21: Chapter 21 Refining Magic Potions

Leaving the spire, Byron did not delay and headed straight for the Market.

He dared not waste any time; if he delayed and something went wrong, he would be the one crying.

Rushing all the way to the Market, Byron walked directly into an iron-wood building named "Thor's Materials Shop."

Because he had been responsible for his mentor's procurement alongside Colin during this period, he had developed some rapport with the shopkeeper, Karen, a fat man whose flesh trembled all over.

"Shopkeeper Karen, I need to purchase the Materials on the list."

Byron got straight to the point, his voice cold and clear.

Karen had originally been lazing in a chair behind the counter, but seeing only Byron, a flash of surprise crossed his small, squinting eyes.

"Oh, Byron, are you running errands for Wizard Isolde again? Why are you alone this time? Where is that guy Colin?"

Byron skillfully pulled over the ledger.

Byron shook his head: "No, this is a private purchase; it won't be put on my mentor's account."

Byron had to make this point clear; if Karen put it on his mentor's account, it would be a huge joke.

The fat on Karen's face, which had been bunched up from his smile, froze.

He suddenly straightened up, his nearly invisible eyes widening abruptly, staring fixedly at Byron.

"You... you've advanced to a Wizard Apprentice?"

Karen's voice sounded somewhat sharp and distorted due to extreme shock.

He knew very well that Byron had only been in the academy for a little over half a month.

Back in his day, it had taken him over half a year to advance to a Wizard Apprentice.

Anyone who understood wizards knew the gap between these two.

Facing Karen's shock, Byron smiled lightly, then began to quickly read off the Materials he needed.

"Shopkeeper Karen, I need one... no, two portions of twilight herb, silver-vein fern, soul-breath grass... and pure water solvent."

He was not worried that Karen would be able to reverse-engineer the formula from these Materials.

In the world of wizards, the same Materials, when subjected to different permutations and combinations of Mental Energy guidance frequencies, addition orders, and extraction techniques, could yield countless possibilities.

These resulting potions could be potions with special effects, or they could be poisons capable of causing instant death.

Therefore, thinking one could deduce a complete potion formula just by knowing the Materials was nothing but wishful thinking.

That would be slower than simply researching a new potion formula from scratch.

Moreover, the act of reverse-engineering a wizard's potion formula was undoubtedly a direct provocation to that wizard.

Originally, Byron had only intended to purchase one portion of Potion Making Materials, because one portion of Materials, after processing, could satisfy seven or eight attempts at Potion Making.

But thinking that he would also be attempting Potion Making later, he changed his mind and bought a bit more, just in case.

Seeing that Byron didn't want to say anything more, Karen didn't dare delay, beginning to move through the shop, busily gathering the Materials.

In just a few minutes, Karen had packed up all the Materials Byron needed, dividing them into two portions.

"These Materials cost a total of twelve magic stones."

Karen tremblingly handed over the packed Materials, and the look in his eyes as he gazed at Byron held more than just the previous mercenary nature; it now carried a hint of reverence.

Because he knew that Byron, with such Aptitude, was no longer someone he could afford to offend; in fact, he was someone his Family would desperately try to win over.

Byron took the Materials, and as he swiped his payment card on the shop's reader, a crisp "beep" sounded, making his heart tremble involuntarily.

He hadn't even officially started learning Potion Making yet, and just the cost of two portions of basic Materials, not even including the experimental tools, had been so expensive.

Potionology really was a gold-devouring beast.

Byron didn't pay attention to Karen's change in attitude and left directly; his mind was now completely filled with thoughts of Potion Making.

...

In the Laboratory on the second floor of Isolde's spire, Isolde was currently preparing a deep meditation potion while explaining the key points to Byron.

After Byron returned, with Colin's help, he quickly processed the two portions of Materials and handed them to Isolde.

Isolde didn't say much else and took Byron directly to the second-floor Laboratory.

Only Byron went in; Colin was left outside.

"Remember the required amount of Materials in the formula, the order in which each Material is added, the involvement of Mental Energy, the technique..."

"If you get any step wrong, the medicinal properties will dissipate, the potion will become unstable, and that means the Potion Making has failed."

Isolde casually picked up a pinch of powder ground from twilight herb and dropped it into the transparent beaker, which was sitting over a flickering ghostly blue flame, then stirred it continuously with the pure water solvent.

"You lack experience, so don't imitate my casual approach when you are doing Potion Making; you should use a balance to measure the amounts accurately."

As she spoke, Isolde dropped green granules into the beaker.

"After adding the glowing crystal sand, inject your Mental Energy to participate in the reaction. This step is to purify the twilight herb; do not look with your eyes, but perceive with your Mental Energy."

While Isolde was speaking, Byron also sensed an anomaly in the air; this was the mentor's Mental Energy beginning to intervene in the reaction.

Under the guidance of Mental Energy, the liquid in the beaker began to separate into layers; the upper layer was murky gray waste, while the lower layer was essence emitting a faint glow.

Isolde casually used a dropper to remove the waste.

"When your Mental Energy is strong enough, you can directly repel the Impurities from the liquid through magic power vibration."

"This way, the purity of the twilight herb will be higher, and the purity of the potion will also increase. However, since I am demonstrating for you right now, I won't do that."

"As for you, you should honestly stick to using the dropper."

Hearing this from Isolde, Byron felt for the first time that she was different from other mentors, even though her words remained cold and devoid of any emotion.

Byron nodded respectfully, indicating he understood.

After the twilight herb purification was complete, Isolde did not stop and continued to purify the other Materials, while Byron stood to the side, watching intently without blinking.

Every purification, the control of time, the rhythm of stirring, the fluctuations in temperature, and the guidance of Mental Energy—every detail was precise to an appalling degree.

As time slowly passed, the purification work for all the Materials was completed one by one.

At this moment, four beakers of different colors, containing liquids purified from different Materials, sat on the cold Laboratory bench.

"After all the Materials have been purified, you can combine them together."

Isolde said this while her hands did not stop moving.

She took out an empty beaker and began to pour the purified Materials into it in order and according to the proportions, stirring continuously.

"At this point, the temperature, proportions, rhythm, and Mental Energy must not have any errors; not one can be missing."

"Especially the Mental Energy used to stabilize these essences; one careless mistake, and these essences will be completely ruined."

"The last step is to add the pure brilliance dew; this is the stabilizer for the Fusion of all the Materials."

A drop of pale yellow pure brilliance dew dripped into the beaker, accompanied by a surge of powerful Mental Energy flowing into it.

The several essences that were originally incompatible constantly reorganized under the vibration of Mental Energy, and relying on the stabilization of the pure brilliance dew, they did not explode.

Finally, the colorful essences transformed into a pure, flawless silvery-white medicinal liquid.

Isolde poured the medicinal liquid into a test tube and sealed it with a wooden stopper.

"After it stabilizes, you must pour the potion into a test tube and seal it to prevent evaporation, which would weaken its medicinal properties."

"Alright, a portion of 'deep meditation potion' is now complete."

Byron asked internally: 'Omniscience, was everything recorded?'

[Everything has been recorded, including the potion reaction changes, temperature changes, Mental Energy changes...]

Just at this moment, Isolde looked at Byron: "Now, you try."