The week went by rather quickly until Thursday. I had given each of my friends one dose of each of the two types of cores I had as well as converted the remaining mana into potions. I had gone through all of the cores by Wednesday afternoon, boosting my own Red and Black by another 6% each. I ended with four grade 6 poisons, one grade 5 poison, one grade 6 fire potion, one grade 3 fire potion, two grade 6 healing potions, one grade 4 healing potion, and one grade 4 curative potion. Together, these netted me three small gold, three large silver, and three small silver. A nice haul!

I say that the week went well until Thursday because, at the end of the Chemistry lab, the teacher pulled me aside and asked me to come to his office after lunch. I dreaded whatever caused this turn of events, and did my best to struggle through Spearfighting class before lunch.

The teacher's office, Mr. Gregory according to the nameplate, was rather small papers stacked high in such a way that left only a narrow passage to a desk contained within. I entered and he motioned to me to sit down.

"James," he began.

"Yes, Sir?"

"I called you in here to talk about your lab report you turned in this week. Care to tell me anything?"

"What do you mean?" I asked nervously. I'd put in some of what I'd noticed but not everything. He had asked for our observations.

"You said in your report that the acid eats away at the mana but prefers the White mana? What do you mean by this?"

"Well, Sir, I noticed that as we added the acid, the balance of types of mana changes so that there is less White. When there is the right amount of Green and White, it becomes a health potion instead of just mana."

"I see." He paused momentarily, thinking. "And how do you know?"

"Sir, you asked for our observations, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, that is what I observed." A cheeky response, but technically true.

"How did you observe?"

"With a skill."

"Can you tell me what skill?"

"I would prefer to keep that a secret."

"Very well."

I started to get my things together.

"Oh, before you go, can you take a look at this?"

Mr. Gregory pulled a vial of something from his pocket and placed it on the table. I took a look at it and recognized it as a grade 6 health potion... probably one of the ones I'd created.

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"Sure. It looks like a health potion."

"Can you tell anything special about it?"

"It's the strongest I've ever seen. Where'd you find it?"

"At Bridget's shop by the market square. She had a curious story about a young man fitting your description who sold it to her."

I said nothing, awaiting his next move. Anything else would be a poor decision.

"You said you had a skill and I want to know more. If you can tell how the potion is made, wouldn't you be able to make something like this?"

"I'm not sure," I began.

"Don't lie to me, Boy! She seemed to think there was a master behind you, but I don't think so. You're smart beyond your years to be in my class at your age. You made this potion and I want to know how!"

My mind raced, trying to think of something.

"Everyone needs their secret, Sir. I don't ask your Status so please don't ask mine. Even if I told you the process, you wouldn't be able to replicate it without my skills. That much I can guarantee. If you want to discuss the theory behind it, I might be persuaded to talk about that. I will not reveal my skills."

"Let me guess, you want something to loosen your tongue?"

"I want a contract and a guarantee. If you want the heat and the glory, you can have it. I want peace and to be left alone like a normal student my age."

"Fine."

Mr. Gregory took out a special piece of paper and wrote what I'd asked. I checked it over and we signed our names, each contributing a drop of blood. It was a magically binding contract. I would tell Mr. Gregory the general process and my observations, and in exchange, he would shield me as the 'master' I worked for. I was glad to have safety. If he had been less honest, I could have been in a much more difficult position. I was glad I'd been keeping my secrets, even if I wasn't wholly successful.

"Well, Sir, I'll do my best to explain without giving away my skills."

"Very well. Please go ahead."

"Do you know what monster cores are made from?"

"Different kinds of mana."

"That's true but not the whole picture. A treant core is specifically made from Green and White mana in about a two to one ratio. Additionally, there is a sort of binding mana that holds its shape. When you heat up the core, that mana evaporates, turning the core to a liquid. Now that you have liquid mana that is Green and White, you need to remove some of the White mana to make a health potion, which has an approximate ratio of four to one Green to White. By adding acid, you are destroying some of the mana, but the acid favors destroying White mana over Green."

"That's a hell of an insight. Now, tell me how you made this one. It's completely pure. There's no acid or anything else in it but mana!"

"That's correct. Through my observations, I was able to separate the mana using my own mana rather than a medium like acid. This is first and foremost how I know the ratio of the health potion. I separated Green and White and then added White back until it became a health potion."

"You have a gift, James."

"Thank you, Sir."

"I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier. I don't think there's ever been a potion like this. In fact, it's probably too strong to have more than a drop or two even if you're a high leveled adventurer! I have another proposition for you. I will provide you with five cores of every type that I can source. This is more than you can buy at the market, mind you. Additionally, I will pay you 1 large silver per vial of pure colored mana you can extract from these cores. If you can give me two vials of each, you can keep the rest to run your own experiments. Is that acceptable to you?"

"Yes, Sir!"

I had, coincidentally, finished one of the things I'd wanted to do. I wondered what kinds of potions I could make that had three or more types of mana!

"Let's write up another contract, then. I should be able to get you the cores in about two or three weeks. How long will it take you to complete your work?"

"A week, maybe two?" I could probably do it in a couple of days if I used all my spare time and MP, but I wanted to downplay it a little.

"Ok, that works for me."

We wrote a second magic contract for this deal. Both of my thumbs ached from being cut, but my wallet was greedy for more!