Chapter 140: Potency

Zach wordlessly and gently put the potion back on the workbench with a tense smile. He removed his hand like he had just defused a bomb and was waiting for it to explode in his face. After a moment or two, he carefully stepped back.He looked at Alzara.

"I'm not blaming you or anything. But next time, please inform me of things like how what I'm holding might explode in my face at any moment." Searᴄh the NôvelFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Yes, Master." Alzara nodded and bowed.

"Great." Zach looked at the table of potions with apprehension.

"...How do you usually deal with potions like these?"

"I use sacrific—test subjects." Alzara shrugged with her head still angled forward.

"I see. And how often are those 'test subjects' volunteers and how often are they reusable?"

"...Not very often. Rather than potions with specific effects, creations like these are more like stable bundles of concentrated energy. When a living being consumes them, they kind of just…" Alzara made an expanding gesture with her hands to help demonstrate the fate of her test subjects.

"Uh-huh. Do they work on monsters?"

"Usually, yes. But there are two reasons monsters aren't the best sacrific—test subjects. Their physiques are different, so they might handle the potions better or react differently. And they are worse at communicating. They don't shout things like it's hot or cold before…" Alzara made the same expanding gesture with her hands.

Zach nodded.

"How necessary are these tests?"

"With my tests and the like, I can get a decent estimate of what most potions should do when consumed by humans or human-adjacent beings."

"But…?" Zach could sense there was something more.

"...but, there's only one way to know for certain what a potion does. The slightest difference in ratio or ingredients could produce entirely different potions. So, until I perfect a recipe…" Alzara didn't need to finish what she was going to say.

If they were going to use her methods, they would need a lot of test subjects.

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"How potent are these potions? And would one sturdy test subject work?"

"...They shouldn't be too potent since the materials were mostly basic, at least in the finished potions. And no. I need multiple test subjects for the best result.

Setting aside the possibility of one sturdy test subject just being an outlier and showing no or a special reaction, the lingering effects of consuming multiple potions will affect the results of future tests." Alzara quickly rejected Zach's idea.

"...So, we need a lot of test subjects to get anywhere with your potion-making?" Zach asked to confirm.

Alzara nodded.

"...How do you think underworlders would react compared to humans?" Zach knew the answer before even asking.

Alzara shrugged with her palms facing upward.

Zach sighed.

"There's only one way to find out," he said with a voice filled with all the fatigue of the last few days.

He sighed again.

He wasn't sure where he would get a hold of as many test subjects as Alzara needed. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to. Alzara had no idea what her potions did. They might make people explode or just kill them with a world of pain, incinerating them from within.

He didn't want to put others through that just because he wanted to find out what a couple of strange glass bottles with colorful liquids did.

But he also didn't want to risk his own life finding out.

It seemed like they would have to delay getting their potions tested for now.

But that didn't mean they had to stop making them. Zach's skill could still be useful, and he didn't mind training it on the materials that were left. Alzara also had a lot to learn about all the materials.

"Have you been to the library, by the way? I'm sure there could be recipes there." Zach asked. It was a little late to come to the realization, but it was better than nothing.

"Yeah. I had Nora help me. I didn't like the ones I found." Alzara answered with a scrunched nose, like the thought of those recipes were enough to disgust her.

'I guess that's a dud.'

Zach had a feeling Alzara wouldn't use any recipes but hers. It could be a pride thing, or it could be a skill thing. Whatever the case, Zach wasn't going to force her to use recipes she didn't like.

Yanael piled up all the potions in a corner of the room while Zach started making worms and Alzara continued her potion-making and experimenting with different materials, burners, and glass containers.

While Zach and Alzara were busy with their things, Yanael practiced her swordplay. There wasn't much she could do to improve in her current state, but as a swordswoman, it was better to swing her sword than do nothing. She also couldn't be left behind by Alzara.

So far, Alzara hadn't done much to help Zach other than scare off monsters with her presence. But she was an SS-rank familiar. And while Zach couldn't tell clearly, Yanael's sharp senses picked up on the potency of some of those potions.

They made the hair on the back of her neck tingle.

Something Zach hadn't kept in mind when he asked Alzara about the potions' potency was the fact that Alzara was an SS-rank desert witch.

Zach had, based on how Yanael and Alzara spoke, figured out that they had pasts. More than that, he didn't know. He also didn't know how their current strength related to their past strength.

There were a lot of things he didn't know about his familiars and how strong they were or could become.

As such, he also didn't know about the difference in standards. A potion that wasn't very powerful or useful for an SS-rank desert witch could be very heavy in the hands of a human who had just recently started on the path of summoning in a world of strong and stronger existences.

And without any test subjects, it would take a while still for Zach to find that out.