BXBX NOVEL Chapter 654 - Alchemy Competition
And below the watchful eye of an angered Vheslia, the competition commenced.
…and ended quickly after!
The victor was obviously Frank.
"What?!"
The father of Vheslia was left speechless as he looked at Frank, he had made an amazing new Health Potion, which was shining with a red color akin to blood.
He had used the same materials than him, the same alchemy techniques too, but he had simply done it way better than him and the end result was an amazing product.
Vheslia\'s father potion paled in comparison, shining with less color and brilliance, while Frank\'s potion was more like an elixir, it even gained some divinity, and it might even recover mana and enhance the stats of weaker beings permanently by drinking it!
"What kind of… man are you? This is… No… It must be beginner\'s luck! Let\'s do a rematch!" he said.
"Sure." Said Frank.
And so, they did it several times, each time, Vheslia\'s father was more and more humiliated, Frank was even yawning while masterfully mixing ingredients and making potions.
After having made twenty different potions, Vheslia\'s father was left speechless for a few seconds, glaring down at Frank with an utter disbelief, anger, frustration, and above all, utter jealously!
He wished he could have such an amazing talent as him in alchemy! What the hell was this human?!
"This is impossible… How can you be… so good at alchemy? You\'re literally… the best at alchemy in this entire world!" he said.
"Is that so?" wondered Frank.
Frank didn\'t do much alchemy, he had often left it to the side, so he had not leveled the skill that much, but he realized that his practice alone was already more outstanding than anyone here.
"Vheslia is way better at alchemy than me anyways," said Frank.
"M-My daughter is better?!" asked Vheslia\'s father.
"Yes, father-in-law, she taught me what I know." Said Frank.
Vheslia walked towards her father and petted his head.
"Okay father, that\'s enough for today, stop annoying my husband so much. See? I taught him alchemy pretty well, didn\'t I? Now stop bothering him so much…" sighed Vheslia.
"Sigh… Okay… I… I apologize. I think you\'re really amazing at alchemy… I have to admit it." said Vheslia\'s father.
"Not really, I am quite average, Vheslia is better, as I said." Said Frank.
"My daughter, did you really become so good?!" asked Erebus, Vheslia\'s father.
"Yes father, I am the best at Alchemy in the world at this point… Pretty much, but not like I care much about that anymore. I still make things for him and the family though," said Vheslia.
"I-I see… To think that the family business would be relegated into something like that even though you\'ve mastered the arts of alchemy to such divine level… Sigh…" sighed Vheslia\'s father.
"Come on father, the world cannot be changed with alchemy alone, and I am certainly not interested in meddling in political affairs, that seems like way too troublesome for a lady like me." Said Vheslia.
"I-I guess…" he sighed.
"Dear, the food is ready, let\'s go eat all together…" said Vheslia\'s mother, Mary.
"Alright… Let\'s eat together then." Said Vheslia\'s father.
The entire family quickly walked towards the table and sat down around, there was slightly awkward silence, the food was good, there were vegetables of various purple and red colors, grilled meat slices covered by a sweet and citric sauce, and also mashed potatoes with green peas and other things.
There was even freshly baked bread to boot, and a large piece of cheese for anyone to serve themselves, and also wine and orange juice, so everyone got their fill.
Although Frank and Vheslia wished there could be more than this awkward silence, it wasn\'t really possible for that to happen, it was often very hard for people to change how they treated others and how they worked in a group, sometimes they would simply not change quite easily, and it was something gradual.
Nonetheless, due to the children speaking around without being afraid of things such as being judged, at the end the entire family began to talk around, and Vheslia\'s parents felt a bit overwhelmed as everyone in Frank\'s family spoke with one another.
Eventually, the more open of the girls, Cathyl, began to talk about stuff until she spoke directly to Vheslia\'s parents, they were forced to socialize as well, and they slowly began to talk more and more.
"You know? It is very hard to make a living out of selling potions in this rotten country… There are big families monopolizing the creation of potions, and they mass produce them out of factories! A factory-produced potion will never be as good as one made with your hands." Said Erebus.
"I agree, I also dislike what they\'re doing if its really like you said… It really destroy the small business of the people around the nation, and this only makes the rich richer and the poor poorer, without giving them much of a chance." Said Frank.
"Y-Yeah, you\'re right, Frank…! That\'s right! Most of my alchemist friends ended going to work in these factories at the end, leaving aside their personal business which their families had been takin care for generations… I think we are one of the last few families still making home-made alchemy items…" sighed Vheslia\'s father.
"Sigh… Well, we can still survive on our own, the people still buy our potions for the most part so we are doing mostly fine anyways, Erebus still likes to complain all the time." Said Vheslia\'s mother, Mary.
"Yeah, father had always liked to complain. Well, this is just what\'s called technology and advancements, eventually home-made things lose value and mass-produced garbage is more profitable…" said Vheslia.
"It is sadly something inevitable in all societies…" said Frank.
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