Ancient Formulas

After an hour of skimming through the data Aralis had gathered, Leylin made up his mind.

'There will be no point in me obtaining these ingredients without the correct potion formula to fully exploit their benefits. However, developing a potion formula for raising Spiritual Force requires a Potioneering Master to spend a dozen or even several dozens of years on continuous experimentation, and the consumption of materials for this is immense. And trying to purchase a formula is simply preposterous at the moment...'

[So, back to square one, huh? Every route is too far off from your current available resources.] -Aralis noted dejectedly.

'Not necessarily. First, I'll see what that fool Kroft can provide. He favors me, so he'll surely come up with an accessible way for me to develop a potion. He'll probably think nothing of it, considering his help as a way to motivate me to research further since I am merely an acolyte. But he doesn't know me as well as he thinks.'

'Second, I'll follow up on my intention of going out to search for a black market where I can sell my potions with higher profit margins. That'll give me enough crystals to work with. Then, I'll see where I go from there. Maybe travel to the Poolfield Kingdom. Although I may end up going later. It all depends on my initial results on finding the black market...'

[As always, you have a plan for everything, Doctor.]

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The next morning, Leylin sought out Professor Kroft.

"A potion formula that can raise Spiritual Force?" -Kroft was a little surprised.

"The success rate of brewing these potions is too low and the resources needed are extremely expensive. Many Potioneering Masters have lost their family fortunes over this, and only those with a strong family background are able to reap any tangible benefits..." -Although Leylin's Potioneering talent was highly outstanding, Kroft still felt that his apprentice had set his goals a little too high.

'Yes, yes, just get on with it.' -Leylin already predicted he would be lectured.

Kroft sighed and sat down slowly: "Nonetheless... if you really have this goal, you might not be entirely without answers..."

"Although I am unable to give you my personally-developed formulas since you'd have to pay thousands of magic crystals for them, I still have a few formulas from the Magi of old. They were obtained when I went exploring several times before, so you can use them and give them a try." -Kroft said with a soft elderly tone.

'There it is. How good of you to serve me, Kroft.' -Leylin mentally smirked.

"Formulas from the Magi of old?" -Leylin feigned a little uncertainty.

"Indeed. Magi were the most prosperous back in ancient times. Not only did they construct the Byron Empire which spanned over several continents, but they had even set their sights on several other distant worlds, conquering different planes one at a time." -It seemed as though Kroft held the utmost fascination towards the prowess of the ancient Magi.

"It's a pity that the Byron Empire collapsed one night due to some unknown reason, and the legacies of these ancient Magi were lost. We, as Magi in more recent times, have only risen to power through a few remnants of the research and documents left behind by the ancient Magi..."

'This information was never mentioned in the history books of the Library. Aralis make a note for me to research this matter later. It could turn out to be extremely beneficial at some point.'

[Done.]

Leylin put on a fascinated expression and asked: "Those formulas you talked about, are they defective?"

"You're certainly smart. Although the effects of these formulas are good, many of the ingredients have already ceased to exist. At least, I have never come across them in the 200 years of my life."

Kroft said unhurriedly: "However, many Potioneering Masters still feel some affection for these ancient formulas because they all wish to find a substitute for them. Even if they have only a fraction of the original models, their effects are extremely useful."

'You don't say...' -Leylin mocked under his mask.

On the surface, he still put on a frowning and worried expression: "So it is up to me to find substitute ingredients."

"Indeed! Potioneering Masters often rely on flashes of inspiration for their successes. Many new types of potions are developed on this basis. If you really want to, you can try your luck. However, the success rate will be extremely low." -Kroft's face darkened. It seemed as if he was reminded of his past failures.

"Professor, I still want to give it a try. Even if I won't be able to develop a new formula, I can still improve my skills in brewing." -Leylin smiled in a way that showed his pretended good-willed ambitions.

"I can rest assured if this is your thinking. And you are my second best student..." -Kroft nodded his head. After rummaging through the shelves behind him, he managed to find some dusty scrolls.

"The formulas of the ancient Magi are all here." -He handed them over to the brown-haired teen.

When Leylin received the scrolls, his hands felt a great weight. They seemed to be made of some unknown material with an extremely high density.

Casually flipping to a green-colored formula sheet, Leylin was not intimidated by the numerous scribbles of the ingredients required. Instead, he was eager to exploit this to his advantage. He was already expecting an ancient formula to be this complex.

'Ghost Spirit Flower, Seven Leaves Grass... The poison sac of a Human-Faced Snake... A strand of hair of a resentful ghost...'

Leylin had never even heard of over half of the ingredients listed there. As for the remaining one-third, they were precious treasures even to a Magus, and looking at them made Leylin's eyelids narrow. He was beginning to guess the suitable prices of these ingredients, as well as where he could try to research more about them.

"How is it? You're shocked, right? I was the same when I first saw this formula. However, if you were to brew a potion in accordance with the ingredients listed, I dare say that it would be useful even for an official Magus!" -Kroft smiled a little.

'Don't you compare yourself to me, old man. You may be a great Potioneer, but you're still a fool.' -Leylin disliked being around Kroft. He despised his good nature and abundant empathy.

Leylin flipped through several other formulas.

'Aralis, find me something that would suit the level of an acolyte and those with the easiest to obtain ingredients. Do it fast, I don't want to test Kroft's patience.' -Leylin ordered his A.I.

[Task established...]

Several minutes passed, and Leylin finally grabbed two scrolls from the pile he had been given.

"I'll just take these: the Azure Potion and the Tears of Mary." -He said with a relieved tone.

"You definitely are good with reading! It took me one hour to skim through all these and you barely needed 10 minutes... Oh, and these two potion formulas suit you well. Each one is 150 magic crystals." -Kroft nodded his head.

This was a dozen times cheaper than a potion formula for raising the Spiritual Force, so Leylin was immensely pleased with this development. Progress was near enough for him to latch on again.

With no hesitation, he drew out all of the magic crystals in his black sack. The crystals clattered and piled up into a small mound in front of Kroft's desk.

Within this mound, there were several pieces with greater energy fluctuations, making them shine more brightly. These were mid-grade magic crystals, and the value of one was equal to ten regular magic crystals.

"There are 250 magic crystals here, and I'll add this blade of Snake-Patterned Grass." -Leylin wore a false look of reluctance as he drew out a small cloth pouch from his satchel. After opening it, there lay a blade of silver-colored grass. It even had the pattern of a snake's scales on its surface.

This was something that he commissioned Woox to obtain for him. Having extracted a few of its properties long ago, this blade of Snake-Patterned Grass was not very useful to him anymore. But he could not show it, lest Kroft thought it was not valuable anymore.

"Oh, Snake-Patterned Grass! And its properties are still intact! I estimate it to be worth about 60 magic crystals, so you can take 10 crystals back." -Kroft's eyes shone as he inspected the blade of silver grass.

'He's even easier to barter with than I thought.' -Leylin was unbelieving as he put one mid-class crystal into his sack again.

"This trade has been settled. These two formulas are now yours." -Kroft smiled and nodded his head.

Leylin then pocketed the formulas for the Azure Potion and Tears of Mary and bowed to Kroft, bidding farewell before leaving the room.

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[300 magic crystals! That was all of what was left from this year's income!] -Aralis complained as it was her purse that had been emptied.

'Doesn't matter. My brewing expertise is such that apart from selling potions in the academy, I still managed to accumulate many other elementary potions. If I were to sell them outside the academy, I would definitely earn a huge amount of magic crystals. I need to find that black market as soon as possible though.' -Leylin analyzed.

Ever since he obtained the two potion formulas, Leylin's mind was filled with ideas on how to earn more magic crystals and brew potions. He was running his brain processes in overclock, and his eyes seemed to reflect such an ambition that it would make anyone think he was obsessed with money.

"Leylin! Leylin!" -A girl's voice rang and interrupted Leylin from his dazed state.

'Oh for fuck's sake, I'm busy right now.' -Leylin grumbled within his mask.

"I'm sorry, Bicky. I was thinking about some things. Been a hard week for me is all..." -He said in a tone that made him seem caring and warm.

"Hmph! Even you are like this! Fayle is the same too!" -Bicky pouted.

'I will particularly enjoy putting this broad through a great amount of suffering.' -Leylin decided.

Leylin glossed over it on the outside though: "What's the matter, is Fayle ignoring you again?"

"That's not it! Fayle has been treating me well recently, and we even had dinner at the Dining Hall on the second floor yesterday... Only, he seemed fixated on the academy's recent mission! You know, the one with blood-red writing? He wholeheartedly ached to claim the reward!"

"If I wasn't just a level 2 acolyte, I would most likely be tempted. Its rewards are too good to pass on..." -Leylin tried to subtly point out how stupid she was for not realizing the obvious.

"Anyway, what were you pondering about earlier?" -Bicky missed the point.

[Nothing surprising there. She is the airhead queen after all.] -Aralis chimed in.

"Nothing much, only that selling potions within the academy is rather disadvantageous for me. I guess that trying to sell them outside could be the answer." -Leylin spoke with a half-truth.