The Moon Thief

When Heinald returned to Ruthas Academy, he began researching and experimenting to create a High Rank Healing Potion formula for himself. He had already successfully completed his two missions and earned a total of 17000 Achievement Points. From the quest about Mr. Furyus' disappearance, he hoped he'd earn some more Achievement Points soon.

Now that he had completed his missions, he could devote himself to research and experimentation. If he was successful in his experiments with Healing Potion, his next pursuit would be Spirit Potion. Normally, his priority would be Spirit Potion, but as soon as possible, he decided that he wanted a solid Healing Potion that he could trust. The formulas of the healing potions on the market were broadly the same, his body was completely immune to these potions.

That's why he was aiming to create a new potion formula!

He went through a one-month review, research, and analysis process to craft a High Rank Healing Potion. At the end of this period, he calculated that it might work, and produced a list of necessary materials. After he received these materials, he would begin the experimentation process.

Over the course of a month, Furyus' family was also subjected to professional interrogation, and they were eventually forced to admit that they were linked to Furyus' death. However, they were killed by someone before they could give much detail. Of course, these people were members of that 'Dark' organization.

Heinald didn't care any more, he had done the best he could and had given the academy the necessary intel. He had no intention of getting himself into trouble by going into more detail. He also managed to get full points from the task for doing what the academy asked him to do.

***

Heinald was staring thoughtfully at the materials on his desk in the lab of his academy home. He had sent Orinath outside so he wouldn't be distracted, the potion he was going to be working on was far beyond the abilities of a novice like him.

On the table were five Polos Leaves, a small tube of Kevser Bear blood, a Lefen Seed, and a quarter tube of Azure Fanur Rose Extract. All but Azure Fanur Rose Extract had to be detoxified, and all these ingredients were extremely delicate.

He had to be very careful throughout this entire process!

Heinald had bought these materials not with Achievement Points, but in exchange for a large amount of Arkana Stones. He didn't want to spend more Achievement Points on materials. So he left the academy and traveled to several cities and bought the first part of the materials he had listed.

If he did not find success with these materials, he would continue to experiment with other materials that he calculated as a result of his analysis that might work.

Five Polos Leaves, a small tube of Kevser Bear blood, a Lefen Seed, and a quarter tube of Azure Fanur Rose Extract were just the ingredients needed for a potion. He had bought all of these materials twenty times, as he would only use them for experimentation; so he would use twenty full potion ingredients for his experiments.

"Okay, let's begin..." Heinald sighed and began the experiments.

The hours began to pass quickly.

As he had anticipated, the experiment was challenging for the duration. Although he could control his Spirit Flame almost perfectly, he still had a hard time eliminating the toxicity of these materials. While one of the biggest challenges of Potion Brewing was eliminating toxicity, that wasn't the only challenge.

The most important thing was timing!

When brewing a Potion, the reaction of each ingredient added to the cauldron must be carefully observed and added to the mix just in time, or the potion would most likely turn into a mess. On the other hand, even if there was no garbage, its purity would be quite low; which meant that this potion only had a lifespan of one or two uses.

While Heinald was able to successfully complete the detoxification process, he had repeated failures because he could not calculate the exact timing of adding the ingredients to the boiler.

All this did not demotivate him. Creating a potion formula was quite a challenge, thanks to his impeccable memory, he could remember every piece of information he learned perfectly, but this information could only help a little in practice.

In order to successfully brew the High Rank Healing Potion he was working on, he had to determine the reaction timings perfectly and add the ingredients to the cauldron according to these results in the next process. Since the new potion formula he created was entirely created by him, naturally he had to determine all these details with various experiments.

That was the most challenging part of Potion Brewing!

A Potions Master wouldn't just collect formulas and brew potions, he would also strive to create potion formulas.

Most Ainsars stayed away from this branch as these experiments would require too many Arkana Stones.

The days passed quite hard for Heinald.

He experimented a lot and unfortunately did not get a successful result. He had used all the materials at his disposal for his failed experiments. He had to buy the same materials again and continue his experiments.

Although he gained a lot of experience from his previous experiments, it was difficult even for him to quickly detect the reactions of a High Rank potion. Although he was able to detect reactions much more clearly and quickly than other Ainsars thanks to his eyes, he still had a hard time.

When Heinald left his home small lab days later, he asked his apprentice to clean it up. He then went to the Potions Division of the academy. Since he hadn't been to the Potions Division for a long time, the potions he needed to brew had accumulated quite a bit. So he spent the next few days in the building's lab.

Fortunately, the potions the academy wanted from them were those that already had a formula and were relatively easy to make. It was Heinald's idea, though; According to him, these potions were not difficult to brew, but the same could not be said for the other members of the Potions Division.

After Heinald brewed and delivered the potions he needed to brew, he walked towards the exit door to leave the Potions Division.

"Heinald!"

He noticed Elly coming from the opposite direction and calling out to him.

"Hello." Heinald smiled faintly.

"I don't see you around here very often…" Elly touched her beautiful chin.

"Actually, I was pretty busy with various experiments. So the potions I had to deliver had a bit of a backlog, I've spent the last few days here completing them." Heinald shrugged.

"If I'm not mistaken, you were also in trouble with the assignments you took from the academy." Elly chuckled lightly.

Heinald smiled lightly and shook his head, "I've managed to overcome them, but I haven't been able to collect as many Achievement Points as I wanted yet. I have to do a lot more quests to get the amount I want."

Elly's brows furrow slightly for a moment, "Heinald, can I make you an offer?"

"Hm? What is it?" Heinald was intrigued.

"At Ruthas Academy, headmasters can take on various special missions. I got an offer for a very special mission the other day. They asked me to make a special potion, a kind of strength potion. However, the purity of this potion will be at least 80%. Considering that you are talented, you can help me best. If we get a successful result, we will split our Achievement Points in half. What do you think?"

Heinald's eyebrows rose slightly as Elly explained the situation.

"Strength Potion? Hmph!" Heinald grinned, "Ruthas Academy is asking a Potions Master for help with a high-purity potion?"

Elly exhaled, "Not only that, of course, the 30% physical strength boost effect that will last at least twenty minutes is among the conditions... However, we will earn a full 40,000 Achievement Points in return."

"Ruthas Academy must have a potion formula by the standards you say... Why would they ask you to do something like that?" Heinald scratched his chin.

Elly shook her head, "You're looking a little shallow... As you know, the most effective potion formulas are monopolized by the big families. There are strong families behind Ruthas Academy as well and they give a lot of support to the academy but they don't give commercial independence. If the academy has their own potion formulas they also have their own independent source of income, which naturally gives them a wider commercial space."

Elly shook her head, "You're looking a little shallow... As you know, the most effective potion formulas are monopolized by the big families. There are strong families behind Ruthas Academy as well and they give a lot of support to the academy but they don't give commercial independence. If the academy has their own potion formulas they also have their own independent source of income, which naturally gives them a wider commercial space."