"Okay! Let's try adding a drop of crushed zilarra roots sis" Ivar declared, his gloved hands holding onto a small pipette containing a silver-like substance.
"And then a sprinkle of spinzar dust" Ivelia responded, her own gloved hands holding onto a small transparent crucible that contained tiny and shiny-looking crystallized particles.
They looked almost similar to sugar but instead of its color being white, they had a pale blue color to them.
"Well, here goes nothing…" Ivar muttered to himself.
Both siblings took a deep breath, contemplating if this was really going to improve the efficacy of the light blue liquid just before them or result in another failure but as if already used to this situation, both of them quickly added the substances cautiously and carefully.
They then watched on for a while, their eyes staring intently at the potion for any slight changes through the goggles on their faces.
After a while of no reaction from the blue liquid, both of them heaved a sigh of relief.
"At least there were no explosions this time…" Ivelia remarked positively.
She then took off her goggles and placed it on the counter while reaching her hands for the appraisal ring just a few inches away from the healing potion they had just added a few substances into.
She then slipped the ring onto her fingers and held the potion gently, appraising it with expectations in her eyes.
-------------------------------------------------------
+ + + Advanced Healing Potion + + +
/// --- Previous Efficacy: 97.3% --- ///
/// --- Current Efficacy: 97.6% --- ///
-------------------------------------------------------
"We're slowly getting there…" Ivelia quietly said, the corners of her rosy lips curling into a tired smile.
"What did its percentage increase come up as sis?" Ivar asked while removing his own goggles and returning his lab coat onto the rack.
"97.6 percent" Ivelia responded.
"That's good... We're gradually making progress" Ivar replied after which he then continued after a short pause.
"Ivelia, you really should sleep properly. You're going to have a messed up sleep cycle at this rate" Ivar warned, his tone laced with worry.
"I'll be fine Ivar. That being said, don't you usually train your mana core around this time" Ivelia questioned.
"It's not past 5pm, is it?" Ivar answered, his gaze travelling over to his smartwatch and immediately widening upon seeing the time.
"Oh shoot! It's almost 6pm. Sis, take better care of yourself! I mean it!" Ivar hurriedly left the laboratory after advising his sister.
"I'll try!" Ivelia responded with a small shout, her voice echoing through the corridors of the mansion as Ivar left.
-Thrack!!!
Ivelia who heard the sudden loud sound, chuckled to herself.
'Another tree bites the dust…' she thought.
She then looked around the lab, her tired eyes travelling across the long rows of light brown cupboards, cabinets and shelves that where attached to the pristine white walls, each of them containing a multitude of potion ingredients.
A long stainless steel counter was placed in one corner of the lab, close to the wide windows which were slightly left open to allow a bit of air in.
On it was placed a microscope with a projected holographic screen to the wall, a futuristic-looking centrifuge, a small-sized mass spectrometer that indicated this world's scientific and technological advancements and other essential lab equipment, a testament to the immense amount of money that was poured into making the laboratory as modern as possible.
Her eyes then finally settled back on the long white laboratory workbench which she closely sat by on a small stool. The workbench was skillfully fitted and merged into the white marbled tiles and situated directly in the middle of the small lab.
On it was a multitude of apparatuses and gleaming glasswares, along with a long rack containing multiple vials housing the light blue liquid and the current one whose efficacy they had just increased, gently placed in the palm of her hands.
Ivelia returned the potion to a separate rack that was labelled experimental and pulled out a small drawer from underneath the table. She then took out two transparent sachets containing small round pills.
'I should give this to Flynn and Aiden as soon…'
***
"So you're telling me that they can use mana sense that well?" Leopold asked again in bewilderment.
"Yes sire" Frank responded after which he then continued.
"Typically, that level of usage should only come once an individual is about to advance to S-rank. Although both of them can't use it extremely well right now, I presume that at this rate, they might just perfect it's usage within a year" Frank concluded.
The butler had headed straight for the duke's office the moment he was done with the training session of the young masters and was now informing him about how weird it was that they could use mana sense quite well despite it being insanely difficult to use at lower core ranks.
Although he had told both of them during their very first spar that they should always have their mana sensitivity at its max, he actually said that with the intent of them keeping it in mind as they progressed through their core ranks, thereby making it easier for them to master when they reached S-rank.
He had never expected that they would actually be able to use it at this level even by now.
"Haaa…" Leopold sighed.
'Should I even be surprised at this point anymore…' he thought to himself.
He then continued after a brief pause.
"Don't inform them of it now. Keep training them. Let's see how far they can push its mastery"
"As you wish sire" Frank replied with a slight bow, after which he then turned around to take his leave.
As he did, the duke spoke up, halting him in his steps.
"Frank…"
"Yes sire?"
"Thank you for training my sons so diligently" Leopold said with gratitude.
"Just doing my duty sire" Frank replied with a slight smile.
"I shall now take my leave" the butler concluded, walking gracefully out of the duke's office.
Leopold reclined into his leather chair while massaging his temples. Although a crap ton of documents were still on his table that he had to go through, he decided to take a small break.
While doing this, he began to think about how his sons just kept doing things that were absolutely absurd in every sense of the word. Good, but still very much absurd.
'Need to find a time to join in on their training sessions though…'
As he was thinking about this, the door to his office suddenly opened and Anna walked in, a smudge of paint on her cheeks.
Leopold then watched his wife move over to him and plop into his laps while resting her head on his chest without even a single warning. He was pretty used to her doing this every once in a while and as a result, he just watched her with amusement in his eyes.
"There's a smudge of paint on your cheeks dear" Leopold said after a brief silence had passed between them, his hands moving to rub off the paint.
"Hmmm…" Anna replied as Leopold's hands rubbed her cheeks.
It was obvious from their interaction that this was not the first time this sort of thing was happening.
"Frank informed me you know…" she said after her husband was done cleaning the smudge of paint off.
"Weird isn't it?" Leopold replied.
"Very weird. It literally took even Selena and Hela who were hailed as rare geniuses two years to master mana sense. I still can't use it properly even till now even though I'm also an S-ranker"
"Well, at the end of the day, there isn't really much we can do. It's not like we understand why our sons are such oddities. The best we can do is to keep supporting them"
"Yeah…"
A comfortable silence then passed between both of them and after a while, Anna sprung up immediately, her hands on her hips with a contented smile gracing her face.
"Fully recharged on my Leopold batteries!" she said with a beaming smile.
"That's such a weird thing to be confidently saying" Leopold replied with small chuckle.
"Not to me. Anyway, I'm planning to bake a few pastries. Would you like some?" Anna asked.
Leopold looked around his table for a bit and upon realizing he might not even be able to eat dinner later today due to number of documents he still needed to work on, he responded to Anna's offer positively.
"I'd appreciate it dear. And remember-"
"Light cheesecake with sliced strawberries. Honey, I'm beyond familiar with your tastes by now" Anna responded with a small wave as she walked out of Leopold's office.
Leopold just smiled in response to his wife's gesture and resumed his work.
The duchess who was heading to the kitchen decided to branch and check up on Ivelia in the lab. Upon getting there, she saw her putting something back into the drawer but didn't really pay any heed to it.
"Ivelia. Look at you! You've been pulling all-nighters a bit too frequently these days. Your beautiful hair is a total mess and your eyes look like you haven't slept in days" Anna immediately complained with worry upon seeing her.
"Hi Mrs. Anna… About that… I'll definitely get a much needed sleep tonight. I promise" Ivelia responded with a weak smile.
"Sigh… what am I going to do with all of you in this family? You're all workaholics. I'm guessing Ivar is also training his mana core by now?" Anna said, her tone laced with a bit of resignation as she slowly moved towards Ivelia.
"Yes. He left just a few minutes ago" Ivelia replied.
"Well. I guess I'll leave his portion down. That being said, Ivelia, come with me. We need to get some sugar into your system. I'm about to go bake some pastries" Anna said as she grabbed Ivelia's arm and began pulling her gently.
"I'd appreciate it Mrs. Anna, but I'd also like to help too" Ivelia replied as Anna gently dragged her while using her other free hand to hang the lab coat she had previously removed on the rack as they left the lab.
"Absolutely not! You're too tired to help me with baking now" Anna declared.
"I can still try…" she replied in response to the duchess's comment.
Anna just sighed in resignation at this. She wondered if it were her sons that were affecting everyone around them.
They both eventually made their way into the kitchen and although Anna had tried to prevent Ivelia from doing anything, she eventually gave in to her request to help.
She however ensured that Ivelia had something to eat first before they started anything. As a result, they both ended up baking everything together.
Ivelia wondered why the duchess was making a few of the pastries insanely sweet and placing them separately while leaving the rest as normal as possible. Anna upon noticing Ivelia's curiosity explained the reason to her.
"Oh… You probably may not know this, but Flynn has a very sweet tooth" she explained while chuckling.
"It's almost insatiable at times" she continued.
Ivelia was really amused by this new information, especially considering how Flynn felt like someone who might have a thing for bitter things.
Flynn's sweet tooth aside though, Ivelia had never really had the chance to really spread her wings at baking and cooking due to their previous circumstances but now that she had the opportunity to learn a bunch of things about it, she was going to take it even if she was quite tired.
Simply put, Ivelia had and still has a big flair for cooking and baking.
As both females were putting the finishing touches on the pastries hey had baked, Aiden and Flynn strolled into the kitchen. They seemed to have freshened up, as was evident from the way a few droplets of water were still present in their hair.
Aiden headed straight for the freezer and took out a jar full of pickles and immediately began to munch through it.
Flynn however swiftly moved over to the tray containing pastries which he had known was definitely for him and without even a second thought, began to munch through it, a twinkle in his eyes and a very contented smile gracing his face.
Ivelia watched him do this while chuckling to herself as she thought.
'He really does have a sweet tooth'