“You look like shit,” Baek told Chun as he walked past the lobby of the Studded Pearl to his office.
“I didn’t sleep well.” The apothecary spoke to the guard. Dark bags were under his eyes; he hadn’t noticed them forming during his first alchemy session. After realizing the sun was rising, he hardly had time to actually throw on his robes and make his way to the Studded Pearl. Despite his significant stamina, it did not affect how naturally exhausted his body and mind could get. Being winded from a fight and fighting sleep deprivation were two very different forms of ‘exhaustion,’ it seemed.
“You don’t look like you slept.” The man said as they finally reached Chun’s office.
“I’m just hoping for a slow day. I have some things to get done after work.” He complained before opening the door. A part of him expected a sight similar to two days ago: several people in his clinic with wounds from a particularly violent customer. Fortunately, his office was as barren as it was supposed to be.
“I do have to ask, though,” Baek said as his coworker sat down at his desk and spread out the items he took with him on it. “What's with the furnace, cauldron, and,” He waved a hand at a bundle of various alchemical ingredients; at least he assumed that was what it all was. “Whatever that is?”
“I have hobbies,” Chun said as he rubbed his eyes. “Plus, I need something to do between customers.”
“I didn’t know you knew alchemy.”
Chun shrugged. “I know a thing or two. Just needed a refresher last night.”
“So that is why you didn’t sleep? You were doing alchemy? What did you end up making?”
“Iron pills,” Chun said as he began to light a piece of ember paper and place it under the cauldron. “Toughens the body. But today I’m making something different. If all goes well, it will strengthen my muscles.” His mind flickered to the image of a recipe and description of another item within the basic alchemy book: a Bull Pill. It was similar to the Iron Pill in effect, but increased his strength rather than durability.
Baek just shrugged. “As long as it doesn't get in the way of your work, I guess.” He stated before leaving the room.
***
Bull Pill consumed.
Progress to the next point of Durability: 12%
Bull Pill consumed.
Progress to the next point of Durability: 12%
Bull Pill consumed.
Progress to the next point of Durability: 18%
Bull Pill consumed.
Progress to the next point of Durability: 15%
Bull Pill consumed.
Progress to the next point of Durability: 22%
A few hours of alchemy and the occasional customer later, Chun clicked his tongue in annoyance. He was sure he’d brought enough ingredients to make enough Bull Pills to increase his strength by at least 1 point. But he only ended up with enough ingredients to reach 79% progress.
Fortunately, his last pill had a purity of 71% before he'd consumed it. His mind played back the process of making his most recent concoction and analyzed what he'd done differently. Were his ratios more precise? Had he not been gauging the temperature of the cauldron or furnace correctly this entire time? The books he’d gotten didn't use degrees as a measurement but rather the “radiance” of the flame. Though ember paper tended to burn at a pretty steady temperature if Chun’s assumptions were anything to go by. Though on that note, he was curious what would happen if he altered the heat of the flame by using multiple ember papers. Ultimately, the alchemist shrugged. Perhaps the ingredients he'd used were slightly fresher than the previous.
Chun looked at the box of ingredients he'd brought with him. A small amount of iron powder as well as a few basic herbs, was all that was left. It wasn't enough to make an actual pill from.
Then a thought hit him. He did have another ingredient. One that he had quite the abundance of, in fact.
He grabbed an empty vial from the box before opening its cork. He swished some saliva in his mouth before promptly spitting into the vial. Then identified his one fluid.
Saliva of an Awakened Hybrid (Beast, Demon, Spirit)
Attuned Element: Fire, Water, Earth, Metal, Wood.
The saliva of a humanoid with the awakened bloodline of a powerful demon, beast, and spirit. An exceptionally rare occurrence. Can act as a base in various forms of alchemy to give concoctions unique properties. Contains a dying echo of the hybrid’s being.
Chun’s eyes widened as he read through its description. “Holy shit,” he muttered to himself. That was just his saliva; he wondered what properties his semen would have. Regardless, an ingredient with all five elemental affinities was incredibly rare.
Wait, did that mean he had all five elemental affinities? He thought back to one of the sorceries he’d chosen that let him summon and manipulate the five elements using his internal energy. He hadn't actually thought much about it until then, but he could still use it. Regardless, “Powerful Fluids” modifier for the win.
Setting his saliva aside, Chun held out a palm and channeled his Internal Energy into it. With an instinctual thought, he imagined a small candle-sized flame in his hand. A half-second later, such a flame flickered to life, hovering above his palm. He pulled more Internal Energy into the flame, it grew brighter. As he cut the flow of his energy to the flame, it flickered out as someone had blown on it.
He did the same with the other elements. The elements were mostly as he expected. Water made a drop of water. Earth made a small pebble. And Metal made what looked like raw iron. Wood was partly what he expected, a shred of bark from a tree. But as he looked closer, he could see small cracks of electricity pulsing from the wood. In fact, as he manifested the other elements again, he noticed unique properties amongst each.
Fire was the most expected; it radiated heat and likely burned things.
Water he could cool and condense to form ice.
Earth could produce slick mud of varying thickness.
And finally, metal could produce toxic fumes… for some reason.
He was sure there were reasons for metal’s toxicity and wood’s lightning. But that explanation was beyond anything Chun understood at the moment.
Regardless, he looked at the rest of his ingredients and the vial of saliva he had made. After a few seconds of mentally going through different combinations to see what he could even possibly make. He had quite a few herbs left, more than he had of iron powder anyway. The herbs had a slight attunement to the earth affinity while the iron powder, expectedly, had attunement to the metal affinity.
The only thing Chun had run out of was groundwater, which while technically having both earth and water affinity, was mostly used as a conjoining ingredient for the other two. He wondered if his saliva would do the same. But he would need more than one mouthful to make an attempt at another Bull Pill.
He went to the bar in the lobby to get a cup of water to keep his mouth from drying, then sat back at his desk and spat into his previous vial. Again, and again. It got tiring, doing it so much. When his mouth began to dry out he would take a sip of water to let his saliva build and spit again.
He was eventually able to fill three separate vials with what he assumed would be a proper dosage to craft a pill. So he got to work.
Chun pressed his lips together in annoyance as he opened the furnace to his first experiment. While it did take the general form of a sphere it didn't seem as pure as any pills he'd made prior. It was a mix of deep red, blue, and a hint of brownish green. Several small dents and deformities were within the small spherical object. But most surprising was its size. His previous pills were tiny, hardly a centimeter in diameter. But this new pill was around two-and-a-half centimeters in diameter.
He took the pill from the furnace, surprised to find it slightly cold despite being in such heat.
Ox Pill of the Awakened Hybrid
Purity: 32%
Made from the recipe for a mere Bull Pill, mixed with the saliva of an awakened hybrid of demon, spirit, and beast. This has resulted in the once basic strength-enhancing pill forming into something far more unique. Due to the overwhelming potency of the saliva, this pill can only be consumed by the hybrid from which the saliva is obtained. Grants enhanced senses temporarily as well as a slight, permanent boost to all physical statistics.
Chun’s eyes widened as he looked over the text in his mind's eye. He hadn't just buffed the Bull Pill as he theorized; he seemed to have evolved it, albeit the evolution was of subpar purity. He did find it interesting that only he could consume the pill. But it wasn't like he was going to share.
With a silent prayer for luck, he shoved the pill in his mouth and swallowed. Unlike the other pills he consumed, this pill tasted bitter and cold going down his throat. Likely a side effect of its low purity. Chun waited a brief moment before the system pinged in his mind.
Ox Pill of the Awakened Hybrid consumed.
Progress to the next point of all physical statistics: 15%
Chun’s eyes widened. He expected the increase to be rather minor due to the pill's low purity and the fact it enhanced all his physical stats. But it had given him a full 15% to the stats.
A faint smile spread across the man’s face as he looked at his remaining two doses of his own saliva. If those were the effects of a low-purity pill, what would be the effects of one beyond 50% purity?
He grabbed the next vial of his saliva and got to work. This time, however, he halved the dose of his fluid. He recalled the description of his saliva overpowering the other ingredients. So hopefully this would make them more even. A few hours later, his second experiment was completed.
Ox Pill of the Awakened Hybrid
Purity: 40%
Made from the recipe for a mere Bull Pill, mixed with the saliva of an awakened hybrid of demon, spirit, and beast. This has resulted in the once basic strength-enhancing pill forming into something far more unique. Due to the overwhelming potency of the saliva, this pill can only be consumed by the hybrid from which the saliva is obtained. Grants enhanced senses temporarily as well as a slight, permanent boost to all physical statistics.
It was progress at least. Chun downed this pill as well.
Ox Pill of the Awakened Hybrid consumed.
Progress to the next point of all physical statistics: 18%
A split second after that, a second message appeared.
Durability +1
‘So, it appears the increases from various pills add up, good.’ Chun thought. He was about to turn to his equipment to make this third pill, but then there was a knock on the door.
A second later, Ms. Pairu entered the room. “Been busy, I see.” She said as her gaze fell on the alchemical equipment. “And here I thought I'd hired you as an apothecary.”
The man shrugged as he took his vial of saliva and began mentally measuring how much he should add this time. “There haven't been many customers today. I've had quite a lot of time to myself. Oh, that reminds me,” he looked up to his manager. “I will be occupied with other duties tomorrow and will not be in attendance.”
Pairu raised a brow. “You will not show tomorrow? I suppose that's fine. May I ask why?”
Chun thought for a moment before answering. He wondered if he should keep his deal with Kanta a secret. The tournament was illegal. Then again, Pairu wasn't the kind of person to care much about the law as long as it didn't interfere with her business. Regardless, he kept it vague. “Just doing a favor for a friend.”
Pairu shrugged. “So be it then.” She walked forward and pulled the chair in the center of the room to the desk and sat in it. She gestured to the vial and ingredients as Chun began to mix them in the cauldron. “What is it you're making exactly?”
“To be honest, I'm not sure. Experimenting mostly.” He said as he set a finger on the ember paper beneath the cauldron and used his internal energy to increase the flame’s intensity slightly. He did wonder what increasing the heat during the mixing process would do. From the book he read, heating was a rather fragile thing. Normally, he would be more careful with concoctions. But he had plenty of herbs, and his saliva was practically endless. Oddly, the only thing he really lacked was time. “How long until my shift ends?”
“Half an hour ago,” Pairu said flatly as if waiting for that exact question.
The apothecary looked up from the mixture in front of him as he rolled the ingredients into the rough shape of a sphere. “Oh, should… I go?” He eyed the door.
Fortunately, Pairu waved her hand as if to swat away the suggestion. “Finish up whatever you're doing first. It's not like it's urgent for you to leave when it is time to do so. I won't pay you more or less.”
Chun nodded in understanding as he finally put the sphere of ingredients into the furnace and closed the hatch.
“So how does all of this work exactly?” The woman asked, watching the process.
“It's complicated. Most of it, though, is mixing, applying heat, and making sure things don't fall apart into mush. This is just making a pill, though. Things like fumes, incense and elixirs are marginally harder.”
Over the next hour, Chun explained the process of basic alchemy to his boss while he worked away. He did have to explain him spitting into his concoction halfway through making it. This time, he decided to practically douse the concoction in his saliva. Just enough to keep the pill an actual pill, and not a blob of sludge.
Eventually, his final product of the day was complete. Though it wasn't what he had expected. The pill wasn't the vibrant colors it was before, but now an odd murky clear color, like foggy glass. Additionally, the pill wasn't fully solid. While it did keep a spherical shape, the substance was like dense gelatin.
He grabbed it and identified the substance. A second later, his eyes widened.
Awakened Hybrid’s Essence Fragment
Purity: 71%
The Essence of an awakened hybrid. Consuming this essence allows one to absorb the essence of the awakened hybrid. This essence has been tainted by outside sources.
He wasn't even sure if this was considered a failure. He shrugged and ate it. A moment later the system message appeared.
Awakened Hybrid’s Essence Fragment consumed.
He waited a few more seconds for anything else. But nothing came. Then again, what did he expect to happen from absorbing his one essence?
“Well… did it do anything? It just looked like some blob.” Pairu asked. She had her head resting on her hand as she leaned against the desk.
Chun just let out a sigh. “The last one, no. But I still made some good progress today. You can go now, assuming you don't want to help me clean.”
Pairu laughed at the offer before leaving, giving one last reminder to keep the bracelet she gave him on.
Later that night, Chun sat at the foot of his bed after he’d put away his alchemy supplies. He stared at the screen in his mind that showed his information. It seemed to have a few new snippets of information.
Name: Chun Hyand
Age: 24
Vitality: 50/50
Internal Energy: 25/25
External Energy: 0/0
Martial Stage: 1
Martial Tier: 1
Physical Attributes:
Strength: 6 (35%)
Speed: 8 (33%)
Endurance: 8 (33%)
Durability: 7 (12%)
Mystical Attributes:
Mental Strength: 7
Internal Energy Control: 3
External Energy Control: 1
Social Attributes:
Appearance: 4 (7)
Charisma: 2
Presence: 1
He had made some decent progress, all things considered. Though he was noticing that having to work was a bit of a hassle. But he didn’t think himself ready to leave his job at the Studded Pearl just yet.
He looked to his storage chest. Specifically, the wealth he had within. It was a good amount of imperial coin, undoubtedly. Enough to live without a form of income for around a year. But he was going to spend a whole lifetime in the world. He needed some form of passive income eventually. Or at least income that helped him get stronger at the same time. Hunting spirit beasts in the nearby forests was a way to do that. Their cores and parts were useful to craftsmen, and some were even used in alchemical recipes. But that brought him back to his original issue. He needed equipment.
He lay on his bed and shut off the lantern in his room. It would all be taken care of by Kanta after the tournament. He wanted to keep his wealth as long as he could. Anything Kanta didn’t get him by the end of the tournament, he would buy himself. But until then, he was going to rest. He had quite the day ahead of him.