For example, the fireball seed I used earlier requires fur of a fire using magical beast, a Phoenix Rose or any other ingredient with a high fire affinity. The most valuable ingredients have all been found with a trial and error process, so feel free to experiment on your own. Next question."
"I've seen in the Prize Hall physical enhancement potions. Why I have never heard about such spells? And why those potions have side effects?" Said a male voice.
"That's an excellent one. The problem with such spells is twofold. First, their cast time is absurdly long. The best Alchemist can cast one of them in around one minute, and their effect lasts only for three minutes."
"One minute?!" Lith was flabbergasted. "Then they are useless!"
"That makes them useless in real battle." Raflaar's memory confirmed Lith's assumption. "That's why it's much better bottle them up and save them for a later use.
Remember, Alchemy is the art of always been prepared. With enough time, one of us can have access to the equivalent of several mages' worth of spells.
As for the side effects, injecting someone else's mana in your body is akin to poison. Even tier one physical enhancement spells require ingredients to mitigate such effects. They are the most expensive and useful potions for a mage.
That's why the Prize Hall only sells the tier one kind. To avoid students wasting points and focusing more on the permanent magical tools. Alchemy is easier to find, and more importantly, to afford.
Those of you that do not belong to really rich noble families, would not be able to afford magical items for a long time, without the points system. Any more questions?"
Students asked for explanations one after the other. Lith wasn't that interested in the finest details, so made Solus fast forward until the Professor gave a demonstration of an alchemic spell.
He stood in front of what looked like a huge separating funnel, connected with several glass flasks in a production line identical to the one in Solus' lab.
After a minute, with just a single spell, he filled the funnel to the brim, revealing several ingredients that had been placed within it, that were now being slowly absorbed by the magic liquid, before it got transferred into the flasks.
"See?" Reflaar said. "Ten speed enhancing potions for barely a minute of work. They would cost one hundred points in the Prize Hall, or one hundred gold coins in a shop. Even deducting the costs for vials and ingredients, the net income would be around eighty gold coins."
Then he proceeded to show how to create Fireball seeds before putting an end to the lesson.
Lith didn't know if to laugh or cry.
"This is all so complicated. Between my two others specializations and true magic, I already have a headache. It will take me years to understand Alchemy, I just do not have time!"
"Maybe, and maybe not." Solus replied. "Even in my ring form, I have access to both labs, and in my free time I have been experimenting with Alchemy during the last month.
When I am not in tower form, I have little mana, so I can only practice for a little before needing to borrow yours. Anyway, if we manage to get our hands on formulas and ingredients, I can prepare the simplest alchemic items on my own.
For the others, I will need your help. And once I learn things, I can teach them to you."
"Well, yeah, our mind link would speed up studying it, but I would still require practice and comprehension for… Wait a minute! You had access to the labs? That means you practiced the whole magic circle thingy. Right off the bat my a*s!"
"Ops." Solus mind shrugged. "You got me. Guilty as charged."
"And why all those students were so faded in your memories? It's like you never focused one any of them. Even the floor was pictured in more detail. Your perspective never moved from Reflaar…"
Thanks to their mind link, despite she had not a physical body, he could feel anxiety and embarrassment leaking from the surface of her mind.
"Solus, don't tell me that you have reached puberty too or something?"
"Absolutely not!" She yelled in a non-convincing tone, her voice gone up an octave.
"That would explain a lot. The constant pestering me about girls, the nagging about the lack of romance…"
"I don't nag!" She replied offended.
"Then I don't glare!" He scoffed.
Lith was about to mention the possibility of her having the hots for the teacher, but preferred to back down. If he was right, prodding her further would escalate the joke, leading to an argument.
He really hoped to be wrong, though. Solus having such feelings was one of the things Scarlett had warned him from. Whatever was her nature, longing for intimacy but lacking any means of even feeling human contact, was something too cruel to bear.
End of Volume 2