Testing

To test a potion's effectiveness, naturally, volunteers were needed. Green had 99% confidence in the potion, but it still had to be tested. It was better to be safe than sorry.

In this medieval world, there were plenty of people willing to sign up. In the slums outside the city, Green successfully found a whole group willing to participate in the experiment for one gold coin each. When they heard the offer of one gold coin, the number of people who wanted to take part was practically endless. Green even specifically selected three people: a boy, a young man, and a middle-aged man. As for why there were no elderly people, no one in the slums outside the city could live to old age.

Inside the manor, Green was looking at the three volunteers he had selected.

The boy was named White. He had a head of blond hair that was exceptionally messy from having gone unkempt for so long. His clothes were also tattered, with holes here and there. Other than barely covering his body, they served no real purpose.

The young man was called Aitel. His condition was little better than White's, but since Aitel was older, the clothes he wore were clearly much better. However, they were a size too large, plainly revealing that they likely did not belong to him in the first place.

The oldest of the three, the middle-aged man, was named Will. He was in the best condition of the three, with even a trace of color in his face. At least in the slums outside the city, he had enough food and drink. To have survived to this age in the slums was itself a symbol of ability. The ambition that occasionally flashed in his eyes also proved that he had not joined this experiment for the money.

Green carefully sized up the three of them.

"I already told you what I brought you here for. The potions in front of you are my work. All you have to do is drink them. The potions may produce unknown effects. They could be good, or they could be bad. You still have a chance to regret this. Turn around and leave, and no one will stop you." Green sat on the Sofa and pointed at the three emerald-green potions on the table as he spoke to them.

The three of them lowered their heads and began to ponder Green's words. Although Green had already explained everything at the selection site, when they truly faced the situation, the three still hesitated.

Green watched the three people thinking in front of him without urging them, simply waiting in silence. When selecting them, Green had used the Chip to analyze their minds. All three carried certain burdens or ambitions. None of them could possibly give up this chance to change their fate.

As Green expected, one of the three soon stepped forward. What surprised Green, however, was that the first to come forward was not the ambitious middle-aged man, Will, but the youngest, White.

White extended his dirty right hand and seized one of the potions. He immediately closed his eyes and drank it down. After seeing White's actions, Aitel and Will stopped thinking as well and focused their gazes on him.

White had taken the medicine first, allowing the other two to observe his short-term reaction before deciding whether to drink. If the risk was too high, they planned to turn around and leave. But if the potion truly did what the man before them claimed and granted a stronger physique, then even with a certain degree of risk, they would have to give it a try.

After drinking the medicine, White stood quietly in place. Before long, however, the Life Potion's effects began to take hold. White's body started heating up, his entire body flushing red. Sweat poured from him, and his eyes filled with blood vessels. He fell straight to the ground and rolled around.

"It itches... It itches so much." White clawed at his own skin, leaving streaks of blood across his body. As if he could not feel the pain, he pressed his arm against the floor and rubbed it desperately, as though that might ease the itching. Even when his skin and Flesh were rubbed raw, he did not stop moving.

"Hold him down." Green frowned as he watched White continue injuring himself, then spoke to the guards beside him.

The two guards behind Green immediately stepped forward and forcibly pinned White down, preventing him from continuing to hurt himself. Under the Life Potion's effects, White's wounds, which had been rubbed bloody, quickly scabbed over and healed.

As time passed, White underwent rapid growth. He shot up by half a head, and the clothes on his body grew tight as his body rapidly developed. His entire figure swelled by a size.

[Life Potion effect detected: Provides a large amount of Life Force. Excessive consumption will cause premature development and promote physical growth.]

[Optimization plan: One, dilute the Life Potion. Two, add more Black Centipede Fangs during the experiment to suppress the release speed of Life Force and slow the drastic changes.]

White had stopped struggling, and the sudden changes caused by the Life Potion had ended.

Looking at White, who was still being held to the ground, Green waved his hand.

The two guards immediately released White. By then, White had also regained his senses. He hurriedly climbed to his feet and began checking his physical condition. When he saw his enlarged body, a delighted smile spread across his face.

"My lord, I've completed the experiment. Can I..." White gestured with his hands.

"Take him to collect his payment." Green paid no attention to White's gestures. After he gave the order to the guard beside him, the guard led White away from the scene.

Green turned his head and looked at the remaining two with interest.

"Which of you is willing to continue the experiment?"

A subtle expression appeared on Aitel and Will's faces. When White had begun mutilating himself, the two of them had wanted nothing more than to turn tail and run. If they had not feared that the guards would kill them on the spot, they would have fled long ago. But as the Life Potion's effects continued to reveal themselves, the fear in their eyes was replaced by ambition. The potion's ability to rapidly heal White's wounds and make him grow was now displayed before them.

Aitel and Will exchanged a glance. Then, in unspoken agreement, they stepped forward, picked up the potions, and downed them in one gulp.

Unlike White, the two did not violently mutilate themselves. Their bodies had already finished developing, so they had no potential for further growth. However, that also allowed more of the potion's effects to be channeled into improving their physical qualities. The two, who had suffered from long-term malnutrition in the slums, saw their muscles swell wildly, like bodybuilders from their previous world. Unlike those bodybuilders, however, they possessed not only strength but also speed, bringing them almost to the limits of the human body.

Green looked at the two men, who had swollen into musclebound brutes after drinking the potion, and revealed a satisfied smile.

After having the guards escort the two away, Green slightly altered the proportions of the medicine. In the end, the Final Life Potion was completed.

The testing of the Final Life Potion was extremely successful. The guards who volunteered to participate in the testing, combined with the Breathing Method obtained from the auction in Ellendal Harbor, mostly broke through to become Knight Apprentices. Even those who failed saw a tremendous improvement in their physical qualities.

Green summoned Ashlyn, Leila, and Mia. He had all three of them take the potion as well, and they successfully advanced to Knight Apprentices. The three had already received training inside the castle. With the help of Green's potion, advancing to Knight Apprentices was as natural as water flowing downhill.

"The effects are pretty good. Spend the next few days getting used to them. In another two or three months, use the potion I left behind, and you can try breaking through to Formal Knight." Green looked at the three who had already broken through, recording the effects as he offered them his advice.