[Vol. 7] Chapter 132: The Struggles of Hard Work
Even though neither of them said it out loud, Ismael could definitely figure it out with his expertise in potion-making.
The key ingredient, the one drop that transformed the entire potion, was actually Violet's blood.
Of course, it had been diluted countless times beforehand. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have blended so easily.
About a year ago, when she was in the Holy Empire, Violet had helped Eudora, the little succubus, improve her body and solve her food supply issue. The potion she had made back then, a mix of her own divine blood, still had plenty left over. Even after using some on Edwina, and taking a portion for various experiments, there was still a surplus remaining.
Back then, because she needed Eudora to absorb it safely, she had diluted it extensively, filling up an entire bottle.
And that small gift she secretly gave to Hongyan on Ghost Sea? That was actually a creation made from a portion of that leftover divine blood. By activating the latent power in the blood in advance, she found a way to channel a tiny fraction of its law-based power through a living host.
Even the slightest trace of true "Radiance" Law, if fully unleashed, would be an overwhelming force, utterly crushing anything below god-tier beings like a dimensional gap in power.
But Hongyan's experiment had also confirmed Violet’s initial hypothesis. While this direct-use method was undeniably powerful, it also had harsh requirements.
The user needed a strong and resilient body. They had to possess an extremely high affinity for light elements, like a certain holy knight girl she knew.
Otherwise, if their compatibility was too low, or their strength too weak, the backlash would be disastrous. In the worst case, their body could explode on the spot.
Diluting it further could reduce the risk, but after a certain point, the concentration of the law would drop too much, rendering it practically useless.
Since she had managed to create something this interesting, Violet wanted to refine and improve it further, which led her to the idea of turning it into a magic potion.
The structure of [Tears of Light] was actually quite simple. That large pot of multicolored liquid from before was actually just a neutralizer used by Violet to mix and coordinate those few drops of divine blood, allowing them to remain stable and preventing them from being excessively diluted.
The balance of this formula was incredibly difficult to control. All those previous explosions were actually Violet trying to find the sweet spot. Somewhere between over-dilution and incomplete neutralization.
Luckily, she had finally succeeded.
“Hmm… now the only question is… who should test it?”
As the black-haired girl murmured to herself, staring at the golden potion in her hands, a mischievous, almost sinister smile curled on her lips.
Seeing this, Ismael immediately took a half-step back, waving his hands frantically.
“W-Wait, let me be clear. I'm happy to help with the research, but there’s no way I’m drinking that! That stuff nearly blew up an alchemy pot made of reinforced metal. If it explodes inside my stomach… yeah, I’d rather not imagine that horror show.”
Violet glanced at him, amused.
“What’s this? A renowned potion master doubting his own creation?”
Ismael took another step back, his face deadly serious.
“Confidence is one thing, but science requires rigor and testing!”
“Alright, alright, stop backing up. You’re going to hit the wall at this rate. And don’t worry, I won’t be using you as a test subject. Though… even if you did explode, I could put you back together… but that would be a little too cruel, don’t you think?”
“…I feel like I just heard something deeply unsettling.”
Shaking his head in resignation, Ismael decided not to dwell too much on her many secrets. He carefully put away the [Tears of Light] potion, and once the ventilation system had fully cleared the lab, he removed his protective suit and waited for Violet to dispel the defensive magic.
“Well then, Miss Violet, since we’re done here, I’ll be heading back. To be honest, my workload has been piling up lately. If this experiment had dragged on much longer, I was planning to take a break from assisting you.”
"Oh...?"
The black-haired girl raised an eyebrow, momentarily setting aside her thoughts on the potion.
"Does this have something to do with that Imperial Prince, Xiluo?"
She hadn’t forgotten how that guy had threatened Ismael, demanding that he gather the required resources within three days or get fired. But now, more than a week had passed, and Ismael was still Chief of General Affairs and Logistic. Not only that, but every time he went out, he was followed by a group of heavily armed guards, looking as important as ever.
Hearing Violet bring it up, Ismael let out a helpless sigh.
"Xiluo Frederick, huh…? Honestly, I don’t even know how to judge that prince. For someone of his status, he really doesn’t think things through. I may be in charge of distributing over half of the resources in Academy City, but at the end of the day, I'm just a manager.
"The higher-ups set the general quotas, the materials come in from the outside, and I handle the allocations. Sure, I have some authority, but the real power is with the Board of Directors and the Headmaster. If I tried to forcefully redirect a huge amount of supplies like Prince Xiluo demanded, I’d be out of a job in less than three days."
"Haha… sounds like a rough job."
"Ugh, tell me about it. I can’t afford to offend either side. The only reason I’m even putting up with this thankless work is because the Headmaster promised that the Academy would cover all my alchemy research expenses if I did my job properly."
He let out a deep sigh. Over the past few days, he had become quite familiar with Violet, and since she was easy to talk to, he shook his head and continued.
"As for Prince Xiluo, I heard that Miss Yulia already reported him to the Headmaster, who decided to handle it personally. I don’t know the exact details, but ever since then, the prince hasn’t shown up in the Seventh District to cause trouble.
"What I’ve actually been busy with is something else…"
After a brief pause, Ismael figured there was no harm in sharing.
"You're aware that Academy City Sainz is about to host the first-ever World Academy Joint Exchange Conference, right?"
"Of course! I’m going to be watching from the audience~"
Ismael nodded slightly.
"This is a brand-new global exchange event, basically a tournament of sorts. I've heard that they will rank the various academies based on their performance and offer generous rewards. And since there’s competition, combat and risks are inevitable."
"To keep the students as safe as possible, the Academy's logistics department has been working around the clock, mass-producing protective equipment, tools, and magic potions."
"But unfortunately, one of the main supply routes from the outside world ran into trouble recently. A large number of merchant guilds got stuck about dozens of kilometers outside the city. This has affected the Academy’s operations, which is why Prince Xiluo’s supply issues happened in the first place."
Violet tilted her head in curiosity.
"If the route is blocked, why not just take a detour? Why insist on staying put?"
"Uh… it's complicated. Hard to explain in just a few words. If you're really interested, you could go check it out yourself, it’s not that far. You don’t have much serious business to attend to in the Academy anyway, do you?"
"Hey, hey, don’t make me sound like some slacker who just wanders around all day..."
Violet shook her head, both amused and exasperated. She knew Ismael meant no harm, so she didn’t take offense. Instead, she thought for a moment.
"Still… this does sound kinda interesting. Do you know exactly where it is?"
Ismael blinked in surprise.
"Wait… you’re actually thinking about going? Now I’m feeling kinda uneasy… Alright, alright! Stop looking at me like that, I’ll tell you, okay!?"
"It’s in the northwest of Academy City Sainz, within the Lannas Province, close to the Dragon Shrine. Do you have a large map? I can mark the location for you."
"Whoa… wait a minute! Isn't this map way too big!?"