Victor quickly put out the fire, stopping the water from boiling. The light shimmering inside the cauldron gradually faded, allowing Vesemir to clearly see the strange sight within.
The outer ring was clear water, but in the central whirlpool, a mass of blue ** rippled, held distinct from the surrounding water by some unknown force.
Victor picked up three test tubes and used a ladle to scoop the blue ** into them, one spoonful at a time. Once they were full, the central whirlpool dissipated, leaving only clear water in the cauldron. The stinking, yellow-brown unknown substance seemed never to have existed.
He handed over a potion. His ordinary-looking face wore an expression that was almost a smile.
Vesemir solemnly accepted the blue test tube. He shook it. The ** was perfectly clear, without a trace of impurities. It smelled faintly of fruit, and tasted sweet and smooth. A slight warmth spread through his stomach, accompanied by a refreshing surge of energy.
By every measure, it was the perfect version he had only ever imagined, but never actually achieved. The Vitality Decoction's effects were significantly improved, and the lack of impurities meant it was less likely to spoil. He hadn't tested how long it would keep, but he certainly wouldn't need to stay up all night making it every day.
At the thought, Vesemir looked at the boy with a complicated expression. Just as he'd said, this truly was Incredible Alchemy.
Then the amazing boy fainted.
The next day, at the insistence of the recovered Victor, life carried on as usual and training proceeded as normal. At noon, however, he confidently demonstrated Incredible Alchemy again, this time from a different angle.
This time, they were in front of the fireplace in the hall. He laid down some firewood, set a small pot over it, and lit the fire. He added flour, spices, milk, sugar, and eggs, then stirred the whole pot of batter. In just a few minutes, the seven-colored light appeared once more. Vesemir saw some unknown force lift a food called "Caramel Cream Pancake" out of the liquid, and it became lunch for the two of them.
As he speared a pancake and put it in his mouth, Victor let out a satisfied sigh. "...So the less familiar the mixture, the longer it takes and the more mental energy it consumes. I fainted yesterday because I wasn't familiar with the recipe yet. After I've made it a few more times, even if I can't do it as fast as the pancakes, the time it takes should decrease significantly."
"Can anyone in your world use this... Incredible Alchemy?" Vesemir tentatively put a pancake in his mouth and found it tasted as though it had just been fried in a pan.
"Uh... no... This alchemy requires talent. Even in my original world, it's an extremely rare talent.
"I learned from my grandmother.
"She said, 'You either can or you can't. One try is all it takes to tell.
"'Here... toss these tea leaves and eggs into the pot and stir them around, just like this: gluglugluglu, kakakaka... Then there's a flash of light, and—whoosh!—they've turned into tea eggs...'
"Hey! Don't look at me like you don't believe me. I swear I remember it word for word.
"Anyway, from the day I made tea eggs, she said I was an apprentice alchemist. A few days later, she unilaterally announced that she was retiring from the kitchen and that I'd be taking over as head chef..."
He swallowed the last piece of pancake, the sweetness of caramel lingering on his tongue. "I'd like to try... to see if I can do it..." Vesemir took the last tube of Superior Vitality Decoction from his coat and gazed at the liquid, still clear and free of sediment. "This idealistic alchemy has a lot of potential. In at least several hundred years, I've never seen such a high-quality Vitality Decoction.
"Deny the impurities, and they disappear. Imagine the finished product, and it comes into being.
"I have to say, child, you've overturned everything I know about alchemy."
Victor shrugged indifferently. "Sure, we can try it together tonight. I'd like to find out whether people in this world can learn Incredible Alchemy."
"Child, I can try it on my own in private. You, meanwhile, will begin studying traditional alchemy, even if you think the craft is inefficient and produces poor-quality results."
"...To cover up Incredible Alchemy?"
"Yes. Emperors would wage war to bring you under their control. Promise me that until you can protect yourself, you won't show this technique to anyone else."
"Understood, Uncle Vesemir. I'll study traditional alchemy. But I don't think I'm as impressive as you imagine. I'm only an apprentice, after all. I can't handle even slightly difficult mixtures."
"I believe you won't be an apprentice forever."
As everyone knows, Incredible Alchemy has three realms. The first is Wish of Alchemical Faith. Add the right ingredients and focus on imagining the details of the finished product as you stir. When your will is strong enough, the gate of miracles will open. Almost all modern alchemists are at this level.
The second realm is a talent possessed only by the darlings of the world. We call it Listening to the Voices of All Things. This ability lets you hear the voices of every ingredient. They tell you about their hidden properties and the concepts of the void.
From the second realm onward, alchemists possess the power to face gods and demons. In the five hundred years we know of, there have only been three second-rank alchemists, including the Sage of Kindling.
As for the third realm, it exists only in the Sage of Kindling's account. Only his grandmother, the one who taught him alchemy, had reached it. He named it I Think It Works. In ancient elvish, it's called I Reckon.
It means that as long as his grandmother thinks something will work, then it really will...
The most famous alchemical creation from this realm is undoubtedly the Sage of Kindling's renowned Endless Herb Bag. Supposedly, while making it, his grandmother thought an ordinary herb bag made by stirring a piece of cloth in a cauldron would be too small, and that adding a few more pieces of cloth should make it hold more.
And so the Endless Herb Bag, said to have no limit even in the void, came into being.
Excerpt from Origins of Modern Alchemy, Volume Two
Another month passed, and the calendar turned to June. The early summer sun shone brightly.
After finishing his practice of Ox Stance, Victor continued working on his swordsmanship with Apex Stance. He had finished reading the history books and had started comparing them with his geography books.
His progress in traditional alchemy was also clear. He had steady hands and a cautious mind, and the core of his soul had been deeply shaped by the scientific method. No matter how rigorous traditional alchemy was, it lacked the theoretical foundation of a chemistry lab.
On the night Vesemir regretfully admitted that he couldn't use Incredible Alchemy, he saw Victor's talent gradually coming into its own and began teaching him every secret witcher recipe he knew.
"I hope that one day, you'll be able to break the curse of the Trial of the Grasses. It's the final wish of an old man on his last legs." Vesemir said this with great emotion, but judging by what he knew as an alchemy apprentice, barring any mishaps, the old fellow could easily live another hundred years.
Time marched on, and Victor was patient enough to endure the monotony.
He diligently mastered the four basic sword stances, then continued with the three corresponding attacks—slashes, thrusts, and cuts. At this stage, his main opponent was the Armored Wooden Dummy.
Thanks to his solid foundation in the basic stances, he picked up the attacks quickly. But then Vesemir stepped in to spar with him, because defensive counters and close-quarters techniques required two people to feel them through the blades of their swords. They only worked if you learned them by heart through actual combat.
The witcher master truly lived up to his title. By the time Victor had progressed from "getting beaten in all sorts of fancy ways" to simply "getting beaten," several months had passed.
Children his age were still growing, and with intense exercise and the support of Superior Vitality Decoction, Victor shot up to five feet seven inches tall. No longer a child, he had grown into a lean, sturdy young man.
Unfortunately, his looks hadn't improved to match. He was still utterly ordinary.
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