Pandora unchained 2 a cu.., p.26
Pandora Unchained 2: A Cultivation Progression Fantasy, page 26
“As usual, the exam will be conducted in three segments: poison analysis, poison concoction, and medical debate. I will administer the poison analysis segment, while my fellow three-star alchemist, Alchemist Warner, will administer the poison concoction segment. That leaves Physician Evans to administer the medical debate segment.”
“Apothecary Hawthorn is conceited but fair, a voice whispered in Sorin’s ear. Alchemist Warner will be biased against you, and Physician Evans will be harsh but unbiased. Be careful.” Elder Calvin’s voice cut off before he could finish.
“Communication with the outside world is strictly forbidden,” Apothecary Hawthorn continued. Communication with other examinees for collusion is also forbidden. You may use the tools you’ve brought with you unless the examiner forbids them in advance. Skills and spells are naturally allowed unless they break the rule on communication.”
One of the alchemists in the room raised their hand. “Is the use of familiars allowed? If so, with what restrictions?”
“Familiars are naturally allowed in the examination,” clarified Apothecary Hawthorn. “Assuming, of course, that it is not used to break the rule on communication. For all intents and purposes, they are considered an extension of your person.”
“There is only one exception to this rule: spirits. Spirits who were experts in alchemy in their former lives will provide an undue advantage to an examinee since there is also no guarantee that this spirit will continue to be available to the examinee. Anyone else? No one? Everyone’s time is precious, so let’s get right to it.”
He walked over to a large stone platform on the examination room’s stage and flicked his sleeve. A semi-rotten carcass appeared on the stone platform, and blood immediately began to pool into the troughs that had been carved into the platform in advance.
The alchemists in the room immediately turned queasy, and some even retched. Conversely, the apothecaries were not overly bothered by the sight and were used to dealing with such situations.
“This demon was once a living, breathing Sabertooth Shadow Panther, a two-star demon with the strength to match a standard third-forging cultivator. We captured and poisoned this creature for the sole purpose of this examination. Your first test is to correctly identify the poison or poisons that led to its death. Names are irrelevant—the type of poison, the poison interactions that took place, and the effects on the specimen’s body are the key details I’m looking for. You may use all the tools you have at your disposal. You have one hour. The test begins now.”
The alchemists and apothecaries immediately scrambled toward the corpse and began collecting samples. Hair samples, flesh samples, bone samples, and internal organ samples were the go-to ways of identifying poisons.
Sorin wasn’t in a huge hurry compared to the others. Instead, he cast Patient Viper’s Analysis and focused on the corpse. Since the demon was dead, it was impossible to make out the creature’s mana pathways, but he could make out the creature’s core and bones quite clearly.
The demon’s core is pitted, and its bones show signs of erosion. The poison is concentrated in the liver, spleen, and brain but has not reached the bone marrow.
He delved a level deeper. The shadow panther’s main runes focus on strength, stealth, and speed. Its regeneration isn’t overly powerful. Its core elements are shadow and wind. Its corruption is Violence-based.
Upon reaching the third level, the picture became even clearer. Blood vessels are intact. Musculature is intact. Corruption is concentrated in the core and not in the flesh and blood, meaning that the creature was likely unaware that it was poisoned until it was too late. Rupture wounds on the organs indicate constant destruction and regeneration. The same can’t be said for the brain, the creature’s weakness. Its consistency is softer than one might expect.
Final analysis: The cause of death was the persistent rupturing of the internal organs. Brain damage led to an inability to consciously mobilize corruption in time to spur regeneration. This was further impacted by the presence of a second poison that attacked the creature’s bones and core. The creature was likely unaware of the damage before it reached a critical point.
By now, the examinees had all returned to their worktables and removed cauldrons and other test media. Some were actively using skills and spells to identify the poison. A few, likely those with deeper medical knowledge, were still inspecting the corpse. Sorin joined them, placed his hand on the corpse, and used Hand of the Medicine God to extract a bit of the poison from various parts of its body. He then used Toxic Metabolism to digest and analyze it.
Acitoxins and hemotoxins are confirmed. Neurotoxin is also confirmed but is concentrated in the brain matter. Also… the stomach? It was an interesting combination. He quickly compiled a list of possible poison reagents and determined that they were likely new strains developed specifically for the examination.
He then listed down everything he knew about the poisons and how they had affected the demon’s body before writing his answers onto the information jade provided. Once the hour was up, he submitted jade to the examiner.
“Examinee #1, pass,” said Apothecary Hawthorn. “You correctly identified the bone-attacking acitoxin and the hemotoxins that concentrated those same acitoxins in the liver and the spleen. The hemotoxin’s characteristics are rapid propagation, attraction, and accumulation in these specific organs. Due to the hemotoxin, the acitoxin wasn’t concentrated near the bones and demon core, but it is still extremely efficient in attacking them, resulting in light damage that affected the target’s vitality.”
“Examinee #2, pass. Examinee #3, fail.” He continued in this fashion until he arrived at Sorin’s information jade, where he frowned. “Examinee #37, fail. The poisons had nothing to do with the brain and stomach. Neurotoxins, though present, were not critical to the process. This is a classic example of pursuing an unrelated symptom and needlessly expanding the explanation.”
Sorin was not surprised by the assessment but wasn’t going to back down. “I object to this assessment.”
“You may object, but it doesn’t matter,” said Apothecary Hawthorn. “What I say here is law.”
“Yet your opinion is flawed,” said Sorin, not mincing words. “In fact, I would go so far as to say that without the neurotoxin, the demon would not have died.”
The apothecary paused. “Explain your reasoning. If it doesn’t satisfy me, you won’t just fail this exam but will be prohibited from taking further examinations for an entire year for backtalking me.”
Sorin nodded. Accepting his challenge but issuing a harsh punishment for failure was consistent with Elder Calvin’s insistence that Apothecary Hawthorn was an arrogant individual.
“First, please note that the corruption in the creature’s core was not fully mobilized. Its flesh and blood aren’t infused with Violence as it would typically be if the demon realized it was under threat. This distinction is easy to miss for someone who isn’t an adventurer. Violence-aligned demons are often docile unless provoked. This is because their Violence-infused bodies consumes a lot of energy and can even be threatening if prolonged needlessly.”
“Couldn’t the poisons have acted too swiftly, leading to death before mobilization of Violence-aligned corruption?” countered the examiner.
“Unlikely, given the scarring indicative of repeated rupture and regeneration. I estimate at least twenty cycles, meaning that the creature would have taken anywhere between twenty seconds and forty seconds to die.”
“It was thirty-two seconds. Continue.”
“Second, note the shallow pitting in the bones and core relative to lesser corruption in the rest of the body, key organs excluded. Shallow pitting is consistent with a prolonged and gradual attack on the bones and core. Given the keen survival instincts of a Violence-aligned demon, the creature would have definitely felt itself gradually weakening.
“Thirdly, and this is the most important part, the brain wasn’t damaged beyond repair. It was only weakened. While it wasn’t the cause of death, its soft consistency is consistent with what is typically found in cognitively impaired victims. This cognitive impairment would have applied both to active reasoning and the creature’s subconscious thoughts, including instincts.
“Given the combination of these three factors, the most likely explanation is that the creature was poisoned, but it didn’t realize it until it was too late. Because of its cognitively impaired state, it didn’t notice the damage to its bones and cores on time, causing it to fail in entering its Violence-infused state, greatly lowering its toughness and regenerative capabilities.”
Examiner Hawthorn seemed to accept this but continued with his line of interrogation. “I fail to see how this is related to the stomach.”
“The neurotoxins are most concentrated in its stomach, not its brain. Given the unhealed wounds on its arms and torso, I’m guessing that this creature was in pain due to a particularly intense battle and recovering from its injuries. It was self-medicating by ingesting herbs that would inhibit pain. These herbs had the unfortunate side effect of cognitive impairment.
“That’s why it wasn’t able to react on time. That’s why it succumbed so easily to the poison. Had it entered a violent state, a second or third dose of poison may have been required.”
For a moment, the room was silent. The elder clenched and relaxed his jaw multiple times, and in the end, he walked over to the corpse, took out a dagger, and cut a large gash in the creature’s abdomen. He then removed the stomach and sliced it open, revealing a large bundle of partially digested herbs. “Silver Oblivion Grass, an E-Tier two-star poison. It is not lethal, but the effects are along the lines of what Examinee #37 explained.
“Though Examinee #37’s explanation appears to be the most correct, I believe this poisonous interaction is beyond what should be expected of a new two-star apothecary. I can only pass #37 with distinction and assess the rest of the examinees using the agreed-upon criteria.
“Examinee #38, pass. Examinee #39, fail….”
He continued until all fifty-five examinees were assessed. Thirty-nine examinees passed, while sixteen failed.
After reading the results, Apothecary Hawthorn said, “That concludes the poison identification examination. We will now proceed directly to the poison concoction examination. Alchemist Warner, the floor is yours.”
38
RIGGED EXAMINATION
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. The 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 those 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–element extracts would 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 mana extract, water mana extract, and wood mana 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.
