Chapter 35. Extraordinary-Level Proficiency
In the residential district of Cuilan Academy, inside a quiet three-story house with a courtyard.
Fulan was arranging the equipment used for potion brewing, placing all the related apparatus into a small room.
This house had cost her four gold coins and fifty-three silver coins in full payment.
Although its location was somewhat remote—she had to walk half an hour to reach the teaching district—it had a great deal of space, allowing her to store a large amount of miscellaneous items.
Besides, she occasionally conducted a bit of “private business,” so a secluded location suited her perfectly.
After arranging the equipment, she took out three sets of materials for brewing Strength Potions and placed them into three separate beakers.
After adding water, she immediately activated the Harmonization Method.
Yes, she was going to brew three potions simultaneously.
This was a small trick she had recently discovered.
After stacking two professions, her Mental Power had increased significantly, and she also possessed the trait [Experienced Alchemist].
This allowed her to brew potions with great ease.
After a few simple tests, she discovered that brewing four potions at once was her limit—and even then there was a chance of mistakes—so she usually brewed three.
As for the brewing steps, those had been specially designed so that beginner alchemists could easily follow them while using the Harmonization Method.
She had no need for such restrictions.
She could simply fuse the ingredients directly.
That was the strength granted by mastery-level Pharmacology.
And now, after finishing these three potions, her Pharmacology was about to level up.
[You have successfully completed a multi-potion brewing process. Pharmacology proficiency +34.]
[Pharmacology proficiency is full. Level increased.]
After storing the three potions in a nearby crate, she began examining the changes brought by the level-up.
[Name: Fulan
Profession: Rune Warrior (Half-Star), Alchemist (Half-Star)
Attributes: Physique 2.5, Mental Power 2.6
Craft Skills:
Pharmacology (Extraordinary) (Proficiency: 3/100000): You have surpassed ordinary people in potion crafting.
Astrology (Mastery) (Proficiency: 174/1000): You can skillfully obtain information from stellar phenomena.
… (omitted)
Traits: Move With the Wind, Mental Power
Miraculous Alchemist (You may strengthen or weaken the effects of potions as you wish.)]
First of all, a half-star had appeared behind the Alchemist profession.
That indicated the profession’s level had increased.
But the upgraded Alchemist now had the same star rating as Rune Warrior?
This time, the level-up had increased her Mental Power by only 0.3.
When Rune Warrior leveled up earlier, both attributes had increased by a larger amount.
This confused Fulan.
Why are the attribute bonuses so small? How can this possibly be the same star rating as Rune Warrior?
Next, she looked at the trait section.
Her previous trait, Experienced Alchemist, had changed into Miraculous Alchemist.
Leaving aside the new effect, could it be that her previous trait had been replaced?
When she played games in the past, she often encountered situations where a higher-tier skill replaced a lower-tier one—and the useful effects of the old skill disappeared entirely.
Alarmed, she quickly brewed three more Strength Potions.
After some time passed, she looked at the three perfectly finished potions and finally relaxed.
She noticed that the brewing process had not only maintained its precision and proficiency—it had actually improved to an astonishing degree.
Brewing three potions now felt almost effortless.
It seemed that she could easily handle five at once.
And that was not all.
During the process just now, she had not even concentrated particularly hard.
She had even let her mind wander for a moment, yet the potions were still successfully completed.
If her previous mastery-level Pharmacology resembled a person who had worked tirelessly and immersed themselves in potion crafting for decades—
then her current extraordinary-level Pharmacology resembled a once-in-a-century genius who could casually reach heights that others could never achieve in their entire lives.
Then there was the Miraculous Alchemist trait.
She tried brewing another Strength Potion.
While brewing, she imagined the potion becoming stronger.
She felt her Mental Power weaken slightly.
After finishing the potion, she looked at the darker-colored Strength Potion and drank it in a single gulp.
“Even with my Physique, the effect is still this strong. And the strength enhancement is greater as well.”
In gaming terms, it was as though the upper limit of its effect had increased and the potion’s strength had been boosted by roughly thirty percent.
“It is good… but…”
Although she could produce better potions now, the question was how to sell them.
Such variations did not exist on the market—at least not in the City of Apprentices.
In other words, there was no such thing as a “High-Grade Strength Potion.”
If she set a higher price for something no one recognized, people might simply refuse to buy it.
Moreover, producing these enhanced potions consumed her Mental Power.
She estimated she could only make around twenty bottles per day.
“I will seal them away for now. Perhaps they will be useful someday.”
After that, she produced a small portion of each potion listed in the order contract.
Then she checked the time.
“I am a bit tired… but it is still early.”
She felt that brewing the enhanced Strength Potion had drained much of her Mental Power, making her more drowsy than usual.
She looked out at the stars through the window and clenched her teeth.
“Then I will use Astrology tonight. It has been a long time since I last observed the stars.”
***
Fulan sat on a reclining chair, leisurely gazing at the stars outside the window.
In her mind, star maps gradually appeared one after another.
After her Astrology had reached the Mastery level, numerous star maps had appeared in her consciousness.
Some of them she had seen before in the book “Astronomy and the Sea,” while others were entirely unfamiliar.
Fulan’s vision suddenly went dark.
When she regained a little awareness, the first thing she heard was a rhythmic and extremely rapid “TAP TAP TAP” sound, along with a loud, hurried “WHOOSH WHOOSH” noise.
When she could finally see the scene clearly, she froze.
Her first thought was:
Why am I doing this?
The first thing she saw was a person’s back.
Fulan quickly recognized that it was herself.
Although the figure wore loose clothing and long trousers—and the clothes were dirty—she still recognized herself immediately.
There was no one else around her.
Only a machine in front of her was moving on its own.
It emitted thick smoke, and a wheel kept spinning continuously.
Fulan watched for a moment before realizing what it was.
A steam engine?
The entire machine was not small.
It could completely cover Fulan’s body, though it was only about one size larger than she was.
She watched the flywheel spinning continuously.
Then the entire vision disappeared, leaving only a single prompt.
[You have observed another scene from the future. Astrology proficiency +20.]
Fulan thought for a moment and was about to use Divination when a sharp pain shot through her head.
She immediately stopped.
“This must be something from far in the future. I cannot use Divination.”
She rubbed her aching head.
It seemed that if she wanted to understand why she was building that steam engine, she would have to wait until the future.
From Fulan’s current perspective, steam engines were already outdated technology in this era.
Why would she be building something like that?
She had once overheard other apprentices discussing how, in other regions of the Alliance, there existed something called a Mana Engine.
It could move an entire mountain.
It could even lift a whole city into the sky.
Compared to a Mana Engine, a steam engine seemed to have no advantage in terms of power.