Victor Wang rubbed his aching, swollen head and got out of bed.
It was a little past 8 AM. He jogged out of the city and began practicing swordsmanship on the eastern side of Mondstadt Bridge.
On the bridge, carts either delivering goods or transporting passengers bustled by. The clatter of hooves startled the pigeons into flight, and occasionally, a few hot air balloons drifted overhead.
From time to time, passersby cast glances at Victor Wang, but he was deeply focused on his sword practice and paid them little attention.
Around 10 AM, as the morning rush began to die down, eighty-five new recruits of the Knights of Favonius marched out of Mondstadt. They carried military backpacks nearly half their size, led by the tall and imposing chief instructor and two assistant instructors.
Accompanying them was also a ten-man squad from the Knights. Whether they were heading out on a mission or simply escorting the recruits for safety was unclear.
At the rear was Amber.
She spotted Timmy feeding pigeons and quickened her pace to overtake the others, greeting both Timmy and the birds.
Ever since the Lawrence incident was resolved half a month ago, Eula had once again left the city. Her guerrilla squad remained stationed outside, relentlessly hunting monsters and the Abyss Order.
As for Amber, being the last remaining reconnaissance knight of the Knights of Favonius, she frequently had to leave the city to monitor nearby monster movements. However, she was also responsible for promptly reporting this information back, so she returned to Mondstadt every day.
Despite the large group crossing the bridge—a scenario that would usually spook the pigeons—they remained calm under Amber's gentle gestures.
Timmy found it astonishing every time. He simply couldn't pull it off himself.
"As a reconnaissance knight, you can't let the target detect you before you even get close." That's what Amber always said.
Once the group had fully crossed the bridge, they naturally noticed Victor Wang practicing swordsmanship to the east.
It wasn't that Victor Wang came here to see them off. The Goth Grand Hotel was just near the city gate, and rather than struggling to find an open space within the city, it made more sense to come outside.
Many recruits had speculated yesterday afternoon when Victor Wang left the squad. Now their suspicions were confirmed: there was no way this newly honored knight would continue training with them indefinitely.
Before they could watch further, the instructor barked, "Begin running, now!"
The eighty-five recruits broke into a run. From above, they formed a small, tidy formation headed straight into the vast forest ahead—like being swallowed whole by the woods.
Victor Wang remained undistracted.
The Anemo and Geo Archons were relatively approachable. The Electro Archon… Victor Wang had no clue what he could possibly offer to gain her help. Maybe it'll end up in a duel before the throne…
Power. Power. Power.
He continued practicing Favonius Bladework without pause until noon. After more than three hours, the muscles he'd used began to ache and throb—especially his arms, which felt nearly powerless.
Normally, he'd just drink a recovery potion. But today, he had none.
Dragging his tired body, Victor Wang had lunch at Good Hunter, then set out to try alchemy.
The book from the restricted section, Alchemy: From Beginner to Buried, recorded many simple alchemical recipes—just like the ones in games: Windbarrier Resistance Potions, Gushing Essential Oils, and the like.
Among them was also a healing potion.
Victor Wang didn't have the ingredients, but he could buy them. Ready-made healing potions were available too, though they were certainly pricier than crafting them himself.
He arrived at Timaeus's stall and examined the all-too-familiar alchemical synthesis table.
"Hello, are you interested in alchemy too?"
"I'd like to buy some ingredients and use the synthesis table."
"No problem. What ingredients do you need?"
"Whopperflower nectar, Crystal Core, and a suitable amount of purified water."
"Ah, so you're making a potion? You'll need a container for that as well. This bottle and the purified water inside are on the house."
Timaeus was quite enthusiastic—after all, few people showed interest in alchemy.
"Thank you."
After receiving the ingredients, Victor Wang frowned slightly. The synthesis table looked mysterious and glowed with runes, but he had no idea how to use it. Alchemy: From Beginner to Buried only discussed recipes, not instructions.
So, he asked, "Could you teach me how to use the synthesis table?"
"You just place the ingredients on the table, then raise your hands diagonally in front of your chest and mentally say 'Synthesize.' But for things like purified water that come in containers, you need to focus your intent on extracting just the water, not the container."
Victor Wang looked puzzled. "Is that hand gesture really necessary for alchemy?"
Raise both hands diagonally before the chest and then mentally recite or form intent—this was the same as relics, domains, and alchemy. Isn't that kind of weird?
Seeing someone dare to question alchemy with genuine curiosity made Timaeus happy. Alchemy, after all, thrived on curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge.
He answered, "Yes and no. If you use the synthesis table, then yes, that gesture is mandatory. If you don't use the table, then you're free to improvise."
"How do you improvise?"
Excellent! Timaeus cheered inwardly. He sensed a potential recruit falling into the rabbit hole of alchemy.
He explained patiently, "Alchemy has three components: container, materials, and ritual. This synthesis table is a container. The ingredients you bought are materials. The hand gesture plus the mental focus—that's the ritual. But the table can only synthesize small items. Its capability has a limit. For bigger things, you'll need another kind of container. That could be a bottle, a pot, a hill, or even the whole city of Mondstadt—"
"Mondstadt?"
"Ahem, that was just an example."
Realizing he was getting too excited, Timaeus toned himself down. "The materials can vary too. But using living beings is forbidden—remember that."
Victor Wang nodded, prompting Timaeus to continue: "Rituals can also change. Only synthesis via the table needs that gesture. Others might draw arrays—pentagrams, hexagrams, triangles, circles—or use words, ancient languages, dialects, even singing. Some alchemists ignore formal rituals entirely and just cook the ingredients over fire, using flames as the ritual. That's why I said you could improvise—as long as it produces what you want, no matter how absurd, it's a success."
Victor Wang opened his mouth, but Timaeus kept going: "Because the combinations are endless, the failure rate in alchemy is extremely high. Even when something is successfully synthesized, there's a huge chance it's not what you wanted. Many give up after repeated failures… sigh. The existing formulas today were all distilled from extensive experiments by our predecessors. Like the ingredients you're using—just a glance and I know you're trying to make a healing potion."
Potion?
Originally, Victor Wang only intended to dabble in alchemy—just enough to make a few potions. But after hearing Timaeus explain all that, he couldn't help but feel intrigued.
Isn't this like drawing loot boxes? No—this is Gacha. This is pulling cards!
"Then… can I make a living being?"
Timaeus shook his head. "Living alchemy and living transmutation are both forbidden. Living alchemy is inhumane, disrespectful to life, with uncontrollable and extraordinarily difficult outcomes. Living transmutation is beyond mortal grasp. No one knows how to create life. And even if you could—how would that life coexist with others? Would it be respected or exploited? Would it dominate humans or be dominated? As alchemists, we must consider all of this."
"I see…"
Timaeus nodded firmly. Even if it dampened the passion of beginners, these things had to be made clear.
"Then I'll just focus on making potions."
Victor Wang placed the sealed conical glass vial of Whopperflower nectar, the Crystal Core, and the small bottle of purified water on the synthesis table. He raised his hands diagonally before his chest and mentally recited: Synthesize.
In the darkness, he 'saw' the three materials floating before him.
He thought: Only the nectar, not the vial. The core, yes. Only the water, not the bottle.
When he opened his eyes, the nectar had turned into water. The water and core had disappeared.
"Ah! I forgot to tell you—you have to mentally select all the ingredients simultaneously during synthesis. Otherwise, it processes them one by one. This is another reason newbies give up. Many just can't manage it."
Timaeus looked apologetic. "I'll give you a fresh set of ingredients."
As he turned to retrieve them from his cabinet, Victor Wang's eyes lit up.
Mental control—it was all about mental control. And he had trained in mental division. This was no challenge for him.
"The more materials involved, the harder it gets to control. Most widely used recipes only require two or three components. Controlling a living, sentient ingredient is exponentially harder," Timaeus continued, placing another core on the table. "Once synthesis is complete, you have to use your will to guide the product into the container you've prepared. Almost forgot that… I'm just too used to the process myself."
"Got it."
Victor Wang repeated the motion and mentally triggered synthesis. Again, he saw the three ingredients. Though his control over the three split mental threads wasn't perfect, it was far easier than managing thirty winds flying in thirty different directions.
With patient attempts, he finally selected all three simultaneously. In the darkness, he watched them melt and merge into a pale bluish liquid.
Into the bottle, please.
When he opened his eyes again, the healing potion was complete.
Victor Wang looked at Timaeus and asked, "Is this safe to drink?"
"Go ahead. These materials won't cause any issues."
Victor Wang raised the bottle that had previously held purified water and downed it in one gulp. A wave of bitterness flooded his mouth—like chewing bitter white tablets or drinking unsweetened traditional medicine boiled for half an hour. His face twisted involuntarily.