Homemade Potions

"Mission accomplished!"

Roy reviewed the costs of the main materials he had invested—magic stones, miscellaneous items, minerals, and the like—which had been worth nearly 100 magic stones.

Not to mention the time and effort, along with the risk of failure.

Calculated this way, the profit was not actually that high.

But even a single batch could yield a net profit of 15 magic stones.

As a form of mystic handicraft, it essentially used assorted junk, witchcraft energy, and labor to exchange for crystallized value. In the broad sense, it was "Turning Stone into Gold."

It conformed to the principle of "Equivalent Exchange."

"With this, it can count as a stable source of income..."

After considering it, Roy decided to spread the word within a small circle, hoping to take on contract work or purchase materials and begin making money.

"What? You learned how to refine magic stones!"

Renion, Nia, Andov, and the others were all shocked and envious when they heard the news.

In truth, quite a few people in the Witch Realm could do this.

Simply being able to do it meant nothing.

Unlike ordinary alchemical products, magic stones contained energy that had to be neither too much nor too little—exactly right.

Too little meant they were substandard; too much meant taking a loss, and it could easily cause the energy to exceed the limit, making them substandard all the same.

Moreover, only when output exceeded input could one truly be considered capable.

Someone had calculated it precisely: to make a living from this and establish a long-term, stable income, the input-output ratio had to be at least 108.5% to cover the Risk of Failure and the opportunity cost of refining other mainstream products.

Beyond that came quality control in Large-scale refinement.

The larger the scale of refinement, the harder it was to maintain quality control, and the pass rate dropped sharply as well.

Without the Black Iron Rank Talent of Skilled Worker to help him, Roy really would not have dared to casually venture into this kind of refinement.

Renion took the initiative to be friendly. "From now on, any discarded magic stones I don't need can all go to you...

"As for the price, we'll go by market rates.

"If money's tight, you can even pay in gold coins."

"Same here."

"Oh, right. I happen to have a batch of magic-infused miscellaneous items on hand. Take them and use them first; put them on my tab..."

The others chimed in one after another.

An apprentice capable of refining magic stones was equivalent to opening a "junk recycling" shop. Such a person was worth befriending.

Thus, with this news alone, Roy traded for a batch of assorted junk worth dozens of magic stones.

Roy assessed his own capabilities and decided to stockpile these materials for now while attending to other matters.

For example, learning and mastering a batch of low-tier Apprentice-level formulas.

There were great benefits to doing this.

For one, it could greatly reduce his dependence on the various goods on the market, ensuring genuine materials while saving on processing fees.

For another, it was also a way to improve.

As a Witch Realm Alchemist, this was how one had to raise one's skills.

Before he knew it, the end of the month had arrived.

Exam day came.

"Roy... failed!"

With no surprise at all, he had spent all of July making money and had barely studied, meditated, or improved his progress.

He failed the exam.

Expressionless, Roy returned to his seat and watched as Renion, Nia, Andov, and the others went up for testing in turn.

"Failed!"

The Apprentice Leader in charge of supervision announced loudly.

"As expected, there's been no progress at all..."

"Our aptitude is just too poor. Even if we meditate diligently every day, there isn't much Spiritual Power to gain."

Renion and the others had also failed. They discussed it with worried expressions.

"Three consecutive failures will result in punishment...

"Usually, it means being forcibly assigned low-paying, inferior tasks—managing servants, taking care of nurseries, patrolling Resource Points, etc.—all of which consume vast amounts of time and energy.

"Apprentices with poor aptitude like us will enter a vicious cycle and never escape this trap again!"

Although Roy believed he could gradually make money and would not sink permanently, he did not want that kind of trouble either.

"Looks like I need to improve quickly...

"Passing from the start and avoiding punishment is more Cost-effective!"

A few days later, it was early August.

Roy sat at his desk, flipping through reference materials.

"I've successfully learned the formula during this period and prepared the necessary materials. I can try refining a Meditation Potion now."

A genuine Meditation Potion was actually a daily consumable at Wizard Rank.

Its price was slightly lower than that of a Reinforced Potion, but it still cost more than 100 magic stones.

The numerous products he had seen before that cost under 10 magic stones were imitation medicines diluted and prepared by apprentices themselves.

They used diluted Meditation Potions, alcohol, and unknown Additives to create various prepared Meditation Potions of uneven quality.

Buying them directly to consume was actually a terrible deal.

But thanks to the Black Iron Rank Talent of Skilled Worker, his Refinement Success Rate was far higher than that of an ordinary beginner.

Roy planned to purify them himself.

Even if he did not sell them, he could use them himself.

In one go, he spent more than 40 magic stones on quite a few diluted potions, then attempted to separate their active ingredients through distillation.

Throughout the process, Skilled Worker was as useful as ever. After a brief inspection, he confidently continued the purification.

"According to what I learned from the books, there are many better purification and preparation methods.

"But conditions here are crude, and the priority is affordability. I can't worry about all that for now."

Roy Clearly Understood that what he relied on most right now was the Black Iron Rank Talent of Skilled Worker, not anything else.

Unfortunately, ever since obtaining his first talent, the progress of Alchemy Talent Acquisition in Progress had continued crawling along at a steady pace. Even after Two months, it had only reached around 16%.

He had exhausted every method he could think of without finding any way to speed it up, so he could only set the matter aside for now.

After purifying the mixture for more than half a day, Roy's spirits suddenly lifted, and joy appeared on his face.

He raised the beaker in his hand. It contained a translucent pale-blue liquid that flickered faintly with fluorescence.

A trace of Spell Energy radiated from it, carrying a mysterious sensation.

"Succeeded!

"The material cost of this homemade purified potion was kept below 50 magic stones, but its effects should be no worse than those sold by others for over 100!"

This time, Roy did not gulp it all down in one go.

Meditation Potions were relatively precious, and he had refined quite a substantial amount at once, so he could not drink it all directly.

Nor did he think of using white mice to test its effects.

Witchcraft was not arcane arts. Each person's bloodline, physique, and stage of development would affect the results.

The same potion could improve one person's physique and increase their strength, while causing another to suffer Sudden Death outright.

Or perhaps undergo a Deformed Mutation, growing tumors on their hands and feet...

Anything was possible.

Roy portioned out the finished product from this batch, filling a full twelve thumb-sized bottles. Only after storing them away for the time being did he mix the residue with water and drink it all clean.

A strange, slightly bitter flavor washed over him, like bitter melon juice, with a faint minty bite.

A moment later, his mind became utterly clear.

Roy hurriedly seized the opportunity to meditate.