The next day, after going about his usual daily routine, Ethan sat in an empty private chamber of the castle where a large stove, a multitude of pots of various sizes and shapes, and glass bottles with bizarre contents inside them were placed in racks over the walls and on tables. The place was dark without much ventilation, however, there was a chimney over the large stove going out of the roof. Giving the room an eerie aura as if it was the den of a nefarious witch.
Ethan looked around the room with a stoic expression and with great familiarity, began organizing everything as if he had been doing it quite often.
The room was quite messy, its walls were covered with grayish ash, and the floor looked like a warzone with dark dented spots all over along with pieces of broken glass and traces of some bizarre liquids.
"Phew!" Ethan let out a gasp of breath as he finished cleaning up everything.
With an excited expression, he muttered, "I have been doing this for a while but it either explodes or evaporates. But today I will get it right."
As he looked around the strange room, the scent of herbs, bitter, sweet, bizarre, and alike tingled his nose. The room was filled with various ordinary and strange plants, herbs, flowers, and fruits along with various strange substances from which a mixed aroma drifted out.
Suddenly the muffled sound of a knock rang from the tightly closed, broad door.
Seemingly expecting the sudden intrusion, Ethan opened the door without flinching. From what it seemed, the chamber was a very closed-off, secret place as no additional noise could be heard. Even though it was morning, not even the sound of the birds nor the noise of the bustling servants was there.
As the door opened the worried face of Albert was revealed. Behind him, a few selected and trusted servants stood carrying large containers full of precious medical herbs and strange materials.
"Young Master, I have brought the ingredients," Albert said with a bow.
"Good job, bring them in," Ethan instructed.
The servants then entered the room only after receiving Ethan's permission. Only looking ahead of them with their necks down, the servants quickly placed the containers on the tables not daring to ever look around as they did.
After finishing their job, the servants exited the room and after bowing in unison, they left.
Only after the servants left the vicinity far away that Albert entered the room himself and closed the door behind him.
"Young Master, we are buying all the stocks of the ingredients and materials you had listed. Although most of them are common herbs that are useful for strengthening the body, some are completely unheard of. They are difficult to find and very expensive. And we have been buying them for over two months now." Albert said bitterly.
"And so what?"
"That… I Understand that the young master has some interest in potion brewing. But without any internal energy, it is impossible to brew high-quality potions. Forgive my impertinence but… Isn't this a waste of wealth?"
"Why? Is money falling short of my annual budget?" Ethan asked with furrowed brows.
Albert sighed in exasperation and said, "The buying of slaves and their living expenses along with these precious ingredients. All this is sucking off Young Master's funds."
Ethan fell into deep thought as he heard this. With a stoic tone, he said, "Well that's an issue. Looks like I will have to do something about money very soon. Until then, just sell off the useless gifts that I recently received."
Albert immediately broke into cold sweats as he heard this, completely startled by this bizarre proposition he blurted, "W-what?"
"Didn't you hear me old man? Just sell em' okay?" Ethan replied casually as he began placing the various ingredients on the table in an organized manner.
"B-but, this will not look good for the family… How can we sell the gifts that you received?" Albert tried to bargain in a perplexed tone.
"Tch, then melt the gold and silver ornaments that we received and sell pure gold. As for anything that might be identifiable, we can't sell those. But anything unidentifiable such as those common gemstones and swords, sell them all. And just to be safe, you can do it without revealing our name." Ethan said.
Albert couldn't understand why such a useless ability as potion brewing was being practiced by Ethan so fanatically. It almost seemed desperate how Ethan had been practicing making potions.
In the end, he gave up and said, "His grace isn't here, it would be appropriate to use money from the family's budget as the Young Master is currently the Duke Regent. Selling gifts is a sign of weakness and desperation. I can not allow this. It may taint the Ducal Honor."
Shrugging casually, Ethan said, "Do what you will, but I want those ingredients coming regularly. This is important."
Albert nodded as he decided to go along with whatever Ethan was trying to do even though he didn't think that it was important. He couldn't be blamed for thinking so as potion brewing wasn't considered to be a superior skill in Akarxia.
The truth was that the knowledge of potion brewing was lost long ago after the Gods vanished. The little knowledge people had was severely depleted and so its importance had lessened over time.
"Anyways, have you begun teaching Ronan?" Ethan asked as he finished organizing the new stock.
"Yes, today I took his first class. I will teach him all the skills at my disposal so that he may be of some use to you."
"Good, And send Aria to my mother. I believe she was from a noble family before becoming a slave. She should be able to read and write. She can be of some help to mother… Hmm… Don't send her today. Actually, tell Ronan and Aria to meet me here in the evening." Ethan instructed.
"Yes, as you wish," Albert nodded and said.
Then silence fell in the room as Ethan became busy preparing the ingredients. Suddenly his eyes shined as he remembered something important.
"Did you send the scouts?" Ethan asked seriously looking at Albert.
"It's been done. All of them are experts and they will arrive at their destination in the span of a month. They will send regular reports of the situation when they arrive there."
"Alright, then leave me now. I'm busy." Ethan said nonchalantly.
Albert shot Ethan a thoughtful glance for a moment. Seeing him work, he felt that the young master was far far better than the other aristocratic children who only squandered the money on pleasure. Even Luceryc was like that.
Albert nodded and before leaving he said, "If young master needs any assistance then please call upon this old man."
After Albert left, Ethan closed the door from inside and the chamber became deathly silent.
Seeing his preparations, Ethan grinned as he looked at the red, green, purple, and various other colored ingredients laid out throughout the table. Filling the deep cursive pot with water and lighting up the stove, Ethan took deep breaths to calm his mind and remove all other thoughts.
He then closed his eyes and recalled his memories of the temple and the grand library inside it. As if he was there himself, he navigate the library and all the books he had read so far.
One of the books that he had seen there was in the ancient knowledge compartment of potion brewing. The book's title was—Potion of Awakening.
As Ethan visualized opening the book in his mind, a satisfied smile appeared on his face as one by one he began scrummaging through the pages of the book.
The book was about a particular potion used in the old days of Gods. In that Era, everyone could use the Mystic Arts bestowed by the Gods and everyone underwent their Awakening as it was a natural and completely normal thing.
But like always, there were those with disabilities who could not awaken due to weak constitution. And this particular potion was what they used to strengthen 'The Clay Pot' so that the Mystical powers of Blessing could dwell within the body without breaking it.
When Ethan thought of this, the image of another book popped into his mind. The thick book titled—Medical Arts - The use of Acupuncture and Acupressure for Strengthening of The Body.
Ethan was confident that he could artificially make someone awaken with these two techniques if they had even the slightest bit of potential to awaken.
An hour passed in absolute stillness as Ethan carefully recalled the procedure of making the potion from the book. After doing so, he opened his eyes with a certain excitement in them.
'If I can mass produce the potion and if it really works…' Ethan thought to himself getting the chills from the mere thought itself as his eyes focused.
Dispelling the distracting thoughts, Ethan shook his head and took a few more breaths again. As his eyes gained focus and clarity, he twisted his knuckles and got to work.
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