MTL NOVEL Chapter 73: Chapter 72
Chapter 72: Changing the Approach
A vitamin-rich alcoholic drink—and that's for a witcher. For ordinary people, this potion wouldn't be lethal, but dizziness and headaches were unavoidable.
The key issue was indeed concentration.
Lan pinched a piece of dried honeysuckle and frowned as he examined it.
The active ingredients in roughly processed raw materials weren't evenly distributed across the leaves.
According to Bordon's alchemy notes, the medicinal value of this honeysuckle was mainly concentrated at the end of the petals farthest from the stem.
About one-fifth of the way up from the base of the petals, the medicinal value became significantly less.
And this was just the uneven distribution of active ingredients on a single petal. Let alone the variations between flowers grown in different regions.
When alchemists created their products, they mostly relied on their experience and keen eyes to adjust the quantities. This ensured that the active ingredients in the entire potion were at a usable concentration.
In Lan's original world, the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine mainly used molecular technology to completely extract the medicinal components from the herbs. The resulting pills were almost pure medicinal compounds!
But in Lan's current environment, talking about molecular technology was far too unrealistic.
After a brief consideration, Lan made a decision.
"Mentos, if we abandon our existing chemistry experiment approach and instead follow the local alchemy methods, how fast could we progress?"
"It is estimated that we will fully master the production of [Swallow] in approximately ten hours of practice."
Most of these ten hours would be spent on gaining experience with the active ingredient content of the herbs and inputting the data into the database.
Alchemists needed to spend the majority of their lives honing their proficiency in identifying herbs.
Because they had to rely on their ordinary human senses to perceive every aspect of the herbs and form memories. And if they didn't practice for a day, their skills would rust; three days without practice, and even their minds would grow dull.
But for Lan and Mentos, they could even analyze each petal of a flower as an independent sample.
The sample size from a large bag of dried petals could rival the experience an alchemist gained from a lifetime of making potions!
After all, they had to actually make a potion to know if their measurements were accurate.
Isn't this what pursuing experience is all about? Is this enough experience?
Moreover, Mentos's perfect recording ability ensured that Lan would never experience skill degradation.
This strategy was similar to training an AI to play Go. It didn't focus on thought processes or ways of thinking—it just piled on the sample size.
"Let's go in this direction, Mentos. If we master more effective methods in the future, we might return to the precise chemistry approach. But for now, we need to prepare potions quickly and put them to use."
"New command received. Adjusting assistance mode... Complete. Please begin herb identification to increase data volume."
From Arya's perspective, Lan put down the experimental equipment.
Instead, he placed the large package of raw materials on the table, dumping out all the petals, leaves, and roots.
Then he began to crouch over them, examining each one, sniffing lightly, and even giving them a quick taste. A witcher's enhanced senses were also a great asset in experiments.
As the herb data was continuously recorded, the proficiency in [Alchemy] was visibly increasing.
Preparing [Swallow] would take ten hours of practice, and on the plan list, Lan also needed to learn [White Raffard's Decoction], which could instantly restore a large amount of vitality, and the most important antidote, [Enhanced White Honey].
But this wouldn't take thirty hours, as many of the ingredients for the potions overlapped. Once he gained experience with the herbs, Mentos estimated that all three potions could be reliably produced in about eighteen to nineteen hours total.
The combination of these three potions was the "medical kit" Lan had prepared for his surgery.
He had promised Margarita and Aretuza Academy, and he himself wanted to slaughter the Head Eater and his buyer.
The buyer's influence could be seen just from the secret port and over a dozen lookout posts they had built.
To silently deploy resources and manpower to the remote hills of Velen in a medieval transportation environment, the buyer had to be far more powerful than Vserad, the lord of Velen. And what kind of level was Vserad, the lord of an entire province?
He had nearly a thousand low-level soldiers under his command!
This wasn't something a witcher could handle by chugging a few potions. Without a doubt he needed even more unstoppable power.
"Arya, I've changed my experimental approach. You don't need to wash test tubes here anymore. Go rest, and just remember to bring me meals."
The lively little girl pouted and reluctantly walked out.
She had found it quite interesting to watch Lan bustling around here, almost as entertaining as her favorite swordplay.
After all, it was magic—something she had only heard about in her parents' bedtime stories. Arya was brimming with curiosity.
But since she had become a squire, her upbringing made her understand that she should follow her "lord's" orders.
"But I'm a girl! Even though I've been recognized as a squire, I'm still a girl! In Westeros, girls don't become squires, so it's only natural that I'm a bit of an exception, right?"
The girl didn't obediently go back to rest after leaving the alchemy classroom. Instead, she pressed her face against the glass window on the door, eagerly peeking inside.
The corridor outside was occasionally passed by Aretuza students.
These sorceresses-in-training already had some of their seniors' demeanor... especially in their bold clothing and personalities. As they passed, they always gave Arya a subtle look.
This made the little girl a bit shy. Although she had always resisted her mother's "ladylike education," to the point that her father had commented that she had the blood of a wolf, this "blood" was useless against the sorceresses daring outfits!
She had dared to stab a slaver's arm with her "Needle" on the boat, but now she blushed and couldn't bring herself to look at the teasing students.
Their alluring figures, whether slender or curvaceous, were faintly visible beneath their clothing. It was hard for the little girl not to be distracted by such a sight. Humans pursue beauty, and young girls especially have a natural affinity for the beauty of adult women.
"They really dare to dress like that! Maybe it's because casting magic requires them to dress this way?" Arya scratched her head.
She didn't know that the revealing clothing was the sorceresses' way of mocking societal prejudices. She could only guess it had something to do with the magic she was so curious about.
The little girl, shrinking her head, turned and walked away.
In the end, she couldn't adapt to the teasing gazes of others.
***
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