Does This Potion Have a Name?

"Is this a potion?"

Vesemir sniffed at the faint stench still lingering around her despite the magic, her expression complicated as she looked at Ailin.

As a Sorceress with centuries of alchemical experience, she had collected a vast sea of alchemical formulas.

There had even been a time when she specifically collected strange and unusual potion formulas that had little practical use.

But she had never seen anyone brew one the way Ailin did.

The smell was secondary. The crucial point was that no magic had been involved.

Mary pinched her nose as well and asked curiously,

"Ailin, are you preparing a medicinal draught?"

"No, I'm brewing a potion," Ailin said.

"A potion?"

Mary looked at Ailin in confusion, then at Vesemir.

The Sorceress remained expressionless.

"Do you know the difference between a medicinal draught and a potion?"

"A potion is a draught made with Chaos Magic during the brewing process that ends up containing magical fluctuations." Ailin answered casually without looking up.

This was the most basic knowledge in the potion-making section of alchemy.

The Sorceress had covered it in the first lesson.

It was just that Killer Whale differed from ordinary potions.

Even Vesemir could not help asking, "But you didn't channel any magic into it."

"I don't need to. The ingredients already contain magic." Ailin looked up and replied.

"Whose magic?"

"A Drowner's."

Vesemir:?

Mary:???

Ailin understood their confusion, but this was simply how the Killer Whale Potion worked.

This potion had been designed specifically for witchers.

It fully accounted for witchers' lack of magic, using brewing steps nearly identical to those for ordinary medicinal draughts to fully draw out the magic within Magical Materials.

Though the formula required Alchemy LV2 to brew, in Ailin's view—

An ordinary witcher apprentice could more or less master it after one or two months of focused training on this single potion.

After all, witchers were strongest when it came to poison resistance. They did not need to pay excessive attention to removing toxins during the brewing process.

They merely needed to preserve the potion's effects as much as possible.

So the Sorceress had not actually been wrong. This potion was also an extremely toxic poison.

The time was nearly up.

At some point, the stench of rotting flesh lingering around them had dissipated.

In its place was a faint briny smell like seawater.

A hazy pale-blue mist gradually seeped out through the gaps around the cauldron's lid.

Restrained yet distinct, subtle yet clear.

Even Ailin's witcher organs could sense the magical fluctuations.

Naturally, Vesemir and Mary did not overlook them.

Mary seemed to have forgotten the awful stench from before. Her little head drew closer and closer.

Ailin could even see the overlapping red marks on her forehead.

The Sorceress slightly parted her lips as well, no less astonished than her apprentice.

"Such regular magical fluctuations... It really is a potion!"

"First, a bone whistle capable of summoning Drowners. Now, a potion with such simple yet unusual brewing steps."

"Where did Ailin get this knowledge and these formulas?"

Her beautiful eyes unconsciously shifted from the cauldron, now growing misty, to the witcher apprentice's face.

That handsome little face, only thirteen years old, was filled with seriousness and concentration.

Vesemir knew that this was curiosity and thirst for knowledge, an emotion seen only in scholars and wizards.

"Why did the prophecy insist that he become a witcher?"

"My child is clearly a born wizard."

The Sorceress sighed and could not help pondering a question: Was there truly no way for a witcher to become a wizard?

"Pfft—"

A puff of air sounded.

A new phenomenon appeared around the cauldron.

The pale-blue mist that had completely enveloped the cauldron gathered without dispersing.

The instant that puff sounded, all of it was sucked into the cauldron.

At that moment, the witcher apprentice moved as well.

He swiftly lifted the cauldron, circulating the magic inside the body and wrapping it around the vessel's walls.

Then, after silently counting ten heartbeats, he felt the magic around the cauldron wall tremble three times.

"Bzz, bzz—"

A deep hum, like a whale's call, sounded from within the cauldron.

Only then did Ailin let out a breath of relief.

He placed the cauldron on the alchemy table, opened the lid, and looked inside expectantly.

A thin layer of pale-blue liquid lay spread across the bottom.

What further relieved the witcher apprentice was that the liquid gave off no unpleasant smell at all.

Instead, it was crystal-clear and bright, making one feel the urge to take a sip at a glance.

"Did it succeed?" Mary leaned over and asked doubtfully.

"It should have." Ailin nodded and was about to find a container for the potion.

Vesemir handed him an exquisite transparent crystal bottle.

"There's no need to use such a fine bottle..."

Ailin was about to refuse, but the Sorceress imperiously stuffed it directly into his hand.

Though he still did not know the prices in the witcher world, he knew without asking that such an exquisite bottle had to be valuable.

At the very least, his Killer Whale certainly did not deserve a crystal bottle of this grade.

But since the Sorceress insisted, the witcher apprentice could only accept it and carefully transfer the potion into the bottle.

The shallow amount of potion in the cauldron filled the tiny bottle, which was only slightly larger than Ailin's index finger, perfectly.

Perhaps because of the bottle, the pale-blue Killer Whale Potion looked fresh and captivating.

Seeing its exquisite appearance, who could have imagined how unbearably foul the brewing process had been?

"This potion is beautiful. Can you give it to me?" Lady Vesemir suddenly asked.

The Witcher Apprentice froze for a moment, then handed the potion to the Sorceress.

"Of course, Lady Vesemir."

It was only a bottle of potion.

Though he wanted to test its effects immediately, the materials and Alchemy Room had both been provided to him for free.

And over the past few days, the Sorceress had helped him so much.

Vesemir carefully accepted the potion and studied it for a long time.

Then, wearing a satisfied smile Ailin could not understand, she somehow produced a slender, exquisite gold cord, tied up the Killer Whale, and hung it around her neck.

"Ailin, does it look good?" Vesemir asked expectantly.

The Witcher Apprentice was completely dumbfounded.

So that was what she meant by saying Killer Whale looked good.

Hanging a potion around her neck—what kind of strange aesthetic was that?

Still, to be fair, the blue Killer Whale really did suit the Sorceress's outfit today.

Aside from the first day they met, when Vesemir had worn that unforgettable fiery-red silk deep-V dress—

At other times,

Vesemir wore high-collared dresses mostly in gray, white, and blue.

The white linen gown she wore today happened to match Killer Whale's blue perfectly.

So although it was strange, Ailin still honestly praised her. "It looks very good."

Vesemir smiled and nodded.

"Mary, bring Ailin a few more sets of materials and help him make a few more bottles."

"Yes, Lady Vesemir."

Immediately afterward.

Snap.

An orange portal spun into existence in the Alchemy Room.

Before stepping through it, Vesemir paused and asked,

"By the way, Ailin."

"Does this potion have a name?"

The Witcher Apprentice froze for a moment and said,

"It does."

"It's called Killer Whale."

New author, new book. Please keep reading, leave comments, add it to your collection, and vote with monthly tickets!

Thanks to readers "Fish Under Heaven," "levye," and "Jinfan Yang Bibo" for their monthly tickets.

Thanks to reader "160907102533673" for the reward.