Pandora Unchained - a Cultivation Progression Fantasy

Alchemist Warner was very different from Apothecary Hawthorn. He looked to be a pleasant man with a gentle demeanor, though even without Elder Calvin's warning, his smile would have tripped several of Sorin's internal alarms.

Most important, however, was Sorin's gut feeling about the man. There was no doubt about it: Alchemist Warner meant him harm.

"The concoction examination explores three very important skills any apothecary—or alchemist, for that matter—must possess. First is catalysis, which enables an apothecary to quickly grow ingredients that would normally take years, if not decades, to mature. Second is purification and isolation. A poisonous ingredient is useless when not properly extracted and rendered into its concentrated form.

"The third skill is the concocting process itself. Poisonous reagents, like alchemical reagents, interact in strange yet predictable ways. Crafters must familiarize themselves with as many ingredients as possible and practice controlling them in a variety of situations.

Alchemist Warner flicked his sleeve, and 39 identical sets of ingredients appeared before the examinees. The reason they were identical was naturally because they came in their simplest forms: seeds, along with demon cores and mana crystals to feed them.

"To pass this examination, you must first successfully catalyze these seeds," continued Alchemist Warner. "You may utilize demon crystals, mana crystals, skills, and spells as you see fit. To refine them, you must use your own cauldron and a flame of your choosing. This flame can be a poison, an earth flame, or any other kind of personal flame.

"To succeed, you must concoct at least three poisons with distinct properties that exceed that of the strongest base ingredient used by at least 70 percent. Apothecaries, just like alchemists, don't just distill what exists—they create poisons more powerful than the base reagents would normally allow.

"I must reiterate that no other tools or external ingredients are allowed. Spell and skill focus, as well as the aid of familiars, are also allowed.

"This part of the examination is the most complex, so twelve hours have been allocated to its completion. Use your time wisely. The examination starts now!" Glowing numbers appeared above the stage where the demon carcass had once laid. The smiling elder, seemingly unable to tolerate the residual smell, walked over to the blood-stained stage and dumped a potion on it. The remaining blood and flesh fragments dissolved, as did the corrupted stone stage that had outlived its usefulness.

Sorin wasted no time analyzing the ten varieties of seeds provided. He was pleased to discover that they were basic poisonous ingredients at the two-star level. The clan's public library documented these ingredients well, which meant that all other major organizations were aware of these plants, key variants, and their effects.

The core of the exercise was, therefore, to produce powerful variant strains of these ingredients and utilize them to craft poisons. While on paper, this was advantageous to the clans with deep inheritances, most examinees would refrain from exposing such secrets, either because they lacked authorization or because divulging secret knowledge was frowned upon.

Sorin, still bound by the Ten Thousand Poison Tablet, wasn't allowed to use the most powerful variants. But he already had experience catalyzing these seeds and possessed superior catalyzation and poison control skills, so he didn't dwell on this fact.

There were seven types of demon cores on the table, one for each evil. Most of the cores were aligned with Violence and Madness, as Violence could be used to hyper-concentrate properties, while madness could be used to foster variance.

First up is Burning Rain Flower, a two-star D-Tier ingredient. Successful catalyzation involves carefully balancing the Violence Extract, Fire Mana Extract, and Water Mana Extract in a 3:7:2 ratio. Ideally, Earth, Metal, and Wood extract would also be used, but this is a clan secret that can't be divulged.

Having confirmed his approach, Sorin gestured to the ample liquified mana extract on the work bench and removed three large globs. He then clenched his fist and shattered a demon core, two fire mana crystals, and one water mana crystal.

The liquified mana extract absorbed each of these materials and produced the required extracts, which Sorin measured carefully before infusing into the seed.

Sorin then poured mana into his hand and sliced it, producing mana-infused blood. He fed the blood to the seed like water while activating Grove Keeper's Touch. The seed sprouted violently, producing a plant with five wilted leaves. At its center, a flower with shimmering blue and red petals bloomed.

Sorin collected only the petals where the poison was most concentrated, then moved on to the next seed. This one would normally produce Amber Blade Grass, but Sorin used a different ratio of demon cores and mana crystals to foster another variant. This time, he abstained from his blood for the catalyzation, as this would over-concentrate the reagents he required.

He then proceeded to produce unique variations for seven other seeds, stopping only to ponder his approach for the last one. This plant is called Emerald Varifern Grass. It's not a poison, but it can be used to amplify poisons or catalyze certain reactions in small quantities. The best approach is to leave it unmutated.

The Emerald Varifern Grass was the one plant in the examination where alchemists had an advantage over apothecaries; poison mana would inevitably contaminate the plant, but fire, wood, and water mana would not.

Sorin didn't have any of these three types of mana, but he did have a workaround. He produced Fire Extract, Water Extract, and Wood Extract and directly used these substances to nurture the herb without demon cores, his mana, or his blood. Fortunately, Grove Keeper's Touch was much more versatile than Blood Soul Nurturing Art; Sorin was able to catalyze the herb to produce an untainted Emerald Varifern Grass in less than an hour.

Concocting three unique poisons with only ten plants worth of ingredients was a difficult task. It required careful planning on the part of the apothecary and even the division of critical ingredients.

Sorin only needed a few calculations to determine that the Emerald Varifern Grass was key. The exam was clearly stacked against the apothecaries and beneficial to the alchemists.

Nurturing the plant in a usable form will be extremely difficult for most apothecaries. Even if they can succeed, they'll still need to use an earth flame instead of their poison flame to purify it. Conversely, the alchemists can use their alchemical flames without any worry.

Since the purification order didn't matter, Sorin started with the easiest ingredients. He used his dark green poison flame to roast the Burning Rain Flower's petals. Thanks to the flame's properties, non-poisonous ingredients were burned away, while poisonous ingredients were converted into their active states.

It was the same for the seven subsequent ingredients. Due to their nature, there was no need to switch out flames or cauldrons. The other apothecaries in the examination similarly had no issues.

The Emerald Varifern Grass required additional precautions. First, Sorin had Lorimer come out and activate his earth flame form. A potent two-star earth flame filled the grooves on the fire control circle to produce a concentrated flame that lit up beneath Sorin's cauldron.

Second, Sorin activated his Purelight Cauldron's mana purification properties and stripped his mana of its poisonous residues and any residual corruption. This greatly decreased his mana's potency, but he more than made up for this using his high spiritual strength.

Most apothecaries floundered during this step, but there were some exceptions. Some had rings that allowed them to better manipulate flames, while others had mana conversion devices or specialized cauldrons.

Some had even avoided cultivating a poison flame and had instead produced an alchemical flame. Alchemical flames were neutral in their composition and weren't ideal for working with poisons. In this specific situation, however, they outperformed poison flames many times over.

Once again, purifying the Emeral Varifern Grass took much more time than purifying other components. By the time Sorin had fully reduced it to a usable powder, only eight hours remained of the examination. Given the reactions involved, this was cutting it close; all the alchemists in the room had already moved on to the concoction step, and some were even halfway done concocting their first poisons.

My first poison will be an acitoxin. Thanks to my blood's nurturing, these ingredients are especially potent. Moreover, I don't need to waste any Emerald Varifern Grass to succeed.

He directly dumped five drops of Burning Rain Flower extract into the cauldron along with liquified mana extract, which would serve as the solvent. He then added powdered Devil-Face Bamboo and Flesh-Melting Ghost Lily extract at carefully timed intervals. The poison rapidly grew in strength until, finally, it broke through the wall, separating E-Tier poisons from D-Tier poisons.

Sorin collected the light red liquid in a vial and labeled it as his first submission. Then he turned his attention to three more herbs. This time, he added a small portion of the Emerald Varifern Grass powder at the end of the process, producing a potent neurotoxin.

In the end, it all comes down to the last four components. They can either produce a manatoxin or a hemotoxin, as there's a fine line between mana and blood. The key to producing either poison is blending the first two ingredients while using Emerald Varifern Grass as a mediating agent. For this, a pure alchemical flame and non-poisonous mana are necessary, once again putting the apothecaries in the examination at a disadvantage.

Sorin ultimately decided to craft a manatoxin, but he'd previously focused most of his attention on producing acitoxins, manatoxins, and necrotoxins; these were, after all, the foundation of the Bone-Unsealing Tinctures.

He picked the Crystal Annihilation Lotus extract and Blood Life Ginseng as his first two ingredients, then added them to the cauldron in a 2:5 ratio while using half of the Emerald Varifern Grass powder to catalyze the reaction.

The two reagents slowly fused with the aid of the mediating powder, but the process was slow since Sorin was using Lorimer's earth flame form and stripped mana with the help of his cauldron.

Uncertain if he'd finish on time, Sorin added in another quarter of the remaining Emerald Varifern Grass powder. The reaction sped up, and he was back on track.

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse. About an hour into the reaction, it suddenly sped up, forcing Sorin to quickly add Liquified Mana Extract to dilute the reagents. He managed to salvage 90% of them before they could disappear through an unwanted side reaction.

Time was short, but Sorin carefully recalculated the entire reaction before adding an adjusted amount of powdered Amber Blade Grass. Half an hour later, mere minutes before the deadline, Sorin placed the contents in a vial and labeled it as his third submission.

"The examination is now over," announced Alchemist Warner shortly afterward. "All poisons not already submitted will be refused.

"I will now announce the final results. Examinee #1, pass. Examinee #3, pass." Virtually no one who'd submitted three poisons failed, as submitting an inferior poison would have been too shameful. "Examinee #37… fail!" The room broke into whispers, and Sorin, unflustered by the expected announcement, stood up.

"On what grounds?" he asked Alchemist Warner. "I submitted three poisons with differing properties, each with the required potency.”

"On the grounds that you broke the rules," said Alchemist Warner. His smile was much less amiable now and borderline malevolent. "You used an outside ingredient in producing your poisons: your blood. Your poisons are outstanding, but for the sake of fairness, I have no choice but to disqualify you."