Chapter 26: Crafting

The girl sits cross legged on the floor of their room, inside of the adventurer’s guild. Her cheeks are puffed out as her hands hold the mushroom-cap which she hadn’t finished shredding before her ‘fight’ with Jubilee during the last time that they were here. Her hands glow brightly as she focuses all of her attention onto the task before her. Fresh’s face is flush and happy though, as she thinks about how she can finally surprise Jubilee in a nice way. She smiles, humming as she works. Maybe this strange class is a good turn of fortune after all?

The orange-cap falls apart into a fine heap of powder, landing in with the rest of the, in comparison, very coarse mixture inside of the blue snail-shell. Looking up, Fresh looks at her menu which she had left open. Her soul-points however haven’t changed at all. Not since she had gotten her class and not even after using her abilities. They’re still the same strange combination of corrupted values. What does this mean, she wonders? Jubilee had said crafting abilities like this cost soul-points to use, that means that she has magic for sure. But… if her soul-points aren’t changing, then at what cost is she using her abilities?

STATUS: ???

CLASS: [WITCH]

- of the Black-Fountain

OBOLS: 06

SUB-CLASS: [CRAFTSMAN]

[INVENTORY]

Fresh shakes her head and sighs. But the sigh gives way to another new and even broader smile, as she stares at her handiwork laying before herself. Grabbing one of their other snail-shells, she pulls it towards herself. There’s nothing left to do now but to wait for Ju-

The door opens and she turns her head, listening to the sound of clinking glass. Jubilee walks in, carrying a small wooden crate, covered with a cloth. They shoot her a curious look. Fresh smiles. "I was just thinking about you!"

Jubilee stares at her for a second, but then just shakes their head. “I’m not used to forming glass like this, so they’re a little weird looking… But here they are,” explains Jubilee, apparently ignoring her comment. “Fresh out of the metaphorical oven but, you know these will break if you see a reflection, right?” says Jubilee, setting the box down next to her.

Fresh nods. “I saw that your glass does that in the dungeon. Why does it do that?

“It’s magic, don’t know what to tell you. Don’t worry about it,” says Jubilee

Fresh shrugs. “I have an idea about that though,” she says, closing her eyes and lifting a finger to wag it at Jubilee. “You look away too, okay?”

“Uh, sure. Whatever,” says Jubilee, shrugging indifferently and turning around. “Just don’t do anything weird.”

Fresh reaches into the box, keeping her eyes shut as her fingers grab one of the slim, but very rough, elongated glass chunks inside. Jubilee had made these with their glass-magic. Carefully, she pulls it out of the crate, covering it back up again with the cloth, still keeping her eyes closed as she focuses on her crafting ability.

“That should do it…” says Fresh quietly and warily opens a single eye. The girl holds her arm back and away from her face, in-case the magical-glass in her hand explodes. Peeking, she looks at the matte, crooked and misshapen glass cylinder that is held in her hand. Light vaguely bounds off of its rough surface, but not in any coherent fashion. Carefully, she spins it around in her fingers to see if any reflection could be made visible on the surface of the tube.

Nothing happens.

“…I think it worked…” mumbles Fresh. “JUBILEE! I THINK IT WORKED!” The girl leaps up in excitement, holding the chunk of glass out to Jubilee who tilts their head back around to look at it curiously. “Look! Loo- IAH!“ Pressing herself forward, Fresh stumbles over the snail-shell, knocking it over. The glass tube flies out of her hands and she flies down to the ground. It flies down to the floor by the door, shattering apart into a collection of tiny shards. She lands by Jubilee’s feet, still in one piece.

[FALL DAMAGE: 1] [5 HP remaining !]

“You okay?” asks a very tired voice from next to her.

Laughing meekly, Fresh lifts her face up off of the floor and looks at Jubilee, who is standing above her, gazing down with an expression that she isn’t quite able to discern. “It worked!”

Jubilee tilts their head and looks at the box. “Okay, I’ll admit. That was a surprisingly good idea for you to have.”

Fresh puffs out her cheek, feeling a little insulted at the insinuation and lets out a slight grumble, pushing herself back upright to sit cross-legged in front of Jubilee. She clenches her fists and looks up to their mask with excitement. “Jubilee! I have an idea!”

“You mentioned,” they say, looking around the bare room. “Do I even want to know?”

Fresh leans in towards them. “I got some new crafting abilities with my class! I think being a witch could actually be really useful!”

“How’s that?” asks Jubilee, sighing and walking back a few steps to win some personal space, fidgeting somewhat uncomfortably as Fresh moves closer towards them. Fresh narrows her eyes and stretches her hand outward, pressing her palm flat against the retreating Jubilee’s front, another grumble leaving her throat as she stares at her companion through her squinting eyes. Jubilee looks down at the hand touching them. “Do you mind?”

“I mind,” grumbles Fresh, letting go as she turns back to the box, a little indignant. “Did you get the pot and the charcoal too?”

“Yeah, it’s in there too, but that was just about the last of your money,” says Jubilee.

Fresh beams. “Thank you!” Closing her eyes she digs into the box again, grabbing hold of the metal pot filled with cold water and pulls it out. Setting it down, she covers the box back up once more.

“So?” asks the annoyed voice.

“So what?” asks Fresh, looking over her shoulder with a vacant expression.

“So what are you going to do with it, dumb-ass?” snaps Jubilee, rolling their eyes.

Fresh doesn’t respond, she simply turns back forward and starts humming, as she begins to mix the orange mushroom-powder into the water, using her new knife to stir the pot. Grabbing a piece of the charcoal from the box as well, she holds it above the orange-tinged water. “I was thinking -” says the girl as she works.

“- Oh boy,” interrupts Jubilee, who is quickly met with another narrowed glare and puffed out cheek in return.

Fresh continues, clearing her throat and raising her nose a little. “I was thinking. We wanted to make the processed mushroom-powder to sell to the alchemists, right?”

“Yeah?” says Jubilee.

The girl stirs the pot, mixing in the blackened-charcoal into the mushroom concoction. “Well, what if we just skip them too, just like the merchants?”

“Huh?” asks Jubilee, tilting their head.

Fresh raises her free hand, bits of charcoal dust crumble down to the floor around her. Reaching into the box, slipping her hand beneath the cloth, she grabs another one of the hollowed out glass chunks.

She then hollows it out, turning it into a long, tubular ‘cup’.

Pulling it out, she inspects it to make sure that it doesn’t break if her reflection shows on its surface. “I’ve been trying to make stuff by hand this whole time, but…” the girl closes her eyes tightly, thinking about the three new recipes that she had learned, when she had gotten her primary class.

“What’s with that face? Are you dying?” asks Jubilee sarcastically.

Fresh ignores them and dips the glass into the pot, wetting her hand a little but filling the tube with the vaguely brownish mixture, in which heaps of coarse, ashy particulate float. Her hands glow as she focuses. But this time not with the bright aura of the crafting spells. Rather with a dim, dull purple haze.

(Fresh) uses: [Witch-Crafting: Minor Antidote]

[Witch-crafting: 1]{Cold brewing}

Minor Antidote

+ Cures all minor ailments.

You are reading story Dungeon Item Shop at novel35.com

+ Removes all minor poisons.

- ???

- ???

A small antidote potion, contained inside of a rough glass container. Used to clear minor status effects inflicted by low-level monsters and traps.

Poor Quality

Side Effects Chance: + 30%

180 mL

Value: ??

The girl carefully opens her eyes and looks at the orange potion in her hands, entirely free of any floating substances or chunks. Though it does look a little darker than the ones at the shop. Beaming, she holds the wet glass ‘tube’ out to Jubilee. “What if we just make the potions ourselves too?!” asks the girl, excitedly, her eyes shining with pride.

Jubilee leans in forward, their hands on their hips as they look at the flask. “What the… where did you…?” Their eyes study the potion disbelievingly.

“It’s my class!” says Fresh, raising her free finger. “Real mushroom-picking, cauldron-stirrers, remember?” she laughs, spinning the finger through the air. Jubilee looks at her face, then down to the potion, then back to her again, as if they can’t process what they’re seeing.

“What the fuck…?”

“- Jubilee!” Fresh leans in towards them rather suddenly, causing them to jump back a step as her face rushes in theirs, her wide eyes shining as she presses herself uncomfortably close against Jubilee’s mask. “I have an idea!”

“How did you make that potion?” asks Jubilee, pushing her back once again and grabbing the potion at the same time. Spinning it around, they inspect it closely.

Fresh raises a finger, pulling herself back upright. “I have a magic-crafting recipe, thanks to my class. But the trick was to mix the mushroom-powder with charcoal!” exclaims Fresh proudly.

“Charcoal?” asks Jubilee, swirling the concoction around.

“Mm!” nods Fresh excitedly. “Charcoal binds poisons and toxins to itself, so the body can’t absorb them anymore!”

Jubilee looks at her then back to the potion. “You know things? Where did you learn about that?”

“Hmm…” thinks Fresh, placing a finger to her chin as she looks up at the ceiling. Her finger taps her chin several times as she thinks. Where did she learn that? The girl looks back to Jubilee and shrugs. “I think maybe it’s my class? Usually it’s a whole process if you want to make this stuff by hand, because you have to strain it and boil it several times. But if I use my witch-crafting recipes, I can just make it like that!”

“Huh…” says Jubilee, sounding pleasantly surprised. “So what’s the mushroom-powder for then?”

Fresh taps the side of her head. “For the great tangy flavor and a heavy dose of vitamins!” Jubilee stares at her, lost for words as Fresh grabs the potion back and downs it in a single chug. Letting out a satisfied sigh after she empties the rough glass vial.

A single tear leaves Fresh’s tightly shut eyes, as her fists grip themselves firmly together down in her lap, together with the empty glass. “Thank you, Mr. Mushroom…” she hisses through her clenched teeth, trying not to break down in front of Jubilee, as the wet crystal droplets fall from her eyes. “You really a-are d-delicious!”

Jubilee stares at her. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

The girl’s eyes shoot open wide, her gaze as if possessed, “JUBILEE! I HAVE AN IDEA!” She repeats once again, shooting forward towards her uneasy companion who can’t back off fast enough anymore. “Let’s make the potions ourselves! Forget the powder! Forget the secret-mixture! Let’s just do it all ourselves and sell them right to the adventurers! No middle-man, just you and me!”

Jubilee looks at her, unsure, their body language more than unsettled.

The girl goes on, her eyes still just as excited and wild. “We can start with the potions! Then, maybe, I’ll learn some new witch-crafting recipes, so I can process even more of the stuff you find! Maybe we can make all sorts of things and just sell them ourselves to the other adventurers! Like we said before, but different!” She grabs Jubilee’s gloved hands and pulls on them. “Pleeease?!”

Jubilee pulls their hands away and shakes them out, before letting out an uneasy groan and turning around. Fresh’s heart drops as Jubilee stands there quietly, their back turned around to her. They don’t saying anything for a time. Did she just mess up? Did she do something wrong? The girl looks around unsure, only to look back to see Jubilee walking towards the door to leave.

“W-wait!” stumbles out Fresh. “Don’t go!”

“Huh…? What?” Jubilee looks back to her, annoyed. “Fuck off. I’m going to check out what a merchant’s license costs,” they explain. “If we’re lucky, we’ll get a discount because we’re already adventurers.” Jubilee opens the door and looks back to her one last time before leaving. “See you later.”

Razmatazz

Trivia – Brewing beer and the Witch-Trials

In the historical past, since ancient Babylonia/Sumeria - 7000BC(!) - brewing beer was considered to be part of a woman’s day to day household tasks. In Sumeria for example, women regularly brewed beer for religious rituals to honor the literal goddess of beer ‚Ninkasi‘ who is said to have created the drink in order to foster peace between all men.

Beer itself had a highly revered image in society, to the point of being seen as holy or a gift from the gods. It wasn’t just a ‚fun‘ thing like it is today. Given hundreds of years of experimentation, this led to many generations of women learning significantly about plants, especially in regards to cooking or creating medicine. This is one of the many roots where the arche-type of the ‚forest-dwelling healing woman‘ stems from.

Later, during the 14-15th century, brewing left the closed household and was overtaken by professional artisans and brewers. Unable to own their own property or workshops, common women quickly became unable to outbrew the big players and the practice slowly left the domain of the average person.

Any woman who kept on brewing after that often used common household objects such as a cauldron. This is where we get the ‚witches cauldron‘ from. Funnily enough, this is also where the ‚flying broom‘ idea comes from as well. These ‚indie‘ brewing women would hang brooms above their doors in order to let customers know that they were open for business. Cats were commonly used to keep grain safe from mice, and most iconically of all – The famous pointed witches hat was worn when they went over the marketplaces. The iconic shape let them stand out from the crowds of other sellers. See how it’s all coming together now?

Things exploded though during the mid to late 1600‘s when the witch-trials began. Many of these traditional brewing women became vilified. While societal/power-structure reasons were a large factor, especially given the strong power of the church over society, a particularly large reason for the witch trials could possibly stem from the ‚Ergot‘ fungus. A fungal growth that commonly grows on the same grains used for brewing, that when ingested can cause severe (and heavily psychedelic) reactions. All of this came to a head by 1700 as of which there were next to no female brewers left in European society.

The tradition and symbolism however lives on, as you more than likely know! =)

Thank you kindly for reading!

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