The Scientific Alchemist

Elias... might’ve gone a bit overboard with his experimenting as the little fox’s body refused to produce any more herbs.

But he had gotten all he needed from it, the hundreds of new and obviously high quality herbs laying beside it was proof of that.

From what he observed so far, the fox was capable of reproducing any herb that was used on it.

But the best part was, the herbs it gave out was of a lot higher quality than the ones used on it.

And it was only a hypothesis for now, but Elias had reason to believe that the negative qualities of said herbs had been removed.

Now, he could test this theory on himself, but given that he was operating on a timer, it wouldn’t be wise to poison himself more.

So for now, he sat back down on the table and jotted down a couple of things he had observed, only to come to one conclusion.

Selling the fox was definitely not ideal.

If he could somehow get it contracted to himself, then it would be the perfect lab rat to test all the herbs on and also get new herbs.

Besides the best part was the special ability that seemed to come with the first,

"The fox’s body can isolate... and amplify specific properties."

"And if it’s exactly as I hypothize," he muttered, "then I might be able to skip the crude processing step at once."

Though, it seems, the fox’s ability to produce herbs diminished over time and it would reach a point that it could let out no more.

But since it seemed to be able to recover from that, it should be no problem.

Now then, how would he use this to cure himself?

"Let’s see," Elias muttered as he looked at the herbs before him, "since my condition is most definitely caused by a toxin, my safest bet is to flush it out."

He scanned through the herbs he had already separated based off of the memories of the previous Elias and what they were capable of.

With the fox’s help, most of the herbs now smelt like recognizable ones he used in the labs back on Earth, since they were now in what he’d like to call,

Their pure forms.

Elias closed his eyes briefly, bringing one of the refined leaves closer to his nose.

The scent was both sharp and bitter at the same time, though, he was used to it, so he didn’t reel back.

"Diuretic," he murmured before picking up another.

This one was acrid and slightly sweet at the end.

"Liver stimulant... or something similar."

Again, he picked up another herb, noting that it had a fool, almost mint-like scent, but heavier.

"...Anti-inflammatory properties."

His eyes opened slowly, a faint glint of certainty forming within them.

"For the first time... I can actually read them."

"If what’s killing me is a toxin, then there are only a few possibilities," he continued, slipping fully into analytical mode.

"Accumulation in the bloodstream... organ failure... or systemic spread."

His hand moved unconsciously to his chest as a dull ache pulsed through him.

"Likely all three."

He exhaled slowly.

"Which means a single solution won’t work."

His gaze swept across the table again.

Elias picked up the bitter, sharp-smelling herb again.

"This should force excretion, but on its own, it’ll just strain an already failing body."

He reached for another, one with a warmer, grounding scent.

"Support the organs first... then push."

His fingers hovered for a moment before selecting a third.

"This... should reduce internal inflammation and uy me time."

He paused and frowned slightly at his own words.

Julian was not a man that dealt in uncertainties, but this time, he just had to deal with it.

He grabbed a small cup and began working carefully, crushing only tiny portions of each herb this time, careful not to overdose.

Mixing them together, he now had something akin to a crudely alchemized concoction, but most bronze Alchemists were not able to achieve even this much.

Elias lifted the cup, his hand trembling slightly due to how weak he was.

Still, his grip around the cup tightened as he muttered, "If my theory is correct, this won’t kill me."

He took a small pause as he looked at the liquid in the cup then, with a faint, dry smirk, he added.

"And if it does, then at least I’ll know I was wrong."

With that, he sent the fluid down in one go, his throat burned as the liquid went down, his body instinctively rejecting it.

"—ghk—!"

He coughed, nearly dropping the cup as his stomach immediately twisted painfully.

A violent urge surged through him and he barely made it to the corner before collapsing to his knees and retching.

Dark, thick fluid spilled from his mouth.

It wasn’t blood, but rather, something so foul smelling that it caused him to puke more, trapping him in an endless cycle for a few short minutes.

When he finished puking, Elias weakly stood straight and observed the reaction from his body.

What happened just now was the toxins exiting his body, signalling that the herbs had worked exactly as he intended.

Though not perfectly, he was now at least sure of their use.

Turning to the table, he noticed that the injured fox had woken up, but instead of trying to run back into the forest, it lay on the table, curiously looking at him.

"Well.... This is definitely not the greatest of states you could’ve met me in," Elias muttered with a small chuckle before approaching.

He stopped a short distance from the table, studying it the same way it studied him.

Then, without warning, the fox shifted, its body tensing as if preparing to move.

Elias raised a hand immediately.

"Careful."

His voice sounded like that one strict doctor.

"Your leg is fractured. The laceration hasn’t fully closed. If you move recklessly, you’ll reopen the wound."

The fox suddenly ceased its action, showing that it clearly understood him.

"Good. That makes things easier."

He moved a bit closer and observed the fascinating creature, wondering what it would’ve been like if they existed back on Earth.

Probably locked up in a lab and being experimented on.

With a sigh, Elias looked at the fox before asking, "would you like to make a deal?"