Three days later, in Hela’s laboratory.
Before Hela was a large cauldron, with blue flames burning underneath.
The blue flames looked as if they had no temperature; one could feel no heat standing nearby.
But in fact, the temperature of these blue flames was extremely high, enough to turn Duke into a pile of ashes in an instant.
The material of the cauldron was also made of special magic metal, containing a pot of thick green liquid, constantly bubbling.
In the green liquid, the skulls of several small birds were faintly visible rising and falling; Duke only knew that these were a kind of Level 1 magical beast called the Sound Demon Bird.
Duke had never seen a Level 1 magical beast in person before, yet he had seen the skulls of several Level 1 magical beasts first.
Level 1 magical beasts, they were Level 1 life forms, akin to Official Wizards, now amounted to Magic Potion Materials.
Duke was processing the roots of something called Blood-colored Grass, squeezing the blood-red juice into a beaker, placing it at a spot on the lab bench designated by Hela, waiting for her to use it.
At this moment, Hela was channeling an incredibly powerful magic power into the cauldron.
When Duke felt this magic power, he felt like he was facing an endless ocean.
The level of magic power was unimaginable to him; the sum of his entire body’s magic power was only a drop in this ocean.
And now this surging magic power was continuously being infused into the cauldron, as Hela was refining a magic potion called Blood of War.
Blood of War is a Level 1 Potion that, once consumed, can greatly enhance the consumer’s physical strength and constitution in all aspects, without feeling pain.
After consumption, there is no period of weakness, unlike many explosive potions where, after the effects wear off, there is a period of weakness, during which further combat is impossible.
Blood of War is different; when consumed, there is no period of weakness, making it extremely useful on the battlefield.
However, this magic potion consumes the consumer’s Life Force, essentially their lifespan.
Hela refined this magic potion for Black Sail, not mentioning much, only saying that Black Sail’s forces needed this potion for their conquests on other Planes.
Blood of War is generally given to slave creatures to consume; for sorcerers, slave creatures are cannon fodder, expendables, losing some lifespan equates to no loss.
Because the vast majority of slave creatures don’t live long, they are constantly on the battlefield, even if they survive on this battlefield, they may die on the next.
Very few slave creatures can survive countless wars; those who do often grow to a very high level, achieving a certain status.
Some slave creatures can even break free from slavery and regain their freedom.
Sorcerers aren’t afraid of these slave creatures causing trouble, because by that point, both parties’ interests are closely bound together, no need for much concern.
What’s more, with the sorcerers’ strength and means, they aren’t afraid of such slave creatures causing chaos.
Besides, whether they are truly free or not is uncertain, Duke thought this way.
He has always been unafraid of suspecting sorcerers with the worst intentions; those free slave creatures might not truly be free.
To the sorcerers, Blood of War is simply a way to enhance combat power without many side effects, allowing slave creatures to unleash greater power.
Once this Blood of War is refined by the sorcerers in the rear, it will be sent to the front line, diluted, divided into countless portions, and then distributed to those slave creatures.
Not many slave creatures have the strength to directly drink a whole vial of Blood of War; an ordinary Level 1 life form can’t withstand the overwhelming energy within.
Three days ago, Hela threw Duke a thick book, which contained the process and content of refining Blood of War.
She needed Duke to familiarize himself with the entire process; he didn’t need to master it, just know what to do at each step.
Even so, it gave Duke a lot of pressure because the content was simply too vast and complex.
Duke spent almost all three days devouring this book, just barely managing to read through the entire process.
The complexity of refining a Level 1 Potion was beyond his imagination, involving a very wide array of knowledge, which a Wizard Apprentice couldn’t possibly have to refine such a potion.
Duke only understood the process to assist with some Magic Potion Materials processing work, allowing Hela to focus on the Magic Potion Refining and the main process.
The refining of Blood of War had already lasted an entire day; it was deep into the night at eleven o’clock, a total of more than ten hours of refining.
Duke’s Spiritual Power was highly concentrated, organizing the entire process clearly in his mind, understanding what he should do in each phase.
He kept watching Hela refining the potion, but many phases he couldn’t understand at all, not knowing why certain actions were taken or why certain reactions occurred.
Even among Level 1 Potions, Blood of War counts as a very complex potion, which ordinary Alchemists can’t handle the refining of.
Only experienced and extremely talented sorcerers like Hela could complete such a potion’s refining, as even a slight mistake would lead to refining failure and a waste of a large amount of Magic Potion Materials.
It wasn’t until the next morning that the cauldron in front of Hela gradually cooled down, and the thick green liquid inside turned into a dark red blood color, still bubbling slightly.
Duke looked at this pot of liquid, finding it hard to imagine it was something drinkable; just the smell alone was sickening.
The smell of Blood of War was extremely pungent, filled with various odors that instinctively made a person feel nauseated and vomit.
Next came the packaging work, needing to fill the liquid from the cauldron into specially designed transparent test tubes.
Duke completed this step with great ease, thanks to his decent Water Element Talent; he easily manipulated the liquid from the cauldron into the test tubes.
The whole process was smooth, with not a drop spilled.
Seeing this scene, Hela was even more satisfied with Duke; she saw that Duke had good talent in certain areas.
This pot of Blood of War was finally packed into thirty test tubes, which would be sent out in a few days, and each tube would be diluted and distributed then.
"Let’s clean up the laboratory next; this step is very important. Remember the lab standards I told you about," Hela said solemnly.
Hela summarized a set of laboratory standards, involving various experimental protocols and how various apparatuses should be cleaned, and how different experimental wastes should be treated differently.
Duke had memorized these things during this time by rote, and now he strictly followed these protocols.