Liam placed his safety equipment back on as he made his way over to the cauldron. He opened the lid and peered inside. The crafted poison that rested inside didn’t look any different than the ones he had crafted previously. He wondered if it would look any different once he succeeded in this next step.
He thought about the clues Eri had dropped in that message. From what he had gathered, just adding the Weak Liquified Lightning Mana wouldn’t do anything. His guess was the crafted poison would push it out and away from it.
If that was the case then he was going to need to control and manipulate it in a way that it could penetrate inside the crafted poison. The only problem was elemental type mana was harder to control when trying to force it to penetrate mana created defenses while crafting.
He didn’t have any experience with it, but he remember reading about it. The passage had spoken about how Crafters tried to steer clear from trying to manipulate and control mana types they had no experience with. It strained them and drained their stamina quicker than normal.
This problem though wasn’t an issue for Liam this time. The reason for that is, he had some experience with channeling, controlling, and manipulating Lightning Mana. Since this wasn’t an issue for him, he prepared to control the liquified ingredient by channeling his Lightning Mana.
After he finished channeling the mana to coat his hands, Liam used his Shadow Hand to grab a small vial of Weak Liquified Lightning Mana and slowly poured it into the cauldron. As Liam watched the contents pool in, he confirmed that his theory on what would happen after adding it was correct. As the ingredient mixed into the crafted poison, it was instantly pushed out towards the edges of the cauldron.
Liam studied the edges of the crafted poison where the Liquified Lightning Mana Extract sat. It wasn’t a lot. The amount that was poured out from the vial outlined only a quarter of the crafted poison edge. He then channeled his Lightning Mana into the cauldron to grasp the Weak Liquified Lightning Mana Extract.
He used one hand to move it around because of the amount of the extract there was and the little movement he was using. He tried probing, feeling the outside of the mana defense the crafted poison had. No matter where he moved the extract it felt like the mana-like barrier followed it.
Liam nodded as he made a mental note of this. After that he had the Shadow Hand pour in another small vial of the Weak Liquified Lightning Mana Extract. However, instead of dropping in the middle or closer to the amount he already had, he dropped it almost cattycorner from it.
Liam focused his free hand on this ingredient. He know controlled and manipulated two separate amounts of the extracts. Since the mana-like barrier followed the first contents he figured he’d see if it could do it from both ends.
He used his right hand to control one collection of extract to lightly attack the side it was on. After he felt the mana-like barrier start to form where he first attacked, he used his left hand to manipulate this small batch of extract to attack from the opposite side.
To Liam’s surprise he felt the mana-like barrier that had formed to defend against the first attack start to weaken a bit as a second mana-like barrier formed right where the second attack came from. He noted the power behind the defenses and concluded that if he split another vial between both sides he would be able to pierce it and get through the defenses.
He instructed his Shadow Hand to do just that. He watched as the contents were split between both sides and easily mix with both extracts. The small amount added was just enough for Liam to manipulate both sides to pierce through the mana-like barrier and seep into the crafted poison.
As the small amount of mana started to creep inside, Liam felt the mana-like barrier try to cut off the invading mana extracts. He swiftly channeled more of his mana to widen the openings he created as well as fortify them from being closed shut.
After doing so, he focused his attention on where inside the crafted poison he needed to guide the Liquified Lightning Mana Extract too. Unlike when he blended the two extracts and the venom together, the Liquified Lightning Mana Extract didn’t spread and mix with the crafted poison. Instead, it felt like the crafted poison was refusing to accept it.
In order for him to even move the mana through the crafted poison he had to form it into a line. He chuckled a bit internally because the way it was moving reminded him of a snake swimming through water. He then watched as the two long line of Liquified Lightning mixed with his own slithered around, searching. As he searched inside he realized he couldn’t see any signs of where the slumbering properties were.
In fact, he wasn’t entirely sure what it was he was looking for. When he crafted this poison he was only focused on sedating the properties. He didn’t bother trying to see what they looked like. So now he had to play hide and go seek using his controlled and manipulated Lightning Mana within this poisonous wetland.
As he moved his mana inside and around the edges he determined there probably wasn’t anything around there that would react. He then start to slowly spread it in more. He was about to curse because he still count find what he was looking for until something caught both of his eyes. Two flashes quickly blinked on both sides.
Liam stopped moving his mana and slowly came back to the areas he had seen the flashes. As soon as he got there he noticed a faint outline of a circle that had blended in with the crafted poison. Liam focused his mana on those two spots and watched as a surge of life flashed into existence within both circles.
He then witnessed a few more circles faintly made their presences known. He went to move his mana to the closest circles but then frown as the two circles he had activated fell silent once more. The circles that had made themselves known faded again.
Liam frown as he watched this. He moved his mana back over the circles and watched them hum back to life. He moved away again and watched it disappear once more. After moving it back over them he contemplated what he was supposed to do.
He had gathered that he needed to use the Weak Liquified Lightning Mana Extract he was currently manipulating with his own Lightning Mana to awaken the properties. These circles he had found must be the sedated properties he needed to reawaken. By having manipulated the liquified mana with his own to go over the two circles they had reawakened, but the moment he moved them away to go to the next set of circles they fell back asleep.
If he needed to move the mana from one circle to the next without letting it slumber would mean there is something he was missing. How could he move the mana from one circle to the next without losing it?
He moved his mana back and forth over the circle to see if there was something he was missing. He zoomed in to get a better look at it. Once his sight had pulled in the circle closer, he noticed that the mana he was moving wasn’t just moving over it. Instead, it was filling the circle through a small hole on one side while exiting another hole on the other. He then noticed the placement of the entrance and exit of the holes. The exit was pointed towards the next circle.
He was starting to understand what he needed to do. He needed to guide the mana from circle to circle without letting any of the mana leave the circle. Now this led to his next question. How could he do that? He knew by moving his hand the mana inside the circle would leave it. He needed to figure out a way to place his mana there while guiding some of it to the next destination.
He looked at his hands then at his fingers. He let out a sigh as he let his mind wander a bit.
“If only I could move the mana with more than just my hands then maybe…” He muttered to himself as he placed his thumb and index finger over the circle, like he was trying to keep the mana there in place. He then slowly moved his index finger in a manner like the mana was gum and he was trying to stretch it out.
To his surprise, his mana followed the path his fingers took. To his utter astonishment the circles where his thumbs hovered over, acting like they were pressing down at, his mana had remained to keep the circle awake.
“It can’t be that simple?” Liam questioned, feeling flabbergasted.
He moved the mana he had control over with his index fingers as slowly as he could to both circles that were close by. As soon as they reached the circle, they awakened, sending out a faint hum of activity throughout the crafted poison. The next set of circles appeared as well.
Liam felt a rush of excitement as he clenched his hands together in victory. However, as soon as he did this the mana that had filled the four circles disappeared, leaving him to start over once more.
“So, it’s going to be like that huh?” Liam muttered as he restarted the process once more.
After Liam connected the two circles together with the thread of his Lightning Mana mixed with the Weak Liquified Lightning Mana Extract, he contemplated how to proceed. He needed to move to the next circles. Could he continue to move his index finger out more? No. He didn’t know how many circles he needed to connect and while this was a small cauldron it was still bigger than the size of his hands.
Deciding to take a chance on a hunch, Liam slowly moved his thumbs along the path he made with his index fingers. As they moved away from the first circle, he inwards let out a sigh of relief. The first circles didn’t disappear. After they reached the second set of circles, Liam proceeded to the third set.
Feeling confident and happy with the process he continued to make his way from circle to circle. After the fifth set was connect he noticed the lines he was making from circle to circle were in a zig zag like pattern. It was almost like they represented lightning bolts. The other thing he noticed was the circles were getting him closer and closer to the center of the cauldron.
This observation was made clear when the final circle for both sides was exactly the middle of the crafted poison. After he connected the two lines together he looked closer to the circle in the middle. Unlike the circles he was working through to get here, this one was bigger. Not only that, but instead of having an entrance and an exit, this circle had eight openings.
Six more circles were suddenly made faintly visible as he moved his thumbs to this main circle. Each new circle was close to an opening of the center circle. Liam thought about what it meant. If this wasn’t the end then he would need to continue on a new set path.
He picked the closest openings to where he had moved his thumbs and fingers from and started doing what he did to get there. This felt a lot like connecting the dots or filling in the lines. After he made it to the last circle of this new path he was stumped.
He wasn’t sure if he needed to find new circles close by or make his way back to the center and start again with a new path. It was frustrating having to start over again after getting this far, but he decided to try and make his way back to the center through the path he had created.
To his relief, the circles remained awake. After getting back to the center he manipulated the mana to the next openings. As he started the next paths he noticed there was some resistance as he made his way to the next couple of circles. It wasn’t strong, but it was still noticeable.
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As he continued the process he thought over why he was feeling the weak resistance. The only thing he could come up with was that it was the crafted poison trying to stop the properties of the Twin Fanged Adder Venom from reawakening. He wasn’t sure if that was correct, but he decided to not dwell on it too much. For now, he wanted to finish this crafting process before his mana ran out.
It didn’t take him long to get to the last circle from the last path. As soon as the mana connected, the crafted poison had both a physical and magical reaction.
Liam stopped channeling his mana and watched as the lines and circles lit up with the familiar color of Lightning mana. Both the mana made lines and the circles started sparking outwards like wild sparks. The poison inside the cauldron started bubbling boiling causing some poisonous fumes to rise.
A few sparks pierced through the surface of the liquid and spider webbed across it before diving back into the liquid around the edges of the cauldron. After twenty seconds of this happening, the liquid contents started to calm down. A few random sparks appeared here and there, but aside from that nothing else had really changed. A notification suddenly appeared shortly after that that.
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“Congratulations! You have made Weak Paralytic Adder Venom!”
“Weak Paralytic Adder Venom. Item Type – Poison (Alchemical). Item Rarity – Uncommon. Item Quality – Weak. Description - A weak slow poison crafted using Liquified Lightning and Venom from a Twin Fanged Adder found in a forest or grass field type dungeon. The Venom spreads through the bloodstream of the target not only poisoning them, but also paralyzing every muscle depending on the quality of the crafted poison.”
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Liam felt excited upon receiving the notification. He had done it! While the process was interesting, it was still a pain to understand doing it without any research. But then again doing some crafting and learning as you go held some sense of accomplishment. He knew he shouldn’t do it much when he was low on materials, but he felt the risks here weren’t as drastic as say making the unawaken version of this poison.
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“Congratulations on successfully crafting the Weak Paralytic Adder Venom. Before you start celebrating and try to move on to the next step, I suggest you try making more of this poison so you can have a stock of it. Also keep replenishing your Spirit Pool as well. You want it to be at full when you leave here. – Eri.”
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Liam waved his head back and forth as he contemplated Eri’s message. He wanted to celebrate a bit since he was successful, but she was right about making more. While the cauldron held a decent amount of the crafted poison, it wouldn’t hurt to have more. It was also a good idea for him to get back into it before he forgot everything he had learned.
After agreeing to her suggestion, Liam spent more time making more batches of Weak Corrosive Toxins and turning them into Weak Paralytic Adder Venom. He had failed a couple of times during the first process, but in the end he was able to make twenty seven small vials and three medium sized vials of the venom mixture. He felt that would be enough for now.
Thanks to his successful crafting sessions his Poison Craft section of the Alchemy craft had raised a couple of levels.
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“Congratulations! Alchemy section Poison Craft has reached level 14! Progression to level 15: 100%!”
“Congratulations! Alchemy section Poison Craft has reached level 15! Progression to level 15: 51%!”
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That wasn’t the only thing that had raised either. His ability to manipulate Lightning Mana had also raised a level.
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“Congratulations! Your control over Lightning Mana has reached level 12! Progression to level 13: 10%!”
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Seeing his control over Lightning Mana was a nice bonus after using it so much during these crafting sessions. As he read these notifications he had his Shadow Hand push the Air Purification button to clear out the lingering poisonous fumes in the air.
As that was going on he closed his notifications and moved everything to the cleaning station. Even though he was told there was a magic placed in here that would clean everything after he left he felt that it would create bad habits in the future. Plus, as he was cleaning he was able to think and make mental notes of the things he had learned and what he needed to improve on.
After he finished cleaning everything and putting them back in their rightful place, Liam walked over to a cabinet and grabbed a Mortar and Pestle. He set the equipment on a desk over by the medium sized cauldron that was hanging over a fire pit. He then moved all of his materials he had by the small cauldron over to this new station. After moving everything over to this area of the room, he grabbed a chair, pulled it up to the desk so he could sit comfortably, grabbed his newly acquired Handbook on Powdered Poisons from his inventory and set it down.
He then pulled out a cloth from his inventory, placed it on the desk, and pulled out a small pile of small bones that were the size of his hand. After doing that, Liam started flipping through the book to the page where he saw the steps on how to make beginner powdered poisons.
Once he found the page, he grabbed one of the bones and snapped it in half. The thickness of these Crude Small Bones weren’t that much. Compared to most of the bones he had harvested, these ones were thin. He believed them to be perfect for what he wanted to use them for since it was a pain to break bones down.
After he finished breaking the bones down small enough to fit inside the mortar, Liam grabbed two and placed them in. He then grabbed the pestle and started grinding them into dust. As he started grinding each bone into dust, he went over the steps he needed to take to make this newly crafted poison.
“Step one…crush and grind eight small bones. Once you have grinded these eight bones into dust separate them from the rest of the crushed bones needed,” Liam muttered to himself.
He thought about the amount he had already turned into powdered dust. He had just finished his second full small bone. He made a mental note to remember how many he worked on as he continued to read, “Step two, fill a small sized cauldron about three quarters full with either Sea or Ocean Water. These types of water will help form crystals when you start to evaporate the liquids inside.”
Liam continued to read and crush the bones into dust. He made sure to put the amount he needed for the first part off to the side in a small container before continuing to finish the rest off.
After crushing all the bones and repeatedly reading the process over and over, Liam began his crafting session. He placed his safety equipment and even replaced the vials in the filtration system since they were running low.
When he was ready he filled the cauldron with sea water up to the three quarters mark. After that he placed a few logs in the fire pit underneath the cauldron and used his Light and Burn spell to light it. While he waited for the water to start boiling, he rearranged his materials in the order he felt he needed them to be in to help the process to run smoothly. He even had his Shadow Hand grab a new wooden spoon and hold on to it.
After the water had started to lightly boil he began his crafting session. Liam poured in two small vials of the Weak Paralytic Adder Venom, two small vials of Weak Liquified Arcane Mana Extracts, and a quarter of the crushed bones from the pile he separated earlier.
As he poured in the materials, he had his Shadow hand slowly stir. He wasn’t sure how it would go, but it seemed like there weren’t any note worthy issues. Liam activated his Mana Sight and watched as the Weak Liquified Arcane Mana Extracts seeped into the powdered bones that was swirling inside the water and venom mixture. Liam was shocked as he witnessed the next thing that happened. After the Arcane Mana extracts fully covered the bone particles, the droplets of Weak Paralytic Adder Venom, that was starting to be watered down by the sea water, looked like they were being guided and sucked into the bone particles.
As this happened the color of the sea water had slightly changed. Instead of a clear light blue, a hint of watered down purple was starting to be noticeable. He then poured in another two of the crafted poison and extract while adding in some more bone dust. He continued this until the water had completely changed into the same color as the Weak Paralytic Venom. The only thing that was notable was the floating bone dust particles that didn’t disappear even though it was in a liquid.
After he blended the materials together, Liam checked the temperature of the liquid. He used his ability Temp Check to make sure it was at the right temperature the instructions advised him it should be at. After readjusting the heat of the flame, he watched as the liquid boiled. He had his Shadow Hand stir occasionally as he waited.
This part of the crafting was the boring part to him since he needed to wait for the liquid to evaporate and create crystals that would cover the sides of the cauldron. If he had to be honest, from what he read, the entire session was going to be boring. As he read the instructions earlier, he felt that the process wasn’t that hard. It didn’t require him to use any fancy techniques nor was there a challenge to it.
There was a warning in one of the steps telling him not to use any Mana Manipulation, control or channeling. Apparently if he did try to use it to help speed the process of getting the crafted poison and the bone particles to stick together then it would create negative effects. Some that were listed, but not limited to, were the two materials not combining, clash between the mana and the poison, complete failure of the whole process, and more.
After a while, the water had finally evaporated, leaving behind dark greenish purple crystals covering the inside and bottom of the cauldron. The size of the crystals reminded him of what salt crystals looked like when they formed. He blew out the flame that was still burning underneath the cauldron and waited for it to cool down.
As he waited he placed the wooden spoon in the cleaning station sink and had his Shadow hand grab two scrapers. After the cauldron reached a temperature that allowed him to touch the cauldron without any worry of the heat burning his gloves, Liam started scraping the sides and bottom of the cauldron with one of his hands and his Shadow Hand.
Liam had to admit, having his Shadow Hand helping him out with craft was both helpful and neat to him. He wouldn’t have thought about using it this way…well he probably could have eventually, but he was under the impression it was a spell to help him fight or use to help him fight. That was why he had used them in his fights the way he did.
After he finished scrapping off all of the crystals, he created a second Shadow Hand and had both of them grab the lip of the cauldron. He cupped his gloved covered hands creating a funnel over a container and had his two spell created hands pick up and pour the contents out into the decent sized container. After the last of the crystals fell into the container, he moved the cauldron over to the sink. He then dusted his hands off to the side before grabbing the mortar and pestle.
This next and final step was as simple as the whole process. All he had to do was pour a small amount of bone dust, add in a small spoon full of the poison crafted crystals, and mix them together by grinding them. After the crystals had fully broken down and mixed with the bone dust, Liam added in another small amount of poison crafted crystals.
Periodically he added a pinch of bone dust, so the poison crafted poison didn’t over power the mixture. He really didn’t need to use more bone dust since it was already added to the mixture when he cooked the ingredients together earlier. However, that was only if he wanted to use this as just a powdered poison. That wasn’t what he was going for.
He had an idea after seeing the title of the chapter and thought that it was perfect for what he was going to do after this. The name of the chapter that had caught his attention and made him want to get this book was called, How to make Powder Poisons for Chemicalized Creation Purposes.
According to the book, if all you wanted to make the poisoned powder usable for a Chemicalized Creation Crafting session then you need to add a bit more bone dust to help it mix well with the ingredients used for the next craft.
After a minute had passed, Liam received a notification.
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“Congratulations! You have crafted Weak Powdered Paralytic Adder Venom.”
“Weak Powdered Paralytic Adder Venom. Item Type – Crafted Powdered Poison (Finished, Unfinished). Item Rarity – Uncommon. Item Quality – Weak. Description – a powdered poison with the properties of a Paralytic Adder Venom. However, instead of a liquid form this powdered form will cause irritation to the skin without the paralyzing effects. However, if the powdered poison touches open wounds, eye balls, or enters through a mouth, nose, or ears then a burning effect with be felt as the paralytic and poison effects activate.”
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As Liam read the description he was entirely sure which was worse. Being cut with the liquid version of the poison and have the effects activate or the powdered version causing a burning feeling on open wounds, eyeballs or any place that it enters. Both were bad, but he was leaning more towards the powdered version being worse.
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“Nice job! You are slowly becoming better at this crafting thing. The more you learn, the wider your options become. This powdered form can be very helpful to you for any situation. I would advice you to make some without the intention of using it as a material for that Chemicalized Creation project you’re about to try soon. – Eri.”
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“I was just thinking about that,” Liam said with a smile under his mask. “How much of this do you think I should make?”
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“Seeing as you have plenty of materials to work with…I’d say use this batch to make for Chemicalized Creation purposes. Make a secondary batch so you can just use it for other situations. – Eri.”
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Liam nodded. He agreed with her on this. He could start up another batch and while that was cooking and evaporating, turning the contents into crystals, then he could make more of this powdered ingredient for the next and final step he had planned. He didn’t want to waste too much time crafting since he still needed to take those tests. That being said, he got up, cleaned the cauldron he used earlier and readied himself to finish his work in the Poison Crafting room.