The System

Prologue Ō - Part IX --> Black Hole (Part - 01)

The quality of a potion is determined by many factors: quality of ingredients, the timing to add said ingredients to the mixture, quantity added, batch size, the alchemist experience, and most of all, flame control. Go just a tad bit hot and the potion batch will burn to a crisp. Use lesser heat and the potion will stay a stew: a nasty stew that will stay nasty forever.

Based on the tier of the potion, one must even alternate between temperatures. Much like making a proper meal. The difference between the meal you cook, the meal your mom cooks, and the one a five-star chef cooks. All of this is common or basic knowledge for a sailor. Once you set sail and begin your voyage, the path ahead is unpredictable as the seas. In this case: outer space.

For the lazy sailors, one who didn't like to study hard, who rather risk it in the field than study beforehand, someone like Crook. They came up with an easy way to pick up a random potion and still know it's one of the best qualities.

Go for the best darn shimmering liquid you can find. In most cases, the color, even if a separate color or flavor is added to the mix, the radiance pouring out from the flask, helps you determine the potion's tier. And from the light purple glow radiating from the flask, Crook tossed Kal. Tess recognized this mana potion to be the highest-tier mana potion made by the best alchemist in the galaxy.

For a moment, Kal felt like the void. He sucked in the void of mana, surrounding him like a sponge. His inner mana expanded at the same time as his massive mana pool filled to the brim and even seeped out of him. "ᚨːəᚨ, that's some high tier ᚨːəᚨŕy."

"Ooh! Never heard a Void maker curse before." Crook chugs down his mana potion.

"How do you know it's a curse word?"

"Deep down, aren't all of them the same?"

"Ha-ha... True." Kal laughs. "Mine are better though."

"Don't worry. After we are done here, I will be glad to prove you wrong." Crook eyes Kal for another battle, with more words than the last time.

Whispers slowly crept around the ship, from creatures who saw what transpired on the deck to the ones who still complained about their luxurious suites. The captain commanded the undead and now he also had a Void folk onboard who listened to his every order. One by one, from a lowly peasant to the highest-level authority on board, made their way onto the open deck. All of them were curious to see what had transpired, to see a Void folk, and most of all—The infamous Captain Crook.

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Crook kept posting orders over the ship's bulletin board. With the help of ship magic and a few tweaks Crook made, everyone inside the ship's barrier got a system alert as soon as he posted a new command or deleted an old one.

Mast were being fed mana by every passenger or crew member around it, through enchanted circles. Reinforcements were being built around the holes Kal created. A few nozzles were being shifted manually, and the veterans prepped the space jump cannon.

"Everyone who had done charging the mast, head to the cannon." Crook posts another command as tiny lights light up the pathway. From around the ship, heading towards the space jump cannon. Crook spots a few officials and other noblemen on the open deck with idle stares, looking down on others or looking curiously at him and Kal. None of them dared see Kal for more than a second, though.

"Anyone out of their allotted cabin has to work or find another ship." Crook posts another note. The officials cough, act as if they were stretching and head back inside. Crook overrides the general commands of the ship and locks every cabin. "If you want to see me dance, you better pay up sweethearts." Crook laughs to himself.