On the day of the exam, Ian’s arms shook with excitement. All the thirty-one examinees stood around the courtyard, waiting for the instructions. Halland AU was laxed on decorum, but the examinees were expected to make it on time.

The check-in process was more laxed. As soon as the person had a badge identifying their sponsor, they were allowed to take the test. Ian revealed his coin chip. One other examinee had a similar coin chip, a young woman with dark hair. Although covered up in a robe, she wasn’t disguised. She noticed Ian was looking at her and returned him a wink.

There was a group of three who were together. They were dressed in uniform, most likely students from the Halland Academy. Their noses were high, but as they appeared young, not even twenty, it was possible that they were born within the realm. There was a natural aura around them suggesting some sort of royalty.

The lead instructor led everyone into the examination hall. On the northern wing, each applicant was placed within separate rooms separated by a partition wall. The southern end to the courtyard remained open, allowing the examiners to see into all the rooms. When the proctor gave the signal, everyone removed the lid covering the ingredients. Ian was hoping the third ingredient would be some sort of plant. However, to his disappointment, it was a green glowing chunk of quartz crystal. The base was cloudy, but the sharp tips were clear. He had been warned of the possibility, but he really didn’t know anything about minerals. Whatever it was, he had to make due with the jupine and aquamint. Luckily, he knew a lot about the two plants already. In his illustrations, there were notes and descriptions of both plants.

Jupine

Clade: Rosids

Order: Sapindales

Family: Nitrariacaeae

Genus: Nitraria

Species: N. jupine

Manifestation: flamed fruits

Elements: Pyr, Aero, Strength, Fast

Aquamint (not really a mint!)

Class: Gnetopsida

Order: Ephedrales

Family: Ephedracease

Genus: Ephedra

Species: E. H.aqua

Manifestation: ice needles

Element: Hydro, Kyro, Illusion, Slow

The jupine and aquamint manifested mana in their flowers and fruits. However, none of the testing samples had flowers or fruits.

Ian was disappointed he couldn’t watch the other examinees perform the purification. He heard it involved breaking down the plant into its most useful component. For jupine, it was the fire element. For aquamint, it was the water element. When combined, they usually cancel each other out and often result in a failed fusion. Quartz, a neutral ingredient, could be used as a binder and for amplifying effects.

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There were two ways to fuse the two ingredients together. The first was to use one plant as the main element and the other was to use the other as a sub-element. The sub-element of the aquamint was ice, still a conflicting element that was difficult to fuse with fire. Most alchemists approached by extracting the water element from the aquamint and fusing it with the air element of the jupine. The majority of the time, a successful fusion would create the storm pill, which were useful pills for increasing storm-based magic. Water and wind pills increased the respective magic type spells.

The second method was to transmute one of the main elements into the adjacent elements.

Khaos(property)→ Astra (shockwave)→ Plasma (state)--> Elektro(movement/state)→ Pyr(movement)→ Thermo(property)→ Aero(state)→ Anemoi (movement) → phyton (binder) →Cyma(movement)→ Hydro(state)→ Kyro(property)→ Seismo(movement)→ Petra(state)→ Gravity (property/movement)→ Metal(state)--> Null(property)

Although transmuting was the best way to create higher grade pills, it also took longer. Most alchemists could complete the process in less than two hours. However, they were only allowed an hour to create a pill.

With the elements in mind, the examinee began their test. Alchemy pill was the most common form, allowing longer storing time than elixir.

Ian, despite knowing the general principles behind alchemy, could not purify anything. The general consensus was that each spell required 10 SP. At a minimum, 20 SP was required to create an alchemy pill. Ian took out his sketchbook and did the only thing he knew, draw. After drawing the two plants from multiple angles, multiple illustrations appeared in the item creation space.

Afterward, Ian held the pot of jupine leaves and smelled different parts of the plants. The aura scent from the leaves was the strongest. Ian carefully snipped the jupine leaves into a stone mortar. He took out as many leaves as possible until the green glow from the jupine plant disappeared. Then, he used the pestle to turn it into a paste. For the aquamint, the strongest part of the plant was the base of the steam. He carefully held the base of the plant, and wiggled the plant until he uprooted the aquamint from the pot. He removed the soil, and continued smelling the roots. He requested water from the proctor, and washed the soil away. After leaving the mortar, he added the stop of the roots and the stem.

The examinee was curious about Ian's methodology.

“Is he taking the right exam?” Some of them asked. “Why is an apothecary taking an alchemy exam?”

“Well, practical examination doesn’t restrict potion makers,” said the head instructor. “Most alchemists and potion makers can create the same type of pills and items. The main difference is the method. Alchemists are aided by magic and potion-maker by their craft.”

That said, alchemists were often curious about how apothecaries were able to mix together the ingredients to form the pill. There were different lines of thought and even the chemical composition was different, but the end effect was the same. However, he was aware that potion makers require something more than luck.

There had been apothecaries who had taken the alchemy test, but not all were successful. Even if they were successful, most remained as lower ranking members. The instructor hasn't seen one in Halland City.

Ian mixed the two paster together in his hands and rolled it up into a ball. With 15 minutes remaining in the hourglass, Ian waited. However, by the end of the test, the round pill reduced in size, but without a green glow.