Not ten minutes later, as per instructions, Luca made his way into the Alchemist License evaluation room, within which three men sat before a large cauldron. Of the three, the most senior was certainly the A-grade Alchemist Grandmaster Edgewick, the lone familiar face, with the remaining pair almost equal in standing as B-grade Alchemist Masters. Three senior members of a profession were required to be present for the process of license examination, thus the appearances of two extra alchemists for Luca's third examination.
A smile crossed the face of the Grandmaster Alchemist as he summoned the young lad forward, though he was also astonished at the appearance of his familiar, quickly recovering before anyone spotted his gaff, "Come here, young lad, your third exam awaits." He introduced with one hand the man on his left, "Master Uriel," and the man on his right, "and Master Quinn, along with myself, will be your examiners." After the young lad bowed respectfully to the three, the partially burnt Grandmaster chuckled before his serious demeanour appeared, now that business was afoot, as he gestured towards the tables around the cauldron, "On these tables are a variety of ingredients for alchemy. Your task is to locate the ones necessary to create a medicinal pill or potion, preferably the most advanced one you can currently create. You have no more than half-an-hour to do so, after which you must concoct your chosen recipe. If you succeed and properly create your chosen pill or potion, you will be graded based on the concoction's grading, along with your methods, control, and other critical pieces of importance."
Arcturus made his way over to one side of the room before curling up and taking a nap, all while Luca, upon the exam's commencement, quickly scanned the room at super-high speeds, utilizing the System's aid to locate and identify each ingredient and, based on the results, formulate as many recipes as possible with what was available. After reviewing the formulated recipes, Luca immediately began to snatch up several items before placing them beside the cauldron, on top of a small stand. As he lightly tapped the side of the pot, an orange flame burst into life in the centre of its metallic interior, swiftly heating it up in preparation for the alchemic process. Despite the boy having never performed alchemy before, even in the game, the System's spotless assistance made most of the process a breeze.
Of the options that the System had deduced, aside from a single B-grade recipe, the highest-graded recipes were C-grade. Luca selected one of the more average recipes from this grade, intending to formulate a Mana Improvement Potion. In order to increase one's mana, it was necessary to craft a potion from ingredients that were related to one's spirituality or directly influenced the soul. The clearer one's soul was, the easier it was to intake mana and filter it into the body, thus expanding one's total MP. As the soul was leaned more on the angle of Yin rather than Yang, most items that could affect it grew in cold conditions. Various ingredients were added to the cauldron once it reached its peak temperature, starting with the base items of Spirit Water from sources of clear water where natural forces of magic were at their strongest, petals from Veiled Frost Tulips that grew only on mountains where snow was constantly forming, the fruit of the Snow Blossom Trees that the beautiful Cerulean Finch magic beasts nested, and a pinch of Frost Salts from icebergs and glaciers. Though Luca's flame control was lacking due to him not having an affinity for Fire, his grasp of timing and meticulous concentration awarded him positive outlooks from his three judges.
After thirty minutes had passed and the first ingredients had completed their initial assimilation, the young Dragonborn added four leaves from the same Snow Blossom Trees that the fruit had come from, along with stamen from a Blue Spider Lily and five drops of condensed Spectral Essence that formed from ghost-based magic beasts. As Luca continued to stir the slightly sludge-like liquid for another quarter of an hour, the three examiners had determined the recipe that the boy was following. After having done so, they focused entirely on his alchemy skills now that deducing the recipe was concluded. Though he had a small number of hiccups during his process, they were impressed that, with quick reactions and a patient mind, Luca managed to rescue his concoction from failure each time.
Having reached the final steps in the recipe's process, the Dragonborn lad tapped the cauldron, forcibly removing the flame from the pot before dropping a small handful of crystalized Spirit Water chunks into the previously boiling fluid. While he stirred yet again, the crystals melted with the heat while their icy properties quickly chilled the liquid in turn, until the potion had become a smooth, light blue, clear fluid at just below room temperature. Retrieving some potion bottles that he had left beside the coldest items in the room in order to frost them over, Luca carefully ladled the potion into each bottle before inserting a stopper. When he had completed this, the potions had reached the proper temperature for sealing, after which another 15 minutes were needed for the liquid to become a darker, sapphire colour. Once this colour had formed, the potion was completed and it could be stored anywhere or drank at any time.
Despite being slightly surprised at having made a total of five bottles on his first try, Luca understood that the System had given him spotless directions, even when he messed up. If he had not had a number of slip-ups, it calculated that between six and ten bottles could have been made. Of course, he was more than satisfied already, as he took three of the completed potions and brought them to the trio of professional alchemists, nervously announcing that he had completed his assignment and humbly asked for their review.