As Erik reached a silent conclusion, time passed, and his most severe wounds began to heal. The glow of the liquid he was submerged in faded, losing all color in sync with his recovery. Meanwhile, Frank, who had remained completely focused on operating the magic circle and adding potions, finally let out a sigh of relief and sat down. The crucial 15 minutes had finally come to an end.
As Frank took deep breaths to calm his tired mind, Erik sat up in the tub, beginning to cough violently, expelling the strange liquid from his airways. At that moment, Frank jumped up from the floor, quickly grabbed a nearby towel, and rushed to Erik with a potion in hand.
"Boss! Are you okay?!"
Frank asked urgently, offering the towel and potion while observing the visible improvement in Erik's horrific bruises. The star-haired young man coughed for a few more seconds, eyes still closed, before reaching out to take the towel and wipe his face. After cleaning himself, Erik placed the towel on the edge of the tub, took a couple of deep breaths, and then opened his eyes to look at Frank, speaking in a calm voice.
"Yes, everything was a success. Even if we do nothing more, my life is no longer in danger."
Frank let out a sigh of relief upon hearing Erik's announcement, then attempted to comment with a relieved smile as he handed over the potion. But just then, a silver shadow flashed at the corner of his vision, and a melodious, unmistakably worried voice echoed through the room.
"Erik! How do you feel?! Does anything hurt?!"
"I'm fine; the primary treatment was a success."
As the wolves in their small forms jumped to lick him, Erik replied with a smile while looking at the worried and nervous Zoe, who gazed at him anxiously. She wanted to touch him to check his condition but lacked the courage to do so, as the bruises he still had were quite terrifying. At that moment, a clear sound of heels clicking against the floor resonated in the bathroom, drawing everyone's attention. A voice filled with relief and sensuality echoed in the space.
"That's such a relief… I was so worried I couldn't focus on anything… I don't know what I'd do without you, disciple Erik~"
"Thanks for the concern." Erik replied casually to Christine after taking the potion. At that moment, Chen entered the bathroom and commented with a hint of admiration.
"Smart potions truly live up to their name… Really impressive… Our pills still can't reach that level of complexity…"
"They're certainly impressive, but the difficulty in making them is insane… Even now, after nearly 10 years of studying them, I can barely make the most basic ones by cheating a little and using tons of ingredients…" Erik nodded with a small, resigned sigh.
The difficulty of creating a smart potion stemmed from the fact that the potion's 'intelligence' was a complex algorithmic intelligence based on the individual properties of the ingredients. In other words, the reactions of the different ingredients were used to create a sort of 'behavior algorithm' for the potion's effects. This required the alchemist to have almost divine knowledge and control over the ingredients and the creation process.
Failing by a single milliliter in a measurement, misjudging the age of an herb even by a year, or going over by just one degree for a single moment in the fire's temperature would cause the entire algorithm to collapse. Truly, only monstrous talents like Sigrún, with her cheating dual Fire and Wood Affinity, could create such potions with a success rate above 35%. Any other alchemist would have a 10% success rate at best. Erik himself only had a 5% chance—out of 100 potions, barely 5 would turn out right.
"I suppose it's to be expected that you can make them… In the Lotus Union, they've been trying to replicate them with our alchemy for millennia, but they've had very little success." Chen couldn't help but comment softly. Erik shook his head and replied in a calm voice.
"That's a completely different matter. Recreating smart potions with the Zazen Discipline is roughly on the same level of difficulty as reproducing artifact spirits with the Aegis System or Sacred Geometry. It's practically unfeasible since these things arise from the unique peculiarities of their respective systems.
"In the case of smart potions, their functionality depends on the particularity of Sacred Geometry to identify active agents and work directly on them in the most efficient—and frankly, stingy—way possible. It's precisely this peculiarity that allows alchemists to use the reactions of these 'agents' to create algorithms, which is utterly insane.
"Meanwhile, the alchemy of the Zazen Discipline uses a vast amount of ingredients and complex methods to create 'perfect' pills, nearly imperishable and incredibly 'smooth' to absorb. Therefore, if they truly want to make a 'smart pill,' they'd have to completely change their approach. They'd literally need to develop an entirely new set of techniques, which could take who knows how long—or might not even be possible."
"You're really impressive, Erik~"
Upon hearing the explanation, Christine couldn't help but comment with a hint of flirtation, while Chen nodded in understanding, as if enlightened. Zoe, with a slightly proud smile, spoke while looking at Erik with shining eyes.
"We're getting sidetracked. The important thing now is your health, Erik. Do you need us to do anything to help you?"
"Frank is more than enough. From now on, things will be easier." Erik shook his head and replied, then turned to Chen and added.
"We can even use the time to discuss the ideas I mentioned about the formations."
"Perfect. Let's do that. I also found some things downstairs that I couldn't identify precisely, so I wanted to consult you about them as well." Chen commented seriously, to which Erik nodded with satisfaction and replied.
"Let's do that, then." Erik then turned to the pair of beautiful women and asked calmly.
"And you two? Did you manage to gather what we need?"
"Yes, I took care of gathering useful materials and even tried to light the furnace, but I had no luck." Christine said with a serious tone, though a bit of disappointment seeped through at the end. Erik nodded calmly and explained.
"That was to be expected. The furnace uses wisdom runes to assist with fire control and other important functions, so it won't work right now. But its materials are still intact, and with some work, we can make it functional."
"I see! I'll gather materials that can help us!" Christine said with a bright smile, to which Erik nodded before turning to Zoe, who quickly spoke with seriousness.
"I've been gathering weapons and materials with her. I also checked the supplies and made a small inventory. With what we have here, plus what's in the storage bags, we have about three months of supplies if we ration carefully, though we might run a bit short on potions…"
"Alright, I'll work on that later. For now, use my storage bag to take food to the others outside and see how things are going. I'll start making a list of materials I need for you to gather later." Erik nodded and commented calmly, to which Zoe quickly replied with seriousness.
"Understood, we'll do that."
"We?" Christine couldn't help but ask, not entirely pleased. Zoe turned to look at her and said with a smile.
"Yes, WE'll do that."
Christine turned to Erik, hoping he'd contradict Zoe, but seeing him start to give serious instructions to Frank, she could only sigh and follow Zoe out of the shelter. Meanwhile, Chen took out a notebook and sat on the floor, ready to jot down everything Erik was about to say, fearful of forgetting anything even with his enhanced memory.
"Alright, Frank, I need you to add the fifth potion and activate the circle."
As he submerged himself again, this time keeping his head out, Erik ordered in a calm tone while looking at Frank, who quickly replied with seriousness as Lirio raised one of its chubby arms and squeaked adorably.
"Right away, Boss!"
"Lirio, you're in charge of making sure Frank doesn't make a mistake."
Erik looked at the adorable spirit on Frank's head and commented with a slightly bitter smile. The little spirit quickly squeaked back with evident enthusiasm, trying to appear solemn, while Frank and Chen remained in dead silence.
They weren't fools; they knew breaking the contract with the dragoness had been a hard blow to Erik, and they could also see the change in the White Fox's attitude toward him. They understood that the young man's feelings must be quite complicated.
Meanwhile, Erik's smile couldn't help but widen at the spirited response from the young spirit, though he quickly adopted a serious expression. He turned to look at Chen, speaking in a clear, calm voice as the liquid began to change color.
"Alright, Chen, regarding the formations, there are several things I've noticed about how the Myst 'moves' in this place and how the formations can affect it, even though I struggle to do so myself. So, there are a few things I want you to explain about the formations, and I also want your help to refine some rough ideas I have."
"Ask whatever you need, Erik. Though I don't have all the answers, I'll note down what I don't know and try to get you a response after discussing with the direct disciple Williams." Chen replied seriously, and Erik began asking his questions one by one.
For his part, Frank placed his hands on the magic circle and activated it with total concentration, causing the liquid to glow and bubble slowly once more. At that moment, Erik's expression visibly tightened, which worried the two young men slightly. However, seeing that Erik continued speaking in a clear and natural voice, they focused on their respective tasks.
…
…
…
"Did something happen to Erik? Did the treatment fail?!"
Upon seeing Zoe and Christine emerge from the shelter, Elara ran toward them, asking with a visibly worried expression. At that moment, Tomás practically materialized in front of the two women and asked solemnly.
"What happened inside?"
"The initial treatment was successful. Erik's life is no longer in danger!"
Christine was the first to step forward and announce loudly, prompting a chorus of cheers among the young people present. It was evident to everyone that without the star-haired young man, they'd be doomed, so each and every one of them wholeheartedly hoped for his swift recovery.
"Erik asked us to check on the situation out here and bring food. He's currently discussing formations with Chen while receiving the follow-up treatment." Zoe said in a calm voice as she took the storage bag from her waist, prompting a chorus of stomach growls to echo in the area. Tomás, with a more relaxed smile, commented much more cheerfully.
"Hahaha, it seems the tension made us forget to eat. Let's eat for now! We can talk while we fill our stomachs."
Everyone nodded cheerfully, and at that moment, Ethan dropped onto the platform not far from Zoe and commented in a tired voice while looking at the shelter in the air nearby.
"That guy is really something else… I can't even feel jealous anymore…"
"He certainly is someone special…"
Christine couldn't help but comment softly as she turned her head to look at the shelter. Zoe, with a somewhat proud smile, looked at Elara and Tomás and asked seriously while beginning to unload the food she brought onto the platform.
"How are things going out here?"
"Pretty good. The formations are effective, and the golems haven't detected us, so we've focused on recovering." Elara replied in a serious tone as she picked up a perfectly sealed black bag from the ones Zoe had placed on the platform. Tomás took another bag and commented seriously.
"Though we haven't dared to conduct explorations or experiments so as not to affect Erik's treatment, we've noted the behavior patterns of the golems and noticed some changes. I have a few ideas about it, but first, take the notes to Erik for him to look over. It's likely he'll spot something we missed."
"I see, I'll take them to him." Zoe nodded seriously.
At that moment, Elara opened the black bag, which quickly heated up and expanded, releasing a delicious aroma of freshly made stew. She stirred the food in the bag with a spoon and commented.
"You can also tell Erik he can call me anytime he needs. Disciple Willians can take over leadership of the mages."
"Yeah, we can switch between the two of us at any time." Ethan quickly nodded seriously, to which Zoe nodded back before opening her own ration packet.
…
…
…
Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Chen took notes on everything he had discussed with Erik and began showing him each of the materials he couldn't identify, jotting down Erik's explanations. But surprisingly, when he showed him a small, tattered root with a long, thin mushroom growing on it, Erik asked in a tone full of surprise.
"Where did you get that?"
"Should I not have? I found it near the elevator. It was probably among the things on the floor and got blown around a bit. I thought it was interesting, so I brought it." Chen asked curiously. Erik looked at the strange root with narrowed eyes and muttered with slight bewilderment.
"I don't recognize that root…"
But upon catching a glimpse of the adorable Lirio from the corner of his eye, Erik quickly turned to Frank and ordered in a serious tone.
"Frank, try to see if Lirio recognizes the 'scent' of that thing. Because I'm sure I didn't have it in my workshop, and I can only think of one place where this could have come from."
***
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