Aish smiled and moved closer to him - so close he could smell her perfume. She whispered in his ears. "Medicinal formulae that can help me level up? How about competing with me in concocting a potion? If you win, I'll grant you one access to our Non Touch Technique."

Armad narrowed his eyes. He may not be an Alchemist but the little he'd learned from his sister had far surpassed level 18. Hell, he could even compete against a level 30 Alchemist.

Any mage who tamed a Djinn that controlled nature was likely to manifest the Alchemy classification. But, for Alchemist to concoct potions and pills they needed a medicinal formula. The formulae existed in written records, passed down from generation to generation. Houses like Wilberforce who had been around for generations would have a lot of record.

"You talk big, I'll take you on if you tell me what you know." Armad said. He was confident in his ability.

Aish smiled wickedly. "Let's start with the pillars of alchemy. I believe alchemy has three pillars: medicinal plants, the furnace, and the flame.

"Medicinal plants are the background. Having a good knowledge of medicinal plants is the first step that opens the door to alchemy. The more medicinal plants you know, the more efficient you will be in understanding medicinal formulas. I know all the recorded plants in Seith."

Armad knitted his brows. That was a bold statement even for him.

Aish pretended she didn't notice his derision. "The flame ranged from one-colored flame to nine-colored flame. The more the colors the purer the flame. A grade one potion is 10% pure because it's concocted using a one-colored flame. No matter how powerful a one-colored flame is it could only burn a maximum of 10% impurities from a potion. Hence, a one-colored flame can only produce a grade 1 potion. A two-colored flame can only produce a grade 2 potion and so on.

"The furnace is the pot which receives the medicinal plants. For a furnace to be a true furnace it would have to be alive. Living furnaces are made from nature energy. They associate with the plants and the colored flame in a complex manner. I still don't fully understand the variability of this association."

Aish halted with a smile, daring him to say he'd understood the association.

Do not give me that smile, girl. You are messing with the wrong guy.

Armad casually brought out two leaves from his robes. "Let's start by testing your knowledge of medicinal plants. If you can identify half of the plants in these leaves you will score 100 points. It shouldn't be a problem for someone who knew all the recorded plants in Seith."

Armad threw the leaves at her.

She observed the leaves. "Any time limit?"

"I can't be hard on a friend. No time limit. You can take them home and make some consultations."

The two leaves were grafted from rare medicinal plants. The grafting method used was a top secret method passed down in his family. It was both a weapon and a life saving treasure. Armad had studied the Wilberforce grafting method but, when he first saw the leaves, he was only able to identify 30% of the grafted plants. Even without a time limit, Aish could not identify them.

Aish made a little note on a paper as she traced the veins of the leaf. Every leaf had its shape, size and veins. The shape could be anything from triangular to butterfly to square to hexagonal. But most grafted leaves tend to assume a shapeless form as the composing plants fought for dominance.

The weight also mattered. A difference of one gram could change a particular plant entirely. For instance, the Heavenly Fox and Barb Blaster grew leaves of the same shape but of different densities. The former was used for making vitality potions while the latter was a poison.

But, the most important factor in identifying medicinal plants was the veins. The veins were the facial features. You identified humans by their faces, but you identified leaves by their veins.

The first leaf had over one thousand veins of different lengths. The second leaf had fewer veins but more tortuous.

I won. Armad finally returned her wicked smile.

"This leave was grafted from one thousand three hundred and two medicinal plants. It is amazing, I have never seen a graft like this. Registered. Thanks. This second leaf was grafted with the popular Moulding Ace technique of the Third World. It has five hundred and thirty one plants."

Armad had a very ugly expressions. Not only was she able to identify the plants, she even cracked the grafting method in such a short period.

"The first leaf is made from Eristine Pine, Dantian Red Flower, Cultive Aether, Blueberry Ire...."

It went on for the next 30 minutes. Aish told Armad all the plants in both leaves. He had the complete list in his head and he knew she was completely right.

Impossible...

Armad was taken aback. There was no way a level 18 Alchemist could do that.

What the hell is going on...

"Fine. The concoction will take place tomorrow. Make sure you come prepared." Armad said.

***

Tomorrow came. Armad and Aish stood in front of their furnaces. Iliyasis and Cokali stood behind them as the judges.

Aish brought several bags of medicinal plants. She divided them equally and gave Armad half.

Armad wasn't an expert when it came to concocting medicines but he knew he was better than a level 18 Alchemist. If his Djinn was compatible, he would have become an excellent Alchemist. But, he had the basic knowledge and hundreds of medicinal formulas.

I can take her on.

"We are concocting a cure for Aranean Pea. Here is the formula." Armad handed over the formula.

"I can do that without the formula." Aish said.

She can not do that without the formula? Let's see you try.

Armad chose one furnace and went over the medicinal formula in his head before he sliced the medicinal plants into the furnace. He formed a mini lightning bolt and heated the furnace for five minutes. His lightning bolt was categorized under one-colored flames, so the best quality he could hope for was grade 1.

The formula involved three steps of heating at five minutes interval before he could add the next set of ingredients.

However, he suddenly realized Aish had already sliced all her medicinal plants into her furnace and was using a four-colored flame to heat up the furnace.

Dammit, is she creating a new formula? You can't put all the ingredients at the same time. And where the hell did that four-colored flame came from?

And then he saw her spreading her hands over the furnace. Nature energy condensed on her palms and then transformed into a small stalk of Ever Leafy - one of the ingredients. It grew from a 5mm stalk to a 50cm plant in three minutes. Then she threw it into the mixture and stirred.

"You... That's not possible! You can't be an Alderist and an Alchemist at the same time! Are you kidding me?" Armad visibly shook. As the saying went; Alchemy was a mixture of fire, water and earth. Simply put, the fire aspect represented the flame, the water aspect represented the medicinal plants and the earth aspect represented the furnace. Alderist were mages who could transform nature energy into medicinal plants - creating something out of nothing. They were rare, very rare. The whole Third World had only three Alderists.

Alderists were ranked from Grade 1 to 9 based on the strength of the medicinal plants they created. Grade 1 could produce medicinal plants with strength ranging from 1 to 10%. Each percent represented the amount of nature energy which was infused.

Even grade 1 Alderist were rare but, from what he saw, Nusi was a grade 4 Alderist.

Impossible!

Nusi pretended she didn't notice his shock and continued to add more ingredients to her furnace. A strong medicinal aroma wafted from her furnace.

Armad gritted his teeth and focused on his furnace. Continuously adding ingredients and heating at different intervals. For the next 2 hours, he lost himself in the concocting. He couldn't give up just because the enemy was too strong.

The potion was finally ready. Armad's was a dark blue mixture, smelling like a garlic. Whereas Aish's was an odourless, colorless compound.

The judges came forward to decide the winner.

"I'll decide the winner of this competition based on the three pillars of alchemy... " Iliyasis started.

But Armad had enough embarrassment for one day. He bolted out of the hall murmuring to himself. "I'll cut you to pieces if you announce it..."

"Come back here, Armad, you are the winner." Cokali said, running after him.