Master Alchemist

After becoming vice president of the Alchemist Association, President Pierre spent every day discussing alchemy with Drew and guiding him toward becoming a master alchemist.

At the same time, he kept asking Drew how he was doing, whether he needed any help, when the academy planned to move over, and to let him know if he needed anything.

Drew knew Pierre had his eye on the method for making True Perfect Potions. But Pierre never directly asked to trade for it. Instead, he kept building goodwill, giving without asking for anything in return.

Even though Drew could ultimately hand over the method or simply leave, since they had agreed there would be no conditions.

Still, President Pierre kept doing all this, and Drew appreciated it. These past few days, he had been compiling his findings on how to make True Perfect-quality potions, hoping they might be of some help.

Though he suspected they would only be of limited help. After all, they didn't have the Scanning System, and they couldn't control their own work with the same precision.

Drew had been considering the president's proposal to move the academy here as well. But first, he would wait until this batch of students had finished their studies. That would take a little over a month.

That would also give Drew time to consolidate his standing here, making the academy's move easier when the time came.

President Pierre came by again that day.

"Today, I'll explain the difference between a master alchemist and an advanced alchemist.

"By the time an alchemist reaches the advanced level, they can basically brew any kind of potion without much trouble.

"So what makes someone a master alchemist?

"Alchemy produces a wide range of goods, and there are many different branches. Of course, the most important and prominent branch is making potions and elixirs.

"Potions and elixirs are what people know this branch for. They're commonly used by ordinary people.

"But there's another product called a Concoction. These alchemical products contain tremendous amounts of magic, too much for ordinary people to withstand. Only professionals of the advanced level or higher can use them.

"So they're not widely circulated, and most people don't know about them. What exactly is a Concoction? The name itself tells us: it's made by combining several different potions into one.

"And it doesn't just have powerful effects; those effects last a very long time, too.

"Ordinary potions and elixirs that we make last at most a dozen minutes. But if a Concoction is made well, it can last for days, even a whole month." President Pierre had gotten straight to the point that day.

"What? It can last a whole month? How much magic must a Concoction contain?"

"That's right. It contains an enormous amount of magic.

"But it can't all be released at once, or no one could withstand it.

"You have to control the magic's output and keep it steady. That's where the alchemist's skill comes in.

"A good master alchemist can make the effects as stable and well-balanced as possible, and make them last as long as possible.

"Being able to make a proper Concoction is what qualifies you as a master alchemist. In other words, whether an alchemist can make a Concoction is the sole standard for judging if they've reached the master level in this branch.

"Today, I'll teach you the most basic kind of Concoction: an Attribute Concoction." With that, President Pierre led Drew to the Alchemy Laboratory.

On the third day, when President Pierre finally made a Concoction brimming with magic,

Drew let out a long breath and silently committed every step to memory.

Why did it take three days? Not because making a Concoction took three days.

Working nonstop for three days would have been unbearable.

Each attempt took more than half a day, so he could only make one a day.

But the first two attempts had failed. It was only on the third day, during his third attempt, that he succeeded.

Still, judging by President Pierre's delighted expression, he seemed quite satisfied with that success rate.

He said to Drew, "All right, you've got the recipe and the technique for making this Concoction figured out now, right?

"For the next few days, get familiar with it and practice making Concoctions.

"But be sure to work in this Alchemy Laboratory. Concoctions contain a huge amount of magic, and any mistake could cause a massive magical explosion.

"This laboratory has effective safety measures.

"Understood?"

"Got it. I'll practice in this laboratory."

"Good. I'll be heading back for today.

"I've already given you access to this laboratory." President Pierre nodded and prepared to leave with his Concoction.

"Wait, President Pierre.

"I've spent the past few days compiling what I've learned about making True Perfect-quality Healing Potions.

"I hope it'll be of some help to you." Drew called after him.

"Really? That's wonderful.

"On behalf of the Alchemist Association, I thank you." President Pierre was overjoyed to hear that.

He had been planning to spend more time building a good relationship with Drew before asking to borrow his alchemy notes.

He hadn't expected Drew to agree before he even had the chance to ask. It was a gesture returned in kind. President Pierre's regard for Drew rose another level.

In game terms, President Pierre's reputation with you had gone from Revered to Exalted.

"Don't thank me just yet, President.

"I've looked into it, and the key to making a True Perfect Potion is to bring every ingredient to its limit and make the fullest possible use of each one.

"I have a natural talent for this, which is why I can repeat the process.

"There isn't any special technique or method involved. The requirements for making a True Perfect Potion are simply too demanding.

"I don't know if any of this will help you. Even if it does, the help will be limited.

"After all, it's all theoretical. Turning it into reality is extremely difficult." Drew worried President Pierre might be disappointed by what he had to share, or think he was holding something back, so he explained in advance.

After hearing Drew's explanation, President Pierre was indeed a little disappointed.

He hadn't expected there to be no special techniques or methods, just the need to push his own skills to their limits.

Still, he gripped the materials in his hand and thanked Drew again.

"I also made another discovery." Drew felt a little embarrassed, so he decided to share a bit more.

"Go ahead."

"Before, I couldn't make a Perfect Potion in the laboratory, no matter how hard I tried.

"But then I changed the extraction process.

"Instead of using instruments to extract the ingredients, I did it by hand. After that, I managed to make a Perfect Potion.

"I wonder if relying too much on instruments keeps us from making the most of the ingredients, which is why we can't make a Perfect Potion that requires every condition to be met perfectly.

"Maybe Perfect Potions were more common in the past because people didn't have these tools. They relied entirely on their own instincts to bring the ingredients to their limits.

"That's why Perfect Potions used to appear more often.

"Now alchemists all use instruments. They make our work easier, but relying on them for too long dulls our instincts, so Perfect Potions are much rarer.

"Using instruments is practical for alchemy below the Perfect level, but when it comes to the extremely demanding Perfect Potions, they become a bottleneck." Drew offered this explanation.

President Pierre fell into deep thought. After a long while, he sighed and said, "I don't know if that's really the case, but what you've said makes a lot of sense.

"We've overlooked this issue all along.

"I'll try it when I get back.

"Thank you very much for the suggestion."