Ether crystals, even the smallest once were considered a premium currency in the world of [The Tower]. Most hub world worked with the simple credit system ranking from the weakest G1 credit to the strongest G10 one.
It was only in hub world 5 that one started to see even the smallest ether crystal being used for transactions, and those were considered incredibly big once.
They also didn't have a fixed exchange rate, since they were incredibly rare and valuable. A thousand of the second lowest ether crystals was simply more money than even the most spend happy people could use for their entire lives.
Oliver gave himself a few seconds to look over everything, in his happy mood he even opened his alchemy panel to see the new and improved skills. As for his now incredible amount of AP, he didn't spend them, keeping them to make sure he spend as little as possible before the tutorial was over.
[Alchemist]
Grade 2
[Grade 2 Refinement] 3
[Grade 2 Heat Control] 2
[Grade 2 Concocting] 4
[Grade 2 Solution Formation] 2
[Grade 2 Pill Formation] 1
[Grade 2 Ingredient Properties] 2
[Grade 2 Mana Injection] 5
All skills seemed to be in order, so Oliver didn't waste too much time and immediately had some rest while he started thinking about his next profession, the array crafter.
Arrays were much closer to magic then alchemy, thus Oliver was much more interested in it as a result, even though he never managed to get as far as his alchemy.
Arrays were, after all just spell circles modified to be self sustaining, at least for a short while.
Walking into the array room followed by his assistant Oliver noticed that not much was present in the room. Which in hindsight was rather normal, since most equipment used for array crafting was higher grade.
The only thing Oliver got was a sturdy looking desk, a scalpel, and an assortment of writing equipment, all looking rather industrial.
His assistance laid the assortment of different kinds of liquids and papers down as she slightly bowed before leaving.
She had gotten way more respectful all of a sudden, which wasn't that strange to Oliver, as he was probably the only Grade 2 alchemist in the tutorial floor.
Not that she knew Grade 2 alchemists even existed, she probably just thought of Oliver as an exceptional alchemist.
Oliver calmed himself, just like his alchemy he liked to clear his mind, and sit in complete silence before starting his work.
After this he took a piece of paper from the bigger of the 2 piles, the Grade 1 beast hides.
Arrays were extremely flexible, they could simply be made on the ground, or on any hides or papers that had enough capacity to hold the magical power required to power the array.
Making these arrays on paper, hides, and so forth was of course way more practical, as you were able to carry them with you before permanently deploying them.
But with that came the caveat of having to expend extra materials, and the fact that these arrays would slowly lose power from the moment they were formed.
Oliver started carefully carving out a magic circle on the beast hide, creating a thin moat.
In this moat he very slowly poured varies kinds of liquids, all having their own little moat that didn't intersect with the others.
This process might sound fast, but the simple act of carving the array alone took 2 hours, and that was for a skilled array master like Oliver.
In comparison to alchemy arrays took much less work, but also needed way more precision, 1 millimetre of the right path could ruin your array permanently.
So in terms of time arrays generally took longer to make than potions.
Luckily for Oliver though arrays were less prone to failure if you knew exactly what you were doing, unlike potions which could have you working on a defected product for hours without you realizing it.
...
And so after 5 hours of gruelling precision work Oliver put his finger on a spot where the ends of all array lines almost intersected, pouring his mana gently into the beast hide.
The array started slowly glowing as it quickly subsided, going from a bright flashlight to a dim nightlight.
'PFFF, that's why I prefer arrays, if you know precisely how to do it and are in the right state of mind the chance of failure is close to zero.'
Oliver immediately inspected the array, and also noticed that he, purely out of habit, had disabled his notifications before crafting. As he didn't gain any reward.
[Protection Array (Grade 1)]
High grade
Effects: Blocks up to 1000 magic damage, lasts for 5 minutes. Protects 1 entity.
Nodding happily Oliver stored the array in another side of the room before starting his work on the grade 2 array. Well, his visualization beforehand.
Just like with potions, arrays also exponentially increased in difficulty when the grade increased. And just like alchemy, luckily no new and complex steps get added going from grade 1 to grade 2, only the existing steps get noticeably harder.
...
And so the next 48 hours passed by slowly. Oliver spend his 24 hours carving out the array pattern, filling those same carvings with different kinds of liquids over the next 24 hours.
At this very moment he was sitting before his almost complete array, his eyes closed as he slowly put 2 fingers on 2 different places of the array.
Unlike grade 1 arrays, grade 2 arrays could have as many as 2 array cores, indicating by the fact that 2 mana pulses were needed to jumpstart the array.
'ah, still got it.'
The array quickly gave 2 flashes before slowly dimming down. After which Oliver quickly inspected his array.
[Beast summoning Array (Grade 2)]
Piek grade
Effects: Stores and summons up to 1500 beasts, dead beast souls and intact bodies are needed for storage. Only low grade beasts can be stored.
Smiling to himself Oliver quickly turned to his rewards. Before, with the alchemy rewards he wasn't so excited, but now that he knew he would be getting a towers first he couldn't contain himself.