Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems-Chapter 277: The Truth About the Advancement Potion

Locke's gaze focused. He hadn't expected this advancement potion to be so dangerous.
Locke said, "Lady Forbes, please tell me the effect of this potion."
Old Witch Forbes nodded. She slowly walked around the table in a circle, then retrieved a magic painting from under a bookcase and blew on its surface to blow away the dust.
"This is the effect rate formula for this potion."
"Next, you must listen carefully to every word I say. This is crucial to whether you can break through to formal wizard."
Claudia Forbes unfolded the magic painting. Locke saw that the magic painting depicted a human body diagram with the body's neural network, blood vessels, internal organs, and more. This magic painting's production level was very high. It shouldn't have come from an apprentice's hand, but rather from a formal wizard-level quick sketch artist's hand.
Locke could even see the method and scope of action inside the human body after the Sacrifice Potion was consumed, as well as the structure of the effective potion components and their entire process of action within the body.
Locke secretly memorized the formula written on this magic painting and its contents.
Claudia Forbes said, "The true effect of Sacrifice Potion is to sacrifice a wizard's future potential in exchange for their current mental power, which is why it's called Sacrifice Potion."
Locke frowned in confusion. "Sacrifice potential? Does that mean overdrawing one's future? What specific form does that take? Lady Forbes, I see that the main coefficient of this formula seems to be a number."
"This number doesn't seem large, around several hundred. If I'm not mistaken, is this coefficient referring to the... remaining lifespan of the wizard taking the potion?"
Claudia Forbes looked at Locke with surprise, as if she hadn't expected Locke to be so clever, figuring out the general idea just from one glance at the magic painting.
She nodded. "Yes, wizards who take Sacrifice Potion will overdraw part of their future potential, and the specific method is overdrawing lifespan."
"So the main coefficient of this potion effect rate formula is this wizard's remaining lifespan." Old Witch Forbes said, "The more remaining lifespan a wizard has, the more potential they can overdraw from each future year."
"This is also why wizards in the southeastern quadrant have age requirements, usually requiring you to reach mental power of 800 before forty years old. Otherwise, the academy won't distribute Sacrifice Potion to you."
Old Witch Forbes said, "Wizards who are too old can't withstand this method of burning potential."
"Going from 800 to cross 1000."
"Especially in the final mental power stage from 950 to 1000, each increase of 1 point of mental power requires consuming massive amounts of potential. If this wizard doesn't have enough remaining lifespan, they'll directly burn their lifespan and die, or be forced to give up midway."
Witch Forbes said, "Wizards with higher aptitude will obtain more energy by burning 1 year of lifespan. Wizards with lower aptitude will obtain slightly less energy by burning 1 year of lifespan."
"So usually, a wizard who can reach mental power of 800 before age 40 will more easily be able to advance with just one to two bottles of Sacrifice Potion. This is much safer."
Locke showed a look of sudden realization.
So this was what Sacrifice Potion was.
Locke said in a low voice, "No wonder the White Wizard Association restricts this thing. Sacrificing future potential in exchange for current mana. Moreover, the difficulty of concocting this potion and obtaining materials is very low. This would cause wizards to be unable to resist taking this potion before reaching mental power of 800, exchanging it for their current mental power increase."
"With enough people, some geniuses, even super geniuses, would be unable to resist using it early."
"Because bad currency drives out good currency. Watching others secretly use Sacrifice Potion and surpass themselves in mana, thus obtaining a bunch of magical resources, that genius would also be unable to resist taking Sacrifice Potion and exchanging for power in advance."
Locke said, "If this potion isn't properly restricted, it could indeed potentially cause an entire wizard community to directly collapse. Wizard apprentices are the foundation of the wizard world. If wizard apprentices all develop the habit of overdrawing future potential... it would be equivalent to the entire wizard society's apprentices all overdrawing their futures. The wizard world would lose its future."
Claudia Forbes nodded in agreement. "Locke Augustine, from these words of yours, you are a good potion master."
"I've always believed that values determine a person's upper limit of future achievement, while talent determines a person's lower limit of future achievement."
Claudia Forbes looked at Locke with satisfaction and said, "Your ability to quickly recognize the danger of advancement potion shows that you're a very thoughtful potion master. You possess the necessary qualities to achieve 'excellence.'"
Locke suddenly thought of a serious problem. Even after his wizard talent had been improved by Weeping Blood Nightshade Potion, it was currently only level 4.
Locke asked, "Lady Forbes, can wizards with relatively low talent obtain less mana from taking this Sacrifice Potion?"
"Yes." Witch Forbes said, "Of course, there's another possibility."
Witch Forbes pointed to the magic painting, "Look at this part of the magic painting. Potential doesn't only point to a genius's original talent. It also includes their lifespan, and part of the potential points to those potions hidden in your bodies and souls."
"You know, actually no one can completely digest the effects of potions. They can only digest part of them. The potions you drank during the apprentice stage, the part that cannot be absorbed and hasn't been expelled, will accumulate in your bodies and souls over time."
"And this part is also your potential!"
"The instant you take the advancement potion, it will burn this part of the potion effects to push forward your mental power progress." Claudia Forbes said, "For example, the Tartarus Cavern Worm Spinal Fluid you used is First Circle level material. For you apprentices to use it, honestly speaking, is very wasteful. Those medicinal effects should still have residue in your body. Over time, part of it is completely wasted and expelled from your body, while part is still stored in your body."
"However, the main bulk of potential still comes from your talent."
"This is just a minor part." Claudia Forbes said, "Because the resources a person can obtain during the apprentice stage are limited."
"However, it's not like there haven't been people from great wizard families who used massive magical resources to forcibly pile up potential for their descendants and used Sacrifice Potion to exchange this potential to help them become formal wizards."
Claudia Forbes muttered, "It's just that the cost-effectiveness of that approach is really too low. The families within the academy don't have resources on that scale at all. Only those wizard families in the Land of Six Towers have such resources and such habits."
"Under normal circumstances, individuals have difficulty obtaining so many magical resources."
However, during her speech, Locke thought of the Beholder Lord Potion he had continuously taken for half a year, as well as the large amounts of magical potions he usually used, and that exaggerated quantity of Tartarus Cavern Worm Spinal Fluid.
Back then, most of the cavern worm spinal fluid from that black wizard's large resource vault had fallen into his hands!
Moreover, the Beholder Lord Potion he had continuously taken for half a year had even caused him to gain an independently existing abyssal energy circulation. He indeed had never completely digested the accumulation of so many potions in his body all along.
Locke looked up at that potion effect rate formula and began mental calculations. 'Looking at it this way, aptitude level 4 actually isn't too low. It's just average level.'
'Plus I'm currently only 19 years old, close to 20. I'm very young, and my body still has large amounts of residual potions and magical resource residue. My success rate in using Sacrifice Potion to advance to formal wizard is still very high.'
'This way I can relax.'
'Before using Sacrifice Potion, I can still use another wave of magical resources. After all, I still have 200,000 magic stones in savings.'
'Those several projects in my hands are also continuously making money.'