Chapter 117 - 116: Purity
Chapter 117: Chapter 116: Purity
’This path of Magic Potion Science, once you get into it, is a real money sink.’
’I’d better wait for the Association’s next Monster Hunt and make some serious money first.’
’And I still haven’t figured out the Magic Robe situation...’
...
Nightfall.
Night Flower Inn.
Zelir leaned his new Longsword against the headboard, then lay back on the soft bed and let out a long sigh.
Right now, there wasn’t a single part of Zelir’s body that didn’t ache.
A full day of high-intensity Swordsmanship training had been almost too much for Zelir to handle, even with a body enhanced by the Magic Contract.
The repetitive motions of pushing off the ground to Thrust, in particular, left his arms and thighs with a deep, throbbing ache.
But even though his body was exhausted, Zelir’s Spirit was unusually excited.
’Now that I’ve grasped some Swordsmanship, as my physical attributes continue to improve with the Magic Contract, this will be another way to stay alive.’
’After my Magic Power runs out, or if a fast enemy gets in close, no one would ever expect a Mage to draw a longsword and fight them in close combat—and be just as good at it.’
’That information gap could be lethal at a critical moment.’
Zelir rolled out of bed, picked up the *Introduction to Magical Potions* that Instructor Manlin had gifted him, and began to read.
’With Magic Potion Science, it’s not just about practice; the theory has to keep up too.’
The book was made of a special kind of papyrus, soft to the touch with the faint scent of ink.
Zelir quickly found the Chapter on essence extraction.
"...Therefore, the first principle of extraction is separation.
"A Caster must use their Magic Power to penetrate the target, like the finest sieve, to precisely lock onto and envelop the target’s essence.
"Then, they must forcibly strip it away from the complex parent material. This process places extremely high demands on the Caster’s Perception."
"However, merely completing the separation is far from enough to be called a successful extraction. We must introduce a more critical concept—[Purity]."
"[Purity] refers to the proportion of core active ingredients within the extracted essence. A poor extraction might bring along a large amount of unnecessary components, causing the essence to become murky.
"This murky essence can easily cause conflicts during the subsequent fusion stage, leading to a greatly diminished effect in the Magic Potion, or even outright failure in the Refining process.
"Conversely, a perfect extraction will yield an essence as pure as Crystal, containing no impurities. This is the cornerstone of Refining high-level Magic Potions."
"So, how does one increase the [Purity] of an extraction?
"The answer lies in the Caster’s Magic Manipulation Level.
"A high Magic Manipulation Level is not only the foundation for constructing complex Spell Structures, but also provides immense help in the field of Magic Potion Science.
"During the extraction process, the Caster must not only use Magic Power to envelop the essence.
"They must also weave their Magic Power into a fine, invisible net to filter out and remove every last subtle impurity.
"The higher the Magic Manipulation Level, the finer the mesh of this filter net can be woven, and naturally, the higher the [Purity] of the extracted essence will be..."
Reading this, a realization dawned on Zelir.
’So that’s how it is...’
He recalled his three previous failed attempts.
’The first and second times, the two essences annihilated each other the moment they came into contact. That must have been because their purity was too low.’
’And the third time, although they barely mixed, the process still failed when I put them in water. That was probably because the essences weren’t pure enough to fuse perfectly in the water.’
Separating the essences was just the simplest step; the key was their level of purity.
’Thinking about it this way... the bonus from Intelligence must be very important for Magic Potion Science.’
’The higher the Intelligence, the higher the Magic Manipulation Level, and the higher the purity of the essence separated when using the Extraction Skill...’
’Everything is interconnected,’ Zelir sighed to himself.
After a quick read-through of the basic theory of essence separation, Zelir opened another thick book: the *Common Magical Plants Atlas*.
’It’s too expensive to always buy Magic Potion ingredients from the stalls. I need to get familiar with some Magic Plants so I can gather them myself if I come across them and save some money.’
The book recorded many common, harvestable Magic Plants, including their growth locations, physical characteristics, and specific effects.
Its importance to an Alchemist was no less than that of the *Adventurer’s Association Universal Monster Atlas* to an Adventurer.
In addition to the ones Zelir had already seen, he also memorized many other common Magic Plants he might encounter.
For example, there were Hundred Spirits Fruit, Stone Skin Moss, Memory Spores, and some other species with strange-sounding names.
This diverse array of Magic Plants, when combined with one another, could give birth to many new Magic Potions with novel effects.
In short, the breadth of knowledge covered by Magic Potion Science was in no way inferior to that of traditional schools of Magic.
"It really is vast and profound..."
Zelir closed the heavy atlas and rubbed his sore eyes.
’I wonder how long I’ll have to study before I can refine Magic Potions as effortlessly as Instructor Manlin.’
...
Black Stone Town.
Swordsmanship Training Ground.
The afternoon sun was scorching, baking the soft sand that covered the training ground until it was pleasantly warm.
Zelir and Gray faced each other in the middle of the grounds, several meters apart.
Their eyes were locked on each other as they constantly shifted their feet, slowly circling around an invisible center point.
Raised dust motes drifted in the beams of light. With every breath, every scrape of their feet, they were searching for a fleeting flaw in the other’s rhythm.
By the high wall, in the shadow cast by a weapon rack, Marcus and Valles stood with their arms crossed, leisurely watching the sparring match.
Zelir let out a slow breath.
He gave his wrist a slight twist, and the Wooden Sword traced a smooth arc through the air.
A clean reverse flourish flowed into a forward one; the twirling Wooden Sword rose above his head, then slowly lowered to a middle guard, its tip pointing directly at Gray’s brow.
The stance was set.
He had been wanting to use this opening stance from Geralt the Demon Hunter for a long time.
Zelir hadn’t been idle these past few days. He had poured nearly all his free time into Swordsmanship training, learning constantly from Gray.
After the Thrust, he had also learned the basics of several Slicing Techniques and footwork. With a few practice bouts, he was starting to look the part.
At least, he had improved a great deal compared to before.
"Oh?"
Seeing this stance, Gray raised an eyebrow.
Zelir’s posture was stable, his gaze focused. He was already starting to carry himself like a Swordsman.
Gray shed the last trace of his casual attitude. He lowered his stance from his previous one-hand-on-hip pose.
His Wooden Sword was held horizontally before him in a seemingly casual manner, but his entire being was like a coiled viper, its lethality hidden beneath a lazy exterior.
The next second, they both moved at once.
Sand flew as they kicked off the ground, their two figures crossing in an instant!