Incredible Alchemy

At midnight, for the first time in a long while, Victor suffered from insomnia. He rarely struggled to sleep; the last time it happened was when he first discovered he had transmigrated into a world of alchemy.

He disliked drastic changes and hated losing control, but now he was once again forced out of his comfort zone.

As he walked downstairs and passed the entrance to the alchemy lab, he paused, unexpectedly finding Vesemir still awake and busy extracting plants.

His footsteps could not escape the witcher's keen senses.

Without turning around, the witcher said, "Can't sleep, kid?"

"Yes, the new environment has me a bit restless, so I came out for a walk. What about you... what potion are you brewing?"

"A Vitality Decoction, a traditional recipe of the witchers. It enhances the effects of physical training. I extract it a few hours early so it's ready to drink hot before training begins. This is a drink you'll be having every day from now on."

Vesemir spoke with casual indifference, but Victor, who also possessed some knowledge of alchemy, knew clearly that the old man was truly looking out for him; otherwise, there would be no need to stay up late for his sake.

"Thank you," he said.

He then turned back to his room, lay down, and drifted off to sleep.

The Vitality Decoction was unexpectedly delicious, tasting as sweet as fruit juice. Vesemir mentioned that they had specially improved the flavor back in the day for that little rascal, Ciri. Paired with cave fungus, it served as a nutritious breakfast exclusively for witcher apprentices.

Training began on the "Killer's Trail," a path surrounding the ancient castle of Kaer Morhen, filled with numerous obstacles. Witchers often practiced their running and breath-control techniques there.

In Victor's eyes, this was a medieval version of an "obstacle course." The activity was very helpful for training running, jumping, crawling, climbing, and balance. Its significant drawback was that the safety measures were also medieval—there were none.

Furthermore, although Vesemir introduced it as the "trail," according to the books, young witchers had given it another name: the "Killer's Trail."

Vesemir ran the entire course with him. He was so considerate that Victor felt a bit embarrassed, wondering if it was too cruel to make a man hundreds of years old run and leap like this. However, he soon learned that old ginger is spicier than young; by the time Victor was gasping for air, Vesemir was still perfectly fine.

After a rest, they moved on to basic swordsmanship. The practice swords at Kaer Morhen were similar to European longswords—two-handed blades with long crossguards.

However, he didn't touch a sword at all during his first lesson. Until lunch, he practiced basic footwork: hands on his hips, feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, one foot stepping forward with the toe pointed at the opponent, and the back foot rotated outward at about 45 degrees.

According to Vesemir, this stance allowed one to maintain balance in all directions. He had to master the footwork first; otherwise, holding a sword would only be a distraction.

After lunch, an ordinary witcher apprentice would rest briefly before continuing training, but at Victor's request, he carved out three hours in the afternoon to read in the library, followed by training until sunset.

By the end of the day, after dinner, Victor felt exhausted to the bone. He washed his dishes, went upstairs, collapsed onto his bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

After confirming that he was tucked in properly, Vesemir left the guest room with a smile.

Vesemir found the day's training quite interesting. Although the boy lacked technique, his physique was exceptionally well-nourished, and his personality was unexpectedly resilient. He ran the "Killer's Trail" until he was gasping for air and struggling to move, yet he never stopped. It was the same with the swordsmanship practice; despite being physically drained and on the verge of collapsing, he still held out until the end.

However, resilience is a trait that requires testing. Vesemir figured that a child raised in a peaceful environment would likely demand more rest within a week.

A month later, Vesemir admitted that he had underestimated the boy's potential. He was a genius among commoners.

On the "Killer's Trail," while there were no startling breakthroughs, he was steady and growing faster; he no longer needed supervision to complete his daily exercises.

In swordsmanship, he had mastered the Plough Stance and was now beginning the Ox Stance—progress that was neither fast nor slow, but steady.

This was even more evident in his studies. In his hundreds of years of life, he had taught countless unruly children. Some had photographic memories, some read ten lines at a glance, and some could infer three things from one, but Victor's focus and calm while reading were the rarest of all.

After dinner that night, Vesemir expected another quiet evening, but Victor did not head straight to the library. Instead, he sought him out, asking for his help.

"I must apologize to you first, Vesemir." This was Victor's opening. "I actually have some secrets I haven't told you."

Seeing the sincerity in those blue eyes, Vesemir chuckled with a kindly, hearty laugh. "Child, trust is never built in an instant, so you don't need to apologize to me. I understand completely and haven't taken it to heart.

But I am still glad you are willing to trust me more now. So, what is it you intend to tell me?"

"I am an apprentice alchemist."

"Hmm... I know that, so?"

"Referencing the books over the past month has confirmed to me that the alchemy I learned is somewhat different from the alchemy known in this world—or rather, there is a decisive difference..."

Vesemir raised an eyebrow.

"By the literal definition, what I learned shouldn't be called alchemy; it should be called Incredible Alchemy. And I want to try and see if I can manifest it in this world!"

In the alchemy lab, Vesemir handed Victor the main ingredient for the Vitality Decoction, the European Potato Apple, and watched as he tossed it into the boiling water in the cauldron without hesitation.

"The preparation process for normal alchemical potions involves choosing and combining methods such as extraction, grinding, mixing, fermentation, decoction, distillation, filtration, and nigredo.

But Incredible Alchemy is actually a process that uses one's own heart as a reference to perform conceptual synthesis on the added materials through decoction.

Therefore, all we need is a heat source, a cauldron, a stirring rod, and enough water to cover all the materials.

It looks a lot like making soup, right?

Indeed, it's really no different from making soup..."

As he spoke, Victor added the secondary ingredients in order: Long-leaf Plantain, White Crape Myrtle Petals, Verbena, Dandelion, and Berberis Fruit.

Then, he began to stir.

The green, white, red, yellow, blue, and ochre herbs tumbled along the stirring rod. The direction and speed of the stirring had no pattern; it followed his heart.

"When stirring, imagine the appearance of the desired finished product. The clearer you visualize it in your mind, the faster the product will be completed.

For instance, the Vitality Decoction I'm making now—I've been drinking it for a month, so I know its effects clearly and can judge which components are impurities. I estimate it will take about an hour to finish.

Like this, just toss all the materials in, and keep stirring... stirring..."

Seeing this, Vesemir already felt like calling a halt...

The European Potato Apple was one thing, but the amount of Long-leaf Plantain was excessive, the White Crape Myrtle Petals were too few, and for the Ghost Needle Mushroom, one should only use the cap, while for the Dandelion, only the roots. Yet, he threw the entire plants in, and he hadn't even cracked the hard shells of the Berberis Fruit before tossing them into the pot.

However, he hesitated upon reflection. The boy's conduct over the past month had been too composed—so composed that it didn't even seem like a child's behavior. He must know what he was doing.

...Forget it... Even if he were playing a prank, at worst, it would only be a waste of some materials. Thinking this, Vesemir decided to be broad-minded and let him be.

And so, an hour passed. Vesemir watched as Victor, in the dim alchemy lab, hummed a lighthearted, eerily otherworldly tune—faintly hearing the repeated refrain of "La la la Demacia"—while stirring the chaotic stew into a shit-yellow color that emitted a pungent odor.

Then, a sudden, seven-colored light burst from the cauldron, flashing into his silver-grey cat-like eyes and leaving him stunned.

At that moment, he never expected that by this single lapse in attention, he would become an indispensable background figure in textbooks centuries later.

In the dim alchemy lab, the seven-colored light was dazzling. In that instant! As the first person in history to witness the Incredible Alchemy, Vesemir the Witcher couldn't help but kneel before the cauldron, speechless in the face of this unbelievable miracle.

And the Sage of Kindling, who had brought about such a great miracle, revealed a saintly smile: "Want to learn? I'll teach you."

This sentence pulled back the curtain on modern alchemy and was a moment that history must remember...

Excerpt from—Glory! Incredible Alchemy!