Although it would be classified as a Tier 4 dungeon due to the level of the portal, no demons had ever come through to actually build an underground network to defend it. Instead, this particular portal had merely spawned into a cave.
Still, it made a great place to stay under the radar. The adventurers guarding it still thought it was Tier 5, and nobody would bother going into the cave to investigate the portal any time soon. They'd hide right beneath their nose and set out when the time was right.
There wasn't an abundance of space, but there was enough for what they were planning to do.
With the undead standing guard around the cave, the two plopped themselves onto the stone floor next to the portal.
The darkness energy in the air began to crystallize between where the two sat. It merged together forming a small bone container.
"My grandfather, Elsmeth, was an avid researcher of everything in nature. He employed all kinds of means to gather information on magical plants and how to develop potions. The research of his that I've been focusing on has to do with one particular plant he discovered, Sana.
When he came across it and didn't recognize it, his first method of study was to observe other plants and animals around it. Many magical plants will have some kind of influence on their surroundings based on their properties; they also can have their properties influenced by their surroundings, like developing darkness energy repulsion while in a dungeon.
Sure enough, he saw what it was capable of, and that led to him making his most important scientific contribution. The insects in the area that would feast on leaves and berries would approach the plant for food, but ultimately never bit into the appetizing berries it grew. Instead, they would slow down and linger around, becoming rather lethargic.
That was his first observation; the essences produced by the Sana plant would travel through the air and make animals feel both tired and comfortable. Later, he noticed that minor injuries would have an increased rate of healing when near it.
His conclusion was that the plant's defense mechanism was to make its potential predators tired and soothed while healing them. They'd consequently choose to stick around and protect it instead of eating it.
In nature, this would be a trivial but interesting fact, a singular plant's means of survival through sedating insects. But when combined with alchemy, it becomes a product beneficial to an entire society.
Sleep potions and healing potions are both valuable, and if adjusted the right way, Sana berries can make either.
Now, when flora that have yet to develop magical properties are exposed to soul energy, according to our Demon King, they will begin the process. One way to influence the direction of their development is to feed them potions made from essences of flora with the desired attributes."
As he spoke, he pulled out a sample of moss and a mushroom that he had taken with him, as well as two different vials.
"The mushroom went down the path of inducing sleep; it lost the healing ability entirely and made up for it with potency. Potions made with its essence can knock out a powerful Warrior and weaker ones may never wake up after consuming it. The moss maintained both effects completely and actually gained a third one. Consuming it can lead not only to drowsiness but to a high level of disorientation."
He put the moss away and placed the mushroom into the bone container.
"If I had to start over, even if I had the original versions of them before I began influencing their development, perhaps the moss would have potent sleep effects and the mushroom would gain the new ability. Or perhaps they both would have entirely different outcomes. It's by continuing to work with the strains that I've been cultivating that I can continue my research as is."
After placing it in, a new piece of bone was generated at the top of the container, capable of sliding up and down to continuously crush the contents within.
When it was completely pulverized, he filled it with water, sealed it, and utilized a heating pad created with a magical beast part to boil the suspension. While it boiled, a bone tube was formed leading to another sealed container with more water warmed to body temperature.
Elsmeth watched and listened attentively as the demon gave him the lesson. He didn't think potions would do much to him, but they had many applications he could make use of.
"From what we're taught, all of the soul energy leaves an organism when it dies, but the essences with special properties created by the souls become physical and part of the bodies themselves during development. Consequently, they can be extracted and used after death.
In the original Sana plant, the essences were in the berries, but they permeate all of the mushrooms and moss. By grounding them up as much as possible, placing them in water, and boiling it, the goal is to vaporize all of the essence."
After heating for a bit, the heating pad was replaced with a cooling pad and the temperature rapidly plummeted. Simultaneously, the seal was open connecting the tube to the body temperature water.
"The essence is set to target living creatures, so it is most attracted to things at our temperature. Once it is fully vaporized, the original medium it was in can be cooled and condensed back to liquid. The essence won't want to stay in it and will travel to the other container. This way, we can control the volume of water it ends up with, and consequently, the concentration and potency of the potion."
"Hey, are you listening?"
Ironically, while the lesson was certainly fascinating the skeleton, his focus was elsewhere.
"How exactly do these work?"
The process to create the potion was interesting, but the equipment was equally so. While Israfel was giving the lecture, Elsmeth was mostly staring at the heating and cooling pads, using his perception in an attempt to pry into their secrets.