Marichadon family, apothecary lab.
Ivan stared at the glass vessel above the flames, not daring to blink.
The flames scorched the bottom of the glass vessel, causing the temperature inside to continuously rise. The fish-swallowing susswassertang seeds inside it became hot and red, like scalding metal, and he timingly added a drop of scorpion tail gum oil.
"Pop."
A soft noise sounded in his ears like thunder.
Ivan hastily stepped back as a series of popping sounds came from the workbench.
In the glass vessel, the addition of scorpion tail gum oil seemed to trigger something that caused the first seed to burst, followed by other seeds exploding one after another. Billows of black and red toxic smoke rose, enveloping that area of the workbench.
"Ah, another failure."
Ivan was unfazed.
Wearing a mask, he hid in a corner for a while until the toxic smoke no longer increased. He skillfully sprayed disinfectant with his homemade sprayer to clean the spreading fumes, and only after a while did he open the window to air out the room.
He had just turned around when a head popped out through the window.
"Uh---so dizzy."
Sean poked his head in, breathing in a puff of the outgoing smoke, and felt his head spin.
"Serves you right," Ivan looked back at the scene, somewhat amused and helpless. He had taken a detoxification potion beforehand, unlike his brother Sean, who had not, and naturally became confused, making trouble for himself.
Sadly, since it was his own brother, Ivan had no choice but to open the door and go to the backyard, where he found Peggy had already helped the person to one side.
A flicker of discomfort crossed Peggy's face as she whispered, "I advised Sean against it, but he wouldn't listen and insisted on getting too close."
"Of course," Ivan replied, not believing that, knowing her capability to suppress Sean was easy, but he didn't say much else and handed each of them a detoxification potion. Sean wasn't deeply poisoned because he had cleaned up with the disinfectant.
After using the detoxification potion for a moment, Sean's confusion notably improved.
"I'm going to rest now."
"I'll help you."
The two siblings did not dare approach the door again and found an excuse to hurry away.
Having dismissed the two curiously uncontrollable people, Ivan returned to the apothecary lab.
"It seems this method won't work. I still need to add Spider Flower Claw first, mix in bitter wheat mantis feelers to maintain balance—-" he thought about the previous failure, took a pen, and crossed out one experiment in his notebook.
An hour later, the apothary lab was again filled with a muffled sound, like punching a quilt.
Undoubtedly, he had experienced another failure.
Failure.
Another failure.
Repeatedly failing.
Failure had become Ivan's key routine these days, accompanied by money continuously draining away.
"That's about it. I want to see what these plans are lacking."
After dozens of failures, Ivan sensed it was about time and straightforwardly used a level 2 Light of Wisdom.
In an instant, he became a different person, his understanding and spirituality fully awakened, his eyes glowing, as if he could discern the secrets of most things.
"I understand now. Take the fish-swallowing susswassertang seeds, add fish-swallowing susswassertang juice, mix with icicle stone foam, then add Spider Flower Claw and bitter wheat mantis feeler, and finally a trace of red rock powder and scorpion tail gum oil. So that's how it is."
Ivan didn't dare to relax, hurriedly gathered various ingredients together, and began a new round of experiments.
He understood the rationale, vaguely realizing the type of ingredients that could replace the Whirlpool Potion, but success was not guaranteed. It still depended on the apothecary techniques, whether boiling, calcining, melting, pounding, mixing, or stewing, among others.
The smallest mistake could lead to a great loss.
He could not afford any relaxation.
Accompanied by a piercing odor, Ivan knew he had failed once again.
"Just a little bit more."
There was no despair in his tone. Instead, there was an eagerness to try again because his improvements had been so significant that he could see the hope for success.
After briefly tidying up the workbench, he fetched the same ingredients and began the second round of exploration.
The Level 2 Light of Wisdom lasted for four minutes, so he had to make the most of the time.
Soon, the effect of the Light of Wisdom faded, and his concoction was nearing its end.
"Indeed, it still lacks a bit. I should have reduced the flame earlier and been swifter when adding the scorpion tail gum oil."
Ivan quickly stepped back as a small puff of gray smoke rose from the glass vessel. The smoke quickly dispersed, revealing the liquid within.
The cobalt blue liquid was like a piece of blue amber, but, unfortunately, a few gray-black fibers floated on top, ruining the potion.
At this point, even though he was utterly exhausted, his spirit was extraordinarily stimulated.
"That's enough. I'll clean up and fight another day."
Ivan realized that he had run out of the main ingredient, fish-swallowing susswassertang fruit, and needed to buy more since he had spent all his savings, including some money supported by Beaman.
It was just a matter of saving up for a few more days. He had failed dozens of times and was not in a hurry at any particular moment.
[Apothecary Skill: lv2(33/200)]
[Knight Breathing Skill: lv1(17/100)]
[Linguistics Skill: lv1(5/100)]
Caught up in his exploration earlier, he noticed that his Apothecary Skill Experience Points had increased by about ten points, which was less than he had expected.
As he left the apothecary lab, Peggy told him some news.
"Brother Ivan, Miss Church will visit our house tomorrow."
"Who invited her?"
"It was Paul, brother."
Ivan signaled that he understood.
Miss Church was the daughter of a country baron, as described by Beaman. She was visiting relatives in Flying Fish Port, and for some reason, Paul had taken a liking to her and was pursuing her.
The next morning, Ivan went to Bat's Eye Medical Hall. He needed to earn money through apothecary, or his research could not continue.
As for the Swordsmanship Hall, the Gushing Breath Method made enhancing blood energy difficult, so he didn't need to go too often.
As usual, as soon as he began his apothecary work, he realized his skills were much sharper than the day before—it was simply too easy in comparison.
He continuously concocted potions from morning to 14:00 in the afternoon, earning a total of 3 Gold Coins in commission. He then rushed to his high Golgandar language class in West City.
"Mr. Ivan, class is starting."
Mrs. Harayer was a one-on-one private tutor. Ivan was always her only student, and his academic progress had never been slow.
After the class ended, Mrs. Harayer invited him for some tea. They chatted idly for a while, during which the lady repeatedly praised his innate talent for linguistics.
Mrs. Harayer got to the point: "Mr. Ivan, I have a suggestion."
Ivan said, "Please go ahead."
Mrs. Harayer adjusted her hair, disheveled by the wind, and slowly parted her red lips: "You've reached a certain level in your study of the ancient Golgandar language. All that's left is to slowly accumulate vocabulary. Continuing these classes is not the most efficient, so I suggest you switch to another language."
"You are truly a kind person."
Ivan thought to himself, no wonder his recent gains in linguistics Experience Points had been difficult to achieve.
Mrs. Harayer added, "If you agree, I can offer you an extra discount of 1 Gold Coin on the tuition fee."
Time-wise, it seemed like a bit of a loss. Considering his current financial situation, Ivan couldn't help but say, "No problem, but I need to take a few days off first and visit again after some time."
To Mrs. Harayer, it sounded like polite refusal.
With her slightly disappointed look, Ivan did not explain further and asked to leave, saying he would return in a few days.