Caring, and thinking about his choices, Murai didn't know when, but he fell asleep, exhausted and out of his wits. Perhaps it was because his body was over the physical limits a long time ago, or build-up fatigue was too high?
Either way, it was a good time to rest up and even someone like him had to do that.
Healed outer wounds didn't change the issue as a whole. He went through a lot in the past few days. Since the time upon entry to the Somalis Dungeon, he has been going nonstop forward and had very little time to recollect himself. He focused on getting back to the surface and he got it, but in what way?
Standing close to her table, Iris noticed an unmoving Murai laying back in her room. She was a bit hesitant to go closer, fearing he would wake up. She even had an intrusive thought to touch, pat, or pet him. Though, she wasn't one to invade personal spaces, if the situation called for that, of course. Maybe she could touch him? Pinch him to see those intriguing feathers? Get... Nah.
There was not much appeal in appreciating the demonic beats. That's the job for others, and she was quite a different kind of person that wouldn't get close to such beasts. Pacing back and forth in her room, her mind was full of thoughts and questions about what to do.
A plan. She needed a proper one to do what she can do.
She had a Blessed in her room and one of the kinds she thought she would never see, let alone meet and speak to. It was a skeptical situation, which made her frowning expression at sleeping Murai that much more complicated. At least there were no ill intentions in her gaze, and if Murai was awake, he would come to that conclusion as well.
Spanking her palms together, she looked out of the only window she had in the room. “Oh, Lady Vermillion! Bless my luck and patience on this one... You heard my call, so maybe I am meant to help this duck? I... I wonder whose Blessed this being is, but I shall work with what is deemed good, worthy, and purposeful, is that right?” She talked out loud, not really caring if her Lady heard her or not. Nothing happened.
This little prayer served one purpose. That was for her to calm down since she had a job to do. A job that she wanted to do long before Murai came to this room, albeit it became a secondary interest.
The reason she tasked Timmy with getting water included it. Tonight was an excellent moonlight, making it the best time for the Alchemy so she wanted to do it. It was part of her Alchemic training, as well as potioneering task given to her by Vermillion Church.
Alchemy began at her table, littered with runes, and magical elements. It was the very same table Murai spend some time on, and thankfully, he didn't damage it to make it unusable. It was only a bit filthy from blood, while some cracks didn't destroy it. Blood was nothing that a simple swipe of cloth couldn't solve.
A clear workspace was a start, so she carefully placed everything that she needed to start the Alchemy on the table. All sorts of runes were at its surface, mainly focusing on the very middle of the table. She made them herself for her hopeful training, creating the best conductor for mana for her current needs. She could buy something better, but she didn't have the capital to do that.
Tonight, it was her regular time. Nothing fancy. Just making healing potions that would sell in a day. Those were general supplementary potions that were always in need. It can increase the effectiveness of vitality, and heal wounds, as their name implied. Though, the degree of effective healing depended on the grade of the potion. ]
Iris couldn't conduct anything better than the low grades since she was still learning.
In the middle of her table, there were 3 circular and flat stones. Around them were densely packed runes, which made them the center of the table, and the main focus where the Alchemy will take place.
Each stone wasn't that large. At 10 centimeters wide, each had a different color, indicating they were of different origins, densities, and kinds. They were around the circular rune formation, making it more triangular since they weren't exactly round. They were rougher than they should be. Probably because Iris couldn't afford better ones.
It resembled witchcraft and a summoning platform in a poor sense, but it was far from it.
The runes represented a vast history of countless years. Many ancient mages formed and understood laws, intercepting their acts of mana as blessings to be used. A lot of magical things appeared since then. From creating unique mana-based languages, and symbols to go along with them, to many Paths, and powers that used runes as their priority.
The runes were in principle, the flow of mana made of those truths. They acted in their own principles according to the formations, intent, and purpose, but it was a bit more magical than that. Mana seemed to have all sorts of encompassing effects as if it was alive. Past proved that. Presence used that, and the future will cherish both of them.
The mage, be it Shaper or Handler could partake in these effects, and use their fundamentals as their rules.
Iris knew about them, and using them was a matter of experience. Since she was inclined to become a decent priest, it was no surprise that she was quite hopeful. Getting proper recognition from the Vermillion Church shouldn't be easy, so had to try her best.
It was for her good, and hopefully, Timmy will have a good life because of it. Though, he was still too young to understand what it can take. It was a part that Iris, as an older sister, had to follow.
These 3 stones will do for now. Another main ingredient for the alchemy was a pot. Iris took one underneath the table, struggling with its weight as she put it onto the 3 stones. The pot was a circular, stone-looking bowl that rested on the 3 stones. It was hefty in mass, making it a good heat conductor, as well as dense, and robust to take the heat and mana.
All 3 flat stones were making sure there was a good source of conduction for mana, as this wasn't any ordinary pot. Runes would follow her steps, as she will wield the mana to work with the formation of the table, thus enchanting the effect of the 3 stones touching the pot.
Sounded simple?
It was hard to conduct any alchemy for an extended period of time. Mistakes can happen, explosions could put one in danger, and harmful liquids from the pot could leak out, endangering the mage and the environment.
The pot itself was made from Lazui Marble. It was a type of stone filled with small, crystallized magic stones of decent quality for beginner mages. Iris was exactly that. A hopeful aspiring mage to be a good Alchemist and Priestess alike. It went hand in hand, as Vermillion Church had a hefty amount of Alchemical knowledge and she had a knack for this sort of work. According to her master, to say the least.
It was a no-brainer for her to go along with the wishes of her master. All she had to do was work diligently, and not make mistakes. It worked, sometimes. Sometimes not too much, which in turn, made her life quite miserable and poor.
Everything was ready.
The pot, runes, and stones. Her mind? A little. She still had Murai at the side of her mind, wondering if she should be doing this at all.
Sitting in her chair, Iris started the alchemy by pouring the water from the bucket into the pot. It was normal water without anything strange, but when she will be finished, it will be a few dozen low-grade healing potions.
She filled the pot with around 3 liters, which wasn't a lot, nor too little. Pot still had some space for other ingredients, in order to start the true process of alchemy. That was to act and make the runes flicker, and work with mana.
Another thing was, unsurprisingly, the materials. The mana in itself won't make a healing potion. The kind of mana that would do that would have to have a unique place to grow in and affinity to it. A person could also affect them, while the setting was most common. In almost common materials, they would never become something higher. Specialized equipment and crafting led up to alchemy.
Placing the bucket under the table, Iris put her palms on top of the table's runes. It was her own work, so she was familiar with this more than a formation one could buy. It was an ordinary rune formation to make mana flow in an orderly fashion, which made alchemy work. Iris didn't make this rune set in her mind, of course. She used knowledge and texts she learned from books that the church provided.
That was enough for her, and after more than half a year, she succeeded in her first set of runes. Her success was passable, making her quite happy back then and her master proud.
The purpose of this ordinary rune formation was to charge it up, turn it hotter and influence the pot in the very middle through those 3 metallic stones, that looked like stone but weren't made of stone. They held some residual elemental magic and were made of certain mana ores instead. Iris didn't even know which ones she had. They only served a limited purpose, so she didn't seem to be too curious about them.
A mage should use their mana carefully, and all ingredients will get slowly nurtured inside the pot. The amount of mana coming from the runes and their stability played an important part in the alchemy. It wasn't necessarily about temperature or heat as one would think.
What went along the alchemy was an intricate mixture of everything magical. From control of mana, runes, and knowledge of materials and how to conduct the liquid. It was a part of the experience, and part of a large amount of failures in order to succeed.
Iris was already at the stage of getting familiar with these processes since she started this when she was 15. Having those experiences wasn't really enough to make something extraordinary but it was enough for her to reach the beginner level. Including her level and age, she wasn't bad, or great. Only hard work would make up for the differences and that was what she always hoped for.
She had no need to seek out extraordinary levels or abilities. After all, almost all priests of Vermillion Church were, most often than not, Gifted in status by their Lady.
This time, Iris didn't call or uttered any words for her Lady. She will control the surrounding mana so that only luck could grant her wishes or her own ability.
A good enough perception or talent was needed for that. She had both of those, and all of them were for the alchemy. Mana started to seep out of her hand, and around herself. A wave of bright particles began to follow the runes, and lines of text toward the 3 flat metals, which began to shake. The trembles turned to steam, which in turn, provided hotness in a well-controlled state.
It wasn't anything strange, but the light of glowing azure mana and her focused eyes made it quite intriguing. Even Murai would want to watch it since he hasn't done a thing with alchemy in quite some New Beginnings.
In a couple of dozen seconds, the pot shook a little, and the water began to glow and change. It was becoming a Celestial Pool itself but at a much smaller scale. This was the first step.
Purification of the water with a steady flow of heat and combustion of mana particles to fuel up the formation and pot.
That was at least how books that Iris read worded this part. In actual practice, it was simpler. The water went with waves of mana, turning to a base form that could take the following ingredients a bit easier.
With that done, Iris picked the ingredients for the healing potion. They didn't wary a lot from her grade of efficiency and power. There were 2 types of flowers, 1 half of Pachito fruit, and 1 pinch of Armandia Crystal dust. Neither of the Ingredient was more than Grade E and could be a few gold coins per 100 grams. Of course, flowers weren't heavy, so their worth was subject to their physicality. Those could be petals or the flower as a whole.
“Calm, Iris. Remain calm.” She whispered to herself. “First comes the Pure Tulip. Its essence will help ease the flowing mana. Then, the motion and body of Rising Grassroots will increase the richness of the water. Pounding the Pachito fruit to paste, and adding the low-grade dust next will be about it, but I need to be considerate of the amounts. As usual.” Iris talked out loud as if she wanted to self-assure herself.
In fact, she knew more than enough about what to do, since this wasn't her first time making a healing potion out of these materials. Every success would guarantee some reward, so she always did this when conducting potions.
This situation of her, wanting to do the alchemy was part of her own willingness and part of Vermillion's church influence. As with the majority of mages who conducted the alchemy, they didn't consume them but sold them instead. In a sense, Vermilion church was getting a future Alchemist and profit.
Iris didn't think of this badly. In a sense, it was a small mission for her, because she sold goods and it provided her with some income. She purchased these materials in the church, in exchange for a discount and the ability to sell them on the church's market, or to someone from the church. It usually depended on other things. Such as apprenticeship, and the status of the mage. Iris had a good master, so her selling was done privately.
There weren't only priests at the church. A whole lot of people always needed healing potions, and they were most common to seek. If they came from some church, or outside, it didn't matter. A potion was a potion, after all, and they were made to be used.
Any church in the name of some god had its own kind of forces. The Vermillion Church had few battle legions, but the vision of their beliefs was different and not bad as some other churches.
Their priesthood was at least more influential than their military department since it benefited Lady Vermillion much more. Those military departments could always buy any kind of potion, and work behind the scenes to support her desires.
Iris was relatively new to these settings, but she didn't think she needed to get closer to anything. She was yet to live in the church, so it provided her with a lot of freedom and choices. It was because she was yet to become a fully acknowledged priestess, but there could only be benefits to becoming one, regardless of some losses. Iris liked her current training too well. Yet, she was also hoping to achieve something in her life. And that... That won't happen in this house.
Relaxing her furrowing brows, Iris started to recite certain incantations. Her necklace flowed up in the air, jolting surrounding mana in a small lighting storm. It swayed her hair up and flickered her clothes as if gravity was getting strange. She wanted to make sure of her worth, and this little necklace was still a magic tool. It eased her Handler status, and mana always flowed better under this action.
Soon enough, the pot began to glow in a different light after Iris placed one ingredient into the pot after the other.
The liquid started to sizzle, freeze, and boil at the same time. In the end, the boiling was the strongest, which then turned to steam so deep, the liquid was no longer visible yet the steam didn't rise too far. Bubbles and rising mana particles were visible on the surface. It was producing something, working on some rules under Iris's steady control. Runes never began to falter under her vision, and her hands were steady on the table, touching the runes.
Seeing the change with her glowing eyes, she noticed a steadiness in the boiling. The pot was also stabilized, allowing her to put both hands around the pot, so she could lift it up. Her hands, protected by the glow of mana, didn't hurt.
Iris didn't find it hot, but quite heavy.
She never got used to this last part that she learned from that book. Whether it was needed or not, she wasn't sure, but it worked for her. Somehow...
As if a blessing was put towards the pot, Iris kept reciting some words, while the mana flickered around the pot. Inside was a storm made of many kinds of colors, flickering veins, and stripes of energy. Each ingredient was there for a purpose. Mana itself was a form to put them into a specific product under many rules of magic. That was to change all of this storm to a basic structure ~ as if forming a spell, but not really.
This was what the alchemy was about.
Calling it Forced Constructing wouldn't be that wrong. At least according to Murai's opinion, if he saw this.
After a few dozen seconds of holding the pot, she put it back down after she was sure everything felt right. Steam was no longer coming up, and instead of it, the liquid turned clear, with a tinge of redness and a colorful parade of mana-swaying particles.
From this moment forth, the liquid changed. It will be capable of treating injuries, enchanting vitality to a certain extent, and temporarily putting the pain away.
Looking inside the pot, Iris nodded in a self-confident manner. This batch turned out fine, after all.
One could still fail from time to time, leaving one dissatisfied afterward. Or even angry, and so upset, one would smash things up if one used more valuable ingredients.
“It's about 35% lesser in mass, so it should be about 20 portions. 22... 23?” She speculated, calculating how many containers she needed for this liquid. From a wooden chest, well hidden under the table, she pulled various glass bottles of all shapes and sizes. The box was quite large, with hundreds of them. It was her whole stash of purchased vials, bottles, and storage for the potions. The more one would buy, the more cheaper they would get, so she bought a lot. It cost her a fortune. Almost a month of her income.
They were ordinary in appearance, yet a few mouthfuls of the liquid inside wasn't.
She took a tall-looking yet thin bottle to her hand, and shoved it into the pot, filling it to the brim with this nectar of health. This bottle in particular had about a mouthful of the liquid, making it a one-time use. Those were the most popular and easiest to sell.
Iris did the same for the rest and used the same-sized bottles as the 1st one. The healing potion was usually like this, yet she used 26 bottles in total which was more than usual. Each could be worth about a few gold coins. More if the demand was higher as the market can fluctuate because of various things. A war put demand higher, or various availability of materials could create a shortage.
Though, neither of these things was up for Iris to care about. She was just happy to have this sort of experience. This batch will do for now, but it was yet to be over for them since there was one thing intricate enough to improve them. Something unique that she can do, which was something no ordinary mage can do.
That was to see if she could enchant each bottle as a priestess.
Sighing, she took the first bottle into her hands. At this point, almost all mana fluctuations from the runes, stones, or pot were gone. Everything turned to normal, as it should.
However, Iris wasn't over with the alchemy. The mana around her hands prevailed, and so did the swaying light around her necklace. One hand clutched the necklace and the other held the bottle.
I heed, no one.
Just thyself and this world.
Mana surrounded by a chasm of lives, trees, and countless lives.
She recited some words, turning her full attention to the enchanting. She was feeling the mana with her body, guiding it onto the bottle itself. She was basically making herself a strange rune, enchanting the bottle through her own body by demanding the connection to her necklace as a blessing. She remained talking and even repeated some of the sentences.
It took barely a minute until mana around her surged to her right hand, and enveloped the bottle for a couple of seconds before disappearing.
Iris shook her head, seeing that enchantment didn't give this bottle anything worthy. It could be some enchanted effects, blessing, or improving its quality or grade, but she rarely succeeded. Some batches often went without any successful enchantments. At that moment, it would be too bad, but not the worst.
Enchanted potions will have increased effectiveness of the healing by some percentages, or have strange property that wasn't up to her. In a sense, this process of guiding the mana onto the already-made potion was quite random, and she was blessing it through Vermillion's gift.
One couldn't force anything, and through countless types of research, many mages tried to seek the reason why it all worked the way it did. Part of it was god, but it wasn't always part of the Enchanting. More ridiculous and talented mages could guide the mana on the potions, and enchant them by their own powers. There would be no need for some god.
The reasons were the following: the mana will make up the decision of the enchantment, which in itself, flabbergasted some mages.
After all, for mana to decide on itself was a ridiculous claim, but as with many mysteries in the world, it was one of many mysteries. Iris was aware of this since the topic of enchanting was old, and figured long time ago. Research of today's age didn't give it any clearer light. It was just a mysterious thing, and whether it was important to know such secrets, was up to the individuals.
Iris didn't care for any answer. She just hoped that this mysterious rule of mana will take some pity on her, and gift her some enchantments, while her gift will add more success. The potions will sell for much more if the enchantment will be good enough. Sometimes, they could triple in value, or more, but never become waste.
Following one bottle after the other, she ended up with a couple of successes indeed. Success was a clear glow and changed liquid. It led to a slight change in the color of the liquid inside. Sometimes they will become clearer, denser, or completely different, yet with generally the same effects as what the potion can offer. For example, a healing potion can't become a strength potion. It would be straight-up transformative, fundamentally going against the principles of the alchemy itself.
What Iris ended up with were numerous common enchantments that piqued her interest and the couple she didn't manage to guess. The ones she recognized increased the effectiveness of the healing by dozens of percent, as she could tell from their more vivid appearances.
“Well, this was free work. I just used more mana so I am more tired, but I got some gold out of this. Hm...” she told to herself, nodding upon seeing many bottles on the table. Each stood on its own, and a couple even radiated a growing and vivid aura. “What... What if sir Murai drinks these?” She suddenly got an idea, glancing at the brightest one. She knew they weren't as effective as her own healing abilities, but this one could be a bit different. This one had swirling lines of crimson life force and appeared different.
The example of an enchanted healing potion was simple. An open wound on the chest could be healed with enough potion, directly to the wound. One could also digest it, gulping it down for internal effects. Use in conjunction with other potions was also possible, and so on. Only the imagination was the poor man's fault or excuse. They would never have any wrong or harmful effects.
Feeling the end of her play, and her energy running low, Iris dismissed the idea of making Murai a test rat. She rather went to sleep, hoping the next day would be fine. She had no need to worry about Murai since he was also sleeping, or so she thought.
At the moment, Murai was indeed sleeping, but his conscious mind was in the shambles of various storms. Past, or present, it didn't matter. Certain nightmares still followed him behind.
Everywhere, unchanged, or stronger.