5
5 - Healing Stone
It was dinnertime when Forseti returned home. Upon seeing Forseti enter, Uncle Peter couldn't help but snort disdainfully. "Did you get that damn first kiss?"
"Uh... no."
Uncle Peter frowned slightly and remarked casually, "Did Amora break the deal?"
Clearly, he thought it much more likely that Amora would break the agreement compared to Forseti voluntarily rejecting her, which he found entirely reasonable.
Forseti clarified, "No, I turned her down."
"You turned her down?" Uncle Peter couldn't believe it, and even Cousin Er and Auntie looked over in surprise.
After Forseti provided more details, Uncle Peter quickly speculated, "Under threat from Nur?"
Nur, the tall, strong bald man from earlier, was a well-known young talent in Asgard. In a realm filled with martial prowess and vigor, this typically referred to combat effectiveness.
Forseti felt Nur's name sounded familiar and recalled he was quite exceptional. He couldn't help but wonder if Nur was an important figure in the comics.
Forseti struggled to explain, "I... I just don't like her."
Uncle Peter pursed his lips, clearly skeptical.
Auntie, usually taciturn, interjected, "Let's eat quickly."
After dinner, Forseti headed to the apothecary room. He needed to complete Uncle Peter's task of making a hundred healing stones as soon as possible.
The healing stone appeared unassuming, a gray stone slightly larger than a thumbnail. It had a loose texture by Asgardian standards, easily crushed into powder with slight force.
Sprinkling healing stone powder on a wound allowed it to visibly heal at an accelerated rate.
Of course, the healing stone's miraculous effects were limited to mundane wounds. If a wound involved frost, flame, poison, or curses, it wouldn't suffice.
To create a healing stone, Forseti first had to prepare a healing potion. This potion primarily comprised two herbs: the versatile star grass and the blood thread flower.
Both herbs required several steps to eventually blend into a healing potion, the most crucial and complex part of the process.
Fortunately, Forseti possessed a natural talent for herbalism. Over the years, he had memorized these steps thoroughly. Making a healing stone blindfolded was relatively easy for him.
Creating the healing potion involved a waiting period, during which he began preparing the blending agent.
In the past, Asgardians used healing potions directly, but they later found them inadequate in terms of preservation and absorption. Thus, they developed healing stones.
The healing stone was a product of blending healing potion with Liphia clay, an essential medium in the blending process.
One of the reasons Lyphia Town became Asgard's herbal center was Mount Lyphia, a primary source of Liphia clay.
Compared to making the healing potion, preparing the blending agent was simpler and faster.
Next, Forseti mixed healing potion, blending agent, and Lyphia clay into a paste-like healing clay, kneading and rubbing it repeatedly like dough.
The entire process might seem unsanitary and rough, but to Asgardians, hygiene wasn't much of a concern. Gifted Aesir could survive in space and were virtually immune to diseases. The health risks posed by unsanitary conditions were negligible.
After completing the set of procedures, night had fallen. Forseti finally finished the preceding steps, dividing the healing clay into ten small pieces and placing them in a furnace to bake.
By the next morning, the ten healing stones would be ready.
Afterward, Forseti took a shower, returned to his room, and pulled out the "Sacrament of Kings" to read.
Flask of Talent...
After carefully reviewing the talent mixture's production process, he couldn't help but sigh with a headache.
The talent mixture truly deserved its seventh-level potion status, its complex production steps unmatched by trinkets like healing stones.
Speaking of which, what level were healing stones?
Suddenly struck by curiosity, Forseti retrieved a healing stone and turned to the appraisal section for evaluation.
\[First-tier item, all donations yield 2.46 piety.\]
A first-tier item, perfectly aligning with Forseti's expectations. The 2.46 piety was quite reasonable. The material cost of a healing stone was about 20 small gold coins or two large gold coins. Selling two large gold coins to the piety store wouldn't yield much more than this number.
The difference between a first-tier and a seventh-tier item was immense.
Forseti hadn't yet read the talent mixture's formula but estimated he'd need to master dozens of preparation methods to reach the threshold for crafting it. It wouldn't be accomplished overnight.
Fortunately, as an Asgardian with a lifespan of five thousand years and access to abundant resources and knowledge, enhancing his pharmaceutical skills and gathering materials would be significantly easier.
If he were on Earth, he might never hope to craft a talent mixture in his lifetime.
How would it perform?
Surely, being rated as a seventh-tier item, it couldn't disappoint. Forseti speculated Thor's Hammer might rank as an eighth or ninth-tier item.
Without the peerless talents of Odin, Hela, Thor, or Thanos, aspiring to the skill level of Asgard's Three Warriors was a lofty goal.
His current aptitude was lacking: slight build, weak strength, average intelligence, and some talent in herbalism.
Had he not time-traveled with the "Sacrament of Kings," Forseti feared he'd spend his life toiling over herbal remedies, ultimately meeting an untimely end amidst the torrents of fate, much like a worm.
Happiness might be relative, but it was largely influenced by one's environment. Even the noble Aesir gods in the universe would find life painful if surrounded by stronger peers.
While scrutinizing the talent mixture's formula, Forseti devised a study plan to enhance his alchemy skills methodically, striving to craft the talent mixture at the earliest opportunity.
Glancing at the rings at both ends of the Sacred Book's spine, Forseti noted they seemed intended for connecting chains to secure the holy text. He resolved to return later and acquire a chain to wear, akin to a paladin.