Chapter 54

“Base preparation,” Sabina said. “Let’s start with liquid type. You truly remember nothing?”

Zoey paused. Her ‘amnesia’, Sabina meant. The easy answer would be ‘yes’, but Zoey felt a more honest disclosure was in order. “I remember some things. But there’s huge black spots. You can assume I’m a blank slate.”

Sabina pursed her lips. “That may be difficult. I’m sure I’ll assume some sort of prerequisite knowledge ... but I’ll try not to. Inform me if I take something for granted.”

“Sure.”

Sabina turned back to her cauldron. She’d withdrawn a giant metal spoon—the utensil looked a bit amusing, to be honest—and was stirring the thick red sludge with it. Zoey wanted to ask what potion she was working on, but she needed to stay focused. She’d always had a problem with being distractible.

“Liquid types, then,” Sabina said. “The standard is, of course, mana-imbued distilled water. Moderately reactive, pure and consistent, but most of all, cheap and simple to obtain in bulk.”

Zoey scribbled down notes, listening attentively.

“And palatable,” Sabina added, “though that’s far from highest consideration. But blood potions do tend to put some customers off, as well as other bases. It’s not an irrelevant consideration, in our field.”

“Blood?”

“Highly reactive,” Sabina explained, misinterpreting Zoey’s question. “Typically useful for experimentation ... except for financial restraints. Ethically sourced sapient blood is difficult to acquire. Livestock ... easier, but far less effective. Might as well use various liquors, at that point.”

Zoey was starting to understand. “Every liquid has different properties, and is useful in different situations?”

“Mm. Not exactly. Some are strictly superior to others. Plain distilled water is strictly worse than mana-imbued. Some materials aren’t strictly superior ... but in nearly no situations would you use the inferior type. For example, honey and fruit juice.”

“Fruit juice?” Zoey’s eyebrows went up. That didn’t sound like a particularly ... potion-y liquid. “I guess it’d taste good, at least.”

“Sweet-tasting potions are particularly popular with low-rank adventurers,” Sabina said, nodding. “They haven’t found the stomach for upper-level potions yet.” Sabina paused, then tacked on as an explanation, “The most effective bases aren’t the ones that sit well, as a general rule.”

“Yours didn’t taste too bad.” Er, was ‘not too bad’ an insult? They certainly hadn’t been tasty, though. “What were they, anyway? The infertility potions.”

Sabina’s lips curled. “You wouldn’t like the first iterations. Blood and liquors are reactive ... and don’t cook well. They’re used for finding an effective recipe, then when discovered, stabilization using more ... normal ... bases are sought out. The general invention process. I gave you the first palatable batch. Water, with some post-brew taste additives.”

“Ah.” That made sense. Zoey was kind of curious what the ‘first batch’ tasted like. By the way Sabina was making it sound ... seriously hard to stomach. Though, cooked blood ... yeah. Reasonable.

“You’re side-tracking us,” Sabina said. “Let me start over. The most common bases. Mana-imbued distilled water for bulk, common potions—health, mana, stamina, so on. The bread and butter of alchemy; perhaps fifty percent of any given alchemist’s sales. Beyond that, other bases are used for experimentation and specialized potions. Blood and liquors for their reactivity, and easy mutation ... but worse final quality, detriments to efficacy and duration. High level, unique effects often require blood or liquor, though not always—and depending on the advancement and skill of the brewer. Honey is the standard for potency, but with significant downsides in longevity. Useful for short-term, powerful effects. The opposite end of the spectrum, various milks. Long duration, moderate decrease in potency.”

The inappropriate question that flashed into Zoey’s head was entirely her fault ... she coughed, and pointedly didn’t voice it.

Sabina glanced her way. “What? Ask.”

Zoey wished she hadn’t caught the reaction. “Um. Nothing. Just had ... a thought.”

“Ask.”

Zoey really shouldn’t. But she found herself inordinately curious. “It’s inappropriate.”

“Ask.” There was a hint of exasperation, now.

Okay. Zoey guessed plenty of other things had been inappropriate, considering their arrangement. “What about semen?”

Sabina’s stirring stilled.

Zoey coughed. “As a base. What’s it do? Just, you know, out of curiosity.”

Sabina turned slowly, and gave Zoey an amused look. It had Zoey flushing, because Sabina wasn’t an easy woman to amuse.

“Well,” Sabina said. “I appreciate the curiosity. So as I said, ask. I’m hardly offended. And fringe cases are the most interesting ... I understand the intrigue.” She turned back to her cauldron. “Semen. It’s been done before. I read a paper during my years at the Institute. I’m not sure I could remember the results. The obvious difficulty is, of course, difficulty of procurement. The paper emphasized that. Average ejaculate for most sapient races is quite small. Collecting enough even for a single brew is ... impractical.”

Zoey paused. She’d been candid enough to ask the question of Sabina, but her follow up thought ... that Zoey’s ‘average output’ would make that particular hurdle much easier ... she didn’t voice. Sabina was easygoing when it came to inappropriate topics, but Zoey explaining how she produced about a hundred times what was normal was ... probably too much information.

“But you don’t remember?”

“I don’t. Which means it was nothing inspiring. Likely an inferior result of some other standard base, as is the case for most odd liquids. Spit, and,” Sabina paused, “other bodily functions, to avoid being obscene, don’t make good bases, either. Only milk and blood.”

“Huh.”

“You side tracked us again. We have a lot to go over.”

Sabina didn’t sound annoyed, just like she was corralling Zoey back. Zoey flushed anyway ... she’d told herself she’d be a good student. “Sorry. Keep going.” She hesitated. “Though, I have a practical question. What about mixing? Say, diluting blood with water? Or whatever else.”

Sabina was already shaking her head. “Purity. Purity is king. Mixtures rarely benefit any aspect of alchemy. Certain ingredients blend well ... but those are exceptions.”

“I see.” Zoey went quiet, letting Sabina continue her lecture. She jotted down the revelations into her notebook.

“We’re sticking to bases for too long. It’s only the first stage. Truthfully, this is information found in any reference book. I would suggest you pick one up. Even experienced alchemists can’t remember every reagent, every base, and their interactions.”

“Which do you use?”

Sabina paused. “Hm. At the Institute, the assigned reference was ‘The Alchemical Laboratory: Tools, Techniques, and Experimentation’. Third edition. Authored by...” Sabina thought for a second. “Magistra Eliza Gold, if I recall. It’s been some years. Perhaps you could find a copy floating around. But any reference would do.”

So, most experienced alchemists needed to use a reference ... but Sabina’s answer had made it clear she didn’t. She must have an offensively good memory, if her easy recollection of a textbook from years ago hadn’t shown that. Definitely not something Zoey was blessed to have. Though, she didn’t think she’d ever be as good as Sabina. Obviously not. This woman had been training for the subject for a long time. She’d attended some ‘institute’ ... likely a university equivalent.

“I tend to use my own notes,” Sabina added. “I’ve found ... certain inconsistencies in generally well-regarded texts. Reinventing the wheel is a poor idea ... but I would rather discover first-hand the axioms we operate by.”

“I’ll find something today, then. After I leave.”

Sabina nodded. “Detailing every potion base to you would be a waste of time. Learn them on your own. Know that in day-to-day, water, honey, milk, blood, and liquor are the staples. Hm. But liquid type isn’t the only aspect of preparing a base, only the most influential. I won’t go into detail, but certain imbuing methods can prime liquids to be more effective in certain regards ... duration, potency, and reactivity, the three recurring cornerstones. Additionally, they ready the base for accepting certain sorts of effects. An even more varied topic ... best left for self-research.”