15 Observation

Walking forward, Gurney examined the dead hound-like rabbit; it was the wilderness lifeform "hound rabbit".

Its body had brownish-yellow fur that was almost completely burnt. The Arc Lightning had split a part of its body open, revealing the charred rabbit meat inside.

Opening the lips of this hound rabbit, he saw four sharp and dangerous teeth. The teeth were yellow, and there were black markings forming around the roots of the teeth.

"It has already started to supernaturalize. It should be considered a half-supernatural species. In another two to three years, it would have become a true supernatural hound rabbit. If it really became a supernatural hound rabbit, its size would double, and its speed, strength, and attack power would also rise to new levels. Even its fur would be able to resist spells to some extent.

"By then, if it sneak-attacked me, I would have needed to dodge in a more unsightly manner. It is a pity… there will be no such opportunity for you.

"The Arc Lightning did not cause too much of a char. With just a little more work, it can be quite delicious too."

Holding wood in one hand and hound rabbit in the other, Gurney returned to the campsite.

Passing the ridge, he saw that several people in the camp had already started a fire; they were boiling water currently.

"A hound rabbit?" Seeing that Gurney had returned, Avery's gaze was attracted to what was in his hand.

"I thought that we would need to eat rations tonight. To think that you actually hunted a prey…"

"This hound rabbit came to me actually." Gurney shrugged and laughed.

"We are in for a treat tonight. This hound rabbit's meat is quite plump and delicious." Saying so, Avery took the hound rabbit.

While the two of them got closer, Gurney's expression changed slightly as he said in a subtle manner, "Be careful when you dissect it. There might be other half-supernatural beasts in this wilderness."

"I got it." Avery nodded in a steady manner.

Avery who held the hound rabbit turned around and went to the river stream to clean the corpse.

Meanwhile, Gurney held the small rock that Avery passed him when he took the hound rabbit earlier while having a slight stir in his mind.

"Avery found out too. At least I am not the only person who is alert in our group." As his gaze swept over the surroundings, Gurney was vigilant but not anxious or frustrated.

In the supernatural world, there were many peculiar methods to peek or observe secretly.

In order to not let the enemies get more information from their observation, the members of the group had created many secret signs that only they knew.

For example, secretly passing a small rock meant that there was an enemy or enemies observing them in the dark.

If someone told a scary story, that would mean the enemy was about to attack, and they would need to escape.

If someone shouted, "We are all going to die in battle here today." It would mean, "We can't win! Quickly escape!"

There were many other signs.

"I knew that this wilderness plain exploration would not be simple," Gurney said as he rubbed his temples lightly.

"Currently speaking, the enemies are observing us in the dark. They are clearly trying to probe and gain information about us, so they are not confident of attacking yet. Earlier, when I used Arc Lightning, if they were observing me, they would know that we are not to be trifled with."

Displaying one's strength appropriately at times would have a great deterrent effect on the enemy. After all, Gurney did not want to engage in meaningless combat.

A battle between Transcendents would usually cause collateral injuries or even death as they fought.

Of course… there is the possibility of another situation. If that happens, this exploration would… it would be quite dangerous, Gurney who thought about this rapidly kept up his alertness.

Sitting beside the boiling water, Gurney sniffed but did not smell anything weird. He became slightly assured.

As the user of the level-six Bone Essence Potion Mantra, Gurney had an extremely strong sense of smell when it came to all sorts of potions or ingredients.

If the other party tried to disperse potions that would cause fainting or poisoning, Gurney would be able to easily decipher the attack.

Next, Gurney started to toss the herbs that he had gathered during the day into the pot of boiling water.

"What are these herbs? What use do they have?" Yulair Kogen who was at the side asked curiously.

"Some licorice stalks and some roots of the three-leaf sunflower. These things are effective in restoring strength and energy, as well as restoring a portion of the body's stamina. When consumed continuously, it can be very helpful on long journeys as well as in battle.

"Compared to making potions, turning these into food ingredients may have a weaker effect, but there should be no other drawbacks. They can still be easily digested and absorbed by the body. It is a pity I did not get any aged herbs along the way. These are mostly three to five years old or, at most, seven to eight years old," Gurney said.

"You need older herbs?" Pavel who was at the side felt slightly surprised. "I remember that Pharmacists have little requirements regarding the age of the herbs when making potions!"

Gurney stirred the pot while adding in supplementary ingredients.

He started to explain, "Long ago, during the era when the religious churches ruled, Pharmacists were just side jobs that many mages took. Their main purpose had been to create magic potions that could recover mana.

"But now, with the supernatural steam trains and the exploration of the wilderness plains, humans have started our expansion into the wild. A large amount of herbs, as well as Pharmacists, emerged as a result. The deeper theories of potions had also been probed. Different from the low-tier, mid-tier, and high-tier potions that you know of, there are also many other potion theories that are being written and published. Do you know the advanced theory of potion studies — the secret mark potion?"

Everyone was stunned.

"I know about secret mark spells. They are spells that are even higher than high-tier spells. They are very powerful. But what are secret mark potions?"

Everyone was curious.

"Don't tell me that the relationship between secret mark potions and ordinary potions is the same as supernatural spells and secret mark spells. They are of different levels?"

They discussed among themselves.

"Yes… but not really." Gurney pondered for a moment before elaborating, "General low-tier, mid-tier, and high-tier potions are all one-time consumable items."

"For example,"—Gurney moved his hand, and a low-tier energy-recovery potion appeared—"after using this bottle of energy-recovery potion, we will recover some amount of energy, which will allow us to have sufficient mental energy and stamina to do things. Or for example, a rage potion will allow us to gain speed, strength, and attack power for a short period of time. As another example, the essence healing potion is used to heal injuries and help the body recover.

"But… can there be potions that can be used to permanently increase our physical strength, the durability of our soul, our origin-force capacity, our body's agility, or even our cognitive speed?" Once Gurney said that, everyone looked at him with dumbstruck expressions.

"Permanently raising one's strength and durability? This—" Pavel's mouth was still open.

"It sounds too unrealistic and unimaginable, right?" Gurney smiled lightly. "The truth is, the Pharmacists of some forces that I know are already starting to explore this aspect. Through extremely complex concoction methods, together with those supernatural plants of a high age usually over a hundred years since ordinary plants cannot live so long, they will be able to concoct the extremely rare 'secret mark potion'.

"Different types of secret mark potions would have differing effects. Some could directly raise our physical strength, mental power, origin-force capacity, or even the endurance of the body. In fact, some high-end secret mark potions could directly raise one's Transcendent tier.

"With the excavation and advancement of secret mark potion studies, in the future, this high-end potion will have a huge impact on the development of humanity's supernatural power. It can even cause a revolution."

"If this type of potion is really successfully researched, then this society, and even the entire Transcendent world, will undergo an extraordinary change." Philosophy Knight Pavel nodded.

Gurney squinted as he said softly, "In this era full of change and revolution, not only did the colossal but clumsy steampunk train or steamship appear, but even the potion, alchemy, and supernatural equipment that we will wear in the future are also being revolutionized. This can be said to be the worst era. Everything is filled with the unknown, and the future is uncertain and hazy. But this is also the best era because the abundance of unknowns will lead to infinite possibilities."