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"So...what do you plan to do?"

"...just a little alchemy" the woman with disheveled long green hair replies annoyed by the stupidity of the question.

The two figures start talking while looking for materials and components in the place's storage room.

"Are you sure? We don't have the best materials."

"Uhhhh...." she sounded annoyed. "I thought you were better than this semi-solid head. You should know by now that a truly talented individual can make gold out of dirt" a smirk creeps on her tired face.

"I know I know. But isn't alchemy the exception? You need good materials for the result to be good."

"Why are you pushing thisssss" the woman was now frowning. "Let's make an example so your now solid head gets it."

"So now I am fully solid?"

The woman continues as if she didn't hear anything.

"Let's say you give the most powerful wand in the world to an average mage. What is the mage's level now?" She prepares the materials on a table for her new concoction.

"Definitely a high tier mage. A good wand boost the mage's capabilities a good degree."

"Wrong." She says as she fills a pot with water and a strange looking purple liquid (Expired fairy blood?) and puts it on a flame coming from a fire stone.

"?"

"The mage will continue to be average. Just because you give it a fancy tool doesn't change the process that goes into what makes the mage a good or average one." She waits for the water in the pot to be boiling and now puts different herbs in it.(the herbs aren't fully grown)

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"Process?"

"If you think about it, magic and alchemy are almost the same. You use different materials to obtain a desired result."

The woman casts a complex type spell 'subtract' on the flames but not the fire rock, it gives a weird vibe seeing colorless and warmless flames coming from a fire stone. Then she continues.

"In magic you use mana, affinities, magic tools, blessings, formulas, experience among other things to be able to cast a spell. If you want to cast a different one you change certain materials. Just because a step of that process is better than the rest doesn't mean it changes the result."

The woman now casts another complex type spell 'Add' and a medium tier ice spell 'cold zone' now the flames seem to become cold, After doing that, she starts revolving the now black sustance in the pot. Then she continues.

"In alchemy it's the same. We use more physical materials that is true, but the process is the same, an accumulation of different things. You have materials, experience, skill, intellect, talent, etc."

After finishing revolving the pot, she takes out a vial with a red liquid(blood?) from one of her coat pockets and pours a little of it in the pot.

"Now in this situation if every step of the formula is better except one then the result is..."

The woman shows the finished elixir she was making, a silver color is reflected in the pot that it is contained in.

"Wow I can't believe it..."

"Heh...when you are truly talented you can make stuff like this with scraps. Tell me who can make a Royal grade magic boost elixir with just what we had here" the woman smiled as she looked proud of her creation. But that smile didn't last very long as her red eyes started to lose color. "Maybe if I had realized before... I could have done something..."

"..."

"Do you ever think about it? What could have been? And I am not talking about that guy, I am talking about thinking about the different options we had and we didn't choose.

Can we blame ourselves for that?... For not choosing the correct one?"

"Was there even a correct choice?"

"...I don't know..."

"Then it's no use thinking about it. It will just eat at your mind. The best we can do now is continue after all..."

"Maybe you are right... thanks..."

"No problem."

"Looks like your solid head became semi-solid again, if you continue like that maybe you will reach liquid head." A little exhausted smile adorns her face.

"Cannot wait for it to happen haha. I am gonna go met Lucius, apparently he discovered something."

"Then be on your way. I heard he could get pissy when people make him wait."

"Look who is talking"

"Hey! At least I won't throw a fit!" A little of energy got back to her voice.

"Sure sure. See you later then."

"See you later Kei." She waves as he leaves.

They never saw each other again.

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