” First up, Runa handed over the oversized mushroom.

Item Information

Name

King Capacap Mushroom

A species of mushroom known for its large, round cap that is exceptionally soft and squishy cap.

Rarity

B

Quality

78

Element

Nature

Source

Natural

Type

Fungus

Bonus Tag

[Enduring Durability]

Tabitha raised an eyebrow at the new tag and said, “Menu?”

System Menu

Enduring Durability

Decreases Quality wear by 75%.

“Huh. So, I guess that’s why your mushroom here hasn’t really gone bad yet. Looks like it’s got a pretty high quality, plus it’s got a tag that makes it super durable. Even more durable than the—well, Durable tag.”

Runa’s tail wagged a little when she heard that. “I always knew that Pilz was a good mushroom! And now it can be a good… whatever it’s going to get turned into.”

“Ya did good, Pilz. Time for you to move on to the next thing in life.”

With that, Tabitha dropped the mushroom into the cauldron and took the next item from Runa. The next item just so happened to be the jar of what looked like jelly, and Tabitha made sure to stick a finger into it to check on what it was first.

Item Information

Name

Blood Jam

Congealed blood that has been mixed with berries to create a thick jam.

Rarity

C

Quality

32

Element

Nature

Source

Crafted

Type

Food

Bonus Tags

[Sour I]

[Sugary I]

[Viscous II]

“Oi, Runa,” Tabitha said while staring down at the name of the item.

Runa tilted her head and asked, “What?”

“Can you uh… tell me more about this… fine delicacy you’ve brought me?”

“Oh! I hate it.”

“That sounds appropriate.”

“My mother loves it, though. She makes it and tries to make my father and I eat it. He saw that I was taking things out of the house, so he told me to bring it with me wherever I’m going before she can serve it to us later.”

“I take it that he ain’t a fan either.”

“He hates it even more than me.”

“How’s it… made?”

“She used congealed blood from a river bear, mixed it with mashed and heated rose berries, and let it thicken up in the jar!”

“I admire the creative spirit, I suppose. Is it a delicacy or somethin’ around here?”

“It is! We even have a festival every year where the village elders decide who has made the best blood jam. Joseph is actually one of the judges and the one everybody tries to improve the most! If he likes your blood jam, you know that you’ve really made an incredible one!”

Tabitha imagined Joseph sitting behind a judge panel taking tiny samples of food to judge them and couldn’t help but to laugh at the image. “Didn’t expect to hear that, but alright.” And because she couldn’t resist, she stuck a finger into the jam to get some on her finger before bringing it up to her mouth for a lick.

The taste was… actually kind of good?

“Huh. It kinda tastes like cranberry sauce. Really thick cranberry sauce. Except… a bit too tart. And it’s got a really strange texture. It almost feels like puddin’ in the mouth.”

Runa stuck her tongue out at Tabitha. “I can’t stand it. The aftertaste it leaves when you have it on bread is horrible!”

“Hmm. Now that ya mentioned the old man is a judge for this sort of thing, it makes me want to try and make one.” Somethin’ like that might be a good partin’ present for when me and Runa leave.

Moving on, Tabitha poured the jam into the cauldron and moved onto the next material.

The final two items were both in small, cloth pouches that Tabitha opened up and used Analyze on.

Item Information

Name

Pricklestem

The tiny, sharp leaves from a pricklestem bush. Often used in tea and other concoctions to help with relaxation.

Rarity

D

Quality

24

Element

Nature

Source

Natural

Type

Material

Bonus Tags

[Bitter I]

[Relaxing I]

Item Information

Name

Gutblut Root

The nutrient-filled roots of a gutblut bush known for benefitting the flow of blood.

Rarity

C

Quality

33

Element

Earth

Source

Natural

Type

Material

Bonus Tags

[Circulative I]

The first item, Tabitha recognized from when Hanne demonstrated alchemy while making the numbing potion. The second item, it basically just looked like small chunks of woody roots in a pouch. Regardless, she said, “Menu, tags.”

System Menu

Sour I

Slightly increases sourness of an item.

Viscous II

Moderately increases the viscosity of an item.

Bitter I

Slightly increases the bitterness of an item.

Relaxing I

Provides a slightly relaxing effect when consumed.

Circulative I

Slightly improves blood circulation in the body when consumed.

“There really is a tag for everythin’, ain’t there? Well, with tags, I guess it’d be easy to make some super awesome health supplements and prove that they’re actually legitimate. Anyways, all into the pot!”

She tossed everything in and then made sure to use Analyze on the cloth pouch that held the last two items, though that only ended up being a generic, cloth pouch with nothing of note.

“Alright! I guess it’s time to start mixin’,” Tabitha said, taking her High Quality stick and using it to begin brewing the cauldron’s mixture in a circular motion.

Then, just like when she and Hanne did it before, the liquid began to swirl and glow which meant that it was time for Tabitha to pull her stick out from the pot to let it finish on its own.

Once the cauldron calmed down, what floated to the top was…

An incredibly thick, red paste that reminded Tabitha of toothpaste the color of blood. Despite its… strange appearance, she still stuck a finger down to touch it and use Analyze.

“Huh,” Tabitha said. “I uh, well, wasn’t really sure what to expect, but at least it turned into somethin’ useful, I think?”

At least Runa looked impressed, though she also realized that they needed a clean container to store the result in and a ladle to scoop it out with. “I’ll be right back! I’ll get what we need to store it!”

Runa was already out the door before Tabitha could stop her. That meant Tabitha was alone, so she couldn’t help but to pinch some of the paste off the top of the cauldron’s base to try it out herself since it seemed beneficial and edible.

Unfortunately, it turned out to taste as bad as it looked. “I think I should wait until I do cookin’ stuff before tastin’ things. Now, time to experiment with slime.”