"How did you learn how to make a revitalizing elixir?" Lev couldn't just believe that an elixir like that existed in this world.
"I made it myself. I conducted it through countless trials and countless errors."
Ezio wrapped the vials safe inside his leather pouch and attached it to his leather belt. He tied the end of his pouch to his leather tasset to avoid too much movement in the pouch. There was also a short sword hanging on his hip, sheathed.
Countless trials and errors? Who did he test it? Lev didn't continue scrutinizing in his thought, he was afraid of thinking that Ezio might conduct the experimented to some—
"I experimented on the monsters."
Did he read my thoughts? Lev was baffled that Ezio answered his questions that were lingering in his mind.
The sun was still up high, there was still time to explore the foggy forest if they wanted. Ezio wore his wretched cloak and looked at Lev.
"Let's gather the ingredients in the Forest."
.....
In the dense forest that was covered in humid fog, Ezio taught Lev on how to find the ingredients and where it was most commonly located. The Jäger kept its guard on for hostile visitors.
"The venenums grow when the blood of a venomous monster is spilled in the ground. It only takes a week for the venenum to grow. The sanatio are commonly found everywhere, so it's not difficult to find them. They usually grow around the trees. Meanwhile, vitas are the hardest to gather among the herbs because they are uncommon to find around the Kingdom.
"They said that the origin of the vitas is from the tears of the nymphs. But who knows if they are indeed true. But based on what I discovered, vitas need strict requirements for it to grow."
He discovered? Then that means he knows how to grow them? Lev was shocked at Ezio's broad knowledge.
Ezio stopped walking and with all seriousness, he looked at Lev. "This information is not to be disclosed with someone else, no matter how close your relationship is. You should keep it as a top-secret. There are people who would use this knowledge to do evil."
His face was slightly sad as if he was remembering a bitter past.
"Why are you telling me such valuable information?"
"It's because I chose you as my squire. Now, give me your word that you will not share this with someone else."
Lev sighed. He never thought that the elixir would also be a huge burden. "I give you my word."
Ezio took out his dagger from the backside and made a small cut in his palm. He reached out Lev's right hand and dropped some few drops of blood in his palm.
"Let my blood be the witness of everything,
A seal that won't be broken 'til I return to the dust,
And until then, curse is he who breaks it.
Sigilum."
After saying the last word, the droplets in Lev's palm quickly took form on what looked like a hexagon with a small triangle inside it, the symbol then was absorbed into the skin and everything went back to normal as if there was no sign of any bloodshed in it.
Lev inspected his hand, he was amazed at what just happened. "What just happened?"
Ezio sheathed his dagger on the back part of his belt and continued, "It's a blood seal."
"Woah."
"Moving on, the requirements for the vitas to grow is that it needs to be exposed in the sun for the whole day, and in the night, a fire should be burning near it to keep it warm." Ezio went near the tree and picked up a reddish plant that was standing upright.
"Is that it?" Lev scratched his head. It seems too easy for a rare plant to grow on such an easy requirement.
"There's more than that. The vitas should be surrounded with 12 inches deep purified water. In the night, where the fire warms the herb, the fire should be burning on top of the water the whole night."
Lev didn't quite understand the part 'fire on top of the water', he asked with doubt in his tone, "How can a fire burn on top of the water?"
"Pour oil on top of the water, then ignite it. You should pour oil on top of the water every 3 hours." Ezio calmly said while picking the leaves of the sanatio.
"Take note, never pick all the leaves of the sanatio. Leave 2 or 3 leaves and in just a month, they will be replenished. Not just the sanatio, but any other herbs too. This is important if you want to make a herb farm."
Lev nodded. The fact that you can make a herb farm out of all these ingredients made him excited, maybe in the future, he could use this knowledge.
"And the most difficult part of the vitas is that you should use a dragon stool as its fertilizer."
"There are dragons here?!" Lev's eyes widened when he heard that a legendary animal existed here.
"Not just dragons, there's a lot of creatures that inhabit this world. Some are kind, but some are hostile. Some hide their existence and some don't."
"I see. By the way, where can I find the vitas?" Lev pursed his lips and tried to help Ezio in search for sanatios. The Jäger kept guarding the perimeter and at the same time, he noticed that they were searching for sanatios so he helped to search.
"Vitas grow under thousand-year-old trees. Once they fully grow, their leaves turn yellow when the sunlight hits them, but they wither the same day once the night falls."
After they finished gathering sanatios, they went back, but instead in the side where the cave's entrance was located, they went to the entrance through the waterfall.
The cave was difficult to notice because, at the back of the waterfall, the rocks looked like they were a solid wall but if a person looked close enough, the wall looked like there was a slight distortion in it. Ezio explained that the reflection of the rocks in the waterfall, and the dim light that the sunlight brought made an optical illusion.
Lev tried to stand in front of the rock where his back blocked the reflection of the waterfall, and to his surprise, his shadow revealed an entrance. He slowly passed through it, with every step unsure whether he was landing his feet on something solid, like a rock, or soft, like a soil.
After passing through the entrance, his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and inside it were the same green-coloured crystal-like stones. But aside from that, there were huge, white crystals that were sticking out on the walls.
There were also huge bats that were hanging upside down in the ceiling arch of the cave.
The crystals emitted dim light based on what color they were, but because there was a huge deposit of crystal inside the cave, it illuminated everything.
Above the ceiling were small dot crystals that looked like stars.
The ambiance of the cave brought serenity to Lev's mind.