Gaga perched on his shoulder, its small eyes warily surveying the surroundings.
At the end of the steps was a heavy wooden door.
He pushed the door open, and the scene before him opened up.
It was an underground laboratory of about fifty square meters.
In the center was a wide, black stone laboratory table, on which various apparatuses were placed: crucibles, flasks, distillation equipment, a grinding mortar...
Lining both walls were rows of storage cabinets, with labels on the doors indicating the names of the materials inside.
In a corner, there was a small Energy Furnace. The fire had been extinguished, but scorch marks remained on its walls.
Ian walked to the lab table and ran his hand over the surface.
It was cool to the touch, and there was no dust.
Old Finn had clearly been taking care of this place. Although the equipment was old, it was all still in usable condition.
He opened the storage cabinets and inspected the materials inside one by one.
The quality was inconsistent; some had been stored for too long, their medicinal properties having severely degraded.
But most of it... was barely usable.
Ian sat down at the lab table and took out a few materials he carried with him from his Dimension Ring.
Then, he closed his eyes.
Within his Sea of Spirit, the pale gold Crystal Core spun slowly.
His 10% Elementalization progress had sharpened his Perception to its absolute peak.
He could "hear" the faintest flow of Energy within the materials and "see" the trajectory of their medicinal properties changing at different temperatures.
The "Insight" special effect of [Basic Magic Potion Science], driven by his Spiritual Power, began to activate.
Ian opened his eyes and raised his right hand.
He made a loose fist, and five faint golden threads appeared above his palm.
The threads writhed as if alive, then suddenly shot out, precisely wrapping around several materials on the lab table.
The grinding mortar flew up on its own, and the materials fell inside it.
The threads began to spin, causing the materials inside the mortar to be rapidly ground.
This wasn’t a crude crushing, but a decomposition refined to the extreme, following the materials’ texture and energy pathways.
Every trace of their medicinal properties was perfectly preserved.
Every bit of impurity was precisely removed.
Gaga squatted on a corner of the lab table, its small eyes wide and round.
It looked at the golden threads in Ian’s hand, then at the materials in the mortar that were gradually turning into a fine powder.
Then it tilted its head, its heterochromatic eyes full of curiosity.
"Ian, what is this?"
"Wizard’s Hand," Ian’s voice was calm.
"But slightly improved."
He paused, then added, "I call it [Wizard’s Hand: Deep Spiritualization]."
Imbuing it with spirit for precise control.
This was his own improvement on a Basic Witchcraft, developed in the ruins of the Star Spirit Race by combining insights on the Star Rule from the [Seed of the Stars].
Although it was only a prototype, its effects... were already far beyond ordinary.
The grinding was complete.
The powder fell into a flask, and Ian made a pressing motion with his left hand, gathering a gentle Fire Witchcraft in his palm.
He wasn’t heating it directly, but precisely controlling the temperature, letting the flames wrap around the flask like flowing water.
A temperature curve appeared clearly in his mind.
degrees... 50 degrees... 70 degrees...
Every step was accurate down to the smallest detail.
Time passed.
The only sounds in the laboratory were the faint sizzle of the burning flames and the soft gurgling of the materials dissolving into the solution.
Ian was completely focused.
His movements were fluid, precise, and without a single wasted motion.
He was like a precision Alchemy Machine, yet he possessed an indescribable spiritual quality that no machine could have.
「Four hours later.」
The laboratory door was pushed open.
Old Finn stood in the doorway, holding a wooden tray with simple food and water on it.
He had originally just intended to bring some food, but when he pushed open the door and saw the scene at the lab table, he froze in his tracks.
His gaunt fingers tightened slightly, and the edge of the tray made a faint creaking sound.
’What am I seeing?’
The young Wizard, whom he had dismissed as "from some backwater island, not fit for much," was now sitting at the lab table.
His right hand was held in a loose fist, and five faint golden threads danced in the air like living creatures.
He was simultaneously controlling three flasks, a distillation apparatus, and a mortar that was grinding on its own.
A gentle flame hovered in his left palm, split into three streams that precisely enveloped three crucibles, each at a different temperature.
And yet, Ian’s face showed no signs of fatigue or strain.
His gaze was focused and calm, as if he were performing the simplest of tasks.
But Old Finn knew it was anything but simple.
’Simultaneously manipulating five Energy Threads, precisely processing five different materials, and maintaining three flames at different temperatures...’
’The precision of Spiritual Power control required for this is far beyond that of an ordinary Level Two Wizard.’
’Even... many Tier Two Alchemists couldn’t do this.’
Old Finn’s breathing grew slightly ragged.
He stood where he was, not making a sound, just watching quietly.
「Two more hours passed.」
Ian finally stopped what he was doing.
The five golden threads slowly dissipated, and the flame in his left hand silently went out.
On the lab table, twelve Crystal Bottles stood in a neat row.
The liquid inside the bottles was a deep, starry-sky blue, with fine silver specks of light slowly swirling within, like a miniature galaxy.
An improved version of the Starlight Potion.
Ian picked one up and held it before his eyes, examining it closely.
’The purity... It’s several percentage points higher than the purest batch I refined back in Anoraya.’
’This is the improvement brought by Spiritual Power Elementalization.’
’My sharpened Perception of the Rules allows me to be more precise in removing impurities and more perfect in preserving the medicinal properties when processing materials.’
He set the Crystal Bottle down and turned around.
Only then did he see Old Finn standing in the doorway.
"Finn Wizard," Ian said, his voice calm and showing no trace of fatigue.