Chapter 655: Different Types of Poison - 655
"Huh?" Master Chef Garb said. "Oh right. I forgot about that. You can just enter. The door is next to the bathroom door."
Skymender thanked him and walked over. Opening the door, he saw a set of wooden stairs that led down. He began to walk down them, and eventually, they turned, still heading down but in the opposite direction.
After a while, he came across another wooden door. He pushed it open and stepped inside. Above was a lamp, and all around was concrete. There was a vent on the side. Against one of the concrete walls was a table with equipment on it. Skymender looked around for a few moments, recognizing the tools as classic equipment.
He put down the wooden box with the Yellow Lightning Thorn inside and walked back up the stairs. Taking a few trips, he brought down a bunch of different materials and herbs. All of them, excluding the Yellow Lightning Thorn, were taken from a herb store. It did not get many customers, only those that occasionally cooked for themselves.
Surprisingly, they had a great selection of poisonous materials.
Skymender imagined that he was the first person to concoct poison in the Imperial Scholar Camp, but he naturally didn't know.
With all of the materials in the basement, Skymender could begin. Although he had memorized the recipe, he took it out and looked over it once again. Now with full confidence, he began. He took a few of the non reactive materials and began to mix them together, as instructed.
He made a few different mixtures, storing them in glass vials. This was the first step.
The next began by mixing a few of the reactive materials together. Although Skymender did not have a cauldron, he did have a pot and constant heat.
As Skymender began to mix the reactive materials together, he saw a mist come up. As it entered his nose, he felt a slight numbing sensation.
When all of the reactive materials were in the pot and mixed up, the third step began. Skymender began to pour the prepared vials of non reactive substances into the reactive substance. They mixed together, changing the color from dark brown to a slight yellowish green.
Now, it was time for the final step. He opened the wooden box and grabbed the Yellow Lightning Thorn.
As its name suggested, it was a yellow plant with thorns. One of the thorns poked him, and he felt that part of his hand turn numb.
Skymender quickly threw it in the pot whole and began to mix it. The substance's color changed, now turning almost clear. No more mist was released, and Skymender was barely sure that he had done it correctly. However, there was only one way to know.
He put the substance in vials, a total of ten.
He then took one of the vials and uncapped it. Taking a small sip, he felt as if electric had coursed through his body.
His body paused and fell. Luckily, he had already known the effects and had instantly capped the vial after taking a sip. He and the vial fell. He stared up at the ceiling for around ten seconds before feeling instantly returned to his body.
He was amazed. It would have been one thing if it had been a slow process, but it was instant, both coming and going unnoticeably.
Naturally, Skymender's first thought was to become immune to it. He uncapped the same vial and took another sip, capping it instantly.
He fell to the ground and counted. He repeated this process ten times, draining half of the vial. The first time, it had been almost exactly ten seconds. However, the tenth time, he had counted a little bit more than nine and a half seconds. It was hard to be 100% accurate.
Continuing on, he finished up one of the vials, knocking the time it took him to recover down to almost exactly nine and a half seconds. It didn't seem like much, because it wasn't, but it was progress.
Skymender took the nine remaining vials with him and left. He stored them in his room before heading to the library. A day or so later, he once again met up with the Imperial Scholar.
"How did it go?" He asked.
"It went well." Skymender responded.
"Good. You only had one chance. The Yellow Lightning Thorn is both valuable and restricted. Not many know of it, as even a Sword Master would be somewhat affected by it. Don't be stupid with it." The Imperial Scholar said.
Skymender nodded, agreeing. He did not have any plans to poison anyone any time soon.
"Alright. Let's begin."
The Imperial Scholar did not even ask what Skymender wanted to learn about, as he already knew the answer. He began to talk about poison. Eventually, near the end, he began to write out another poison recipe.
"Now I won't give you any recipes for killing or extreme harming, but I can show you how broad the study of poisons can actually be. For example, this poison can be used on a plant, rapidly killing it down to its roots. Even this counts as a poison."
Skymender had heard of something like that before. Supposedly, farmers used some sort of poison to kill weeds or other plants that were harming their fields. There were also poisons that could be used against tiny bugs that harmed their crops.
This was actually a common practice, but Skymender had never associated these things with poison before.
"Though difficult, poisons can be made to only specifically target one type of thing, whether that be plants, animals, humans, or even just a single species such as a cow or pig. Throughout the years, competing businesses have researched such poisons to use against their competitors. While there are very few tales of success, and those that do succeed usually face punishment for their dangerous actions, there are no doubt some who have greatly benefited from these practices."
He handed Skymender a piece of paper. "Here."
Chapter 656: Plant Poison - 656
Skymender quickly looked over it and could tell at a glance that it was different from a usual poison recipe. Both the materials used to create it and the methods used to concoct it were abnormal and very specific.
He looked up at the Imperial Scholar.
"This particular poison is only useful on the common weeds in this area. Our gardeners use it, though it is created elsewhere. It is not particularly useful, but it is extremely valuable. Many would pay a lot of money for it, not just to get rid of weeds, but because it could give them or those who work for them an insight on how to create similar poison recipes."
Skymender nodded. "Thank you."
"Of course. Anything to further the knowledge of such a talented individual."
Although his words were spoken normally, Skymender imagined that deep inside, it was just empty words.
"Now, let me begin to teach you about some of the unusual components in the concoction process."
The Imperial Scholar began to describe, explain, and suggest. His focus was on the unusual concoction method included in the recipe.
It was more complicated than a normal poison recipe, requiring the heat to be skillfully manipulated and the timing to be nearly perfect.
The Imperial Scholar finished up exactly as the hour ended.
"Alright. Good luck with your concocting."
Skymender thanked him again and left. He headed directly to the herb shop. He had already been told about the few materials on the list he hadn't known. None were nearly as valuable as the Yellow Lightning Thorn, and neither were they restricted or classified.
The uniqueness of the recipe lay in the concoction process, not the materials.
Leaving the herb shop with a large bag on his back, Skymender headed over to Master Chef Garb's restaurant. He entered, and Master Chef Garb looked at him.
"Using the poison room." Skymender said.
Master Chef Garb nodded.
As Skymender walked towards the door, he paused. "Is it safe to have a poison room so close to food?"
Master Chef Garb looked back at him. "Is it safe to have a poison room anywhere?"
Skymender nodded in agreement and headed down the stairs once again. In the same room, he took out everything and began. He mixed materials, timed additions perfectly, and manipulated the heat, though he struggled to do so.
He failed his first attempt, as well as his second. However, after the first, his skill had clearly grown. As he began his third, there was an obvious difference. Still, it was not enough.
He failed on his third attempt and his fourth attempt, finally succeeding on his fifth attempt.
He produced a few vials of the poison. He didn't value the poison itself that much. Instead, he valued the practice and experience he had gained, as well as his new insights on different types of poisons.
Skymender cleaned up and headed upstairs to test the poison out. As he walked outside, he looked at one of the boards. On it was a test date. The next time that they met with the Imperial Scholar, they would be tested on what they learned through his methods, and be given points as a result.
Skymender noted it in his head and walked over to the grass. After looking around for a little bit, he found a patch of the common weeds in the Imperial Capital. Although there were many different types of weeds, these were the most common species around.
Skymender uncapped a vial and dripped a few drops on the weeds. He also intentionally got some on the grass. He watched as the poison that touched the weeds was sucked inside of it, but the poison that touched the grass simply slid off, not affecting it.
Moments later, he saw the weeds shriveling up at a speed visible to the naked eye. After five minutes, all that remained of the weed patch was a bunch of dry, dead weeds.
Skymender was impressed by the effectiveness of the poison. The normal grass and ground was completely untouched, while the weeds were completely eradicated. It did what it needed to do and it did it perfectly.
Since he had a test in two days, he decided to head to the library and study.
Clearly, everybody had gotten the memo, as the library was just as full as when it first opened. Skymender made his way to the medical section and began to study. Unlike usual, he actually began to study medicine and healing. He had been intending to do so for a long time, but had always focused on poison.
Now, he decided it was the right time.
As expected, medicine was very similar to poison. From the methods to create a medicine or a cure, to the materials used. All of it was eerily similar. For the first time, Skymender truly understood the saying, "A master of medicine is a master of poison".
Even just by accident, it seemed possible to make poison from a few of the medicine recipes. Just a single additional material or one missing could make a concoction go from healing to killing.
Skymender stayed inside of the library for more than sixteen hours before leaving and falling asleep. He made sure he got plenty of sleep and went to the library as soon as he woke up.
When he arrived it was around 10 PM, or 14 hours before his test with the Imperial Scholar. He would spend all of the time before that studying.
In the library, he perused various sections, even stepping out of the medicine section to look at how broken bones were healed. He became curious as to how doctors actually worked, but staved off his curiosity for the sake of the test.
It felt like the blink of an eye, but 11 AM arrived. Skymender had an hour before his test. To say he was not a little tired would be a lie.
Therefore, he left a bit early and stopped at a cafe, picking up the most energizing coffee that they gave out.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
121 Power
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