Chapter 5 — Alchemy of Possibilities

Chapter 5 — Alchemy of Possibilities

Oh, before continuing my training, I need to take a look at the new skill — Alchemy. Maybe I will be able to craft something from those herbs growing nearby... Well, let us see.

He opened the skill description.

Skill: Alchemy (Rank One)
Available to craft:

Health Potion (Rank One)
Cost: 1000 mana
Restores: 1000 health

Mana Potion (Rank One)
Cost: 1000 mana
Restores: 500 mana

Experience Potion (Rank One)
Cost: 1,000,000 mana
Grants: 1000 experience

“Whoa!” he exclaimed. “It seems that to craft potions, you do not need any ingredients… just mana.”

He carefully looked over the skill description again, thinking aloud.

“Health potion… yes, that is excellent. It will always be useful.”
“Mana potion… hmm… it does not seem very effective.”
“You spend a thousand mana — and get only five hundred back.”

He frowned, considering.

“Although, on the other hand, if it restored fifteen hundred for the cost of one thousand, then it would be a total cheat.”
“So I guess it is balanced after all.”

He nodded to himself.

“Still… this skill already seems useful. And most likely, it will get even better later.”

His gaze stopped on the last item.

“And the experience potion… That one seems completely overpowered.”
“But… one million mana, and you only get a thousand experience points?”
“I do not even have one percent of that million right now.”

He sighed quietly.

“That means I will not be able to craft an experience potion any time soon.”

"Let’s try to create a potion," he thought. "Health potion or mana potion?..”
He paused for a moment.
“Health potion. At least that one will definitely come in handy.”

The moment he thought about creating a health potion, a flash of light appeared about half a meter in front of his face. Hanging in the air was a small vial — around five or six centimeters tall — filled with a clear blue liquid.

It hovered there for just a second, and then began to fall.

“Damn!” Alisar barely managed to catch it. “One more second and I would’ve shattered my first potion!”

He exhaled in relief and examined the vial carefully.

“Pretty small... In games they looked bigger. Around thirty milliliters. Yeah... But it looks beautiful. Cool.”

He turned the vial gently in his hands, watching how the liquid shimmered in the light.

“I need to be more careful when making potions. If it falls, I’ll just waste a thousand mana for nothing.”

Alisar paused and considered:

“I wonder how to check if it works? Should I cut my hand or leg a bit?.. No way. Forget that.”

He nodded to himself, deciding firmly:

“I’ll just drink it. Even if I’m not wounded — a health potion shouldn’t hurt me.”

He opened the vial and drank it all in one go.

It barely had any taste. More like cool, clean water.

But almost immediately after finishing the potion, a strange warmth spread through his body. A wave of energy pulsed inside him. The exhaustion vanished.

He blinked in surprise.

“What the…”
He felt refreshed. Very refreshed.

“It’s like I just had a full night’s sleep. Like eight hours of deep rest... in a single second.”

"With this potion... I could train forever. Endlessly. Gain experience, level up..." he thought, thrilled by the realization.
"This is basically the key to infinite progress!"

He reached out, ready to create another potion — but stopped just in time.

He opened the status window:

> Mana: 1,261 / 2,260

"Damn... Just enough for one. Only one. Even if I wait a little, I still won’t reach two thousand..."

He bit his lip and glanced at the remaining unassigned stat points:

> Unassigned Stat Points: 38

"If my theory is right, then Intellect, Magic Attack, and Magic Defense increase mana. When I put 10 points into Strength, my HP went up by a hundred. I assume it’s the same here. If I invest 38 points, I should get +380 mana. Still not enough for two potions, but at least I’ll be closer."

He paused, watching the mana bar slowly, steadily begin to refill.

"Besides, the larger the total mana pool, the faster it probably regenerates. Or maybe the regen ticks are bigger. It would make sense. So... it’s not a waste."

He took a breath and distributed the points:

> — Intellect: +13
— Magic Attack: +13
— Magic Defense: +12

Confirmation. A gentle warmth pulsed through his body. He felt something open inside his chest and mind — as if there was more space, more energy flowing through him.

> New Mana Max: 2,640

"Hmph. Now I only need 359 mana to create the second potion. Maybe, in a couple of hours, it’ll recover on its own."

He narrowed his eyes and nodded.

"Well then, time to get back to training," he said to himself, glancing at the empty potion vial.

His mana was slowly regenerating, but his body felt amazing. The pain in his muscles had vanished, as if it had never been there at all. He felt refreshed, full of energy—like he had just gotten a full night’s sleep.

"I can probably train for a couple of hours straight without stopping now..." he thought with growing enthusiasm.

He stretched, and his shoulders and back gave a satisfying crack. His breathing was steady, and his heart beat calmly.

Wasting no time, he returned to the training room.

And once again—weights. Dumbbells. Squats. Barbells. No exhaustion, no soreness, just a steady rhythm. He moved with confidence, like a machine.