Chereads / The Story of Rhodan / Chapter 42 - Refining fairy blood

Chapter 42 - Refining fairy blood

Amy was in a potion's room she reserved for her own use. She got the equipment she needs and is now waiting for the delivery. According to Rufus, it should be here any minute. He asked her to wait in the room while the blood is delivered to her.

There was a knock at her door and Amy ran up with an excited look on her face which morphed into shock as she faced a large jar stands in front of her. It is big enough to fit an entire person.

"Sorry!" Rufus grinned with amusement as his head pokes out from behind it. "So, where do you want this?"

Amy got out of the way as Rufus carries the jar inside and that is even more shocking. There is not even magic casted on the jar to make it lighter.

Damn he's strong. 

Rufus puts the jar down next to the table.

"I asked for a jug, not an entire jar." she exasperated.

"Oops," he shook his head in embarrassment. "It seems the messenger got the wrong message. At least you have more to spare."

Holding back a groan, she gave a grateful smile, "Thanks. I owe you one."

Rufus modestly shook his head and quickly left the room. She then locked the door behind him. There is no way she wants to be disturbed at this crucial time. She got a stool to open the jar lid to see the blood. It is not red in color but translucent and still viscous like normal blood. Fairy blood is a volatile substance during the day so she will have to be careful not to use any magic or drop any of the blood carelessly. She grabbed a ladle and scoop enough blood to fill up a large cup carefully. She got down to pour it into a large container. She continued this step until three large containers are filled.

She then got a contraption that helps with separating the plasma. 

The use of fairy blood in this world are that they are a primary ingredient for explosives. Many mages who specialize in dealing with explosions often have trouble dealing with stabilizing the powerful substance especially in high pressure. Even a small amount of this stuff could create a high explosive enough to destroy an entire building. What's worse is that it is only sensitive to magic. Fairies are already hard to catch and its blood is extremely valuable so no one would even think of experimenting with it.

Technically it is illegal to have this much but as long as she doesn't sell it or use it for terrorism then she should be fine. This is not regulated. Another reason is that because of the nature of fairies, people have preferred to kill them. Their blood is only sensitive to magic anyway so ordinary people cannot use them.

The components of blood isn't studied as much as in this world so no one really bothered to think this method. The reason she knew about this is because of a particularly eccentric scientist who figured it out.

From what she knows, in order to turn the liquid into the desired consistency, she will need to lessen its viscosity. Blood is made up of water and plasma. She needs to first remove the plasma and separate it from the blood and refine it. She looked into her notes while waiting then stared unhappily at the jar. This is way too much blood. It is ten times more than what she asks for. What on earth could she do with the rest?

Then she sees that the process is finished and carefully separated it into different containers and repeated the process with more blood from the jar. 

*

Rufus is pleased with himself. He deliberately gave her too much of it as a joke though he is curious what she is planning on using fairy blood for. He found out that the blood is quite unstable by itself and can only calm down during a cold night or with an expert.

He noticed Viola walking in the hall talking to a few first years and waved at her while approaching her. 

"I have a question. What is Amaryllis doing?"

Viola blinks in suspicion, "Why do you want to know?"

"I need help with potions." he replied sheepishly.

Still suspicious, she answers reluctantly, "You should ask Melissa that. Out of all of us, she is the best in potions."

"Alright," he said and the girls left while a few took a few looks at Rufus and he charismatically smile at them leaving them flustered. Viola is unsurprisingly suspicious.

Rufus then looked forward to see Leon who is waiting impatiently for him. "What took you so long? Done with the flirting?"

Rufus laughed nervously. "I wasn't flirting but something interesting happened."

Leon is confused to hear that. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Rufus kept silent.

*

After a few hours of refining and purifying the contents without using her powers, she finally got her ink. She poured it all into an incredibly large thermos to keep it chilled and look at the jar. She miscalculated on how much blood she needs by a gallon so she is quite glad that she received more of it. She dealt with the rest of the blood by stabilizing it and putting it into a different container. Now that huge jar doesn't have a drop left.

She then grabbed her notebook and flipped to the page she is looking for, got the leftover refined blood to write the necessary scripture needed for the ritual on a blank sheet of paper. It takes eight pages and must be written on both sides. She then looked out the window to see it is sunset now.

She then heard a knock on the door and got up to open it to Nathaniel and Theseus who brought dinner.

"We didn't see you at the dining hall. Violet told us you're here. What are you doing?" Theseus asked and saw the large jar.

"Careful." Amy warned them gently. "This stuff is dangerous. Do not touch anything."

Nathaniel and Theseus puts the food at the farthest table and sat by her while she cleaned herself up and began eating.

"What are you working on?" Nathaniel asks curiously. "I've never seen these contraptions before."

"I made them."

"You made them?!" Theseus shouts in amazement. 

Amy stopped herself from giggling at his reaction and continued eating.

"Wait! Violet did tell me that you have a hobby on making weird things." Theseus wonders. "I guess she's not wrong."

"I don't always make weird things and I don't do it that often." Amy says after finishing her food. "Everything I make has its own use."

"You should probably present some of this stuff. You have the makings of an inventor." Nathaniel murmured.

Amy scratched the back of her neck. "Well, it is not my original intention. None of this stuff is-"

Then there was another knock and Viola walked in, interrupting her. "Amy! Are you done yet?" She noticed both Nathaniel and Theseus in the room along with an empty plate.

"Come in." Amy said while wiping her mouth with a napkin. "I'm just taking a bit of a break." she says while stretching her arms.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Viola asks after seeing the blank sheets of paper.

Amy paused for a moment then examined the three. "Yes, actually. It will get things done faster." She then started examining the room and brought out some spare quill pens, grabbed the refined blood and laid it out on the middle. She passed out papers to everyone much to their surprise.

"Okay, I need you to transcribe something for me. I know Nathaniel is good at writing Infernus so I need you to help write three pages front and back of these." She placed down the papers to him to copy.

She then stared at Viola. "You are the better at writing Jophiel than me so we can transcribe it together." she said also giving her the papers to copy from.

As for Theseus, he gets two sheets. "You can write the Silvia one. Both front and back." Then she looked at the ink. It is enough to share. "By the way, be careful with the ink. It is powerful. In fact, when you're done. Give those quills back to me. We'll need to dispose them."

"Powerful?" Nathaniel questioned.

She nodded in response.

"Alright, let's get started." Viola said and already dipped her quill pen into the ink.