Chapter Ninety: Departure

Yes, the Enchantment Potion. Just give me a few vials. Milan hurriedly said, afraid that Hughes would refuse.

“All right then. Come by later and pick them up,” Hughes replied. He did not ask what Milan needed them for, nor was he curious. Although he did not often brew Enchantment Potion, he still kept a few bottles on hand.

“Um...”

“Not a chance. I’m not making any more potions,” Hughes cut off Anko before he could finish.

“Uh...” Seeing through his thoughts, Anko felt too awkward to continue.

“You’re a wizarding family and you still can’t find a potion maker?” Hughes asked, somewhat puzzled. These families all kept coming to him. Potion makers were rare, certainly, but if they truly went looking, they could still find one.

“There are potion makers, but leaving aside whether they can produce that much, whether they even have the formula is another matter,” Lindsey explained from the side.

“That’s right. To be honest, most of them are really after your Nature Potion,” Anko added, now that Lindsey had said it for him.

“Nature Potion... Nature Whisper.” Hughes thought of the advanced version of the Nature Potion he still possessed, wondering what kind of effect it would have if taken.

“Let’s go,” Hughes said, leading Anko and Milan toward the place where the Enchantment Potions were kept. As for Lindsey, after delivering the items to Hughes, he had already gone back.

“When did the two of you get so close?” Hughes asked as they walked, glancing at Anko.

“We’ve always gotten along pretty well. We’re both from the family, and we’ve known each other since childhood. We were just on different sides before,” Anko explained casually.

“Well, that is a very close relationship,” Hughes said, his mouth twitching slightly as he imagined the two of them fighting to the death in the secret realm, yet still speaking as though they had always been on good terms.

“Here you go.” Hughes handed the three vials of Enchantment Potion to Milan and the other man waiting outside the door.

“Take this.” Milan accepted the potions and tossed Hughes a pouch of magic stones. Hughes did not refuse. The more magic stones he had, the more sorcery templates he could buy.

“Chip, transmit the data for the Blast Potion,” Hughes said eagerly once Anko and Milan had left, already itching to brew it.

“Beep. Transmitting.”

“Let’s begin,” Hughes said, gathering his resolve and preparing to brew the Blast Potion.

“Shadow Moth eggs, sunweed leaves...” With the precise control he had developed from years of handling herbs, Hughes processed the materials in his hands with practiced accuracy.

“Only the last step remains.” He looked at the red liquid churning constantly in the beaker. Waves of heat struck his face, leaving him in no doubt at all about the terrifying power of the Blast Potion.

“And now, the Tears of Flame.” Hughes took out a small vial containing three drops of orange liquid. The Tears of Flame were condensed from a dense concentration of fire element, and they were generally found in greater abundance near volcanoes.

The Tears of Flame were also the most crucial ingredient in brewing the Blast Potion, and the most dangerous step in the process. A single mistake would ruin everything.

Watching the reaction in the beaker, Hughes calculated the timing and prepared to add the Tears of Flame.

“Now!” At the perfect moment, he dropped one tear of flame into the beaker.

“Beep. A violent energy reaction has been detected. It is recommended that the host move away at once!”

“No way, am I really about to botch this?” Hughes muttered, glancing at the increasingly violent churning of the liquid in the beaker.

Boom!

After a burst of blinding light from the beaker, a tremendous roar echoed through Hughes’s room.

The Guidance Ward also sprang into action. At the instant of the explosion, a pale golden protective barrier shielded Hughes, and he was not hurt in the slightest.

“Chip! What was the power just now?” Hughes asked, surveying the scene in the room.

“Beep. Nine degrees.”

“Nine degrees...” Looking at that power, Hughes realized it was already roughly on par with a sorcery cast by an ordinary third-rank apprentice.

“What a pity that an ingredient like the Tears of Flame is so scarce,” Hughes thought, staring at the power of the Blast Potion. In his mind, he was already imagining how satisfying it would be if he had the means to fight by hurling a dozen vials of Blast Potion at once.

“Still, such a potion doesn’t do much against a formal wizard.” Remembering the protective barrier of the Guidance Ward, Hughes found himself growing fonder and fonder of this low-level enchanted potion.

He looked at the room in disarray. Fortunately, the buildings of the Shadow Ring were all reinforced with solidification runes; otherwise, that explosion might have left a hole right through the wall.

“That’s right—my potions!” Hughes went to the adjacent room to check the potions he had brewed earlier. Not a single vial had been damaged.

Before brewing, he had moved all the finished potions elsewhere. Otherwise, this time he would have suffered a huge loss.

“Is anyone there?” Hearing voices, Hughes quickly put the potions away again and went to open the door.

“Hello. Please cooperate with our investigation!”

As soon as Hughes opened the door, two cold-faced men stood at his threshold, immediately demanding that he explain the cause of the explosion.

Hughes glanced at their clothing and saw that they were from the Shadow Ring’s enforcement squad. He did not conceal anything, and recounted the entire process from beginning to end.

“So, the explosion was just a failed experiment,” the enforcement squad members concluded after hearing his explanation.

“Yes,” Hughes said. He thought about it and realized that was indeed the case.

“May we come in and take a look?”

The enforcement squad looked at the room, already blackened by the Blast Potion.

“Of course.” Hughes stepped aside at once, letting the two officers enter the room.