Mass-Producing Magic Potions (Please Read On)

"Do you have a tool that can detect mana intensity?" Anna yawned and knocked Richard on the head in displeasure. "You came looking for me so early in the morning just to ask about something like this?"

Although she was very tolerant of Richard, being woken up still left her a little grumpy.

"Sorry, Sister Anna. I just suddenly had an idea and couldn't hold myself back."

Richard scratched his head awkwardly. Only when he saw Anna yawning as she opened the shop door did he realize it was still before dawn.

"Forget it, I forgive you." Anna casually pulled over a chair and sat down. "There are indeed tools for detecting mana intensity, and quite a few kinds at that. What do you want to measure the mana intensity of?"

"Um... alchemy materials, medicinal ingredients, things like that."

"Alchemy materials? Then use a Mana Probe. I'll go get one for you."

Anna turned and headed into the back room of the shop, returning with a bronze needle about a foot long.

"Come back to your senses." Anna tapped the table and handed the Bronze Needle to Richard.

"Insert this into the material you want to test, then look at the Runes that light up on it."

"Alright." Richard accepted the probe.

"But why do you want to measure mana? The Seven Luminaries Merchant Guild's materials may vary in quality, but they're at least passable or excellent. We would never sell inferior goods."

Anna sat back down, propped up her chin with one hand, and looked at Richard curiously.

Richard scratched his head. "Simply put, I'm planning to improve—well, not exactly improve—I'm planning to make the teacher's formula more precise."

"Improve the formula?" Anna's expression changed sharply. "You've only studied alchemy for a few days, and you already want to alter a formula!"

"Huh?" Richard was startled by Anna.

"Not alter it—make it precise!" Richard had no choice but to emphasize. "The formula the teacher gave me is too vague. There's no way to raise the success rate of Magic Potion brewing if I follow those instructions."

"Stop! Richard, listen to me—stop entertaining that idea!" A surge of mana erupted from Anna, instantly suppressing Richard.

Under that powerful mana, Richard could not even move a finger.

Is this the gap between a Low-level apprentice and an Advanced Apprentice? Richard thought in shock.

Although Richard had witnessed Eric's strength at the Exchange Meeting, only when he faced an Advanced Apprentice himself did he understand just how powerful one truly was!

"Listen to me, Richard." Anna calmed herself before lifting the suppression.

"Richard, I know you're a genius—a genius even more outstanding than I am. But you need to understand that no matter how talented you are, you're still only a Low-level apprentice who has just begun studying alchemy. Your understanding of alchemy is not even as deep as mine or Jacques's."

Anna made her tone as gentle as possible. She knew that at Richard's age, it was easy to develop a rebellious streak.

"The knowledge our teacher gave us, whether formulas or blueprints, has all been personally tested by him. If you follow his formula, you may fail, but you will never encounter danger.

Do you understand?"

Anna's eyes held anticipation. She had once done something similarly foolish herself. If Gerald had not discovered it in time, she would now be nothing more than a pile of bones.

She did not want Richard to repeat the same mistakes.

"I think you're being a little too sensitive, Sister Anna. Let me repeat myself: I'm not altering it. I'm making it precise."

Richard explained helplessly. Anna's symptoms were practically like PTSD.

Anna wanted to continue persuading him, but Richard immediately cut her off.

"If you're worried, Sister Anna, could you come along? With you protecting me, what could possibly happen? I'm only brewing Magic Potions, not playing with Red Mercury."

"You... sigh!" Knowing she could not dissuade him, Anna said with a hint of anger, "Go to the Test Area. I'll pay the Magic Stones. You won't learn until you suffer a loss!"

Richard was delighted inside. He had not expected an unexpected bonus.

"Great. Then shall we go right now?"

Anna shot Richard a fierce glare.

"Let's go!"

Test Area.

There was not much inside the laboratory. Aside from the experiment table, everything else had to be prepared by the wizard himself.

Anna stood in the corner, somehow having procured a folding screen to conceal herself behind it.

"I'm only responsible for saving you. I won't watch your experiment, and I won't interfere."

Richard shook his head helplessly. There was no such thing as patents in the Wizard World. If knowledge leaked out, the only way to deal with those who stole it was with one's fists.

Before Wizard Academy, wild wizards who had awakened their mental power by chance but had no mentor could only explore knowledge on their own. Even Wizard Academy only opened apprentice-level knowledge to its students. To advance further, one could only take a master or explore independently.

Thus, it was extremely common for wizards in the Wizard World to specialize unevenly. Richard guessed that the reason his formula was so vague might be that Gerald's primary research was not Magic Potions, so he could not be bothered to refine the formula—or perhaps he had simply traded for it from someone else.

"Alright, I'm starting."

After three months of brewing, Richard had long become thoroughly familiar with preparing Focus Potions. Processing the materials, adding the ingredients, channeling mana—every step was orderly in Richard's hands.

As the experiment proceeded, Richard continuously recorded the mana values of every step in the Magic Potion's preparation.

The sun and moon rose and fell, and time flew like a shuttle.

In the blink of an eye, Richard had spent half a month in the laboratory.

Over those half a month, aside from meditating and restoring his mana, Richard spent all his time experimenting. Anna, who was responsible for protecting him, brought several books from the shop into the laboratory and decided to guard Richard until the very end.

She had a breath of frustration pent up in her heart. She had failed back then—could Richard really succeed?

"The final experiment. The mana value at the ninth step is 13.5. If this succeeds, then 13.5 is the minimum point. If it fails, then 14 is the minimum point."

With dark circles beneath his eyes, Richard recorded the final experimental data in his notes. The probe Anna had lent him could only measure down to 0.5, and he had no intention of becoming any more precise.

Once he completed this final preparation, he would obtain a considerably accurate Focus Potion formula.

Richard mechanically processed the materials, then mechanically placed them into the Alchemy Pot.

By now, his usual enthusiasm was gone. There was only endless numbness.

Repetitive work drained a person's passion more than anything else.

As materials were added, the liquid in the Alchemy Pot gradually changed color. Richard measured the mana value inside the pot at every step. When the process reached its final step, a ripple finally stirred within his numb heart.

Boom!

Blue vapor burst from the pot. Richard stared at the deep-blue liquid within, froze for an instant, then let out a breath of relief.

"Senior Sister, come out! I succeeded!"

Richard laughed loudly and yanked aside the folding screen that had concealed Anna.

"Succeeded? How did you succeed?" Anna was completely baffled. Hadn't Richard merely been brewing Focus Potions normally these past few days?

Other than failed preparations, there had not even been a single explosion.

"You don't understand, Senior Sister." Richard shook his head without explaining further.

This was the first cry of a new era!