Reincarnation Of A Swordsman: The Omni Mage

Riya opened the door to the second room on the ground floor, and Kyle followed her inside. He expected a simple storage area or a place filled with disorganized tools, but what he saw left him speechless.

The room had been transformed into a functional alchemy lab with an undeniable touch of practicality. Shelves lined the walls, each organized with jars of herbs, powders, and other mysterious alchemical ingredients.

The air smelled faintly of mixed scents—floral, earthy, and even metallic. On the central table sat two cauldrons: one, an elegant white cauldron and the other, smaller and more mundane.

In the corner of the room stood a modest yet sturdy furnace, and next to it was a grinding station with various tools, such as pestles, mortars, and cutting knives of different sizes. A well-worn notebook sat open near the cauldrons, its pages filled with handwritten notes, formulas, and diagrams.

Kyle's eyes widened as he took it all in. "This… this is incredible," he muttered, stepping further into the room. "You really built all this yourself?"

Riya crossed her arms and smirked. "Neat, isn't it?"

Kyle nodded in admiration. "It's beautiful. And here I thought alchemy was just mixing stuff in a pot."

Riya raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes, you could mix stuff in a pot; but it's also about precision, understanding, and skill. Speaking of which, let's get to why we're here."

"Earlier, you said you couldn't learn alchemy from books, right?"

"Yeah, I did. I tried from the library, and it never clicked for me."

"Alchemy is a craft. You don't just learn by reading or even by watching. You learn by doing—and failing," Riya explained.

Kyle nodded slowly. "I realized that, I knew I needed hands-on experience, that's why I approached you."

"Exactly," Riya said. "But there's more to it. Alchemy isn't just about throwing ingredients into a pot and hoping for the best. You have to understand the materials you're working with—their properties, their reactions, their limits.

There are millions of different plants, herbs, animal parts, minerals—you name it—that can be used in Alchemy. Each has its own unique properties and effects. But some ingredients might share similar purposes, but their usage is what matters.

Each one requires a different method of handling, preparation, and application. That's what you need to learn first."

Kyle's jaw dropped as he stared at her in disbelief. "Wait... millions of ingredients? You're saying I need to learn all of them?!"

Riya laughed softly and face-palmed. "No, silly. Of course not. At our level, there are common ingredients we can access and work with. Those are the ones you need to focus on for now."

She went to her shelf and picked up a massive, thick book. Its cover was was smooth black, but the title, Essential Alchemical Ingredients, was embossed in gold letters. The book was enormous, nearly half a meter in height and bound with heavy leather. She placed it on the table with a resounding thud.

She opened the book to a random page and showed it to Kyle. The page featured an intricate drawing of a flower with glowing blue petals, along with detailed notes about its effects, handling requirements, and alchemical uses.

"See?" Riya said, pointing to the page. "This book will teach you what to look for, how to handle it, and how to use it. It's like a guide."

Kyle frowned as he flipped through the pages. "There's still so much to memorize. How many ingredients are in this thing?"

"Just a thousand," Riya said nonchalantly.

Kyle nearly dropped the book. "Just a thousand?!"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Riya laughed again, clearly enjoying his reaction. "Of the millions out there, a thousand is a small number."

"That is going to take forever."

"It won't," Riya assured him. "Ingredients have similarities. The more you learn, the easier it gets to recognize patterns and connections."

Kyle still wasn't convinced. "How far along are you with this?"

Riya smiled, puffing out her chest proudly. "I've mastered 40% of the ingredients in this book."

Kyle's eyes widened. "Forty percent? That's impressive."

Riya shrugged. Most that offered alchemy haven't mastered up to 10% of the ingredients because it didn't matter much, but she was giving it her all to be the best.

"It's just the beginning. But enough talk—let's get started."

"I was planning to brew an advanced healing potion tonight, but for your sake, we'll start with a basic one. You'll watch and learn."

"Sure... Let's do this."

"Alright, here's how this is going to work," Riya had a mischievous smile on her face as she began. "I'll call out the ingredients we need for this potion, and you're going to fetch them for me."

Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Fetch them? I don't even know what half of these ingredients are called."

"That's why you'll use this." Riya tapped the massive black book on the table. "The textbook has everything you need—illustrations, descriptions, handling tips."

Kyle sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, staring at the massive black book sitting on the table. "You really expect me to fetch the ingredients without knowing what they look like?"

Kyle rolled his eyes but opened the book anyway. As he flipped through the pages, he paused and looked up. "Wait, does this thing have an index?"

Riya chuckled, "You tell me. You're holding it."

Kyle huffed and turned to the back of the book, scanning the last few pages. His eyes lit up when he spotted the neatly organized index, with all the ingredients listed alphabetically alongside their page numbers. "Alright, that's a relief," he muttered. "At least it's not total chaos."

"See?" Riya teased, grinning mischievously. "You're already learning. Now, let's start with the first ingredient: Fireglow Seed."

Kyle nodded and turned back to the index, tracing his finger down the page until he found it.

"Fireglow Seed… page 736." He flipped to the corresponding page and took in the detailed illustration of a glowing orange seed with a faint, fiery aura.

Below the picture was a paragraph explaining its properties—restorative effects and its use in stabilizing potions.