After Runa returned with some clean jars, vials, and a ladle, Tabitha scooped the paste out into one of the clean jars and got to work on the second of their alchemical experiments.

“Alright, Runa, let me use ya as a board to bounce some ideas off, even if you’re anythin’ but a board,” Tabitha said.

Runa tilted her head and asked, “What do you mean by that?”

Tabitha took a quick glance at Runa’s chest and then looked back up at her. “Never mind. Anyways, I’m gonna bounce some ideas off of ya. All ya really have to do is stand there and let me ramble without feelin’ like I’m talkin’ to myself. But if ya have anythin’ to say or add, feel free to interrupt me at any time.”

“I’m still confused about the board part… but alright!”

“Thanks. Now, here’s what I’m thinkin’. What I want to do is—wait. I can already try out what I want to do. I was gonna say that I want to make some simple mixture of things and then try addin’ that to slime to see if the slime will get infused with it. Since I’ve got this paste here, I can try it out with that. Just gotta mix the paste into the slime. Wonder if that’ll work. If it don’t work, then I’ll have to look into addin’ slime to the cauldron to see what’ll happen. Right. Good job, Runa.”

“What—what did I do?”

“Ya stood there. That’s all I need ya to do, and ya did it perfectly. So, good job!”

“O-oh! Alright! I’m glad to… be of help?”

Tabitha nodded and took the empty bucket that Runa used to bring water for cauldron to pour a jar of slime into it. Once the slime was sitting in the bottom of the bucket, Tabitha took the paste she just recently finished pouring into a clean jar and scooped it out into the slime.

Next was using Analyze.

There was no change to the slime nor the paste at first. The paste just sort of sat atop the slime and they remained separate items.

So, Tabitha took her stick and tried her best to mix them together.

The paste ended up getting spread all throughout the slime, but it didn’t quite look like it was getting mixed into the slime. It was more like… the paste was just sitting inside pockets surrounded by slime rather than actually getting blended into it.

And surely enough, when Tabitha used Analyze on it again, they were still separate items. Tabitha was even able to easily separate them since all she had to do was pick up the goopy slime which was viscous enough to stick together and get lifted up together, allowing the paste to seep down through it until it fell out of the slime.

“Alright. So, that didn’t work,” Tabitha said. “That means my original hope won’t work. What I wanted to do was make a super deadly combo poison, mix it into slime, and then add water to the slime to harden it, and use it to make the spearhead for my spider slayin’ spear. But it seems like just tryin’ to mix any substance into the slime isn’t gonna change it. Now, maybe if the mixture is more liquid, it might… or. Good job, Runa.”

“Di-did I do something?” Runa asked.

“Yeah, ya kept standin’ there. Good work!”

Runa giggled and wagged her tail. While she might not have felt like she deserved any praise for just standing there, she wasn’t about to reject any. Especially if it was coming from Tabitha.

“Now, what I’m gonna try next is mixin’ the paste and slime together. In the cauldron, I mean.”

So, with the cauldron ready, Tabitha dropped the slime into it and then added the paste. Once again, she mixed it all up with her stick and, this time, felt that bonus to her movements from her Dexterity kick in unlike when she just tried mixing them together in the bucket.

A few moments later and she had exactly what she was hoping for.

Item Information

Name

Bloody Slime

Slime that has absorbed so much blood that it has became more like slimy blood than regular slime.

Rarity

D

Quality

47

Element

Nature

Source

Crafted

Type

Medical

Bonus Tags

[Relaxing I]

[Sour I]

[Circulative I]

[Viscous II]

“The quality went down from the slime a bit, but—oi, what happened to that durability tag?!” Tabitha shouted.

Unfortunately, Joseph wasn’t there to answer any questions since he apparently went to the town’s local woodworker for making the poles, but there was still somebody who could probably answer Tabitha’s question.

“Menu! What gives?!”

System Menu

When using a crafted item to make another crafted item, there is a chance to lose tags in the process. Every step away from the original crafted item will have greater risk of losing tags. The rarer the tag, the more likely it is to be lost.

“Oh, darn. That’s somethin’ I wish I was told about sooner. So, let me get this straight. If I make an item out of two non-crafted items, it should get all the tags as long as it makes sense. Then, if I use that item to make another crafted item, it might lose those tags. And the more I keep on using each new resultin’ item as a material for another item, the higher the chances of losin’ tags.”

Having two methods of losing tags wasn't exactly something she was a fan of, but that also made her feel challenged, and a challenge made her motivated.

System Menu

Correct.

It is also highly unwise to invest all attribute points into a single attribute.

Such as Dexterity.

“Didn’t ask." Tabitha stuck her tongue out. "Anyways—”

System Menu

…

“—now that I know this works, let’s see if I can harden this up.”

With that, Tabitha took the new, bloody slime, put it in the crucible, and stuck it into the furnace’s flames. When she pulled the crucible out and held it upside down, a cylinder of hardened, bloody slime dropped out of it.

Item Information

Name

Bloody Hardslime

Bloody slime that has been heated and turned into hardslime.

Rarity

D

Quality

47

Element

Nature

Source

Crafted

Type

Medical

Bonus Tags

[Relaxing I]

[Sour I]

[Circulative I]

[Viscous II]

“Alright, that worked. Only problem is that uh… I have no idea what to do with it now. Wait. Never mind. I know exactly what to do with it! Great work, Runa,” Tabitha said, delivering praise to Runa once more.

Runa didn’t even bother questioning it that time. She was just happy to accept it, so she laughed at Tabitha’s silliness.

Now, the original plan for her spider killing spear involved shaping hardslime into a spearhead and then sharpening it. In that case, why not practice that process on the hardslime she just got?

Tabitha took the hardslime and shaped it into the general shape of a spearhead using her hands since it was still nice and malleable. She then picked it up with the tongs to put it back over the fire to harden it for as long as she was willing to wait before pulling it out, letting it cool, and taking it over to the sharpening stone.

She immediately felt relaxed once she got to the sharpening phase. There was just something soothing about using a giant, spinning stone to sharpen something. And the sound it made wasn’t nearly as harsh on the ears when sharpening hardslime as it was when sharpening metal.

Unfortunately, she noticed something while sharpening the hardslime that wouldn’t be very good for a spear.

Hardslime was not a good material to sharpen. The thinner she made the edges, the more bendable they became, just like regular plastic. Making the edges sharp enough to serve as a proper spear meant sharpening them to the point where they became flimsy.

So, when Tabitha finished the spearhead and looked at its stats, she wasn’t too happy about the damage potential that showed up.

Item Information

Name

Bloody Hardslime Spearhead

Bloody hardslime that has been shaped and sharpened into a spearhead.

Rarity

D

Quality

42

Element

Nature

Damage

2 - 3

Source

Crafted

Type

Weapon

Bonus Tags

[Sour I]

[Circulative I]

There was something else that popped up that made it worthwhile, though.

System Menu

Congratulations, you have invented a new item!

+5 Experience

Total Blacksmith Experience: 19/50

Congratulations, you have acquired a new Achievement!

Item Inventor

Awarded for creating a new, never-before-seen item!

Reward: 10 Attribute Points

“Oh, sweet! The cauldron might not have counted, but at least this did! And nice, inventing new items means gettin’ experience.” Tabitha said. “Oi, Runa! You’re lookin’ at the first, uh, ‘Bloody Hardslime Spearhead’ to ever exist in this world!”

Runa looked with wide, amazed eyes at the item that basically just looked like a red, plastic spearhead for a toy spear and clapped her hands. “Amazing!”

“Heh, I know, right? Anyways, this method won’t actually work. Hardslime just doesn’t make a good material for weapons. I mean, maybe if I heat it more, but I feel like that just ain’t gonna be good enough. But if I take everythin’ I’ve learned lately and put it all together… I think I might know how to improve on this. Also, Menu—”

System Menu

It is highly unwise to invest all attribute points into a single attribute.

“Menu, I’m sorry, but it’s gotta be done.”

System Menu

…

All Attribute Points have been… allocated into Dexterity. Again.