The air in the sterile, dimly lit chamber hummed with the low thrum of unseen machinery, a constant, almost imperceptible vibration that seemed to resonate deep within Lucian's bones.
The scent of ozone, sharp and clean, mingled faintly with something metallic, hinting at the intricate dance of experiments he was about to conduct.
Before him, a sleek, obsidian colored table stretched, its surface gleaming under the focused beams of overhead lights. A series of glass beakers, flasks and test tubes, polished to a diamond-like clarity, awaited their purpose.
"Host," the System's voice resonated directly in Lucian's mind, a calm, dispassionate tone that he was already familiar with. "Begin by sterilizing or in simple words cleaning the primary flask and other apparatus. This cleansing will ensure that there are no pathogens in that apparatus."
Lucian, with a practiced, almost bored efficiency, reached for a spray bottle filled with a shimmering, iridescent liquid. His movements were fluid, precise, honed by countless hours of training in earth.
He ran a soft, lint-free cloth over the inner surfaces of the glassware, watching as the liquid evaporated, leaving behind a pristine, almost ethereal sheen.
He wasn't a chemist, not by any stretch of the imagination, but with the System help he had drilled the fundamentals into his muscle memory.
"Set up the Bunsen burner for the initial phase," the System continued, its voice unwavering.
A soft click echoed as Lucian secured the large, spherical flask into the cradle of the heating mantle, its coiled wires glowing a faint, ominous red. He adjusted the Bunsen burner fire.
This burner was different from the burner from back in the earth because this burner worked using a mana stone or crystals.
His fingers, long and slender, moved with an almost surgical grace, a stark contrast to the rough, calloused hands of an assassin he once was.
"Excellent," the System intoned, a rare hint of approval in its otherwise flat delivery. "Now, takeout the Elixir of Endurance and boil it until its color shifts to a pure, bone-white."
Lucian had already divided the herbs and materials he bought in the drawer precisely.
Lucian reached into a drawer beneath the table, his gaze scanning the neatly labeled vials.
His fingers closed around a slender flask, its contents a vibrant, almost ethereal sky blue.
The liquid swirled within, catching the light like a trapped piece of the sky. He uncorked it, the faint, earthy scent of ancient roots and mineral deposits wafting into the air. With a steady hand, he poured the shimmering blue liquid into the prepared flask, watching it settle, a pool of liquid sapphire.
He activated the heating mantle, and a gentle bubbling began, the blue liquid beginning to shimmer and churn.
"As the Elixir of Endurance contains a high concentration of calcium and a unique elemental compound, very beneficial for bone strengthening,"
The System began, its voice shifting into a more explanatory mode, "this particular element was entirely absent from Earth's periodic table, making it a truly novel discovery in this dimension. Its properties allow for-"
"No need to explain what it does, nor how it works," Lucian cut in, his voice a low, impatient rumble.
He leaned against the workbench, arms crossed, his eyes fixed on the bubbling blue. "Just tell me what to do next. I'm not here for a lecture on exotic metallurgy or fantastical biology."
A beat of silence. The System, for all its computational power, seemed to process the blunt interruption. "Understood, Host. My apologies for the extraneous information. Your directive is clear. Now, add the Horn of Bone Wolf and allow it to fully dissolve into the heating liquid."
Lucian's attention sharpened. He pulled another small, velvet-lined pouch from the drawer.
From within, he extracted an object that looked less like a horn and more like a shard of polished obsidian. It was a shiny, jet-black, bone-like fragment, no larger than his pinky finger, yet it radiated a subtle, almost imperceptible energy.
He held it between his thumb and forefinger, feeling its cool, smooth surface.
He watched the elixir intently. The blue had begun to fade, slowly, incrementally, replaced by a milky translucence. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, the transformation accelerated.
The liquid churned, the last vestiges of blue vanishing, until the entire volume inside the flask was a uniform, opaque white, the color of white bone.
A faint, almost chalky aroma rose from the flask.
Now.
Lucian dropped the black horn into the swirling white solution. There was no dramatic fizz, no explosive reaction. Instead, the horn simply began to soften, its hard edges blurring, its blackness bleeding into the white. It was a slow, mesmerizing process, like watching ink disperse in water, but in reverse.
The solution gradually darkened, taking on a pearlescent sheen, then a dull, metallic grey, and finally, a sleek, shiny grey, like polished steel. The horn was gone, completely absorbed, leaving behind no residue.
"This solution," the System announced, its voice holding a note of finality, "will be sufficient for you to reach the peak of Steel Bones."
Lucian blinked. "It was... this easy?" He felt a strange mix of disbelief and anticlimax. After all he thought chemistry and alchemy will be too hard, the actual synthesis felt almost trivial.
"Host, the materials your servant bought were of exceptional purity and potency," the System replied, its tone regaining its usual informative cadence.
"Their inherent quality significantly makes the alchemical process easy. Had you utilized lesser quality components, the preparation would have been far more complex, requiring multiple purification stages and precise catalytic agents. "
"Thus, yes, for materials of this purity, it was indeed 'easy' to prepare the solution."
Lucian was silent for a moment; his gaze still fixed on the shimmering grey liquid. He thought for a moment "I spend money like water today, please lord don't let Leora notice but again this solution can be sold for double the amount of money required for the materials, am I right System?"
System replied "Yes, host this medicine you created is generated by me through thousands of simulations, it might give you ten times the value of materials, Do you wish to sell it?"
"I don't care about money," he said, his voice flat, devoid of emotion. "Let's prepare another solution. What's next?"
"Very well," the System responded, its internal algorithms likely already shifting to the next phase. "We shall now prepare the solution for Steel Muscles, Tendons, and Skin."
Lucian carefully decanted the shiny grey solution into a slender glass test tube, sealing it with a tight-fitting stopper.
He placed it gently into a specialized test tube box, a sleek, case designed to hold ten such vials. The box clicked shut with a satisfying thud, securing the precious concoction.
"Next," the System instructed, "take the Vitality Draught. Hold it firmly in the steel holder and directly expose it to the flame. Burn it until it becomes coal black."
Lucian retrieved a set of long, insulated steel tongs. From another drawer, he pulled out a bundle of dried leaves. They were a muted, earthy grey, each leaf as large as his open palm, brittle and papery to the touch. The Vitality Draught.
He secured one of the leaves in the tongs, its delicate structure feeling surprisingly resilient.
He ignited a small, focused flame from a burner on the workbench, a concentrated jet of blue fire. With a steady hand, he held the grey leaf directly above the hottest part of the flame.
The edges of the leaf curled almost instantly, singeing and turning brown. A faint, acrid smoke began to rise, smelling of burnt herbs and something vaguely metallic.
The grey quickly deepened, charring, crackling, until the entire leaf was a brittle, jet-black husk, resembling a piece of coal. It was surprisingly quick.
"Now," the System added, "once it has achieved the coal-black state, immediately transfer it into the Stormblood Serum. The serum will then transform into a deep, dark pink."
Lucian moved swiftly. He reached for a flask containing the Stormblood Serum. It was a liquid of an almost unnaturally vibrant, electric pink, swirling with a luminescence that seemed to defy the ambient light.
Without hesitation, he dropped the charred Vitality Draught into the intensely light pink serum.
Zhsss! Zhsss!
A sharp, hissing sound erupted from the flask. A thick plume of white, acrid smoke billowed upwards, momentarily obscuring the contents. The air around them crackled with an almost palpable energy.
Lucian instinctively recoiled slightly, but kept his grip on the tongs, watching the reaction unfold.
The black husk of the leaf began to disintegrate, dissolving rapidly into the vibrant pink. The color of the serum shifted, slowly at first, then with increasing speed.
The electric pink deepened, darkening, until it settled into a rich, velvety dark pink, reminiscent of dried blood or a bruised sunset.
The transformation was complete in less than half an hour, the last remnants of the leaf vanishing, leaving behind a smooth, opaque liquid.
Time passed in a blur of precise measurements, controlled heating, and careful decanting.
Lucian worked methodically, his initial impatience replaced by a focused, almost meditative rhythm. He prepared solutions for Steel tendons, for Steel skin, for Platinum Bones etc.
Each new concoction brought its own unique challenge, its own distinct aroma, its own peculiar reaction.
The lab filled with a strange symphony of hisses, gentle bubbles, and the faint clinking of glassware. His muscles ached, his eyes felt strained from the intense focus, and the lingering scent of chemicals clung to his clothes and skin.
Huff.
Lucian finally leaned back, pushing away from the workbench with a long, drawn-out sigh. "Finally. This chemistry is over." He ran a hand through his hair, which felt slightly damp with sweat. "Phoo. It really took a long time."
He stretched, his back protesting with a series of soft pops. "It really is boring, doing all these experiments," he muttered, more to himself than the System.
"How does Jugo stand it?" He pictured the eccentric, perpetually cheerful scientist, surrounded by different bizarre apparatus and instruments, utterly absorbed in his craft.
Lucian couldn't fathom it. Give him a blade and a target and he could kill anyone but experiment he couldn't do it.
"System," Lucian thought, his voice firm, "initiate the process. Begin creating micro-damage in my body."