Item Type: Rage Potion Rarity: Magical Quality: Above Average Description: A potion that puts fire in your veins and feeds on your rage. The angrier you get the more effective this potion becomes.

Minimum Effect: +10% Power (Physical attacks only)

Maximum Effect: +150% Power (Physical attacks only)

Thomas looked over the effect of the potion and smiled. It was an excellent potion with a rather unique aspect to it. He wasn't sure how the game would judge 'anger' exactly but since it was percentage-based that meant it was useful at all levels of play. It just became more and more powerful as the player consuming it became more powerful. If the player was pissed off before taking it then it would become even more effective. If he could be angry enough to just get a fifty percent bonus it would amplify his Power to nearly two hundred. If he, somehow, got it to a hundred or a hundred and fifty percent then his Power would probably be top tier among players.

The reliance on his mood made it a somewhat iffy option for use as a trump card though. The whole point in making it was getting to legitimately use the transmutation circles. Now that he had, he was confident that he could replicate what they had done on his own by using his Transmutation innate ability. With his goal accomplished, he cleaned up his work station, thanked the old lady who had been watching him like a hawk, and left the Alchemy shop. He'd only spent half an hour of the one hour time-limit but didn't bother asking for a refund. He'd definitely profited from this.

With a large number of ingredients and supplies on hand, along with the new transmutation methods, he had plenty he would be able to do on the ship to help pass the travel time. Still, he went to any shop that caught his attention and purchased a few things here and there that caught his interest and might be useful. He also took the time to stop at the bank and take out his portable alchemy kit. It seemed like a no-brainer since he intended to spend the majority of his time working on that aspect of his profession. At the same time, he took out a bit more gold. Who knew that he'd blow through nearly a hundred thousand gold so fast? He added another fifty thousand to his inventory.

He looked through his collection and smiled to himself. He had plenty to entertain himself with on the trip now. The two of them enjoyed a decent dinner and made their way back to their ship. Once onboard they were led to their cabin and settled down. Snowlily made herself comfortable on the bunk while Thomas sat on it with his back against the wall. They had an interior room so sadly there was no porthole to look out of. Once he was comfortable he activated his 'All Seeing Eyes', using the gloomy room as an excuse to train the ability, while pulling a book out of his inventory.

He pulled out a different book on alchemy that discussed more of the philosophy of alchemy instead of pure technicalities and recipes. Following just the recipes that existed within Alchemy was an acceptable option for most people, but not Thomas. He would follow the recipe if it made something that he specifically wanted, no point in reinventing the wheel. However, like all his other professions, he liked to experiment and make his own unique items. The only way to do that properly was to learn about alchemy ingredients and their unique properties. This was a monumental task as just about everything that existed could potentially be used in alchemy.

On top of all of the ingredients, there were different methodologies and schools of thought on how alchemy should be performed. Some eschewed the purely chemistry-based method. Instead of using things like transmutation circles and mana to produce the potion, chemistry methodology worked just like chemistry in the real world. Boiling, distilling, extracting all done using beakers, test tubes, and other glassware being heated and cooled to produce different results. Honestly, it was a valid method but took too much work to fit his tastes. Given a choice between a thorny path and a smooth road leading to the same destination, most people would choose the latter just like him.

The second method was the 'ancient' method. This method was all about salves and poultices. Roughly grinding herbs and other materials together and smearing them over wounds, or brewing them into disgusting teas. These were usually rougher and not as effective as specialized medicines and potions but they did work. This particular method was too old fashioned, inefficient, and generally disgusting to be pursued by anyone not going for a 'tribal' feel to their character.

The final methodology was the one Thomas had been taught and would continue to use. It used a lot of magic and transmutation but produced the most effective and fast action potions. This was all important to know because the method he planned to use to create his potions would directly affect the way he needed to treat his ingredients. With the Rage Potion, if he'd made it the 'ancient' way he would have used the entirety of the leaves after just grinding them as much as he could by hand. The resulting potion would have worked, maybe, but it would have been nowhere near as effective. Using the chemistry approach could have potentially yielded and even more potent potion by enhancing the effects through things like distillation. It just would have taken him hours, instead of half an hour, to make the potion.

Thomas was going to stick with the middle-ground and was using that as his basis for his studies. By the time he finished reading a fair portion of the book, it was past midnight and pitch black outside and inside of his room. He closed the book and lay down to get some sleep. He'd learned a lot and was definitely going to learn more. He just needed to rest his eyes for a bit.

The next day, Thomas spent almost the entire day doing nothing but reading. He read a thick book on blacksmithing, a different volume from the previous one. It gave much of the same information and provided him with a few new insights. Still, it was comforting to read a second source that stated similar techniques and methods. The more common something is the more 'right' it was likely to be. With two sources giving him the same information he knew he was going to walk the right path on blacksmithing from this point on.

The day went by pretty fast. A few hours before lunch the final shipment for the ship arrived and it left the port. Thomas and Snowlily ate their first lunch and dinner aboard the ship. The galley was pretty big a fit half the crew, they ate in shifts. Passengers could eat at either the first or second meal, their choice. The food was rather good in Thomas's opinion, which wasn't shared by everyone. He still had no idea why monster meat was so much tastier to him, it just was and he accepted that. An average meal for locals was pretty damned tasty to him and he could live with that!

Once dinner was over and they were back in their room, Thomas continued to read while Snowlily lazed about in a bored manner. There wasn't much... anything to do for either of them on the ship while it was sailing. They could go out and look at the ocean but that would get pretty boring pretty quickly. Who wanted to spend two weeks just staring at blue water? What, the off chance of seeing a sea creature? Better to spend the time with his nose in a book. On the bright side, the lack of needing to have 'facilities' on hand with Snowlily around was pretty nice.

Once night fell, Thomas started pulling various preserved foods out of his inventory and setting them out for Snowlily. He didn't skip on setting out a small tub filled with water either. Once he felt there was a couple of days worth of food and water out for her he got into the bed with her and lay down, "Snowlily, I'm probably going to spend the entire day tomorrow asleep. Don't worry, nothing bad will happen and I've set out food for you to eat and water for you to drink."

Snowlily looked confused at what he was saying. If he could he'd have just told her the truth but that was strictly forbidden. Even if she was a wolf right now there was a good chance she would have a human form in the future. Regardless, she was clearly intelligent and he simply didn't feel like getting banned to explain things to her. This was the best he could do and she might as well get used to it, he'd have to do it plenty in the future too. Logging out was a necessity for players and not something they could just ignore. It made him wonder how less active players would be able to deal with their Soul Companions. He was thankful for his lack of a real life so he could spend time with her and not leave her abandoned and alone for days at a time.

He stopped thinking about it and lay down. With a thought, he logged out of AoG.

The pod in Darren's gaming room opened and he climbed out looking ragged. He ran a hand over his face and felt how scruffy his face had become. He hadn't taken a proper full day-long break since he'd found Snowlily and he was in desperate need of it. As much as he loved playing games, even he had to stop and relax, really relax, at some point. Besides, he'd spent the last few game days cramming his brain with knowledge like he was cramming for a final exam. It was worth it though.

He stretched slowly and exhaled. Thanks to the pod he didn't experience any muscle atrophy or soreness. He was also relatively clean, but his hair still felt a bit stringy and greasy, it was in need of a good wash. That was his first stop. He wandered over to his bathroom to shower and shave, relaxing in the hot water for a good thirty minutes before he felt human again. His shower spell was nice and convenient, he'd even got better at controlling it, but it still had nothing on a real shower.

Once he felt human he made his way into the kitchen to prepare himself something to eat. He opened the fridge for just a moment before slamming it closed with a grimace. Food preservation technology had advanced greatly, but even his top-of-the-line refrigerator couldn't preserve food for as long as he had been inside of AoG. Almost all of the food in the fridge had gone bad from nearly two weeks of neglect. As he went to get a garbage bag to clean out the fridge his stomach growled in protest.

The pod gave plenty of nutrients to keep the human body healthy during long gaming sessions. It did not fill his stomach though and his stomach was demanding something be put inside of it immediately. Darren sighed and dropped the garbage bag on the floor to instead grab his keys. Cleaning the fridge could wait, food first. Darren left his apartment and drove to a nearby restaurant to enjoy a much-needed meal. He hadn't paid much attention recently to what time it was and just randomly chose to log out, luckily it was the middle of the day so he didn't have to settle for cheap fast food.

After his meal, he returned home to clean out his fridge and change into his gym clothes. He was paying for the damned membership and he was going to use it! He worked out at the gym for about an hour and by the time he was finished he was drenched in sweat and sore all over. He was still out of shape and the few visits to the gym that he had managed to do hadn't really changed all that much for him. He decided to log out more often and work on his real body a bit more. He felt a little bad as it would mean leaving Snowlily on her own more often but she was a smart cookie and could take care of herself as long as he left her with supplies. Hell, when she was stronger, and they were on land, she could probably hunt down food and water herself while he was logged out.

After another exceedingly long shower, he sat down in front of his computer terminal and flipped it on. As it booted up he grinned to himself. He had a few things he wanted to do on the forums this time and he intended to take full advantage of them to do even more research. He'd ignored them for now because he felt that experiencing everything for himself, even his mistakes, was the only way to grow and learn properly. People who had everything handed to them never seemed to grow into proper self-sufficient individuals. However, it had now been months inside of the game and he was going to be on the ocean for nearly a month alone. Now was an excellent time to stroll around the forums and learn what he could, especially if it concerned where he was heading!