Both Ken and Nelly returned from gathering the necessary ingredients needed for brewing their potion. Together, they stood behind a twin brewing table, equipped with only the best brewing equipment. 

“With a table of such quality, brewing this potion of yours won't be too hard,” said Ken.

“Let's hope it's good enough for an A+,” Nelly replied.

Looking ahead, Ken spotted Katherine with her partner, Zero–current No.1 rank. “I wonder what type of potion she is going to brew?” 

“Are they your so-called ‘Friends’?” Nelly asked, looking the same way as Ken. 

“The girl is, not the guy.” 

“Aren't those two currently ranked top 2?” 

“Yes, they are. I'm not sure about the guy, but Katherine is very knowledgeable, she might be our biggest obstacle here.” 

“Really?” 

“I'm excited just thinking about the result of her potion.” Returning his focus to his partner, Ken continued to say, “Alright Nelly, listen carefully. For this potion to be mixed well together, we have to get the measurements perfect, we can't have one potion overpowering the other.” 

“Perfect? Do the measurements have to be that on point?” 

“Yes. Think of it as Union Magic, for two people to perform Union Magic they have to be in complete balance or it won't work. So yes, the measurements need to be perfect.” 

Letting out a disappointed sigh, Nelly whined, “That’s going to be so much effort.” 

“You won't get an, A+ if you’re lazy.” Grabbing a pen and paper out of the desk drawer, Ken began to scribble down the correct measurements. “Here, brew the High Elf Mana potion with these exact measurements.” 

“Hmmmm… I think I might mess this up, maybe you can make both potions? I'll just watch and learn.” 

“No way, this is a group assignment. If you mess up, we mess up together. I don't follow any religion, but I do believe you, Nelly” 

Ken's words brought a slight blush to Nelly’s face, making her tail shoot up. “Th-Thank you. I won't let you down!” 

“Good, now let's get started.” 

In front of Ken were the ingredients he had collected from the garden; sage leaves, scarlet roots, Fae Lilly’s, Sunflower-butterfly wings, and a jar of fairy dust from the storage shelves. 

Ken started by letting his scarlet roots boil in a small kettle, before smashing the sage leaves and sunflower-butterfly wings in a mortar until they resembled a paste-like substance. Looking inside the kettle, the boiling water had turned a warm red color from the scarlet root soaking in it. 

“Okay, now to add the fae lily and stir constantly” he added several petals of the flower and began mixing it with a spoon. 

Looking over to his partner, Ken asked, “How are you going with the mana potion?” 

“I have the majik bark boiling in my kettle with the exact measurement of water… I hope it's the correct measurement. I've just finished grinding the blue willow leaf, Kiji beans, and unicorn flowers into a fine mixture… all with the correct measurements… hopefully….” Nelly responded. 

“Excellent. Now add the Unicorn Flower stem into the kettle with the majik bark and constantly stir for a good 8-10 minutes.” 

“Huh? Add the unicorn flower stem? That's not in the recipe.” 

“I know, but just trust me. If we want our potion to stand out we have to freestyle it a little.” 

“Hmmm… alright, let's freestyle it.” Doing as Ken instructed, Nelly placed the unicorn flower stem into the kettle and continued to mix. 

The two of them, constantly stirred their kettle for several minutes until the time was right for them to add in their smashed ingredients and continue to stir it well with the boiling potion. Once everything had properly dissolved they lowered the fire to let it simmer. 

“Now to add the fairy dust.” opening the jar of fairy dust, Ken poured a good amount of it into his simmering potion before putting a lid on it. 

Everyone else was just about finishing up their potions, some were at the simmering stage, and others were letting their potions cool down. 

“Alright, it's time we mix the two potions. Nelly, would you do the honors?” 

“Gladly!” 

Opening a small vial filled with white sap, Nelly poured it into an empty potion bottle. Slowly she grabbed the two kettles off of the fire and began to pour them into the same bottle. While she poured the two potions, Ken slowly mixed them with a spoon, blending the red and blue potion to make a warm glowing purple hue with sparkles of gold fairy dust floating around like stars. Ken stopped mixing once the bottle was filled. 

“It looks perfect!” Nelly chirped 

“Now for the secret ingredient.” from a small satchel, Ken sprinkled a generous pinch of a golden brown powder. 

“What was that?” 

“That was the winning ingredient. Now, shake it up.” 

Nelly sealed the potion with a cork before vigorously shaking it, mixing Ken’s secret ingredient into it. This caused tiny bubbles to pop within the potion like a fizzy drink. 

“Woahhh… it's so pretty!” Nelly marveled at their finished product. 

“And we are done!” 

Soon the two hours that they were given to brew their potion had come to an end, everyone had finished their potions and was ready to be graded. 

“Time is up! Now, one by one, I'll call for you to come and have your potion assessed, so be ready,” said Dr. Elor. 

One at a time Dr. Elor called up several pairs to come down and test their potions. Each time, Julia would drink a vial of poison as if it were water.

“Next, Katherine and Zero.” Dr. Elor called out. The pair walked up to the front with their finished product. Their potion shined a deep forest green color. Small dust-like particles float within it.

“Let's see what you got, Katherine.” Ken thought to himself. 

Julia didn't look well, she had drunk too many vials of poison beforehand, many of which weren't able to heal her completely. Her skin slowly lost color. Everyone was worried for her, but Dr. Elor didn't seem to care. 

“What kind of potion have you two made today?” he asked. 

“The Fu’fey people are an ancient tribe of nomadic Wood Elves, they were also known to be one of the best herbalists of the 5th era. We present to you, their Lou’ra potion.” Zero explained. 

“A couple of the original ingredients needed for the potion were not available in the garden, so we had to substitute,” Katherine explained. 

“Very well. Julia, drink up.” 

With those commands, Julia picked up another vial of poison and slowly drank it, worsening her already poisoned body. She breathed heavily, her body covered in sweat, barely keeping herself upright. 

Julia slowly grabbed the potion from Katherine, her weakened body struggling to pull out the cork sealing it. Once she managed to open it, she slowly began drinking it until she emptied the bottle. 

Julia’s eyes shot wide open filled with life. The glow of the green potion could be seen circulating through her veins, soothing her heart. Slowly she regained her strength being able to stand up again. Her breathing returned to normal and her skin quickly regained warmth and color. 

With a radiating smile full of energy, Julia began to sputter. “My body feels so warm! I can feel the potion rushing through my body, cleansing the poison. I can feel the dust-like particles attaching themselves to my heart and healing it. I feel as if I've become one with nature and I'm being nourished by it!” 

Seeing Julia in such high spirits brought a collective sigh of relief to everyone. She was on the verge of collapsing a second ago, but now it's as if she was never poisoned.

“Seems like Julia likes your potion,” said Dr. Elor.

“Liked it? It was amazing! This potion is by far the best one I've had!” Julia exclaimed, a wide grin on her face. 

“Out of the 8 groups I called before the two of you, none of their potions were able to properly heal Julia… yet the two of you, not only healed your potion, but also the 8 before you. Excellent work.” 

“Wow, that's an amazing potion,” Nelly muttered.

“That's going to be a tough one to beat for sure,” said Ken. 

“You said you had to substitute an ingredient, tell me what it was?” Dr. Elor questioned. 

“The original recipe requires Jukak vine seeds but this garden didn't have any, so instead we had to choose between mara vine seeds or white maruka vine seeds,” said Zero.

“So, what did you use?” Dr. Elor questioned.

“Using Mara vine seeds would have produced a better potion, producing more potent antibodies for the poison… but, it also had a 70% chance of not working well with the other ingredients. So using the maruka vine seeds was the better choice, even if it wasn't as potent.” Katherine explained.

“Excellent decision making you two. Now, Julia, what's your verdict?” 

“They were able to brew such an excellent potion without all key ingredients, this deserves a great big ‘A’!” Julia concluded.

 

[A: 500xp] 

 

Everyone began clapping, applauding for Katherine and Zero.

“Woah, they got an ‘A’? That's amazing.” 

“Yeah, that's the first ‘A’ today!” 

“What an amazing potion, it healed her so quickly!” 

Despite everyone praising her and her partner for being the first two to receive an ‘A’, Katherine wasn't happy. Balling up her fist, she muttered to herself, “Only an ‘A’? Damn it… I was reaching for ‘A+’!” 

“?” Zero was confused by his partner's reaction. 

“I wonder how our potion will do up against theirs!”