15 Minsk Street, in the damp and cold kitchen.
Klein rummaged out a newly bought large iron pot, filled it with clean water, and scrubbed it carefully several times.
Then, he tossed a few matches into it and snapped his fingers with a crack.
A crimson flame leaped up and, under his manipulation, quickly dried the remaining water droplets without damaging the surface of the iron pot.
—There was no pure water in the potion formula this time, so Klein was more cautious than the previous two times, striving to avoid adding any extra help to prevent any major problems.
Although he could divine whether the potion preparation was successful, and it wouldn't endanger his life, the result would be a ruined potion. Extracting the Beyonder characteristics within would be extremely difficult, like removing the mental contamination of a loss of control. It required specific techniques, methods, or rituals, and Klein couldn't gather a second set of materials in a short time.
Finishing his preparations and glancing at the neatly arranged boxes, Klein took a breath and recalled the potion formula one last time:
"Faceless: Main ingredients, mutative pituitary gland of a Thousand-faced Hunter, Human Skin Shadow characteristic. Supplementary ingredients, 80 ml of Thousand-faced Hunter blood, 5 drops of Black Mandrake juice, 10 grams of Agrimony powder, 3 strands of Deep Sea Naga hair."
He first picked up the paper box from the vampire Emlyn White, opened it, and took out a glass bottle containing 100 ml of Thousand-faced Hunter blood.
Glancing at the scale lines, Klein unscrewed the lid and steadily poured the viscous liquid, which constantly changed color with the light, into the iron pot.
Since it was a supplementary ingredient, he didn't pursue precision too much and didn't use chemical experimental instruments for separation and titration.
The blood of the Thousand-faced Hunter, like diluted honey, slowly filled the bottom of the pot. When Klein felt it was enough, he stopped tilting and let the liquid flow back.
About 20 milliliters left. My spiritual intuition is quite accurate… Klein withdrew his gaze from the scale lines of the glass bottle and solemnly tightened the lid—these 20 milliliters of Thousand-faced Hunter blood could be used to create mystical items, Beyonder weapons, mystical scrolls, or to outline symbolic symbols in certain ritual magic. It was still very precious.
After putting the glass bottle back into the stuffed paper box, Klein added the Black Mandrake juice and Agrimony powder in order, watching the liquid in the pot bubble up.
Without pausing, he picked up three deep blue strands of hair, like small snakes, with his right palm in a black glove and steadily placed them on the surface of the liquid.
Sizzle!
A faint mist rose from the iron pot, and the color of the liquid turned deep blue accordingly.
To have such a strange effect before even adding the main ingredient… No wonder it’s a Sequence 6 potion… Klein reached out and grabbed the silvery-white tin box with a gray tint gifted by the vampire Emlyn White.
With a snap, Klein opened the lid, revealing the item inside that resembled a shelled walnut.
He didn't directly touch the mutative pituitary gland of the Thousand-faced Hunter with his hands, directly placing the tin box over the pot and overturning it.
The yellowish-brown item with brain-like raised patterns and depressions fell, colliding with the deep blue liquid.
In that moment, not a single droplet splashed. The pituitary gland, which was constantly changing shape, silently melted.
The grayish-white and yellowish-brown colors quickly merged with the deep blue, and the bubbling bubbles suddenly became larger and more numerous.
At this step, Klein was already a bit nervous, but he still controlled himself well. He picked up the last box and dumped the massive, diamond-like Human Skin Shadow characteristic into the iron pot.
Suddenly, all the mist converged, and even the light from the gas wall lamps seemed to be attracted and devoured, dimming noticeably.
It wasn't until everything returned to normal that Klein could clearly see what the final potion looked like.
It was entirely black-green, lazily emitting an eye-sized bubble from time to time, as if it were alive, hiccuping every few seconds.
When the bubbles reached the surface, they would immediately burst, and in the process, refracting the light and reflecting various colors.
These colors together formed different kinds of faces, the features seemingly combining randomly.
Klein lifted the iron pot with one hand and poured the liquid into a pre-prepared glass bottle. Due to the nature of the potion, none of it remained in the pot.
After confirming through divination that the degree of harm was acceptable—meaning the potion was successfully concocted—Klein took that bottle of "Faceless" and returned to the second floor with steady steps, entering the bedroom where the curtains had already been drawn.
Locking the door, he sat on the edge of the bed and, with the help of meditation, calmed his slightly excited and anxious mood.
After sitting still for over ten seconds, Klein unscrewed the cap, raised his right hand, and abruptly poured all the potion into his mouth.
A slight tingling sensation reverberated in his mouth and esophagus, finally fermenting into a numbness that deprived him of perception.
Klein's spirit seemed to be drawn out of his body, and he saw in the perspective of an observer his mouth melting, his nose melting, his ears melting, his eyes melting, his entire face melting!
In just two or three seconds, his face, his head, turned into wax baked by fire. His body underwent a similar anomaly, his bones and skin seemingly dissolving in his blood.
No, I can't allow this to happen! Klein knew that if he didn't control it well, he would be on the verge of losing control at any moment.