Keep Talking, Keep It Up

Galan followed Fitz into the back room, which became a storage room. Pushing open the door, he smelled a strange odor in the air, like a mixture of stewed bananas and pumpkin. "You're making potions here?"

Galan looked around at the simple interior and couldn't help but silently recite the "Ode to Inscription on a Humble Room" in his mind.

Damn...::: This is practically a superstar start...:

Is it another case of toiling and straining one's mind and body?

The floor was covered with a jumble of alchemical tools, and the dim lighting and oppressive atmosphere made it hard for him to believe that the other person worked in such an environment.

Even assembly line workers in electronics factories work in somewhat better conditions than this, right?

"Hey buddy, come over here! How's my medicine making going?"

He strode over to a cluttered cabinet, pointed to a small pot of pale yellow liquid on it, and asked excitedly,

He seemed very eager to get Galan's opinion.

After all, he had been "working behind closed doors" for many years.

It's rare for a colleague to come to me and say they want to exchange experiences.

After learning about the other person's work environment, with mixed feelings, Galan moved closer to his position, peeked out to carefully examine the color of the potion in the cauldron, and searched his memory for information about this Potion.

Although the taste is indeed a bit strange, judging from the color alone, there's no doubt that this is a potion of high-quality Shrinking Potion.

Generally speaking, if you've already experimented with and researched a potion, you can usually tell the general trend by looking at the color of the resulting liquid when you try to refine it again.

In the past, when I tried to refine them myself, I couldn't reach Fitz's level because this type of potion is extremely difficult to refine. Although the process isn't complicated, the control over the heat, the ingredients, and the preparation is extremely strict. Judging from this alone, the other party is undoubtedly a highly skilled Apothecary.

"Incredible... I never expected you could produce such a high-quality potion from something so difficult to make."

"But you previously said your goal was to create a [Rejuvenation Potion]. Is there any connection between that and your creation of a [Shrinking Potion]?"

Having heard the other party's grand ambitions and witnessed his strength firsthand, Galan had developed a strong interest in the boy in front of him who looked to be about the same age as himself.

Who knows... he might actually be able to create a [Rejuvenation Potion]

As far as he knew, besides magic being able to achieve the effect of [rejuvenation], ancient books from the [Mythical Era] also recorded that potions could achieve a nearly identical effect.

However, for some unknown reason, the method of making this Potion was not preserved intact. To this day, all that Apothecary can learn from various ancient books is a fragment of the method for making the [Rejuvenation Potion], and even this fragment may not be entirely accurate.

After being passed down for so long, some discrepancies are inevitable.

"Also, why would you want to make a [Rejuvenation Potion]? Do you have a need for it?"

"How could it be for such a trivial reason?"

"Hmm?"

Galan raised an eyebrow slightly, wanting to know what insightful opinion the other party had.

"The reason I chose to refine the [Rejuvenation Potion] is, of course, because it's difficult to refine!"

What's the reason for this? Is this a major outburst of masochistic tendencies?

Galan stood there silently, looking at Fitz who was beaming with self-satisfaction, unsure of what to say.

This doesn't sound like a reason a normal person would give...

So, buddy, your idea is really outrageous.

Why do I find your reasoning even more absurd...?

"Pfft, I originally thought that as an Apothecary, you would definitely understand my thoughts, but it seems I was wrong..."

No... any normal person wouldn't be able to easily understand your thoughts.

Is it really possible for someone to pursue a task as their ideal simply because it's difficult?

Instead of that, wouldn't it be better to develop some more practical Potion? He's perfectly capable of doing that, isn't he? "How about... you research a method to quickly restore human blood?"

"Since you're making [Healing Potions ], you should know that limiting the [Healing Potion's ] function to only target blood regeneration is an extremely difficult task, right?"

After a moment of contemplation, an idea suddenly came to Galan's mind.

Since this guy enjoys challenging himself so much, why not ask him to handle that matter? Before coming here, Galan had been repeatedly pondering the [Blood Manipulation Magic] he had just learned.

This magic is extremely difficult to manipulate in terms of blood, and requires an extremely high level of Mana control, which is almost impossible for him at his current level.

After all, he had only learned this magic; his skill in refining and controlling Mana was still at a near-zero level.

Now, with Galan's Mana and control abilities, the only thing he can control is the blood in his own body.

However, due to the limitations of the human body, he could not mobilize his blood on a large scale, which meant that this magic was almost useless in actual combat.

Even if one were to draw blood from their own body to aid in combat, it would be a disastrous move, resulting in the loss of eight hundred or more of one's own blood compared to the enemy's.

However, if one can ensure that their body continuously produces blood and achieves a relative balance with the rate at which blood is supplied, then they can solve their current difficulties.

I had done related research before, but at that time, the point of [Effect Consolidation] was really difficult to overcome, so Galan eventually gave up and chose to abandon this research direction.

Now that I've encountered such an oddball, who knows what surprises he might bring me?

"No... I said I'm going to make the [Rejuvenation Potion], and I absolutely won't be distracted by anything else until I succeed."

"So what have you been doing selling so many potions all this time?"

"... In short, why should I do what you say? Why don't you do it yourself?"

Seeing that there was still a chance for things to turn around, Galan suddenly changed his tune, sighing and beginning his performance:

"Nonsense, Brother Fitz, you don't know this. I've tried before, but I've failed every single time."

"You should understand, right? Achieving [functional convergence] with Potion is incredibly difficult; it's a subject that requires talent."

"And I'm not offering this suggestion for myself..."