v2c13 : Without You, I Have No Future
Although Rebecca had initially appeared fragile and lovestruck, a damsel in distress blinded by romantic infatuation, the moment her hands touched the alchemy table, her entire demeanor transformed. Her posture straightened, her eyes gleaming with focus as she surveyed the equipment. Forty years of slumber hadn’t dulled her skills. Every tool felt like an extension of her own hands.
“You three will be my assistants for now. First, I need to brew a potion to accelerate my body’s recovery. Abyss, how much will my undead status affect the potion’s effectiveness?” she asked, turning to Abyss, who was retrieving ingredients from the sack, her voice calm and professional, as if they had been working together for years.
“It might be significantly reduced for ordinary undead. But you’re my follower, and my necromancy is modified. Generally, beneficial potions retain about seventy to eighty percent of their effectiveness. And you can consider yourself immune to any toxins,” Abyss replied with a smile. He appreciated her straightforwardness.
“Alright, I understand,” Rebecca said, nodding confidently. While Abyss was speaking, she had already formulated a plan.
She listed several ingredients, and Abyss, familiar with them, handed them to her without hesitation.
“Flora, please ignite the potion furnace, add a bottle of solvent, and heat it. But before I add the ingredients, control the flame to prevent it from boiling over,” Rebecca instructed, her voice calm and authoritative. “Leona, you’re skilled in physical combat, so please grind these ingredients into powder.”
“Okay.” “Got it!”
Flora and Leona, now fully on board with Rebecca’s plans, followed her instructions diligently.
Rebecca, having delegated the tasks, began processing the ingredients and equipment with incredible speed and precision. Her movements were a blur, her mind working on multiple tasks simultaneously, her efficiency almost superhuman.
“I’m undead now, so I need a more potent potion. Purification takes too long, so I need to create a new potion to enhance its effects…”
She muttered to herself, her eyes darting between the equipment and the ingredients, her hands never stopping. She even kept track of time, announcing the elapsed seconds every five seconds.
Flora, despite being a Divine Arts user, knew some magic. After igniting the furnace, she meticulously controlled the flame, maintaining the solvent at a precise temperature, just below boiling point, without a single error.
Leona, using her Dou Qi to solidify objects, effortlessly ground the ingredients into fine powder, placing them in small bowls.
“Thank you, Leona. Your grinding is more precise than any machine. Now, please hand the ingredients to Abyss. Abyss, I’ll need your assistance with some of the procedures.”
“Of course,” Abyss said, nodding, taking the bowls from Leona.
Rebecca began brewing the potion. The preheated equipment and the furnace, carefully maintained by Flora, were now filled with ingredients, working in perfect harmony. One after another, her instructions flowed seamlessly, keeping Abyss busy with various alchemical tasks.
“Now, if we do this… Flora, increase the furnace’s heat to maximum for five seconds, then extinguish the flame… Five, four, three, two, one, now!”
She swiftly transferred the potion, now infused with various ingredients, from the furnace into a cooling container. The moment it reached the desired temperature, she grabbed the container and drank the potion in one gulp.
Her skin glowed with a soft light as the magically charged ingredients took effect. A warm breath escaped her lips. Then, she began moving her limbs, a series of satisfying cracks echoing through the lab as her joints, stiff after forty years of inactivity, regained their flexibility.
“Success! Two minutes and fourteen seconds,” Rebecca said, smiling, striking a playful pose. “I’m back in action! Thank you for your help! I’ve memorized the new potion’s formula and procedure. I’ll share it with you, Abyss, if you need it.”
“You invented this?” Abyss asked, raising an eyebrow. “And you succeeded on your first try?”
“When you understand the properties of all ingredients under various conditions as well as I do, you can achieve this too,” Rebecca said, flexing her wrist, now supple and flexible thanks to the potion. “And thank you for your necromancy. It’s truly advanced.”
Rebecca was surprisingly polite. It was difficult to imagine that this charming and brilliant young woman had once run the continent’s largest adult entertainment and health supplement business.
“Now for the antidote. I’ll brew a volatile potion. You just need to inhale its fumes occasionally. It has a pleasant scent, you won’t mind it,” she said, tucking a strand of her black hair behind her ear, winking at Abyss. “While I work, I’ll tell you how I died. Then we can discuss our escape plan—I’m guessing you came here without a return ticket. You don’t have any of those world-traveling crystals, do you?”
“Ah, you’re right. I don’t,” Abyss shrugged. “I used the last one. And if Lannis hadn’t intervened, that ‘World Conduit’ would have been used as a free solvent machine by those gangsters until it broke down.”
Hearing the word “gangsters,” Rebecca’s eyes hardened, but she quickly regained her cheerful demeanor. “Well, I guess I’m lucky. I was rescued at the last moment, and by such a capable young man.”
“Actually, I’ve wanted you for a long time. And I need you,” Abyss said casually.
Rebecca blushed, surprised. “Ah… Really? You need me that much?”
“I can’t do it without you,” Abyss said, nodding. “Without you, I have no future.”
Rebecca beamed, while Flora and Leona, beside them, closed their eyes, wincing.
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