I Died and Became a Noble's Heir-Chapter 313: Mana Potions

He began the process methodically. Activating his storage ability, pulling crystals into whatever dimensional space the system maintained, and releasing them once he returned to the factory. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

It took an hour. Back and forth through his portal, each trip depositing more crystals until the factory floor was covered in them, frost spreading across wooden planks in patterns that looked like frozen lightning.

Workers stared. One whispered something about winter coming early. Another made a warding gesture against evil magic.

Jack ignored them, his mind already running calculations.

He had the ice crystals, Aetherion nectar, demon blood, and pure water from the system Father Caelen had purified.

Time to see if theory matched reality.

The first three attempts exploded.

Not violently. More like the potion mixtures decided existence was too complicated and preferred to return to component elements.

The vials cracked, and the liquid evaporated instantly, leaving behind a sticky residue.

Jack adjusted ratios. Changed the stirring pattern. Modified how much heat he applied during the initial phase.

The fourth attempt turned to solid ice in his hand, freezing so fast the vial shattered.

The fifth attempt dissolved the vial entirely, eating through the glass like acid.

Jack’s jaw clenched. Alchemy was supposed to be precise. Exact measurements produce exact results. However, potion making that involved demon blood and divine herbs operated according to rules that transcended normal chemistry.

He tried again. Warming the water carefully, watching for the precise moment before it comes to a boil. Added ice crystals one at a time, stirring until they dissolved completely and left the water glowing faint blue.

One drop of demon blood. Bright red against pale blue, spreading like a wound through water. Jack stirred the mixture clockwise once, exactly once, and it darkened briefly before stabilizing into something that looked like liquid twilight.

Then the Aetherion nectar. Golden drops falling into a blue mixture created swirls that resembled galaxies forming.

Jack focused his will, pouring his mana into the mixture, binding the conflicting ingredients together.

The potion stopped swirling. It settled abruptly. Began glowing with a steady internal light.

Jack let it cool, watching as the glow intensified rather than faded. When he finally poured it into a vial and corked it, the liquid inside pulsed with power he could feel from a foot away.

[Congratulations, you have developed a High-Grade Mana Potion]

[Reward: Infernal Mastery | (Skill) anything created with demon components has increased potency]

The workers assembled around the demonstration table watched with varying expressions of curiosity and concern as Jack laid out materials.

"Listen carefully," Jack said, his voice carrying across the factory floor. "What I’m about to teach you will be the factory’s sole focus for the next week. Everything else stops."

He gestured to the array of components. "This is a high-grade mana potion. It restores more mana than anything on the market. That makes it more valuable than anything we’ve produced so far. More valuable than most products you’ll see in your lifetime."

One worker, a middle-aged woman named Mara who’d been with the factory since it opened, raised her hand tentatively. "My lord, we’re not alchemists. How can we..."

"You can because I’m going to show you exactly how," Jack interrupted. "The process is simple if you follow instructions precisely. Deviate even slightly, and the mixture becomes unstable. Understood?"

Nods around the table. Nervous, but determined.

Jack began the demonstration, narrating each step.

"First, warm pure water. Not boiling or lukewarm. Hot enough that you can’t comfortably hold your hand in it for more than a few seconds."

He heated water over a small flame, demonstrating the proper temperature by dipping his finger briefly and withdrawing with a slight hiss.

"Second, add ice crystals. Stir until completely dissolved. You’ll know it’s ready when the water takes on a faint blue shimmer. Like this."

The water glowed softly, beautiful and dangerously.

"Third..." Jack withdrew a vial of demon blood, holding it up so everyone could see the bright red liquid within, "—add exactly one drop of God’s Blood. Not two. Not half a drop. Exactly one."

He let a single drop fall, watching twenty pairs of eyes track its descent into the blue water.

"Stir clockwise once. Just once. The potion will darken briefly. Don’t panic. That’s normal. It will stabilize."

The mixture shifted colors from blue to red twilight.

"Fourth, add Aetherion nectar. Three drops. Then focus your mana; it doesn’t matter if you have high magic or not. Concentrate on binding the mixture together."

Golden drops fell. Jack focused, and the potion stilled.

"Finally, let the potion cool. Don’t rush it. When it reaches room temperature, bottle it in a vial and seal tightly. The potion is stable for approximately six months if stored properly."

He held up the finished product, its glow casting blue light across their faces.

"Questions?"

A younger man—Thomas, maybe twenty-two, good with his hands—spoke up. "My lord, you called it God’s Blood. Is it actually God’s Blood?"

Jack had. Hotared for this. "Does it matter? What matters is that it works. The divine source is irrelevant to the process."

"But surely..."

"The theological implications are not your concern," Jack said firmly. "You’re not priests. You’re craftsmen. Focus on the craft."

He couldn’t tell them it was demon blood. He couldn’t explain that the ’divine’ ingredient came from creatures most of them had been taught to fear and hate. The lie was necessary. Uncomfortable, but necessary.

Mara raised her hand again. "How many are we making?"

"As many as possible," Jack replied. "Based on my calculations, each of you can produce approximately fifty vials per five minutes once you’ve mastered the process.

With twenty workers operating simultaneously, we can produce twelve thousand vials per hour."

The numbers made people shift uncomfortably. That was... a lot of potions.

"We work eight hours per day, five days per week," Jack continued. "Standard schedule. That gives us forty hours of production time. By week’s end, we’ll have approximately four hundred eighty thousand vials.

"That’s..." Thomas started, then stopped, apparently unable to finish the thought.

"That’s enough mana restoration to supply an army," Jack finished for him. "That’s enough to make House Kaiser’s forces capable of sustaining a magical war that would exhaust any other military force in the Four Kingdoms."

He let the thought sink in as their faces began to bloom. They understood the gravity of the situation.

"You’ll be paid triple for this week," Jack added. "The work is demanding. The schedule is tight. But what we’re creating here will protect your families, your homes, your futures. So I need your focus. Your precision. Your absolute commitment to producing perfect potions every single time."

"We can do it," Mara said, her voice carrying conviction that spread through the assembled workers like fire through dry grass. "For House Kaiser. For our families. We can do it!"

Others echoed her sentiment. Voices layering over each other in affirmation.

Jack nodded once. "Good. Then let’s begin. I’ll supervise the first batch that each of you produces. After that, you’re on your own. Questions go to Seraphina. She’ll be coordinating production schedules. Now, to your stations. We have made four hundred eighty thousand potions to make, and the clock is already running."

The workers dispersed to their assigned materials they needed. Ice crystals were distributed in careful portions.

Vials of demon blood are rationed precisely. Aetherion nectar measured to the drop. Pure water and heating elements are ready.

Jack moved between stations, watching first attempts with a critical eye, correcting mistakes before they could become disasters.

Thomas added too much blood. Jack stopped him, dumped the mixture and had him start over.

Mara’s water was too hot. Jack demonstrated proper temperature again, making her practice recognizing until she could judge it by sight and steam patterns.

An older man named Willem stirred counter-clockwise by mistake. His mixture began crystallizing. Jack intervened, salvaged what he could and explained why direction mattered when binding conflicting magical energies.

But they learned. Faster than Jack had expected, actually. Within two hours, all twenty workers were producing stable potions. Within four, they were matching the production speed Jack had calculated.

The factory was filled with the glow of twelve thousand vials per hour. Blue light painted the walls and their faces. The magical saturation flooded the air.

Jack stood near the factory’s center, watching the systematic production of turning raw materials into the biggest business adventure yet.

[Why did you bother to make mana potions?]

’You know, for a system, you’re really slow on the uptake.’

[Excuse me?]

’If you’ve been listening to my conversations, you’d know why I’m doing this.’