Chapter 75: Success (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
Angele took a dark red herb from the crate. He initially sniffed it before he put some of its leaves inside his mouth. After several seconds, Angele threw away the herb without saying a word and took out a mud-like material from the other crate.
Angele tasted it, only to throw the whole piece away afterward. He kept repeating this procedure until he finally found something of use to him.
Angele looked surprised but was also happy. He was currently holding an egg-sized yellow ball full of holes, scrutinizing it with his eyes.
“I hope this one works.” Angele stared at this yellow ball.
He placed it inside a large beaker by the right side of the desk and grabbed a small glass bottle filled with some white, slimy liquid. He then poured some of the liquid into the large beaker.
Angele had a serious face while pouring the liquid, his eyes glowing with blue, shiny spots. With the chip's assistance, Angele could easily measure the number of materials and amount he needed. Angele closed off the glass bottle with a lid and put it down. He turned around, walking toward a small, black wooden box from the corner of the room. Inside the box was filled with green powder.
Angele scooped a bit of the green powder and sprinkled it into the beaker, white steam coming out of it right away. The green powder had begun to coagulate upon contact with the white liquid and burn from the flame that turned blue. The fire heated up the yellow ball and continuously produced steam out of it.
Angele maintained calmness as he poured some water onto the ball. With the vapor filling up the entirety of the room, he could barely see anything.
Angele waved his left index finger in the air and chanted.
*Whoosh*
Angele controlled the energy particles in the air and created a wind to blow away the steam out of his room.
Angele could finally see what remained in the beaker. The yellow ball had now melted, resulting in some slimy liquid that looked like a pile of mud mixed with water. The surface of the yellow liquid glowed under the light.
Angele looked excited, and the blue light spots in his eyes brightened.
‘Successfully synthesized the substitute material. Usage of such material in the concoction of Awakening Potion is now possible. Please name the new material.’ Angele heard Zero’s voice resounding in his mind.
'Name it Green Water.' Green had been Angele's nickname, and he decided to use it as the name of the byproduct of the synthesis. He had collected more than one thousand types of materials, and with the assistance of the chip, he attempted to synthesize different materials to fabricate new types of materials. Finally, he had been able to create a substitute for the main component in the formula of Awakening Potion, and it gave him hope.
‘Show me the comparison of Green Water and Dragon Scale Flower and tell me how similar they are.’ Angele was extremely excited at this point. He tried to calm down as he ordered Zero.
‘Comparing... inputting the formula... more information on the Dragon Scale Flower required... more practical data required... simulation model created.’ Zero maintained its task unabatingly.
‘Analyzing the results... If you use the Green Water as a substitute for the Dragon Scale Flower, the possibility of reaching half the effect of the original formula is 81.5%.’
Angele nodded his head. The result could already be considered good enough. Though the yellow ball called the Night Honeycomb was expensive, it was still much easier to obtain compared to the Dragon Scale Flower. Also, wizards uncommonly used Night Honeycombs in their researches and experiments, so he could easily purchase it from typical merchants.
Also, Angele needed the chip to monitor the material creation process. Otherwise, it would be difficult for him to control the temperature and amount of water. Every step must be done accurately and timed accordingly.
Without the chip, even a formal wizard wouldn't be capable of recreating the formula of Green Water. Angele didn't need to hide the formula. Even if he decided to teach the concoction process to someone else, it was nigh impossible for someone to concoct it successfully.
The concocting process involved the use of mentality. As each person had differing types of Mentality, this had become a critical factor in potion concoction, albeit how minuscule the difference was. Zero had formulated the plan based on Angele's mentality. It would be a farfetched idea for someone to obtain similar results as him. Only Angele could use a particular method in synthesizing substitute materials.
‘Zero, begin the simulation.’ Angele held the beaker in his hand and looked at the slimy, yellow liquid while smiling.
‘Initializing simulation… Time required: 15 minutes.’
‘Also, show me my body model.’
A blue hologram appeared in front of Angele's vision right away. The simulated model of his body was rotating horizontally, bits of information shown beside it. The information contained Angele's heart rate, brain activity, and all his attributes. Some of his body statistics were interminably changing, but most remained within a certain numerical range.
‘4.0 Mentality already?’ Angele looked at his attributes bar, 4.0 showing beside Mentality. The values after the decimal point were ever-changing but still relatively stable.
‘My body is stronger than before, my genes are improving, and even the chip has become more accurate with its calculations. Initially, it could only monitor up to the hundredths. Now, it could now calculate values up to the billionth,’ Angele thought.
However, my mentality didn't increase significantly. I'll need to concoct an Awakening Potion. I'm 16 years old already, so if I can't reach stage 3, I'll never become a wizard in the future. I must hurry.' Using the Awakening Potion was his best chance.
Ten minutes later.
‘Simulation finished. The success rate of concocting the Awakening Potion is 23.15%.' Angele became relieved upon hearing Zero's report.
‘The rate is decent. I'll at least succeed once every five tries... Okay... Zero, show me the procedures.’ Angele's expression changed, turning that of solemnness.
‘Step 1…’
**************************
Half an hour later…
Angele walked out of his room and entered the backyard. He took a deep breath and smiled. He raised his arm and there was a small silver bottle in his right hand.
“Finally, the first Awakening Potion! The amount I used was enough to be used for four attempts, yet I only succeeded once. I need to get my hands on more Night Honeycombs,” Angele spoke in a solemn tone.
‘Now, let me give this a try.’ Angele locked all the doors and windows. He didn’t want anyone to interrupt him.
He returned to his room and sat on his bed with his legs crossed. Angele pulled the glass cork out of the bottle carefully. The dark, slimy liquid suffused a chocolate-like fragrance from its container throughout the room.
‘Well, it smells like chocolate. I hope it tastes like an actual one, too.’ Angele shook his head before pouring everything into his mouth.
*Clang*
Angele dropped the small bottle, causing it to hit the wall. He had a pained expression on his face.
The potion tasted nothing like chocolate. It was salty and spicy, and it tasted like a hot seafood soup with a strange aftertaste. It was the most pungent liquid Angele ever drank. Sweat was rolling down his face, and his clothes were completely soaked.
Angele's face turned red caused by the burning sensation he was feeling in his throat and stomach.
‘Show me my Mentality, Zero.’ Angele tried his best not to throw up.
‘Monitoring the Mentality…
Your Mentality is increasing.
4.1
…
4.15
…’
…
Angele had no idea how much time passed, but he finally began feeling better soon after. His clothes and bed, however, were wet.
‘Zero, what’s the new value of my Mentality?’ Angele got out of his bed and stood up with a tired face.
‘Your Mentality attribute is 4.2 units.’ Angele inhaled once. He felt a bit relieved after hearing the result.
‘One Awakening Potion increased my Mentality by 0.2 units, yet this one that I concocted only had half the effect of the original formula. To enhance my Mentality to 6 units and reach the next rank, I need ten potions. I need to keep looking for substitute materials and concoct more potions to drink.’ Angele looked at his wet clothes.
‘But it tasted extremely awful…’ Angele still felt a lingering fear toward it.
‘Wait… I haven’t used the Black Lead Potion yet…’ The Awakening Potion was the first potion Angele tried, but at this moment, he didn't want to even think about potions.
The potion was extremely spicy. Angele's throat and stomach were still aching. He could tolerate the pain but not the feeling of nausea. Angele didn't have any other choice, so he had to stick with potions.