Training as a Slime (91)

Today is An Chéadaoin. It was also a fasting day, which meant no food was served to the new trainees' dismay. Cori who used to be a poor student on Earth was used to days without food. Joining the new crew at daybreak, he brought along his backpack and decided to introduce Alice to the team. 

Shanson, "I'm sooooo hungry! I can't believe they removed all the food from the cafeteria." 

"Where's your usual snacks?" Cori asked.

"I finished them when I got back," he lamented. "How come you don't seem to be affected?"

Gate stuffed a bun in Shanson's mouth, "Here, you should have this."

The angelic slime looked at her with his big round innocent eyes with utmost gratitude.

"Stop looking at me like that. We just can't afford you falling asleep," she responded. Meimei nodded.

After everyone arrived, they walked through the portal into their potion-making class. Mdm Bind was already in the class busy scribbling away on the board. Her dark eye rings and pink curly hair hint at being overworked. With her curvaceous back facing the trainees, she greeted them nonchalantly, "Morning slimes!" The elvish instructor turned around and tucked her pinkish hair behind her ears. She screened the room for attendance and saw most of the trainees had arrived, " Today marked our first lesson. My sweet novices, potion-making is a serious business and alchemists spend a great deal of time, research and money in learning how to extract the essential properties of an object or several objects to form a liquid that produces a desired effect. And these essential properties in their purest form are known as essence. For example, water in its purest form is known as the essence of water amongst potion makers. But it is commonly known as water by the majority."

All the slimes gulped down their saliva out of thirst upon hearing the word.

Today we will learn to produce the "essence of water" from the water we conjured.

As if triggered by a magic phrase, a set of apparatus magically appeared on each group's table.

"Commit this to memory, the purer the essence of water is, the more effective your potions will be. It is both a potion and a crucial ingredient," the high elf added. "Now try to get a vial before the end of this lesson and remember to memorise what I wrote on the board."

The high elf returned to the board and continued scribbling away without leaving any instructions for the trainees.

"Isn't this basic chemistry?" Sky whispered to the group looking at the familiar set. "I think we are supposed to remove magicules from the water, but do you know how to do that?" Gate asked.

Meimei shook her head.

The group glanced around the room and realised that the rest of the trainees were just as perplexed as they were.

"Anyone here knows how to remove the magicules from the water?" Shanson asked.

"Erm do we drink it and pee them out? Then use the pee and condense it into distilled water?" Sky asked.

The rest of the group silently judged Sky and pretended to not hear him.

Cori, "Do any objects on the table absorb magicules?"

"What if we use 'dispel' on it?" Meimei asked.

"Isn't the spell dispel made of magicules too?" Sky asked.

Ignoring Sky, the group tried anyway.

Expectedly, the water dissipated.

"What if we put the water into this vial, connect this tube to the other vial, and use dispel?" Shanson suggested.

Everyone enthusiastically tried the proposed solution while Sky tried to shrug off his uneasy feeling. Still, nothing happened.

"What if we use 'purify'?" Cori suggested since the skills are from different sources.

"Okay, let me try," Shanson said.

Gate summoned an orb of water and put it into several vials. Shanson began to chant furiously and the water began to glow a bright golden light.

Cori checked the water.

System, "Purified water with some magicules."

"Try again?" Cori suggested.

Shanson purified the water again.

Some of the trainees followed suit.

System, "Purified water with some magicules."

"I think it is not working," Cori told the group.

"Guys... maybe we can boil the water," Meimei suggested softly.

Sky, "Ok so we follow the normal distillation method." 

The team tried and Cori checked.

System, "Essence of water."

Cori, "I think we succeeded. I think the magicules were released back into the air."

Seeing how the team had succeeded, the rest of the class began to replicate the procedure.

Mdm Bind turned around for a quick inspection upon hearing the noise level picking up.

"Well done, it seems you have completed your little experiment as per instructions on the board. Remember, this will be on the test," she said and began to wipe away the contents. The whole class screamed when she did it. 

Luckily Cori had everything memorised and Alice had already taken a photo of it (with Cori strategically positioned).

"Anyone remember what she wrote?" Shanson asked.

Sky diligently took out his notes.

Cori scanned the notes and committed to memory, it seemed there were several mistakes made. But he kept the secret to himself and copied only the correct portion.

While they were busy copying, the lecturer had already started scribbling her next sets of notes. Meanwhile, the tables conjured glass cauldrons with a stable heat source underneath. 

"There are several hard and seemingly solid objects on the table," the instructor said while drawing the ingredients on the table. These are also essences. Depending on the size, you will receive differing outcomes. All the best," the alchemist warned.

The class was once again puzzled. "Please tell us what to do!" they cried in their hearts at a loss.

System, "Life pill - derived from mandrake roots. Bean of wokeness - a herbal essence derivative to make a person subjectively awake. Cube of cold spirit - a condensed cube that is useful for soul preservation. A batch of green herb - generally for health recovery in small doses."

Recalling the contents from the books he had read, Cori immediately recognised what he should do - a revival potion, but it lacked an important ingredient... phoenix feather.