The Messenger of Death

After waiting for a while, Nana came back to the storage room with a little bag in her hands.

"Here," she handed it to Al.

He took it and opened the bag to inspect its contents. The first thing that he brought out of the bag was a paper bag containing a substitute to an item he wrote on the list. 

"Atropa berries substitute for the Aeglos thorn." He read out loud.

"I have already indicated what substitutes they are, so you don't need to worry about putting the wrong thing in… Alexander, these items that you asked for, all have poisonous properties and are hardly used to make pills that are accepted by the norm. Are planning on making some kind of poison?" Nana inquired.

"Because it is not accepted by the norm still doesn't make it forbidden."

He let the cat out of the bag.

"What kind of poison are you trying to make?" Nana asked.

"One that would be strong enough to knock people out, for good." He replied.

"You mean one that would end people? Did you come across some kind of formula?"

"Maybe, I don't know. Just want to try something new, you know. How much for the items?" He went straight to the point so that he could avoid Nana's questions.

"30 blue HD-ECs for the items, then an extra 10 blue LD-ECs as a bribe. As it is, I am breaking the academy's rules by selling these to you." Nana looked at him waiting for his response.

"Why though? Why are you still selling these to me? If you want something from me then say it. I don't like to owe people." Al was skeptical of her kindness towards him. People always want something in return, that is the way people are.

"Why am I selling these to you despite the rules of the school? Well, you can say that it is because of the special treatment that I give to you." She winked at him.

"Cut it out, tell me why." She got the opposite reaction of what she wanted from Al.

"Because this is the world of cultivation, where death and abnormalities are frequent. Even with the school rules in place, as cultivators you students would want to show off your strength and in the process make enemies. From small fights, it turns into a deadly feud. Sometimes, it is okay to let you guys explore this part, how else are you going to get stronger." She gave an acceptable reason. But not enough to cancel the suspicion Al had for her.

['Why do I feel like this woman is trying to extort from me?'] Al thought.

['Just give her the energy crystals so that we can get right into making this thing. Being in the passenger seat for long isn't fun.'] Alex urged Al.

['Now you know how we feel.'] Al said.

Al started to leave the storage room. "I suggest that you rent a private room in the school's alchemy lab, with your wealth it shouldn't be a problem. Just to make sure that no one finds out that you have those items in your hands. Also, don't inhale any of the residues that come out from what you plan on making if you don't want it to be the last time you dabble in anything." Nana warned.

"Point taken. Thank you." He was about to leave again but stopped when he remembered that he didn't know the way to the school's alchemy lab.

"Uhh, one more thing. Can you give me directions to the school's alchemy lab?"

"Sure…" Nana gave him the directions to the alchemy lab and he left for good after that.

It took 15 minutes to find the School's alchemy lab. He stood in front of the alchemy lab with a face filled with disappointment.

Al thought that the alchemy lab will look as grand as the library, right in front of him is a two-story stone building with several chimneys and thick smoke exiting these chimneys.

"This place looks…" He didn't have the words to express his disappointment at the moment.

['Who cares, just head in and rent a room so we can get started on this thing.'] Alex blurted out.

Al shook his head and went inside the stone building. He saw an old man sitting by a wooden counter and he approached him.

"Excuse me, I would like to rent a lab."

"For how long?" the old man asked.

"24 hours I guess, how much will that cost?."

"5 blue LD-ECs for a day." The old man replied.

['Sounds reasonable.'] Al thought. He brought it out of his ring and handed it over to the man.

The old man removed a token from under the counter and gave it Al. "The 5th room by your right. Everything you do in the room will not be monitored, but if you break the walls then you will have to pay for damages."

Al collected it and went to where he was directed to.

After he entered the room, he made sure to lock it. The inside of the room had tables, a sink, and high windows –to prevent the eyes of others from peeping into the room and also provide adequate ventilation. He then removed the ingredients and cauldron from his ring.

"First things first. System, activate the gas mask."

-Ping!

*Activating gas mask… gas mask activated.

"Don't want to inhale the wrong thing now." He muttered under his breath.

['Are you certain you know what you are doing? This isn't our old world, I am sure that this isn't like the chemistry you know.'] Xander spoke up.

"Don't worry Xander, there are also instructions included in the fragment of memory that I recall," Al reassured him.

"First we need fire, my specialty."

-Fwoosh.

A small ball of flames materialized over Al's palm, the flame was clearly more refined than the one Alex uses.

In the room that he rented, there was already a place to put the cauldron on top of. After he did that, he let the ball of fire heat the empty cauldron up.

"According to the memory I recalled, the first step is to heat the cauldron for 3 minutes, then pour in 3 drops of a Naga's tears."

He removed all the items in the bag that Nana gave to him and searched for the substitute of the Naga's tears.

"Nether-jellyfish tears, substitute for the Naga's tears." He found what he was looking for in a little bottle. The jellyfish's tears in the bottle were dark pink with a bit of grey.

"Use double the amount stated in the formula you have to have a satisfactory result." He found an extra note written by Nana.

"Double, meaning 6 drops. Do I trust her directions?" Al wondered.

"No," he said after a while of contemplation.

He went ahead and poured 3 drops of the nether-jellyfish's tears in the cauldron.

-Shhh!!

As soon as the tears came in contact with the cauldron it turned into steam that descended to the lowest part of the cauldron and that was only the first drop. He put two more in the cauldron and the same thing happened.

"The second step in the memory I recalled, is to mix in 2 drops of snake vine nectar." He found the snake vine quickly. It was one of the items in his list that wasn't substituted.

-Drip.

He put the first drop in and nothing happened.

-Drip.

As soon as the second drop touched the nether-jellyfish's tears in the cauldron, it exploded.

-Boom!!

Al put his hand in front of his face and defended himself from the force of the explosion, despite his attempt to defend himself, he was still sent flying till his back hit the stone wall of the room. He fell and landed on his buttocks.

-Thud!!

"F*ck!!" He cursed and looked down at his ribs. Since Nana hit his abdomen, his internal injuries had been healing quickly but they weren't completely healed.

['Are you alright?'] Alex asked.

"Do I sound alright?" Al forced himself to speak politely.

"Arghh, my ribs. So much for breaking the walls, this thing is harder than titanium."

He sat where he was for a few seconds, waiting for the pain in his ribs to subside. When he stood up, he went over to where his cauldron was and looked inside.

Its insides were black now, the ingredients that he had poured into the cauldron before it exploded were nowhere to be seen.

['I told you that you are not an alchemist yet.'] Alex mentioned.

"Hush and let me think… it was probably because my timing was off. After the first drop, nothing happened, and as soon as the second drop fell in it exploded. I need to regulate my timing, that's all." Although Al knew that he didn't know the basics of alchemy, he couldn't admit it because of his pride.

Alex can use the fire bloodline ability like him but has less control than Al does.

He thought that he would have an edge over Alex if he was better at alchemy, something that could make Alex rely on him as he does on Xander. If Al admitted it, it would be the same as him telling them that he was useless.

['Al, you can just go back to the library and ask Nana if she could teach you the basics. That way I can also learn it with you.'] Alex suggested.

"No, I will do it myself." Al rejected the offer. If Alex learned alchemy, Al would be losing another edge that he thought he had over him.

He cleaned the cauldron thoroughly and started again.

-Boom!!

Not long after another explosion came from the cauldron. Even when he regulated his timing it still exploded.

-Thud!!

He crashed on the wall again. "Ahh!!" He cried out in pain. "I will do this myself." He said as he stood up and proceeded to wash the cauldron again.

This time he changed the time he poured in the second drop of the snake vine nectar.

-Drop!

Nothing happened as it fell in. "Hahaha, see. I told you that it was the timing that was of-"

-Boom!!

It exploded…