Marichadon family.
In the backyard, Miss Church, dressed in a bright yellow long dress, pointed to a small room and asked with curiosity.
“Is this the Pharmacist’s apothecary lab? May I visit it? I promise not to mess anything up, just to satisfy a lady’s curiosity, Miss Peggy.”
This request undoubtedly put Peggy, who was accompanying her, in a difficult position. She carefully said, “I’m sorry, Brother Ivan has gone to class.”
Miss Church, not willing to give up, walked around to the back and, after discovering that the window could not be opened, returned to the doorway, seemingly looking for another way to investigate.
At that moment, she noticed a handsome young man walking towards her, her eyes lit up, “Are you Mr. Ivan?”
“Yes.”
The handsome young man who had returned was indeed Ivan.
Having come from West City, he hadn’t noticed a carriage at the door, nor had he seen Paul and the others. He had thought today’s guests had already left, only to encounter them outside the apothecary lab.
Miss Church was of upper-class appearance, with goose egg-shaped face and petite stature, looking only a year or a year and a half older than Peggy, entirely the semblance of a little girl.
Was Paul intending to deceive a little girl?
Miss Church was unaware of his thoughts and continued to ask, “Mr. Ivan, may I visit your apothecary lab?”
Inside were his research materials on the Whirlpool Potion. Ivan naturally refused, “I’m sorry, Miss Church. I haven’t tidied up inside yet, it’s very messy, allowing you to visit would be quite impolite.”
Lisa Church said, “Call me Lisa, my friends call me that.”
Ivan complied amiably, “Alright, Miss Lisa.”
Lisa continued, “Mr. Pharmacist, now that we’re friends, couldn’t you let me have just a glance inside?” She stared at Ivan with her sparkling eyes, attempting to sway his heart.
Ivan still chose to refuse, “Maybe next time. As an apology, I can give you a handcrafted fragrance, Tyrone floral fragrance.”
The fragrance was similar to perfume, with a light scent and strong volatility, essentially a type of disinfectant water often kept in sealed boxes where tools are stored, its uses not very widespread.
“Promise next time, okay?”
Seeing that he remained unmoved, Lisa’s eyes rolled. Reluctantly emphasizing the next time.
Accompanied by Peggy, the two of them went elsewhere.
For Ivan, the arrival of Miss Lisa was merely a minor episode, and he quickly put it out of his mind.
…
East City, at a street entrance.
Rosyth watched from afar as that figure walked into a medical clinic.
“Bat’s Eyes.”
“What the hell is he doing at the clinic again? The poison powder he used for trickery last time couldn’t have been bought there, could it?”
“This bastard hardly ever goes to the Swordsmanship Hall, no telling what kind of scheme he’s plotting now.”
After waiting for a while, Rosyth saw no sign of the followed person coming out. He stood guard until noon, but lacking the patience to continue, he could only swear and leave. However, he noted down this medical clinic.
These days, he observed Ivan’s movements from time to time but unfortunately found no good opportunity.
Meanwhile, inside the clinic, Ivan, who had no idea he was being followed, was busy.
Since he had finished teaching him the preparation of glorybower hemostatic powder, Old Orio had reverted to his usual self, not teaching or guiding, clearly indicating that the recipe for the Whirlpool Potion was only worth so much, not a penny more.
Old Orio seemed to like adhering to some sort of equivalent exchange principle.
Ivan had no choice about this; he had nothing else that could impress Old Orio to exchange for other potion knowledge.
More miserable than him was Justine, who thus far had been unable to impress Old Orio and could only stealthily learn by the side, sometimes watching him work on potions, but gaining very little.
“Mr. Orio, this is my gift—a Mountain Monster Potion. I hope you can teach me the way of potion-making.”
As the two of them finished cleaning the workbench, Justine solemnly presented the long-prepared item to Old Orio.
She had waited for this day for too long and was ready to face Old Orio’s test.
It was the same sheepskin scroll, upon which Old Orio’s gaze lingered for a long while.
Ivan watched the scene curiously but did not move closer to peek.
Old Orio lifted his head, looked at Ivan first, then turned to Justine and said slowly, “I will only teach you for one month.”
“Uh–no problem.”
A brief look of astonishment appeared on Justine’s face, but she hastily agreed.
The lack of a test rendered all her preparations unnecessary.
Yet, she got what she wished for.
At noon, the two ate their packed meals outside the door, and Justine finally found a chance to boast, “I told you I wouldn’t fall far behind you—see?”
Ivan, unyielding, retorted, “Talk to me about that once you master the glorybower hemostatic powder.” He surmised that the potion formula Justine presented was complete, but Old Orio’s nature was to only teach part of what he knew.
“Just you wait and see, things will be clear after a month.”
Justine stood up straight and puffed out her chest, full of confidence, vowing to catch up with Ivan’s progress.
In the following days, Old Orio taught Justine as promised, which required some extra time.
Ivan had more opportunities in apothecary, earning twenty to thirty percent more than usual. After saving enough gold coins, he commissioned Beaman to buy the necessary herbs, which was convenient since Beaman was relatively free these days.
That day, Beaman delivered all the required herbs to the apothecary lab, and Ivan once again embarked on his journey of exploring the Whirlpool Potion.
“This time I will succeed.”
Soon, the grey-black strands clearly emerged on the azure potion, dealing him a harsh blow.
Ivan did not get discouraged. He still had a strong feeling that he would succeed in his next attempt.
There were grey-black strands!
Like shadows that refused to be shaken off.
“It doesn’t make sense. No rush, no rush. I’ve failed so many times; a few more won’t matter.”
Ivan took a deep breath, pushed aside all other distracting thoughts, and after pondering a while, started a new batch with extra caution.
Finally, the potion that was created resembled a flawless piece of ocean blue amber, quietly resting in a small glass dish.
“I finally did it.”
At that moment, Ivan felt a sense of relief after enduring hardships.
If he couldn’t succeed once, he would have doubted that there were flaws in his potion recipe. Fortunately, that scenario didn’t occur, and the anxiety he had felt was finally put to rest.
Whirlpool Potion Formula: whirlpool flower, barro grass, black snake fruit, bitter wheat mantis feeler, red rock powder.
New Formula: fish-swallowing susswassertang seed, fish-swallowing susswassertang juice, Black Spider Flower, bitter wheat mantis feeler, red rock powder, icicle stone foam, scorpion tail gum oil.
With two additional ingredients and substitutions for easily procured herbs, he estimated the cost of one batch to be around seventy to eighty silver coins, ensuring a no-loss scenario.
Ivan named the new potion ‘Ocean Blue Potion’.
[Apothecary Skill Experience Point: +150]
[Apothecary Skill: lv2(183/200)]
The academic prodigy panel showed updates, and seeing the message made his heart skip a beat—such a significant increase seemed too much.
“This is the right way to gain experience points.”
Ivan couldn’t help but exclaim, thinking back on the time and effort spent exploring the new formula, alongside a level 1 Light of Wisdom, and a level 2 Light of Wisdom, he suddenly understood.
He decided that he would test the effects of the Ocean Blue Potion tomorrow.