Chapter 4 Incredible Alchemy
At midnight, after a long absence, Victor suffered from insomnia. He rarely suffered from insomnia. The last time this happened was when he found himself traveling to the world of alchemy.
He didn't like drastic changes or losing control, but now he was once again forced to leave his original comfort zone.
When he walked downstairs and passed the door of the alchemy room, he stopped because he unexpectedly discovered that Vesemir had not rested yet, but was extracting plants.
The sound of his footsteps failed to conceal the sharp senses of the witcher.
Without looking back, the witcher said, "Can't you sleep? Child."
"Yes, I am a little uncomfortable with the new environment. Let's go out for a walk. What about you...what medicine are you working on?"
"The witcher's ancestral formula energy soup can enhance the effect of physical training. Extract it a few hours in advance and keep it hot before starting training. It has the best effect. This is a drink you will drink every day from now on."
Vesemir said it calmly, but Victor, who also knew a little about alchemy, knew very well that the other party was really good to him, otherwise there would be no need to stay up all night to prepare for him.
"Thank you," he said.
Then he turned around and went back to his room, lay down and fell asleep.
…
The energy soup tastes unexpectedly delicious, as sweet as juice. Vesemir said that this was the taste they specially improved for that little monkey named Ciri. Paired with cave fungi, it is a nutritious breakfast specially provided for witcher apprentices.
The training begins on the "Path", a passage with many obstacles surrounding the ancient castle of Kaer Morhen. Witchers often practice running and breathing control techniques here.
In Victor's eyes, this is the medieval version of "cross-country obstacle". This activity is very good for exercising "running", "jumping", "crawling on four legs", "climbing" and "balance". Help, the obvious disadvantage is that the security measures are also medieval - there are no security measures.
In addition, although Vesemir called it "The Path" when he introduced it, according to the records in the books, the young witcher gave it another name: "The Killer's Path".
Vesemir ran with him the entire way. It was so considerate that Victor felt a little embarrassed, wondering if it was too cruel to let a grandfather who was hundreds of years old run and jump like this. However, he soon learned that ginger is still old, and Vesemir was still fine until he was so tired that he couldn't breathe.
After the break, we entered the basic swordsmanship class. Kaer Morhen's practice sword is similar to the European long sword, which is a half-hand sword with a long cross guard.
However, he didn't touch the sword at all during the first swordsmanship lesson. Until lunch, he practiced basic footwork. He put his hands on his waist, his feet shoulder-width apart, his knees slightly bent, and he took a step forward with either foot, tiptoeing on the front foot. Point toward the opponent and rotate your back foot outward about 45 degrees.
According to Vesemir, this position allows a person to maintain balance both front and rear. Practice your footwork first, otherwise holding the sword will just be a distraction.
After lunch, an ordinary witcher apprentice would continue training after a short break. However, at Victor's request, three hours were set aside in the afternoon for him to go to the library to read, and then continue training until sunset.
After dinner at the end of the day, Victor felt extremely tired. After washing the dishes, he went upstairs and fell into bed, falling into a deep sleep.
…
After making sure that he was covered with quilt, Vesemir left the guest room with a smile.
Regarding today's training process, Vesemir found it very interesting. Although this child lacked skills, he had an excellent physique and an unexpectedly tough character. He ran down the "trail" and was out of breath and struggling, but he would not Stop; the same goes for swordsmanship training. Even though your physical strength is exhausted and shaky, you still hold on until the end of the practice.
However, the trait of perseverance needs to be tested. It is estimated that children who grow up in a peaceful environment will ask for more rest time if they cannot last more than a week! Vesemir thought so.
…
A month later, Vesemir admitted that he had underestimated the child's potential. He was a civilian genius.
"Little Road", although there is no amazing progress, but it is steady and fast, and now you can complete daily exercise without following yourself.
In terms of swordsmanship, starting from the plow position is an introduction. Now let’s start practicing the bull position. The progress is also not fast but it can’t be considered slow.
This is especially true in terms of learning. In his hundreds of years of life, he has educated countless naughty children. Some of them have a photographic memory, some of them read ten lines at a glance, and some of them draw inferences. But Victor’s concentration and calmness when reading But it is the rarest.
…
After dinner that day, Vesemir originally thought it would be another peaceful night, but instead of going straight to the library, Victor took the initiative to find him and seek his help.
"I must apologize to you first, Vesemir." This was Victor's opening statement. "I actually have some secrets that I haven't told you."
Seeing the seriousness in his blue eyes, Vesemir laughed kindly and heartily. "My child, trust is never achieved overnight, so you don't need to apologize to me. I completely understand and don't take it to heart.
But I'm still glad you're willing to trust me more now. So, what are you going to tell me? "
"I am an apprentice alchemist."
"Um...I know this, so?"
"Referring to books in the past month, I confirmed that the alchemy I learned is somewhat different from the alchemy the world knows, or that there is a decisive difference..."
Vesemir raised an eyebrow.
"According to the definition of vocabulary and semantics, what I learned should not be called alchemy, but should be called "Incredible Alchemy". And I want to try to see if I can show it in this world!"
…
In the alchemy room, Vesemir handed the main ingredient of the energy soup, the apple, to Victor, and then watched him throw it into the boiling water in the cauldron without hesitation.
"The normal process of preparing alchemy potions is nothing more than selecting a combination from extraction, grinding, mixing, fermentation, boiling, distillation, filtration, blackening and other methods.
And "Incredible Alchemy" is actually a "conceptual" synthesis of added materials through "boiling" with one's own mind as a reference.
So all we need is a fire source, a cauldron, a stirring rod, and enough water to cover all the materials.
It looks like making soup, right!
It's really no different from making soup..."
Victor said, and threw the auxiliary ingredients such as long-leaf plantain, white hibiscus petals, verbena, dandelion, and cypress stem fruit into the cauldron in order.
Then he started stirring.
The green, white, red, yellow, blue, and ochre-red herbs rolled along the stirring rod, and the direction and speed of stirring were irregular, and they were done as the heart desired.
"When stirring, imagine the appearance of the desired finished product. The clearer the imagination is, the faster the finished product will be completed.
For example, I am going to make the witcher energy soup now. After drinking it for a month, I know the effect of the finished product very well and can judge which things are impurities, so I estimate that it will be completed in about an hour.
Just like this, just throw all the ingredients in and keep stirring... stirring..."
Seeing this, Vesemir was already a little tempted to stop...
It's okay for the European sweet apple, but there is too much long-leaf plantain, too few white hibiscus petals, and only the mushroom cap and dandelion should only be taken from the roots, but he threw all the whole plants in, and the cypress stem fruit was put into the pot without even breaking the hard shell.
But thinking about it, I hesitated. This child has been too calm in the past month, so calm that it doesn't even make people feel like a child. He should know what he is doing.
...Forget it...Even if he is playing a prank, it's just a waste of materials. With this in mind, Vesemir decided to relax and let him go.
Just like that, an hour passed, and Vesemir watched Victor humming a strange and brisk tune in the dim alchemy room. He could vaguely hear the repeated sound of "La La La Demacia" as he stirred a pot of stew into a shit-yellow color and emitted a pungent smell.
Then the sudden flash of colorful light in the cauldron suddenly shone into his silver-gray cat eyes, leaving him stunned.
At that time, he had no idea that he would become an indispensable background figure in textbooks centuries later.
…
In the dim alchemy room, the colorful light was so dazzling, at that moment! As the first person in history to witness "Incredible Alchemy", in front of this incredible miracle, the witcher Vesemir couldn't help but kneel down in front of the cauldron, mumbling in his mouth.
The Fire Sage who brought such a great miracle smiled: "Want to learn? I'll teach you."
This sentence opened the curtain of modern alchemy, and it is a moment that history must remember...
Excerpt from - "Great! Incredible Alchemy!"