I've been reincarnated into another world as a witch

Chapter 20: The alchemist and the healing potion

Riley

The alchemy section of the Mage society was quite dilapidated. There were water marks on the walls and there seemed to be a layer of dust that just coated the room, piles of books had been casually strewn about and random tools lay on the floor haphazardly.

In this world, most academic study was devoted to the creating and making of spells, the second most popular form of academia was how to create and make magical artefacts, such as magic negators or enhancers. The least popular was alchemy - a kind of forerunner for chemistry - which was not nearly as advanced as Earth science, but still the closest thing this world had to science. Sadly next to the wonders of magic, chemistry paled in comparison and was not a very popular field to go into, which explained the dilapidated state of the alchemy department.

I had to side step the books and rondom objects on the floor, to reach the young woman who was sitting, hunched over a book on the other side of the room. Her poofy blonde hair was tied back into a plain pony tail at the nape of her neck, and her clothes were very plain, which was uncommon to see within the mage society since most of the people where higher ranked nobles.

Even when I came to stand right behind her, she didnt motice me, so I resorted to interrupting her.

"E-Excuse me..." I said, and tapped on her shoulder. She got the shock of her life as my fingers touched her shoulder. She shrieked and the pen she had been holding on one hand went flying around the room. When she calmed down and realised that I wasn't a ghost, she adjusted her glasses to the correct position in front of her amber eyes and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Sorry about that. I'm not used to people coming in here." She giggled nervously.

"That's alright dont worry. I just wanted to ask if you are a qualified alchemist here at the Mage Society." I wanted to get straight to the point.

"I certainly am." She smiled up at me.

"Wonderful, then I would like to buy your services." Thank goodness she was a qualified alchemist, if she hadn't been, I wasnt sure where I could go to find one. "I am developing a potion, but I need the expertise of an alchemist to help me do it."

"What kind of potion?" She asked curiously.

"A healing potion." I confirmed.

"Sounds interesting..."

"You will be very well compensated for your help, of course." I added in, hoping she would accept.

For a moment she paused, and I got a little worried that she wouldn't accept the job. But then a great grin broke out onto her face. "I'll do it!" She exclaimed as she jumped up and put her hands onto her hips, standing in a power pose.
She was kind of strange, but I liked it.

"For a moment there, I thought you weren't going to accept..."

"No, I was just teasing you. Honestly, even if you weren't planning on paying me well I would have accepted, becasue it's so rare for people to come and commision me jobs, I would jump at the chance to do any work." She said. I felt kind of bad for her. Here she was, all alone, in an empty alchemy department just going over some old books, waiting for something to do.

I took out the tenebris intelexerunt from the bundle I had been keeping it in, and opened it onto the page where it explained the two types of healing potions.

"Here this book outlines the formula for each of the two potions, as you can see." I stopped talking when I saw the deep frown on her face, "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Well I can't see..." she said.

"Can't see what? The formulas?"

"No, I can't read any of it, this book is written in an ancient language, a dead language that nobody speaks anymore... How are you able to read it?"