Alchemy Experiment

Since Drew had managed to produce another bottle of Perfect Healing Potion, Pastor John had grown numb to it. He no longer tried to stop Drew from using the Perfect Healing Potion in his experiment.

Nelson Eddie no longer hesitated. He took the potion from Pastor John, uncorked it, and drank a small sip straight from the bottle. Then he said to Pastor John, "Pastor John, if anything goes wrong, make sure you protect me, okay?"

"Don't worry. I have experience," Pastor John replied.

A while later, Drew asked, "How is it? Can you feel the potion's magic? What does it feel like? Can you handle it?"

"I can feel it. My body feels warm, and there's an indescribable sensation flowing through me.

"So far, I don't feel anything unusual." Nelson Eddie assessed how he felt and answered.

"All right. Let's keep watching for a while. Pastor John, stay ready at all times." Drew was a little worried.

"It's fine. I've dealt with a few ordinary people who accidentally drank Healing Potion. They all felt the magic clash right away.

"Nelson Eddie hasn't felt any clash, so the experiment should have succeeded." Pastor John spoke with confidence.

"Let's wait a little longer. This is a Perfect Potion, after all, and there's no precedent." Drew said cautiously, opening the Scanning System to monitor Nelson Eddie.

Just then, Nelson Eddie suddenly clutched his stomach and groaned in pain. Seeing this, Pastor John immediately cast the Healing Spell he had prepared, striking Nelson Eddie with it.

He was so quick that Drew's warning was still caught in his throat. When the Healing Spell took effect, golden light shone from Nelson Eddie's body—the effect of the Holy Light.

Gradually, the Holy Light sank into Nelson Eddie's body. He stood up, and the pained expression disappeared from his face.

"How are you feeling?" Pastor John asked with concern.

"Much better," Nelson Eddie replied.

"Why did you suddenly feel unwell? It didn't seem like you couldn't handle the potion's magic," Drew said, puzzled.

"I felt fine at first. Then, all of a sudden, I got a cramping pain in my stomach," Nelson Eddie answered, confused.

"I don't think it was a reaction to the magic. From what I can tell, it looks like poisoning.

"Why don't we try again?

"Don't worry, nothing will go wrong. Didn't one Healing Spell just fix everything?" Drew reassured him.

"Pastor John, don't rush to heal him this time, okay? It'll be fine. Even if something does go wrong, there'll still be time." Drew turned to Pastor John.

"Sure. I'll be careful about when I cast it.

"Indeed, the patients who accidentally drank Healing Potion were always brought to me much later. No one could bring them in immediately, since these things were all mistakes and accidents. They weren't like this, where we could prepare in advance.

"That's why I was in such a hurry to heal him back then. I cast the spell without thinking.

"This time, we have plenty of time. There's no need to rush. I'll make sure to pick the right moment," Pastor John explained.

The second experiment began. Just as before, nothing happened at first. After a while, Nelson Eddie began to feel the cramping pain in his stomach again.

This time, however, he was mentally prepared. He realized the pain wasn't as severe as he had imagined; instead, it grew gradually worse. Perhaps Pastor John had healed him so quickly last time that it had given him the wrong impression.

Pastor John didn't immediately cast the Healing Spell he had prepared. Instead, he watched Nelson Eddie's reaction anxiously.

When he saw that Nelson Eddie wasn't reacting as badly as he had the last time, he relaxed. Drew, meanwhile, activated the Scanning System and carefully observed what was happening inside Nelson Eddie's body.

After examining him again, Drew concluded that the symptoms were indeed caused by poisoning.

Then Drew took out a bottle of Antidote Potion and handed it to Nelson Eddie.

Don't ask why Drew had Antidote Potion on hand. He always kept it as part of his standard kit.

A bottle of Excellent Quality Antidote Potion worked immediately.

It worked even better and faster than Pastor John's Healing Spell. In an instant, Nelson Eddie could no longer feel any pain in his stomach.

Seeing that Nelson Eddie had no adverse reaction, Pastor John let the Divine Healing Spell in his hands dissipate.

"Judging from this, there's no doubt that the symptoms were caused by poisoning." Seeing how well the Antidote Potion worked, Drew confirmed that Nelson Eddie's stomach cramps were indeed the result of poisoning.

"But why would Healing Potion cause poisoning?" Nelson Eddie asked in confusion.

When Pastor John heard the question, he seemed to realize something.

"I suspect it has to do with the main ingredient in the Healing Potion," Pastor John explained.

"The main ingredient in Healing Potion is a medicinal herb called Life Flower. Before it's refined into Healing Potion, the herb is highly poisonous.

"But after it goes through the alchemical process and is made into Healing Potion, it has healing properties."

"I see." As a longtime herb merchant, Nelson Eddie knew about Life Flower. He just hadn't made the connection.

"All right, we've more or less tested the effects of the Perfect Healing Potion.

"There's only one thing left: testing its healing effects. That will require repeated trials, using different wounds.

"We can use magic beasts for that, so you don't need to worry.

"And I mainly wanted to test whether ordinary people could withstand the magic in Healing Potion. It seems we have our answer.

"We've basically accomplished what we set out to do today. Let's call it here."

Hearing that Drew didn't need to run any more tests, Nelson Eddie breathed a sigh of relief.

There hadn't been much danger, but the pain was real. And the remaining tests would involve hurting himself—over and over, healing up, then getting hurt again.

Nelson Eddie couldn't bear the thought of it. Thank goodness he wouldn't have to be the test subject anymore.

"Even though you won't have to be the test subject, there's still something I need you to do.

"Since you're not entirely an ordinary person, we can't be completely certain of the results.

"For now, help me find some ordinary people to test on so we can continue the experiments.

"Pastor John, I'll have to trouble you again when the time comes." Drew spoke to Nelson Eddie and Pastor John.

"No problem." He wouldn't have to be the test subject himself, and finding some ordinary people for a fee was an easy task. Nelson Eddie readily agreed.

"Of course. Whenever I'm free, just ask. I have experience. I have a small request, though. I wonder if Master Drew would grant it." Pastor John agreed first, then made his request.

"What is it? Please, go ahead. You were a great help today," Drew said.

"I hardly did anything today. You used your Antidote Potion for the treatment afterward, so I really didn't contribute. It's embarrassing to hear you say that.

"The thing is, could I borrow the unfinished bottle of Healing Potion?

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of it. I just want to show it to the Alchemist Association.

"I promise I'll return it to you," Pastor John said sheepishly.

"Of course. You can have this Healing Potion." Drew handed it to Pastor John without a second thought.

After all, Drew could make Perfect Potions. Giving one away was worth it if it earned him goodwill and the favor of a valuable intermediate-level Priest.

"Thank you so much. Just let me know if you ever need anything," Pastor John said excitedly.

"Of course, of course. We're friends, after all."

"Right, right. We're friends. Very close friends."