Chapter 61: The Feel of Alchemy [II]
–Chapter 61–
Title>>> The Feel of Alchemy [II]
Finishing the second Minor Mana Potion took Xavier almost half the time for the first one.
His hands already knew what to do. The resistance of the stems before the fibres gave way, the moment the moisture changed their texture, and the point where the mana stopped dispersing and began concentrating inside the compound.
All of it felt easy, he didn't have to think about any of it the way he had an hour ago.
Sir Buttallo examined the vial. He didn't have any comment, placing it beside the first one Xavier made.
In the next moment, the Older Fairy brought out another set of materials from underneath the table.
Xavier's eyes narrowed. The materials the fairy brought forward were twice of everything they'd used before.
The concentration of the liquids were denser, and among them was a secondary reagent Xavier hadn't worked with yet.
Xavier opened his mouth to ask but before he could. Buttallo spoke.
"It's the same principle but a little more material. And less room for error during the final stage."
Xavier picked up the first stem and began working on another potion.
A few minutes into the job, Xavier understood what the stronger preparation required.
It was the same potion with different discipline. And a mere extension of what he had already learned.
It required more mana to be retained inside the compound, which meant the stabilization window was narrower and the consequences of mistiming it were greater.
The process was basically making a more viable potion which meant more mana on consumption.
And even with prior knowledge, Xavier made a mistake at stabilizing the mixture. Which led his first attempt at a greater Mana potion to abrupt failure.
The second attempt went more smoothly than the first and even before Sir Buttallo could comment.
The System notified Xavier of his progress.
[Alchemical Success]
[Item Created: Greater Mana Potion]
[Effect: Restores +150 Mana on consumption]
[Your Alchemy Mastery has improved. | +18%]
Xavier held the blue glowing vial up and looked at it with a proud smile.
One hundred and fifty mana.
His current pool sat at two hundred and thirty. One potion could recover more than half of what he had available.
In a sustained fight, where Mana Bullet could be fired continuously, that could be the difference between running dry at the worst possible moment and having enough left to finish a fight.
He placed the vial beside the first two and looked at the two preparations sitting together.
And the only thought in his head was consumables.
These potions were to be used once and they were done. Which meant every player who needed mana would need them again and again.
They would matter in every dungeon run, World event or extended boss fights where you had to outsmart your enemies because you couldn't just over-power them.
One thing was certain, the demand for these consumables would never disappear. At least not in the early to mid game.
Which meant if he took advantage of the materials here in the garden and the knowledge he was currently amassing.
Then he was literally sitting on a renewable source of income that nobody else on Server 1 currently possessed.
Xavier reached for the next set of materials before the thought carried him any further than his current ability could support.
Buttallo moved through the broader shape of the discipline without Xavier needing to ask.
Mana restoration arts and potions was only one branch.
There were also physical recovery preparations that used different base materials and a different stabilization method.
Instead of simply replenishing a resource like mana, the compound had to work with the body's natural recovery process to enhance healing.
Fairy Alchemy also had preparations that enhanced attributes for a short period of time.
Strength, speed, constitution and even intelligence could be boosted and enhanced with these utility potions that Buttallo taught him.
Then there were pills. They used a more concentrated process and were absorbed faster in situations where every second mattered, but the increased concentration also demanded considerably more precision during preparation.
Xavier listened carefully, comparing each explanation against the information already contained within his Alchemy skill.
The skill had given him the theoretical structure. Buttallo was giving him the practical make-up underneath it.
The difference was becoming increasingly obvious. Being aware of what a preparation could do was one thing. Knowing why it behaved differently in his hands was another.
" What about Antidotes?" Xavier asked. "Are they possible to learn."
Buttallo's gaze settled on him, his wrinkled face contorting with suspicion.
"You can't make antidotes without the corresponding toxin to work against."
Xavier nearly facepalmed himself again. That was obvious enough.
He looked across the full spread of materials on the table. After Buttallo was done with another session of lessons.
At this point, one thing was reasonable to accept. Fairy alchemy was considerably broader than he had initially calculated. And Xavier wasn't going to master every category today. And he didn't need to.
Instead he thought of the next best thing, the one other thing, he could making a fortune with, once the player to player market opened up.
And that was healing potions.
He turned and smiled at Sir Buttallo.
"Show me how to make healing potions."
***
The process for making healing potions was completely different from making Mana potions.
It wasn't necessarily more difficult. A better word for it would be precise.
Where mana potions required concentrating a single type of energy, healing preparations needed to work with the body's existing recovery mechanisms.
A mixture too aggressive, and the preparation could be rejected by the body.
If it was too passive, then the efficacy dropped so drastically. It becomes a problem in the body.
As a player he would have taken advantage of such a scenario and sell it to enemies. But the system was the problem.
If it wasn't well made, it wouldn't be assigned as a healing potion.
Xavier sighed as he worked through the first attempt while the question he had been carrying since Fiona's wing returned to his thoughts.
"The potions you used on Fiona," he said without looking up from the preparation. "What did they actually do?"
Buttallo was quiet for a moment.
"They helped her body resist," he finally said. "They slowed the manifestations. And kept her functioning longer than she would have otherwise."
Sighing deeply, then he continued.
"My potions could not remove what was changing her. Because it wasn't an injury."
Buttallo moved around to the other side of the table.
"An injury is damage to what exists. My potions can address that and restore what was lost, assists what the body is already attempting to do."
His gaze settled on the compound Xavier was already stabilizing.
"That corruption was not damaging what Fiona was. It was replacing it. Her wing was not injured. It was transforming."
Xavier adjusted his hands around the glass jar in his grip, the moment he heard that.
"So a stronger dosage would have done nothing?"
Buttallo looked at him and shook his head like a tired father.
"Stronger preparations treat injuries more effectively. They cannot treat something that isn't an injury."
His voice remained level, but Xavier could sense an annoyance behind it. "There is no potion that removes what has already become part of the person."
This made Xavier think back to Restore. The skill was definitely broken, the more he thought about it.
If it could fix living things that were broken. What about inanimate things?
The thought lingered in his mind even while he was twirling the jar in his hand and only when the system sent another notification did he snap back.
[Alchemical Success]
[Item Created: Minor Healing Potion ]
[Effect: Restores 60 HP over 10 seconds]
Xavier barely nodded in satisfaction when another notification popped up.
Ding!
[You have Leveled Up!]
[Current Level: 12]
[Attribute Points: 2]
[Your Alchemy Mastery had been upgraded]
[Alchemy-- Level 2 → Level 3]
Xavier looked at the vial in his hand. Another success had finally pushed him past another threshold.
But even in his success. A single thought still bothered him.
"Where does it come from?" He asked abruptly.
Buttallo turned to face him with kneaded brows. "What?"
"The corruption." Xavier set the vial down. "Fiona's wing didn't corrupt itself. Something did that to her."
He crossed his hands under his jaw. "So Where?"
Buttallo remained silent for far longer than usual. His eyes seemed like they were calculating.
"The west," he finally said. "Beyond our present territory. There is a region we haven't been able to reclaim."
His voice lowered at the last points of his statement. "Every attempt at trying has cost us something."
The older fairy looked straight at Xavier. "If it wasn't for your skill. It might have cost us everything."
Xavier nodded in understanding. The west was where that stubborn compass called the unclaimed zone and the main point of he Hidden quest.
Xavier opened his map. Its indicator still pointed west.
Xavier's eyes narrowed slightly. Whatever was west, connected to everything that had been happening here.
But in the Fairy's hardships, Xavier saw opportunity. If he could clear whatever was there, then he would unlock his class and truly began preparing for what's to come.
Xavier closed the map. And turned to he exit. He needed to find Fiona.
--End of Chapter--