MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

"…Alright. You're at the final stretch now, Ataraxia. Always remember to maintain composure at all times."

"…Honestly, your words are distracting me, Miss Mystia."

After taking out all of the items needed to concoct the Nascent Rebirth Elixir out of her storage, Mystia immediately put all of her attention on every movement Valyr made as the concoction process began.

Keeping in mind that the young man in front of her was still a beginner in alchemy, the woman made sure to explain every step of the process clearly to him, making sure to reduce the chances of him slipping up as much as possible.

Fortunately, with how clear Mystia's explanation was, Valyr was able to follow through most of the things she told him, relying on his instincts and accumulated experience from his other identity to fill in the remaining blanks.

Continuing to work with the back and forth that was happening between the two of them, the two unknowingly ended up spending over two days on the concoction process, finally nearing completion by the time the sun was at its peak once more.

Of course, with how long the concoction process lasted, it was no surprise that both Mystia and Valyr eventually slipped up at some point during the concoction process, whether it was a mistake in explanation or a mistake in interpretation.

Nevertheless, the two were able to quickly take note of it and salvage the situation, allowing them to arrive at the point that they were currently at.

"Now that you've finished infusing the concoction with your mana, only the final step awaits you," said Mystia, faintly holding her breath as she watched Valyr dump around 5,000 points of his mana into the cauldron before him.

"Remember the movement I told you to focus on the first time we met? Move the mana you infused into the cauldron in that manner and everything will start to fall into place."

"Once the contents inside the cauldron take on a metallic purple hue, then that means you've successfully concocted yourself a vial of Nascent Rebirth Elixir."

Nodding in response to her explanation, Valyr went over her words in his mind for a bit before proceeding to do what was asked of him.

Swoosh!

Putting more than 100% of his concentration into every movement he made, the young man slowly nudged the mana he infused into the cauldron here and there, gradually making it move according to the unique movements Mystia had him remember.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

As Valyr continued to have the mana in the cauldron follow the movements, the contents within the cauldron began to change accordingly, with the agglomeration taking a deep blue hue at first before transforming into a dark, murky green.

Swoosh!

Deciding to ignore the fact that the contents of the cauldron were continuously changing colors during the process, the young man continued to move the mana in the cauldron, causing the contents to change in color even further.

"…" By the time ten minutes had passed since he started moving the mana, Valyr noticed that the contents within the cauldron had taken on a metallic silver color, a far cry from the metallic purple he wanted to see.

Yet, rather than doubt himself and wonder whether he was still doing the right thing after seeing that, he decided to double down on his actions, moving the mana within the cauldron at a slightly faster rate than before.

Whoosh!

Thankfully, after spending a total of 30 minutes moving the mana inside the cauldron, the contents finally began to take on a slight purplish hue, prompting Valyr to temper his expectations as the movements remained consistent.

In the end, it took two hours of continuous movement for the contents within the cauldron to finally take on the metallic purple color Mystia was talking about, which made the young man let out a wide sigh of relief the moment he saw it.

"Congratulations, Ataraxia."

Fwoosh!

As those words left her mouth, Mystia went ahead and moved the contents within the cauldron into a vial with her energy.

Placing a stopper on it to make sure Valyr's efforts weren't wasted, she then gave the vial to the young man with a proud smile. "You've just successfully concocted a vial of Nascent Rebirth Elixir."

"Thank you," said Valyr in response, keeping in mind that all of the information that Mystia shared with him throughout the process was a tightly-kept secret.

With that, it did not take long for him to understand that the act of teaching him how to concoct the Nascent Rebirth Elixir was basically her way of showing her trust towards him.

'You won't regret this, Mystia,' thought the young man to himself, making a promise to himself to do everything he can to obtain the information she needed once the tournament arrived.

"What are you waiting for?" Seeing that Valyr was continuing to stare at the elixir he had concocted, Mystia snapped him back to reality. "Drink the vial you just made."

"Ah, right." Unsure as to whether or not there was a time limit to how long the elixir would be effective, the young man decided to skip checking the item's description as he downed the vial in one gulp.

After all, there wouldn't be any negative side effects to consuming the elixir, right?

Gulp.

"Woah…" Sensing that the elixir's effects had begun to spread throughout his entire body, the young man soon felt as if his body was being connected to a higher realm of some sort.

Feeling the incredibly pure and powerful energy that was coming from this higher realm, Valyr unknowingly began to absorb this energy for himself, causing a myriad of changes to start happening to his body.

Though, just as soon as he began to absorb this energy, a terrifying pressure appeared within Mystia's room all of a sudden, forcing Mystia to kneel on the ground as she tried her hardest to endure its might.

Of course, with how Mystia was barely holding onto her consciousness under the pressure, it went without saying that Valyr immediately succumbed to that pressure, falling unconscious as he laid flat on the ground.

But then again, if someone were to view the current situation from the outside, one would immediately notice that…

Valyr wasn't entirely unconscious.

…

"Fledgling Emissary…"

Standing near a large window, an old man gazed out at the vast expanse of space, his expression solemn as it seemed like he was looking at a specific spot.

"I know that your current circumstances have caused you to seek greater strength as quickly as possible," murmured the old man to himself, only to shake his head soon after.

"However…"

"Is it really worth angering the concept of Arcane itself over it?"