Zaya led August to the second floor and opened a door. As she entered the room, Yoru followed, and then August came in, carrying a tray full of ingredients.
"This is the room you'll be using. It has the basic necessities for alchemy," she said, showing August the various tools and supplies.
In the middle of the room stood a table with neatly arranged equipment. There was a faucet, a burner, and even a basic cauldron for alchemy. August quickly placed the tray on the table.
"You can use potion containers from this closet to store your potions," Zaya said, pointing to a closet where glass vials, flasks, and bottles were neatly arranged. "One glass vial costs 1C, a flask costs 3C, and a bottle is 2C. You can use anything you want from here and pay for the containers afterward."
"I'll come to remind you when your three hours are up," she continued. "Come, Yoru, let's go." Yoru quickly jumped onto her shoulder as she exited the room.
"Thank you for your help," August said, closing the door behind her.
"Let's get to work," he said to himself.
He had made a potion for Aurora when she was in dire need of ice elemental mana, but it couldn't be considered a full-fledged potion. It was a mixture of chaotic ice elements that he had somehow stabilized with his mana. It was risky, but it worked.
However, making a proper potion was different. He needed a recipe that specified how much of each ingredient to add and when to add them. If he made a mistake, the potion would fail.
'Let's make some mana water first,' he thought. He could have bought mana water from Zaya, but why waste money when he could make it himself?
There are different types of mana water. The first method is to inject mana into water. The second method is to let mana from mana stones or mana crystals seep into the water, which takes much longer but results in a higher grade of mana water. The last and purest form comes from mines where mana crystals form. This mana water, often called pure mana liquid, is highly valuable and used as fuel for various purposes.
He placed a beaker full of distilled water on the table, then began to inject his mana into the water from his hand. He concentrated on the process, stabilizing his mana within the water to ensure it wouldn't leak out.
After some time, he stopped injecting mana. The water had begun to reject his mana, indicating that the required amount had been added.
[ Mana Water ] (Low Grade)
[ A low-grade mana water made by injecting mana into the water. ]
After confirming the mana water with his inspection, he retrieved one blade of Frost Blade Grass from the bundle. It felt solid as a stick, resembling frozen grass.
[ Frost Blade Grass ] (Common)
[ Imbued with the ice element, this grass is commonly found in cold climates. It is a snack for ice element beasts. ]
Next, he retrieved some Gale Mycra leaves from the bag of leaves.
[ Gale Mycra Leaf ] (Common)
[ The leaf of the Gale Mycra tree, imbued with the wind element. Commonly found in rainy areas. You can boil it to make good tea. ]
There are two types of ingredients in a potion: main and sub. The main ingredient is the essential part of the potion that cannot be replaced without causing the potion to fail. Sub ingredients can be substituted with others of the same rank and element, though this may reduce the potion's effectiveness.
August first ground the Frost Blade Grass into powder using a grinder. He measured the powder to ensure it was the right amount before proceeding to the next step.
'Oh, it's turned bluish green,' he thought as he added the powdered Frost Blade Grass to the mana water. The mixture slowly changed to a bluish-green color.
He set the mixture aside for now, then turned his attention to the Gale Mycra leaves. He ground them into a paste in a mixer, extracted the juice using a strainer, and poured it into a test tube.
Finally, he measured 5ml of beast blood from the bottle and transferred it to a test tube. Beast blood has properties that stabilize elements in a potion and enhance its performance. The higher the rank, the greater the power. Although he had some second-rank beast blood, he didn't use it as he was only testing the potion and intended to sell it afterward.
He proceeded with the next step. He first added 20ml of mana water into a beaker, then added the mixture of Frost Blade Grass and mana water. After that, he added the Gale Mycra leaves' juice, followed by the beast blood. He stirred the mixture with a glass rod.
Then he lit the burner and carefully positioned the beaker over the flame, adjusting the intensity to control the heating process. As the burner heated the bottom of the beaker, August carefully monitored the reaction, stirring the mixture occasionally to ensure it mixed well.
The most difficult part of the potion-making process came next: infusion and stabilization. He had to infuse the elements in a way that stabilized them, ensuring the potion would possess the desired properties.
'Let's focus on the potion making. Failure or success will be seen later,' August thought, getting serious as he solely concentrated on the solution.
He slowly and carefully injected his mana into the solution to avoid disrupting the balance. He controlled his mana to infuse the elements into the solution.
As time went on, the solution began to stabilize. However, midway through the infusion, the solution started to become volatile. August struggled to control the elements within the solution.
Sweating from the effort, he suddenly felt something unlock inside his body. He began to sense the elements of the solution more clearly and pinpoint where it was becoming unstable.
The wind element was intensifying the ice element, disrupting the potion's balance. August reacted quickly, removing unnecessary elements and suppressing the ice element to stabilize the solution.
"Huff! Finally, it's a success," August huffed in relief as he succeeded in making the potion.
He poured the potion into a glass vial, admiring the light green liquid. He quickly used Inspect on the potion.
[ Frozen Breeze Mana Potion ]
Rank: Common
Grade: High
Effects: After consuming this potion, mana cultivation speed increases by 100%.
Duration: 1 hour ]