Arcane Innovator

The soft glow of the moon shone gently through the small window of my room. But I didn't pay it any attention as I sat slumped on the chair, drawing a shaky breath and trying hard not to faint from exhaustion.

I felt tired, so tired, but nevertheless, I was smiling, for I had finally succeeded in my task. In front of me was a vial. The previously amber liquid turned bright red as I successfully finished the infusion of essence into it.

'Wow, it actually turns red...' I widened my eyes in awe, as I had never seen a real healing potion before. They are too rare and expensive for me to buy one, so all I could go by was Theo's description of it.

This task, which sounded so simple at first, turned out to be almost impossible. The mental strain from trying to replicate the complicated essence pattern of the herb in my mind and maintaining it for long enough to be able to infuse it into the liquid was very tiring, to put it mildly.

All it took was a single mistake for the enchantment to fail. And I failed. I failed a lot, in fact. I succeeded only on my seventh attempt. The six failed potions stood in the corner of the table as a silent reminder of the hardships I had gone through these last few hours.

When I failed, the potions luckily didn't explode. Actually, there wasn't any visible change at all. The only way I could tell I failed was that the color didn't change. I hoped to be able to try it again on the same potion, but I discovered that the liquid inside has only a limited capacity to hold essence, and when the capacity is filled, you can't infuse it with any more of it no matter what you do.

There is not any way that I know of to remove the essence from the potions when I failed, so I had only a single chance to do it right. But now that I have succeeded, I am confident I can replicate it on the last three vials.

I stared at the unassuming vial filled with the amber liquid and took a deep breath, steadying my nerves. Closing my eyes, I visualized the essence pattern, picturing the delicate threads of magic intertwining within the liquid as I concentrated on the healing properties I wished to infuse.

The magic within me surged, flowing like a gentle breeze as I tried to channel the essence. Slowly, I started to blend it with the essence inside the potion. After about five minutes, it was done. I felt the liquid being fully saturated with essence, and the potion turned bright red like the one before it.

I released a long sigh as I slumped back in my chair. 'Two more to go...'

I repeated the whole process two more times, and soon four finished potions stood in front of me. 'Theo was right; it doesn't require much essence at all...' I needed a short rest between each attempt to alleviate the growing headache, but otherwise, I felt like I could keep going if I had more ingredients.

'Wait a minute...' I suddenly realized something. Didn't Theo say that it usually takes him half a day to craft a single potion? I looked at the flickering flame of the candle to see how much of it had burned away, as I had lost track of time.

'Yeah, I managed to churn out about three potions in under an hour...' I realized. "Hahaha! I'm gonna be so rich...!" I exclaimed, full of excitement. The previous exhaustion disappeared in an instant.

It wasn't so surprising now that I'd thought about it some more. As only those who had little to no essence at all chose to become alchemists, it was no wonder they struggled to make multiple potions at once.

Besides, since they used the alchemical formations, they actually needed even more essence than I did, as the formation itself needed a little bit of essence to activate... Those who have enough essence to become real mages think that such menial work as alchemy is beneath them, and as almost all of them are nobles, they don't have any need to earn money as I do...

Thus, I now have an amazing opportunity to get rid of my financial troubles once and for all. But before I can start thinking about selling the potions, I need to know if they actually work or not.

I looked at the vials neatly placed in a single line in front of me. 'What a waste...' I released a sigh as I took one potion vial and uncorked it.

I then carefully moved it closer to my face and sniffed it. "Hmm, it didn't smell like anything at all," I said, furrowing my brows a little.

I observed the red-colored liquid for a while with a hint of apprehension. 'I need to find someone else to be a test subject if I do any more experiments in the future...' I reminded myself as I closed my eyes and took a small sip, mentally preparing to spit it out if I felt anything wrong with it.

But my worries turned out to be unfounded as a mildly sweet taste with a hint of bitterness spread in my mouth, and when I swallowed it, a comfortable, warm feeling filled my stomach.

'Hmm, it tastes like cough syrup...' I thought as I waited for it to take effect. However, that was all that happened. I didn't feel any healing effects take place. 'Well, what did I expect? I'm perfectly healthy, so it can't actually heal me...'

I contemplated what to do for a while before throwing a sad glance at my hand as I took out my hunting knife. 'Yeah, I'm definitely going to find an assistant for the next time...' I thought as I made a shallow cut across my palm before quickly pouring a few drops of the potion on it.

The potion soaked into the wound, and within a blink of an eye, the cut disappeared without a trace. 'This is actually pretty cool...'

Finally, I have some way to heal myself, so I won't have to be so careful in the future when venturing out of the city. Now that I know it's working, the big question is: how could I sell these potions?

Every genuine potion from an alchemist comes with its own seal of authenticity inscribed on the vial. I can't fake it, as apparently, every alchemist has his own unique mark filled with essence. From a customer's standpoint, it's a great system since there is almost no chance of being sold a fake potion.

But it also presents a huge problem for me, as no respectable business would buy a random potion without the seal. 'So my only option is the black market...' I sighed as a somber realization dawned on me.

I live in the better part of the Northern Quarter, fairly close to the main road. But the deeper you go into the quarter through the plethora of dark alleyways away from the main road, the more slum-like the area becomes.

As the slums are inhabited mostly by the poor, the City's Guard doesn't seem to care much about what happens there. That makes it the perfect breeding ground for criminals of every kind. And somewhere in the slums, there is apparently a secret place where the different gangs and criminal organizations trade with each other—the black market.

I've never been in the slums before, but I've heard rumors that you can buy anything on the black market. You can find everything you can think of there, from stolen weapons and illegal drugs to slaves even. Although trading slaves is officially banned in the Kingdom, some apparently still do it in secret.

I'm pretty sure I would be able to sell my potions there. The criminals wouldn't care that my potions are without a seal, as long as they work that is. What's more, they will probably be pretty thrilled to be able to get their hands on a real potion given the nature of their work...

As most alchemists are either nobles themselves or descendants of nobles, they place a great deal of importance on their reputation, so they won't openly trade with criminals or any other less desirable customers.

I have no reputation, to begin with, so I don't care much about it as long as it brings me profit. Now that I've made up my mind, I need to figure out how to get to the black market. I can't just go to the slums and start asking around; that would be a sure way to get me into some trouble.

Not that I was afraid of the people there; after everything I went through recently, I'm sure no regular human here can hope to defeat me. But I still want to maintain a low profile, as I don't want to deal with any unnecessary drama if I can avoid it.

'Hmm, maybe I could go ask that old woman, Martha, who is selling vegetables by the fountain...' It was she who got me this apartment in the first place, and it is said that she knows of every rumor that goes around.

However, I would have to be clever about it. What I have noticed since the last time we spoke together is that under her grumpy shell, she is quite kind-hearted. And since she still sees me as nothing more than a small kid, she won't tell me anything that could lead me into trouble...

'Well, I guess it is time to put my acting skills to use...' I thought briefly before I succumbed to sleep.