Chapter 579 - 406: The Gold Content of a Heroic Deed Has Increased

Chapter 579: Chapter 406: The Gold Content of a Heroic Deed Has Increased

With that, Isaac pointed to the Magic Book, indicating that he had recorded most of the data within it. Everything except the core techniques was in there, including some of the concepts he’d come up with during the experimentation process.

The reason he provided so much detail was that he hoped to leave a good impression on the Witches and prove his sincerity.

This would make future collaboration much smoother.

After all, if he provided too little information, he was worried they wouldn’t understand and would just start filling in the blanks themselves...

’If it came to that, it would be too late. After all, you can’t reason with one—no, a whole group of—lunatics!’

’That would be completely idiotic!’

Isaac was clearly no idiot, so he gave them all the data he could, completely unconcerned about potential leaks. He had no reason to be afraid. While this Magic Potion had been optimized to some extent, the refinement process was still extremely difficult. For the Tier Three Witch’s Secret Medicine, at least, only the relatively lavish, premium version was somewhat easier to create.

But even that required a Tier Four Alchemist to brew. Isaac could simplify the process further, but he currently lacked the time and energy. For one, he had too many projects backlogged, and a small project like this held little appeal for him.

Secondly, he had more or less exhausted his current repository of technical knowledge. Any further research would progress much more slowly. If he didn’t have other projects, he might have chosen to slowly grind it out and accumulate the necessary knowledge over time.

Isaac looked at the big, medium, and small-cup Witches scratching their heads in confusion, shook his head helplessly, and then with a look, led Angel to another laboratory. A Crucible sat in the middle of the room.

’Those three will probably need some more time.’ Conveniently, Angel wasn’t an auditor, so he didn’t need to explain anything to her. Her purpose on this trip, aside from being a guide, was to pick up the product—freshly made, at that.

While she had a fair amount of trust in Isaac’s integrity, she wasn’t willing to gamble on the integrity of a Mad Witch.

So she had to inspect the goods herself.

Upon entering the room, Isaac told Angel to find a place to sit and then began his work. With movements as smooth as flowing water, Isaac lit the fire, added water, chopped "ingredients," and added "seasonings." He deftly switched between high and low heat, the entire process silky smooth and a delight to watch.

The only odd thing was...

’Why does this look so much like cooking?’

Angel frowned, trying to shake the strange feeling of dissonance. Unfortunately, even after Isaac finished brewing the Magic Potion and decanted it into a Crystal Bottle, the unsettling feeling hadn’t gone away.

’It’s just too much like cooking!’

Just as Angel was mentally reeling from this, she saw Isaac standing by the Crucible, his brow furrowed as if sensing something. After a moment, he let out a helpless sigh.

"Is there a problem with the Magic Potion?" Angel asked, her brow creasing with concern. ’It would be a real disaster if something went wrong at the last second...’

"The Magic Potion is fine. It’s about another one of my experiments." With that, Isaac sighed again. Without any intention of explaining further, he turned and handed the Magic Potion to Angel. "Here, your Magic Potion."

Angel glanced at the Magic Potion. Seeing that there was indeed nothing wrong with it, she looked up in surprise at Isaac, who still wore a faintly troubled expression. ’This man gets bothered by things, too?’

Of course he did. Isaac had his own ambitions, and not all his research was guaranteed to succeed. At the very least, not all his expectations would be met.

Take the Witch’s Secret Medicine, for example. It was, without exaggeration, a truly groundbreaking invention.

Witches were the second most powerful group of Extraordinary Power users in the world, surpassed only by Wizards. In recent times, they had even come to faintly overshadow the Deities.

However, the Witches were also facing a problem with the development of their younger generation. After Tier Three, the Witch Bloodline became incredibly difficult to develop further, and this was especially true for Witches with stronger awakened Magic.

Angel herself was just lucky to have encountered the Endless Tower; otherwise, she would almost certainly still be stuck at Tier Three.

But with the Witch’s Secret Medicine, everything changed. Isaac had even developed two versions with broader applicability, which were guaranteed to usher in a new era of development for the Witches.

Therefore, the Witch’s Secret Medicine’s impact on the world was immense!

Logically, an accomplishment of this scale should have qualified as a Heroic deed. And yet, nothing happened.

Aside from forming a slight, tenuous connection to Isaac’s Self-Legend Magic Book, there was no other reaction whatsoever.

In truth, this was something Isaac had anticipated—his more pessimistic prediction, that is.

’It seems that for something to be considered Heroic, much like a Great Creation, simply having a massive impact isn’t enough.’

’It most likely also needs to refine the rules of the world to some extent. The Witch’s Secret Medicine, despite its huge impact, is merely a technological advancement. It doesn’t alter anything at the fundamental level of rules. Therefore, no matter how great its influence, it cannot be a Heroic deed.’

The previous two Heroic deeds, after all, involved the emergence of new forms of Extraordinary Power. Both the Law-Breaking Swordsman and the Star Mage fundamentally increased the diversity of power in this world.

Admittedly, their potential is currently limited, but that doesn’t mean they have no room to grow. One must remember that the Legendary Mages, Knights, and Arcanists of old all started this way. Perhaps many years from now, these two new forms of Extraordinary Power will also shine with their own unique brilliance.

They could bring a new Path of the Extraordinary with limitless potential to the world.

Therefore, while not obvious, those creations were optimizations at the level of fundamental rules. This was a completely different concept from a technological innovation like the Witch’s Secret Medicine.

This was the source of Isaac’s frustration. By this logic, several of his current projects had no potential to become a Heroic deed.

The creation of the Authority Crystal, for example, was without a doubt another technological breakthrough.

It wouldn’t earn him a Heroic deed either.

The frustrating part was, Isaac couldn’t just drop the project. Its potential impact was huge, whether for strengthening his brother and using him to gather intelligence on the Terra Royal Family, or simply for accumulating new techniques. It had many uses, including the most basic one of all—it would make him money. A lot of money.

Especially the strategic uses. With the War escalating again, the sooner he developed it, the better.

But this would certainly slow his progress toward Tier Five. His own combat power had already reached its current limit; he couldn’t develop it any further vertically. At most, he could expand horizontally by broadening his range of tactics.

For any vertical improvement, he had to look toward Tier Five.

"Sigh..." Isaac sighed again. For now, he could only take things one step at a time. ’Perhaps I’ll ultimately have to go back to creating a new class. The Endless Star Realm would definitely meet the criteria.’

The problem was, Isaac didn’t know if a [Heroic] deed could be upgraded into a [Great Creation]. And based on existing precedents, if he completed the Endless Star Realm, it was guaranteed to be a Great Creation.

’Using that idea here...’

’...would be a huge waste!’

"The degree of completion is so high. Is there something you’re still not satisfied with?" As Isaac was letting out one sigh after another, one of the Three-cup Witches—who had long since finished reviewing the data and was now watching Isaac cook... no, brew the Magic Potion—saw his expression and couldn’t help but ask.

"It’s nothing. Just another research project hitting a snag." Since that was the reality and there was nothing he could do to change it, Isaac quickly adjusted his attitude. He looked up at the Witches and asked seriously, "So? I trust this research project has come to a perfect conclusion?"

"Yes, absolutely perfect." At the mention of the research, the Big Cup Witch couldn’t help but smile. The Witch’s Secret Medicine was, without a doubt, immensely important for the advancement of the Witch Country.

Especially that... "filthy"... version...

The ingredients might have been disgusting, but the cost was low, and the effects were excellent.

If you didn’t look too closely, it was clearly the more cost-effective option. As long as no one mentioned the details, everything would be fine. ’Besides,’ she thought, ’it’s not like *we’re* the ones drinking it!’