“Uhm…” Gantz swallowed nervously. Bear looked especially intimidating whenever he’s silent. Despite having a pair of eyes with a distinct shimmery brown hue, which made looking at him mesmerizing.

“…Family. Mother likes medicine, Father likes hunting. Both teach Bear about life.” Bear moved again, and continued crushing the herbs with the pestle.

Gantz’s ears perked up, somehow glad that he saw a positive reaction. Unconsciously, he was smiling when he asked the next question. “I see. Are you living with them here in this forest?”

“Both are with the stars.” Bear answered briefly, which sporadically wiped the smile off from Gantz’s face.

“Oh…” He stammered a bit. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Bear stopped pounding the herbs and turned to Gantz.

“Well, because I asked something insensitive?” Gantz tried to reason. When Bear looked nonchalant, Gantz pondered whether he was the strange one.

Bear continued on pounding the herbs silently. Although subtle, Gantz could see that Bear was deep in thought, so he decided not to bother and chose to stay silent.

After a few minutes, Bear handed Gantz the mortar filled with the crushed herbs paste. Gantz transferred the paste into the bottles, and placed the bottle on the magic circle.

“Alright. The color of the potion differs depending on the other item that you fuse it with.” Gantz explained, while he passed his gaze around the ground to look for something. Returning with several pieces of wild berries, he added, “As an example, if you fuse it with pure blueberry, it will turn into a blueberry color. If you fuse with these berries, it might change into some purple-ish colors. Some alchemist uses edible coloring to save on cost, or use the color of their own Mana. Though, the latter method is rarely practiced because most of the time, the potion will turn colorless.”

Bear blinked his eyes. “Are colorless potions bad?”

“Well, it’s not bad. It’s just that other people don’t find the appeal of buying something that looks like water. Aren’t colored potions look pretty in the eyes too?”

Bear fell silent, neither refuting the fact nor agreeing to it.

“So, you place the berries next to the bottle. Make sure to open the bottle when you do it. Then, you chant this spell.” Gantz muttered something, which made the magic circle glow.

As soon as the magic circle began to glow a bright tinge of blue, the items placed on it began to float and the paste and the berries began to mix between each other. As the colors of the berries seeped into the herb mixture, the paste’s color fade away.

Along with something else.

“…Oh.” Gantz remarked, suddenly feeling lost. His eyes stared speechlessly onto the mixture in the magic circle.

Bear tilted his head in question, as a response.