At the foundry, a furnace that had lain dormant for centuries was cleaned out. Nareth drove everyone out within a 100-meter radius and shut down the surveillance room.
He held a rubber spatula in his hand and began preparing the potion.
Brewing a potion didn't require any sophisticated skill, only precise adherence to the recipe's order: auxiliary ingredients first, then the main ingredients, and placing them in sequence according to the formula, then stirring.
Nareth poured 1100 ml of Black Vostvoth into the furnace and lit the flames.
He then tossed in 1 spine crystal. As the crystals crackled in the furnace, he threw in the unconscious two-meter-long hive rat.
With a few stirs of the rubber spatula, he watched as the rat melted at a visible rate—an effect not just from thousands of crystalline cuts but also from the mystical reaction of the potion's ingredients.
Nareth knew that very minor deviations in auxiliary ingredients were tolerable, but the main ingredients had to be precise and exact. He had already measured the length of the Wirevine repeatedly.
He dropped the 1100-millimeter Wirevines into the furnace. Corrosive acidic sap splashed as the reaction intensified. A crashing sound echoed, and the surrounding light dimmed to a faint black hue.
When he added the tongue of a Chemical Hound, only about half a meter of liquid remained in the furnace.
The long tongue had barely entered when a black mist erupted, shrouding the area in thick fog.
A few seconds later, the mist cleared. Nareth scooped out a thick black liquid with his rubber spatula.
The liquid had a strange property, cohesive and inseparable. Not a single drop remained in the furnace.
Nareth recognized this unique trait as belonging to pathway potions. The "Lawyer" potion had been successfully brewed.
Someone without knowledge of the potion formula would never succeed through luck alone. Not only must the ingredients be added in perfect order, but the measurements have to be precise.
Had he added the rat before the crystals, he'd have ended up with a pot of stewed rodent.
If the Wirevine was even slightly excessive, madness would be the best-case outcome upon consumption.
Nareth poured the black liquid into a bowl. He knew the more hesitant and fearful one was, the worse the absorption. As a gene primarch, he had no fear of poisoning. He raised his head and drank it down.
Immediately, a cool sensation filled his mouth, like swallowing ice cream. It slid down his throat into his stomach.
The cold feeling quickly seeped into every cell. His vision blurred, and colors deepened.
The gray furnace became grayer, the red flames redder...
The colors thickened, like an oil painting.
At the same time, an overwhelming stream of information flooded his mind.
Having experienced this once before, Nareth quickly adapted.
Gradually, he could see his surroundings clearly. The colors were distinct, layered atop one another, as black mist pervaded the space.
He "saw" his own body standing still below, trembling. His consciousness suddenly descended and merged with his body.
Nareth felt his head swell and his temples throb in pain.
He knew this was an overflow of potion power without a method of control.
He needed to visualize something common, simple, and easy to focus on in his mind. He chose his chainsword.
As he slowly shifted his attention to the imagined chainsword, the overlapping vision began to align and clear.
He picked up a prepared mirror and looked into his eyes—his entire eyeball, including the white sclera, had turned pitch-black.
This was a manifestation of the potion's power. Once he mastered meditation and learned to restrain it, his eyes would return to normal.
He tried immediately. Walking to the back of the furnace, he shut off the overhead lumens, casting the area into darkness.
The first step of meditation was as before: close his eyes and picture the chainsword in his mind.
But when attempting to imagine something nonexistent in the world, Nareth struggled. With so many worlds in the galaxy, he couldn't come up with the right image.
Suddenly, inspiration struck. He imagined the sigil of the "Black Emperor" Pathway.
He began with chaotic black arcs, then added surrounding wings, spikes, and the abstract crown above.
As he replaced the image of the chainsword with the Black Emperor sigil, he began merging with the transcendent "self," the infinite "self," the cosmic "self," gaining knowledge only he could comprehend.
In mysticism, this is known as the Mystical Experience; the Thousand Sons refer to it as Aether Sailing.
Nareth emptied his thoughts, calming his body and mind. The black mist returned, and his spirituality extended outward.
Like a stone cast into a lake, his mind flickered with texts like the Napoleonic Code by Ancient Terra and the Imperial Codex set by the Emperor, along with human anatomy, mechanical construct composition, even xenos like Orks, their physiology, and weaknesses.
Nareth understood that the former came from the "Lawyer" potion; the latter was likely implanted by the Emperor through gene-science and psyker powers into the Primarchs, which he then absorbed during his mystical experience.
Once his superhuman brain had absorbed all the knowledge, he decided to practice the most basic mystic ability common to most Beyonders, Spirit Vision.
Nareth raised his hands before his eyes, index fingers nearly touching.
Opening his eyes, he instantly adjusted to the dark. Focusing on his hands, he slowly moved his fingers.
Once… twice…
He saw a hint of red between his fingers—his first glimpse of his aura through Spirit Vision.
Mysticism divides the non-physical self into four layers. At the core is the Spirit Body, or soul, which, when released, is called Spirituality.
The resilience of the Spirit Body determines one's resistance to the warp and various horrors.
The Lawyer potion enhanced his spirituality, giving Beyonders the ability to find and exploit rule loopholes and enemy weaknesses, using order to defeat others.
While both he and the Emperor were capable of exploiting weaknesses, the Emperor's approach was slaying enemies; the Lawyer's was legalistic manipulation.
Beyond the Spirit Body is the Astral Body, the medium for communication with the Warp or cosmos, and a reflection of one's will and emotions.
The visions seen after taking a potion come from the Astral Body roaming the Warp—a place unconstrained by physical rules where past, present, and future may overlap.
His time in the gestation pod taught him that the Warp and Spirit World are essentially the same.
The "astral body" was the focus of the Thousand Sons' training of the psyche. Magnus developed practice methods, "mind-states", to teach his sons.
He also knew that Ahriman and other Thousand Sons could project their Astral Bodies called "light-forms," and sail through the Warp.
Though the Lawyer potion did not enhance his Astral Body, every primarch was infused with Warp essence, and he had already absorbed some knowledge through it.
Beyond the Astral body was the Mental body, governing intellect.
The Lawyer potion strengthened his logic and reasoning.
The outermost layer is the Etheric Body, representing life energy and physical state.
Each body part appears in different colors, his hand was red, his head purple...
If the color is off, it means the body part has a problem.
Nareth checked his body one part at a time—everything was healthy. His overall glow was dazzling, while ordinary people would appear white.
Next, he practiced how to exit Spirit Vision: focusing attention, switching mental states, closing his eyes, controlling his spirituality, and repeatedly commanding it to stop.
Opening his eyes again, Spirit Vision had ended.
Nareth practiced this repeatedly, reinforcing his control until he embedded a simple on/off gesture.
He tapped his brow twice—Spirit Vision activated. The furnace, machines, and surroundings looked normal—no glow.
Most non-living objects had no spirituality.
When he glanced at the chainsaw sword, he saw a crimson glow from within.
"Hmm? There's residual spirituality on the Vulture's chainsaw sword, possibly even a potion material."
He had sensed the weapon was special. Seeing its spirituality confirmed his suspicions.
He tapped his brow twice to deactivate Spirit Vision, planning to later practice reading others' auras.
Finally, Nareth recalled the Beyonder abilities gained from drinking the Lawyer potion.