Chapter 31: Kael, the Crazy Alchemist Part 3
Kael was already sick from continuously eating the food from Rustfall, and even though they now have the money to buy fresh produce from the Sylvaris Kingdom, it would still be better if they could farm the ingredients instead.
Moreover, they also intend to sell extra produce in Rustfall. They already have a few in stock that Kael had ordered Lawrence and Jayem to purchase in the past, but that wouldn't be enough with the high demand expected once fresh produce is introduced to the Rustfall market.
Inside the makeshift laboratory, Kael crazily extracted the properties of every single material at a speed that people wouldn't dare believe that he was even concocting a beneficial potion and not a harmful poison.
In just a matter of half an hour, he was already done extracting everything and had now stored their respective properties inside different metal buckets.
At this moment, he is preparing the main process of concocting the knockoff Health Potion.
Dozens of pots with fiercely burning fire underneath were already up and waiting for Kael to pour the extracted properties inside.
*Whoosh!
Kael didn't waste any more time and immediately began.
*Thud! *Thud!
Kael's footsteps rang loud and clear as he swiftly moved from one pot to another.
*Bang! *Bang!
Empty buckets after another empty bucket hit the ground as Kael started pouring everything down one by one.
*Whiishhh!
Thick smokes were instantly released around every single pot and rose to the chimney above as soon as the extracted properties were poured inside.
*Ting! *Ting!
Lids instantly covered the pots, immediately suppressing the smoke inside.
While the liquid of the knockoff Health Potion was being cooked, Kael started preparing for their containers as he laid countless glass bottles on the small table.
"Jayem!" Kael called out.
*Bang!
Jayem slammed the door as he walked inside Kael's makeshift laboratory, causing a few of the glass bottles to tilt multiple times before stopping. His face was prepared and ready.
Outside of the makeshift laboratory, dozens of tables were laid neatly, as if in preparation for all the knockoff Health Potions that Kael is going to finish making today.
After a few more minutes, Kael started carrying buckets filled with water.
"Let's begin!"
*Whoosh! *Whoosh!
One after the other, all the fires were extinguished by the bucket of water that Kael splashed at them.
*Bang! *Bang!
Once more, empty buckets after another empty bucket hit the ground as Kael started pouring every single drop of water into every single light of fire.
*Whiishhh! *Whiishhh!
As soon as that was done, Kael started opening the lid of every pot one after the other.
And as soon as he was finished, he grabbed two ladles with his hands and started scooping out the liquid inside one pot and filling the glass bottles behind him. He repeated this process until eventually the entire pot was emptied before proceeding with the next.
Meanwhile, as soon as a glass bottle was filled, Jayem would immediately take it outside and gently place it on one of the tables. Then, he'd return to the makeshift laboratory to replace it with a new empty bottle. Just like Kael, he repeated this process over and over again.
Finally, the last pot was emptied.
Seeing this, Kael heaves a heavy sigh. But the fire inside his eyes was still burning brightly with motivation and determination. And as he made a quick scan around his makeshift laboratory, his eyes landed on the hundreds of empty glass bottles that remained. In that instant, he realized he was still not finished yet.
"This is not enough!" Kael exclaimed.
Without wasting any unnecessary movement, Kael went to grab a wet towel and took out a pot outside towards the spring nearby to wash the residue left by the ingredients.
He spent nearly twenty minutes washing every single residue from all pots before grabbing another clean towel and cleaning them.
As soon as he was finished, he laid down the pots above the fire pits inside his makeshift laboratory before repeating the same process again in concocting the knockoff Health Potion.
On the other side, Lawrence couldn't help shaking his head at the scene. "Good thing I wasn't assigned to help Kael."
Lawrence could only look at Jayem in pity as the latter scurried around places to carry every single filled glass bottle to the tables outside and replace them with empty glass bottles on the table inside Kael's makeshift laboratory.
As time went by, it was finally evening. Darkness covered the entire camp, with only the bonfire at the center and a few lamps spread out around, seemingly fighting against its blanket.
Nevertheless, Kael and Jayem were still continuing with what they were doing. The duo didn't even bother eating lunch.
"Guys! It's time to eat your dinner!" Lawrence called out while shaking his head. He had already finished cooking a simple, nutritious soup using the meat they had bought from the Sylvaris Kingdom and a few of the edible ingredients around their camp.
"Jayem, you can go ahead and take a break. I'll handle the rest and join you guys once I'm done!" Kael exclaimed in response. There were only a few more pots left and fewer than twenty empty bottles on the table. He could handle it alone.
Jayem didn't reject Kael's offer, as he was also already feeling tired and numb. He couldn't even feel his hands anymore after he had endured carrying all those hot bottles, and his feet were feeling numb from all the standing and running in places.
As Jayem sat on the log that they temporarily turned into a chair, he felt instant relief around his entire body.
"Can you hand me a soup?" Jayem reached out his hands, too tired to get his meal himself.
Shaking his head, Lawrence went to scoop a cup full of soup and handed it to Jayem. "Careful, it's hot!"
"My hands are already immune to heat!" Jayem couldn't care less how hot the cup was. Nothing could surely beat carrying all those hot glass bottles the entire day.
"You both are crazy!" Lawrence said in a remark. "How did you two even handle that kind of work?"
"I could handle it just fine," Jayem shook his hand as he glanced at Kael, who was still busy inside his makeshift laboratory. "That guy is the true crazy!"
After heaving a sigh, Jayem continued. "He is a crazy alchemist!"
"I couldn't say any less." Lawrence expressed his agreement.
Only a crazy alchemist would treat concocting potions in the same manner as Kael. That guy technically did a lot of work around the camp earlier, before he started concocting all those knockoff Health Potions. Nonetheless, he seems not to feel tired at all.
"Next time, it's your turn to help Kael!" Jayem pointed his fingers at Lawrence with a tired look on his face.
"That's ridiculous! I couldn't possibly match your speed!" Lawrence hastily rejected. He didn't even bother entertaining the thought for a single millisecond.
"Excuses!" Jayem rolled his eyes before downing the entire soup into his throat. After finishing, he exhaled heavily and raised his hand with the cup in front and requested. "Give me extra!"
"Sure, sure, sure!" Lawrence hurriedly refilled Jayem's cup.
"Just because you're taking care of me right now, doesn't mean you're going to receive an exception!" Jayem didn't continue to bother Lawrence as he focused on his meal.
"Then don't ask me for extra anymore!" Lawrence exclaimed in frustration before standing up and walking toward the spring to wash his cup. "Selfish Jayem!"
"I heard that!" Jayem exclaimed in response.
"You were meant to!" Lawrence stomped his foot before continuing on his path.
Back in the makeshift laboratory, Kael was finally done with the last pot. As he turned around and looked down, he could still see that there were plenty of empty bottles left. But he was already feeling tired, so he muttered. "This should be enough for today."
Walking out, Kael's nose immediately caught a sniff of the attractive aroma coming from the food next to Jayem.
Seemingly in the blink of an eye, Kael was already next to the pot and was scooping his own fill for his dinner.
"You're crazy!" Jayem's eye widened in surprise.
"Nothing beats a jet… ehem!" Kael coughed as he nearly muttered a popular meme as a joke. "I'm very hungry!"
"Enjoy!" Jayem was already too tired to fill a third cup, so he followed the same direction Lawrence took to wash his own cup.
After the trio finished their meal, they didn't return to Noverra and instead decided to spend the rest of the night in their camp in Avalon.
Before finally going to bed, they made sure to store all the knockoff Health Potions in the newly constructed storage room next to the makeshift laboratory.
Although they are deep in the forest of the Sylvaris Kingdom right now, Kael knew very well that there wouldn't be any Magical Beast that would attack them tonight. That's because Magical Beasts don't normally wander around to the farthest area from the center of the Regalorn continent, let alone a camp. And those that they've seen in the past were weak and wouldn't dare carelessly attack unless provoked. As such, the trio had a good night's rest for their first-ever overnight stay in Avalon.