True Perfect Potion

Pastor John hurried to the Alchemist Association branch in Stormwind City the day after receiving the potion.

As a senior alchemist and a rare magic-using Priest, John held considerable standing in the Alchemist Association.

People kept bowing to greet John, but Pastor John was too busy hurrying forward to return their greetings.

Pastor John rushed straight into the association president's office. It was empty.

That was normal. The president of the Alchemist Association wasn't a mere administrator. The position was always held by a master alchemist, and one of the most accomplished among them.

When they had nothing else to do, they spent their time studying alchemy. John hurried off again, heading for the president's Alchemy Laboratory. Without even knocking, Pastor John charged inside and startled the president, causing the alchemical materials in his hands to erupt with magic.

Fortunately, the president reacted quickly and activated the protective barrier, containing the explosion within it.

The president turned and glared at John. If he hadn't seen who it was, he would have fired the spell in his hand at him.

"What's going on? Has something serious happened?

Why did you barge in without even knocking? That's unlike you.

Do you know what I was making?" the president demanded.

"Teacher, forget all that. Come look at this." It turned out that the president was Pastor John's teacher. No wonder he hadn't attacked him.

Pastor John handed him the Perfect Healing Potion.

"By its magical properties, this is indeed a Perfect Healing Potion. Where did you get it?

And why is it golden?" The president took the potion and examined it carefully before speaking to Pastor John.

The anger in his eyes had already turned to excitement.

This Perfect Healing Potion was truly significant. He had already forgotten all about the damage from a moment ago.

"Teacher, are you sure this is a Perfect Healing Potion?" Pastor John asked.

"Yes, it's definitely a Perfect Healing Potion. It's just an unusual color.

I remember the association's records say the most recent Perfect Potion appeared seven years ago.

The most recent Perfect Healing Potion appeared eighteen years ago.

As it happens, that Healing Potion is in our branch's storeroom. Shall we go take a look now?" the president said.

"Sure. Let's go check and make sure," Pastor John replied with a nod.

They went to the storeroom, where the president asked the storekeeper to retrieve the Perfect Healing Potion from eighteen years ago.

Before them was a bottle of bright red potion.

"Could its magic have faded and changed its color?" Pastor John wondered when he saw that its color differed from the potion Drew had made.

"That shouldn't be possible. The association's storeroom is well protected. Its magic wouldn't have deteriorated.

Hmm, its magic hasn't changed. It's still of Perfect quality." The president examined the potion in his hand. "How strange. I'll check the records and see if I can find any clues."

They hurried to the association's library and found the records from that time.

They contained detailed information about the Perfect Healing Potion. Every recorded detail matched the potion they had just seen.

That meant there was nothing wrong with the Perfect Healing Potion in the storeroom. So was the problem with the Healing Potion Drew had made?

Could it be that Drew's potion wasn't Perfect quality?

But its magical properties really were two hundred percent of an ordinary potion's.

Fortunately, the president patiently continued looking through the records and found a comment from the master alchemist who had made that Perfect Healing Potion: "Ah, it was just a little short of reaching the golden True Perfect quality."

What? There was a quality above Perfect?

Golden—the Healing Potion Drew had made was golden.

Could it be that Drew's potion wasn't Perfect quality, but True Perfect quality?

The president thought it was quite likely and plunged back into the library to search for everything related to True Perfect quality.

Poor Pastor John had left Moonbrook early that morning and traveled all the way to Stormwind City, arriving at the Alchemist Association near dusk.

He didn't have permission to enter the deepest part of the library with the president, so he could only wait outside.

He waited, but the president didn't come out. He waited some more, but the president still didn't come out. Even when dawn broke, the president was nowhere to be seen. Pastor John was practically frantic with impatience.

Just as Pastor John was about to go get some sleep, the president finally came out.

His hair was a tangled mess, like a bird's nest, and he had deep, dark circles under his eyes. He clearly hadn't slept all night.

But his eyes were bright, and he looked extremely excited.

"How did it go, Teacher? What took you so long to find the records? Did you find anything?" Pastor John hurriedly asked.

He wouldn't be able to sleep properly until he knew.

"Mm, I spent all night searching and only figured it out just now. This isn't a Perfect Healing Potion," the president replied.

Pastor John was terribly disappointed by the answer.

But the president's next words immediately made his heart leap.

"This is a True Perfect Healing Potion."

"True Perfect quality? What does that mean?"

The president said no more and handed Pastor John the records.

Pastor John took them and began reading carefully. His drowsiness vanished.

It turned out that a potion was generally considered Perfect quality if its magic reached two hundred percent of an ordinary potion's.

However, different potions had different limits. As mentioned earlier, some potions couldn't exceed two hundred percent, so any potion within a certain range of its limit was considered Perfect quality.

That applied to potions whose limits were below two hundred percent of an ordinary potion's. But what about those whose limits exceeded two hundred percent?

They were considered Perfect once they reached two hundred percent, even though they might still be far from their true limit.

In fact, whether a potion's limit was below or above two hundred percent, the Perfect Potions that had appeared in recent decades all fell short of their limits by some margin. These were ordinary Perfect Potions.

But when a potion reached its absolute limit, it underwent a qualitative change.

In appearance, all potions that reached their limit turned golden. They also underwent internal changes.

To distinguish these limit-breaking potions from ordinary Perfect Potions, they were called True Perfect Potions.

What did a qualitative change mean? Take Healing Potions, for example. An ordinary Perfect Healing Potion simply had an improved healing effect.

It didn't undergo a qualitative change, and still couldn't be used by ordinary people.

But the True Perfect Potion Drew had made had undergone a qualitative change and could be used by ordinary people.

The last True Perfect Potion in history had appeared more than eighty years ago. After several generations went by without another, people gradually forgot about them.

Today, thanks to the potion Drew had made, the concept had been brought back to light.

This could be called a landmark moment.

Pastor John also noticed that, according to historical records, the makers of True Perfect Potions had all produced them through a sudden flash of inspiration. Their feats couldn't be repeated.

But Drew had produced two potions in a row, proving that his success could be replicated. Pastor John told the president about this discovery.

The president was stunned for a moment, then said solemnly to Pastor John, "This is extremely important. If he can replicate it, that means the method can be used by others.

This is vital to the Alchemist Association. You must invite Master Drew to come here."

"Mm, I understand."