บท 43: Growth (2)
[Island of Bones, Dwarven Mountains Underground Entrance, Crimson Clan Castle (building site)]
After analysing the status of the battlefield and his previous achievements, Lewis nodded with satisfaction. Only three months passed since the start of this war, yet his party grew tremendously. Not only did he grow a lot, Orianna also benefitted a lot from the abundance of blood essence.
The rare [Blood Essence Gathering] spell was of immense benefits to bloodline type acolytes, but the requirements to learn it were very tough. Not only you needed a comprehensive understanding of various blood elemental magic theories, you also needed enough experience and mastery of manipulating blood to avoid harming the blood essence's purity, something that took Lewis decades to learn, and even then, he was far from mastering it.
Because it was such an obscure spell, neither Jorg nor Raon thought a lot about it, but Orianna was inwardly shocked by the spell's effectiveness.
It was not just a matter of practibility.
In such an environment, not being able to harvest the blood of enemies would often mean that it would turn bad. Blood essence would dissipate as fast as the soul. There were only a couple of hours, or days for strong species, to harvest it.
Bloodline acolytes would usually drink the blood directly. Even if it was not purified, it would still contain a small portion of blood essence.
However, who would have the thirst to drink more than a couple of glass of blood?
Even vampires would have trouble doing so, not to mention regular bloodline acolytes.
Instead it was much easier to drink drops of condensed blood essence or small flasks of such divine elixirs.
It was not like the spell was forbidden or found in a ruin. Besides alchemists, few would invest years into learning a spell that had no practical combat applications. Even though it was immensely beneficial to bloodline type acolytes, they were the least likely to learn spells through studying, instead relying on their own innate spells. Adding to the fact that it was incredibly difficult to learn, taking even an elder like Lewis years to learn, it was no wonder the spell was unpopular.
Still, it was the regent that allowed Orianna to step into the Elite Beginner Rank Acolyte realm, and with that, her strength had already surpassed anything she amounted to in Lewis' memories of his previous life.
"The sun has yet to set", Lewis muttered after seeing a ray of light piercing through the door of his tent, "I have time to attempt one set of potioneering"
With a steady hand, Lewis carefully measured dried yarrow and powdered comfrey, their medicinal properties essential for clotting blood and speeding up healing. He placed them into a bubbling cauldron of purified water, heated by a small, controlled flame. His decades of practice were evident in his precise movements and the calm focus in his eyes. The tools, too, were a bit hazard and came from years of experimenting, personally crafted by Lord Ignis who owed him a favour for selling silver fur to him.
As the mixture simmered, Lewis added a few drops of tincture of witch hazel, known for its astringent properties. He then stirred the concoction with a long, twisted glass rod, watching as the potion slowly transformed from a murky brown to a vibrant emerald green. He adjusted the heat and muttered ancient incantations under his breath, enhancing the potion's potency with the power of his words. Each incantation drained him of his mana, one of the main limitations alchemists faced. However, Lewis no longer was the weak acolyte he used to be, his spirit having almost reached the very limits of the beginner acolyte realm.
Finally, Lewis poured the potion into a small flask, sealing it with a cork and wax. He then carefully put in a chest, filled with a dozen similar potions, each radiating a vibrant crimson colour. Each vial was a testament to his expertise, ready to staunch bleeding and promote healing in those who needed it.
[Hemostasis Potion]
One of the recipes that Lewis had mastered, in which his success rate had reached roughly 20%. Common yet incredibly popular, each hemostasis potion could fetch two to three magic crystals in a regular acolyte market.
If sold in a wandering acolyte black market, where alchemists were close to nonexistent, then the price might even reach four magic crystals. In times of war, however, there was no limit to such potions.
Hemostasis potions possessed strong healing abilities, and could stabilize bleeding wounds better than a regular healing spell. Because of its effectiveness, popularity and relatively cheap ingredients, it was worth investing thousands of magic crystals into it.
Recipes of such potions would only cost roughly a hundred magic crystals. However, to grow a success rate high enough to see some return of investment could cost thousands more. Lewis was not very talented, and ended up spending more than eight thousand magic crystals to reach his proficiency in the craft. In his previous life, he had never made profit with alchemy.
However, it was different in this lifetime. His experience had been conserved, and though his alchemy talent was roughly average, he already possessed two recipes and proficiency in one brewing one potion. If it were not for the time requirements to brew potions, Lewis would have been fine in spending a couple of years grinding potions to become rich.
Satisfied with his work, Lewis leaned back, the satisfaction of a job well done evident in his serene expression.
The battlefield was a very nice environment.
With supply of hemostasis potions being low, everyone was actively searching for supply. Unwilling to let go of the glory and battle opportunities that the battlefield provided, Lewis had reluctantly saved the majority of his potions and hid them. Although he would not spare them in battle to boost the recovery of Jorg for instance and occassionally trade a couple of them against rare resources, Lewis had successfully brewed his 18th hemostasis potion.
The chest was hiding more than just that. Rare plants like the [Moonshadow Lily], [Twilight Rose] or the [Seraphim Root], he found in the underground itself. As a place filled with magical creatures and strong earth element, it was only natural for rare magical plants to grow. Though regular acolytes would have passed by them without recognizing their value, Lewis was an alchemist with almost a hundred years of studies stored in his mind. He had even memorized the encycloepedia of flaura stored in the Magical Court's lower floor.
These plants could be consumed directly to raise his orJorg's physical strength, but Lewis planned on drying them, before consuming them in the form of medicinal tea, a technique that he had learned from a wandering acolyte.
Of course, there could be brewed into more potent elixirs, but Lewis was not at a level where he could easily brew a recipe in which he trained for decades, not to mention body refinement elixirs.
But the chest did not only contain such plants.
Lewis had gladly traded hemostasis potions for two [Burning Hands Scrolls], parchments that could be ripped to unlock a fire-elemental spell as long as the caster possessed the requirements in terms of spirit. Often used by acolytes who had yet to learn a spell but wished to earn money in combat missions, scrolls were a reliable way to do so.
If it were not for the fact that they were very expensive, costing three magic crystals for the cheapest and hundreds of magic crystals for the most complex ones, scrolls would have been more popular on the battlefield. Of course, it was always better to use spells if you knew them, as scrolls required a lot more mana, as the caster would not possess the necessary mastery over the theories of the spell, the only thing making it possible being the matrix drawn on the said scroll.
Each one of these scrolls could replenish his wolf fire ring artefact once, and though it was an expensive tribute, it was worth the exchange.
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง