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Starting Attempts
The fatty Woox took out a black coloured box from a shelf behind him and placed it on the table. He also took out a sheet of parchment from under the sales counter. It seemed to be extremely old, with the ends a little torn.
“One copy of the Strength Potion formula, one Magic Crystal!”
“One set of ingredients, enough for ten tries, one Magic Crystal!”
Leylin opened the black coloured box. Inside were ten crimson-coloured fruits arranged neatly, which seemed to have traces of cracks on their surface, and beside them was a root of some green plant, and a bottle of black powder.
Putting the box away and picking up the faint yellowish parchment paper, he saw a formula written in black ink, which even included the areas to note. Although the handwriting was a little faded, it was still legible as a whole.
Leylin nodded his head and tucked the parchment paper into his robes. He took out the last 2 Magic Crystals he had in his waist pouch and handed it to Woox, then left the hut without turning back.
He only had 4 Magic Crystals and had spent them all on this small amount of ingredients. This terrifying expenditure for potion brewing was not something the average acolyte could bear.
What followed next was that Leylin’s daily routine had taken a similar route to how he had been in his previous world.
Every day, he was shuttling to and fro between five places: the dorm, the dining hall, the Academic Area, the experiment lab and the library.
Another month passed unknowingly.
[The gathering of data has been completed!] The A.I Chip’s notification sounded.
Sitting on one side of a long table in the library, Leylin closed the book he was holding in his hands.
Apart from attending classes and aiding his mentor with his experiments, the majority of his time was spent in the library. Almost every book that could be read for free was browsed through, and the A.I Chip finished accumulating more data.
“Whew…… I have finally understood the formulation of potions!” Leylin exhaled loudly.
Although Kroft had provided some elementary information about Potioneering, there were many things that he still did not understand. He learnt things like the terminology and vocabulary by himself in the library. If he wanted a professor’s explanation he would have had to pay a fee. However, it was a pity that Leylin had turned into a peasant with 0 Magic Crystals.
Many acolytes who were embarrassingly short of Magic Crystals did the same thing, browsing through the variety of free information in the library. However, they did not have Leylin’s A.I Chip, so they usually needed a dozen days to a month to find what they wanted in the library.
As for Leylin, he had now recorded all the information that was available to him in the library already. He even made a search function for it, so the information would be at his perusal if he met with any questions in the future.
However, even Elementary Potioneering was considered higher-tiered information. Even with the constant analyses from the A.I Chip, Leylin only knew about one-third of it, but that was already extremely useful to him.
At least now, when he looked back upon the basics of Potioneering, it was like looking down at the tiles from the roof of a tall building.
As for the elementary potion brewing and the Strength Potion formula, they had been fully analysed, so it was time to put them into practice.
“My accumulation of knowledge is already enough, I’ll begin brewing the Strength Potion today!”
Leylin placed the books back on the shelves and left the library.
A female acolyte with brunette hair raised her head and glanced at Leylin, before returning her attention to the black book in her hands.
The library had many acolytes, and yet they were all well behaved and extremely quiet. It was very suitable for reading, and one of Leylin’s favourite hangouts.
“Hey! Leylin!”
When he walked out of the library, an acolyte greeted him. Leylin raised his head, “Ryan! Kaliweir!”
Kaliweir wore the grey robes of an acolyte, and his original haughtiness had lessened, “Congratulations on becoming a Level 1 Acolyte!”
“Thank you, congratulations to you too!” Leylin replied with a smile.
He too had sensed that Kaliweir had turned into a Level 1 Acolyte.
“The few of us in the clique have already turned into Level 1 Acolytes!” Kaliweir stressed the first few words and seemed to have automatically excluded Guricha and the others.
“We have taken up a few missions recently, do you have any interest in joining us?” Kaliweir asked.
Kaliweir seemed to be trying hard to maintain the previous group of friends.
“Do a mission now?” Leylin’s brows furrowed, “From what I know, the area outside the academy has been getting dangerous lately, especially for those Level 1 Acolytes who do not even know any spells……”
“There’s no choice, any high-tiered information here has to be bought, and Magic Crystals are the only form of currency! The Magic Crystals that we brought have already been spent!” Kaliweir smiled bitterly.
“If you want to be a Potions Master, the expenditure of resources will be extremely great……”
“About taking up missions, I’ll consider it again when I have become a Level 2 Acolyte! Take care of yourselves!” Leylin eventually declined. The rewards for completing missions were extremely alluring, but one needed to risk their life to claim them.
“Alright then! I heard that you are earning Magic Crystals by giving tuition to others. Could you also teach us, it can be in accordance to your rates!”
After hearing that Leylin was unwilling to go, Kaliweir felt a little dejected, but he continued to ask.
“Definitely, it’ll be my pleasure. I can even give you guys favourable rates!” Leylin smiled lightly, exchanging benefits was always the norm for Magi.
Both sides decided on the location and date, and then Kaliweir and his party left after that.
Seeing their departing figures, Leylin’s eyes flashed, “He is still roping people in? What a pity, Kaliweir has still not understood that in the world of Magi, one’s own strength holds the most importance!”
Shaking his head, he returned to his dorm.
Every acolyte in the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy had a dorm of their own, so secrecy and safety were not an issue.
Leylin locked the door and hung up a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign, only then did he return to the room beside the bedroom.
A large black coloured table occupied the room, and Leylin’s previously bought apparatus set had been placed on it.
“After a few attempts at practicing, I am now a little more familiar with these apparatus, and I finished analysing the formula for the Strength Potion today, so it’s about time to start!”
Leylin muttered to himself and took out the black box containing the ingredients. He placed it on the table and opened it.
The crimson fruit, green stem and bottle of black powder appeared before his eyes.
Leylin’s fingers stroked the surfaces of these 3 items, “A.I Chip! Measure the activity within and establish a model!”
[Establishing scan, in the midst of gathering data, beginning construction!]
“Begin the simulation of the experiment!” Seeing the A.I Chip complete its task, Leylin gave it another command.
[Simulation of model in process…… Strength Potion Formula…… Estimated time consumed: 2 hours 21 minutes!]
“As expected, it’s possible!” Leylin smiled jubilantly.
Even for identical ingredients, the slightest deviation would result in different results when making the potion.
As for qualified Potions Masters, they must make use of their experience and put the theory into practice, then make adjustments to obtain the desired properties of the potion.
This field only relied on raw talent and the future accumulation of experience.
As for the A.I Chip, it was able to scan and produce simulations, resulting in a success rate that was much higher than for many other acolytes.
Leylin patiently waited for some time, and then heard the A.I Chip’s voice, [The simulation of the model is completed, success rate: 23.6%]
“A success rate close to one-quarter?” Leylin was in ecstasy.
“A regular acolyte will always fail on their first attempt at brewing potions. As for me, I’ll be able to have a one in four chance of success if I follow the A.I Chip’s instructions?”
“Begin transmitting the process for the experiment!”
[Beginning the transmission of data!] A few images flashed by Leylin’s eyes as if he had already practiced making these potions countless of times. Various scenarios and their suitable responses, as well as the preparation of ingredients, were all presented in front of him.
“It’s time to start!”
Leylin’s expression turned solemn, and he picked up a crimson fruit, “This is a Blood Vitality Fruit and it contains a huge amount of nourishment if it was prepared in an antidote……”
Leylin placed the Blood Vitality Fruit into a white basin. He picked up a pounding tool and smashed the fruit into a pulp. The red juices flowed out, and an alcoholic scent was emitted from it.
After filtering out the mashed Blood Vitality Fruit, Leylin poured the red juice into a beaker.
After the black candlestick had been lit, light blue flames continuously lapped at the bottom of the beaker. Within minutes, the red juice in the beaker started to boil, and a few flecks of black powder constantly jumped about in the bubbles.
Leylin picked up the glass rod beside him, and stirred the contents of the beaker.
“Marliwoosha!” Leylin chanted.
A thread of Spiritual Force travelled through the glass rod and entered the bubbling liquid, and a few wisps of black gas continued to be produced. It was the poison inside the Blood Vitality Fruit.
This was why only a Level 1 Acolyte and above could start to practice making potions, as a few steps required the usage of energy particles.
After all of the black gaseous substance were expelled, Leylin placed the liquid, which was even more crimson than before, into a test tube.
“The first step is completed! The degree of purification isn’t bad!”
“The next part should be the stem of the Silk Fruit……”
What Leylin did next was to prepare the rest of the Blood Vitality Fruit and Silk Fruit together. He failed somewhere in the middle for a few times, and finally succeeded after making the 8th batch of the crimson liquid and the 7th batch of the frozen green substance.
“The next step should be the final blending process!”
Leylin placed the contents of the frozen green substance onto a petri dish, took out the black powder from the glass bottle, and sprinkled it on top.
The black powder caused a strong reaction after coming into contact with the frozen green substance. The frozen green substance continued to swell and let out a humming noise.
“Ice!” Leylin muttered an incantation in the Byrn language.
White mist suddenly appeared from the petri dish, condensing into a layer of ice and solidifying the frozen green substance yet again.
“It is time!” Leylin placed the frozen lump into a beaker, where a flame blazed continuously underneath the beaker.
“The final step!” Leylin’s eyes widened, and he poured the purified crimson liquid into the beaker.
A thread of his Spiritual Force also continuously extended into the beaker.
“Pa!” A sound suddenly came from the beaker, the frozen lump and the red liquid suddenly turned black, and a sickening stench emitted from it.
“Have I failed?” Leylin was indifferent.
“A.I Chip, analyse the reason!”
[Beep! In the process of analysing……Conclusion: The Host’s Spiritual Force was unstable, and the temperature of the flames caused some distortion……]
The A.I Chip replayed Leylin’s earlier actions and revealed the reason for failure.