Chapter 23: Intermediate Alchemy
[You chose option one.]
[You have acquired the skill: Mozambique Drill (Basic)]
[You have acquired the skill: CAR Shooting Technique (Intermediate)]
[You have acquired the life skill: Precision Machinery Manufacturing (Expert)]
[Mozambique Drill (Basic): A close-quarters combat technique involving two rapid shots to the torso, followed by a single, precise shot to the head.]
[CAR Shooting Technique (Intermediate): Increases your Agility by 1. This unique shooting style blends melee and ranged attacks, significantly boosting your combat effectiveness.]
[Precision Machinery Manufacturing (Expert): Your understanding of precision machinery is second to none.]
"This will do," Zhou Ning said, relieved.
In Apocalypse, you could never have too many skills. Not only were most of them useful on their own, but they were also part of a special system: skill fusion.
Players could consume experience points to fuse two or more skills of Intermediate level or higher into a new, Basic-level skill. The process wasn't guaranteed to succeed; the initial success rate was 60%, increasing with the level of the skills being fused. Fusing two Advanced skills, for example, was almost a sure thing, whereas two Intermediate skills had a 40% chance of failure.
A successful fusion didn't always result in a powerful new skill, but it would always combine the characteristics of its components. Even if the result was underwhelming, you could always try again. The original skills weren't consumed in the process, though their proficiency would reset to zero.
For example, there was a skill combination that was practically mandatory for Warrior players back in the day. The Warrior class had a combat skill called [Slash]. When fused with the general skill [Dodge], it created the new skill [Dodge Slash]—a truly powerful ability that combined offense and defense.
Zhou Ning was very interested in the universal [Dodge] skill, but its prerequisite was 10 Agility. When he first arrived in this world, his Agility was only 8, but he had now met the requirement.
This was one of Apocalypse's most compelling features. With enough experience, you could create countless new skills. If you developed a cohesive enough set, you could even establish a brand-new class through an NPC.
But in his past life, even after the game had been out for four years, no one had managed to do it.
That was Zhou Ning's goal.
This body has zero affinity for the Force and zero for the arcane, so I can't be a Warrior or a Mage, he thought. I might as well create a new class and be its first practitioner.
His mind was already racing. He'd provisionally call it the Wandering Gunner.
A class that uses firearms as its primary weapon, incorporates both mysticism and mechanics, and excels at fighting dark creatures. And most importantly, it has to look cool—all the better for exploiting the players.
The game panel updated again.
Name: Zhou Ning / Wayne Stewell
Race: Human
Template: NPC [Countdown to Closed Beta: 47 days, 12 hours, 22 minutes]
Level: 2
Class: Student / Teaching Assistant [1/10]
Secondary Class: Linguist [2/10]
Force Affinity: 0
Arcane Affinity: 0
Talent: Tony Stark (Purple)
Attributes: Strength 10, Agility 13, Stamina 8, Willpower 9, Spirit 9, Charm 99
Health: 80/80
Stamina: 96/96
Willpower: 9/9
Mana: 0
Life Skills: Alchemy (Basic), Mysticism (Intermediate), Precision Machinery (Expert), Gambling (Advanced)
General Skills: English Proficiency (Expert), Pickpocketing (Intermediate), Marksmanship (Advanced), Pickup Artistry (Expert), Ripple Breathing (Basic), Mozambique Drill (Basic), CAR Shooting Technique (Intermediate).
(The rest is omitted for now.)
In his quest log, the hidden quest [A Scholar's Life] now showed progress of 523/1000. Seems I did a lot of reading in the previous world.
The rewards had been substantial. Zhou Ning contentedly opened a book he'd borrowed from the library. Learning really is a joy.
The book was titled Equivalent Exchange: The Origin and Development of Alchemy, written by an obscure alchemist named Tom Chambers. Its pages were filled with dry alchemical theory, obscure terminology, and esoteric illustrations. Zhou Ning read it patiently and carefully. After about thirty seconds, a notification popped up on his panel.
[You are studying alchemy. Due to your Willpower, your proficiency has increased by 2. (Extreme Calmness +0.2)]
[You are studying alchemy. Due to your Willpower, your proficiency has increased by 3. (Extreme Calmness +0.3)]
[You have learned a new alchemy formula.]
It's just like the game, Zhou Ning thought with delight. He calmed his mind and began turning the pages one by one.
By the time he finished the 150-page book, his proficiency had increased by nearly 200 points. So, he picked up a second book. By the time he had read through the entire stack he'd brought with him, his Basic Alchemy was nearly halfway to the next level.
He also comprehended two new recipes: a basic strength potion that increased attack power and a basic stoneskin potion that increased defense.
Just then, someone knocked on his door.
Probably John, he thought. Without bothering to grab a coat, Zhou Ning went to open it.
Standing outside, however, was a pretty girl with brown hair and light brown eyes. She looked to be in her late teens and was wearing a Braxton-style skirt. Her legs were so long that the skirt seemed a bit short on her, revealing a pair of pale, straight limbs that made him look twice.
So, this is her... the future players' 'number two waifu,' the alchemy prodigy Rosie Lily. The reason she earned that title was simple: she was beautiful and had incredible legs. After all, who didn't love a cute girl with long legs?
From what he could recall, he and this girl shared the same advisor, Professor Weasley, but they hadn't interacted much. She was quite shy. Though she usually maintained a serious expression, whenever she saw him, she would blush and dart away like a startled deer.
"Ah...!"
Rosie Lily gasped, covering her mouth as she took in the shirtless Zhou Ning. True to form, she immediately lowered her head, nervously fiddling with the hem of her clothes as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Senior Wayne, could you... could you put on a shirt, please?"
Zhou Ning didn't tease her. He pulled on a shirt while asking, "What can I do for you?"
Getting back to business, Rosie rubbed her cheeks, put on a serious expression, and adopted Professor Weasley's tone. "Professor Weasley asked me to inform you that you are free to brew whatever potions you like, but you are not to make any more healing potions. Also, you'll be in charge of orientation in four days."
The impression is actually pretty good, Zhou Ning thought, amused. He nodded. "Understood. Is there anything else?"
"Um... would you like a red bean cake?" Rosie blurted out, subconsciously pulling one from her pocket.
"Sure." Zhou Ning took the cake from her. It was still warm.
"..."
Rosie snapped back to reality, her head drooping in embarrassment. She had a habit of eating when she was nervous—the more anxious she got, the more she ate. She'd just blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.
After seeing Rosie off, Zhou Ning smiled and shook his head. The girl was actually quite cute.
For the next two days, Zhou Ning fell into a simple routine, moving between the Alchemy Building, the library, and his apartment. Though his memories were still fragmented, he was gradually piecing together his predecessor's social life. His best friend was his roommate, John. He was also on good terms with a heavyset guy named Fred in the next dorm. Just as I thought, he mused. Every protagonist needs a fat friend.
Zhou Ning didn't brew as many potions as he had on the first day. That day, he had made a basic mana potion and a basic strength potion. The next, he made a few more mana potions and a basic stoneskin potion. By noon on the third day, his alchemy skill finally leveled up, triggering the long-awaited panel notification.
[Your proficiency has reached 100%. Alchemy has reached the Intermediate level.]
[Secondary Class Acquired: Alchemy Apprentice! Willpower +1. You have gained 1 free attribute point.]
[New Skills Mastered: Potion Mixing, Item Refining, Transformation.]
[New Recipes Mastered: Intermediate Healing Potion, Intermediate Mana Potion, Transmute Gold to Iron.]
The real prize for reaching Intermediate Alchemy wasn't these three somewhat useless new recipes; it was finally meeting the prerequisite to learn a god-tier alchemy formula.
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