Lord of Mysteries:The Good Witch

Chapter 25: The Seer potion

Perhaps due to the lack of appreciation for his impromptu performance, or the dampening of his creative enthusiasm by the cold reception, Old Neil's subsequent actions were impeccably standard. His language was precise but lacked humor, as if silently reproaching Angel and the others.

"Miss Granger, please turn on all the gas lamps and set them to maximum brightness. Mr. Moretti, kindly scrub the iron pot with the brush beside it, and bring me the third glass bottle from the left on the table. Dunn..."

Old Neil swiftly assigned tasks. When it came to Dunn Smith's turn, the latter shrugged, stepped back to the door of the alchemy room, indicating he would not participate in the potion preparation.

"...Very well, I'll handle the rest myself."

Placing the silver box next to the iron pot, Old Neil took out a piece of yellowish-brown parchment. Angel noticed it was inscribed with several lines of Hermetic text in blood-like ink, appearing dangerous and mysterious in the flickering gaslight.

"First, 100 milliliters of pure water. Thank you, Mr. Moretti." Old Neil took the glass bottle Klein handed him and casually poured some into the freshly scrubbed iron pot.

Angel frowned, wanting to remind Old Neil that there was a graduated measuring cup nearby, but she dared not interrupt.

Klein across from her seemed to have the same thought. Their eyes met, then both turned back to the busy Old Neil.

"Next, 13 drops of night jasmine extract. Just one drop of this in perfume would..." Old Neil took out a small brown bottle from the box, used a dropper to extract the liquid, and added it to the iron pot. A faint fragrance spread through the alchemy room.

Halfway through his explanation, he remembered he was still "cold" towards everyone and stopped speaking.

"Seven gold mint leaves, three drops of aconite juice, and finally 9 grams of dragon blood grass powder." He glanced at the recipe on the parchment while taking out various materials from the box, adding them to the iron pot step by step.

"These are all auxiliary materials for the potion. Slight deviations in the order and amount won't affect the final result, though generally, we try not to let it differ too much." After weighing the dragon blood grass powder, which was as black as charcoal, and pouring it into the iron pot, stirring it a few times with a wooden spoon, Old Neil explained again.

"The main ingredients are crucial. They are all extraordinary materials. The amount must not exceed the specified quantity but can be slightly less. However, it can't be too little either. Both cases would lead to failure in advancement or even immediate death."

Finally, we've come to the key part...

Angel focused intently, carefully observing Old Neil's next actions. He took out an opaque, blackened glass bottle from the box, brought a new test tube, and used a dropper to extract a tube of azure liquid from the glass bottle.

"10 milliliters of Lava Octopus blood. It decomposes rapidly in sunlight, losing its effect, so it needs to be stored in an opaque container."

After carefully checking the markings on the test tube to ensure the correct dosage, Old Neil poured the bubbling Lava Octopus blood into the iron pot. With a "splash splash" sound, the dim light enveloping the alchemy room took on a bluish tint.

"Lastly, star crystal, 50 grams. Heh, we had exactly 100 grams in stock, and today it's all been divided between you two youngsters, nothing left."

Old Neil took out the second extraordinary material. It was an extremely pure crystal that reflected pinpoints of starlight under the illumination, as if mirroring the entire starry sky.

After reconfirming the weight of the star crystal with the scale, Old Neil cut off a small piece about the size of a fingernail to avoid excess material, then dropped the entire star crystal into the pot.

Like cold water dripping into hot oil, there was a "sizzle" sound, and mist rose from the pot, filling the entire alchemy room. Angel, who had moved closer to observe carefully, couldn't avoid it in time and was enveloped by the mist. She widened her eyes, seemingly seeing the starry sky from within the star crystal through the mist.

She almost thought the potion preparation had failed, but Old Neil calmly used the wooden spoon to scoop the now viscous deep blue liquid from the pot into a cup and handed it to the equally dumbfounded Klein beside him.

"Drink up, your Seer potion is ready."

Klein took the cup, hesitantly peered into it, then looked back at Old Neil.

"I just drink it like this?"

"You can add some Ormil grape wine if you want, it'll taste better that way."

Seeing Klein still standing there in a daze, Old Neil added with a smile, "If you don't care about the taste, just drink it straight. This is only the lowest sequence potion, no additional ritual is needed."

"In fact, the most difficult things for most people to obtain are the potion formula and the extraordinary materials, also known as the main ingredients. As you've just seen, the entire preparation process isn't complicated and even allows for small mistakes. Once the potion is made and placed before you, all you need to do is..."

He made a gesture as if holding an invisible wine glass, raising it to his mouth in a drinking motion.

"...Cheers."

Seemingly infected by Old Neil's renewed humor, Klein's tense expression relaxed. He raised the cup to his mouth, took a deep breath, then tilted his head back and drank the potion.

Observing someone consuming a potion for advancement for the first time, Angel watched Klein's subsequent actions closely.

Klein's hand holding the cup suddenly stiffened, and his entire body tensed up as if having a seizure. His eyes widened, followed by convulsions in his limbs. Just as he was about to topple over due to his rigid leg joints, as if his soul had returned from outside his body, the convulsions stopped.

He frowned, his gaze refocusing. He shook his head a few times and let out a low groan, like a drunkard just waking from a hangover.

Is that it?

Angel looked towards Old Neil, who seemed long accustomed to the reactions after consuming potions, calmly watching Klein gradually come to his senses.

Dunn Smith by the door showed even less interest, leaning against the doorframe with narrowed eyes fixed on Angel.

Their gazes met, and Angel quickly looked away.

Is he monitoring me?

Come to think of it, her request to observe the potion preparation and consumption process was indeed a bit strange. This knowledge wasn't anything new to those who had already become a Beyonder, unless one was collecting potion formulas or looking for an opportunity to interfere and prevent the potion's preparation.

Looking at it this way, her behavior was indeed suspicious...

The worry that Angel had buried in her heart after killing Mrs. Sheron resurfaced. She looked back at Dunn, only to find that he had already shifted his gaze to Klein and Old Neil nearby, as if that scrutinizing look just now had been her imagination.

Was she overthinking? Or had she temporarily cleared herself of suspicion by obediently observing the whole process without doing anything she shouldn't have?

Nearby, Klein, with Old Neil's help, was entering a meditative state by imagining non-existent objects to grasp the power of the newly consumed potion. All this basic knowledge could be found in Cole Granger's memories. Combined with the scare Dunn Smith had just given Angel, she felt there was no need for her to stay any longer.

Seeing the two men, one teaching attentively and the other learning diligently, Angel picked up the box of materials belonging to her and approached the door. Dunn's gaze returned to her, his eyebrows raised as if questioning.

"Captain, if there's nothing else, I'll head back now. These materials need to be processed quickly."

Angel shook the wooden box in her hand, offering a plausible excuse.

The expected interrogation didn't come. Dunn simply nodded slightly in agreement.

Angel secretly breathed a sigh of relief, swallowing the words she had prepared to deal with any follow-up questions, and turned to leave.

"Wait a moment," the call from behind made her spine stiffen, "I forgot something."

"What is it, Captain?" Angel turned back, forcing a smile as she asked.

Dunn smiled, "I forgot to tell you, even if you're working from home, you need to report to the company once a day. Of course, you don't have to on your day off."

So it was just that... Angel relaxed. "Understood, Captain."

Seeing that Dunn seemed to have nothing else to say, she set off again down the stone-paved underground passage towards the crossroads connecting various areas.

After a few steps, Dunn's voice came from behind again.

"Wait a moment, there's one more thing."

Hmm, what now?

Angel turned back with a puzzled expression. This time she was sure Dunn wasn't intentionally giving her a hard time, but genuinely... a bit forgetful.

"I forgot to mention this upstairs earlier. Go to Old Neil to get one of our badges, it'll help you prove your identity to the police. Also, get a new gun," he looked back at the alchemy room, where the faint voices of Old Neil and Klein could be heard. "Come back when you have time, they won't be finished anytime soon."

Remembering her old revolver, neglected and with its rifling almost worn smooth, Angel nodded.

That should be everything now... She turned to leave again, carefully listening for any sounds behind her.

Luckily, this time she wasn't called back until she reached the crossroads.

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