First Attempt at Fusion

Kavi had long since lost the arrogant swagger he'd had on the ship. Compared to when he had first boarded, he had grown much thinner.

He looked utterly haggard. When he saw Li Ang and the badge on his chest, his face went pale as though he had seen a ghost.

With a clang, the sack on his shoulder slipped from his grasp and hit the floor with a dull thud. It was probably filled with some kind of ore.

Kavi's legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground with a thump. His body shook violently like chaff in a sieve as he kowtowed and begged incoherently for mercy:

"Li... Lord Li Ang, no... Young Master Li Ang, it wasn't my fault. Back then... it was all Matthew's doing. That bastard who fed from the bowl and smashed the pot made me do it! He was the one who told me to hit you. I didn't dare disobey him! Please, let me go! I'm just a useless menial now. Please, treat me like a fart and let me go!"

His forehead struck the cold floor with repeated thuds, his voice brimming with despair and terror.

Watching him in such a humble and wretched state, Li Ang felt little pleasure. He only found it somewhat tragic.

He shook his head and walked straight past Kavi toward his dormitory.

Only after Li Ang's footsteps vanished at the end of the corridor did Kavi dare stop kowtowing. He slumped on the floor, gasping for breath, his face filled with the joy and disbelief of someone who had survived a calamity.

Li Ang returned to his dormitory, shut the door behind him, then sat at his desk and immersed himself in the world of books.

The pages rustled softly as they turned, yet his brow gradually furrowed as he read deeper.

The book clearly laid out the fundamental barriers of potion-making. Basic potions generally involved the stable fusion of two materials.

Intermediate potions began to involve the complex balance of three to five materials, with the difficulty increasing geometrically.

Most such potions required at least a Level 2 Formal Wizard to handle.

Some even required a Level 3 Veteran Wizard before one was qualified to control them.

The Muscle-Building Potion he had envisioned, however, required simultaneously harmonizing six primary and auxiliary materials, including Sunflower, Dragonblood Fruit, and Frost-Patterned Tiger Blood...

That had already entered the realm of high-grade potions, and anyone capable of handling high-grade potions had to be at least a Level 4 High-Rank Wizard.

In other words, one had to be at least at Mentor Eve's level. Neither Karin nor Mentor Edwin would suffice.

A chill shot up his spine. He was merely a Level 0 Apprentice who had just condensed two Astral Stars, yet he dreamed of concocting a high-grade potion comparable to the hallmark of a Level 4 Wizard? It was nothing but a fool's dream.

The enormous sense of disparity was like a bucket of icy water poured over his head, leaving him dazed. The confidence he had accumulated from his initial success nearly crumbled away.

He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, trying to dispel the helplessness in his heart.

Should I be more practical? Change directions immediately and copy some random potion recipe? There should still be time.

Yet a faint impulse stirred within Li Ang, refusing to let him give up.

This time, he did not want to cleverly retreat in the face of difficulty. Even if he failed in the end, he wanted to give it everything he had at least once.

Rekindling his fighting spirit, Li Ang began considering solutions.

The advantages brought by the [Facility Upgrade Panel], the resources in Mentor Eve's workshop, and the train of thought he had brought from his previous life, one different from this world's... these were all things he could rely on.

Li Ang abruptly opened his eyes, his gaze turning resolute again. Sitting here and indulging in empty fantasies would not solve anything.

He rose to his feet and returned to Mentor Eve's workshop.

Using the authority granted by his badge, he carefully took out the materials he needed.

Mentor Eve had opened access to the materials for him. That support alone strengthened Li Ang's determination even further.

[High-Quality Crystal Cauldron Lv1] had finished preheating.

[Magic Heat Furnace Lv1] provided steady heat.

Li Ang calmed his mind and focused his mental power to the utmost, using his connection with the cauldron to meticulously sense every change within.

The various materials were added one after another.

At first, the potion liquid could barely maintain its balance. Streams of differently colored energy attempted to merge under the guidance of his mental power.

But when the fourth material, the highly active Frost-Patterned Tiger Blood, dripped in, the balance within the cauldron was instantly shattered.

As though cold water had fallen into boiling oil, the potion liquid inside the cauldron suddenly erupted into a violent boil.

Its colors instantly became a chaotic mess. A savage torrent of energy crashed madly about inside the cauldron, and scorching heat rushed toward him.

Li Ang grunted. His mental power felt as though countless red-hot needles were viciously piercing it, while a sharp agony tore through his skull.

The cauldron shook violently. The potion liquid inside emitted dangerous gurgles, its color rapidly shifting between crimson and pitch-black. It could completely lose control and even explode at any moment.

He gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead as he poured massive amounts of mental power into the silver stirring rod in his hand, doing everything he could to stabilize the energy within the cauldron.

At the same time, he activated the Breeze Technique, guiding and dispersing the violent energy currents inside the cauldron.

It can't explode. If it explodes, everything will be over.

Under his all-out effort, the cauldron's shaking gradually weakened and finally subsided.

But the potion liquid inside had also completely turned into a lump of viscous sludge with bizarre colors and a pungent stench.

"Huff... huff..." Li Ang panted heavily and staggered back two steps.

He leaned against the cold workbench, his face pale, his mental power nearly exhausted.

One failed attempt at concoction had almost drained all of his mental power. The terror of high-grade potions was plain to see.

Li Ang looked at that lump of sludge, feeling somewhat pained.

Although Mentor Eve was footing the bill for all materials consumed during the competition's research period, wasting materials was still enough to make his heart ache for quite a while.

He forcibly suppressed that pain and carefully replayed the entire potion-making process in his mind.

"The energy reaction was too fast. It was practically triggered at a touch..."

He muttered to himself, enduring the headache caused by overdrawing his mental power as he continued analyzing.

"Stone Root Grass powder, as a stabilizer, had a negligible effect against a conflict of this scale..."

He sharply caught the key point:

"And... among these six materials, Sunflower is heat-aligned, Dragonblood Fruit stimulates blood energy, and Frost-Patterned Tiger Blood is even more violent... They all lean toward the fire element. Like repels like, making them more likely to trigger intense reactions. Ordinary stabilizers, unless guided by powerful mental power, are simply incapable of neutralizing the savage conflict between energies of the same attribute."

Still, this failure had not been completely useless. At the very least, Li Ang now knew the direction he needed to take.

"I need... a stronger stabilizer, or I need to fundamentally change the approach to fusion."

Li Ang checked the time. It was already nearing dusk. He cleaned up the sludge inside the cauldron and carefully wiped down the workbench before leaving the workshop with his weary body.

The dining hall was filled with the aroma of dinner, but Li Ang had no appetite at all. He merely ate a selected set meal before returning to his dormitory.

He shut the door, lit the Magelight Lamp, and let its soft glow spill across the desk.

He spread out a sheet of parchment, picked up the [Inferior Gray Feather Quill] that had already risen to Lv2, took a deep breath, and immersed his entire mind in devising improvements for the Muscle-Building Potion.