Basic Potioncraft

Over those four days, aside from the necessities of eating, drinking, and relieving himself, he was like a tireless alchemical puppet, mechanically repeating the motions of grinding, boiling, and stirring.

By the end, the moment he caught that familiar mossy smell, his stomach would churn violently and make him want to vomit.

If not for [Hvergelmir's Boiling Surge], which had granted him monstrous stamina and extremely high resistance to negative conditions,

he would have dropped dead in front of the crucible on the second day.

Even so,

after finishing the last jar of ointment, his mental defenses finally collapsed, and he could only rely on sleep to let his body repair itself.

Fortunately, it had all been worth it.

Lance dragged the heavy money pouch out from under his bed, untied it, and tossed it upward with all his strength.

"Clatter—"

Silvery-white coins rained down, covering the entire bed.

To Lance, that crisp sound of metal striking metal was the most beautiful melody in the world.

After deducting all material and labor costs,

the net profit from those four days came to a total of 157 silver coins.

Looking at the mountain of silver coins on the bed, Lance broke into a wide grin.

Added to his previous savings, his total assets had officially surpassed one gold coin.

"I'm rich too!"

With a strange shout, Lance flung himself spread-eagled onto the pile of silver coins.

He had originally thought it would be some sort of ultimate pleasure.

But the next second, he scrambled back up with a grimace.

They were too hard.

The hard metal edges dug painfully into his ribs.

Rubbing his chest, Lance could not help grumbling that those dragons from legends who loved sleeping atop piles of gold coins and gems had to be thick-skinned masochists.

Or they were lying.

This was not comfortable at all.

As Lance gathered the silver coins back into their pouch, he looked around.

After several days of abuse, the walls and floor of the cramped attic had been thoroughly steeped in the fumes of potions, and the air was filled with a lingering, strange odor.

It was clearly no longer fit for human habitation.

It was time to find a new home.

Before looking for an agent, however, Lance habitually summoned the system panel.

Those days of frantic overwork had been painful, but they had also brought him some unexpected rewards.

Several new notifications appeared across his vision.

[After hundreds of repetitions of controlling the heat, stirring, skimming foam, and bottling, you can now complete the entire process with your eyes closed. You have independently comprehended the skill: Basic Potioncraft LV1]

[Basic Potioncraft proficiency +264]

[Basic Potioncraft LV2 (14/400), Perception +1]

[You continuously observed the fusion reactions of medicines at different temperatures for four days. Pharmacology knowledge +32]

[Pharmacology LV1 (41/1000)]

Lance raised an eyebrow in delight.

He had not expected such mechanical labor to let him comprehend a new skill and even raise his Perception.

This was truly an unexpected windfall.

The increase in Knowledge Experience was also within his expectations.

It seemed he had not suffered for nothing these past few days.

In high spirits, Lance quickly washed up, changed into clean clothes, and headed out.

As a transfer point for adventurers, Grayrock Town had an exceptionally developed property rental industry.

After all, countless newcomers brimming with dreams arrived every day, while countless old hands, heartbroken or wealthy, departed.

That high turnover had given rise to housing agency services similar to those from Lance's previous life.

He had found his previous two residences through such services.

Now that he had money, Lance's standards naturally rose as well.

It had to be more comfortable, more spacious, and have private rooms of its own.

After hearing Lance's requirements, the shrewd real estate agent took him to see two properties.

The first was near the Craftsmen's District.

It was a detached, single-story cottage built from wood and stone, with a fairly spacious living room and one bedroom. It even came with a separate backyard.

Most of the surrounding residents were blacksmiths or tanners. It was a little noisy during the day, but the neighbors were uncomplicated, and it was relatively quiet at night.

The rent was 10 silver coins a month.

That was more than twice as expensive as his current attic, but still within an acceptable range.

The second property stood on the edge of Merchants' Square.

It was an exquisite two-story residence. The first floor had a spacious living room and a fully equipped kitchen, while the second floor had two separate bedrooms.

It also had a small backyard.

What tempted Lance most was the dry, well-ventilated little cellar that came with the house, which was perfect for storing herbs and miscellaneous items.

Its location was excellent as well.

It was only a few streets from Flora's residence, and Morwenna's potion shop was just a five-minute walk away.

The spacious living room could even accommodate future gatherings with friends.

Of course, the price was equally eye-watering.

The monthly rent was as high as 18 silver coins.

Standing on the second-floor balcony and looking at the bustling Merchants' Square in the distance, Lance did some calculations in his head.

Although 18 silver coins sounded expensive, at his current rate of earnings, it would account for only around ten percent of his monthly income.

It was entirely within a reasonable spending range.

Besides, since he had decided to make potions long-term, he truly needed a separate room as a workshop so he would not end up steeped in odors like this again.

The cellar was an even more essential necessity.

"This is the one."

Lance made his decision.

Since he did not have much valuable luggage, Lance completed the move that very afternoon.

However, when checking out, he still paid the original landlord 4 silver coins for cleaning with a pained heart.

After all, he had turned the man's perfectly good attic into a gas chamber. That compensation was only fair.

On the night of his move,

the two-story house at the edge of Merchants' Square welcomed its first lively visitors.

To celebrate the housewarming, Lance spared no expense.

Not only had he spent lavishly sweeping up fresh premium ingredients from the market, he had also made a special trip to the Craftsmen's District and paid a blacksmith to urgently forge him a professional iron rack.

That was right.

He was planning to recreate a backyard barbecue party in another world.

The setting sun's afterglow filled the backyard, while charcoal crackled beneath the grill.

As the young mistress of The Boar and Rose, Amber naturally did not arrive empty-handed.

Like a porter, she strode in casually carrying two barrels of her family's brewed rye beer, along with several sets of card and board games popular in this world.

As for Nia and Flora, the two girls had achieved the highest realm of freeloading, bringing only two mouths for eating.

"Leave it to me! I can grill!"

Nia eagerly seized the prime position at the grill.

However, only ten minutes later,

Lance and Amber exchanged a look and helplessly shook their heads as they stared at the few pieces of grilled meat on the plate, black as charcoal and giving off a bitter burnt smell.

"Enough, young lady. Go wait on the side and eat."

Amber snatched the grilling tongs away and skillfully took over the battlefield.