After they talked a bit longer about the different islands, Sky once more climbed to the front of the carriage to sit with his sister, while Eisen and Komer stayed in the back.
What Sky could tell Eisen about the island group that they just made their goal to conquer was that each island was a different type of field dungeon. While the central Island's was the largest and most developed one, the field dungeons on the others were far more dangerous and specialized.
One island was a tomb with numerous undead roaming around, while another was an Island of slime and ooze monsters. There even seemed to be an island that was infested by golems.
That Island group was indeed the perfect place for the originals to play around, wasn't it? But until then, they would need to reach the Magic City first, and then meet up with all the other originals. That alone would take a while, and even then, since Eisen could only be 'awake' every four in-game days, it would end up being quite a while from this perspective. On top of that, Eisen obviously would need to make a large vessel for them to travel in first. According to Sky, it would take a few weeks to reach that island again, so he would need to place everything they needed into the ship.
As well as living and working areas, somewhere where Evalia could freely play music, paint, or sculpt, where Jyuuk and his beasts had more than enough space, where Brody could practice with his combat skills, where Xenia could study her magic and play around with that, and of course where everyone could sleep. And obviously, they would also need a space where they could store all the materials and ingredients they would need for crafting, repairs, and food.
They would probably need some a crew as well, considering how large Eisen was imagining the finished ship to be, but that something they could handle later.
For now, Eisen had a few things that he wanted to do concerning this goal. He needed to plan everything out with some actual construction plans properly, he needed to get the materials required for such a large project, Eisen would need to see to what extent the other originals wanted to help him, and he needed to look for a place where he could construct the ship.
Before then, they would of course need to first reach their destination, during which Eisen had some other things to do. The first was to figure out how far Eisen's two tamed monsters could go
"Alright, Caria, Melissa, can you create bees for other flowers as well?" The old man asked with a smile, and the Myconid that was still sitting on his lap nodded smugly.
"Hehe, of course Caria and Melly can do that! We are the bestest, of course!" As Caria exclaimed this, Melissa seemed to agree with her as she quickly nodded while buzzing loudly and flapping her wings around.
"Of course you two are. Now, can I ask you two to make Bee variations of all of these? You can take your time, and I ask you to only make one for each type." Eisen asked them, laying down a good amount of different plants and flowers on the table in front of him from the crates he grabbed before.
Those included different things. First, there was, of course, Byron, which to Eisen was the most important ingredient when it came to making mana potions, at least low-grade ones. Next, there plants and flowers of all kinds, one that would relieve thirst, or one that would prevent death for a short amount of time, or one that simply healed you from any common disease you may suffer.
Excited to see so many different plants, Caria immediately stood up and grabbed all of them at once, furiously nodding at her master. "Caria and Melly will do their best!" She exclaimed, immediately sitting down in the corner together with Melissa to start with their new task.
Coincidentally, all of the plants that Eisen gave them were those that Eisen wanted to use in making potions right now, a few of them belonging to the same type of category as a product Eisen made before, First-Aid.
That meant the few antidotes that Eisen wanted to make, as well as emergency potions for special conditions one may experience throughout different travels.
"What are you going to make first, Eisen?" Komer asked fully with curiosity as he was fiddling around with his fingers behind his back, leaning forward to look at the different plants in the crates. Turning away from setting everything up, Eisen took a look at the materials.
"First, a potion for the worst-case scenario, Death. I know that for you and I, dying won't be a problem, but there will still be some sorts of repercussions. Since that's the case, we should still try to avoid dying if possible, especially in the middle of combat when you're with others. If you should die, your companions can administer the potion to you, and your death will be postponed. Then, you can be healed, and your life will be saved. The plant that I'll be using is Olvar, the black petals over there." Eisen explained, grabbing the small bag filled with the small, round flower petals. Seeing that there wasn't that much in there, Komer looked around to see if there were more Olvar petals around, before turning to the old man.
"That won't turn into that many potions, right?" The young merchant asked, and Eisen looked at him while shaking his head.
"Actually, this little amount is more than enough to fill up a whole barrel. Basically, what you do while making potions is to extract the essence of the natural ability that certain materials have. In some plants, like Amran or Byron, that essence is relatively loosely packed, while in Olvar, it's tightly packed. It already has a quite strong effect if you eat the flower itself, you don't get the same effect as you would with a potion, which is why you usually make potions out of them anyway, at least for this purpose." Eisen explained as he was slowly grinding up all the petals that were in the bag.
"Ah, I see… What's the difference in the effect, then?" Komer asked curiously, and Eisen closed his eyes, trying to remember.
"Hmm… I think it was something like simply preventing decay. In the book where I read up on these plants, it said that it used to be used during wars to preserve the dead bodies of prominent figures so that a proper ceremonial service could be held after the battles. But these days, it's relatively peaceful amongst the nations, so it's not needed anymore all that often, only when someone important dies through monsters." Eisen explained as he set the powder to the side and began to work on grinding down some mana crystals, while Komer looked at the bowl filled with the black substance, getting a sudden idea.
"Wait, couldn't we change the potion around or use the petals in a different way to make a preservative? That would be amazingly popular, right?" The young man asked, feeling kind of proud of this new business idea, but Eisen shook his head without a second to think about it.
"Komer, take a few grains of the powder and place them on your tongue, please," Eisen told Komer with a loud sigh, knowing that this would be the easiest way to show why that wouldn't be a good idea.
While Komer pinched the powder with a confused smile, Eisen already began pouring his mana into a self-filling cup to give Komer for what was about to happen.
The moment that the first little grain touched Komer's tongue, he immediately stepped back and convulsed at the taste that just entered his mouth. Eisen quickly handed the cup to Komer, who immediately downed the water while continuously pouring in more mana into the magic cup to get more water to appear. Only after a few seconds, Komer slammed the cup on the table, staring at Eisen in shock.
"Wh-what the actual fuck?! What is that shit?!" He yelled out, not even thinking about what he said and how he just expressed himself. With a wry smile, Eisen looked over at the bowl filled with the powder and nodded at Komer. "It's the reason why it can't be used to preserve food… It's so bitter and sour that it instantly throws your body off. No person or thing can eat that stuff. Actually, most people without a high enough Endurance stat are going to throw up once they regain consciousness after the potions used on them."
After the old man explained this, he continued grinding down a few different materials, all the while looking at a small piece of paper on the side of the worktable. He ground down a few different materials, all of them being substances needed to properly turn the Olvar powder into a Death-Preventing liquid, most of them different crystals or root-saps.
"Alright, Komer, I placed the bowls down in the order that I need them, so just hand them to me whenever I tell you to. I need to stir this constantly." Eisen explained as he poured different liquids into a big crystal pot that Eisen made just for this purpose.
Komer nodded slowly, still trying to scrape the foul taste off his tongue with his teeth, and Eisen asked him to give him the first bowl, which he quickly emptied above the large pot after filling the whole space inside the container with his mana. Immediately, the crystal powder that Eisen just poured in was absorbed into the liquids as Eisen was stirring, before the old man asked for the next bowl.
One after another, Eisen emptied all the bowls except the one containing the Olvar powder, which was promptly emptied into the mixture as well. The light-colored sludge in the pot now immediately turned a deep pitch black, so dark that you weren't even able to tell that there was actually anything inside.
"Alright, now I just need to wait, huh..? Komer, you can take a seat… I have to stir this for half an hour." The old man sighed out loud, as he continuously poured as much mana as he could into the pot while quickly being absorbed by the liquid.
Exactly thirty minutes later, Eisen finally stopped stirring, and looked down at the dark liquid as he cracked his knuckles. Quickly, Eisen looked over at the piece of paper lying by his side, following the instructions as written there further.
Eisen began to pour in his mana in a certain way, directly above the center of the liquid, spiraling it around counter-clockwise. Soon enough, the liquid started to move around in a circle as well, the black color slowly spiraling toward the center while leaving behind a pure white liquid, that was still so thick that you couldn't see through it.
After a few seconds, all the black parts were gone entirely, and a fist-sized orb slammed against Eisen's palm after shooting out from the liquid in the pot. Without hesitating for a second, Eisen held his other hand above the pot and began to pour his mana inside while spiraling it around clockwise. And with that, the white liquid also began moving around in a circle, before slowly being pulled toward a spot in the center and forming a sphere there, that now slammed into Eisen's hand again, leaving the crystal pot so empty that one may think nothing was inside there in the first place.
"Great! It worked out properly. Now I need to make the potion out of it… Although this seems as complicated as that amazing potion Morrom made me create to break through the skill, huh?" Eisen chuckled lowly as he placed both spheres down on the table.
Curious, Komer looked at Eisen, wondering what those two spheres were used for, asking precisely that. With a smile, Eisen quickly responded.
"It's nothing special. I just need to combine those two through my newest Alchemy Ability, and then I can make potions out of it. They're basically still ingredients at this point."
"Huh? Didn't you just split them up?" Komer asked, confused, and the old man shrugged.
"I know, I was a little confused when I first read the recipe as well, but that's how it seems to be. And the way to turn these into potions seems very different from the usual as well, so… I guess I'll just have to try. None of this is especially expensive; it was about a gold coin for everything in total. Considering that we can make at least ten times that if we sell the potions, it's pretty profitable even if I do something wrong a few times." Eisen explained, before looking down at the crystal-balls lying on the table. For some reason, doing all this felt somewhat nostalgic, but Eisen had not a single clue why.