Placing the mixture of Merman scale and Beluga tree root onto the flame tune which was now emanating a considerable amount of heat, Kai waited. He had already fiddled around with the shapes around the rune and was able to adjust the heat to the temperature he required for a successful concoction.
Soon, he noticed white steam rising from the sap, and immediately added three drops of distilled water to the mixture, to replace the water lost.
Every now and then, he kept on adding more water to prevent the mixture from actually losing any water while heating up, essentially keeping everything about the mixture constant other than the heat.
Slowly, this heat induced a chemical reaction in the Merman scale powder which caused it to slowly turn blue, and then dissolve into the tree sap.
Once it was completely dissolved, Kai lifted it off the heating rune and onto the cloth while letting it cool down slowly. Unknown to him, he was already sweating, not just from the heat given off by the heating rune, but also from the stress of trying to get everything perfect.
'This damned room, can't they even put a ventilation duct into it?' Kai cursed as he turned off the rune and waited. After about 2 hours, the glass container was cooled, and the blue liquid inside was at room temperature.
He put the liquid into a small glass test tube he had been given for free by the receptionist for taking such a large order, and place it inside. The open end was then sealed shut using a cork which was also given to him for free along with another two test tubes and two corks.
Clearly, the receptionist had assumed he was making three potions based on the quality and portions of items he had bought, which was a good thing as nobody would actually understand the recipe for the potion he was brewing.
Kai used the distilled water to clean the utensils he used and disposed of the contaminated water in the drain at a corner of the room, after which he let it dry, which was considerably easy considering that the heat from the fire rune was still permeating the air.
Once that was done, he began working on the second potion.
This was the [Deer-liver Potion], and it took about 5 hours to prepare the materials the way they were meant to be prepared, after which Kai had to mix them in exact portions at exactly the correct time while heating up the mixture at a changing temperature.
This process took another 5 hours, and by the end of it, Kai was exhausted. But he had successfully crafted the item!
Now, he had two potions, but after thinking for a while, Kai decided to put both away into his ring, not revealing it to anyone. After all, who knew who was secretly watching him? Perhaps, since he became the direct grand disciple of Archmage Blue, those following Archmage Stone might have already begun to monitor him.
Leaving the room after cleaning everything inside, Kai was greeted by an excited face of Fred.
"So? How was it? How many potions were successful?"
"… None of them. They all turned black after some time on the heat and produced a terrible stench of burnt food. Thankfully, it was not too strong and soon dissipated, but it was all a waste. Not only did I waste the materials, but also the Mana crystals I spent on the recipes! Damn it!"
Hearing this, Fred could only sigh with mixed emotions. On one hand, he was sad that a promising business like this, from which he would gain a portion of the profits, was about to fail, but on the other hand, he was slightly happy that it was failing, since that meant that he would not be losing out on a lot of profits in the future.
Fred and Kai both left the Alchemy Hall and went to their dorms. Along the way, Kai turned to Fred.
"Hey, Fred. Do you still have those Mana crystals you said you would lend me?"
"… Wh- Oh! Yeah, those ones. I got them."
"Well, since this business had failed, and I spent all my Mana stones on it, mind if I borrow some for the moment? I will return them as soon as possible."
"… Sure. I'll just-"
"Not here. Anyone could be watching, and I don't want the fact that we possess almost 200 Mana crystals to be known. Let's go to my new dorm. It is safe there."
After that, the two went to Kai's new housing, which was essentially a small house with only a single bedroom, one personal bathroom, one meditation room which was empty but had a few magic arrays on it, and a small backyard with a garden in it.
Although it might seem small, it was actually leagues better than the dorm they had been staying up till now. Kai entered but did not speak, and instead took Fred straight to the training room before activating its magic arrays.
"This will prevent what happens here from being known to anyone below Rank 2."
"Alright. So here are your Mana crystals."
"Stupid. I don't need your Mana crystals. Just know that I did this cause there might be enemies at any corner wanting to know everything about me. Anyways, here it is, the [Deer-liver Potion] that I created. Sell it for a good amount, but don't sell it right away. Sell it only after two weeks to lift any suspicions from me. Just remember, the ingredients used for that potion are worth around 100 Mana crystal, and it is a potion that can help even Rank 2 Magi. Try to focus on selling it to Rank 1 or possibly Rank 2 Magi. I want a good price for it. I am trusting you with this one. Don't break this trust like you did with the verbal deal we had. Got that?"
Fred nodded rapidly, his palms already sweating from holding the potion. Not just from that, but also from Kai's words and tone. It was clear that Kai was giving him a severe warning, that the ordeal with him changing the terms of the cooperation should be the first and last time something like that happened.
Fred understood that being trustworthy was a very important aspect of a businessman in order to gain new and retain old customers and suppliers. Without trust, nothing could be done.