Chapter 53

"Alex."

"Huh?"

"I asked what potion are you going to brew." Taylor asked as they walked to the potions building.

"I don't know. I guess I'll just try a new one." Alex said as he looked at the few bits of green shrubbery they passed while walking.

"Well, normally that would be a bad Idea, but if there is any time to try out new things, it's definitely your first year when so little is expected of you." Taylor said before looking over to Alex.

"Everything alright, you don't look so well?"

"I feel fine but my stomach feels like it's sunk down passed my toes." Alex answered.

"You're hungry?"

"No, it's different. Whatever the case, it won't affect my potion." Alex said after a moment.

"Whatever you say. Just don't over exert yourself if you are sick."

"Will do. I mean won't do, I think." Alex said as they entered the potions building.

"There are a lot more people watching than I expected." Alex said as they entered a large room.

Above them and separated by a layer of sound proof glass were hundreds of students and instructors. After looking through the crowd for a few moments Alex looked down to the floor they were on, albeit reluctantly.

"Name?"

"Alex Erebus."

"Workstation fifty-two. You have five minutes to choose a potion to brew."

Alex nodded and looked for the workstation with his number. He walked up to the correct table and opened the recipe book, before flipping it open and seating himself.

Everyone else was still standing and he was leaned back in his seat reading through the recipes as if they were a newspaper.

'Cure for poisons, attract lightning while it thunderstorms, parasite killing concoction. There is a potion for everything. You can strengthen every aspect of yourself aside. your soul.'

Alex was about to flip the page but stopped. 'Mind strengthening potion. May cause irritation or discomfort, if a massive migraine persists for more than one hour contact your local healer immediately. Is this all they have for information?'

"Alright, what potion are you brewing?" A man asked as he came up to Alex.

"Mind strengthening." Alex answered before placing a bookmark into the book and laying it on the table.

"Very well, good luck I hope you know what you are doing."

"Meh, I might or might not." Alex said before combing through the the drawers and pulling out the various devices he would use.

"Very well, someone will be back with the necessary ingredients. As all potion brewing competitions go, you are free to change up the recipes as you see fit, just know that many ingredients are volatile and need proper handling. If a new recipe is created successfully the potions guild will be happy to by the recipe at a reasonable price." The man said before moving over to the next student and repeating the same series of questions.

"What potion are you brewing?"

Alex read over the recipe multiple times before he finally received the ingredients.

"Oh it's you. Thank you for the tip yesterday. You didn't have to give me so much though." A young man said while neatly placing multiple herbs on Alex's workstation.

"Jimmy right? You don't have to worry about that, I had just gotten a handful of herbs handed to me for free, so I just decided to give out a handful of money away for free. It all evens out if you think about it."

"It's not free if it costed though."

"Maybe, but profiting from good will, still creates a debt. Is this the psychedelic mushroom?" Alex asked.

"Yes, and the other is the mushroom that dampens its effects."

"Thank you, they look too similar to tell apart myself."

The man nodded before heading over to grab the next list of herbs.

'He has no affinity but he was also the one to brew the drinks from last night. His instructor sees a lot of potential in him even without any magic.' Alex thought as he took a bite from the psychic mushroom.

Almost immediately Alex's vision warped and the colors around the room changed. Instantly Alex spread his spacial sense and enveloped himself in a light layer of spacial energy.

'Just this mushroom is enough to strengthen my new power, why do I even need to make a potion?' Alex thought before he looked up from the workstation.

'Oh! So there are some pretty serious side effects.'

The workstation in front of him had somehow grown eyes and was staring back at him, Alex could even swear it winked at him. If it weren't for the fact that Alex had his spacial sense he would've jumped back when he had seen this sight.

Alex took out a piece of paper and copied the list of ingredients before taking a bite of the other mushroom on the table. He felt what he could only describe as a jolt before his vision returned to normal.

"Did he just eat the mushrooms?"

"He did."

"How? those mushrooms have sent King class mages into a craze." The young man who had given Alex his materials asked.

"Beats me. He didn't even flutter an eye and went straight to preparing his ingredients. An older man who was sitting at a panel next to several other old men answered.

"We will have to review the recordings later on to get a fair score for all students. Until then I'm watching Alex." Leon from the previous night spoke up drawing the other instructors' attentions as they heard his name.

"He is just preparing the ingredients normally. Are you sure you want to do that?"

"These are all first and second years, at most one or two will show promise. Tell you what, you keep an eye out and I'll continue doing what I'm doing."

"As if."

Alex looked down at the cauldron of soup he had just made, a calming sent hitting his nose as he took in the smell of boiling mushrooms.

'Well it's worth a shot.'

Alex thought as he began using his spacial affinity to act as the catalyst. Before allowing it to merge however, he focused on the liquid. His his knuckles turned white as he held himself in place as all of his sense were thrown in disarray. He was focusing on the potion, watching the separate ingredients float around and only touch through his energy. Slowly they seemed to disappear or dissolve into the cauldron. The parts that could, had liquified and the rest had sunk to the bottom. Alex let go of the table before grabbing several bottles and scooping what he could into as many as possible.

'Three concentrated potions and the rest are weaker concentrations, but given how strong the effects from one mushroom was, they should do just fine.'

Alex looked at what was left in the cauldron. A dark murky mixture of liquids and solids littered the bottom.

'Nasty stuff.' He thought before dumping it into a trash can.

On the panel of judges above an old man spit out a drink he was sipping on.

"He just trashed the leftovers."

Usually the more dense and rich nutrients settled at the bottom of the cauldron so what Alex had done had surprised those who had been watching him. Alex however didn't know any of this as he had never collected any of what he had created, usually Lockhorn had just collected it and drank what he could if he felt like it.

Alex was busily labeling each bottle after sealing them when a woman came up to his workstation.

"Which potion will you be giving up to have appraised?" She asked as Alex set his pen down.

Alex looked at the potions. 'A lesser potion will be perfect for them to test. I don't want any of the judges to suffer brain damage.' He thought before writing his name on the potion and placing it on a the cart the woman was pulling around.

"This should do just fine." He answered.

"Very well, you are now free to enter the stands. You can store your potions in the workstation until after scores have been graded."

Alex nodded before opening the cooling unit and storing the eleven other small potions. After looking around for a short moment he spotted where others who had finished were heading. There was a door with a set of stairs leading up to where everyone else was seated.

After climbing up, Alex felt a hand on his shoulder. "Hey! So how did it go?" Taylor asked while pointing over to where the rest of their schools students were seated.

"It went well. I just hope they don't drink too much, that stuff is pretty strong." Alex said, trying to speak up over the crowd.

"What did you brew?"

"A mind strengthening potion." Alex answered as he climbed up to the top of the bleachers.

"The thing that makes you all dizzy for a while?" Taylor asked getting a nod in response.

"My mom made me take it before, after I stopped tripping over my own two feet it felt like I was able to think clearer than ever before."

"Sounds like a very useful potion." Alex said as he watched the few who were still below and brewing.

Below in a separate room after some time had passed.

"Is that all of them?" A man asked as he looked down at the sheet of paper filled with numbers.

"Yup, all but one. Now it's time for the mind strengthening potion."

"Is this really it? It looks too clear, did that boy really just throw out all of the nutrients from the cauldron." One of the judges asked.

"Only one way to find out. Bottoms up!" The judge holding the potion said before drinking it all in one swift gulp receiving a bunch of nervous looks from the rest of the judges.

"How was it, any side effects?"

"Plenty of them. This potion was surprisingly woah!…" the judge stopped speaking as he had to hold onto the table to stop himself from falling out of his seat.

"George, are you alright? Get a healer on standby." Leon spoke up but was stopped as George held up his hand as if telling them to wait.

"The main effects are fading now, I'll be fine now Leonard." George said before looking up and around the room.

"It's good, very good. That was the most potent version of the mind strengthening potion that I've ever taken. I feel as if I'm several years younger all of a sudden. Even if only mentally." George said as he recounted how he felt.

——————

"Here they come. You're definitely going to get first place this year Caleb. You were the only one to create an original potion, I watched all of the other brews." A voice said from across from Alex.

Alex looked over to where the confident voice was. He saw a second year with a prideful look on his face.

'That look always leads to anger.' Alex thought before turning away to look at the judges who were up on the stage.

"On accord of the potions guild I'd like to thank all of you for coming and competing. The scoring for the potions is finally done, and we would all like to say that we were pleasantly surprised by what we have seen this year. With that all said and done we would like to call down the following mages to come collect their rewards for making it into the top ten before we tell you the placements and reasonings. Jimmy if you'd please." Leon said before taking a seat.

Jimmy cleared his throat before stepping up to the front of the stage and speaking into the microphone that fed into the stands above.

"Alex and Taylor of Dalifield, Stewart and Marie of Holdensburg, Joshua of Greensburg…"

Alex stopped listening to jimmy as he looked over to where the crowd was cheering for Joshua. He was finally able to see his old school colors, but even here, he couldn't see her.

Alex removed the disappointed look from his face before standing and heading down to where they had made their potions.