Chapter 5: Potion Mixing Techniques and the First Summon

I returned to the academy immediately after securing Nickel Lifefill.

As soon as I arrived, I left the carrier in the room and rushed without even wiping off my sweat.

Screaming and pulling the struggling body with my mental strength, I barely managed to arrive on time.

Thunk!

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry for being late. Huk, huk."

Although I was about 10 minutes late, my efforts seemed to have paid off as the professor didn't pay much attention and resumed the class.

Due to the rough opening of the door, some attention was drawn, but I ignored it and sat in an empty seat.

And as expected, the gazes that were directed at me faded away within five seconds.

"It's great to be unnoticed like this."

There was a moment when dust almost got into my eyes, but I decided to overlook it.

"As you know, Mohaim leaves have an excellent nutrient-strengthening effect, but if the intake exceeds a certain threshold, it becomes a chronic poison. This poison induces hallucination and headache, but it can be utilized by..."

Professor Buban's intermediate herbology class.

The relationship between mages and herbs is an inseparable one.

Herbs serve as basic experimental materials and intermediaries for handling various potions and magical concoctions.

Of course, it's not just herbs, but all kinds of ingredients, such as monster byproducts, are used, but herbs had the advantage of being relatively affordable compared to other ingredients.

Of course, the prices of rare herbs are astronomical, but let's set that aside for now.

Even though I wasn't a mage in the game, I memorized the names of herbs and their combinations for doping potions and healing potions.

"In particular, when Mohaim leaves are mixed with three additional ingredients, an excellent stamina-boosting potion is created."

While attentively listening to the professor's words, I realized that something was off.

"Three additional ingredients? Wasn't it six?"

In the game, it took seven ingredients, including Mohaim leaves, to create a stamina-boosting potion.

Adding only three meant it was just a temporary nutrient-enhancing agent with intensified side effects that would decrease one's overall condition once the buff ended.

No one seemed to question it, so I eventually spoke up.

I couldn't resist my curiosity.

"Um, Professor!"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Is it true that those three ingredients are Jahas fruit, Todoran tree sap, and Mel fruit?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Are ingredients like Honfishi sap or Matara tree bark not included?"

"Huh. Why would those be included? If you want to know for sure, why don't you try it yourself?"

The professor sarcastically responded, and the mocking laughter of the students spread.

I was momentarily taken aback, but I didn't show it on the surface and thanked him before taking my seat.

"Why is it different from the game?"

Unless there's something else...

Could it be that the combination hasn't been discovered yet?

A shiver ran through my body at the thought.

"For now, I should go to the library after the class."

I wanted to check the book that listed the types of potions and reagents.

If there were specialized textbooks, I could have checked those, but as a slacker like Adrias, I had never bought a single book.

Finally, when the class ended, I headed straight to the library, but someone called out to me.

"Senior."

At first, I thought the voice calling me wasn't for me and walked outside, but upon hearing the voice again, I stopped in my tracks.

"Senior Adrias Cromwell."

The voice pronounced rhythmically and addressing me with respect, caught my attention.

There stood the spirit girl, gazing at me.

A gust of wind blew, causing her short white hair to flutter like cherry blossoms.

I struggled to relax my tense face, barely managing to do so.

"Lucia Everlast."

The girl with sleepy eyes, exuding a mysterious atmosphere, approached me step by step.

"I have a question for you."

"What is it?"

I didn't know why she called me, but I found myself getting nervous.

Perhaps my awkwardness showed because Lucia seemed slightly puzzled, but she quickly brushed it off and asked her question.

"Why did you ask that question earlier?"

I didn't expect her to be attending the same class.

Since it was still early in the semester and I had only become Adrias recently, I wasn't well aware of the surrounding circumstances.

Come to think of it, she had a good reason to take herbology classes.

If she weren't just a freshman, she would have been taking advanced herbology.

"Oh, it's just... I thought it would suit you well."

"Honfishi? Honestly, I can understand up to Matara bark, but why did Honfishi come out of the blue?"

That combination was the fruit of my efforts.

The unfriendly game didn't provide any information beyond the basic combinations.

At some point, I spent a week experimenting with various random items.

Fortunately, the game provided hints even when the combinations failed, thanks to the adjustments.

The combination methods that I now had in my head were based on those hints.

"That was because of Mohaim's fruit."

"Why did Mohaim fruit suddenly come up?"

"As you know, Mohaim fruit has much stronger effects than its leaves, but it also has more side effects. One of those side effects is similar to highly addictive narcotics."

"And?"

"To neutralize that, you need the Matara tree bark I mentioned earlier. But it can't be completely eliminated, so I thought Honfishi would be suitable to achieve proper neutralization."

"So, Senior, do you think you can make a stamina-boosting potion with just the fruit?"

"Well..."

I couldn't say any more.

This could potentially be a source of income for me.

Of course, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of other combination methods.

I may not remember all of them, but I should at least write down the ones that come to mind somewhere.

"Honfishi..."

Seeing her lost in thought all of a sudden, I wondered if I shouldn't have mentioned it.

Although it was a random thought, seeing the character I used to see with pixelated graphics now in real life left me speechless.

In the game, she was just a mess, but in reality, she could slap the face of any celebrity.

Along with those random thoughts, a faint memory resurfaced.

"Ah... You had a really tough time too."

She was my third character, or rather, the last mage I raised.

Overall, she was my ninth character.

The difficulty level was just absurd.

Her talent was so extraordinary that it deserved the term "genius."

Just a little training would make her mana and skill proficiency skyrocket, easily surpassing the speed bumps I encountered.

In terms of talent alone, she was probably superior to Dienne, whom I encountered the day before.

But why was the difficulty level so absurd? It was because...

"Hmm? Are you still here? You can go now. I'm done with you."

"Yeah, take care."

Do all geniuses have such an attitude?

Well, I didn't want to appear resentful, so I smiled and left.

After all, that guy would probably die within a few years anyway.

The reason for her high difficulty level was none other than the terminal illness she had.

"She was the character I reset the most. No, strictly speaking, she wasn't even a reset. Starting a new game was necessary, not just save and load."

I counted up to around the twentieth time starting anew, but after that, I gave up counting.

Her treatment difficulty was so high that even with my current self...

"Wait a moment..."

As I thought about it for a bit, a possibility emerged.

"I might be able to save her."

Because I already had the experience of clearing the game.

She was the one who made me come up with hundreds of combinations.

Her treatment wasn't difficult in finding the right combination; it could be easily resolved as long as I had the materials.

"Of course, those materials aren't easy to obtain."

It's true that if I knew the combination, I could save her.

The problem was what would happen if I saved her.

"When I played, I definitely killed Adrias."

If I couldn't cure her, she would die before I had a chance to harm Adrias.

But if I cured her, it would be her who would come after Adrias in no time.

While lost in thought, I found myself at the library.

"Where can I find books with registered potion and reagent types?"

"Oh, if that's what you're looking for, they were just returned. Here they are."

Someone must have taken them for the herbology class.

They were returned right after the lecture ended.

I wanted to check the books immediately, but there was something I had to do first.

"I should go see the self-proclaimed master."

I need to deliver the corpse and complete my task.

When I arrived, Charon's lecture was still ongoing.

Thanks to that, I had some time left, so I used the coupon I had prepaid for and had a school meal.

"Adrias."

"Yes, Professor?"

"I smell something."

"Huh?"

"I smell food. It's nauseating."

"...I'm sorry."

Why did this lunatic start a fight as soon as he saw me?

It's not like I eat anything fancy.

Charon didn't say anything more, keeping his eyes on the book, but he glanced at the suitcase I brought.

"I said I'll give you two days. Did you bring it already?"

"Yes."

I thought he meant two days, as in yesterday and today, but judging by the nuance, it seemed that wasn't the case.

Well, there wasn't much time to spare anyway.

Without saying a word, Charon closed the book and got up from his seat.

"Follow me."

We walked through the barrier and entered the laboratory, just like the previous day.

Once inside, Charon immediately ordered me to retrieve the corpse.

The inside of the carrier, enchanted with spatial expansion magic, was pitch dark, making it impossible to see anything.

I reached out my hand and pulled out the larger of the two corpses that could be felt.

"Kukcha."

Indeed, it was the body of a young knight. It was well-built and heavy.

As I struggled to pull out the corpse, Charon stroked his chin, standing silently as if lost in thought.

While he was silent, I took the opportunity to glance at Angela.

Kuuul...

Looks like she's in a very comfortable position.

Still, it's fortunate that nothing went wrong.

If she had gone wrong, even without evidence of my involvement, she would have immediately become an experimental subject due to Charon's anger.

"Her condition seems better than I expected. I'll turn her into a Chimera Undead."

At the mention of a Chimera, my body instinctively resisted.

Of course, it wasn't because I felt nauseated or anything like that, but rather because I had a lot more to do.

Luckily, it wasn't something that had to be done right away. The body of the knight I brought needed time for various reagents to be applied and matured.

Of course, most of the work fell on me.

"Time has flown by."

While I was working, Charon, who had been handling the reagents next to me, spoke up.

Then, without saying a word, he left the laboratory.

"That bastard."

He doesn't even give me a penny and orders me around like a dog.

"Oh, money!"

I suddenly realized that I had forgotten the train fare.

Next time, I must remember to say it and tear it up.

After meticulously finishing the work and activating the magic circle, I stretched and yawned, feeling a familiar ominous energy.

I managed to push through the exhaustion with my mental strength, despite my body feeling tired from pushing myself for a little over two days.

"Ah."

Just as I was about to consider reading the dark magic book, I remembered the remaining nickel in the carrier.

"Should I create it now?"

The problem would be how to store it.

I've never raised a necromancer, so I'm not exactly sure, but based on the creatures I encountered, I often saw them being stored in pocket dimensions and summoned when needed...

"Do I have a pocket dimension too?"

After all, spatial magic was something only high-level wizards could use.

I hesitated for a moment, then decided that if it didn't work, I would simply store it in the carrier.

After all, I planned to store it in the carrier even in its current state as a corpse. It shouldn't matter.

Charon didn't have any reason to check it either.

When I took out Nickel's corpse, an elderly man came out.

Seeing his appearance, I had some doubts.

"Is this really the master I came to see?"

I wondered if I had mistaken something.

If it was a mistake, then I must have made a huge blunder.

"No, it can't be. There's no way the Easter egg is fake."

Trust me and trust the game.

...Thinking like this, neither side seems reliable, and I feel a bit drained.

I felt a slight regret as I was about to use necromancy.

If my level of necromancy were higher, I could summon something other than a regular skeleton, such as a Durahan, Dark Warrior, or even a Ghoul.

That's why most necromancers store exceptional corpses rather than use them.

"But now is not the time to be picky."

Besides, I specifically chose this characteristic with this situation in mind.

If it's an evolution, it will somehow resolve it.

With that determination, I discreetly added Charon's reagents and some other ingredients without attracting attention.

[Basic Necromancy: Summon Skeleton.]

[A corpse has been detected.]

[Ingredients helpful for necromancy have been detected. Additional effects will be applied.]

"Ugh."

My mana is rapidly depleting.

No, just summoning one corpse takes so much mana.

As mana was depleted, Nickel's flesh corroded away, leaving only white bones behind.

In that state, Nickel rose from his place.

[Basic Necromancy: Successfully summoned a Skeleton.]

[A Legendary Skeleton has been summoned.]

[Basic Necromancy: Skeleton Summoning level has increased from 1 to 3.]

"The level of the raised corpse is exceptional. Stat bonuses are applied."

"The level of the raised corpse is outstanding. Tier increases. Becomes a Skeleton Soldier."

"The level of the raised corpse is close to transcendence. Regains a portion of its former self."