Master Of None

”Let’s go outside and find an anthill then.” Remey grabbed one of the vials of the diluted oozing vice sap and ran outside. The old man and Walker followed her each with their own vial in hand. Remey was walking slowly staring at the ground for even a hint of an anthill. Walker and the old man soon joined her looking like kids trying to find bugs to play with.

Walker was much more impressed by this method over the other possible ones. He found that his respect for the old master alchemist was growing more and more through the day. Remey had really found herself a great friend. ”Found one!” Remey was crouching by a slightly built up pile of dirt that little black ants were swarming around. They had found some fallen crumbs most likely form Garret’s breakfast as he left the mansion for work.

”Hurry up so you can see!” Remey had no patients, this was one aspect of the alchemy experimentation process she could help with. She was always the fastest tpo jump in when the old man was in need of a hand. She would rush outside in to their small back garden with the fast growing herbs or all the way to the greenhouses in hunt of ants with him. It was one of the deepest childhood memories she had. 

”You were always faster than me finding them. Especially when I told you I would give you medicines to bring home if you helped me test some new ones.” The old man rushed over and looked at the spot. He and Remey both uncorked the vials and dripped a single drop of the diluted oozing tree sap. The two drops landed right near the entrance to the anthill.

Walker made it over just in time to see that the ants had eagerly started to investigate this new thing. Instead of a reaction to run they actually start to try and pick it up between their little pincers and take it in the anthill. ”Ha! We did good, we did good!” The old man and Remey nearly jumped with joy. Walker was pretty impressed but was more reserved. 

”Should I guess that it is very rare to succeed on the fort try of you two are jumping around like this?” Walker was on the verge of laughing at the two but held back. Remey and the old man stopped themselves instantly.

”Ehem, not just a little tradition to keep the good luck on a roll.” 

”Pfftt you wouldn’t know. It’s an alchemist thing” The two were suddenly;y quieter after this and Walker again felt like he was interrupting some family tradition. 

”Well then, Whoooohooo” Walker gave a jump and a shout instantly making Remey burst out with laughter. The old man even smiled a bit while turning his head. His shoulders bouncing up and down slightly.

”You’re such a weirdo, let’s go back in and watch him mix up a health potion with the oozing vine same dilution mixed in. I think it should make the healing process much smoother for those who use it on external wounds.” Remey already could see that it would be a wondrous addition to the health potions.

”Yes, this could be another page added to my journal in the hall. If you are able to sell some of these vines or at least the sap from them you can greatly change the way healing with potions is done. The healing process is not always painless you know.” The old man was giddy with this knowledge. This was a breakthrough that could cause waves for every alchemist in the country due to the prior extinct additional herb. 

With the three back inside the lab the old man did not waste any time. ”Just watch the potion making process and take note of the way I work. You will need to practice the extraction process nearly a hundred times before you get the skill learned properly. My recommendation is to do it on butter. If you separate the milk solids and liquids when it’s melted you can give them to your mother for cooking. Also if you ruin it a few times it is less expensive.” The old man stopped right before adding the first herb to the wiped out cauldron because he knew that this test would take his full focus. Walker nodded and the old man started.

The heat was controlled very specifically. The old man showed his strengths as a master alchemist by changing the temperature to bring it higher right before adding another herb to the cauldron so that it did not drop too low and stop the dissolving process When he saw the the temperature would get too hot he would add a few drops of pure water which caused just enough of a drop to stop any possible burning.

Walker watched as there were a few herbs that the old man used the extraction skill on and quickly skimmed off the toxins that came off. He then started to add more and more pure water building up the amount of potion. Remey poked Walker’s shoulder getting his attention. ”Normally he does five times the size batch. This is a small test batch so that he can see the results of the oozing vine sap.” She was mumbling the whole rest of the process having it all memorized from seeing the health potion making process memorized. 

The old man stopped moving and added the rest of the vial of the oozing vine sap. It looked like it did not want to mix in to the rest of the potion so he started to use the true dilute skill. This was another reason the old man had taught Walker the skill. It was useful for adding other things to change small aspects of the potions when needed. Some people need weaker health potions and others will need to add or subtract certain ingredients. 

When the two different liquids started to mix together he slammed the lid on to the cauldron and placed the weight on it. He put out the fire heating the cauldron and stepped back counting under his breath. This looked to be the final step in the entire process. The old man held out his hands and used a skill causing the air in the lab to drop in temperature. The chill crawled up Walker’s spine making him shiver slightly. The cauldron slightly creaked as it cooled faster than it normally would. 

This went on for about ten minutes until the old man released a large breath and removed the lid to the cauldron. There was no steam that escaped at all since it had been properly cooled. The potion had taken on a reddish tint with a little yellow mixed in. The smell was very bitter and stung the nose only a little bit. However Walker could clearly feel that just smelling it was bringing up his energy. ”Looks good, correct color, proper viscosity.” The old man had taken a notebook from a pocket recording the differences in the potion compared to a normal health potion. ”This is still a low health potion but it has the properties of the oozing vine pain killer in it. We will be taking this to the cathedral tomorrow to see if those with achy joints can use it or if it is better for those with small household injuries. I plan to recommend this as an addition to bandages and wrappings.” The old man was writing this down but remembered that he was in fact teaching.

”So it could act well for burns right? The healers normally soak bandages in some form of healing potions to wrap around the damaged skin. So using this would take away the pain from the burns and speed the healing process?” Remey had already seen where the old man was going and wanted to confirm the theory.

”Exactly that, it can also be for scrapes and other wide area damage to skin. I think it could also be used on other things but it would be better to test it out in a real life healing situation first before pushing it in to tougher injuries and weaker patients.” This was the normal action taken by alchemists who had adjusted potions. The church was usually the preferred partner since their healers could assist in any possible side effects of a new variation. There were also those who would jump to help create a world shaking potion and offer their injuries to be the test basis. It was a kingdom wide event when an earth shaking breakthrough was made, everyone who had honor on their blood for their kingdom would help. 

The old man funneled the potion in to ten vials with one being only a half vial. ”So we lost too much of the water as steam huh?” Remey noticed this instantly. 

”Looks like enough evaporated that it is notable. I believe it was because we had to add a longer dilution process to get the oozing vine sap added. The starting water amount for the second batch will need to be higher.” The old man started to prepare a second set of herbs, ”You two can run along. I will be testing this two more times to nail down the proper measurements. I could use some peace and quiet while I talk to myself.” Remey grabbed Walker and practically dragged him from the lab.

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