Chapter 58.3 – Making Potions – part 3

Teacher Tinch gulped when he saw the yellow glowing Potion inside Taisetsuna’s pot, and he slowly nodded. Before he had time to check the ingredients that were still wet and laying over the stove, she threw them inside the bottom compartment to let the brazing coal eliminate all evidence.
She then went to Nozomu’s pot, and cooled it off in an instant, while he was also throwing his used ingredients into the coal, leaving the Potions Teacher almost dying of curiosity.

As he approached, Nozomu poured his Potion into the vials, and when he handed him a small vial full of the Potion, Teacher Tinch almost fainted. “Here’s a gift for you. I think you can sell it and get a nice profit. I have a few other vials for you to judge at the end of this try-out, but this one is all yours.”

“Thank you… I… don’t think I can accept it… considering the price of a Potion like this if it is indeed a High-Grade Healing Potion… And it wouldn’t also be ethical...”

“Nonsense. We all did a full pot of Potions, I am sure everyone will offer you a vial as a gift. You can perhaps consider this as payment for the vials I used because I didn’t have enough for all this Potion.”

The Teacher made a big smile while looking at the glowing liquid inside the small glass vial that he had in his hands. “In that case, I can sell this to restock and still get some money to buy a few books I wanted to get. Thank you for this. I will still, of course, evaluate your Potion properly.”

“Of course, I wasn’t expecting otherwise.”

The Teacher went to the table where the Principal and the other Teachers were, and after checking the sand on the hourglass, he faced the group of applicants and warned them. “Time is almost ending. Put the Potions you made in vials or any kind of container. If needed, ask someone that can use Wind Magic to help you cool down the pots.”

They spent the last few minutes on cooling the Potions, with Taisetsuna and three other applicants running around helping.
When the Potions Teacher announced the end of the try-out, everyone had a few vials and containers spread out on their table, ready to be judged.
He then approached and grabbed one vial from the first table. He looked at the liquid, smelled it, and asked the nervous Dog-kind boy what it was, and he then tasted one single drop.
He nodded at the boy and went to the next table, letting him breathe a sigh of relief. One by one, the Teacher tested every Potion in the first two rows.

He then went to Hinen Sukemoru, and raised one eyebrow after tasting one drop of the liquid, and asked, “This is very powerful. Why did you learn how to make this?”

“Because of my father, actually. He is prone to having nightmares because of his days as an Adventurer, and I learned how to make this Potion when I was very young, to help him. Over the years, I tried to make it as powerful as I could. He only needs three drops of this, and he sleeps like a baby. It can also be used to coat an arrow’s tip for hunting.”

“I see… Interesting use…”

He then went to the smiling Robert Keskula, and after tasting one drop, he asked, “Can you tell me how you use this kind of Potion?”

Without hesitating, Robert took a small sip of one vial from the table, and in less than five seconds, he glowed. Only a bit, but it was enough to make everyone look at him, as he explained. “I normally use this before I attend a party or any kind of social gathering. It’s very good to call for attention if you don’t exaggerate the dosage. A big gulp will make you glow for an entire day, and that is also useful as a decoy to attract Monsters and all sorts of Magical Beings.”

“I see… Interesting as well.”

A few more tested Potions, and the Teacher reached the table of the grinning Lion-kind boy. While he looked at the glass vial, the boy kept on grinning.

He lost his prideful smile the moment Teacher Tinch asked, “I thought you were going to make a Medium-Grade Healing Potion. Why did you change to a Sleeping Potion? You made an error, or you changed your mind while you were doing your Potion?”

“What… No, that is a healing Potion, I am sure of it!”

The Teacher opened the vial and gave it to him. “Then you won’t mind taking a nice gulp of this, right?”

The Lion-kind boy snatched the vial from the Teacher’s hands while snorting, “As if I don’t know how to do a Healing Potion!”

He took a big gulp of the Potion and grinned at the raised-eyebrow Teacher. “See? It’s a Heal...ing… Pot…”

In the next second, he fell flat on the floor, and the Teacher shrugged. “I told you it was a Sleeping Potion. Well, I guess he still wins the point, because it is a Potion. Not the one he was aiming at, but still a Potion.”

While the boy was on the floor, Teacher Tinch approached Tresuria’s table and made a slight smile at the light green liquid in the vial that she gave him. After tasting a drop, he nodded. “This is a good one. How strong do you think it is?”

“This… this one believes it is powerful enough to grow a tree from a seed in less than thirty minutes, Teacher Tinch.”

“I think the same. It looks powerful enough for that, and your methods as you were doing it were straight from the rule book. Well done.”

Tresuria made a big smile while turning dark green from excitement.
Next, it was Chujitsuna Hito’s turn. As the Teacher looked at the transparent liquid, he frowned. He then smelled it and frowned again.

Chujitsuna kept on smiling at him, and he asked, “Are you sure this is a Poison? Because it looks to me like you only put water here.”

“Yes, those are the best kind. Tasteless, odourless, and impossible to trace. Just a few drops in a jar of water would be enough to kill us all in ten seconds. It gives you time to drink a Healing Potion if you manage to swallow it, which I also made sure you couldn’t. One of the side effects of this Poison is that it affects your jaw muscles and you automatically close your mouth, making it impossible to drink anything else.”

“If this is that poisonous, how do you suggest we test it? I saw you putting a bunch of ingredients in your pot without measuring anything, and sometimes, without even looking at what you were doing.”

Chujitsuna pointed to the sleeping Lion-kind boy on the floor. “We can make him drink it. He will definitely die, but I won’t miss him much. Or, if pretty Tresuria here has a seed of a plant with her, we could test her Potion, and when the plant grows, we can kill it with my Poison. What do you say, Tresuria? Do you have some seeds with you?”

“This… this one has a few seeds, but that would be cruel, to make a plant or a flower grow just to kill it…”

Chujitsuna Hito grabbed one vial and opened it. She winked at the puzzled Nozomu on the other table and said, “Get ready, Nozomu!”

She took one gulp of the vial, and Nozomu jumped to her, already with a vial of one of his Healing Potions. Before the astonished look on the Teacher, Chujitsuna Hito grabbed her chest and wide-opened her eyes while clenching her teeth.

The moment Nozomu tried to make her drink the Potion, she grabbed his arm to stop him and laughed. “Ahahah! The look on your faces! Priceless! None of you know that Snake-kind are immune to all types of Poisons? Now, can we give my Poison to that sleeping beauty over there or not?”

The Teacher complained. “That was a hideous joke, you know? Is this safe if I only taste one drop?”

“Yeah, one drop will make you almost faint, but Nozomu is right here, so he can give you a Healing Potion before you drop dead. Hopefully! I normally use three drops when I go hunting or when I want to kill someone, and I have never tested with only one drop. But according to my mother, one drop will make a grown-up man faint in ten seconds, nearly killing him. It is also useful to pretend that someone died for real.”

Teacher Finch took one drop from the vial by using his index finger and tasted it. In the next second, he saw the room shaking and spinning, and he put both hands over the table, trying not to fall. Nozomu immediately shoved the vial with the Healing Potion in his mouth and forced him to take a sip.
Then, his head cleared, and he felt better than ever, full of energy and wide awake.

He smiled at the grinning Snake-kind girl and said, “That is indeed an amazing Poison you got there! I just saw my entire life flash before my eyes as the room was spinning! It also proves that your Potion is indeed a High-Grade Healing Potion, Nozomu! It has been a few years since the last time I felt so full of energy!”

Nozomu smiled and corked the vial again and said, “It is probably better that next time, you think of another method to test Poisons. It is dangerous to do what you did.”

“Well, I thought I could endure it because I have been tasting Potions and Poisons for several years. I wasn’t counting on this Poison being this powerful, that’s for sure!”

Nozomu winked at the smiling Chujitsuna Hito and returned to his table while the Teacher continued with his round of evaluations.

The last one was Taisetsuna, and with a quick sniff, the Teacher said, “This has the same smell and quality as your friend’s Potion. It is a powerful High-Grade. You have so many vials that if you sell all of them, you will earn a fortune. Not bad, not bad at all.”

He put in his pocket the small vial that Taisetsuna gave him, joining the other vials already in his pocket that all the applicants gave him, except the ones that failed on the task.

He went to the table to meet the Principal, and he put the vials over the table, explaining in a low tone. “These are the ones that passed. Even that Glowing Potion that seemed weird is actually interesting and very well made. We need to keep a secret about the fact that two of your applicants know how to make High-Grade Healing Potions. I am sure you all know how expensive they are, and how dangerous it is if the wrong person finds out what they can do.”

The Principal asked while looking at the glowing yellow Potion. “What about the applicants that failed? They might talk after leaving, especially out of resentment for not entering. Unless… did you talk with the Academy’s Assistant...”

“Yes. I told Mister Ardo Jogi to give a glass of water with a Forgetting Potion to the applicants that failed this try-out. They will forget this entire hour and go back home without a faint clue about what happened here. He will only tell them they failed the try-out, nothing else. I guess that would be enough to keep their mouths shut. Remember when I told you we should keep this try-out secret? One never knows what can happen with new applicants.”

The Principal nodded, and Teacher Finch faced the nervous group at the tables. “Twenty-five of you get the point from this try-out. The five that didn’t, they know who they are. Please go to the exit. Mister Ardo Jogi, our Academy Assistant, will be near the main doors to see you leave. I hope you return to try again next year. Maybe by then, the try-outs will be easier for you. Don’t feel discouraged. This try-out was very difficult, and few people your age would be able to pass.”

*Happy holidays to you all!*