It took Elana a few more moments before she turned her dismayed gaze from his lips to his eyes.

“Did you just drink the last of the lantern fuel?” she asked, her voice strangely quiet.

“lantern fuel?”

Wasn’t it a mana potion? At least that’s what [Craftman’s Eye] had told him. If that was fuel why did it taste so minty?

“That was meant for the lanterns tonight.”

Lanterns? What was up with… Oh. The lanterns. The stuff he’d just drunk was the alchemical fuel for the rune lanterns Kalen had made. And apparently he’d just drunk the last of it.

A tear hit the floor and Elana sniffled. Azrael looked up surprised and found Elana with red eyes, while the matron glared at him reproachfully.

He stepped back defensively. How was he meant to know that that was lantern fuel, let alone the last of it? It was made from stuff that grew in his clearing, so wasn’t it technically his anyways? What was wrong with children? There was no use crying over a cup of spilt milk, or drunk lantern fuel in this case.

The matron continued to glare at him, wearing down his mental defences. There was just something about the way she held herself, as if it was all his fault. He turned his head away from her glare. Not because he was feeling guilty or anything! It was just so she would stop looking at him.

He did however kneel down beside Elana, to apologise. He was surprised at just how small she was, until he realised that despite her achievements she was still just a child.

“I’m sorry” he said, gently placing a hand on Elana’s shoulder.

Elana’s sniffle’s re-intensified, leaving him feeling awkward. He’d never had a younger sibling and he’d never really interacted with younger kids much. He glanced up to the matron for guidance, but she had her back turned and was tending to Alena. Great.

“Ah.. Um. Do you want to make another one. I mean, do you want to show me how you make the lantern fluid?”

Elana peeked out from where she’d buried her face in her hands. Her eyes were red. She shook her head vehemently.

“Please? I would really like to know how you made it”.

And he did. He was honestly curious as to how she’d managed to make a mana potion. If he could just tweak and improve the recipe, then he would be able to replenish his mana even faster during combat. [Meditation] was good, but it was not instantaneous. Mana potions would give him that extra edge in combat.

It took him a good two minutes of coaxing until Elana finally stopped sniffling and agreed to show him how she made the alchemical solution. During the whole ordeal the matron had ignored both of them, instead of helping him calm the girl.

Having resolved the unexpected issue Azrael now found himself watching Elana as she ground the remaining leaves of spirit mint in her mortar.

“…and that’s how we found that it works best if you mash the leaves to a pulp, so that you can get the most juice out.”

She scrapped the mashed up wad of leaves into the small pot of water that was boiling above a small brazier.

Azrael just nodded politely, his mind coming up with ways to improve the process. Already he was noticing inefficiencies. Just watching Elana lose almost half of the squeezed out liquid from the spirit mint because it seeped into the rougher parts of the mortar hurt. He didn’t say anything though. The fact that the girl had made the first mana potion that he’d seen was impressive enough and of itself.

In the boiling water the wad of leaves unfurled itself, slowly dying the water aquamarine. Elana dropped in three small purple mana crystals and sat back to watch the entire mixture boil.

One minute passed, two, five, ten. Eventually though the three mana crystals all dissolved, and the mint leaves were almost bleached white. Their colour seeped into the solution, turning it a slightly darker shade of aquamarine. Satisfied that it was done Elana extinguished the fire and moved the pot onto a stone plate for cooling. Azrael inspected it.

Novice’s Crude Mana Potion

This liquid has been boiled with mana rich substances, imbuing it with a small amount of mana that can be absorbed when ingested. It has been made by a novice alchemist and has lost a lot of its potential potency.

Crude was the right word. It was basically just throwing stuff together and hoping for the best. That was of course how the entire field of chemistry had started off, with medieval alchemists throwing things together. All that was left was to refine the process.

A quite chuckle drew his attention to the bed behind him. Alena was awake, telling a story with very simple sign language and over exaggerated hand gestures. The matron politely listened, while Kalen was carving out a rune plate. He hid himself as well as he could behind the matron when he noticed Azrael’s attention on him. Azrael let him be. Kids. What could you do about them?

Actually… Azrael gazed at the three youngest members of the village. His apprentice, Alena, who could fight a player to a draw. Kalen, who’d discovered a method of substituting natural mana in engraving runes and the youngest, Elana, who’d discovered the recipe for a mana potion.

Now that he though about it. All three had achieved something amazing. Kids, they were terrifying!

At least he didn’t have to worry about the village’s future. If nothing else happened then these guys would all grow up to bring the village prosperity.