"Got any tools that can detect mana levels?" Agnes yawned as she irritably bonked Edwyn on the head. "You woke me up this early just to ask that?"
Though she was usually tolerant of Edwyn, being dragged out of bed still left her cranky.
"Sorry, Agnes," Edwyn said, scratching his head awkwardly. It wasn't until he saw her open the shop door, yawning, that he realized it was still the crack of dawn.
"Fine, I forgive you." Agnes dragged over a chair and sat down. "There are indeed tools that can detect mana strength, and quite a few of them. What exactly are you trying to test?"
"Um… alchemical materials. Herbs and stuff like that."
"Alchemical materials? Then what you need is a mana probe. I'll go grab one."
She turned and walked into the back of the shop, returning with a bronze spike about a foot long.
"Snap out of it," Agnes said, rapping on the table and handing the probe to Edwyn. "Stick this thing into whatever material you want to test, and the glowing runes will show the mana level."
"Got it." Edwyn took the probe.
"But why do you need to measure mana levels? The materials from the Seven Luminaries Consortium may vary in quality, but they're always within acceptable or excellent standards. They'd never sell junk."
Agnes leaned back, propping her chin on her hand, curious.
Edwyn scratched his head again. "To put it simply, I want to refine, or no, precisely calibrate, my teacher's formula."
"Refine the formula?" Agnes's expression changed instantly. "You've barely studied alchemy and you're already trying to modify a formula?!"
"Huh?" Edwyn was startled by her reaction.
"Not modify, calibrate!" he emphasized. "The formula my teacher gave me is way too vague. There's no way to reliably improve success rates with it."
"Stop right there, Edwyn." Agnes's tone turned serious as a wave of powerful mana pressure surged from her, pinning Edwyn in place.
Under her force, he couldn't even lift a finger.
"So this is the difference between an Elementary and High Apprentice…" Edwyn thought, stunned.
Although he'd seen Erik's strength at the social, it wasn't until he was directly suppressed by a high-tier apprentice that he truly grasped the gap in power.
"Listen, Edwyn." Agnes took a breath, calming herself, and then released the pressure.
"I know you're a genius, better than me, even. But no matter how gifted you are, you're still a beginner when it comes to alchemy. You don't know as much about it as Chayle and I do."
She softened her tone, knowing that someone Edwyn's age might easily rebel against harsh advice.
"The knowledge our teacher gave us, whether formulas or blueprints, he personally tested them all. Even if you fail following them, you won't put yourself in danger."
"Do you understand?"
Her eyes were full of hope. She'd once done something similarly reckless. If Joron hadn't intervened in time, she would've been dead and buried. She didn't want Edwyn making the same mistake.
"I think you're being a bit overly cautious, Agnes. Again, I'm not modifying, I'm calibrating," Edwyn replied with a touch of helplessness. Agnes was acting like she had PTSD.
She opened her mouth to argue, but Edwyn cut her off.
"If you're really that worried, why not just come with me? With you there, what could possibly go wrong? I'm just brewing potions, not playing with red mercury."
"You… ugh!" Agnes realized she wouldn't win this one and muttered, half-annoyed, "Let's go to the testing zone. I'll cover the Mana Stone fee. Maybe a little failure will teach you something."
Edwyn grinned. An unexpected bonus.
"Great. Shall we go now?"
Agnes shot him a glare.
"Move it!"
…
Testing Zone
The lab was sparsely furnished, besides the experiment table, apprentices had to bring their own tools and materials.
Agnes stood in a corner, somehow producing a folding screen to hide herself.
"I'm only here to save your life. I'm not watching your experiment, and I'm not getting involved."
Edwyn shook his head. In the Magus World, there was no concept of patents. If your knowledge got leaked, the only way to deal with a copycat was through raw power.
Before the founding of Magus Academies, self-taught hedge-mages had to explore knowledge on their own. Even now, academies only made basic knowledge accessible to apprentices. If you wanted to go further, you had to find a teacher or do your own research.
Which is why most Mages were specialized. Edwyn suspected that the vague formula he had was because Joron didn't focus on potion-making. Maybe he just didn't care to refine it, or it could've been something he bartered from someone else.
"Alright, I'm starting."
After three months of brewing, Edwyn was more than proficient with Focus Potions. Material prep, insertion, mana infusion, every step was clean and methodical.
And with each trial, he measured and recorded the mana flow during each stage of the potion-making process.
Days passed. Then weeks.
Edwyn spent half a month in that lab. Aside from meditating and recovering mana, every minute went into testing. Agnes, true to her word, brought books from her shop and stayed the entire time to protect him.
She was holding onto a stubborn belief: She had failed before, there's no way Edwyn would succeed.
"This is the final test. Step nine: mana reading at 13.5. If it works, then 13.5 is the threshold. If it fails, then it's 14."
Dark circles under his eyes, Edwyn scrawled the last line of data into his notebook. The probe Agnes had lent him could only measure in 0.5 increments, but that was precise enough.
If he succeeded with this last batch, he'd have a highly accurate formula for Focus Potions.
Mechanically, Edwyn processed the ingredients, added them to the cauldron, and began the brewing process.
The passion was long gone, now there was only numb, stubborn repetition.
The liquid inside gradually changed color as the ingredients reacted. With each step, Edwyn checked the mana flow. And when he reached the final stage, something stirred in his dulled heart.
Boom!
Blue steam burst from the cauldron. Edwyn stared at the deep blue liquid inside, stunned, then finally, relief washed over him.
"Agnes! Get out here, I did it!"
He laughed and yanked the screen aside.
"You succeeded? What do you mean you succeeded?" Agnes was baffled. All she'd seen these past days was Edwyn making Focus Potions like normal. No explosions, no disasters, just the occasional failed batch.
"You don't get it," Edwyn said, shaking his head.
This was the first cry of a new era.