Master Of None

”This sap is just a raw ingredient, it is useless as it is to an alchemist. So what we want to do is make it safe for consumption or direct use on wounds. As you know it can be used to make a paste that soothes pain, but that is useless to open wounds or internal pain.” The old man held one of the vials of oozing vine sap and poured it in to the empty cauldron. ”The heat we will use will need to be low. We want to cause the different things that make the sap up to separate and not cook.” He slowly heated the cauldron and added a small amount of water. The rules with the extraction skill is simple, it’s not a magic that instantly separates something. You need to have the things you wish to separate under the correct conditions. This can only be found by experimenting. The best alchemists could take the poison out of any liquid or herbs.” The old man watched the heat intently.

”See how there are bubbles forming there? It is getting too hot so stirring like this brings the cooler air in to it and stops that.” The techniques were simple but the bubbles he had mentioned were so small Walker could barely see them. This was their skill of a master alchemist who had spent a lifetime honing his skills. 

Walker saw that the water was starting to evaporate, ”What happens when all the water is gone from the cauldron? Do we add more?” 

”No, if you do you will cause the things you wish to separate to half form back together in to a ruined mess. The water is only the catalyst to start drawing the different parts their separate ways. Do you see that oily looking substance on top of the water? The sap is staying at the bottom while the oils are coming to the top. Most vines have poisons that are attached to then oils so that should be the poison that is toxic to consume. This is where we will try the extraction skill.”

The old man grabbed Walkers hand and held it over the cauldron. ”We have started the process and now we should have a high chance to separate the two. The elemental cauldron will take our mana easily and force it to follow the pattern on it. This will assist the extraction skill while we use it. The two parts should fully separate, so just focus on feeling the mana in my hands move about. This is how ever apprentice learns at first.”

The old man started to push mana out of his hand and through Walker’s. The fine control caused the slight steam coming from the cauldron to curl and twist while the reaction inside speed up faster and faster. The two parts were separating more dramatically. The sap at the bottom because yellow in color and rested on the very bottom while the clear oils built up on top. Walker could feel the mana finally pushing the two apart within the cauldron. This control was much more refined than he had imagined the process would be. 

The old man released Walker’s hand and grabbed a metal ladle. ”We need to pull out all the oil as fast as we can. Grab another vial and get to it.” They got worked on skimming the oils from the top and pouring it in to a bowl. The oils was clear but held a little shine to it. They spent ten minutes just doing this getting every minuscule bit that was on top. The old man sometimes dipped his back in and grabbed some that Walker couldn’t even see but knew that the old man was doing it for a reason. 

”Now we let the water steam off and we should have the refined sap. I’m sure you’ve already guessed that this is also a process of poison making. However some alchemists with poison making systems will have skills that enhance the poisons extracted. The good thing about this is their waste is normally highly refined potion ingredients. There is a market for the waste in the form of poisons and vice versa.” This made sense to Walker who knew that there were many hunters that would buy poisons that would paralyze their prey so that they could collect them more easily and bring food home to their family. There were also the darker reasons for selling poison but even the army would rarely use any poisons unless there were no other alternatives. 

The oil that had been extracted was funneled in to a vial and looked like thicker clear water. If he didn’t know better Walker would say it was harmless. ”Let me use a few skills to take a look at this.” The old man held it up to the light and started to look at it as it turned in the vial. ”Loose viscosity and easily absorbed in to the blood or stomach. Hmm, long release time so it would kill slowly and make the affected sick. Hmm weak over all would take multiple doses to kill an adult or a monster. Good for basic hunting. Not worth much.” His evaluation complete he placed the vial down and moved his focus to the now thickened yellow oozing vine sap. 

”Now we must dilute this so it is not too concentrated. If it is too strong then you could cause more damage than help in a medicine or potion. Now you cannot use regular water to dilute this if you do you will bring in impurities to the medicine you are making. Most of the time I would use some distilled water that has been infused with mana but here I will add some of the pure water.” he poured a vial of pure water in to it directly which caused the same to instantly start to become a poorly mixed mess. It was like oil and water had been attempted to mix.

”this is much easier than extraction, all the two need is mana to start the process to fuse them. This is one of the easiest skills to learn. You can do this part.” Walker listen well and placed his hand of his own volition over the cauldron and poured a small amount of his mana out of his hand. The old mana started to stir and the separated solutions became more and more consistent as he did so. 

’Skill dilute has been learned through the practice and assistance of a true alchemist system holder. The skill will be upgraded to true dilution.

True dilution- 1 mana cost per minute

The mana will act as a catalyst forcing the desired liquids to become one in a balanced manner. The balance will lead to a thinned out product that retains its qualities but in a weaker strength.’

Walker immediately read this off causing a surprised look to show on the old man’s face. ” So you learned one of my skills directly because I am the one teaching you. How interesting. It even mentioned my system.” He wanted to think about this but the diluted oozing vine sap required his full attention. 

He grabbed another vial and started to fill it. The product was a yellow liquid slightly thinner than the oils that had separated from it. There were about five vials of it after they had diluted it. ”Now is the hard part. We can either test this on ourselves and see how strong the pain killing effect is or we can appraise it and hope that we find the strength. The problem is we will most likely just get the effects from an appraisal. So our best method would be to test it. Are you feeling pain anywhere and want to try a drop?” Walker and Remey both shook their heads no. Remey had been watching and memorizing the entire process so that she could have every single detail for when it was needed. 

”Well I thought so, that’s why we alchemists usually have certain things around to test these for toxicity. Some use mice, or other small animals. Others will just taste it or put it on their skin. I find that it is easier to use a living insect. Ants surprisingly have the same aversion to poison that other animals have but they will sense it somehow and avoid it. So either capture a few and put a drop near them or find an anthill and do the same. If they run or avoid it then it is poisonous to most living creatures. If they examine it and even take it back to their colony then it is safe and even beneficial.” The old man had been taught this by his mother years ago and preferred this method over using small animals any day.

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