Chapter 129: Alchemy Part Three
Kana was very careful as she slowly mixed the three items together. She was amazed at how the mana gem melted into a liquid almost instantly as the process started. Slowly but surely, she continued to mix, trying her best to control the whole process since the manual said that it must be mixed evenly.
Minute after minute passed as beads of sweat began to form on Kana's forehead. "Ahh! I messed up!" Kiliffia, who was next to Kana, yelled out as her cauldron let out a puff of green smoke.
Ms. Wakevly smiled as she addressed the class: "If you mess up, try again. You can keep trying until the end of class. Remember, take your time. It is very rare for people to create a low quality mana potion on their first..."
"I did it!" Ms. Wakevly looked up to see Kana smiling brightly as she held a small vial of blue liquid in her hand.
"As I said, it is very rare but not impossible. Miss Kana, may I inspect the potion?" Ms. Wakevly walked up to Kana's seat. Kana handed her potion over for inspection.
"How is it?" Kana asked, her eyes waiting excitedly for the results.
"Color looks fine… the smell..." Ms. Wakevly opened the top of the vial and took a whiff. "It smells fine as well. Let me do a quick analysis... "
Ms. Wakevly's eyes began to glow as two magic circles appeared in front of both eyes. "[Analyze]." The magic circles spun around at a high speed. Ms. Wakevly's eyes were going back and forth as if reading some kind of data until finally, she closed her eyes, canceling the magic spell. A smile appeared on her face as she handed back the vial. "Very good job. Although the efficiency is a bit lower than normal, it is a genuine low quality mana potion."
"Really!? Yay!" Kana was happy that she was able to make one on her first go.
"Continue to practice until the end of class. Just repeat the steps the same way you did it before." After saying this, Ms. Wakevly went off to inspect another student's vial.
By the end of class, only about ten people of the thirty students were able to complete the task. But this was actually a very good and unexpected surprise to Ms. Wakevly since normally it would be good for one or two students to succeed on their first day trying alchemy. The reason why alchemy was a mandatory subject was to keep the cost of potions down. At one point in the Rural kingdom, the sale of potions was so high that it was almost impossible to buy for lower class citizens.
The alchemists that were able to make them had a status comparable to higher ranked nobles. This was until the academy began teaching the students how to make potions. After a single year, the price of potions dropped by half when commoners began being able to make their own potions and teaching family members how to do so as well. A commoner blacksmith could easily make the instruments needed to make potions, so there was no need to buy anything expensive. This led to many apothecaries being opened and many more jobs for commoners. Not only that, but it also allowed for a better healthcare system in places that did not have such things before.
In the end, Kana was able to produce two more low quality mana potions and failed once due to Mr. Lambert. cursing and banging on the table, which broke her concentration. "What the hell is this!? Every damn time it explodes!"
"Mr. Lambert, you keep trying to throw the greenseed grass into the pot without extracting the component you need." Kiliffia tried to explain to Mr. Lambert only for him to stand up, almost knocking his chair over.
"I'm done! This is why I have always hated alchemy! Just learn a damn healing and mana regeneration spell! I'm leaving!" Mr. Lambert turned to walk away but paused his steps and turned around. "Oh, Goddess Kana. I will see you tomorrow in class. If you need to take the day off, that is fine too. I do not mind if you sleep. Your sleep is precious."
After saying this, he left with his head held high, not caring for all the strange stares he was receiving.
"He is definitely an interesting old man." Kana said with a smile as she watched the old man walk away.
"I heard he is very hard to get along with, but if you talk to him a certain way, he is very friendly." Kiliffia replied. She and Mr. Lambert ended up being very chummy during the class.
"You girls have never seen him really flip out. He can be very scary." Ms. Wakevly said before clapping her hands. "Alright, everyone, that's it for today."
So far, between the two classes, Kana found them very interesting. She had no idea how this compared to classes on Earth since she never got to experience them, but she, as of now, was happy to be able to finally accomplish one of her dreams.
She hoped her next five years would also be as fruitful as today. Just two classes, and she had already learned a lot. "Kiliffia, let's go have lunch. I wonder what they are serving."
"Yeah, make sure you eat a lot. I heard that the battle training class will be very tiring. They also teach those who can transform into their primordial forms how to make use of this skill in battle. I wish I could turn into a fox. It would be very handy to do if I were to come into danger." Kiliffia let out a sigh. She truly wished she had such an ability.
"That would be nice, but I wonder if the field will be big enough. To be honest, I haven't transformed since I evolved last time. I am not sure if my dragon form is bigger than before."
--An: If you guys want days like today where there is tons of Kana, then let's try to get into the top fifty! So make sure you vote!--