Work Smart Not Hard

Seeing as we arrived at our new home well after noon had crossed into the evening and Alex was still rather panicked, I did my best to convince him to relax and take the rest of the day to go over our plan of action for the following month.

He eventually relented and went into his barn area on the western side of the house while I went to the workshop to the east.

I picked up a book titled [Herb Catalogue: Mountain And Sea Classics Vol. 1].

[Title: Botany Incarnate effect triggered.]

"Now… I could read this book," I snickered as I checked my status on my Soul Mirror and saw the name of a Skill begin manifesting, "or, I could just do this."

[New Skill Alert!

Name: Plant Magic: Plant Identification

Description: Grants the ability to instantaneously absorb all forms of knowledge stored on plant-based constructs; i.e. books, scrolls, or plants themselves.]

The use of the skill came to me intuitively; after all, I was the one who designed it. So, in the span of two seconds, I went from having an unread book in my hand to being able to recite all of its contents from memory.

'Thank you Creation Hub,' I sent a silent prayer to the televised show that gave me the inspiration to make the [Plant Identification] Skill. Had I not occasionally sat through hours of that show's content so many times late at night in my past life, I'd never have known that paper was made of chemically processed cellulose from plants and trees.

Ten minutes passed as I went around the room and pillaged knowledge from all the books in the workshop before I ran out of new things to learn. The drain on my Magic was so low it was laughable.

'God, this is such an overpowered ability...' I grinned. The very first Skill I had created was so damn useful, I had to sit down to calm myself before deciding what to do next.

Eventually, after I deemed myself calm enough to press forward, I took a second to review all the information I had learned from the books in the workshop.

[Soul Mirror Status:

…

Skills:

Name: Plant Magic: Plant Identification

Integrated Knowledge:

-Herb Catalogue: Mountain And Sea Classic (Vol. 1-3)

-Plant Copedium: Gymno-Angio Trees and Spirit Fruits (Complete)

-Alchemical Techniques And Concepts (Complete)

-Pills And Potions: The Bread And Butter Of Alchemy (Complete)]

I looked around the workshop and as I caught sight of a burlap sack labeled "Practice Fodder," I felt a twinkle of insanity spark in my eyes. I opened the sack and pulled out an array of nicely sealed transparent bags labeled with herbs and plants that I could now recognize immediately.

As I opened one of the bags, a distinctly clinical scent hit me, and as I pick up a sample—

[Skill: Plant Identification triggered.]

[Appraised Status:

Name: Magi Grass

Cultivar: True Magi Grass (87%), Red Dawn Lotus (8%), Halfling Bud (3%), ...

Quality: Inert

Description: This is an abundantly common grass that can be found just about anywhere life can grow. Its Purity and Quality make it suitable as fodder for beginner alchemists to practice creating Lowest Class Pills of the worst quality.]

"Well that's… more useful than I imagined," I mused to myself as I dumped the sample back into its appropriate transparent bag.

"Now, I just need—"

[Title: Botany Incarnate effect triggered.]

[New Skills Alert!

New Branching Transcendence Path Unlocked!

Titles:

Name: Novice Wood Mage

Grade: F

Effect: Wood-type Spells are 5% easier to learn or improve, and 10% more cost-efficient.

Creed Effect Override: Wood-type Spells are 25% more potent.

Skills:

Name: Wood Magic: Wood Flame

Grade: F

Description: Conjures a phantom flame from Wood-type Magic; the perfect beginner flame for alchemical processes.]

"Nice," I hummed to myself as a translucent green flame hovered harmlessly over my right palm.

What wasn't nice, though, was the horrifying drain sustaining a flame like the one I conjured turned out to be. Forget attempting Alchemy, I couldn't even hold a small ember's worth of the fire for longer than three minutes.

Fortunately, it seemed the fault lay not with the cost of using the Skill itself. Rather, I just had abysmally low Magic reserves, which restored themselves rather quickly.

Since I had nothing else to do, I simply practiced using the Skill over and over again until my Magic Reserves were drained and restored. The process was similar to building muscle as my limits were pushed, both in performing the Skill and cycling through my Magic Reserves to failure. As time passed, my Magic Reserves grew larger and with greater potency, while at the same time I found it easier to not waste as much Magic on manipulating my [Wood Flames].

After draining my Magic to hold a [Wood Flame] for three minutes the first time, I only had to wait five minutes for my Magic Reserves to fully recharge. The second time I practiced the Skill, not only had the [Wood Flame] sprouted just a tad larger and brighter, but I found that I could sustain it for ten additional seconds.

So… A couple hours passed as I sunk into a routine. With my left hand, I would practice my Magic, while during the downtime of waiting for my magic to recharge, I started writing my plans for the next month on a blank composition notebook I picked out from the bookshelves.

Evidently, the skill of autonomously grinding mundane tasks over and over again as a lifelong "video game enjoyer" that I'd picked up in my previous life was serving me well. It worked a little too well it seems, as I fell asleep late into the night the moment I opted to take a break from writing to close my eyes.

...

"Quarth… Quarth. Wake up, Quarth," Alex's voice registered along with the feeling of his hands gently shaking me awake.

"Hmm? Oh, thanks for the wake-up call," I said as I deduced what probably happened.

"It'd be bad if I just let you sleep through the whole day." Alex shivered, "With all the work we have to do, we can't afford to burn any daylight."

"I… I wouldn't be so worried," I chuckled as I picked up the notebook I'd been writing in and offered it to Alex.

"Y-you're giving me this?" Alex took the notebook hesitantly.

"I think I've figured out a way for us to just get through the month, but for the plan to work, I need you to cultivate a couple ingredients for me."

"Uh… I don't really understand," Alex admitted.

"It'd be a waste of time for me to explain what I've already written down for you, so… Please, just start getting to work."

Fortunately, Alex just shrugged his shoulders and started walking away without pressing for more information. Though, before he left the room, I said, "Oh, and as a head's up, start thinking about whether you prefer drinking medicine or swallowing pills."

He just looked at me oddly before leaving and closing the door.