Chapter 12 12

When four drops of essence fell into the cauldron, the plant had become completely useless. Nicolas threw the plant, of which only the handle remained, to the side and brought his two hands closer to the cauldron and lowered the heat of the flame. After waiting for 20 seconds, he took out another plant, crushed it, and threw it into the cauldron. He raised the heat a little and waited for 1 minute, then took another plant, tore its leaves, threw them into the cauldron, and set the stem aside for later use.

Process continued for minutes. Nicolas sometimes tore the plants, sometimes carefully peeled their leaves or flowers. Sometimes he used their stems and sometimes he extracted their essences. While he completely emptied some of the bottles that had liquids in different colors, he put only a few drops from some of them. He was constantly keeping the temperature under control; if an alchemist were watching him, he would feel nothing but jealousy at his control of the Flame. Of course, his control of the flame was not perfect, but it was close to perfect. For someone who had not even reached the Aziz level yet, this much was already too much.

Nicolas's Aziz Energy was extremely limited, so the potions and pills he could make were also limited, but even the simplest formula of the Great Master Alchemist Iter could rival the best formulas of the chief alchemist of the Fai Kingdom. That's why Nicolas was not worried; he believed that the work he would produce would be good.

30 minutes passed in a flash. After Nicolas used all the materials, he closed the lid of the alchemy cauldron. He lowered the heat and sealed the lid with Aziz Energy. 'It's over...' he said as he leaned back, wiping the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand, and exhaled.

But the process was not finished yet; now all the materials would fuse, and the potion would emerge, and there were many parts inside the potion. That's why he had to strain the potion.

He took out the special cloth he received from the Alchemist Union and the hand-sized glass bottle. He put a few elastic bands on his wrist. He took the cloth and stretched it over the half-liter glass bottle, opened the fingers of his left hand over the glass bottle, held its edges, and released the cloth slightly. After the cloth bent slightly towards the center, Nicolas pushed the elastic bands down with the help of his right hand and made sure the cloth was fixed to the bottle, but this was just the beginning.

After taking another glass bottle and repeating the same process, he repeated the same process for a third glass bottle. The pore width of the fabrics he used every time was different, so in each purification, the potion would become purer, and the foreign substances it left behind after entering the body would decrease. This was one of the processes that an alchemist should be most careful about while making a potion.

After Nicolas completed the process, he waited another 30 minutes, and when he saw the seal glowing, he put his hand on the lid of the cauldron, solved the seal, and quickly raised his hands. He directed his Aziz energy into the cauldron and lifted all the liquid in the cauldron into the air.

The blue-colored, translucent liquid containing plant parts created a pleasant image while floating in the void. The room was already filled with the scent of the essence of medicinal plants. Even this scent was beneficial for Nicolas. Nicolas devoted all his concentration to controlling the potion floating in the air. He slowly directed the liquid and brought it over the first bottle, and the liquid began to flow downwards in the form of a thin thread towards the cloth. As the liquid passed through the cloth and filled the bottle, it left fine sediments behind. The process was slow; it had only finished in almost 5 minutes. When Nicolas looked at the cloth, he could see the thinned medicinal plant parts standing on it. The plant parts that had gained a blue color were still wet, and Nicolas began to crush the plants using his finger and pour the potion into the bottle.

When the process was over, it had become a paste. Nicolas lifted and squeezed the plants with his Aziz power and transferred a few drops of essence left inside to the bottle. He removed the elastic band, took off the cloth, lifted the bottle, and held it up to the sun. He could see the fine sediments floating inside it. He quickly carried the bottle for the second purification. This time he did not need to use his Aziz Energy.

He began pouring the blue potion in the bottle into the next bottle. As the fine sediments accumulated on the cloth, the clearer blue liquid filled the bottle. When a few pinches of sediment accumulated on the cloth, Nicolas used his Aziz energy this time and transferred the potion left in the sediment to the bottle. After untying his elastic band, he immediately moved on to the third purification process. Although the liquid was almost transparent, the fine sediments inside it were still visible in the sunlight.

The final purification process would also clean these parts. Nicolas quickly subjected the potion to the final purification process. As he poured the blue-colored potion, the liquid passing through the cloth was a completely transparent potion like a glowing sapphire.

While Nicolas was continuing the process, he raised his other hand and carried the small bottles the size of a little finger, about a hundred of them, in the distance in front of him with his Aziz energy. After completing the purification process, he quickly untied the elastic band and moved the cloth to the side, and using his Aziz energy, he took out the sapphire-colored blue potion from the half-liter bottle and directed it.

He had devoted all his attention to distributing it into 100 small bottles. As he waved his hand slowly, his fingers moved, and the sapphire-colored potion floated in the void and swayed over the 100 small bottles. Nicolas waved his hand; at the same time, the half-liter liquid was divided into completely equal parts, and after Nicolas sent all of them into the small bottles, he closed their stoppers using his Aziz energy. When the process was finished, he released the breath he had been holding for a while. His face was bright red and covered in sweat.

'My Aziz Energy is still very low!' he scolded himself harshly, but when he looked at the 100 bottles standing in front of him, he could not stop himself from smiling.

'I can now develop my body. When I'm done with the potions, I want to see the expression on my Master's face,' he said to himself after smiling, then held the bottle he picked up from the ground between his two fingers and turned it towards the sun. The sapphire-colored liquid with no trace of sediment inside looked perfect in the sunlight.

Nicolas took the Alchemy cauldron and placed it under the work desk. He collected the materials still to be used inside it and carefully arranged them in the drawer of the work desk. He wrapped the plants of which only the handle remained with the paper that had previously wrapped the packages and placed them on the work desk. He carefully placed the 100 sapphire-colored potion bottles in another drawer.

He threw the glass bottles and the used fabrics into the trash can in his room.

After cleaning up, he stretched a little and looked at Lea. He smiled when he saw that she was still sleeping. The room was filled with the essence of medicinal plants and the scent was extremely pleasant. Nicolas felt that his Aziz Energy was regenerating faster even just by standing in the room compared to outside, but this effect was still not enough. Nevertheless, the reason he did this process in the room was to ensure that Lea recovered faster thanks to this essence, and Lea looked more comfortable.

Nicolas had taken only a few steps when he turned his head with a light knock on the door, walked, and opened the door. Albert was standing in front of Nicolas with a large tray in his arms. On the tray were wheat bread, a plate of vegetable dish, a plate of fruit, and a crystal pitcher full of apple sherbet and two glasses. Nicolas reached out and took the tray, and after nodding gratefully to Albert, he turned and carried the tray to the work desk. Albert, not even daring to look into the room after Nicolas, quickly closed the door and began to wait outside the room.

After Nicolas placed the tray on the table, he went and sat in an empty corner of the room, closed his eyes, and began to do breathing exercises.