Unlocking the Research Feature

Flora stood with her hands behind her back, tilting her head up slightly as she looked at him, two signature dimples appearing on her face.

"It contains some very basic potionmaking techniques. Once you learn them, you can make quite a bit of extra money."

They had all seen how hard Lance had been working during that time.

Seeing the sincerity in the girl's eyes, Lance felt a warmth spread through his heart.

"Thank you."

His thanks came from the bottom of his heart.

The two carried their chosen books to the counter to pay.

However, when the old gentleman named the price, Lance's relaxed expression instantly froze.

The three books were priced exorbitantly, each one costing between two and four silver coins.

Lance quickly did the math in his head.

This stack of paper cost more than the iron-plated leather armor he was wearing.

No wonder this rundown bookstore was usually deserted. This was not selling books—it was daylight robbery.

He awkwardly touched his coin purse.

The joy of having just made a windfall vanished without a trace. Even counting every coin he had, he could only afford one of the books.

Just as he hesitated over which two to return, a pale little hand reached out.

Several shining silver coins were gently placed on the counter.

"Let's pay for them together."

Flora's voice was soft, but to Lance, it sounded as sweet as a goddess descending from heaven.

In the end, with Flora's support, Lance successfully brought all three weighty volumes of knowledge home.

When they left the bookstore, Lance patted his chest and promised that he would repay her as soon as he made some money.

Flora, however, did not seem to care much. She merely smiled and waved goodbye before hurrying back to help at the potion shop.

Over the following days, until the next rest day arrived,

Lance's life returned to its usual calm routine.

During the day, he worked as the low-key copyist at the Adventurers' Guild. At night, he gathered with the girls at their usual spot to play Three Dragon Cards.

He spent the rest of his spare time devouring the books he had bought at such great expense.

Hard work paid off.

Before long, an entry for botany appeared on the system panel.

But to Lance's surprise, it did not appear under the [Skills] tab. Instead, it opened an entirely new category of its own.

Knowledge: Botany LV1 (2/1000)

This was a completely new section.

Compared with skills, knowledge was clearly much harder to improve. The experience required for each level alone had increased severalfold.

Lance tried putting the 10 points of [Knowledge Experience] he had received from the earlier quest into botany.

The instant the experience was infused, a wondrous sensation surged into his mind.

It was not merely the implantation of memories.

He felt as though the isolated fragments of knowledge in his mind had come alive, growing countless fine tendrils that stretched toward unknown realms.

For instance, the book described a kind of "Cup Mushroom" that grew in Copper Creek Forest.

Originally, he only knew that it was nonpoisonous, crisp in texture, and suitable as emergency food in the wilderness.

Yet through the extension of his knowledge, a new realization suddenly came to him.

The structure of this mushroom's cap was unique, allowing it to filter dew and store it in the center of the cap.

In an emergency where water was scarce, it could be used directly as a source of fresh drinking water.

This knowledge had not been stuffed into his head out of nowhere. It was a logical deduction and extension built upon what he already knew, which was incredibly miraculous.

Moreover, this growth was exceptionally stable, becoming completely ingrained as Lance's own instinct.

If he continued filling it with Knowledge Experience over the long term, Lance felt that he would soon surpass those so-called veteran scholars in the breadth of his knowledge.

At the very least, neither the Copper Creek Herbal and Mineral Guide in his hands nor the potionmaking book Flora had recommended mentioned that Cup Mushrooms could store water.

That did not mean this fact was especially rare.

Rather, the authors had been limited by length or focus and had not included it.

Yet the knowledge granted by the system could fill in those overlooked details.

As the knowledge section opened, a new functional module was unlocked beneath the panel.

[Research]

Seeing this interface, Lance could not help raising an eyebrow.

This feature had also existed in the original game.

In the game, the research section had two main branches.

One was Biological Research.

At the time, veteran players had exploited this feature to its fullest extent.

By conducting in-depth research on a specific species, one could not only increase the damage dealt to that species.

As for what kind of "damage" that referred to, those who knew, knew.

On the other hand, researching different types of demi-humans could grant special physical bonuses, making it easier to defeat them.

Lance remembered clearly that, in order to unlock a special interaction scene called Deep-Sea Kiss,

he had specifically spent a great deal of time researching aquatic monsters. In the end, he successfully acquired the Underwater Breathing ability from a certain type of merman, allowing him to dive beneath the sea.

Now, it seemed that this feature had also been perfectly adapted to the real world.

However, the Biological Research tab was currently completely empty.

He would probably have to truly encounter living species other than humans before related projects could be unlocked.

Meanwhile, under the [Potion Research] tab, the first project had already appeared.

[Hemostatic Ointment (Improvement in Progress)]

This was the simplest formula recorded in the Basic Botany and Simple Potionmaking book he had just read.

He had not expected it to enter Potion Research directly.

This medicine was a common staple in adventurers' packs, with a small jar selling for more than twenty copper coins.

Its main ingredient was a low-tier plant called Blood-Clotting Moss.

The first research task given by the system was remarkably straightforward:

Objective: Personally collect and dry 30 ounces of Blood-Clotting Moss powder.

In this world's units of measurement, one ounce was roughly equivalent to the weight of a kingdom gold coin, or around twenty-eight grams.

Thirty ounces of powder meant nearly one kilogram of finished product.

Considering the losses during drying, he would need to gather a large quantity of raw materials.

Fortunately, Blood-Clotting Moss was not particularly rare in the forest. Lance planned to grab some whenever he accepted another quest.

What truly attracted Lance was the expected reward upon completing the task.

Effect: Coagulates blood from small to medium lacerations at medium speed (+), forming a protective medicinal film with a slight anti-infection effect (+).

The Hemostatic Ointment made by others only worked at normal speed, and it did not have that added anti-infection effect.

Although he did not know exactly how much faster "medium speed (+)" was compared with the ordinary products on the market,

that additional anti-infection attribute was unquestionably a lifesaving godsend.

When injured in the wilderness, bleeding was not the greatest fear. The real danger was a wound becoming infected, causing fever and complications.

Once this formula was successfully researched,

the Hemostatic Ointment Lance made in the future would utterly outclass everyone else's products.

Nothing was more profitable than mastering core technology.