This Ascent to Divinity is Lewder than Expected (A Futa LitRPG)

3.11 Alchemy 101

"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 She'd withdrawn a giant metal spoon—the utensil looked a bit amusing, to be honest—and was stirring the thick red sludge with it.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."