Like always, Wilona used her time in the hot tub to read up on the materials inside her magically focused books. She felt that the system wanted her to become some kind of jack-of-all-trades that knows everything she possibly can about magic; otherwise, she didn't get why it's so obsessed with giving her starter books for different topics.

  First, it was the book about runes, and now a book about potions. The first leads up to the second one because an alchemist needed to enchant her cauldrons in order to make them functional—who would have thought that magical potions were actually volatile?

  Speaking of potions, the book she's reading has a lot to say about brewing. She expected some kind of kiddie version of alchemy, but no, this thing takes itself seriously and is closer to her high school textbooks than the child-friendly stories in libraries.

  Like, for example, the book detailed the history of alchemy. It started off as some kind of art that created cheap copies of day-to-day objects, like creating gemstones, shining rocks, or liquid that "turned" silver into "gold" through recoloration. Mirrors are also something that old alchemists made—not bronze mirrors, but crystalline.

  Nowadays, the items she listed are actually magical, but back then? They were nothing more than a sham.

  According to the book, everything changed when someone decided to create the method of transmutation. Or in alchemical terminology—Attrebui.

  After the process of transmutation came about, alchemists actually became respected and even got funding for their future works by interested parties. Nobles, merchants, royal families. The works. Through this funding, alchemy lost the reputation of creating shams and instead became something of a profession which changed the properties of an object.

  Wood can be like steel—durable, tough, and useful. Unlike steel, however, wood can be grown. The book mentions that Ironwood is a result of an alchemist's work during this renaissance. There is proof, but like all other important alchemists of this era, the person responsible for such a thing is lost to time. Some say that it's not individuals who made such world-bending recipes and objects, but groups of people who, over time, improved upon the craft.

  Wilona is actually leaning into believing the latter because there are important alchemists who have been mentioned, just that they weren't given credit for all the groundbreaking discoveries. Chances are, they were related to these things in some shape or form.

  Moving past the history of the craft, there are also methodologies.

  Alchemists say "Hazanon" to tell their peers to wear protective gear. This gear consists of a plague doctor's mask, heavy-set leather clothing with a cloak on top of it, and dual-layered gloves. There is a reason why so much protection is needed, of course, and that's because potions, when made wrong, can explode outward. And hot liquid is bad enough, but one full of alchemical materials?

  The alchemist who failed can only pray that they didn't add some kind of blending material like the Mawfern—Digestis Folium according to the book—otherwise their brew would eat away at their Hazan.

  Other terms mainly describe the different types of processes an alchemist's brew can undergo.

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  "Purefica" describes purifying something and removing impurities. "Guisa" is to curse something—it is not only limited to when the alchemist who is making the potion hates someone or is commissioned to make something that kills, as it is also used to make powerful potions with heavy drawbacks.

  "Amplefeca" is used when an alchemist wants to amplify the effects of a potion, be it positive or negative.

  And last but not least, there's a brewing method called "Scorg," which is the exact opposite of transmutation. If Attrebui adds a trait to an item, then Scorg removes it.

  But just like Guisa, Scorg can be used in a more positive manner. There is a potion made using the Scorg methodology that—get this—is used to kill cancer. Like, literally cancer. People learned that healing magic does not work on people inflicted with cancer and that the only way to remove it is either true amputation or invasive spells—surgery, essentially. But with Scorg, the cancer can just get killed by the liquid running through their bodies.

  It does weaken them, of course—but like, that's just chemotherapy!

  And—and, besides Scorgamed—a term used to describe the methodology in a positive manner—there is also "Skoure," or the act of cleansing through fire. It sounds cool on paper, and it is—it's basically chemical sanitization—but at the same time, Skoure also describes chemical castration.

  "Why are you laughing?" Fuzz stopped carving enchantments into the metal pots to stare at Wilona in a strange manner. "I don't recall seeing something funny when reading that book."

  "No—no—it's just—" Wilona cackled, "you guys castrate people?!"

  "Yes. Rapists deserve such a fate, do they not?" Fuzz replied in a serious manner. "I'm assuming you have reached the part which describes Scorg?"

  "Pretty much," Wilona stopped laughing. She didn't know that it was used that way. "I think it's kind of cool. I know most of these—well, familiar with them at least. You can't go to school without being involved in a lab during science class, and even though I had my lab partners do my side of the work, I still knew stuff..."

  Yeah, she didn't know how to kill the awkward atmosphere that came after she laughed at something that's used to punish rapists.

  "That's good then, an experience in alchemy means that you won't find potion-making difficult."

  "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I will," Wilona rebuked, even though she knew that her struggles would only be at the start. After she gets a profession and a skill to accompany it, she's going to brew potions like an experienced alchemist. Eh—an experienced novice alchemist, but her point stands.

  "You shouldn't skim through the pages like that," Fuzz warned her. "You may skip an important facet of alchemy that will determine your life."

  "Yeah, I get it, I'll go back to it." Wilona waved her off. She's now bored out of her mind and she basically finished the methodologies anyway, so she might as well have some fun. "Hey Fuzz, did you know that, like, Noxium means deadly smoke which comes out of your cauldron during alchemical processes? It's why the Hazan is so important!"

  "Yes, Wilona. I know. I've read that exact same book in my free time." Fuzz already sounded tired. Great!

  "Uh-huh. Anyways, there are extra substances which may come out of your cauldron when you're brewing dangerous materials—and sometimes even when you're brewing materials that are safe! The Guisa methodology is something that you need to watch out for especially!"

  "Mhmm." Fuzz replied without any heart. "Thank you for the heads-up."

  "Anyway, then there's this thing called Papira, which is basically just you writing down what you learn about alchemy on paper! Kinda cool, right? I think it's cool. The book I'm holding is basically a bunch of Papiras." Wilona noticed Fuzz stopping her work to turn her head toward her.

  "Papiras," she said, dumbfounded. "You know what just came out of your mouth, right?"

  "Yep." Wilona nodded, even though she didn't. "I'm gonna eat some Papiras. I'll eat your Papiras. How about that?"

  Fuzz quickly looked away and focused on her task. "What is wrong with you?"

  "Everything." Wilona grinned. Was that word some kind of taboo? Like, Papira is to write something down and put it in history, so she didn't get why the meaning changed after adding a single sound to it!

  "Okay, so there's also this thing called Intiresta, which is basically like, to make theories about potions and stuff. Me making that soup full of toxins is apparently part of it! Kinda cool, right?" Fuzz nodded at Wilona without saying anything. Wilona ate some of the aforementioned soup. "Which means that most of the stuff I'm reading about is actually Intirestas!"

  Wilona eyed Fuzz. No reaction. Hm. So only Papira gets that kind of thing? Weird.

  She annoyed the myceloid some more, but eventually, her focus went back to the book and she started reading more of the next few pages, which talked about the types of constellations which every methodology requires in order to function.

  Planets aren't needed, but groups of stars such as Solarth (Amplification), Scourge (Curses and Hexes), Nova (Cleansing), and Iridian (Healing) are mentioned to be pretty important for a cauldron to have.

  There are also three constellations that are considered to be vital for a cauldron to function. These constellations are actually being carved by Fuzz as she reads. They are called Emberis, Vortexis, and Ancanor, and each one represents fire, water, and magic respectively.

  A cauldron can lack the other constellations and still function, but those three are vital—otherwise, potions simply wouldn't be made.