Sauntering into the library, Lukas had a quick look around. Nothing had changed since the last time he had been there. Nodding in satisfaction, he began going around, checking out what was on the shelves. Lukas had theorized that this whole place was designed to teach alchemy and only became more convinced as he looked at the titles of the books. Every single book he came across was on alchemy in one way or another—and basic alchemy at that. There wasn’t a single book about anything else.

  It was kind of annoying, as he’d been hoping to get a general grasp of the world he’d been spat out into. All he could really hope for was that there were some obscure references in the books that would give him some ideas. For now, though, he was stuck with alchemy and began scouring the library, searching for something that might help him understand his new class.

  It took some time, but eventually Lukas realized that the library was organized, but not by the author like libraries back home. The whole place was organized by the complexity of the book's subject. He didn’t realize this until he came to the bookshelf closest to the door and saw that every book there was about teaching the basics and becoming a novice. There were books like An Introduction to Alchemy: Volume 1 of 3, Basic Alchemical Theory for Beginners, Alchemy for Novices: Volume 1 of 2, and An Introduction to Potions: Fundamentals of Potion Making. There were also books on poisons and whatnot, but those were further down the bookshelf, indicating that they required a better understanding of alchemy.

  Ready and excited to get started, Lukas grabbed the first books on the bookshelf. He walked away with a stack of books in his arms, including all volumes of An Introduction to Alchemy, Basic Alchemical Theory for Beginners, Alchemy for Novices, and a few other theory books Lukas knew would be important if he wanted to grasp anything about magic and alchemy.

  With his arms full, Lukas marched back out to the central room with a large grin. He set the stack of books on the large desk and sat himself down in the chair. Before he got started, he checked the various drawers in the desk and was thrilled to find empty notebooks and rough-looking charcoal pencils.

  Setting everything out, Lukas started with An Introduction to Alchemy. It and the two other volumes were fairly large books and no doubt contained a wealth of knowledge Lukas was eager to consume. Opening the book to the first page, Lukas noticed the lettering was strangely offset and sometimes scrunched up on the page. He guessed it was the result of his translation ability changing the written words. It was a little strange, but Lukas quickly got used to it as he began reading with hunger.

  Lukas had gone to college for a year and done rather well, despite not really knowing what he’d wanted to major in. It was ultimately due to some personal events that he’d decided to leave college and society for the wild. During his stint at university, however, Lukas had studied a good deal. He found it annoying, especially when it came to subjects he held absolutely no interest in. But in subjects he enjoyed, he was able to keep up a good pace.

  Now Lukas was tearing through the pages unlike he’d ever done before. Even when he was really into a book he was reading, he’d never had this kind of speed. Not only was he flipping through pages like they were nothing, but he could remember what he’d read clearly. His best guess at the cause was his unrestricted stats. And while he remembered what he was reading, he still took clear and concise notes for later use.

  Lukas spent the next couple of hours just reading and taking in knowledge. The book An Introduction to Alchemy was exactly as promised and covered what made alchemy alchemy and what it consisted of. Lukas learned that alchemy wasn’t just potions and poisons, but that one could also make pills and elixirs and transmute materials. There were a plethora of other branches of alchemy dedicated to one thing or another, and the book covered them all.

  The book also went over the brief histories of each and the changes in the process of making alchemical products. Annoyingly, however, the history was brief and scant, with information having obviously been censored or removed. Information such as locations, dates, names, or anything about the outside world was missing, and it was maddening. Lukas could only scoff in annoyance before moving on.

  Various herbs were covered, as well as how to properly grow, harvest, and prepare them for use in a creation. Most of the herbs that Lukas read about were completely new to him, as they were not native to the type of environment he’d been in.

  More and more time passed with Lukas reading, and he could sense that night had come and it was getting later and later. He wasn’t sure how he knew, but he’d always had a rather good internal compass, and combined with his new magic powers, it wasn’t a huge leap to suggest he’d be able to sense the difference between day and night.

  Nevertheless, Lukas kept reading through the night. After only a couple of hours, he’d made his way through the first book and had moved on to some alchemical theory, wanting to understand the underlying concepts and ideas behind how exactly alchemy worked.

  Almost immediately, the book was reprimanding those who didn’t attempt to understand magical theory and just waved things off as “magic.” Lukas soon came to understand why and agreed. Magic wasn’t just a catch-all that could be used to explain away things. Instead, magic was more of a field of study, like science.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  It would almost be like someone asking why the sun rose and set or why things fell to the ground, then saying it was just “science.” That was how Lukas conceptualized it anyway, and it made sense to him. He learned that magic was a vast field of study, with alchemy being one of those fields.

  Here magic was a part of the underpinning rules of existence. It was everywhere and permeated everything, completely inseparable from reality. It was hard for Lukas to truly wrap his head around it, but then again, he didn’t really need to. He could feel it all around now that he’d used the stone of rebirth; he could feel how natural the magic was.

  Lukas learned more and took more notes with this book than the previous one. He learned about mana and how it was just raw potential given form through abilities and crafting. He learned the why behind the process of making potions, poisons, and all the other concoctions. It was all about understanding and controlling the energies of the individual ingredients so that a craft wouldn’t go wrong and would instead result in a perfect product. There were plenty of diagrams, pictures, and examples of the crafting process to help understand it all.

  Lukas took in every drop of information he was given and did his utmost to dedicate it all to memory. And when he was finished with one book, he moved on to the next, using his notes as references to connect different topics and concepts. Lukas could practically feel his brain vibrating as it took in the knowledge, letting loose a waterfall of dopamine that only made him want to delve deeper.

  It was a feeling he often felt when faced with a hard puzzle—and that’s what it was. All this was a puzzle Lukas was slowly putting together in his mind, and it was beginning to come together. Even so, what he had before him were the most basic of basics. He could hardly wait until he could tackle the more complex ideas and information.

  Lukas only left the desk when he went to look at the lab and the garden, cross-referencing what was in the book versus what was in front of him. When he read about the runes that could cover a cauldron, he got up and visited the lab to see which runes the cauldron had on it.

  It had taken some time to match the runes in the book with what was on the cauldron, mostly because the runes were all pretty much just messy lines that served a specific purpose. There were all kinds of runes that could be used in alchemy—thousands even, according to the book. The ones on the cauldron were simple ones, though, just for simple energy control, heating, repairing the cauldron, cleaning, and others like that.

  When Lukas went to the garden room, he wanted to take a look at some of the flowers he recognized and go over some of the properties they had. Entering the pleasant room, Lukas didn’t dally and was able to find what he was looking for rather quickly. He’d gone straight for a bed of flowers that he knew rather well. They were a deep red and smelled of blood.

  Wanting to double-check, he quickly identified the flower, only to be surprised.

  [Blood Moon Lily (Common)] - A natural treasure. This flower contains vitality-based energies and is most often used in the creation of health potions but can also be used in various alchemical creations.

  It was something that Lukas had never seen before, and he quickly identified other flowers around him. Every one of them had a description added to them now. At first, Lukas believed it was because of his new class and the fact that it was alchemy-related. That idea was soon disproven, though, as there were some flowers that didn’t have descriptions. Even some of the flowers he had collected in the forest were missing the description.

  After a bit of thought, Lukas realized that all the flowers that now had descriptions were ones that he’d read about and taken notes on. He then tested this hypothesis on multiple different flower and berry groups, proving that his idea was right.

  Soon enough, Lukas found himself back in the central room at the desk. He was reading a section of one of the books that described the effects of the most efficient potions and why it was important to aim to make the best potions possible.

  The book said that the optimal cooldown time between potions was an hour. The reason for this was because of the energy and effect of the potions. If you wanted a potion with a lower cooldown, then you’d have to make less effective potions, but if you wanted a potion that was potent, then the time you had to wait before taking another grew.

  The reason an hour had been picked as the “industry standard” was clear to Lukas, but it made sense to him that that would be the case.

  There were a lot of factors that went into the making of the most efficient potions—from the size and volume of the vial to the rarity of the ingredients used and how energy-efficient the alchemist had been when crafting the potion. It all mattered.

  But what happened when you drank a potion before the timer was up? Well, the book said that the body could only hold so much of a certain type of energy. That energy had a lingering effect after taking a potion, and taking a second one in rapid succession would mean that the energies of the second potion would just dissipate from the user. As a result, people have been known to drink potions for hydration in dire circumstances since there was no backlash to down multiple at once.

  Lukas’ deep dive into the books lasted until he sensed that sunrise would be soon. It was only then that he was pulled from his trance and noticed how tired he was. He hadn’t done anything but sit there and read for hours on end. Heck, if he remembered correctly, then he’d only been up for around thirteen hours now. It was the mental strain that got him, the filing of new information that took a toll on his mind.

  Yawning, Lukas grabbed hold of the current book he was reading and made his way towards the bedroom, reading all the while. He almost stumbled into multiple objects on the way, but he caught himself before he could.

  Entering the room, Lukas decided he’d finish the chapter before going to bed. Climbing under the cover this time, he got comfortable and took out the book. His eyes landed on the first few words, picking up where he’d left off, before his eyes closed and he passed out.

  *

  When Lukas awoke, he found himself tangled in the bedsheet, the book he’d wanted to read open on the floor. He felt refreshed and rejuvenated. He could feel that it was daytime still, meaning he hadn’t slept until nighttime—which was good because he didn’t want to spend too much time sleeping. He wanted to spend it learning.