Abe the Wizard

The potion master guild got a lot noisier the second morning. For the first time in a while, the humans, orcs, and dwarves representatives all showed up. From what it looked like, this was one of these rare occasions where non-elven potion masters were allowed to spend points to head over to the potion master encampment. The items would still be at the same expensive price, but this was the headquarter branch where all the best quality ingredients would be worth spending a fortune for.

There was definitely a bigger flow of customers coming here today. Not just that, some of the potion masters who were more interested in research and brewing also became. It was the same for those who usually worked for privatized facilities and those who were directly hired by the governing bodies of each empire.

Master Muir spoke loudly, “Attention! There were just too many potion masters that came here today, and since there is only a limited amount of space within the potion room, we’ve limited the numbers to only those above advanced rank. Anyone else, we’ll be closing them off from Master Bennett’s live demonstration.”

Master Muir thought that he didn’t have to do this, but the words got out before he told his elven friends about what Abel was planning to do. Somehow, someone leaked the information about this live demonstration to all the potion masters on the central continent. Everyone started rushing in, and a huge panic was what resulted. Everyone tried to be the first one to get to see Master Bennett in person.

One human intermediate potion master cried out in dissatisfaction, “I’ve traded all my points to come here already! I’m not stopping before I get anything!”

Another orc potion master cried out, “Boo hoo to you! I spent more than just my points to get over here. Why should you be the one to see Master Bennett?”

One after another, the people among the crowd all spew out their complaints. Many of them came here to see a live demonstration—the non-elves, especially. Almost every one of them had spent a great fortune to come over here to the Potionmaster Encampment.

Master Muir was left with no choice but to discuss with the other two masters, “Be-beware! For those of you who’re in the intermediate or beginner rank, there’ll be a live circle projection right over here if you want to see Master Bennett’s potion brewing procedure. It won’t be like when you’re watching in person, but it’ll be at least more than worth it than the points you’ve spent to come over here.”

Whether that statement was true or not, it did manage to stop the complaining a little more. The crowd definitely wanted to see Master Bennett. Once that condition was secured, it would be up to them to see how much they could get out of what they got to see.

No, Abel didn’t choose to take his flying chariot this time. He had the teleportation circle in his new residence, and he wasn’t planning on saving energy when the distance was this close. He was in the underground basement now. Every one of his circle base and the energy slot would have top-level gemstones for energy supply. He could spend the energy in however ways he wanted, essentially, which was why his appearance was so shocking when he showed up from the teleportation circle inside the Potionmaster Guild’s building with his two followers.

Now, about several hundred potion masters were watching inside the hallroom. Not all of them knew what Master Bennett looked like, so none recognized him at first sight. On the other hand, Abel was just starting to notice the diversity here. The humans, the orcs, and the dwarves all seemed to be wearing potion master crests in front of their chests.

“Master Bennett!” one working staff saw Abel and greeted them with a bow.

“Master Bennett! Master Bennett’s here!”

Before Abel’s response, everyone started cheering as loudly as they could. They all thought that the trip was finally starting to worth it. They finally got the chance to learn from, very literally, the best man in the field. They wanted to imitate the craftsmanship of Master Bennett, mainly so that they could come up with ideas just as creative as his.

Poly and Gunter started becoming more nervous very quickly. Poly, especially. She could just unleash her level twenty presence to calm everyone down, but everyone in the crowd seemed to have a background of their own. She was really worried that Abel would be in a lot of trouble if she hurt any one of them.

Master Muir’s voice cracked throughout the room, “What. Are. You. Doing! One step closer, and you’ll be banished out of this area, do you understand?”

They started calming down very quickly. From then on, all the potion masters backed away as carefully as they could be.

Abel was the first one to ask, “What’s going on, Master Muir?”

It was the right question to ask. He just couldn’t understand how things could be so messy in just a day.

Master Muir seemed like he didn’t know what to say, “I… I announced how you’re ready to do a live demonstration, and this came to be.”

Abel asked as he sensed more potion masters that were outside, “I thought you’re only doing this for the Potionmaster Guild? What happened?”

Master Muir explained, “Yes, and these people are from the Potionmaster Guild. It’s just that those who don’t belong to the elven race don’t come here regularly. They’d rather save points than to pay for the entrance fee and all.”

By the way, the Potionmaster Guild was originally an organization reserved for the elven race. Everything changed when the sky demons came along and built their empire of Evil. All the races on the central continent united, and that meant that all the privatized technologies had their restrictions loosened for more to use. The elves were pressured to loosen up the entrance condition for entering the Potionmaster’s Guild. Everyone was allowed to go inside and enjoy the available resources. Of course, that just created an influx of newcomers that were of other races. Still, the elves did get they saw on one very important thing, and that was that the Potionmaster Encampment was a special ground reserved to only the elves. It made Law Bay City be the safest place on the central continent to be a very simple thing. The elves were the only ones that lived here, and that kept law and order very stable around here.

Master Muir spoke as softly as he could, “I’m afraid that you won’t be able to do the live demonstration in your lab, Master Bennett. There are just too many potion masters that came here today. There are about a hundred just for the live, and I’ve even restricted the number to just those in advanced rank.”

Abel was absolutely astonished, “How did the Potionmaster Guild organize everything in the first place, Master Muir?”

Master Muir pointed towards the meeting hall, “So I’ve had the servants set up a bunch of lab equipment in the meeting hall. I’m not sure if the size of the alchemy table is to your liking, so why don’t we go have a look first?”

The meeting hall Master Muir mentioned was the largest there was in the whole Potionmaster Guild. It was reserved more for large-sized assembly than workshop tutorials, really. When Abel walked in, he realized that the original seats were already taken. All that could be seen was the alchemy table and a wardrobe that’s for placing in ingredients.

Master Muir smiled and introduced, “This hallroom wasn’t all that small, Maste Bennett, but again, this is about a one hundred advanced potion masters we’re talking about here. They’ll all have to stand as they watch you do the demonstration, but there should be enough space for you to exercise whatever you are going to do.”

Abel nodded, “Understood. I would like you to come over here then, Master Muir.”

Without asking about anything else, Abel walked towards the alchemy table and let the other elves handle whatever else needed to be taken care of. As far as he was concerned, all he needed to do was complete one forging process here. He began by checking all the available equipment. The brewing tools were exactly the same as the set that he owned, actually. He could see that there were five portions of the finest selected ingredients. As little time as there was to prepare, he could still see that the Potionmaster Guild spent quite some effort to prepare.

After he made sure everything was ready, the advanced alchemists came to the meeting hallroom in a very orderly manner. All of them were of a distinct status of their own, but they were all very respectful in how they acted. Their eyes flashed zealously as they stared towards the young prodigy that was about to teach them whatever skill he had to offer. The name “Master Bennett” was a celebrity’s title here on the central continent. The “light healing potion” he invented was a product that sparked off an entire generation that relied heavily on producing all sorts of master-level blue quality potion. The advanced potion masters seemed to have been asked beforehand already to not get too close to Abel. Abel had a ten-meter radius buffer, and everyone stayed in their designated area. They were all skilled and famous in their own way. The seats were designed in a way that the most accomplished of them would be at the front. Elves were of priority, of course. This was a territory owned by the elves, so no one would say anything if they got to have the best seat.

No, none of the advanced potion master spoke. About a hundred advanced potion master controlled their breathing, making the meeting room as quiet as possible. That’s when Master Muir, Master Nolan, and Master Balfour entered as well. They stood right about five meters away from where Abel’s alchemy table was.

Abel scanned around as he spoke, “Everyone, listen to me. I’ll only demonstrate this once, so make sure you watch as closely as you can. Remember, do not extend your power of the Will within a two-meter range of me. Do not influence me as I’m trying to forge.”

Everyone present was at least advanced rank or above. Anyone one of them could have the potential to affect Abel’s performance greatly with their presence. They knew that, so after hearing Abel’s request, they all tried their best to keep their power of the Will in check.

Abel smiled and bowed to everyone, “I’ll be starting, then.”

The three masters responded with their own bow, “Please, Master Bennett.”

This was when the entire Potionmaster’s Encampment became completely quiet. In the middle of the hallroom, a giant projection was displayed to show what’s happening inside the hallroom. Everyone was waiting for a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Abel spoke as he took out the necessary ingredients, “Today, I’ll be crafting the “natural breathing potion” It is a recipe that belongs to the Potionmaster Guild. If anyone wishes to become a master potion master, this is available at the guild.”

He continued as he started processing the ingredients, “There’s a total of one hundred and twenty ingredients. From here on, I’ll be as quiet as I can. Whether you learn something from this, it will be up to you.”

Just like that, Abel got the first type of ingredient in his hands and started sorting through the ingredients. So far, all the steps were pretty basic. As there were schools of different disciplines, Abel thought that it best began with methods that were universal in the field. He was very fast, though. Much faster than most of the people watching could be. He was precise at the same time. He was literally following the steps that were in the textbook. It was a total of 120 different ingredients, and it took about two hours in total. Everyone present watched as closely as they could. Abel didn’t make one mistake as he was keeping his maximum speed at a constant pace. The intermediate and beginner potion masters didn’t seem to make much sense of what was happening, but the advanced potion masters and the three masters were already quite shocked with what they were looking at. For such speedy and efficient processing, only those with a lot of stamina would be able to go through all these different materials with the perfect timing. Speed and precision. Those were the two things needed to make sure each step was done correctly without making the ingredients lose their freshness. It was very easy for Abel to do this, but it was pretty impossible for anyone present to really imitate what he was doing.