章 25: Potion Brewing, Part 1
The barn was set ablaze, and soon the sounds from the Giant Rats soon stopped. The smell of burning flesh and wood filled the surrounding area.
Gerald just stood there deep in thought. The whole fight went quite well and he got much better at understanding the magic spells. Luckily, the beasts didn't scratch him, and that way he was able to save a few potions. Although he wasn't really sure if he could get sick, he preferred not to test his hypothesis. (In the business we call this foreshadowing.)
"I really like these new powers, it's just that I need to get more Mana. These low-grade spells alone probably won't suffice if I want to become a proper mage…" he murmured to himself. From what he read in the library, there were ranks for magicians as well. They were based on what rank spells you were able to cast.
What Gerald was using now were only the low-grade spells, and they luckily all used about 1 LIS each. That way he could use up to seven spells. The book he found, the Elemental Codex, was the elementary introduction to magic. It was only good for beginners and it similarly contained just low-grade spells.
Apparently, some spells could have multiple ranks, depending on the understanding of the caster and of course on the amount of energy allocated to it. Water Wave, for example, was barely a small wave that Gerald used to put out a fire when he first came to this world. However, if used with full power, and on the ocean, it could probably create a tsunami with insane destructive capabilities.
Of course, Gerald knew that it was basically impossible to do so. First of all, you needed a large body of water as the spell catalyst. Then there was the issue of massive amounts of Mana that probably went up to multiple tens of thousands if not more. And lastly, the amount of control over such a grand spell was probably too much for a normal human brain to handle.
If anyone tried to create something like this, it would leave them brain-damaged at best, and instantaneously dead at worst. The strain on the brain would be simply too much. Just as it is possible to die from too much sudden pain that overloaded the nervous system, it was the same thing here.
According to Gerald's understanding, he was currently classified as a Magic User. He knew how to use low-grade spells that were around 1 to 2 LIS. For the rank of a Spellcaster, he had to be able to know and use medium-grade spells. They usually went somewhere from 5-10 LIS, and as for the title of Wizard, he had to know high-grade spells.
Not only were magic spells like that rare, but they were also above all extremely hard to get. Only Royal and some noble families would have access to them. They were usually considered to be a family treasure, and even if no one knew how to use them, they would still never let outsiders get their hands on them.
As he was mulling over the information he recently received, Gerald turned around to see what Sera was doing. To his surprise, she was cutting off the tails of the Giant Rats and storing them in her pouch.
As if she felt his gaze, she turned to face him. Gerald was really surprised to see her doing that without throwing up. "Feeling better?" he chuckled.
"Oh, shut up. I'm just helping what I can. Let's just take the tails as evidence and go home. I need to bathe. I feel so disgusting right now," Sera complained.
"Oh, that's right." Only now did Gerald remember that they had to take evidence for every finished job. When dealing with a monster slayer task, that was usually tails. It was only one per animal and they were usually worthless. That way, the warriors could make some more money on the side, selling the skin, teeth, claws, and other animal parts.
They waited for a while, to see that the fire doesn't spread, and then left when it was almost dark. They were really tight on time before the city gates closed. In fact, just as they passed the gates, the bells rang, signaling the time to close the city for the night.
"Phew, that was cutting it close. We almost got locked out!"
"Sure did… Let's go to the Guild. I want to be done with this job," responded Gerald.
They went to turn in the rat tails at the guild. Since Gerald did most of the job, he also pocketed the majority of the reward. Sera wanted to protest, but when she saw how shamelessly Gerald put away the money, she just shrunk down.
"I have a few things in mind, so I won't be going on a job tomorrow," he informed her before they split up. "You should also take a day off. You look really pale."
Sera just sighed and said her goodbyes. She knew that there was no point in arguing. And besides, she really did feel sick.
Gerald went for a substantial dinner before sleep. He needed sustenance to replenish his strength, from all the injuries. He once again ordered a fatty piece of meat and a big mug of light beer.
As he was later lying on the bed in his new room, his mind was racing, full of all sorts of plans and ideas for the future. But first, he needed some good quality sleep.
It was early in the morning—the sun was still low on the horizon—when Gerald started with his experiments.
As he now had a more private room in the Guild, he decided to try his hand at alchemy. Or specifically in herblore and potion-making.
Just for the beginning, he bought a few glass beakers and vials, as well as an alcohol burner and a stack of Healing Roots.
The glass was quite expensive, and so was all the other necessary equipment.
Luckily, he received a few gold coins from Orin Gezer when he visited the Academy first thing in the morning. The headmaster was so satisfied with the book he borrowed from Gerald that he decided to give him an extra reward.
Gerald simply followed the instructions in the Blood Codex and extracted the juices from the Healing Roots. That was the easy part. What followed was a much more precise and annoying part.
'Slowly heat up the liquid, until approximately half of it evaporates and it becomes more concentrated.' That was about what the instruction said. It was easy to say, but the concentration needed to be almost exactly on point. The worst part was that the healing properties were very heat-sensitive and if one wanted to be absolutely safe, the process took half a day.
Masters of potion-making usually kept the heat close to the critical point, just to speed things up. Of course, the process sometimes resulted in failure because of this.
There was also another problem. After the juices of the Healing Root came in contact with air, they quickly degraded and lost their healing properties. In liquid form, they would at most last for about a day.
For that reason, when the liquid lost 50% of its water content, it was necessary to add Pure Ether Crystal dust, to prevent further degradation. At the same time, it also slightly enhanced healing properties.
For starters, Gerald only tried to make a single potion, so he wouldn't waste many ingredients should he fail in his attempt.
While the potion was slowly heating up and evaporating, Gerald decided to get himself familiar with all the plants and other ingredients contained in the Blood Codex. In the few hours it took for the liquid to evaporate, he already memorized all the herbs, seeds, flowers, and animal parts, that were used in potion-making.
It was nearing the time when the Pure Etherium dust was to be added to the potion. Gerald removed the beaker from the flame and added a pinch of Ether dust while sending his Mana to guide the two substances together.
His control over the process was perfect, however, the amount of water in the liquid was still too much and the potion rejected the Etherium dust. When that happened, the Etherium dust, now having nothing to do, started absorbing the Mana that was guiding it.
Soon, the liquid started turning pitch-black, while producing a lot of heat. Before Gerald even knew what was happening, the potion inside the beaker started boiling, and as such, the healing properties were destroyed just like that.
"What the hell! Are you kidding me? I couldn't have been off by more than a few percent!" He massaged his temples in frustration and complained, "I expected to fail a few times, but man… The amount of precision required is evidently much higher than I anticipated."
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