Shortly after Vaan left with a True Witch assigned to guide him back to the Brewing Chamber, Helia Ashenborn didn’t stay in the Great Hall either.
Helia Ashenborn returned to the outer courtyard, where Hester Thornton and the three True Witches were previously left.
“Lord Helia,” Hester Thornton quickly greeted.
“Un,” Helia Ashenborn acknowledged with a nod before casting her gaze over the three True Witches. “How are they doing, Hester?”
“As you can see, Lord Helia, the True Witches are absorbing mana quite well thanks to the Sir Vahn’s version of the Pore Stimulation Potion. There’s no sign of steady temperature increase in their bodies,” Hester Thornton replied.
“Their temperatures have been bouncing up and down around the same level. It’s like their bodies are meant to rise in temperature due to the induced excitement, but at the same time, something is cooling them down.”
“It’s almost been a whole hour, but the situation remained like this. By the looks of it, I believe it might be possible to even increase the dosage and receive better effects per session,” Hester Thornton thought.
“Is that so?” Helia Ashenborn calmly observed the three True Witches and mana flows before she shook her head. “But no matter how good this new version of the Pore Stimulation Potion is, it is still a rank 1 potion.”
“This kind of potion is only attractive to True Witches. Senior Witches like us won’t even consider using this level of potion. Only rank 2 potions or higher can entice us.”
“You’re absolutely right, Lord Helia,” Hester Thornton agreed before saying, “However, the price of potions skyrockets after rank 1. Even normal Senior Witches would find it difficult to buy many rank 2 potions.”
“That’s not an issue you need to be concerned about as long as you continue to serve me,” Helia Ashenborn calmly said. “I have the money and resource to procure the rank 2 potions we need—at least the ones we can buy on the market.”
“As for those more special rank 2 potions, we only rely on connections and favors to obtain them. That being said, I’ve secured a business deal with Vahn Cadieux, who represents the Delarosa Household. This should earn us some mana stones. But more importantly, it’s an opportunity to get closer to the Delarosa Household.”
“In the future, we will have a better chance at obtaining those more special rank 2 potions, or maybe even rank 3 potions,” Helia Ashenborn’s eyes sparkled when she spoke about rank 3 potions.
Helia Ashenborn had already hit the wall that separated the experienced from the extraordinaire. If she wanted to have any hopes of becoming a High Witch, she could only rely on rank 3 magic potions.
“Rank 3 potions… Is it possible to get them from the Delarosa Household, Lord Helia?” Hester Thornton wondered.
“I don’t think anyone besides the outstanding members of their household would get any chances of being blessed with those rank 3 potions.”
“It’s hard to say, but we can only focus on building our relationship with them and hope for the best,” Helia Ashenborn said with a sigh before giving Hester Thornton instructions. “When you’re done here, go back and watch over Sir Vahn’s lesson, Hester.”
“Once Sir Vahn’s lesson finishes, inform me at once. We still have things to finalize for our business deal, such as the Pore Stimulation Potion’s formula and precise ratio of ingredients.”
“I will be visiting the Witch Union Bank’s branch in the city and taking care of other small matters on my end,” Helia Ashenborn added.
“Understood, Lord Helia,” Hester Thornton complied.
…
…
…
“Welcome back, Teacher!” Cyrena Ashenborn immediately welcomed Vaan energetically before her curiosity got the better of her. “If you don’t mind answering, can I ask what you spoke about with my mother, Teacher?”
Vaan casually recounted the business deal and the library access granted him. When he mentioned that he didn’t need to fulfill his obligation as a teacher, Cyrena Ashenborn felt devastated for a moment.
After all, it was easy to find a qualified teacher but difficult to find a great teacher to study under.
In the short time that they’ve spent together, Vahn Cadieux had precisely become one of those great teachers in Cyrena Ashenborn’s heart, which was determined by his selflessness towards his students – or so Cyrena Ashenborn believed.
“Don’t worry, Lady Cyrena. I will still be teaching you for the full seven days. And after those seven days, you can still find me when you have any doubts or questions. After all, I will still be your teacher. More importantly, I am a man of my word,” Vaan lied as naturally as he breathed.
“I see… That’s great!” Cyrena Ashenborn patted her chest with relief before adopting a studious look. “What will you teach me next about potioneering, Teacher? Also, just call me Cyrena.”
“Well then, Cyrena, I won’t be teaching you any more about potioneering for today,” Vaan casually stated, but Cyrena Ashenborn quickly looked like her world collapsed with her frozen expression.
“What? Why?!”
“There’s no point in learning new knowledge if you haven’t completely absorbed and mastered what you previously learned. As such, there won’t be any more lessons on potioneering for today. Instead, I’ll be giving you homework,” Vaan calmly stated.
“Using the Equilibrium Principle, you have to come up with your own substitution formula for the Pore Stimulation Potion. However, you can’t just list the name of the ingredients; you also have to calculate their required quantities.”
“You can use Brewing Chamber to trial-run your formulas. Your goal is to develop at least one working formula by tomorrow’s lesson. Do you think you can manage it?” Vaan asked.
“I will try, Teacher!” Cyrena Ashenborn said with a determined look, quickly turning to the ingredient shelf to get started immediately.
After all, the fact that her teacher only required her to come up with one working formula implied that it wouldn’t be easy to come up with more.
Finding the right substitute ingredients would be easy, but figuring out the correct quantity would be hard.
However, just as Cyrena Ashenborn was about to walk away, Vaan stopped her and asked, “What are you doing, Cyrena?”
“Err… Starting my homework?” Cyrena Ashenborn answered hesitantly, feeling confused and doubtful.
“That’s for after the end of the lessons. We haven’t gone through all the lessons yet,” Vaan casually stated. “Were you planning to neglect your other fields of studies?”