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Contrary to expectations, the training of the Magic Tower students did not yield significant results.
Ideally, Oliver would have used his teaching methods to yield immediate tangible results and boost the motivation of other students, but he couldn't because Kevin didn't allow it.
Of course, that didn't mean he resented Kevin.
He realized through his conversation with Kevin that it was a somewhat unique technique.
Still, it was regrettable. Especially when he saw students spending time without enthusiasm or students struggling at the same stage despite their hard efforts.
"I guess it's fortunate that at least this side is showing progress?"
Oliver muttered as he tightened the last screw on the ladder.
"First, does it look okay?"
"……Uh……."
Oliver turned around to ask, and Child-First, who was inside the Corpse doll-Bathory, responded in a dull voice.
At first, Child-First struggled to adapt to the Corpse doll-Bathory, making noises closer to crying than speaking, and couldn't control its body well.
But with continued training and the consumption of vast emotions, Life Force, and mana, it was gradually adapting.
As evidence, it successfully constructed the basic facilities for Blood Elixir production using the knowledge of Corpse doll-Bathory.
‘…Is it knowledge? Or is it memory?'
Oliver descended from the ladder and put aside his tool belt, recording his question.
In the logbook about Child and Corpse Doll.
[…Whether it's knowledge or memory is still unknown. Because it's not specifically confirmed. However, one thing is certain: when a Child enters a Corpse doll, they can obtain not only the simple gimmick of the Corpse doll but also related information or knowledge to some extent. (The extent of information and knowledge is also not confirmed yet. More observation is needed.)]
As Oliver filled in the logbook with his neat and stylish handwriting, he paused his pen to look again at Child-First, who was checking the Blood Elixir production facilities.
There were still awkward moments in its movements, but they were certainly more natural than before, and most importantly, intelligence was apparent.
‘It had some level of intelligence before, but the growth of First is even larger… I did feed him a lot, but is that all?'
Oliver considered another hypothesis about the growth of the Child.
Emotion, Life-force, mana, etc. He thought that if you feed them a lot and keep the creature for a long time, their intelligence increases, but there seemed to be another factor.
For instance, if the quality of the Corpse doll that the Child uses is good, the Child also grows.
‘It's not entirely impossible.'
Oliver was somewhat convinced. There was also a hypothesis that the Child learns the technique of the Corpse doll.
Rather, it was quite natural.
Oliver quickly recorded this fact in the Child observation diary.
Although it was not immediately verifiable, Child, especially First, was gradually becoming more fluent in speech, so it might be revealed through conversation later.
"…It's quite interesting after all."
Oliver muttered.
Knowing what he was curious about, learning new things, and working were all immensely enjoyable.
In particular, the preparation of the Blood Elixir production facilities this time was quite challenging, but it was all the more fun.
‘Attracting unnecessary attention, having to secretly order from various black markets to hide my identity, and the trouble of installing it myself.'
Especially in the last part, Oliver was shocked unexpectedly.
The fact that he had to buy production equipment parts and assemble them himself… It made sense when he thought about it, but foolishly, he only realized that he had to do it himself too late.
‘Thanks to that, I had to rummage through books in a hurry, ask around about how to use various tools, and it was chaotic, but in the end, it worked out well. I even became capable of installing production equipment by myself…'
"….Have you checked everything?"
Oliver finished his thoughts and asked Child-First again.
First, who was scrutinizing the equipment from head to toe, turned its head to answer.
"No… nothing… wrong…"
First spoke while forcibly holding back a crying sound. For some reason, it seemed to be watching Oliver's reaction.
"Hmm… First? Don't force yourself to hold back such sounds and just speak comfortably. It seems like you're watching my reactions, but you don't need to."
Oliver said, just in case.
There was no special meaning.
He just mentioned it because it seemed like First and the other Children were watching his reactions.
He had seen a few Magic Tower students studying while being conscious of the professors' and sponsors' attention, and it personally bothered him.
After all, isn't it best to study, research, or train at ease, even if immediate results aren't produced?
"Kr..kr…ok…kya-hya."
"Yes, please do that. I want to see you guys being comfortable and independent without minding me. I think it would be more fun that way."
Child-First stared at Oliver for a moment before nodding its head.
"Understood…kya-hya."
"Yes, thank you… I hope all of you do the same."
Oliver looked back over his shoulder at the other Children in the flasks on the table.
The first flask, which was usually First's spot, was empty. Second, Third, and Fourth took up the second, third, and fourth spots, respectively.
The dark, black blob-like entities watched Oliver and First's conversation before nodding in acknowledgment.
"Thank you, everyone… First, can we start producing now if you're ready? We still have some time, but it might be best to start early."
Oliver asked, calculating the spare blood elixir Edith had mentioned.
While he did have a surplus for now, it seemed better to start as soon as possible.
First nodded at Oliver's words, reaching out to the Corpse dolls – Female Warlocks 1, 2, 3 – located in a corner far away.
"Kya-hya…!"
It then extracted emotions from the tank within and moved the Female Warlocks 1, 2, 3.
The twitching Female Warlocks, centered around the metal cap fitted on the severed necks, initially moved clumsily but soon began to move naturally as they had practiced.
The Female Warlocks 1, 2, 3 staggered around under First's control, bringing over large quantities of blood packs and herbal powder, and other materials.
Thump. Thump. Thump…
The Female Warlocks cautiously placed the items at the designated locations.
Oliver praised First as he watched this.
"Excellent. You're controlling them well now."
"….Kya-haha."
First emitted a joyful emotion with a louder crying sound as its emotions intensified.
Oliver spoke again.
"Let's only use the Corpse dolls up to this point, and from now on, we'll do it ourselves. Making the Elixir is more important now."
"Uh…then, first…."
First responded and ripped open a blood pack.
It was purchased from the black market, containing the blood of a young man.
First explained that the quality of the product improves with younger, healthier blood.
‘And said that the effect is maximized when the elixir is made to match the gender.’
Oliver checked the Blood Elixir recipe, which he had written based on First's explanation, and watched as First started the process.
First, who had ripped open the blood pack, put its contents into a strainer.
The blood flowed slowly down the elongated funnel of the filter, gradually pooling in a beaker.
This was the process of dissolving the blood clumps that were in the blood pack, and there wasn't much to do at this point.
The best one could do was to wait.
It seemed okay to do other things at this time, but Oliver watched the process of the blood falling with First, to learn as much as possible at once.
Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip……
After a long wait, all the blood that was in the filter fell down and First started the next step.
The process, which looked similar to the previous one where blood was emptied into a long, filter-like tube, had a different purpose.
While the previous step was about gently dissolving the blood, this one was about mixing.
The now cleaner blood climbed up the tube in a swirl, trickling out sideways and mixing with the emotions leaking from the mixing tube.
‘The emotions to be used are absorbent emotions like greed and desire.’
Oliver checked each ingredient listed in the recipe.
The blood mixed with emotion came out through a narrow tube, and First controlled the blood using blood magic, and mixed the blood and emotions again.
The blood and emotions floating in the air and merging into one grew in size.
However, this was not the end.
"Krrrrrrr……."
Child-First exerted its concentration and drew out Life-force with its idle hand, adding it to the mixture of blood and emotion.
The emotion that had seeped into the blood was attracted to the Life-force, and as a result, the blood became even more deep and red.
Oliver seemed to understand why the blood potion was so precious.
At first, he thought it was because only Bathory could produce it, but apart from that, a lot of high-level labor was needed.
To put it to the extreme, even if you know how to make it, if you can't handle blood, emotion, and Life-force as delicately as Bathory, you couldn't even finish the preparation process. Just the preparation process.
"Kyahahahaha……"
Child-First called Oliver with a cry. It held the blood mixed with emotion and Life-force and went in front of a tank.
Now it was the real work.
First opened the lid of the cylindrical tank, put in the blood, and then emptied the pouches purchased from the black market in order.
‘Various herbs ordered from the black market, dried placenta powder, fresh milk, stamina potion and mana potion, 5 liters of fresh blood, and a large amount of Life-force.'
Oliver checked each ingredient that First put in to confirm that nothing was omitted or added.
Thunk.
After closing the tank lid, First turned the lid to seal it completely, then went to the control panel and pressed a button to start the tank.
Ooooong…….
The sound of the machine echoed, and the contents inside gradually began to boil.
"Like this… boil… this much."
First spread out its left hand, and stood up its middle finger on the right hand.
"…Six hours?"
"Yes!"
First nodded its head.
After hearing the answer, Oliver looked over the recipe and First's work route again and thought.
‘It seems easy at first glance, borrowing the power of a machine, but all the important parts are manual.'
Oliver went over the process First had done in his head several times for practice, and in the meantime, First continued to watch the product while waiting in front of the tank.
After approximately six hours, First slightly opened a faucet that could separate the contents of the tank and checked the state of the mixture, then moved it to a pressing tank connected directly to the tank.
The thick, dark red liquid traveled through the pipe and into the elongated conical tank, where it was again subjected to pressurization and heating.
Bang-! Bang-! Bang-! Bang-!
After boiling for a while, about half a cup of the dark red liquid emerged. First showed this to Oliver.
After looking over his notebook, Oliver asked, "Are we going to use emotions to ignite a fire and simmer this liquid?"
"Uh……."
Oliver nodded. This process was the most important.
Everything was important, but the final simmering stage greatly determined the quality of the product.
Bang-!
First placed a sticky mixture of blood onto a petri dish and ignited a flame with emotions of greed and desire, heating the entire petri dish.
The incredibly sticky liquid, which seemed no longer capable of boiling, surprisingly began to boil again.
The bubbling mixture of blood, similar to molten lava, evaporated its little remaining moisture, gradually solidifying and, reacting to the emotion of greed, forming a pill-like shape.
The color was so dark that it appeared black rather than red.
First carefully picked up the completed pill with a pair of tongs and held it out to Oliver.
While examining the pill, compressed with numerous emotions, mana, and Life-force, Oliver checked his watch.
It certainly felt like they had started in the morning, but it was already night.
Half a day was spent on a single pill. The cost was high, but the amount of time and labor invested was also extraordinary.
It seemed difficult to mass produce due to the production characteristics.
"Shall we find ways to improve first?" Oliver suggested, scanning through the recipe again.
The process that most greatly affected productivity was the initial preparation. If they wanted to increase productivity, this was the part they needed to address first.
‘The issue lies more with the ingredients than the process. We can't mix the blood of multiple people; we have to use only one person's blood.'
If they could solve this issue, it would be easier to mass-produce the Blood Elixir.
"But, obtaining a large amount of blood from one person isn't easy. The freshly drawn blood is essential…"
Of course, it's not that there weren't any solutions. They could simply kill a person and drain all their blood.
"But that's a bit too much, isn't it?" Oliver contemplated if there were other options.
Another method would be to increase the number of workers and production lines, but this was also not an easy task, so he decided to postpone it.
Increasing the production line would require a large space, extensive equipment, and highly skilled labor. This would also require more capital, time, and bodies.
While he was in deep thought, the familiar sound of a communication device rang out.
It was Forrest's personal communication device.
"Mr. Forrest?"
[Yes, tell me. What are you doing?]
"I was dealing with some personal matters. What can I do for you?" Oliver asked, puzzled.
Since his last redevelopment zone protection mission, Oliver had asked Forrest for understanding, stating that he would be too busy to come out for a while.
Normally, in such cases, Forrest would not rush Oliver and would wait patiently until Oliver appeared. That is, unless something had happened.
"Did something happen?"
[Hmm……. Not yet.]
At the mysterious reply, Oliver asked again.
"Do you mean something might happen?"
[Yes……. I'm sorry, but could you come out for a bit?]
(To be Continued)
OR
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