Chương 116: Purity

Magicology was a path that truly lived up to its reputation as a bottomless money pit once one seriously committed to studying it. Better to wait until the guild's upcoming monster hunt. He could make a decent sum of money first, then think about investing in potionmaking. Speaking of which, he still hadn't figured out the matter of his mage robes either......... Night. Nightflower Inn. Zelier leaned his newly purchased longsword against the bedside before collapsing onto the soft mattress.

He let out a long breath of relief. At this moment, there wasn't a single part of his body that didn't ache. A full day of high-intensity sword training had pushed even his body strengthened by Mana Bond to its limits. Especially the repeated explosive movements of driving his feet into the ground and launching thrusts. The deep soreness in his arms and thighs felt as if it came from the very core of his muscles. Yet despite his physical exhaustion, Zelier's mind was unusually energized.

Now that he had grasped the basics of swordsmanship, once his physical attributes continued improving through Mana Bond, this would become another means of survival. After all, when a mage ran out of mana or was caught by an enemy with overwhelming speed, nobody would expect that the mage could simply draw a sword and fight them at close range. And not only that—the mage might not even be inferior. Such an information gap could decide life and death at a critical moment.

Zelier sat back up on the bed, picked up the copy of Introductory Overview of Potionmaking gifted by Instructor Manlin, and began reading. Potionmaking required more than practical experience. Theoretical knowledge had to keep pace as well. The book was made from a special type of papyrus. Its surface was soft to the touch, carrying a faint scent of ink. Zelier quickly turned to the chapter regarding essence extraction.

"... Therefore, the first principle of extraction is separation. The caster must channel mana through the target, like the finest sieve imaginable, precisely locating and enveloping the essence contained within. Then, they must forcibly separate it from the complicated mass that serves as its source. This process places extremely high demands on the caster's perception accuracy."

"However, merely completing separation is far from enough to be considered a successful extraction. A more crucial concept must be introduced—[Purity]."

"[Purity] refers to the proportion of the core active components contained within the extracted essence. A poor extraction may carry away large amounts of unnecessary substances, causing the essence to become cloudy. Such impure essence is highly likely to conflict during the later fusion process, greatly reducing the effectiveness of the potion or even causing the entire refinement to fail. Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

In contrast, a perfect extraction produces essence as pure as crystal, completely free of impurities. This is the foundation required for creating advanced potions."

"So, how can one increase the [Purity] of extraction? The answer lies in the caster's mana manipulation ability. Mana manipulation is not only the foundation for constructing complex spell matrices—it also provides tremendous assistance in potionmaking. During extraction, the caster must not only use mana to surround the essence. They must weave their mana into an invisible, delicate net, filtering out every trace of impurity one by one.

The higher the caster's mana manipulation ability, the finer the mesh of this filtering net can become. Naturally, the resulting essence [Purity] will also be higher..." After reading this section, Zelier gained a sudden understanding. So that was how it worked... He recalled his three previous failed attempts. During the first and second attempts, the two essences had annihilated each other the moment they came into contact. That was most likely because their purity was simply too low.

The third attempt had barely achieved fusion, but it still failed after being poured into water. Perhaps the essence was still not pure enough to achieve a perfect fusion within the water. Extracting the essence itself was only the simplest step. The true key was the purity of that essence. Thinking about it this way... Intelligence really was extremely important for potionmaking. The higher his Intelligence, the stronger his mana manipulation ability would become.

And when using Extraction Spell, the purity of the separated essence would naturally increase as well... Everything was interconnected. Zelier sighed inwardly. After roughly reading through the basic theories of essence separation, Zelier opened another thick book— Illustrated Guide to Common Magical Plants. Buying potion materials from stalls all the time was simply too expensive. He needed to familiarize himself with more magical plants.

That way, if he encountered them in the wild, he could collect them himself and save a fortune. The book recorded many common magical plants that could be gathered, including their habitats, physical characteristics, and specific effects. For potionmakers, its importance was no less than Universal Bestiary of the Adventurer Association was to adventurers. Besides plants he had encountered before, Zelier memorized many others he might come across in the future.

Such as Lark Fruit, Stone-Skin Moss, Memory Spores, and many other strangely named varieties. These countless magical plants could be combined with one another to create potions with all kinds of unique effects. In short, the scope of potionmaking was vast. It was in no way inferior to traditional schools of magic.

"It really is profound..." Zelier closed the heavy encyclopedia and rubbed his tired eyes. He wondered how long he would have to study before he could refine potions as effortlessly as Instructor Manlin....... Blackstone Town. Sword Training Ground. The afternoon sunlight burned brightly overhead, warming the soft sand that covered the training ground. Zelier and Grey stood several meters apart, facing each other.

Their eyes remained locked on their opponent as their feet shifted continuously, slowly circling around an invisible center. Dust drifted through the beams of sunlight. Every breath, every scrape of their feet against the sand, was part of the search for that fleeting opening in the opponent's rhythm. Beside the high wall, within the shadow cast by the weapon racks, Marcus and Vaelis were also present, watching the spar with their arms crossed.

"..." Zelier slowly exhaled. His wrist rotated slightly, and the wooden sword traced a smooth arc through the air. A clean reverse flourish flowed seamlessly into a forward flourish. The spinning wooden blade rose above his head before slowly descending to the middle guard position, its tip pointing directly at Grey's brow. His stance was complete. He had wanted to use this opening stance—the one inspired by the legendary monster hunter Geralt—for a long time.

These past few days, Zelier had not wasted a single moment. Almost all of his free time had been devoted to sword training under Grey. From thrusting techniques to several basic slashes and footwork patterns, he had already gained a general understanding. After several rounds of actual combat practice, he could finally say he looked the part. At the very least, he had improved tremendously compared to before.

"Oh?" Seeing this stance, Grey raised an eyebrow. The Zelier standing before him was steady and focused, already beginning to show the presence of a true swordsman. Grey finally discarded the last trace of carelessness. The hand that had previously rested casually on his waist lowered slightly. His wooden sword appeared to be held lazily across his body, yet his entire figure resembled a venomous serpent ready to strike. Beneath the relaxed posture hid a deadly edge. The next second, both of them moved.

The sand beneath their feet exploded outward as two figures lunged forward and collided in an instant.