Chapter 76

Chapter 76: Don’t mess with alchemy, please! part

Ryu showed up at Hiraku’s trading group early in the morning, he was carrying a wooden box with many compartments filled with different extracts.

“Good morning mister Ryu, miss Ayumi is waiting for you in the lab”

Veronika greeted him at the door.

“Thanks”

Ryu replied shyly. He remembered the time when he met her at the brothel, even though they didn’t do anything, it was still awkward to speak with her after seeing her naked in such circumstances.

Ryu walked upstairs and realized the door was closed, he knocked on the door but instead of a reply, a small explosion caused a loud boom. Ryu hurriedly opened the door thinking something went awfully wrong, but what he found inside was a joyful Ayumi.

“I did it! good graces I’m a true genius!”

.....

“Ayumi what was that explosion?”

“Oh, Ryu, you were here... hey! you’re not wearing your lab coat”

Ayumi frowned upon Ryu’s lack of discipline as if he was one of her grad students.

“I told you already, I don’t have one”

“Veronika didn’t tell you? It’s in that dresser”

“I don’t get it, why are you so hell bent on making me wear a different set of clothes? and where am I supposed to change anyways?”

“Some of the materials we will be handling are dangerous, what if you happen to spill something over you and it turns out to be a deadly poison?”

“I’ll drink an antidote”

“What if its a burning liquid? you may be seriously harmed”

“Then I...”

Ryu was about to say he would just drink a healing potion, but when he looked at Ayumi’s expression he realized that it would be a mistake. Only then did he notice a glowing liquid on a glass vial on Ayumi’s hand.

“What’s that!?”

“Oh this? it’s molten elemental stone”

Ryu opened his eyes in awe.

“Last time I threw an elemental stone on fire it didn’t melt, it burned bright for a few seconds until it was consumed”

“I would tell you, but you’re still not wearing the lab coat”

She snarled, making he realize that he didn’t have a choice. Ryu then proceeded to take off his clothes under Ayumi shameless glare, only when he was completely naked she said.

“What are you doing? the lab coat is supposed to be on top of your clothes”

Ryu’s cheeks turned bright in all the shades of red and got dressed quickly.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“Well, at first I didn’t know what were you doing and curiosity got the best of me, then I was honestly intrigued and finally... I just wanted to get a good laugh out of you”

“Anyways, just tell me already”

Once Ryu’s curiosity was awakened, nothing would stop him from getting the answers he was looking for.

“Fine, you see, instead of throwing what could probably be a miracle of science or magic into a fireplace as a caveman, I performed different experiments after exposing the elemental stones to different temperatures until I found the melting point. Now, before you make any more questions, I wouldn’t know how to answer because I just managed to melt it into a stable form”

“How did you do it?”

“I tried using a benzene burner... then I realized I don’t have benzene, then I tried to use candles, magic lamps or whatever this elemental stone fueled lamps are, and finally, I used magic to raise the temperature slowly. If you heat coal, it gets to a point where it starts burning on its own, elemental stones, instead, need a stable heat source at a precise temperature. Now, why don’t you use identify on this liquid to see what it is”

Ryu was so excited to learn more about the molten liquid that he couldn’t focus properly, it took him about a minute to finally be able to get a system message.

Molten fire elemental stone: Elemental stone in its liquid state, it possess the fire attribute, can be used for crafting purposes.

“Nothing we don’t know already, it says its a liquid form of elemental stone and that it’s used to craft stuff”

“Hold on, what do you mean it’s nothing new, If this can be used for crafting then we can see if we can buy a craftman station to make more experiments!”

Ayumi was hopping around excitedly and mumbling some stuff to herself, Ryu limited himself to watch her in her ridiculous victory dance.

“Are you done?”

“No, not yet! Sophieee!”

Ayumi screamed, no more than five seconds later Sophie arrived at the lab.

“Yes, master Ayumi”

“I need to buy a craftman station, do you know where can I acquire one?”

“I’m deeply sorry Master Ayumi, but I don’t think there’s any available in here”

“Then, how do you explain all the gadgets and tools that are on market?”

“This town’s produce is nothing but raw materials. We provide the elemental stones and the iron ore to bigger cities, then they sell us tools and trinkets. This is one of the many reasons why Ironwoods is so poor”

Sophie explained

“That makes sense. I went to the blacksmith to ask him about this sword, and he said he didn’t do it”

Ryu said showing the bastard sword on his side.

“That bastard, how can he be so useless”

Ayumi growled.

“What do you mean useless, he made the distiller without even knowing its purpose, and I’d say he made a great job since it works flawlessly”

“Now that you mention it, Sophie, you said a craftman station needs a blueprint, correct?”

“Indeed, Master Ayumi”

“Then, how do you explain the blacksmith success in crafting the distiller if he doesn’t have a craftman station?”

“That’s simple, because he did it by hand, he works as a blacksmith, but since he’s not certified by the kingdom he doesn’t have access to many resources provided to the craftmen. In case you didn’t notice, he doesn’t craft as much as he repairs, most of his work is just making horseshoes. Let’s put it this way, If our blacksmith wants to make a sword he would need to buy an anvil, a hammer and a forge, then he would need to work on the sword until it’s shaped properly. A proper blacksmith, instead, just needs the station, a blueprint and then provide the station enough mana or whatever to make it work. It’s not that different in effort, but a proper station saves a lot of time. Besides, the first blacksmith may fail, while the second will always get the exact same result”

Sophie’s tone was monotone, it seemed like all the excitement and joy she had today was spent the day before.

“Then it’s all lost, I don’t even know why I went through the trouble of making this useless thing”

Ayumi sighed pointing at the lab.

“Master Ayumi, may I remind you that it was master Hiraku the one who made it”

“Shush, I had to work hard for it too”

Ayumi scoffed.

“I have an Idea. During the freeze I performed many different experiments, not only with the distiller but also with the lamps. The first thing I noticed after arriving at Ironwoods were the weird lamps, and when they showed me how they worked my mind was blown, so, of course I disarmed one. I expected some kind of fire inside, but what I found disappointed me”

“How so, Ryu?”

“I couldn’t figure out the way they work. You place a stone inside, turn the knob and it lights, turn it down and it turns off, that’s easy. What I couldn’t understand is why they work, after disarming several lamps I found out that they shouldn’t work at all, yet they do”

“Is there a point to this or you’re just telling us your story?”

“Calm down’ I’m getting there. What if it’s not the way its made, but the materials it’s made from?”

Ayumi’s expression lightened up exactly like whenever someone places a plate with delicious food in front of her.

“are you implying that they mix the molten elemental stone with the metal that makes the lamps!?”

“Correct! and what would happen if we were to mix the molten elemental stone with some extracts!?”

Ayumi and Ryu held hands and their faces were so close they almost touched, both had a grimace on their faces.

“Then you would die”

Sophie interrupted.

“What!? are you certain?”

“Of course, only certain beasts can ingest elemental stones safely and, as far as I know, they’re all very strong”

“Ayumi, do you think this liquid can be further refined? We already know that solid stones can become liquid, but can that liquid be evaporated?”

“There’s only one way to know”

Ayumi said with a chuckle that would suit better an old man with a long white beard, but not a petite woman with a cute face like her.

Ryu poured the liquid into Ayumi’s contraption and both placed their hands beneath it. They proceeded to slowly heat it until it became brighter and started bubbling.

.....

“Stop! that’s enough, let’s try to keep the temperature exactly like this”

Ayumi yelled as if her life depended on it. after a couple minutes Ryu’s hand were shaking and he couldn’t hold on any longer.

“What’s wrong Ryu? why did you stop”

“I can’t do it anymore, I think I ran out of mana”

“I guess it can’t be helped, we’re back to square one”

“Not really, there’s someone in our group that has a bigger mana pool than me, maybe if we teach her how to do magic she will be able to help us”

Ryu said with a pensive look and a hand on his chin.