Chapter 1060: The Art of Alchemy
"...Huh? Me?" Hearing the question that came out of Mystia's mouth, it took a while for Valyr to register the question in his mind, causing him to point at himself as he looked back at her in confusion. "Are you looking for a specific answer or something?"
"Not really," said Mystia in response to Valyr's words. "I just wanted to find out if you had any idea beforehand of what alchemy is."
"There is no right or wrong answer to the question," continued the woman, hoping to ease Valyr. "There is only your interpretation of the matter."
At those words, Valyr took in a few deep breaths to compose himself before nodding at her words.
Letting the gears in his mind turn freely as they wanted, he then began to rummage through his treasure trove of memories while keeping Mystia's question in mind.
Focusing his attention on all of the memories he had that involved alchemy one way or another, the young man was eventually able to formulate an answer that prompted Mystia to nod in satisfaction.
"From what I understand, alchemy is the art of combining ingredients together to create a concoction that has a specific effect," said Valyr as he looked at her with a calm expression. "Though, as far as I've heard, the effects of that concoction also depend on the user and the method used... performance-wise, anyway."
"Sounds pretty textbook," replied Mystia after a bit of silence, smiling at the young man. "But you're not wrong. That is indeed a way to interpret alchemy as a whole."
"However, what I'm asking you is the meaning of alchemy," said the woman not long after, emphasizing the final part of her statement. "What do you think is the reason why alchemy was made in the first place?"
"Hmm..." Reminding himself that Mystia wasn't looking for a specific answer from him, the young man prompted the gears in his mind to turn once more as he pondered over the question for a while.
Pulling up the memories he'd gone through earlier to obtain his previous answer, Valyr eventually realized that the answer she was looking for was quite similar to why the concept of blacksmithing had been born in the first place.
With that, he decided to use it as his answer. "The reason why alchemy was made in the first place... isn't it for the betterment of civilization?"
Seeing that she was looking at him with curiosity, Valyr decided to continue his train of thought. "After all, if you think about it, there are various things only alchemy can do that other fields can't."
"A good example of what only alchemy can do is bring about a permanent increase in strength while allowing one to remain at the same level," said the young man, prompting Mystia to nod in agreement.
"Aside from that, some concoctions also have effects that are considered difficult or near impossible for one to achieve, such as returning a person from the brink of death back to life."
"Sure, it may be possible for a person to do it if they had the help of the system, even more so if they were to transcend mortality," continued Valyr as he shrugged his shoulders. "But without it, only alchemy would be able to do something like that."
Feeling like he'd said everything he wanted to say, Valyr let out a faint sigh of relief before looking at Mystia. "...Is that enough of an answer?"
"More than enough." Mystia nodded in agreement, the smile on her face wider than before. "Your interpretation on the meaning of alchemy is still a bit rough around the edges, but you did hit what I consider the gist of it."
"After all, if you think about it, alchemy is essentially the concept of bringing miracles to reality."
At those words, Valyr felt something click in his mind.
Noticing the slight change in the young man's expression because of it, Mystia slightly grinned as she continued.
"Think about it. If you gathered ingredients at random and combined them together without much forethought, would you be able to create an alchemical concoction?"
"At worst, you'd get a sludge of some sort," replied Mystia at her own question. "At best, you'd get something that would have a slight beneficial effect."
"On the other hand, if you were to do something similar with the concept of alchemy in mind, you're highly likely to bring out a certain effect out of it."
"And that is what alchemy is about, bringing about miraculous effects from seemingly mundane items," she told Valyr, only to let out a slight chuckle soon after. "Or at least, that's how I interpret it anyway."
At those words, Valyr nodded, closing his eyes for a bit as multiple thoughts whirred in his mind in response to Mystia's explanation.
Fortunately, it did not take long for the thoughts in his mind to die down as he eventually came to a conclusion, allowing him to return his focus towards Mystia as he gave her a nod of understanding.
Nodding back at Valyr, Mystia briefly looked at Marcus, who immediately understood what he needed to do.
Whoosh!
Releasing a bit of Mystic Energy into the surroundings, Marcus swiftly manipulated this energy into a couple of large tables that had massive cauldrons to its side.
Nodding at what Marcus did in satisfaction, Mystia then went ahead and opened up a rift beside her, taking out a large amount of alchemical ingredients from it that she soon laid out on the tables Marcus conjured.
"Now that I have a rough understanding of your knowledge on alchemy, it's now time for us to move onto the next step." Closing the rift she'd opened, Mystia soon made her way to one of the tables before urging Valyr to occupy the other one.
"Preferably, it would've been better if we were to shore up your theoretical foundations first since we don't want to make a lot of mistakes," she said with a slight shrug.
"However, since we want to make the most out of the remaining time we have in this place, I suppose you could handle gaining both theoretical and practical experience at the same time,
no?"
At those words, Valyr took in a deep breath before nodding in response, pushing all of his senses to its very limits as he planned on committing everything Mystia told him to memory.
"I like that spirit." Nodding in satisfaction at the young man's can-do attitude, Mystia let out a slight chuckle before taking on a calm expression.
"Now, to begin your first hands-on alchemy session..."
"Let's have you concoct a basic health potion, shall we?"
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