Meiros stood in his spot, astounded by his master's improved strength.
His master was now capable of summoning two magic circles in one hand which proves his smoother control over his Divinium.
Only those in the Partial Rebirth stage can achieve something like this.
To advance in rank, Divinium needs to be absorbed.
However… There is a problem.
Divinium cannot be absorbed easily. It needs to be refined to make it pure enough for absorption.
But why can Chrysos absorb the energy as if his core was a bottomless pit?
Well, it had to do something with his fingers.
To reflect the exact amount of strength towards enemies, it needs pure energy. Chrysos does not know of this yet, but his fingers are capable of purifying Divinium enough that he only has to absorb it.
To advance, one needs time, patience, and a powerful will.
But as someone who came from earth with no prior knowledge of anything, Gerald didn't see anything strange.
But Meiros is a native of the Divine Lands.
That is why he was so shocked with his master's speed of advancement.
Meiros is still someone who knows too little about the world. He saw this not as an abnormality, but saw this as his master's incredible talent.
Noticing his stare, Chrysos said, "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"
Meiros snapped out of his daze and said, "No no no, there's nothing but… I was just shocked how fast you advance."
"Oh? And why's that?" Gerald was quite confused as he kept his thoughts inside his head. All he did was absorb Divinium. Anyone can do that, right?
"Master, advancing is a very tough thing to do. But it seems that it was merely a simple task for someone like you with your talent." Meiros was truly amazed by his master.
"If you put enough effort, it can outmatch talent. If you want to get stronger, the most important thing that a person needs is patience and an unyielding determination to move forward." Chrysos pointed to the recovery potion in Meiros' hands.
"Now if you want to become stronger, you can start by that."
Meiros looked at the half empty bottle and said, "This recovery potion is too high quality compared to the normal ones. Master, are you sure you don't want this for yourself? I'm sure it'll help you a lot."
Gerald shook his hand, rejecting the offer. "In my opinion, it's better for you to use it. After all, what kind of master would I be if I treat my only student badly?"
Hearing this, gratitude flowed out from Meiros' heart. He knelt down, lowered his head and said, "Master, thank you so much! From this point on, I will risk my life for you no matter what."
Surprised, Gerald helped him get up. "There's no need to give me your life. Plus, the Divinium that potion gave me isn't powerful enough to fulfill my needs. It would be better to give it to you."
Chrysos was telling the truth.
After some time, he noticed that his core was no longer absorbing Divinium as smoothly as he did earlier.
He thought that there was a problem, but he soon realized that the strength of the Divinium wasn't enough for his core to use and strengthen itself.
It seems that in the future, he might need to use Divinium strong enough that it's capable of reaching the door of Elitius.
"I see… but even so, I will not take back my words." Meiros stood up and looked at the bottle of Divinium recovery. He saw that gulping it down in one go would be too much for his Divinium Circle Core to absorb, so he analyzed the perfect amount to use without dying.
Half a drop.
Meiros immediately swallowed it and sat down to absorb the energy in his core.
Chrysos watched by the side in case anything went wrong. And as he watched, he thought to himself.
"Crap, I haven't really taught Meiros anything substantial, huh?"
"At first, I only took him in because he had no place to go. But now, treating him the same after all these months, I feel like I'm not fulfilling my side of a proper master…"
Chrysos pondered for quite a while.
"Agh, when he's done with this, I'll start by teaching him basic survival knowledge. In this world, those things are what's going to help you survive.. My goodness am I an incompetent master." Gerald cursed himself for his uselessness.
In truth, Meiros had already learnt so much from Chrysos already.
But in Gerald's view, those weren't proper knowledge and he always treated Meiros like a student and even protected him from danger. Even so, he still felt like he was taking advantage of his naivety.
In Meiros' eyes, he was the only one who treated him like family. Chrysos realized that he should've been more mature and paid attention not only on his physical needs, but mentally as well.
Chrysos sighed and made up his mind. "I really should change things early on before I mess up more. And thinking about it now, I should call him my disciple instead of a student. It doesn't stick right with me."
..
Meanwhile, inside Meiros' core.
Meiros found himself in a world of dark thunderclouds glowing with an eerie shade of purple. And in the middle of this dark world was a silver light absorbing the Divinium around it.
The silver sphere of light looks fine from afar, but if one looked closer, they would see that it's having some trouble absorbing the Divinium around it.
After all, Meiros' Divinium isn't as pure as Chrysos' Divinium.
He doesn't have the strange golden fingers that magically purifies the Divinium it comes in contact with.
And with all that, just emptying his Divinium reserves took fifteen minutes.
Meiros took back his will and his focus returned to his body.
Chrysos watched over him and said, "That took longer than expected."
Meiros scratched his head. "I'm sorry it was a bit too murky for me to absorb easily."
"No need to apologize." Chrysos gestured towards the bottle and said, "Now go ahead and continue."
"Yes master." Meiros nodded and took another drop from the bottle before swallowing it.
Chrysos squinted as he watched.
"Okay, isn't this too slow? I don't know what's wrong but he did say that it was too murky." Chrysos eyed the potion and thought to himself. "Maybe it spoiled after a while… Damn, do strange tiered ingredients spoil that easily?"
He took the potion and examined it closely.
"Nope, no abnormalities whatsoever." Chrysos turned the bottle over and poured a single drop on his fingertip and drank it.
After that hour of absorbing the Divinium from the Divinium recovery potion, strange tier potions are now safe for him to consume without his core bursting apart.
But sadly, his source of income didn't advance with his strength.
Chrysos slumped down and racked his brains for any ideas.
But as he did so, he heard a familiar voice in his head.
…
He could remember a luxurious mansion surrounded by beautiful and blooming flowers.
He could remember a child with his father, teaching him about something…
"Dad, why is being a chemist something that anyone should be proud of?" Gerald sat down beside Daniel as they gazed at the scenery from the balcony.
"Gerald, without chemists, this world wouldn't be as advanced as it is today. Medicine, weaponry, machinery, agriculture, chemists like me help the world in things that many do not see." Daniel explained to Gerald with a calm tone.
"Is that why you teach me a lot about chemistry?" Gerald said as his legs swayed back and forth on his chair.
"Chemistry has been my dream ever since I was young. Seeing how simple and uninteresting objects turn into such beautiful and functional matter is something that felt like magic. And even if you don't like chemistry, I want you to learn everything I know about it. I want you to preserve my magic.." Daniel gently patted Gerald's shoulder.
"So dad, in a world where there is no chemistry? What would you do?" Gerald, with his childish naivety, asked in a carefree expression.
"A world without chemistry? That's impossible. But if what you meant is underdeveloped chemistry, then I will use my magic to help and improve the lives of others. Even if it costs me parts of myself.." Daniel smiled as he looked at Gerald's confused expression.
"But why? If I am powerful, I want to rule the world. Why don't you want that?" Gerald asked.
"Ah, ruling the world.. it's not an unrealistic dream, but.. conquering causes pain to others. War is unavoidable with ruling the world. So why not use chemistry to help others and yourself when you're at it?" Daniel picked up the coffee mug next to him and took a sip.
"Hmm… I think I understand now.." Gerald nodded his small head before standing up and going back inside.
…
..
Chrysos sighed.
"Use chemistry to help others, huh? That's a very difficult task given how big the Divine Lands are." Chrysos shook his head.
"But then again, that's not a bad goal."
Chrysos saw that Meiros wasn't in any trouble at the moment, so he took his brewing tools and ingredients to begin working on his project.
"Biological metal.. While not entirely impossible, it's never been researched before at all. So I'll be blindly going into unknown territory." Chrysos still hasn't given up on this project.
The applications of this would be immense.
Armor that can regenerate without the usage of Divinium? Armor that can be equipped with eyes behind it so that it can send information to the wearer's brain? A living sword that can automatically align itself perfectly as a battle ensues?
Not only that, Chrysos could see biological machines working tirelessly in factories and they don't even need engines or oil to make them move. They just need an ample supply of food and they can work on boring and mundane tasks for days.
Nodding to himself, he said, "Mhm… that is indeed going to be useful. But then again, where do I start..?"
Chrysos took some spare steel knives that he bought a long time ago and took it apart.
He grabbed the steel components and melted them by concentrating a powerful amount of heat using the flaming claws spell that he learned.
Seeing the steel slowly melt on his hands, Chrysos knew that the process was working out just fine.
"Alright, to mix this with flesh is going to be a bit tricky…" Chrysos first visualized what he was going to create.
Was he going to make flesh that produces steel platings just like how some animals grow armor? Or was the flesh entirely made out of steel?
The first one was difficult, but he could already see chances of success.
The second one though..
It is possible, but it will be very tricky to pull it off.
Chrysos began brewing and said, "Screw it, let's just get it over with since progress is progress anyways."
The principles of flesh creation is to create a base, a nerve structure, the veins or a simple respiratory system, the special organ to complete a specific function, and the connector to allow the user to control the organic device.
And of course, different ingredients are needed for this.
It just so happens that the core ingredients are the pod-like fruits from a Blacklipe plant, Bloodwart Stemmed Flowers, Scorpion Ant King Venom, and the Adulem amber to make flesh. Behlit Mushrooms are the ones responsible for creating veins to allow blood to circulate around the organic device.
But there are some exceptions.
The heat sight eyeball doesn't have a respiratory or circulatory system. It is only kept alive because of Divinium. And once that Divinium runs out, it will die and turn into dead cells, essentially crumbling into dust.
So this means that the organic devices that have a complete digestive system, respiratory system, and a circulatory system don't have an "existence time limit" unlike those powered by Divinium to continue existing.
Chrysos began the procedure by using the usual flesh creation formula by using blacklipe pods, scorpion ant king venom and adulem amber.
The bloodwart is used to make blood. Not surprising at all.
When Chrysos saw a block of flesh with veins forming, he used the extracted substance from a Blurgenine Flesh Vine mixed with molten steel and the blood of the Material Mimic Lizard that can eat materials like rocks to gain its properties. It can also consume rubbery materials to gain a rubbery body as well.
Plop.
Tsszzzz-
The block of flesh started turning from a pinkish peach color into a silvery metallic sheen. Not only that, it hardened way too quickly.
"Tch, not good." Chrysos didn't want it to harden too much or else it wouldn't be flesh metal and instead just be.. well.. plain old metal.
He poured a purified mixture of the blacklipe juice and saw that the flesh softened a bit. But this was too soft and it wouldn't support the steel's strength.
So Chrysos poured a small amount of the steel mixture and saw that it was hardening again.
Chrysos softened and hardened it until he got to a perfect consistency.
Now, he just had to attach it to a miniature human body that will be used to continuously provide nutrients to the steel flesh.
So to preserve it while he was creating the miniature human body, he poured a lot of liquid Divinium just to keep it alive.
Now, on a separate pot, he started to make something in the book that is called a "Screamer Pest"
The screamer pest is described as a deformed adult human male with an unusually large mouth and teeth. It also has large and powerful vocal cords that allows it to scream about 200 decibels for two hours without rest. It has no hair except for its nose and it has no eyes, making it look very terrifying. It is only 15 cm in height.
It is a distraction type creature with basic instincts without consciousness, so it's main purpose is to distract and die. But with its very primitive response system, it is capable of eating food to heal itself.
So yes, you can raise one of these pests if you're willing to go through the screaming part.
Chrysos used the usual flesh making procedure but with a set of extra ingredients like, the Chodoack beast flesh mixed with the blood of a greenflesh beast and a set of teeth, and a vocal cord of a Blacktipped Tooth Ape.
Chrysos used his Divinium to shape the humanoid fetus in the pot to make a screamer pest.
And after a bit of work, he made five screamers with exposed veins in their arms. He grabbed the steel flesh block and attached these screamers to the flesh block.
Chrysos made sure to damage the screamer's vocal cords in order for them to stop screaming. Of course, he could've just not added them, but it is a crucial ingredient that he can't just exclude from the recipe.
Now, he took a knife and with a bit of strength, he cut the block of flesh and waited with anticipation in his eyes.
Chrysos couldn't help but mutter to himself. "Did it work..?"